April Update

This blog has quickly turned into a place where I show up once a month and recap what's been happening while I was away, and I kinda sorta like it that way. From now until the end of summer, I've packed my life full of vacations and activities, so I won't be around much except for the occassional vacation re-cap or life update. If you want to keep up with my daily happenings, you can always find me on Instagram (probably posting pictures of my food)!

April was a busy month, traveling and work-wise. I managed to work longer days so I could have the chance to enjoy my weekends again!

One of my best friends from college, Rachel, is graduating from medical school in a few weeks and moving to Richmond, so I planned a quick getaway to Charleston to see her before she leaves! I didn't quite think it through and picked the busiest weekend in Charleston to drive down (Cooper River Bridge Run weekend), but we had a great time despite the crowds! We ate fantasic meals: tacos at Zia Taqueria, brunch at Poogan's Porch and The Fat Hen, drinks at Leaf and The Gin Joint, and dinner at Blossom. We walked around the city, shopped, got manicures, and generally caught up on life. Rachel got engaged the weekend after I went to visit so now I have another reason to visit - to celebrate!

The next weekend, my parents and I went down to Litchfield for a little R&R. After busy season, I always like to get down to the ocean to recharge, and the weather was perfect for catching a little vitamin D.

I made it down to the beach both mornings to catch the sunrise, which was breathtaking (especially Sunday morning). Although I worked while I was there, I came back feeling more refreshed than when I left!

The next week and weekend were spent celebrating the grand re-opening of our favorite taproom The Community Tap, getting tacos with friends at Asada, and celebrating Easter with my family.

The following weekend was PACKED with activities, because our friend Sarah was back in town from Philly! Several other friends who live nearby (Charlotte, Atlanta, Chapel Hill) also made the drive to Greenville so everyone could reunite with Sarah while she was here!

There was a lot of eating, drinking, girl talk, and of course, selfies. We even checked out a new brewery, Swamp Rabbit Brewery, where we had some friendly competition while playing Scattergories and Apples to Apples. Girls' weekends are the best kind of weekends!

And as if I hadn't had enough trips to the coast in April, Mom and I headed back down to Charleston this past weekend to celebrate the engagement of one of Katie's lifelong friends, Meg. We drove down Friday and stayed with some old friends in their wonderful house on Johns Island, and then headed back after the party Saturday so I could pack for St. Simon's Island for a week for work! All these trips have been so quick, I'd like to stay in one place for longer than 2 days!

Can y'all believe it's already May? I'm so glad the first 4 months of the year are over (because of the long hours at work, obviously) and am ready to start the vacation train this summer! Trips in May and June include Portland, OR with my sister, NYC for Governors Ball Music Festival, and a week at the beach!

Weekend Update ~ Beach Edition

Sitting at my desk this morning doesn't quite have the same excitement as sitting in a beach chair with my toes in the sand. But I suppose all good things must come to an end.

Here's a recap of my weekend spent at the beach!

The first 2 full days at the beach were completely rainy and gross. I finally made it out to the beach on Wednesday in the hopes of some sunshine and was greeted with lovely thunderstorm clouds over the ocean. But luckily, that storm passed really quickly and it was nice for the rest of the afternoon and the rest of the week!

The 4th was spent with the annual parade of golf carts, a military fly-over with vintage planes, festive cocktails, homemade appetizers, burgers on the grill, and watching fireworks all along the beach!

We spent Friday night at our favorite restaurant, Chive Blossom, which never disappoints! Afterwards, we took a drive around Pawley's Island before heading back to the house.

Since I've been going to Litchfield since I was born, I swear that ocean air runs in my veins. It's always a sad day when we have to drive away!

Linking up with Sami today!

Vacation!

I know I'm completely slacking on my trip recap, but it's just going to have to wait while I soak up 8 glorious days of vacation at the beach. I'll be sinking my toes in the sand tonight and I'm not planning on moving out of my beach chair unless it's to take a nap in the hammock!

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Hope everyone has a great holiday!

"Oh Mexico, You Sound So Sweet..."

Paradise.

That's pretty much the only way to describe our vacation in Cabo San Lucas.

Ryan's mom and stepdad bought a timeshare there this year, and got a "bonus week" for being new owners. They generously invited us, Ryan's stepsister Laurel, and various other friends/coworkers. We had a group of 15 and I couldn't have asked for a more fun group of people to spend 4 days in Cabo with. We had our own chef and bartender, so we only left the house a few times. Boy, were we spoiled.

I'll try to organize my pictures by topic, since all the days kind of ran together!

The House

This place was amazing. There were two bedrooms per floor, and everyone had their own pool. We spent most of our time at the main pool on the bottom floor/beach level with the swim-up bar, and our morning pool time on the top floor pool since it got the most sun.

Most of the floors had an indoor/outdoor pool feature, which was so cool!

The View

Anytime you google Cabo, pictures of "The Arches" will inevitably come up. Actually, this was all I could picture when preparing for our trip. I was incredibly lucky that our house was positioned with the perfect view of the rocks and Lover's Beach. The sun set on the other side of the rocks, but we got a great view of the sunrise each morning!

Where we ate breakfast and lunch every day

Perfection, no?

Swimming with the Dolphins

On Saturday, some of the girls (Laurel, her friend Olivia, Ryan's mom Marni, and I) went to swim with the dolphins. This was by far one of the neatest things I've ever done! You're in a salt water pool with several other people, but each group gets their own dolphin to swim with and pet. I was amazed at how smooth the dolphin's skin was, but they're so muscular! 

I still can't believe I got a kiss from a dolphin! That'll be a memory that'll last forever!

Pool days

We spent 99% of our day by the pool, and I wouldn't have had it any other way in Mexico! 

We indulged in way too many Coronas, chips, pico de gallo and guacamole (oh my goodness, so fresh and amazing), Dirty Monkeys (some kind of frozen concoction with rum, bananas, and chocolate), Bloody Marys, Screwdrivers, and Mai Tais. Hey, when in Rome...

As evidenced by the aftermath at the pool bar on our first night in Cabo...

Ryan's trying to pretend I'm topless in the bottom left picture...

The Gang

Laurel, Olivia, Ryan, and I were the youngest members of our 15-party group, but we had an amazing time making new friends! 

        Ryan and his mom       |  Laurel and Cotton playing on the beach   | Laurel and her dad Scott

Pictures on our 2nd night: the usuals, plus Lance (bottom left), and Glenn and Alex (top right)

Dinner at an Italian restaurant on our final night in Cabo

(Sheri and Sherm with her brother Glenn, bottom left) (Lance, Cotton and me, bottom middle)

The trip was amazing and I kept waking up honestly thinking I was dreaming! I'd love to go back to Cabo one day (except I'm pretty sure no other trip will compare) as it reminds me a lot of Hawaii. 

Having a hard time believing it's really over, but we're back to reality now!

Litchfield Beach

Long time no talk! I've been soaking up the rays in Litchfield for the past week and am sad to see my vacation end. My grandparents bought the house in Litchfield in the 70's, and after they both passed away, my mom and uncle inherited the house to keep it in the family. I've been going to Litchfield since I was born, and even though it's changed a lot over the years, it still feels like home to me when I cross over that bridge in Georgetown and roll the windows down to smell the ocean air.

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That pretty much sums it up.

Let's rewind to the beginning.

Saturday

I hadn't really had a chance to pack but I knew I'd be waiting on my mom to pick me up on our way to the beach, so I took Saturday morning to run, shower, and pack. It was unbelievably hot on Saturday, even when I went out to run at 8:30. I had the great idea to use the interval function on my Garmin watch so I could take walk breaks and avoid overheating.

Intervals are awesome! I'd run 3/4 of a mile, then walk the remainder. I ended up running 2.25 miles in 22 minutes (~ 9:42 pace). I may or may not have run through a few sprinklers during this run. I'm not ashamed.

Mom came to pick me up around 11 am and we were on the road! The drive was rather uneventful and there was a ton of traffic. It took about 45 minutes longer than usual, but we're just glad the car didn't overheat!

Columbia. Famously Hot.

We made a few stops on our way into town. We went to The Fresh Market, the liquor store, and Bi-Lo (ya know, the essentials), and then picked up a few more of these:

These are the BEST candles. I can't get enough of them. They're made out of recycled wine bottles and are made to smell like your favorite wines. My mom purchased the Sangria one two summers ago and then their Christmas scent last year for me. I burn them all the time and was dying to get my hands on a few more of the scents again. I even bought two as gifts for Ryan's families when we go stay with them in Texas. I picked up the Pinot Grigio, the Riesling, and another Sangria. I'm in love.

Back at the house, we unloaded the car and were ready for dinner. We headed over to Austin's Cabana Bar at the Litchfield Inn for a casual dinner by the ocean. I had the fried oyster basket and a Corona, and scarfed down their homemade peach slaw. I managed to catch a glimpse of the sunset before it disappeared behind the palmetto trees:

Ryan was actually in Murrell's Inlet for the weekend playing golf, so I met him and his golf buddies at Drunken Jack's when they came off the course. I love a table full of guys while they tell stories about their escapades. Day 1 at the beach made me one happy girl.

Sunday

I attempted a beach run, but the humidity was unreal. I headed out around 10 am (first mistake) with a water bottle in hand, just in case. It's so hard to run in that kind of heat.  A mile and a half was all I could manage before I had to walk the rest of the way. Lesson learned: go slow and get outside early.

The rest of the day was spent on the sand, with Summer Beer in hand (mixture of lemonade, vodka, and beer). A huge storm rolled in around dinnertime, so Mom and I decided to make nachos at the house and stay inside. Perfect end to the day.

Monday

Beach. Shopping. Pretty sunset.

Tuesday

More of the same. Run, beach, seafood dinner. I could live off of sauteed shrimp and hushpuppies.

Wednesday

Fourth of July! We've been at the beach on this holiday for several years, and it's one of my favorites. The town has a parade right in front of the house, where the beachgoer's decorate their golfcarts and throw out candy. They had a flyover over the beach from NC to GA and then you can see fireworks down the coast all the way to Pawley's Island. Dad finally made it down to join us. Such a fun day.

Thursday

Mom and I decided to take a break from the beach. I kept breaking out in hives on my chest and arms earlier in the week, something that has never happened to me in the sun. I still have no idea what caused it because I wasn't sunburnt or anything. Anyway, better safe than sorry. We went shopping at the Hammock Shops, a Pawley's Island mainstay, and then had dinner at our favorite restaurant in Murrell's Inlet. They have phenomenal hushpuppies and the place is always packed. It's been open since 1948 and the food hasn't changed one bit! 

We took a walk on the beach after dinner and I plotted ways to move into my dream house. Sigh.

Friday

Run + beach + a delicious dinner at Nosh. Lauren and I had visited the new restaurant back in April, but my parents wanted to try it out. It may have been better the second time around. We tried out several menu items (crab dip, herbed cheese, calamari) and I had the Shrimp and Fried Polenta for dinner. I wanted to finish my whole plate but couldn't make any more room in my stomach. YUM!

Cajun Shrimp, one of my fave Lilly prints

Saturday

We decided to head home a day early to beat the traffic. Mom and I went out for a few hours in the morning, but were glad to get inside as there was no breeze on the beach! I was so sad to leave, knowing it'll probably be another year before I get a whole week at Litchfield again. At least we had another pretty sunset on the drive home.

Sunday

A completely lazy day. Ryan made pancakes. We watched Wimbledon, the Braves game, and the Greenbrier Classic. Excellent day in my book. And now my luggage waits to be unpacked...

Back to the real world! But at least it's my birthday week...only one more day of being 23!!