ATX

Goodness, can you believe it is almost the end of the September? I sure can't! Let me catch you up on what I've been up too...

I spent Labor Day weekend in Austin , TX visiting my good friend from college, Ellie!

Remember this post when I mentioned I was planning on visiting her sometime soon? Well, shortly after that visit, I booked my plane ticket! I thought what better weekend then a 3 day weekend which I turned in to a 4 day weekend by taking Friday off of work to go visit Ellie and see Austin . I was lucky enough to find a reasonably priced airline ticket to fly to Austin out of Columbia . For those of you who aren’t very familiar with Columbia , it is the Capital of SC however, we have struggled attracting airlines to Columbia . Which means it’s usually very costly and takes lots of stops to get to your final destination. Well thankfully that was not the case when flying to Austin because the drive to Charlotte is very boring.

Back to my wonderful trip! I arrived in Austin Friday afternoon, Ellie picked me up at the airport after work and we headed to meet some of her friends for happy hour at Dogwood. The bar had a great a great atmosphere and it was nice to meet her friends. We had dinner reservations down the street at a Mexican restaurant, Z'Tejas. We got to eat outside and enjoy the hustle and bustle of the restaurant while sipping on some strong margaritas and delicious corn bread and of course our main entrée. I was starving, what else is new, so I devoured my entire dinner and it was tasty! After dinner we enjoyed one more very strong cocktail before heading home. You can say it, we’re lame, but really Ellie had just started a new job earlier that week and we were exhausted. By midnight we were sound asleep!

Saturday morning we slept in just for a little bit and then woke up and headed right out to start our day. Our first stop was to an amazing coffee shop not far from Ellie’s house called Caffe Medici. I told Ellie to order me whatever she was having (as I did with many of the places she took me in Austin) and can I tell you this iced coffee was amazing. In all seriousness it was probably the best I’ve ever had.


We passed a farmer’s market on our way to brunch so of course we had to stop. Experiencing the farmer’s market made me miss living in Florence , Italy . Ellie and I studied abroad in Florence for a semester in college and loved every second of it. I would do anything to go back, I know Ellie would too! After touring the market, we were starving, so we headed right for Taverna for $1 Mimosas. Don’t judge, I’m on vacation. I ordered Belgium waffles with fresh fruit, they hit the spot and the raspberries, blueberries, were so fresh and sweet, they just melted in my mouth.

After brunch we went to Whole Foods, did you know that Whole Foods corporate office is in Austin, TX . Let me just tell you this is unlike any Whole Foods I’ve ever been to and of course made me wish even more then I already do that they would open one in Columbia. The whole purpose of stopping by Whole Foods was not to look around even though we did, but to pick up some stuff to take to a friends house who was having a get together to celebrate recently being single and to watch the UT football game of course. Although it was a little overwhelming being in a house full of people you don’t know, I had so much fun talking to friends of Ellie’s and experiencing life in Austin.

We left before the game was over and before the party really got started because we had plans with Ellie’s roommate, Meg to celebrate her birthday. Meg spent her birthday sky diving with her friend Holly; they both survived of course and had an incredible experience which they say they would do again! We went to Perla’s for dinner, absolutely delicious. Ellie and I shared the Ahi Tuna which was unbelievably good. The atmosphere at Perla’s was very distinguished. After dinner we went to a bar down the street and sat at a table outside. We all enjoyed one another’s company while celebrating the last hours of Meg’s birthday.

Sunday morning we woke up earlier and went for a walk around the lake. It was so neat to see everyone out exercising with their dogs. That is one thing I noticed about Austin , it seems to be a very dog friendly city, which I of course thought was neat! After our morning workout, Ellie took me to Torchy’s Tacos an eatery in a trailer park (not a real trailer park, a trailer park full of eateries). Torchy’s is known for their tacos and of course did not disappoint. As I was eating all this amazing Mexican food all I could think about was Thomas and how he would be in heaven. To say Thomas loves Mexican food is an understatement!


After lunch we went to went in and out of the shops along South Congress Street or SoCo as the locals call it. Darling shops with so many neat things, we found Ellie two purses and two pairs of shoes and I didn’t spend a dime!

How crazy are their street lights? I've never seen any thing like them before!

How cool is this cupcake shop?

On our way home I asked Ellie if we could go to Anthropologie, one of my favorite stores, but unfortunately they don’t have a store in Columbia , so whenever I go out of town I always try and find one. Our afternoon of shopping wore us out, so we headed home and relaxed for a little before we got ready for my last night in Austin, tear.

Ellie made reservations at Justine’s a fabulous restaurant on the East side of Austin . The restaurant was so quaint and charming; I fell in love the minute we pulled up. We shared a salad and an entrée of scallops for dinner, so we could order dessert. The chocolate pear tart, or whatever it was called because I just made that up, was absolutely divine. I still wanted more after the last bite, isn’t that always the case? It is for me at least. After dinner met up with some of Ellie’s tennis friends at a fairly new bar called Clive’s, yet again great atmosphere and we were able to enjoy sitting outside. I thought it was time to head home but Ellie had a different idea. She told me we had to stop at some wild and crazy bar (that’s my description) because it was packed in everyone in there seemed wasted, but we grabbed one drink each, made a couple rounds around the place and then left. That was an Austin experience in itself!

Before I left on Monday afternoon Ellie took me to Walton’s, Sandra Bullock’s lunch restaurant. Can we talk about how darling this place is? Inside was like a breath of fresh air. It was a completely different feel then the rest of Austin , so much so it reminded me a lot of fabulous lunch spots in Columbia or Charleston . Lunch was absolutely delicious and Ellie surprised us with two amazing desserts!

My long weekend in Austin was unbelievable, I had so much fun with Ellie as I always do! I hope to plan another trip to see her again soon, may be this time we will meet in Seattle, Idaho, San Fran? The possibilities are endless!

If you are reading this Ellie thanks for making my Austin experience so special! xoxo

Hotlanta, Holla!

This past weekend we traveled to Atlanta for our dear friend's son, Hudson's 1st Birthday Party! I can't believe it has already been a year since he was born! It was a bittersweet day for me when Miss T had her first birthday over a year ago, I can't even imagine what it feels like when its your baby!

We left mid-morning on Saturday and arrived around lunch time. We were able to check in to our hotel early (woohoo!) and quickly refresh before hearing to Hudson's birthday celebration. I guess this would be a good time to mention that Matt and Ashley asked Thomas and I to be Hudson's Godparents when we were together at the beach almost three weekends ago! Thomas and I are absolutely thrilled and completely honored to be Hudson's Godparents!

The birthday party was wonderful, lots of family and many close friends were in attendance which made for a fun time for all! As we all know, every child's birthday party requires a theme so there was no better choice for Hudson then Elmo--his favorite! Everything about the party was perfect, Thomas and I are so happy were were able to take part in the celebration and are so thankful for our friendship with Matt, Ashley and Hudson! Can't wait to celebrate many more birthdays for many more years to come!

The Birthday Boy!

Singing Happy Birthday!

Hudson and Matt!

Our plan after the birthday party was to go to the Georgia Aquarium. I have a slight obsession with aquariums, they are pretty much the only "museum" I enjoy. I have been dying to the visit the Georgia Aquarium after reading so many amazing reviews. I am sad to say Miss T had other plans and we weren't able to make it to the Aquarium, more on that later in the week, so stay tuned...

I think I forgot to mention we stayed at the Westin in Buckhead which happens to be right across the parking lot from Lenox Square Mall, I didn't plan that or anything! No really, in all seriousness I had no idea. All the times I have been to Atlanta I have never stayed in a hotel always with friends.

After the party Matt, Ashley, and Hudson stopped by the Westin and look what Hudson went right for!

So Atlanta, boy are you a huge change from what I experience and am surrounded by on a daily basis living in Columbia, SC! It wasn't until I went to college and experienced a different city that I realized all that Baltimore had to offer. I felt some of that same nostalgia when I was visiting Atlanta this weekend. What I like about a larger city is the abundance of opportunities and resources career wise, the hustle and bustle of city life, premiere shopping, the use of public transportation, and the endless possibilities when it comes to restaurants, bars, and entertainment. On the other side of things I don't miss the traffic and congestion of a large city, I can't think of anything more miserable then sitting in traffic each day.

In case you don't know, I love my little city of Columbia, I am so thankful for all the opportunities it has given me, its continual growth, the ability to shop and support locally owned businesses, and believe it or not its size. Although the City of Columbia is rather small it still has the look, feel and opportunities as other cities, without some of the negatives that come along with a larger city.

What do you enjoy most about where you live? What do you wish you could change? Do you miss anything about a a city/town you previously lived in?

Doodle It, Doodlebug!

Have you heard of Doodle before now? If so, what do you think? Are you hooked? If you are anything like me and my group of girlfriends then it has most likely changed your entire social life/calendar, and if you haven't heard of Doodle before now keep reading because you are in for a real treat!

I first encountered Doodle back in the Spring when my girlfriends and I were attempting to plan our Girls Beach Weekend. Needless to say 12 girls responding a single e-mail is always a disaster, let alone several e-mails with multiple different dates per girl that fit each one of their schedules, is what you call a scheduling nightmare!

That's when my friend Katie in Chicago, saved us all from the mayhem. She sent us an e-mail with a link to Doodle. If you are like me, you are probably thinking "Doodle? What is this all about? I thought we were just trying to figure out dates to go to the beach for a weekend." Guess what, you are wrong, Doodle is life changing and makes scheduling easy for everyone!

So what is Doodle? Doodle takes the pain out of finding a suitable date and time for a group of people to meet. It can be used to schedule meetings, appointments, movie nights, a group event or family reunion, the possibilities are endless! Doodle is simple, quick, requires no registration, and is free! What is there not to like about that?

Here's how to schedule an event with Doodle!

On the home page
Click "Schedule event >>"

General information
Provide at least a title and your name. Use the optional description field to add further details, e.g., location, agenda, or duration.

Select dates
Select at least one day to be voted on by clicking on its day. A click on a selected day removes it from the selection.

Select times
If you want, you can refine the selected dates by providing a time, a place, or anything else. Click on "Add further time slots" if you need further time slots. And click "Copy and paste first row" if you want to enter the same time for all days.

You can click on "Finish" at any time to reach the next page. You can leave all the time slots empty if you prefer to vote on complete days only.

Done!
Your poll is now complete. If you have provided an e-mail address in the first step, you will receive two e-mails with one link each. Please forward one to the people who are supposed to participate in your poll. Please do not forward the other link (the so-called admin link), but use it to edit, export, or delete your poll if necessary.

If you have not provided an e-mail address in the first step, the two links will be displayed on the page

Voting (my favorite step!)
Your participants can now use the link you sent them to visit the poll and cast their votes. You can use the same link to cast your own votes if you want or to observe the poll's progress.

Now you can't tell me after reading this post you're not already thinking of an event you can use Doodle! To make you feel better you aren't alone, I was the exact same way and I think I can speak for most of my girlfriends and say they were just as excited about using Doodle as I was! Well get to planning and be the first of your friends or coworkers to send out a Doodle link to schedule your next get together or office meeting, they'll be thanking you for making scheduling easy!

Girls Beach Weekend!!!

This past weekend I met 11 of my best girlfriends at Wrightsville Beach, NC for a girls weekend at the beach! And what a fun and fabulous weekend it was!!! Since we graduated college it has been tradition to get together in the mountains over Martin Luther King weekend, boyfriends included. After our annual trip to the mountains this year we decided we wanted to plan a girls weekend at the beach this summer. We settled on Wrightsville Beach because it was within reasonable distance for everyone to reach for a weekend.

So let the weekend begin! Everyone had arrived at the Blockade Runner Hotel in Wrightsville Beach by Friday evening. We settled in to our adjoining hotel rooms and started getting ready for our first night! The entire weekend was just like being back at college and the fun of getting ready with everyone brought back lots of memories. An impressive hour and half later all 11 of us were showered, dressed, and out the door.

The first night outside our hotel!

Side Note: Let me just tell you about the staff at the Blockade Runner Hotel. Everyone was magnificent! They drove us to dinner each night, picked us from the restaurant when we were finished, dropped us off downtown, and picked us back up at the end of night (multiple pick ups since not all of us wanted to go home at the same time). It was so nice to not have to worry about calling taxis! The staff brought us extra towels and ice whenever we called and also promptly came to turn back on our electricity after we blew a fuse from all the hair dyers and straighteners. I highly recommend this hotel for stay in Wrightsville Beach.

One of our drivers, Chris!

Friday evening we had drinks and dinner at Dockside. Everything was delicious and our waitress did an amazing job keeping everything straight!

Group picture at Dockside!

It's a Katie Picture!

After dinner one of the guys from the hotel picked us up and made a stop for us at the gas station for 5 hour energy. This stop turned in to a nightly tradition! I have seen 5 hour energy plenty of times and obviously never had a reason to pay any attention to it, but Lindsey swears there is no way we can go out without it, as we are now old. Disclaimer: 5 hour energy tastes horrible no matter what flavor you buy. The orange it very bitter and the pomegranate and berry taste disgusting, almost like cheap sugar, if there is such a thing.

Picture of an empty 5 Hour Energy from Friday night that we found in the Yukon on Saturday night, oops!

From the gas station our drive was short to down town. Our first stop was Loggerheads followed by 22 North which I renamed Catch 22 because I could never seem to remember the name 22 North.

Everyone at Loggerheads, Cheers!

So I guess we forgot how much attention eleven girls draw. Everywhere we went people were asking us what we were celebrating, I think someone finally said "ourselves". Which is absolutely true, no we are not celebrating a bachelorette or some one's birthday, we are spending the weekend together like the good ol' days. And I know you have been probably thinking there is no way eleven girls are really that close, well you're wrong. We are all the best of friends that all get along with hardly any drama and are as close knit as if we saw each other everyday when in actuality we are spread across several different States!

The entire night was tons of fun, I wish we could go out together like this every weekend! And I should mention that everyone returned to the hotel safe and sound which always makes any evening a success!

We woke up bright and early Saturday morning, that's apparently what happens when you are old!We ate a communal breakfast and then headed to the beach where we stayed the entire day, literally.

Lindsey and Katie-love their swimsuits!

Two Katie's!

We couldn't have asked for better weather, the sun was shining, there was a nice breeze and the water temperature was perfect. Seven hours later, we decided we had enough sun and needed to start getting ready for our last evening. However, before any one could head inside, we of course had to have a group photo shoot! The guy who was kind enough to take our picture(s) did a great job and I can't say that about many guys, not even our boyfriends!

All 11 of us!

Our weak attempt at a pyramid!

We made reservations for Saturday night at Blue Water. Everything about Blue Water was fantastic, The AMAZ-ING view, AMAZ-ING drinks, and AMAZ-ING seafood made for the perfect evening! Lindsey and I split fried calamari and each ordered our own shrimp cocktail. Everything was delicious, but I have to say I wish I would have ordered the scallops. Bailey was kind enough to share one of hers with me and I almost died and went to heaven. The scallop pretty much just melted in my mouth!

Outside the hotel on our last night!

View from our table at Blue Water!

Everyone at dinner!

The events that took place after dinner were the same as the night before, driver arrived, stopped by the gas station for more 5 hour energy, and got dropped off downtown at Loggerheads and eventually made our way to Catch 22 I mean, 22 North!

I know this post doesn't sound nearly as exciting as the weekend truly was, but there is no way I could possibly share jokes and stories here because 1) they stories are way too long 2) they wouldn't be nearly as funny and 3) you just had to be there! (Please don't take offense.)

I am so thankful for the opportunity to have attended the University of South Carolina and join a sorority where I met my best friends! I know our friendships will continue to grow as we journey through our lives, but I know one thing that will always stay the same and that's each one of us. I can't imagine my life without any one of these girls, they are not only my best friends, but they truly are the sisters I never had!

Best Friends!

I miss you all already and can't wait for next year! (Although I know I will see you all WAY before then!)

The King and Prince

For the past week, Thomas and I have been enjoying my all expense paid company trip at the King and Prince Resort on St. Simons Island. This is our second year on the trip and actually our second time at the King and Prince. There is something very special to me about St. Simons and the King and Prince and although I haven't quite figured that part out, the same feeling is there every time I return.

Our mornings began with a delicious breakfast buffet, and my favorite the fresh fruit, was so sweet and absolutely delicious! We sat at the same table every morning, right in front of floor to ceiling windows that looked out at the beach. I can't think of a more enjoy way to enjoy breakfast each morning, as I could tell what a calming affect it had on me each morning we were there.

Our days were spent relaxing on the beach reading and having fun in the ocean while enjoying a cocktail here and there. For the curious, their pina colada's were my favorite! There is something enjoyable about not having to worry about what day or time it is, instead you gage your plans for the day based on where the sun is in the sky and your next meal.

Speaking of eating, St. Simons knows a lot about good food. We enjoyed true southern cooking and Texas size steaks at Bennie's Red Barn, delicious heart healthy Italian cuisine at Tramici's, and mouth watering seafood with breathtaking views of the water at Coastal Kitchen. My favorite lunch was BBQ from Southern Soul.

Southern Soul is definitely the best BBQ I've had since I've lived down South and even my Southern boyfriend agrees that nothing down here compares to Andy Nelson's in Hunt Valley, Maryland, until we found Southern Soul. BBQ from Southern Soul was so good, we had to go back two days in a row for lunch. The other days we enjoyed lunch by the pool at the outdoor grill.

The steaks at Bennie's Red Barn were unbelievable in size, Thomas didn't eat lunch that day so he could make enough room for his 20z. Porterhouse steak, which for the record he finished every last bit. I on the other hand enjoyed an 8oz. fillet with french fries. We shared a variety of appetizers and desserts at dinner each night and Tramici's was no different. I had grilled salmon in lemon vinaigrette with fresh artichoke hearts, spinach, and white beans, it was delicious and just the right amount! I will definitely have to try to recreate this recipe at home. And to save the best for last, crab and lobster ravioli at Coastal Kitchen. Anyone who knows me, knows how much I loved Lobster Ravioli at Cosmopolitans. Cosmo's has closed it doors and in my heart I know no restaurants lobster ravioli will ever compare to Cosmo's although, I do like to see if I can find something close and Coastal Kitchen was as close as I've been able to find.

I can't think of anything much better then waking up each morning and looking out your french doors to your private balcony and seeing this...

When we checked out on Wednesday, I felt like I was leaving my heart behind. It hurt, but the hurt reminds me every day what I need to do to stay on track to reach my goal so I can be a part of our company trip each year.

Cheers to a wonderful trip, with wonderful people, and hopes of returning next year...

(this isn't just any margarita, it's a mango flavored margarita and was de-licious!)