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!

Life Lately

Y'all, I'm alive! Busy season kicked my butt more than I could've possibly imagined this year, but I managed to squeeze in some fun in the past 2 months!

Here's a quick recap of what I've been up to since February (not pictured: the 234930 hours I sat at my computer working):

It snowed! Lauren and I were snowed in for almost 3 days, which just meant we worked from home and almost went stir crazy. Snow days as an adult are not near as fun! We finally ventured out on day 3 to meet friends for pizza and beer - much needed socialization!

I went to the mountains with my parents for a quick weekend getaway.

Katie came home to be maid of honor in her friend's wedding, and it was one of the most fun weddings! Such a pretty location (on the lake in Clemson) and perfect weather for Ashley & Weston!

And in between, I hung out with friends, organized my closet, went on a bike ride, tried to steal a few dogs, and I did a lot of drinking as evidenced by my camera roll...

I also went gluten-free (more on that later this week) and have planned several upcoming vacations!

What all have you been up to while I've been away?

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (Except that's a lie)

(I wrote this post the week before Christmas, and somehow never managed to post it...)

My heart is heavy while I write this recap post from my trip to Philly (over a month later). When my friend Sarah moved to Philly, she moved in with her grandparents, who lived outside the city, while she looked for a roommate/an apartment. Having lost all 4 of my grandparents already, I loved being in Sarah's grandparents home, with her sweet grandmother (who was battling cancer) and her sweet grandfather, too. While I was there, her grandmother fixed us a delicious meal with her famous crab cakes, while they told us stories about their vacations all over the world (all 7 continents)! I was devastated to find out that Sarah's grandmother passed away Tuesday night. She was such a sweet, sweet woman, full of life, and made me miss my grandmothers.

Sarah's Grandparents' home

I flew in late Friday night, so by the time we found my luggage at the airport and got back to the house, we both just wanted to grab dinner, catch up, and crash. But of course no time spent with Sarah is lacking a glass of wine and an episode of Scandal!

We were up early Saturday so we could take the train into the city.

We started out at Reading Terminal Market, in the hopes of finding a beer tasting Sarah had heard about. After wandering around the entire market, we stumbled upon the tasting, and I found my favorite beer ever on tap. Day. made.

It was a chilly day in Philly, so we combined sight-seeing with little pleasures to thaw out from the cold. We took a walk by City Hall and the LOVE statue (which is disappointedly tiny, by the way) before finding a salon to get manicures (another Charlotte/Sarah ritual). We then headed further into Center City to look at an apartment for Sarah on the cutest street. We ducked into Monk's, a cozy cafe which was just like the ones I went to in Belgium, for a pot of warm mussels.

Then it was off to Old City for the historical sites!

We stopped in Washington Square to see the Eternal Flame and the tomb of the unknown soldier, then walked to Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell (which is now inside, which is also dissapointing).

We met up with Sarah's friends afterwards, had dinner at Triumph Brewing Company, and then went out on the town. It's safe to say no pictures were taken for the rest of the evening!

Late Sunday, a coworker flew in to Philly and we headed to New Jersey for work, but due to lucky circumstances, we got to head back to Philly earlier than expected Tuesday to catch our flight out! One last night out in Philly at El Vez (delicious Mexican food) was complete with 2 middle-of-the-night fire alarms. But hey, complaining works, and I got our hotel rooms for free!

We couldn't go all the way to Philly without getting a philly cheese steak from Pat's, but I have to say, one is probably enough for me for a very long time!

My Favorite Holiday!

My favorite holiday has come and gone. But luckily, Christmas is a very close second and it's only 23 days away!

I'm not ashamed to admit I had 4 Thanksgiving meals this year and each one was better than the one before. We hosted our 2nd annual Friendsgiving, my sister was home briefly the weekend before Thanksgiving so we had dinner with her, my office hosted a Thanksgiving potluck on Monday, and then I headed to the mountains for the real thing. Not only did I have 5 glorious days off, but it SNOWED in the mountains! Probably the only time I'll get to see snow this year.

Ah, the greatest time of year!

How did y'all spend your holiday?

Linking up with Sami

Weekend Update x 4

After an unintentional hiatus from blogging, this weekend update will be a long one (spanning a entire month, obviously).

First up:

My dad's 60th birthday surprise in the mountains! My sister flew in from California and then my parents' supper club all came to the mountains to celebrate my wonderful dad turning 60!

Next up:

Gameday came to Clemson for the second time when we played FSU, but we don't really need to discuss the outcome of that one...

Other mentionables in the past month:

Clemson beat Georgia Tech on a chilly Thursday night. I traveled to Chattanooga for work. I took a day off. I got a sinus infection. Mom and I visisted a Southern Living design home in the mountains. I sat through 8 hours of CPE. I visited a brewery. Mom and I visited a Southern Living design home in the mountins. And I stole a puppy (wishful thinking).

Come back tomorrow for an update of my trip to Philly to visit one of my besties!

What all have you been up to lately?

Linking up with Sami

Weekend Update

It's a rainy Monday here and I have an October 15th work deadline looming, so this weekend recap will be short and sweet!

I was working away on Friday when shortly after lunch, I started to feel all achy and flu-like, or like I was coming down with strep. I left work around 4:30 to find I had a 100 degree fever. Don't believe anyone when they say work doesn't make you sick! That made for a really miserable Friday night in bed.

However, I woke up Saturday feeling much better (sore throat but no fever) so I rallied so we could go to Woofstock. Every year, the Humane Society puts on an all-day event with all-you-can-drink from 7 different local breweries, the food trucks come out, and there were 3 bands. Lauren and I obviously don't have a dog but we had no problem stalking other peoples' dogs and trying to kidnap them as our own. I started off the day with a pumpkin cinnamon roll from Neue Southern food truck and it was a little taste of fall even though it was 90 degrees outside.

We left the festival earlier to catch Clemson beat down on Syracuse, then met up with friends at Mellow Mushroom for pizza.

I mainly did nothing on Sunday, which is exactly how I prefer my Sundays to be.

Over and out.

Weekend Update

It seems like I only have time to show up on Monday morning around these parts.  Honestly, all of these recruiting events for work are kicking my booty. I got home after 10 pm three nights in a row last week, after leaving the house before 8 am. Woof.

This weekend, I got to cross another item off my list (visit a food truck!), celebrate the engagement of two great friends (except I managed to not take a single picture of them), and get my life organized before I hop on a plane to California on Friday (more on that later)!

We traveled to the lake to surprise Holly the morning after Trent proposed! I definitely think she was shocked when she came up the stairs to find over 30 of her closest friends and family (2 of her college roommates had driven over 10 hours)! A champagne brunch followed while everyone "oohed and aahed" over the ring. The cutest part was Trent had bought an "engagement ring" for Holly's dog Riley, too!

After raining the entire day Saturday, the sun came out for a mere 30 minutes to show off a magical sunset.

Happy days celebrating friends! Linking up with Sami this fine morning!

Weekend Update

Visiting an apple orchard was probably one of the items on my 101 in 1001 list that I was the most excited about. When I found out it was going to be 70 degrees on Saturday, I grabbed 2 of my best girlfriends and up the mountain we went.

We visited Sky Top Orchard, about 45 minutes from Greenville, and had the best time! I can't believe I've never done this before, but it'll definitely be a yearly tradition from here on out! Now to decide what to cook/bake with all these apples!

The rest of the weekend was filled with the usual, football, friends, a baby shower for a coworker, and a Sunday afternoon nap!

Linking up with Sami

Weekend Update

Weekend recaps can start on Wednesdays, right? The beauty of being the author of this little blog here is that I can make my own rules!

Two friends of mine and I decided spontaneously to travel to Charlotte on Wednesday night to see John Mayer. I've seen him in concert 4 times now, but neither Kirby nor Sarah had, so I was more than eager to share with them the amazingness that is Johnnie May (yes, that is his official nickname).

We jammed to his new CD and all of his oldies on the drive up, and didn't get home until 2 am, but it was most definitely worth it. I'll see him a million times more...(crossed #61 off the list)!

Unfortunately, our girl Sarah moved to Philly on Friday morning, so we also spent Thursday night celebrating her last night in Greenville. That of course included cheering on her beloved Ravens (even if they did lose). I'm going to miss her like crazy! Can't wait to start planning a trip to Philly to visit her though!

The remaining theme of the weekend was football, as that's all I did Saturday and Sunday. Cheered my Tigers onto victory again (#3 in the nation baby) and won my first week of Fantasy football against Lauren!

I love when my mom surprises me with little goodies! I've been wanting this J.Crew bracelet forever!

Happy Monday everyone! Linking up with Sami!

Weekend Update ~ Labor Day Edition

This weekend had all the ingredients to be perfect: a holiday, college football, a Clemson win, and a mini-vacation to the mountains.

To try to express how amazing it was to return to Clemson and cheer my Tigers to victory against the Bulldogs on Gameday is simply impossible...

Every muscle in my body was hurting Sunday morning from being so tense the entire game and walking over 4 miles tailgate-hopping, but it was so very worth it.

I spent the rest of Sunday and Monday relaxing in the mountains with my parents. We visited the Cashiers Designer Showcase 2013 house, took a hike around the lake, and I took multiple naps.

With Labor Day gone, I'm officially ready for my favorite season, FALL!!!

Linking up with Sami