Holiday Recap

When I woke up this morning, I felt like blogging. So here I am, unashamed that I'm sharing a holiday recap a month later.

This Christmas season was wonderful! I love being home with my family, having a lot of time off from work, and just relaxing.

Before everyone went home for the holidays, we hosted "Friendsmas" at our apartment, complete with festive cocktails and tacky sweaters!

We had our annual M&M Dinner at Lazy Goat, but unfortunately Katie hadn't arrived from SF yet so it was just me and the adults!

Next up: Katie and I were "A Perfect Pair" of salt & pepper shakers at our friends' themed party (such a fun idea for a party, by the way)!

And then the Christmas festivities really got started!

The holidays are always a flurry of cooking and baking. Mom and I sit down with a pile of cookbooks and make a menu for the days surrounding Christmas. However, our family takes our traditions very seriously so we usually don't deviate from our standard menu for most occasions.

Snapshots from Christmas Eve & Christmas Day:

The week between Christmas and New Year's was filled with more relaxing, movie watching, and spending time with family. With one last hoorah for New Year's Eve, it was time to go back to work.

2013 was most definitely NOT my favorite year, so we definitely had no problem toasting it goodbye!

Weekend Update

We're back to Monday again!

I had quite a busy week last week and never got around to posting the recap of the rest of my trip! I had my first blogger date with Jess on Wednesday and I'd say it was a success (hint: we stayed for 3 hours)! We took our 17 interns to Happy Hour on Thursday, which turned into staying downtown until 1 am. So I'm really just making excuses but I was freakin' exhausted by the time Friday rolled around!

I had promised my bestie Rachel that I'd visit her in Charleston, so I left work early for an afternoon nap and then I was on the road!

I didn't take the million pictures that I typically would - we had a pretty low-key weekend. She just finished her 3rd (!!!!) year of medical school, so we went out with her classmates at The Crafstmen Taphouse Friday night to celebrate. Saturday started with brunch at Three Little Birds and then we spent the rest of the day at the pool. We had an amazing dinner at Leaf and then were home early with a movie, ice cream, and wine!

I headed back Sunday just in time to hit the pool for an hour or so before I met my parents for dinner at Soby's for Father's Day dinner!

Overall, an extremely successful weekend filled with best friends, sun, naps, and family!

In Loving Memory

There's a good reason for my silence on the blog for the past few weeks.

On Friday, May 3, both my grandfather and grandmother passed away in the same afternoon.

They had been married 71 years, and I can only hope that God just didn't want them to spend a day apart so they went to heaven together that day.

While my dad lost both of his parents in a matter of hours, he said there were a lot of blessings in their deaths.

Blessings of faith, and of love.

My grandfather was 95 and my grandmother was 91. They lived long, fulfilling lives. I'll miss them both very much, but find peace in knowing they're together.

Weekend Update ~ St. Patty's Day + Family

Ryan and I were both pretty darn excited to have his family back in town this past weekend. He only gets to see them a few times a year, so we always have so much fun when they come to Greenville and it's awesome to show them our cute little town!

Friday night, we had a pretty amazing dinner at Rick Erwin's, the well-known (locally owned!) steakhouse in Greenville. The steaks there are incredible and we had a great waiter - he even packed up another two loaves of freshly-baked bread for me to take home! What can I say? This girl loves her carbs.

We always find ourselves at Nose Dive afterwards for shots cocktails.

 

We might be holding hands here..

Total Bros

Laurel and Scott (Ryan's Stepdad)

Little Bro ("Ryan, your girl makes me look good" - gotta love him!)

 And while I must say, these pictures came out nicely - let me take you on a tour of the pictures that it took just to get 5 presentable ones...

So yeah, there's that.

Ryan hasn't quite figured out that if he just smiled for the first picture, we wouldn't have to take 15 more...

We were all moving a little slow on Saturday morning, but finally made it out to Smoke on the Water for lunch. We wanted to sit outside since the weather was gorgeous (hello 70s and sunny), but everyone else in Greenville had a similar idea. All we needed was some greasy burgers and mac and cheese and we were ready to celebrate St. Patty's Day!

 

We went to Liberty Tap Room afterwards, since they have one of my favorite outdoor patios. However, all the tables were full there too. We all piled into a booth inside (boo) and settled in for hours to play a game Ryan's brother, Mike, taught us.

 

Everyone writes down the name of a person (real or fictional) on a napkin and then passes it to another person at the table. You show your napkin to the group, but can't look at it yourself. You then have to ask the group Yes/No questions in order to figure out who you are ("Am I real? Am I female? Am I alive?" etc.) If you get a "no" answer, your turn is over and it moves on to the next person in the group. It's a pretty funny game and keeps everyone engaged and laughing. We played so many rounds, we all finally had to start keeping notes to keep it straight!

 

Some of the funniest and hardest to figure out amongst the group were Santa Claus, Mrs. Piggy, Smokey the Bear, Forrest Gump, Adam Sandler, and Celine Dion.

Then it was time for dinner! I made reservations for us at Nantucket, since everyone was craving seafood after having steak the night before. Nantucket happens to also be owned by Rick Erwin, and the food is fantastic. I can't say we had a bad dish at the table!

 

Our girl Victoria is now engaged! Weee!

 

 

 We finished the night off with lots of green beverages (they even dyed Ryan's mom's wine green!) at Nose Dive, and Ryan had a drink named after him!

 

 

Once the parents called it a night (at 1 am), the kids made one last bar stop, On The Roxx, which is where all good nights should end. They finally kicked us out at 2 am and we had to drag Mike away from the cute bartender. :)

 

Ryan and I had a slumber party in Laurel and Victoria's hotel room Saturday night, which provided some great laughs. I sure love this family!

 

Sunday morning came, we had one last meal at Tommy's Country Ham House, and everyone ate absolutely way too much (Mike ordered a patty melt with a side of western omelet). It was hard telling everyone goodbye, but we have Mexico to look forward to!

 

We got back to Ryan's apartment, and while I'm unloading the car, Ryan thought it'd be nice to take a little nap:

 

 

And that pretty much sums up our weekend!

Merry Merry!

 

Merry Christmas to you and yours!

 

 

My holiday has been filled with family traditions!

 

 

Christmas Eve included a feast of Mom's chicken casserole, Katie's deviled eggs, and my sparkling apple sangria!

 

 

We had our candlelight church service at 8 pm, and then put on our Christmas pajamas, poured some hot chocolate, and drove around town to look at the lights.

Katie and I always sleep in the same bed on Christmas Eve, and then wake up early to open our presents. Mom and Dad spoiled us this year, as they always do, and I'm now blogging from my new iPad!!

 

We had a scrumptious brunch of sausage casserole and Katie made gingerbread with lemon glaze!

We finished opening gifts by digging into our stockings, then everyone took their places on the couch to watch our annual mainstay:

 

 

We're off to Virginia tomorrow to visit my grandparents, aunts and uncles, and cousins!

Hope you all are having a blessed Christmas also!

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is tied for my favorite holiday and this year lived up to its expectations yet again.

I took Wednesday off, picked up my sister at the airport, then we were off to the mountains to spend Thanksgiving with the family! My mom and dad were already at the house and we spent the rest of the day chatting and doing some Thanksgiving day prep.

My mom had purchased a spaghetti casserole to keep us from dirtying up the whole kitchen trying to cook dinner. The 4 of us hadn't had a meal together since May! We enjoyed some wine, Dad built a nice fire, and we all fell asleep early with happy thoughts!

I woke up early Thanksgiving morning and was ready to get cooking! Dad was already up with the coffee brewing, and I started prepping my corn casserole which I also made for the Friendsgiving! We were all taking our time getting ready, until my aunt and uncle called and said they'd be there by 11 am! We kicked it into high gear but were still running around the kitchen when everyone arrived.

My cousin, his wife, their two children, and my cousin's wife's sister showed up shortly after my aunt and uncle, but we were still waiting on my other cousin Matt to make the drive from Greenville. We had a full house with 10 adults and 2 kids! I know that's not as many as most families have at Thanksgiving, but we still had to pull the table inside from the porch to fit everyone!

We sat down to eat about 12:30 or 1 pm and of course went back for seconds! The food was all so delicious, and I was surprised I wasn't sick of it by then since it was my third Thanksgiving meal!

The rest of the afternoon was spent watching my little cousin throw the football around, flipping the TV between football and the James Bond marathon (Thanksgiving tradition), and catching up with family we don't get to see too often. We finally managed to pull ourselves off the couch and head out for a walk around the neighborhood, which was refreshing after all that tryptophan!

My cousin, his wife, and the kiddies headed home but my aunt and uncle stayed with us in the mountains for a night!

 

We lounged on the couch, watched football, and went to bed early! Thanksgiving 2012 was a successful one!

 

On Friday, we bundled up and headed out to cut down our Christmas tree! This was a new tradition for our family and one I can't wait to repeat in the future. It was so fun walking around the farm before we picked the one we wanted to cut down. My sister and I couldn't help but laugh while reenacting all the scenes from "Christmas Vacation," our favorite Christmas movie!

 

The "One"

We decided to go to the first annual "tree lighting" on the square in Cashiers on Friday night, and were surprised at the turnout! There was cider, smores, and a little orchestra. It was a cute start to the Christmas season.

 

 

 

 

Saturday was the Clemson/USC rivalry game, so my sister and I spent the day tailgating and then headed to the game to watch us lose freeze our tails off.

 

 

 

 

Still proud each and every day to be a Clemson Tiger!

 

And that's how I spent my Thanksgiving holiday! I hope everyone had a great time with their families as well, and are gearing up for Christmas!

 

I promise I'll get caught up on my blog posts eventually...Ryan and I just returned from our anniversary trip in Kentucky, which I can't wait to share with y'all!

 

Until then!

 



 



 

Birthday Celebrations

This has been one of the greatest birthdays! I managed to celebrate all week long, because Ryan's birthday happens to be two days after mine! I was spoiled with presents from Ryan, my parents, and my roommate. I'm so blessed. And now I'm blogging from the hotel bed where we're having a weekend getaway in Asheville, NC (a separate post will be necessary for that trip)!

Tuesday night, my parents came to Greenville and took me out for my birthday. We had dinner at Breakwater, a new restaurant I had been wanting to try. The menu consists mainly of seafood and we all cleaned our plates. I had the halibut special, which came with a slice of tomato pie! They sure know the way to a southern girl's heart! And beignets for dessert!

We went back to the apartment so I could open my presents, and I just have to share with you my roommate's super crafty gift! She purchased a cooking class for us (with one of the most popular chef's in Greenville) and made me a flower bouquet out of kitchen utensils! Adorable!

Wooden spoons, metal skewers, and drink stirs!

I got to make quick use of this Cuisinart griddle my parents gave me when I made breakfast for Ryan's birthday on Thursday morning! I can't wait to cook everything on this little thing!

We had Ryan's birthday dinner at Devereaux's, a restaurant we had both been wanting to try. Since I grew up in the area, I've eaten at most of the "nice" restaurants in Greenville but there are still so many Ryan has yet to try. This one was a first for both of us! It didn't disappoint! I had beef prepared two ways and Ryan had the Peking duck. We started with a summer squash soup that was so smooth and creamy; I wish I could recreate it in my kitchen! That was served with jalapeno cornbread. Yum.

Friday, we celebrated our birthdays with our friends in Greenville. We had a group of 10, my roommate and her boyfriend, a coworker of mine and his girlfriend, Ryan's old roommate from Clemson, his current roommate and his girlfriend, and a few of Ryan's coworkers! We had dinner at Trio, our favorite Italian restaurant. We spent the rest of the night bar-hopping. A great time was had by all. I'm just bummed we didn't get a group shot!

Lauren, Holly, and me 

Travis and Abby (Ryan's roommate)

Roomie love

Birthday brownies Holly baked us!

Overall, an amazing week with my favorite people! Can it be my birthday all the time?? :)