Charleston!

To continue my worldly travels this week I went to Charleston to visit my other bestie, Brijette! I have always loved Charleston and it is always fun to go visit because there is SO much to do there. The first night I got there we went to Social which is a wine bar on E. Bay Street and had handtossed pizza and champagne. It was a great meal and allowed Brijette and I to catch up on our lives. After Social we walked across the street to Pearlz for a traditional oyster shooter. This was my first experience with oyster shooters and I must say that I have been missing out because it was really good! After all of this we left downtown and went back to Brijette's cute new house to relax and get some sleep. The next morning we went shopping and spent wayyy too much money although everything I bought was on sale, so thats a positive! After shopping we attempted to lay out on the dock but only lasted 15 minutes because it was ridiculously hot and the tide was low so there was no water to cool off in. So instead we went and ate mexican and drank margaritas :) yumm. I had so much fun and I cant wait to go back and visit again! I love Brijette and wish she wasnt so far away from me during school. I am so lucky to have the friends I do because no matter how far away we are and no matter how long we go without seeing each other, when we reunite its like we never left! I was better with taking a few pictures this trip than Columbia!

After dinner at Social:

Cheers with our oyster shooter:

Last picture of the trip:

The Shack

Here at the beach there was a restaurant that is kind of a monument to the locals, The Biscuit Shack. It opened probably 30 years ago and was run by a lady named "Boots". She was a unique lady and served breakfast lunch and dinner every day. One of her staple items was the hot lunch special, one meat and either 2 or 3 vegetables with a tea. Boots passed away last November and The Biscuit Shack was shut down. A legendary restaurant gone... but not for long!

My step-mom teamed up with a good family friend of ours to reopen "The Shack" in the old Biscuit Shack building. Currently we are serving breakfast and lunch, fresh seafood and a hot lunch special Sunday through Friday. My step-mom, Todd has been in the restaurant business her entire life, owning 2 previous restaurants. She is a wonderful step-mom as well as an excellent chef. Her recipes are original and unique and always keep people wanting more. Her partner, Scott has also spent his life in the restaurant business but more along the corporate lines. He brings the business and marketing side and does it very well. Together, they make an amazing team and with this new adventure they can only succeed.

I am home for the summer working at the restaurant almost everyday waiting tables and doing whatever else needs to be done. I am so excited and proud of my step-mom for fulfilling her dream of opening another restaurant. I wish her success and happiness with this new and exciting adventure.

Because of the shape of the building before we opened, a renovation was necessary. Below are a few before and after shots:

The main dining area

The "porch" dining area

If you are ever in the Cherry Grove, SC area stop by and check it out!

Columbia!

My best friend Adri goes to USC in Columbia and I went to visit her for a few days. It was SO much fun being in a different city and seeing her house and life that she has. She is such a busy person with her calendar full so it was exciting to get to spend some quality time with her and catch up! We ate dinner the first night at Pizza Man and the waitress there was hilarious. She talked to us like she was one of the gang and pulled up a chair and chatted. I'm sure if we offered her beer she would have taken it! After dinner we went to Pavlov's in 5 Points which was a lot of fun. It's still strange to me that I am legally allowed to drink at a bar haha. Tuesday we went to Forest Lake and swam and hung out on the boat all day. The lake is definitely a LOT different than the beach! After the lake we went to the neighbors house for an impressive home cooked meal. I must say, I don't ever really expect many college boys to be able to fix an entire meal and it be delicious. Once dinner ended, I packed my stuff and headed back to the beach and back to reality. Overall, this was a fun trip with my best friend. I am so glad she is part of my life and I would be so lost without her! Unfortunately, I took no pictures during this mini vacay so here's an old one of one of my most favorite people in the world :

At a hat shop in London, England 2009

A Day with my Sister

Yesterday I had the opportunity to hang out with my littlest sister, M. I have three stepsisters on my dad's side but I would like to consider them my real sisters. I think we look alike enough that we could claim each other! Well, the oldest two K and R went to have fun sleepovers with their friends last night so I had M all to myself :) We decided to take a bike ride around the neighborhood which was a lot of fun.. until we got lost! Well not technically lost, but almost! We kept turning around so many different streets that at one point we came to a stop sign and M looks at me and says, "Where is our house?" and my reply was, "Uhh, I'm not quite sure!?" Needless to say, it was fun racing around and trying to hit all the sprinklers we could!

Once our bike ride ended we went home where my stepmom was cleaning the boat after a day of fishing offshore. M really wanted to check out the fish and ended up posing with one of the smaller ones for a few pics.

After the boat was all clean we all went inside to shower and get ready. Dad had promised to take M to dinner and she was very ready! She went and showered, picked out a cute outfit, asked her mom to comb her hair so there would be no knots, blow dried her hair straight, and the final touch was some good smelling lotion! Lets just say that she was very excited for our dinner date and could not wait to leave!

We hopped in the car and off we went down the road to our favorite place, Miyabis! We enjoyed the soup and salad and our entertaining chef but by the time our dinner was served we were all so tired and full that we had to take it all home! (It'll make a good dinner tonight!) I think M really enjoyed her afternoon and on the way home from the restaurant, she fell asleep :) She is growing up so fast and is no longer my little baby sister. I can't wait to spend more summer afternoons with her and K and R as well.

Here are some pictures of our day:

21st Birthday

This post is beyond delayed... Life has been so crazy the past few weeks it's amazing I am still functioning properly ha! I finally made it home from school and my family's new restaurant is open and so far very successful! So many of our friends and local community people have graced us with their presence to support our restaurant and enjoy the delicious food (post on this coming later!) Right after exams finished for the semester, literally the day after my last exam was my 21st birthday! Woohoo right?! My three best friends made sure they were there to celebrate with me and let it be said that it is a very good thing you only turn 21 once because I definitely could not do all of that again!

I am so thankful for so many things in my life at this point, my wonderful family who have always supported my decisions and never closed their doors to me or their hearts. My lovely other half, B who has seen it all haha the ups and downs the good the bad and the ugly. I am so lucky to have found him. My friends, Adri, Brijette, Sarah and Kristen who I have heavily relied on this past year. They always have an open ear and provide a good laugh whenever needed :)

Here are some of the appropriate pictures from my birthday.. I would like to have some dignity left haha :

funfetti cupcakes made by my best friends :)

my dad, my best friend

my 3 very best friends

birthday jello shots!

birthday to-do list

girls :)