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!

meeting {av}

After about 9 months of dating long distance with Tyler, I began this blog when it was "From Carolina Cotton to Illinois Corn." I had googled websites that gave advice for dating long distance, and I came across Long Distance Loving. At the time, {av} was featuring couples who were dating long distance, and I read every word that each couple wrote, praying that soon I would move 800 miles away to Illinois to be with Tyler. We knew we would eventually get married, and my parents and I agreed I needed to "date him" in a real life situation before that day came.

I bookmarked her blog and ready daily, clicking around and finding other blogs. I emailed {av}, telling her I was dating someone long distance and thanked her for her candidness and for her blog. She responded and I was almost star-strucken. I couldn't believe I got a response from someone who I thought was "so cool!" I also never imagined I would have the opportunity to meet her in real life. After a few months of reading her, I took the plunge began this blog in August. I had NO idea what I was doing, but I tried my best.

Then I found Lacey after I won a giveaway of hers (the best giveaway I have EVER won and I carry that handbag every day). My friends Mary and Mary Loyal had blogs that I also read everyday that helped me find local South Carolina blogs. Once I got my blog going, I really started to get into it. I have met some WONDERFUL ladies and am so thankful for their {online} friendship. Some I have been fortunate to meet in real life (Shannon, Whitney and Megan) and there are some I am really looking forward to meeting in the future (Megan, Megan, Emily, Jamie, and gosh there are so, so, so many more!).

But, this past weekend I was able to meet the girl who was my blogging inspiration, Alison. You see, we have been in the same place at the same time about four times now. I was in Providence, Rhode Island where she lives last September for my brother and sister-in-law's wedding. We were going to meet up, but because I didn't have a car there, it was really hard to get away! We've also missed each other in airports, usually Indy where her parents live and where Tyler and I would fly into when we live in Illinois.

This weekend she was in my new town for a wedding and I was going to make sure I could meet her this time no matter what! After communicating via some emails and social media, I was able to meet her in a fun bar, Q on Bay, on Bay Street after both of our weddings. Tyler thought I was absolutely nuts! He hasn't quite figured out this whole blogging thing and was a little weary of me meeting a "stranger" without him while he went and got the car. I convinced him it was OK and that there would be people we knew in the bar.

I walked to the back of the bar and we both looked at each other and yelled, "HEY!" I gave her a huge hub (multiple times) and told her how happy I was to finally meet her. Creepy? No. Of course we had to snap a picture like good bloggers. I literally only had five minutes with her, but I can assure you all she is just as sweet and wonderful in person as she is on her blog. So genuine and was almost shell-shocked when I confessed that she was my blogging inspiration.  But it is so very true!

Loved meeting you and hope you enjoyed your South Carolina vacation! Y'all if you ever get the chance to meet {av}, do it. If you ever get an opportunity to meet someone who inspires you, do it! 

I'm so thankful for those who inspire me and to put my story out there on my blog! Hugs to all of my new {virtual} friends!

i need a weekend to recover from my weekend.

First off, I want to send my heart and prayers to Boston. I cannot imagine another community hurting and grieving. I pray for our nation and that we are able to find the one responsible for this tragedy.

On to happier news. We had the busiest weekend possible this weekend and I think after sleeping all day yesterday I have recovered!

Friday night I met my aunt to watch her daughter and my cousin play soccer. I can honestly say it was the first time I've pulled for my high school rival, Orangeburg Prep. Though I cheered for them, I couldn't bring myself to wear Indian red!

Saturday I woke up bright and early and drove to Bluffton for a 5k that I signed up for last minute. This runner's high is a serious thing! It was not quite a full 5k, so my time is a little deceiving. The profits from the race benefitted oral cancer awareness. Did you know April is Oral Cancer Awareness month? I love running small town 5k's, but I also love running them when they benefit a philanthropy! I won 1st place in my age group, 7th overall, and my "time" was 23:27. I'm going to pat myself on the back on that one!

After the race we finally got in some boat time! We packed our things and Sarge for four hours out in the sunshine! It was a beautiful day.

Saturday night we went to the Junior Service League BBQ here in Beaufort. I'm trying to get involved, so I wanted to go ahead and meet some of the girls. It was so much fun and they had a great band! Here's a picture with my sweet Beaufort friend Anna. She immediately took me under her wing and has helped me make friends and shown me the ropes here! Our husbands work together so that makes it even more fun!

hey don't we love these arrangements!?

Sunday morning we headed to Charleston bright and early to meet with Tyler's brother and his wife. So weird to say my brother and sister-in-law! Crazy! We had a great lunch at Poogan's Porch then walked down King Street for Second Sunday. Tyler and I were almost cross eyed from such a late night! 

On our way out of town, we met up with my blog BFF Shannon for a drink at Triangle in West Ashley. It was so fun to catch up with her and compare wedding stories! It is funny we both planned and planned and talked about weddings for the past few months together and now they are both over! I am so thankful for her and our friendship!

Whew, told y'all it was crazy! But so so fun! 

How was your weekend?

Weekend via Instagram

Hello there! Happy (eek) Monday!

I feel like my weekend was super busy, but it still felt long. Is that normal?

Anyways, here is a glimpse of my weekend via our favorite Instagram:

Went to the local county fair to watch The Henningsens... They write a lot of the music for The Band Perry including "You Lie" and "All Your Life." It was really neat! They are from the town inbetween where I live and work. They are a family band and the dad farms AND they have 10 kids! Wowza! It was really fun! Supposedly one of their singles is coming out in December, so be on the lookout for that.

I finally met Megan from Sky High Heels and Sweatpants Too! We have been talking for many, many months and we FINALLY met up this weekend and she helped me try on bridal gowns at her store. It was SO nice to have someone I "knew" helping me and not have the awkward conversation in the dressing room. We giggled a lot that our first encounter was minus clothes (me of course) as I tried on dress after dress.She is SO sweet and fun and I am thrilled we finally got to meet!!!  I found out what style looks best on me, yay!

I tried on some dresses...

I found these beauties for a whopping $45 at my favorite consignment store in Champaign. I always find lots of good J Crew things and I have found a pair of Tory flip flops before. This is the first time in my life I am happy that I wear a size 10! My other pair are a 9.5 and I think that's why they fall off of my feet because they are too small! Thank goodness for a big foot! :)

Bought a wedding planner. My roommate Audrey has the one on the right and I didn't get it at first and went with a Martha Stewart one. I got home and realized it wasn't as organized as this one AND I can make more lists in this one. If only we can set a date... Sore subject.. I will move on....

Working on my smoothie recipes.. This one was an avacado- berry- yogurt- almond milk concoction. Pretty good. Oh I also got up and went to the gym this morning. I feel awesome-- go me!

So, there you have it! Tons of errands and also getting Tyler's things together to move him next weekend. Very glad only one of us is moving, I couldn't handle packing up my things, too!

Have a great day!

Ta ta,