Hey Hey Friday!

Hello out there!

Cheers to the freakin' weekend!

Actually, I have to work tomorrow, but regardless...

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What's on my mind today?

Hmmm...

Well, my man is jetting up to Atlantic City for a Bachelor Party so I've got the house to myself this weekend.  This morning, as he was organizing his flight and hotel confirmations,  it got me thinking about doing a vacation post.

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Months ago I mentioned the possibility of a spring vacation to the Amalfi Coast.  This is my dream vacation and I'm determined to eventually make it there, however our priorities right now do not fall in line with such an expensive trip. 

We are, however, planning on going somewhere for a one year anniversary trip.

We've mused Caribbean (from my research Aruba or the DR seem reasonable cost-wise), but I'm really looking for a cultural experience beyond tiki drinks and white sand.

Another trip we've dreamed about at length, Napa Valley.

I could see this trip appearing budget friendly at first, and then becoming astronomical with incidentals.  

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I have a binder of random magazine clippings of destinations I've found interesting over the years.

Last night I was looking through and noticed an article from a 2009 Everyday with Rachel Ray on Budget Travel.  It gave alternate destinations to expensive trips.

The particular page I had saved was regarding Italy,

and suggested an alternate of a city in Central Mexico,

San Miguel de Allende.

And now I'm kind of obsessed with planning our (imaginary?) trip there.

This is certain to be much more reasonable than my Italian dream, however we will be house hunting this fall and nothing can really be planned until we are closer to reaching that goal.

But, I mean...Humor me for a minute.

!!!!!

Have a great weekend!

Life Lately (Humpity Hump!)

Lots happenin' around these parts lately...

I'm taking it back a couple weeks to Valentine's 

because I haven't done a catch-up since!

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That Friday night my coworker and I grabbed a drink right around the corner from work at Craft Conundrum.  There was a launch party happening that night for Good and Evil Brewing.

We tried a sample of their jalapeno beer which was really good!

Disclaimer: I love spicy.

My sweetheart surprised me with the massage at Charleston Place that I mentioned in my V-day roundup.

I actually had to work on Valentine's (Saturday) so we had a true day of rest and relaxation on Sunday.  After our massages we took full advantage of access to the spa and enjoyed the hot-tub and steam room.

  

King Street view from the window:

My work trip was cancelled last week due to weather conditions so I was able to enjoy being a homebody.  This particular night we kept warm with smooth red wine and a roasted chicken:

And this brings us up to this past weekend!  

We celebrated my sister-in-law and her upcoming wedding with a Bachelorette weekend on Folly!!

View from the porch:

It was frrrrreeeezing Friday night but we turned up the heat, literally and figuratively,

 and parTAYed the night away ;)

#FiftyShadesofTay

Saturday we dragged our butts to Folly Gras where we fit in with the rest of the maniacs.

Note the bride-to-be's beautiful white mask!

Also to note, these photos were taken with a selfie stick.

Annnd just to kill a few more brain cells, we decided to hit the town Saturday night...

Thank you to Scotty with Green Taxi for getting us to and from safely,

and for making us laugh!

That about does it!
What have y'all been up to lately??

Mars and Venus: Life Lessons from The Bachelor

On Sunday night we watched the SNL 40 Reunion, and so I was sure to record the first segment of the epic "2 night Bachelor Event".  This meant that on Monday I was able to indulge in 4 hours of guilty pleasure television!!  As you can imagine, my husband was thrilled.

He reluctantly watched around 15 minutes with me and it was an educational experience.

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Before the elimination ceremony, one of the ladies divulges privately to the camera that she is planning to leave on her own.  

She asks to speak to the Bachelor so she can tell him she's decided to go home.

 Five minutes later, after he walks her out, she appears devastated to be leaving.  

She is filmed sad and crying with fits of  "I just don't understand"...

At this point K says, as genuine and matter of fact as it comes, "Why is she crying when she just said she wanted to leave?"...

And in that sentence: Mars and Venus revealed.

Subconsciously or not, I believe all women expect men to understand that we don't always say what we mean.

And I think (for the most part) men don't understand why we want to read into everything they say.

Without even watching the show, I could explain in detail the reasoning a woman would say she was leaving and the contradict herself immediately by being sad to go.

She didn't really want to leave.

She wanted him to beg her to stay.

Etc Etc Etc.

Without question I can understand K's bewilderment with the same scenario, because: face value.

This isn't rocket science (or is it...mars? venus? ;) ) but I thought it was a straight forward example of the contrast in the ways we see things.

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Check out my post on Mars and Venus at The Grocery Store.

Highfive Friday!

Happy Friday the 13th!

I've been out sick from work since Tuesday so I'm actually happy to be back and with the land of the living today.  

Here's a highfive for getting through the week!

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{1}

Lookie lookie what was on my desk when I arrived this morning.

I have must have a secret admirer at work...

I will accept this rose! ;)

Also from a coworker, Oh my gosh, Is this not the cutest Valentine!  

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{2}

This is my bridesmaids dress for an upcoming March wedding.

We were given the option to choose any dress in navy.  This is the second wedding I've been able to choose my own dress and I love it!

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{3}

Have any of y'all been to Avondale Wine and Cheese Bar lately?

It's come under new ownership over the past year and has become so much more happenin'!

$3.00 house wines during Happy Hour has my name written all over it.

We tried it out a couple of weeks ago and will definitely be going back.

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{4}

Oh no they didn't!  Little tan Alfies on my tootsies is a dream come true!!

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{5}

Lastly, It's my girl Dr. Abby's Birthday today!

Cheers to that :)

Charleston Valentine's Day Ideas!

Love is in the air...

Or maybe just germs. Because I am coming down with something y'all!  

Regardless, the day of love is upon us and I'm nothing if not a true romantic.

That being said, K and I have never celebrated Valentine's Day.

I think it has something to do with the fact that our first year together it fell on a Wednesday when K had to work late, so he picked up Chic Fil A and we ate on the couch.

But I so much enjoy hearing about what all you love birds have going on.

I've heard a few fun ideas that I thought I'd share if any Chas locals are still looking to celebrate your L-O-V-E.

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Ok, this one I heard from a coworker and I think it sounds fun.

I wrote about Wild Blue Ropes before, and for Valentine's they are offering a "Date Night Climb and Bonfire."  What do you think?

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This has to be my favorite of the options I'm posting.

We loved our Couples massage at The Surrey in NYC.

  I am pretty loyal to the Wentworth Mansion for my massages here in town but I have never been to the Charleston Place Spa.  The savings is about $50 and it includes champs. Win win.

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Ok, if I were a single Charlestonian I believe that the Baystreet Biergarten would be my spot.  I just think it is one of the coolest mingle friendly bars around town.  

Their "Bitterness Bash" sounds like a fun Friday night!

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This one had me cracking up!  I received an email from the Charleston Riverdog's offering Valentine's Day packages.  Considering it's not Baseball season, they got pretty creative with the gift of tickets to future games hand delivered by Charlie the Riverdog. Omg yes! ;)

I think that this idea would be infinitely more successful if Bill Murray were to hand deliver.

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This one isn't unique, but it's just a recommendation for anyone looking to have a simple romantic dinner. 

Fulton Five is my favorite restaurant for date night, hands down.

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And for those staying in, Caviar and Bananas is offering Valentine's Day deliveries!

A little gourmet goes a long way...

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Last one...Who doesn't want to be serenaded by the Charleston Barbershop Chorus!

While some may find this mortifying, I would love it!

So those are my picks for Valentine's Day in the Lowcountry.

What are you planning this weekend?

Friday Highfive

Happy Friday!!!

Here is a highfive!

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{1}

What are y'all up to this weekend?  We are going to the CofC Homecoming Basketball game tomorrow night!  We have passes to the hospitality suite which I think is just as fun as the game ;)

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{2}

We got a surpise in the mail this week.  

It's a framed photo of us from the Deb Ball back in December.

Ooh la la

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{3}

Hey hey, look at my baby with the salt and pepper beard.  Isn't he smokin'? (har har)

This was at an Oyster Roast/Couples Shower last weekend.

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{4}

Wacky Mac!  I found this in the foreign food section at BiLo.
It's like a random noodle shape bonanza!  

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{5}

O. M. G. 

Who else is over the moon excited about Jurassic World coming out this summer.

Not only do I love the Jurassic Park franchise, but I love Chris Pratt.

I am so so excited to see him in a lead role, finally!

Our Charleston Wedding: The Reception

It's a bittersweet Tuesday...

I'm at the end of my Wedding Photo posts.

These photos pick up at the South Carolina Society Hall for Cocktail Hour...

Enjoy, and Thank you for joining me in remembering my fairytale day!

I like that this picture captures the magnolia leaves on the mantle.  

This was in the "bar room":

K and I's first dance was to "That's Where It's At" by Sam Cooke.  

Do yourself a favor and Youtube it.

My dad and I danced to Will Hoge's "Baby Girl".  

I've known this would be our song since I was in highschool.  

At one point my dad asked if I wanted to spin, which I imagined referred to a simple twirl.  Next thing I know, we are Jack and Rose in Titanic.  You know the scene.

Also, mid-way through the song, we invited all fathers and daughters to join in, which I really loved!

My Uncle Ralph gave the blessing.

During the dinner hour I got caught up in a duet of Summer Lovin' from Grease with my brother.  

We thought we looked so cool but later watched a video and My gosh if we aren't the 2 biggest dorks in the world.  

From there we played Beach Music for an hour or so.

The sweetest:

Eric Grady, our Charicature Artist, was awesome!!

  

Time for the toasts!

My matron of honor and brother gave toasts:

Gracious I loved our cake!  We chose a different flavor for each tier.

I can NOT wait for 11.22 to dig into the frozen top layer!!

After the cake cutting my brother and I "kicked off" the dance party by breaking it down to "Turn Down For What".  We love to freestyle and have always had so much fun dancing together.

"And They Lived Happily Ever After..."

For all Wedding photos and posts, click here.