I hit up Folly Beach off of James Island this morning. It was so much prettier than Sullivan's in my opinion. I liked Sullivan's atmosphere, but Folly had clean beaches and nice sand without a bunch of rocks and crap-ola! It was a nice, breezy day- considering it was scorching outside...I'm hotter in my apartment NOW at 6 p.m. since my air unit is a piece of shit...obviously.

OH SNAP! Hominy grill in Charleston lived up to the hype in my opinion- or maybe I was really hungry? Either way, it was delicious!

The parents of a close friend of mine are in South Carolina for vacation and wanted to take me to dinner- free dinner AND a chance to see familiar faces? I jumped at the chance!

Me and Michele (Jamie's mom) were craving Shrimp and Grits, so we decided to give Hominy a try. Plus my favorite, Anthony Bourdain, dined there during his show "No Reservations." Duh. I'm going just for that simple fact alone.

After work I got in a quick workout (Insanity Cardio Recovery) then I walked to the restaurant- it took me 9 minutes exactly. Such a quick and easy walk! I love it that I can walk almost anywhere on the peninsula in under 30 minutes. Score!!

I started with a glass of Pinot and our food cam with quickness!

1. What I'll be wearing soon: THIS gorg maxi dress from Material Girls. How adorable is this?!

 2. What I lost this week: Besides my mind at new employee orientation? Brady's medicine via Pet-Meds. Livid. I live in an apartment with 3 other units in a house...mine is upstairs and bigger packages are left in front of the door. Usually have no issues, but according to the tracking info Brady's meds were delivered yesterday- Nope. Nowhere to be found. Long story short? I called Pet Meds and they were SO amazing and sent me a replacement for FREE. Called the post office this morning and they called the carrier (who's filling in for the regular dude) and he says he remembers and put it in front of Apartment C. Really....apparently our mail carriers can't read these days....I didn't see it in front of anyone's door, so we'll just see about that....

3. Weekend Plans: Sullivan's Island Beach! I STILL haven't been and I need some tan back QUICKLY. ;) Also some relaxation and sun and sand (even though it's not white sand. yes, I'm bitter about that. And spoiled.)

5. Weird Owl GIF: I love owls, but this shit is creep-tastic. HA! Therefore, i can;t take my eyes off of it. Kelly M.- which one is YOUR favorite?? ;) lol

Happy Friday!!!

Friday, finally!!
1. GIFS I'm loving: God, how I love me some Britney. Her albums have been on the back burner for Red Hot Chili Peppers lately.  But, soon, Brit-Brit. Soon.



2. Target Dress: I love the shape and colors, but it also has little apples all over it. How do I feel about this?






3. Haircolor: I'm ready to go red. Auburn. Dark red. Whatever. A Change is needed, but I need to let my hair grow out a bit after the hack job I received two weeks ago. ugh. Maybe I'll just buy this wig....






4. Workout: I miss Insanity. I miss working out in general. I'm dusting this baby off after three (eek) months of it being packed away. I have a 10 year high school reunion coming up in October- not that I need a great reason to get back into shape, but it's always a nice incentive.


5. What I'm craving: Because what goes better with starting a workout program again, than cupcakes? My treat will be these two beauties from "Cupcake" here in Charleston. I've determined I'm not a HUGE cake fan. I like cupcakes. Yep. Anything miniature is better.



Happy Friday y'all!!!

I understand it's only June, but please tell me I'm NOT alone with football fever? I have it. BADLY.

I'm ready for Sunday/Monday night football and possibly attending a few college football games here in South Carolina with Fran!! :) Thanks for opening your door to me and inviting me to hang- hopefully I can find some tickets?

Chucktown peeps: Where is the best place in Charleston to go for some football viewing??


Tomorow's agenda: O-Ku with Erin! Fellow Chi Omega sista and previous fellow employee. Happy hour, here we come!

If I'm not careful, that's exactly what's going to happen...fat, broke and happy. lol. Most of my first weekend in Charleston has consisted of trying food and drinks, but I swear that won't be ALL the time....but I'm such a foodie- I love trying new foods.

First of all, I finally got to see what a Trader Joe's was all about- so cute. Not what I expected- I expected bigger, but I found a few things I had to try! That Chicken Salad is the bomb!!

I had a great Friday and Saturday exploring my new city. Friday night a girl from back home showed me around downtown a bit. She's been here 6 years and loves it- and knows all the great places to go and the places NOT to go...

We started at Vendue Rooftop bar, which, in my opinion was just OK. Pavillion Hotel's view was incredibly better! We shared tapas at Social and had a few drinks. We met up with a few of her friends and her brother later on for more drinks. I didn't plan on staying out and/or drinking, but I ended up having a few. :) Was a BLAST! I love Lindsay!

Saturday was the Charleston Harbor Tour via the Carolina Belle boat. It was great to see the city from the water, but the tour started dragging towards the end- and it was pretty hot on the top deck. I'd recommend it for anyone who has never been here before. Here are a few photos from the tour:



After the tour we had lunch at Poogan's Porch- I loved it because they're dog friendly and Poogan was a dog :) Poogan's is inside an older home and it's lovely inside....I love historic homes, hence why I chose my apartment....

The food was pretty delicious! I couldn't decide what to get so I decided finally on a cup of She-crab soup and fried shrimp for my main meal.



Saturday morning I also tried out Glazed, a well-known donut shop here downtown. I had to try their Maple Bacon donut with bits of bacon on the top. DELICIOUS! Honestly, I'm not a huge donut fan, but that thing was addictive...The others, to me, were just ok...I don't think I'd go back for awhile.

Which brings us to today...I tried taking the pups to Hampton Park right up the street, but Brady wasn't interested. We were there 8 minutes when he decided to bolt to the car...Guess he wasn't feeling the park scene today.

For lunch I'm devouring some Fiery Ron's Home Team BBQ. It was voted best BBQ in Charleston in 2012. I stopped at the West Ashley location (they also have one on Sullivan's Island).

I decided to try their Brisket Sandwich with a side of mac and cheese. The sandwich really was outstanding. The meat was SO moist and perfect! I also took a photo of the pork and chicken sliders they offer...



Hope you all had a great weekend!
For my fellow Charlestonians: What should I try next? Food or destination? I'm having issues narrowing down what I want to do next!

FRIDAY!! I love you! It was my first week at my new job in Charleston and I couldn't be happier to see the weekend! It sucks working when you have a fabulous and amazing new city to explore! It's seriously making me die a little inside every day I have to come to work instead of walking the streets! bahah You know what I mean......

Today's Friday Five is all about my upcoming weekend of Charleston exploring. 

1. Social Wine Bar- Tonight is happy hour with my friend, Lindsay. I've actually never met her in person, but she's from a city next to mine back home and we have lots of mutual friends- very excited to have someone to hang out with and grab drinks!
2. Saturday Morning Farmer's Market- 1.4 miles from my apartment! Perfect walking distance.

3. Charleston Harbor Tour- I can't wait to have a tour guide tell me all about the different places along the way! Such a sucker for that! I feel a photo shoot coming on.... Expect lots of photos.

4.Glazed- Look. I get that I'm a Beachbody Coach and while I'm all about eating healthy and working out, I have to indulge once in awhile- and get it OUT OF MY SYSTEM! Glazed sounds just like the place to do it....I'm not a big donut fan, but I never eat them so when I do, they're pretty amazing. This place is downtown and is home to numerous "different" types of donuts. I'm dying to try the Bacon Covered Glazed. Sweet and Salty is my weakness!

Look at it. Just look. Gourmet Donuts....


5. Hominy Grill- I have heard mainly GREAT things about this brunchy type place downtown- a few "meh" reviews about how it's not all that as it's hype claims, but I'm giving it a try. Sunday brunch here I come.



What are your weekend plans? Visiting me? OK, come on! :)

I don't have a washer and dryer here at my apartment...I live in an old historic home consisting of 4 apartment units and mine is the ONLY one without one. Of course. Naturally. My luck. BAH!! The reason is a good one- there's just no room.

I kinda survived my first laundromat experience and it wasn't horrible. It wasn't the shady, mess-tastic place I had in mind (i.e. the laundromats back home for one! Double yikes!)

I traveled down the road to College Laundromat and was happy to see that at 4:00 p.m. there were plenty of washers and dryers for use. The price? $2.50 per load and $.25 per 6 minutes in the dryer. Cool. Not bad. I have lots of dry-clean only clothing and/or will wear an item numerous times (unless I get nasty, sweaty or pee on myself) before I clean it.

So, yeah, I get there and pretend that I'm a regular. I hate going into a new place and being the newbie. HATE. it. I'm such a wuss! So, in my attempt to be cool, I took one glance at the washer and the FOUR different holes on top of the machine (for bleach, softener, detergent, etc.) and quickly started piling in my clothes and adding my powder detergent.

Uh....

It wasn't until 5 minutes AFTER the bitch had started that I realized there was a guide on the front with STUPID small images correlating to each washing product. Those images corresponded with one of those on-top holes....Yeah......I put the detergent in the softener hole.

*sigh*

hehe. Whatever. I just sat there and stared at the washer. It didn't really suds up...I was curious what would happen during the rinse cycle.

lol- It's funny now challenged I become when it comes to everyday things you take for granted!

My clothes weren't sudsy or anything, but they could have been CLEANER, for sure. They WERE, however, CLEAN, so I threw them in the dryer and then left. I could have been more prepared: i.e. Clothesbasket instead of a trashbag (HAHA!!!) and actually had enough quarters.

I think I'll enjoy my adventures here....

Here I am, here I ammm! Out of hiding and so happy to be blogging. I didn't have the internet or cable for the first couple days of being in Charleston- my desktop still needs an external modem, so right now I'm using my laptop, which kinda sucks because I can't upload my photos very easily.

Here's a brief breakdown of what's been happening the past 4-5 days:

#1. The first stop on my journey to South Carolina was a stop in Birmingham for one last hangout with my closest friends (Marion, Joy and Mike). We went to B-ham's annual Brewfest at Sloss Furnace. LOTS of AMAZING beers to sample. I am such a lover of Oatmeal Stouts!


#2. It only took me 3 days to break down (almost) all boxes and put up my stuff in the apartment. I still have shoes to deal with. No idea where they're going to go....My closest are bursting at the seams. Lots of people recommended I buy the huggable hangers, but I don't feel like digging out all the clothes again right now. lol. Maybe later. Added to my "to-do" list.

#3. My first day on the job was just OK...Without getting into too much detail, let's just say that once you hear something 5 times on your FIRST day at a new job about how your new boss is a big micro-manager and the phrase "good luck. I hope it works out for you" pops up in conversation way too much....you might start to question things. I have yet to meet my new boss, as she's out of town until Thursday, but all I can do is wait and see. My biggest issue is having a fun work family to go to everyday- I thrive on it....and I just hope it all works out fine.

The job? I can tell I'll like it. I think it'll be very rewarding working with Veterans.

#4. A few apartment photos:

It's still really hard to tell the size of the rooms from the photos, but trust me- it's a great size for me and the two pups :) It's starting to feel like home. More pictures to come....





#5. WHOLE FOODS! Finally. FINALLY I have a Whole Foods near me again. I grabbed a few new things I wanted to try, a few things I hadn't had in a long tiiiiime and a big helping of stuff from their salad and hot bar. lol

OH, and this wine: Bubo=OWL in Latin

This Cab, called  is part of Whole Food's Summer Top 10 Wines. Can anyone guess the first aspect of this wine that made me buy it? ONE guess....one guess only ;)


#6. I'm itching to go out and start doing the FUN stuff: eating, beach, bars, shopping, photo taking, etc.! The closest I got to seeing some Charleston is taking my dogs to the dog park today. PURE Trauma for Chiva. lol She was fine at first, but then a bigger dog started wanting to play chase and she got scared and started making the most GOD awful noise like she was hurt- HA! The dog wasn't even touching her. THEN, the other two bigger dogs in the park heard her and chased her, too. Good grief- it was nuts. Needless to say, we came home. Brady, on the other hand is truly Mr. Congeniality.

To be continued....