weekend in houston

Hello hello!

Excuse my absence- we were having a blast in Houston and trying to regroup from such a fun time. We did a lot of things in just three days and it was awesome!

Friday afternoon Tyler and I drove to Charleston to hop on a plane to Houston. We had a short flight and arrived in Houston just in time for dinner! Tyler's brother Cameron and his wife Lissy picked us up and then we headed to their apartment for some grub. They cooked delicious lamb burgers with pitas, a fabulous salad, and couscous. I need cooking lessons from them! Oh, and wine of course! After dinner we walked a few blocks to a bar to meet up with a few of their friends. We met them last year at their wedding in Rhode Island so it was nice to hang out with complete strangers. Funny enough, their couple friends were flying to Charleston for Labor Day weekend.

Saturday I met up with Whitney from The Observant Turtle who lives in Houston and is from SC! This is the second time we have gotten together and of courseee food was involved! We had a fabulous brunch at Tiny Boxwoods and I had THE BEST watermelon lemonade I've ever ever ever had. Seriously, I couldn't get enough. And my granola, yogurt, and fruit was super too, but y'all the watermelon lemonade!! I want some right now!! We had a great catch-up as always and of course ended with a "see you soon" because hopefully I will get to see her later this month!

When I got back to meet the fam, they were geared up and ready to go sample BBQ. Keep in mind, i'd just eaten breakfast an hour prior!

We started at Virgie's BBQ and had brisket, sausage, ribs, baked beans, and potato salad. Oh and Big Red..... Texas friends- what is that stuff and do you like it!!? I felt like it was carbonated kool-aid and kind of hated it, but loved it at the same time!

Texas BBQ = beef not pork

It was obviously delicious.

Second stop was Gatlins BBQ but they weren't taking orders thanks to a catering order. After standing in line half an hour, we left and tried to go to an ice house that served BBQ, but they were closed! Finally we landed at one more place to get in a second sampling of BBQ. I was so full I totally missed the name of the restaurant!

Hello fried okra!

Tyler and Cameron went to the gun store for the afternoon while Lis and I went to the pool. I was like a blimp after all of the food I'd eaten! Then of course we showered and got ready for the CLEMSON GAME!!!

The four of us and a friend hopped in the car to get a table to watch the Clemson/Georgia game at Black Finn Grille where the Clemson alumni gather to watch the games. We had on all of our orange and got a great table and lots of beer! I had shrimp tacos which were decent, but it was OK since I was consuming plenty of beer (OK probably too much). We had so much fun screaming and yelling and ooh-ing and ahh-ing. We even met a couple originally from SC who went to Clemson who is friends with one of my friends and knows exactly where I grew up. It's such a small world people! After pulling out a great WIN we went home!

Sunday we woke up (with raging headaches- me at least), had breakfast (do you sense a food pattern here), and drove to George Bush Park to shoot skeet. Friends, let me warn you. Never ever shoot a gun while hungover. My head was pounding and every time I shot I could feel little blood vessels popping! I had beginners luck... We'll not beginners because been shooting a gun since I was very young, but I hit the clay the first shot I took. I think Ty was amazed. I, honestly, was quite amazed and then I was ready to go... Impatient much?

Trying to make things colorful.

A monogrammed gun case. NOW I have seen it all......

Of course, we had to grab some food (duh) after shooting up an appetite and Cam and Lis suggested Vietanamese food. I was super skeptical because usually my post-beer food is greasy, buttttt while in Houston you must eat like Texans! We drove through China town (this city is crazy) and had sweet and sour chicken at Que Huong. Thank goodness for Foursquare or I'd never remember the names of these places. I must say, it wasn't as crazy as I had anticipated!

Sweet and sour chicken- tomatoes, green onions, pineapple, onions + rice

And no trip to Texas is complete without boot shopping. Tyler is now a new proud owner of a new pair of Justin boots thanks to Cavendar's! I opted out of boots since I already have a pair and I don't wear them often, but it was so much fun trying on all kinds of crazy cowboy boots! We were so tired when we got back from our outing that Ty and I took a nap while Cam and Lis went to the pool. Before dinner, we all went downstairs to the gym to run off a few of the millions of calories we'd consumed over the weekend!

To wrap up our foodie weekend, we had tex-mex for dinner on Sunday night. I had delicious chicken tacos at Ninfa's and we all indulged on queso and mojitos and beer for the guys. I was seriously stuffed!! It was fun to experience all kinds of foods this weekend... obviously. After watching The Great Gatsby (which I wasn't really a fan of by the way........), we crashed!

Monday we had breakfast at home (because that's important) and sadly packed to head back to SC. Before we left, though, we made a trip to Tyler and Cameron's friend's fire house. I felt like I was on a set from Chicago Fire! I'd never been in a fire house before. As I sat in the driver's seat of the firetruck, the siren went off and I FREAKED out... I just knew I'd hit some wrong button, but, no.... the guys were called out to an assault! I asked a million questions and jumped on the pole because we couldn't slide down it since they'd closed it off due to the heat.... Oh Texas...

So as you can tell, I think we had a phenomenal time and I am so glad we were able to visit Cam and Lis! We hadn't gotten to spend too much time alone with them since we are usually in PA for a holiday, so it was great doing our own thing! I'm so blessed to have a great brother and sister-in-law! In a few weeks they'll move back to Lis's home state of Rhode Island, so I'm hoping a New England trip will be in our future!

And I'm going to miss their precious pooch and Sarge's cousin, Popcorn!

Thanks for reading my novel. Hope you don't think we are complete fatties! I promise I'm running and eating healthy this week!

friday five + fancies

Happy Friday!! WE MADE IT!
This week was one of those that just drug on... Lately I've had commitments with either after-work events or Junior League but this week was mainly just exercising after work (I need it).

{one}

Tonight Ty and I are hopping on a plane to Houston, TX to visit my brother and sister-in-law. We are so excited to experience Texas for the first time! At the end of September, they are moving back to Rhode Island where my SIL is from, so this will be a great last hoorah for them! We haven't seen them since our wedding in March and are looking forward to a fun weekend.

{two}

We'll be pulling for Clemson Saturday night when they take on the Georgia Dawgs, since Cameron and Tyler are Clemson alums! Hopefully we can round up a few other Clemson fans in the bar! Last night we watched THE Carolina game (and I mean South Carolina Gamecocks) with our new friends and neighbors. We are thrilled to have a new couple 5 houses down from us in our neighborhood! A good time was had by all.... Except for that whole lightening thing... Come on, mother nature... don't you know its football season?

{three}

Here's my outfit for Labor Day weekend! My last bit of white, Clemson orange, and cowboy boots in honor of Houston. Sadly, my boots were left at my parents house, but I can at least pretend! Linking up with my favorite, {av} for Friday's Fancies!

tank // shorts // boots // sunglasses 

{four}

I've really gotten into this "giving to others" thing! Yesterday I paid for the lady behind me's lunch at Chickfila. I had never done it before and had butterflies because I was a little nervous (no idea why) and excited. It made my Thursday much better! Her meal was cheaper than mine (OK only by a few cents!!). 

{five}

White after Labor Day..... What are your thoughts? I've always been an Easter --> Labor Day white kind of girl and I don't think that will be changing, even though I live on the coast. What are your thoughts? No judgement, though, to those of you who wear it year-round or throughout September! I just retire mine and call it fall!

What are you up to this Labor Day weekend?

A Joyful Heart + Weekend Recap

I just have too much on my mind today for a blog post just about my fun weekend. Though I had a blast in Clemson with my Wofford (and some Clemson) friends, I have something much more important to blog about. I'll get to the weekend after...

Today, I am thankful. Thankful for God'd healing and grace. About six weeks ago, my good friend John Brunt was in a terrible car accident. He suffered numerous injuries: a shattered pelvis, a broken femur, an injured colon and intestines, and a few others. He had a couple of surgeries and had been doing so much better. Our whole community had been praying for him and I even got to see him a couple of weeks ago. This was very uplifting, but very hard as well. I took him a hand held game of tetris which he loved- his mom calls him a "gamer." I was thrilled to have given him something to take his mind off of his pain and suffering. I have been following his Caring Bridge site that his mom posts on and there have been many days of joy, but many days of heartache. Today was a day of JOY!

John and his sister Grace during his recovery.

Friday night, John had a seizure and a high fever. He went into a coma over the weekend and supposedly, things were not looking good. Last night I was terrified and scared, fearing for my friend's life. I couldn't bear the thought of losing a dear friend. This morning, I received a text message saying John was AWAKE! HE WAS AWAKE! When I got home from work, his mom updated her site and said that his ventilator was out again and he told his parents that he loved them. I sobbed and sobbed reading this news. God is so, so good. Sometimes it is easy to question God's unfailing love, but days like today prove that He is mighty and and is the Ultimate Healer. Thanks be to God for an answer to our prayers! Please keep John and the Brunt family in your prayers.

John is the guy on the left. This photo was taken Sophomore year.

Now on to the weekend:

My Terriers almost pulled out a W over the Clemson Tigers! It was such a fun weekend to see friends! I was so happy to have a girls night Friday night in Easley and then tailgate all day in Tigertown! I realized that I just cant hang like I used to in college. Post-graduate life is too tiring for staying up all night and tailgating all day. How did we do it?

Wofford Friends!

Sporting our Black and Gold!

I loved seeing the Wofford team playing in Death Valley!

What a fun and exhausting weekend it was! I think I am still catching up from the weekend, but now it is time for the season finale of Bachelor Pad, the trashy reality show with the Bachelor and Bachelorette "rejects"...

Hope you had a fun weekend, too! Happy Almost Tuesday!

Ta ta for now,

Charlotte

House Divided

What an exciting weekend it is for my family! Usually, you hear the term "House Divided" (if you're from South Carolina) in reference to the South Carolina/Clemson rivalry. For my family, this term means Wofford/Clemson-- at least for this weekend! The Wofford Terriers take on the Clemson Tigers TOMORROW! I was a fourth generation family member on my dad's side of the family to attend and graduate from Wofford- crazy, right!? My great grandfather, grandfather, great uncle, dad, uncle, second cousin, cousin, cousin's wife, distant relative (I call him cousin but it is a ways down the line-- so Southern) and I are all Wofford grads! My mom's side of the family all cheer loudly and proudly for Clemson! My grandfather bleeds orange as well as my uncle, his daughter (my fellow ZTA sister), and my BROTHER! If you want to add Tyler to all of that mix, go right ahead; he is a Clemson grad as well. Goodness, if you followed all of that I am VERY proud.

See, the rivalry exists.

Anyways, what a fun rivalry we have going on this weekend in the Perrow-Frierson family! I will proudly be wearing my black and gold, strutting around the perimeter of Clemson, and cheering on my Terriers! I am so excited about a weekend with friends and family (honestly, probably more friends because I haven't seen many of them since graduation)!

 I'm keeping my fingers cross that our little dogs can pull off a W, how awesome would that be? According to Twitter, Coach Dabo from Clemson was quoted saying, "These guys are a load, a challenge to prepare for as a FB team. They're capable of beating you." Hope Coach Ayers has prepared our boys well!

GO TERRIERS! Have a great weekend.

Charlotte