Pumped Up Kicks...

So I know in my last post I said I would get back on writing these blogs, well I kind of slacked again, so sorry.

Within the past two weeks I feel like I have had a very friend oriented life, which I actually really love.
Jena and TJ came down for 2 days before I ventured with them to Hilton Head for the weekend, the Kurzners were so kind to let me stay with them and I was happy to get to see and spend time with Jena, I miss my friends from home constantly.

Jena, Me, and Ashley

Jena!

I started to hang out with people from work and we have gone out and had a great time and I love picking their brains about places to check out and finding the hidden gems of Charleston. I also met a great friend who was only here for a couple of days but soon became my BFF, and I was so sad to see him go, but I will hopefully be visiting Justin in California sometime soon (and seeing my other Cali friends :) )

Justin!

Ronnie and I also went to the O.A.R. concert which was awesome, had a really great time and discovered a new band that I fell in love with, SOJA, and bought the CD and met the lead singer. It was the first concert I had been to this summer and I just love going to see live music :) I also tried out the new planking/owling fad, check it out lol:

SOJA

Owling

Planking

O.A.R.

Then this past week mom was back down with two of her girlfriends, it was nice to see them and we had  some great food and had a day at the beach. I think the next time I will see mom will hopefully be Thanksgiving. 

I have also just making catch up phone calls to friends and honestly I find joy in knowing what is going on in their lives and seeing how happy everyone is, I know it sounds cheesey but its true.  Last night Ronnie and I went and had dinner with my friend Adam and I just love making dinner and just hanging out, its the little things like that make an average day turn into a great night. 

So hopefully I will continue to update my blog more frequently... 

Here is a song that I was feeling today: Have a great one!

snapshot.

I am disappointed that I have been slacking in my blog lately, but I have been busy! So Jena came down this week and it was great to see her, catch up, and celebrate her birthday. We had a lot of fun and met a lot of new people, and I was able to show her around Charleston and actually know what I was talking about. Slowly but surely I am learning where things are and what I still need to check out. Sorry this is a short post but I wanted to put something up, I will add photos to it later or check out my Facebook :)

MIA

So sorry that I have been MIA from the blog lately, lots going on surprisingly, not a bad thing but kept me away from the blog.

First of all shout out to one of my BFF's Jena K. Happy Birthday Lady!! I sooooo wish I could be there to celebrate with you! I am sure you will have a blast and will drink one for me, but it may not be too long until I see you and I cannot wait for that :)

Also shout out to Betsy and Missy sorry I could not make it to your showers but I love you both and need to catch up with both of you soon!

Okay, back to the whole blogging thing...

I have finally found a job! I will now be working at the front desk at the Renaissance Charleston Historic District Hotel just started training this week, and so far so good. I am also probably going to pick up a part time job as well but not sure what that will be yet. The hotel is located in the heart of the historic district which I love and there is so much within walking distance which is great! Looking forward to all the cool people I will meet in this job and maybe some new stories to tell.

My mom was here last week and we had a great time, she brought me Skyline which was so good and I didn't realize how much I actually missed it. We also went to see the Angel Oak tree which was amazing I will put a few pics up:

Really impressive in person for sure! Mom and I went to the beach one day and of course went shopping. She will be back sometime in July so more Skyline to come!

Last weekend Ronnie and I went out Friday night and grabbed a drink at Red's Ice House here is the view from the top deck:

Its right on the water and you can basically park your boat at the bar, pretty cool. Next we went to the Tattooed Moose I had read about this place online and wanted to check it out, it was legit. I had heard they had really good food and an awesome selection of beer, both true. We ordered garlic bleu cheese fries, amazing, look for yourself:

Ronnie and I biked around the James Island County Park and let the dog hang out in the dog park, and I took Ronnie to check out the Angel Oak tree for himself. 

Nothing too exciting happened this week besides starting work, but today I did get to catch up with Haja which was needed and my other BFF Jena S. will be here this weekend and more BFFs Sherry and Meghan will be here July 4th weekend!!!! Reallllyyyy happy to see all of them :) :) 

I think this is all for now, as I am sure when Jena gets here there will be plenty of stories to tell.

Lemme see you wop...

So recently thinking about all of the dance songs out there and how ridiculous people look doing them, but   I will admit that they are a blast to dance to, but really? some of them are really out there. Lets take a look at a few:

Cupid Shuffle

Wop

Halle Berry

Party Rock Shuffle

Electric Slide

Bernie

Line dances have always been popular and can help a person with no rhythm out, or get the party started at a wedding or dance, but really I feel like we are all fools. I am not saying that I do not do these, hell I have done them and came up with little moves to make it my own, thinking I was hot sh*t.  In all actuality redonkulous, but everyone is doing it so we can be in the same boat, together, looking a hot mess. 

Just a thought...

Pirates, Swamps, and Sunburns

On Friday I spent some time at the pool and managed to forget to turn over = super sunburn on only my front side. I know really attractive, but what are you going to do? After aloeing up, I went to go see the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie, I have attached the trailer; it was good but I honestly don't know how many more of these movies they can make, its kind of getting old.


Today I woke up burning of course, but then headed out to Cypress Gardens it was beautiful, they have a butterfly house, swampquarium, hiking trails, and then you can take a paddle boat out into the swamp and follow a marked trail through the swamp. It was really cool and we even saw a Crocodile, kind of scary but really awesome!

I am not sure what my plans are for tomorrow but looking forward to checking out something else new!

Memorial Day

As many of us take the last weekend in May to go out of town, party all weekend, enjoy a Monday off, we never really look into why the last Monday in May is so important.

Here is a brief history of Memorial Day or Decoration Day;  Memorial Day was officially proclaimed on 5 May 1868 by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, in his General Order No. 11, and was first observed on 30 May 1868, when flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery. The first state to officially recognize the holiday was New York in 1873. By 1890 it was recognized by all of the northern states. The South refused to acknowledge the day, honoring their dead on separate days until after World War I (when the holiday changed from honoring just those who died fighting in the Civil War to honoring Americans who died fighting in any war). It is now celebrated in almost every State on the last Monday in May (passed by Congress with the National Holiday Act of 1971 (P.L. 90 - 363) to ensure a three day weekend for Federal holidays), though several southern states have an additional separate day for honoring the Confederate war dead: January 19 in Texas, April 26 in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and Mississippi; May 10 in South Carolina; and June 3 (Jefferson Davis' birthday) in Louisiana and Tennessee.


I also did not know this about Memorial Day red poppies are to be worn in remembrance of those who were killed serving in the military, this was inspired by a poem written by Moina Michael:

We cherish too, the Poppy red

That grows on the fields where valor led,

It seems to signal into the skies

That blood of heroes never dies.

So please take the time today to thank someone who currently serves/ served in the military and thank them for their service to our country, and take the time on Monday at 3pm for the National Moment of Remembrance.

I want to say a special Thank you to all of my friends and family that have served or are serving in the military:

• Joel Dulashanti
• Brandon Moe
• Adam Bates
• Ronnie Rackley
• Matt Campbell
• Matt Doxsey
• John McElwee
• Missy Briggs
• Steve Bettger
• Joel Geesaman
• Ashley Henderson 
• Ben Goodpaster 
• Taylor Prazynski

Sorry if I forgot anyone, but thank you again for all that you do for our country!

Friends, Family, Birthdays, and Weddings

So this past weekend I ended up traveling back to Ohio for some monumental events; my brother's 21st birthday and one of my high school/ college roomie's wedding. It was a jam packed weekend of seeing friends and family. I ended up going downtown with friends on Friday night to Bartini's had a great time celebrated Mallory's birthday, lots of dancing involved and of course a late night Waffle House trip to close it out.

Jena, myself, Andrea, Erika, and Mallory

Chris, Myself, and Jimmy

Haja, Jimmy, Myself, and Hadi 

Saturday was my brother Michael's 21st birthday, I had Katie and Greg's wedding to go to so we celebrated Sunday with drinks at Quaker Steak and Lube and a special shout out to Jimmy and Peter for coming to help celebrate, very much appreciated. Katie and Greg's wedding was a blast, I started out by doing the makeup for most of the bridal party (PS they looked gorgeous!) Then headed to the church for the ceremony, Katie looked stunning, and followed by the reception at the Mulhauser Barn. They had great food and drinks, had a blast on the dance floor, and spent some awesome time with old friends and new! Here are a couple pics from the wedding:

Katie and Greg, its official! 

Andrea, Myself, and Jessica

Me, Jenna, Jessica, Becca, and Jill

Me with the Newlyweds! 

It was a great weekend although the drive home was rough it was worth the trip home, not sure when the next trip will be! 

My First Visitor!

This weekend I was lucky enough to have one of my old roommates / sorority sister / friend come and visit me! Ashley was in Myrtle Beach with family and I went up there and she joined me here for a very fun couple of days.

On Saturday we headed to Park Circle to check out the Charleston Pride Festival and it was a blast of course there were some great outfits, music and drinks. Here are a couple of photos from the parade:

Next we headed downtown to check out the Market, Rainbow Row, the Battery, we had lunch at Mad River Bar and Grille. There also was a Carnival Cruise in town too. After we spent some time downtown, we headed back to my place to lounge by the pool, made some friends, and then checked out the Market Street Saloon for drinks. Here are a couple of pictures from the rest of our weekend:

It was really great to catch up with Ashley and take the time rebuilding our friendship. We spent a lot of time talking and remembering old times, it was great and I cannot wait to her to come visit and see her again :)

Small Blurb...

Not too much to write about today so here are a couple of things that were on my mind. 

So this whole not having a job thing is starting to become frustrating, hopefully something will work out soon! Today a lot of my frustration was taken out at the gym, which is a great thing. 

It stormed here pretty bad last night around 2am, waking me up and then I was awake for an hour or so until the storm passed. The good thing is though that I finally finished the book I was reading, Something Borrowed  by Emily Giffin. I really enjoyed this book and the movie just came out so I will hopefully check that out soon, here is a link to the movie trailer. 

I am in need of another book to read, anyone have any suggestions?

Weekend Whirlwind

This weekend went by quickly but it was jam packed with fun new things! First Ronnie and I had tickets to the Charleston Riverdogs game, on Friday it rained all day here so we were expecting a delay, but when we arrived to our surprise the Citadel team had a game before that was also on a rain delay. So we decided to check out these famous hot dogs, I went with the Riverdog; mustard BBQ sauce, cole slaw and okra on top, not too shabby. So since the game was delayed we decided to leave and grab a few drinks which lead to a lot of drinks which lead to a horrible hangover on Saturday.


While trying to recover on Saturday we traveled with some friends up to McClellanville about a hour and a half north of Charleston to the Low Country Shrimp Festival. This was amazing, there was music, arts and crafts, great food and of course a lot of shrimp. They also had the blessing of the fleet and all of these gorgeous boats were passing us and we even spotted some dolphins! After the festival we checked out Gilligan's which is a seafood restaurant, not too bad either!

Today I met up with a friend from high school and her husband that live in Charleston, we headed to Triangle Char and Bar for brunch. I had belgium waffles with peaches and a couple of mimosas, very good. It was great to see her, meet her husband, and catch up! Hopefully I will hang out with them some more and cheer on the Reds and Bengals while we are here!

A day spent with the dogs...

Today I headed out to Folly Beach to take Oreo to the beach for a nice walk, and I also checked out Jack's Cosmic Dogs.

Folly Beach is probably my favorite beach here, there is a lot to do and of course its beautiful, so Oreo and I started our day out here. I am pretty sure you are not supposed to have dogs on that part of the beach from May- September, but rules are made for breaking! Today was probably the coolest day since I have been here with a high of about 66, but still sunny and beautiful, I will take it! Here are a couple of photos from the beach:

After we were done at the beach, I wanted to check out Jack's Cosmic Dogs. I have heard amazing things about this place so lets try it out! 

So when I pulled in I really enjoyed the atmosphere, its really beachy and fun. There are several different  types of dogs that you can order from, they also have DRAFT root beer, fries, and milk shakes. You can check out their full menu here. I was first introduced to Jack's while I was watching, "The Best Thing I Ever Ate" on the Food Network, it was on the hometown favorites as Alton Brown's pick. While Alton Brown is not my favorite person on FN I was intrigued to try the new take on the All American Hot Dog. I went simple with my first choice as I wanted to be able to get the full experience on each item, so I went with the Omega Dog:

Basically this is a hot dog covered with spicy mustard and lots of cheese, if you know me then this is all I need. The hot dog itself was pretty good, they make them to order there but it is worth the wait. The cheese was like the cheese wiz that they put on authentic Philly cheesesteaks, and the spicy mustard was not as spicy as I would like it to be. I am willing to try some other dogs here at Jack's but I am looking forward to trying out the hot dogs at the Riverdogs game tomorrow. I also decided to try one of Jack's draft root beers, which was nice but I can say it was not as good as my hometown's own Jolly's :)

Happy Cinco De Mayo everyone and enjoy a Margarita or 2 3 and some Queso!

Something Borrowed...

Since I am new to the area, and my family and friends want to know what I am doing I figured I would borrow the idea of creating a blog to keep everyone updated. Cliche, I know.

I have had a lot of time to think, rediscover myself, and get on the page I want to be on in my life. Moving here was a really hard decision for me, but a decision that needed to be made. I had split support from my family on this and in a way they felt as if I abandoned them. I needed to be selfish and do this, for me, I am in the point in my life where I am ready to learn, explore, become the person I have always wanted to be and do it on my own. This is probably one of the scariest things I have ever done, I am ready to fail, but I cannot wait to succeed.

I cannot wait to discover to this city and find my coffee shop, bar, park, beach, local hangout, favorite food, etc. Charleston has so much to offer me and I am ready to explore. This weekend I am going to my first Charleston Riverdogs game, checking out a farmer's market and shrimp festival and meeting up with a friend from high school who lives here as well. I have found the Charleston City Paper is a great resource and even has, "The Best of Charleston" article that has lead me to some gems :)

I cannot get over how beautiful this city is and where I live is great:

Hopefully there will be more to come shortly, so I will sign off with this quote:

"As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others." 

Nelson Mandela