Wrightsville Weekend with Friends

At the end of July our bestest friends invited us down to the beach for a weekend of celebrating Kristen's 30th birthday!  Kristen always provides a great time and this weekend was no different!  We had so much fun and I even managed to stay up past 10 pm for nights in a row (of course I paid for it on night three...) but it was so worth it!

I'll never take for granted that we have close friends within a 4 hours drive!  There really is not many other feelings I enjoy more than spending time with my college friends. 

 To celebrate the big birthday we had dinner at the Pilot House and sang Karaoke at our favorite lil hole in the wall in Wilmington, the same place we sang for my bachelorette.  I loved the view from the Pilot House and the food was awesome too! Highly recommend for anyone headed to the Wilmington area. 

 This photo is proof that I was awake past sunset, a rare event for this lady.

The last day we were able to take our friend's family's new boat out for a spin and a boat day.  It was a perfect day!  Rich even got the drive the boat back to the marina since he just got his boating license.   We had such an awesome time with these fabulous friends for the weekend, so glad they all live so close to us that we can make weekend trips like this even possible!

Alice and Wonderland Tea Party

This past weekend I hosted a ladies tea party with a  little Alice and Wonderland Theme.  I have met so many great women friends here that I thought it was time to have them all over to my house for a Sunday afternoon.  It was a great excuse to wear a summer dress and eat delicious food.  The party set up was so easy thanks to Target's Dollar Spot and The Dollar Store, and given I had so many baking ladies, I didn't even have to do that much baking for 16! 

I made little yogurt parfairs with granola and fruit in these tiny cups I found at the Dollar Store. I used ribbon and tiny tiny plastic spoons (also found at Dollar Store) to tie them together for a cute little cup. 

Thank you again Target for the cute tags that I was able to write on and attach to all the drinks.  The fun party straws behind are also found in the Target Dollar Spot. 

I had a little drink bar area with tea, sweet tea, lemonade and water for the guests.  We ate off of a mix of our fine china and my Pottery Barn Bunny Plates.  People were a bit nervous to eat off our china but the point of having nice things is to get use out of them! 

 

If this photo could only say how much of a pain it was to blow that Cheers balloon up!  It was one of my favorite decorations in the house (and it still is up today!)  !

 This was the spread at the end of the party.  So much delicious food!

 

 

 

 

It was such a great afternoon with wonderful friends we've found here.  I am already scheming my next shin-dig when I get the approval from Rich that I can have more people over ;)

3 Day Weekend in North Carolina

This pats weekend I got to sneak away to NC to visit with Kristen and a slew of other great friends for the weekend.  It was SO great and energizing to see everyone and hang out like old times.  It certainly made me miss that area and all the things there are to do.  

I began my mini-vacation by taking the day off Friday.  It was a beautiful morning which led to me getting to bask in the sun in our sunny backyard and read a good book (or two) with the puppy girls.

But not everyone is made for the sunshine.  Little gal needed a pair of sunglasses for sure.  

The Little Black Dog soaks up the sun so well with me!  She doesn't ever leave my side when we sit outside together.

Part of my visit was with one of my favorite babies!  She's grown so much since her mommy and daddy's visit a few weeks ago and it wasn't too long ago I was hosting her mommy's baby shower. Wait, what? Slow down time! 

Nothing says laughter like catching up with my NC State pals from my job there a few years ago (Tory not picture sadly!)  The three of us catching up was such a flash back to old times.  All we were missing were Abbie and Amber Rae and the rest of the gang.  

This brings me to the real motivation behind my trip south-theme party.  Kristen hosted a St. Patrick's Day party at her house which had us scrambling for the perfect last minute party attire. Apparently Old Navy dumps their holiday shirts when you really need them (we tried TWO!) but I stumbled upon a party store in Raleigh and scored this headband and Kristen a princess tiara that said "Irish Princess" 

Three lucky charm cheers for these lucky charm treats Kristen made. 

So much (delicious) green food: 

Best news of all was that Kristen (of course) had a competition and I am proud to say Team Irish By Nature brought home 1st place.  Just throwing it out there that these two are pretty good at games.  One should probably go on a national tv game show with Jane Lynch or something :)

It was a GREAT weekend with this party host, complete with Disney sing-a-longs and long conversations about whether its normal to not have a favorite color.  (It is).

March-ing into Spring

A few weeks in March and I can already say this is my favorite month of the year! ;)   I am a sucker for warm weather and I feel like I deserve a big pat on the back for surviving winter when I get to this time of year.  The flowers and trees in our neighborhood are blooming and the feeling is spring is everywhere! I LOVE it!  Since things are going so well in March, I figured I would share a bit of what we've been up to so far and some highlights of this month so far. 

The new weather has been perfect for extra puppy walks, which not only gets me outside and enjoying the new neighborhood, but also accomplishes a January  goal I had to train these doggie messes a bit more.  Sophie has learned to shake in this last week and they are overall listening to us a bit more.  I am over the moon excited to give these two more leg stretches during the week with this weather and my lunch breaks to run home.  I think they love it already.  Happy dogs, happy mommy. 

As I've mentioned a million times, new couch means our living room is getting a bit more living time!  Also, March brought us Fuller House and we are LOVING this throwback to the 90's.  Shame on you Michelle for not returning to your tv family for this throwback. 

  Did I mention we've been training these suckers more?  Also that means they are getting more treats and we are seeing a lot more of this begging position.  The bigger news for these two is they got new (matching) collars in March.  Flowers for everyone-dogs included.

We hosted a going away party for a family (March goal check!)  in our Life Group and it was our first gathering at the new house. It was SO great to have folks in our house for change and it was especially fun to use all the party supplies I got at my bridal shower and then we got for the wedding, including these adorable bunny plates for Pottery Barn that remind me so much of my grandmother.   

Rich hung our Italian lights in the backyard and we just LOVE the ambiance of our yard now.  It's totally dreamy!  It made for a great backdrop to our Life Group coming over on Sunday. 

Weekend Recap

It's Monday already?  I'm not sure how that happened so fast. October weather in Charleston is certainly making up for the disaster that was September rain.  We had another weekend of beautiful skies and temperatures.  I am scared for the temps to dip any lower than they are now.  My southern blood cannot always handle anything below 60.  

Our weekend was relatively calm.  Rich and I met thanks to the Cooper Bridge Run almost three years ago but since that day we have yet to run a race together so a few weeks ago we decided to sign up for the James Island Connector Run since we are missing the fateful Cooper Run this year due to our move.  Despite it being a 5k, it was tough!  The fact that I didn't train and the course had 3 hills really threw this retired runner for a loop.  But, the course was beautiful and it's always fun to get out of bed early and get some Saturday morning exercise in.

 

Following our 5k, it was only right we indulge in some French delicacies in a new French bakery we've heard so much about.  If you remember, we were supposed to be in Paris and London this week, so getting to taste some delicious French pastries was just the treat we needed.

That night we went over to Daniel Island for the island's annual Pumpkin Walk.  All the neighborhoods on the island get together and carve pumpkins all afternoon and then display them in the park lit up and with luminaries for folks to stroll through.  Despite it being a warm night, it certainly made Halloween feel so soon and so real.  I LOVE the magic of Halloween, even as an adult.  I remember how exciting trick or treating was and I am so hoping we get some at our house this Saturday.  

 

What a cute little Curious George.  It's hard to see but he even has the ears on the side.

Sunday was my traditional church time.  I got one of my favorite seats at church right next to the candles.  

 

Sunday night we had some Wake Forest friends visiting Charleston.  We had an awesome time taking them to one of our favorite spots off the peninsula, Crave, laughing and catching up.  I love living in a town where folks come through for visits or vacations!

So that was about it for this low country weekend, what all were you guys up to?

 

Everything You Need To Know About Planning a Friend's Get Away

As I talked about yesterday, Rich and I just got back from a weekend away with our friends for a nice friend's reunion out of town.  Finding time for a friend's reunion is really difficult.  I wanted to pass along my tips for organizing a successful friends get away.



1) Start EARLY:
People's calendar's fill up very quickly in this season of life.  Birthdays, babies, weddings, and vacation days keep our schedules overbooked and our spirit overwhelmed.  Send out an email to all your friends who you'd think would be interested with multiple date options.  Have folks use something like surveymonkey.com to indicate which dates they prefer.  It is important to know you won't please everyone, so go with the date that works for the MOST people.

2.) Vacation Rental By Owner (VRBO)
I know a lot of folks are fans of Air B and B, but I've had great success with VRBO.  You are able to see the cabin's calendar and book well in advance.  The site is easy to navigate.  I wanted to appeal to the masses so I sent out 3 options for our friends to vote for and booked the most popular cabin.  My cabin essentials were a fire pit, hot tub, hiking trials, and driving location for folks.  Our cabin came fully equipped with linens which is not always the case, so check for that.

3.) Plan for meals:
My largest goal was to keep the trip cost friendly.  It was important we could do most of our eating and cooking at the cabin and all chip in.  This is where Google Docs is your best friend!  I set up a document that listed every item of food we would need and each of the 9 folks could sign up to bring what they wanted from the list.  For dinner we divided into two dinner teams and the groups coordinated their own meal so I wouldn't have to do that.

4.) Communicate:
Like it or not, as the organizer of the weekend it is also your job to be sure everyone is on the same page.  Be sure each person has directions, cell phone numbers, and a good idea of what they need to bring.

5.)  Enjoy:
Take a moment to enjoy that you are surrounded by friends from all over.  These moments are fleeting and time is precious.  If you get overwhelmed, delegate a task and share the load with someone in the group. 

First Annual Fall Flannel Friends Fest

Maybe I am extreme, but each passing year I miss my college friends a whole heck of a lot more.  Maybe it is that we are all getting older, moving around the country, getting married, having babies, and buying houses, but I long (desperately sometimes) for the days when we could all be a quick walk across the Quad from one another.  Friendship in adulthood takes intentionality so it was my hope I could organize a nice mountain weekend for us all to enjoy fall in the North Carolina mountains.  

Lo and behold, 9 friends were able to join up for 4 days of fun and flannel and fall and food (so many F's).  Also, of note, board games absolutely get more fun with age. Here are a few of my favorite moments from a weekend with my favorite friends:

 

 Is the Belle from Beauty and the Beast or Kristen?  Hard to tell from that awesome light holding!

 

 Wait, did someone say hot tub on deck overlooking the mountains?  Yes please!

 We didn't have enough dry firewood to make the fire pit successful, but we were able to get 'smores going in the fireplace inside.  (chemicals included!)

 

 Rise and shine with some cinnamon apple toppings for our Saturday morning pancake breakfast. 

 Fellowship y'all.  This is what life is about.  Saturday morning with my people all around one table. 

 Our house was surrounded by some hiking trails.  Word is there was a bear there a few days later.

 This weather was actually my favorite day. The clouds were all around us creating this beautiful mist in the valleys.

 If you haven't played the game of Quelf, you may be a bit confused by all these upcoming photos. If you haven't played Quelf, I can say that is your next addition to your holiday/birthday present list!  Hilarious game.

Fabulous fall leaves in Blowing Rock, NC for the day.  

Our cabin escape for the weekend-YES y'all, God is GOOD.