mountain weekend 2014! {boone, nc}

since mary emerson decided to make an early arrival, i wasn't sure i'd make it up to mountain weekend this year. but with all the hoopla & family members we have in charlotte, leigh & derrick assured me i was there for the important stuff and told me to go. so i packed up on saturday morning, stopped by the hospital to see the baby, and then headed up to boone!

after a quick 2 hours drive from charlotte, i turned onto the street that was supposed to take me to our house, and quickly started sliding all over the place. i was FREAKING OUT & actually terrified.  i put in a 911 call to the boys and 10 minutes later all 9 of the guys showed up to the rescue. the end result is that my car spent the weekend at the bottom of the mountain, but not for lack of effort!

{view from the porch}

once we recovered from climbing the mountain with all of my stuff, i convinced the girls to head into town for some exploring. i had done some research last week so i knew where i wanted to go. first stop was our daily bread for lunch - yum! we stopped in mast general store for some shopping and then went to the appalachian mountain brewery! we sat at a picnic table on the heated porch, drank a lot of beer, and played card games for awhile before heading back up to the house. it was such a fun day with my pals!

{turkey philly with white beach & turkey soup}

{crooked common & honey badger were our favorites}

the rest of the weekend revolved around food, alcohol, a sketchy hot tub, never getting out of our pajamas, card games, and football. 

{dalton made venison burgers}

ammie and i got a little stir crazy and decided to go sledding on sunday between the games... i was so happy to be there for ammie's first time on a sled!

it was a wonderful weekend filled with my college pals + some awesome new friends. as i was driving down the mountain on monday morning, i felt overwhelmed with happiness that this life is mine!

already looking forward to mountain weekend 2015!

sunshine, best friends, and a limo ride: labor day 2013 {cherry grove, sc}

after ammie & i so kindly bought everyone biscuits for breakfast on friday, i jumped in the car with her & dalton back to charleston, sc. they have recently moved into the same townhouse complex, and you can throw a rock between their front doors - i died laughing upon discovering how close they are. i love both of their places! we scooped up dalton's roomie, packed ammie's bags, and headed up the coast to cherry grove, sc. cam's grandma owns a house  across the street from the beach & kindly let us borrow the house for the weekend!

 

{felt like a family road trip from hell}

 

we got to the house around 8pm, ordered pizza, and waited for everyone else to arrive. we decided to forgo the beach bars and stay put on the amazing front porch. i finally hit the hay around 1am and was so confused to wake up at 5:45am and find everyone still sitting in the living room. clearly, i can't hang!

 

we woke up and watched gameday for a few hours before heading to the beach. there was barely a cloud in the sky - it was a beautiful last beach day of the year.

around 6pm we headed to overtime to start watching football. chelsea & jason met us there & it was so fun to see them! something about seeing your best friend out of your normal setting when you're not planning on it is really fun. a million hours later once the football game finally ended, and georgia choked, we spent the rest of the night on a rooftop beach bar listening to weird music.

sunday was a totally lazy day besides ams & i sneaking off to enjoy the first real meal of the weekend. and then around 5pm, we jumped into a giant limo and headed to wilmington, nc. cam has a family that he is so close with that he refers to their daughter, jordan, as his sister. well Jordan's best friend was throwing her a low-country boil engagement party in wilmington, and since we were so close, they invited us to come!

the limo ride there was a total blast & we killed 4 bottles of champagne. the engagement party was hosted at a gorgeous house across from the water. the food was amazing - we had oysters & shrimp boil. we met the nicest man in the world who lectured us all about what we deserve in a man, and all 3 of us were crying. i got to meet jordan's extremely kind parents, and a handful of other important people in cam's life. it was the perfect night!

 

 

{cam, ams, rach, me, dalton}

the limo ride home looked a little something like this....

after we got home, we enjoyed another porch night with music & our pals. monday came too quick and after a TERRIBLE lunch at a local restaurant, we all headed our separate ways. i am forever thankful for the university of south carolina & chi omega for bringing these people into my life. i am a lucky girl & i have some pretty great friends.

 

hope your weekend was as amazing as mine!

battle of the carolinas: football is finally here!

ever since steve spurrier moved to columbia 9 years ago, we've kicked off most of our seasons with thursday night games. this is really fun because a. it's the first college football game of the year and b. you get to spend all of labor day relaxing {read as drinking} instead of feeling sick to your stomach all saturday.

this year was a special thursday night game. born in south carolina, raised in north carolina, educated in south carolina, and back to living in north carolina, i'm a carolina girl through & through. and although most my life has been spent in the carolina to the north, my heart lies in the one to the south. and if you live in either carolina, you know there is an epic battle of who is "the real carolina." talk about the most annoying thing ever. unc fans think it's completely asinine that anyone would think of usc as carolina. i have spent the majority of my post grad life trying to get unc fans to understand that it's the exact same thing as them thinking unc is carolina, but they just don't seem to get it. 

my brother in law is one of these "unc is the only carolina" people, as he graduated from chapel hill. so since my sister & i are usc grads, we decided to make this game a family affair. around noon on thursday, we all packed up into brian's car and headed south on i-77 to god's country. 

my friends are amazing and love me so ammie was so kind to let my family use her parking spot. this made things so much easier for us & brian - this was his first usc game since his stroke. we unpacked and set up with ammie's dad & his friends and started the party! two of our cheer friends that my sister coached came and met up with us, and the rest of my gang stopped by for a bit too. around 5pm we headed into the stadium to make sure we got to our seats in time for the pre-game show {ex-cheerleader requirement}. 

{the set-up}

{the spread}

{carolina + carolina + fireball = doing it right}

{my babes}

{us with mia & rachel! leigh and i are very thankful our uniforms weren't made out of spandex when we cheered at usc!}

{melting in the upper deck}

it was unbelievably hot {per the usual in cola} and we were pretty much sitting on the sun, so i spent the first half of the game trying not to die. a few touchdowns and quarters later, they suspended the game due to bad weather approaching. that was a first! so after filing out of the stadium, kristin called and i knew she was close to where i was, so i ran to hug her neck {and meet the boyfriend who is totally adorable} for all of 2 minutes and 4 hugs before the sky fell out. i ran back to the tailgate to find my family gone & thankfully ammie was sitting in her dad's car, so i jumped in. it rained like crazy for about an hour before we hauled our sleepover stuff over to our friend's tailgate where truck bed drinking commenced. 

{williams brice stadium}

{my sweet carolina}

once we finally decided to leave, i forced ammie to ride in the back of the truck with me. you see, i am happiest riding home in the back of a truck after the gamecocks win. ammie screamed the whole time and i laughed hysterically. she kept saying her dad would kill her and i kept reminding her that it's legal to ride in the back in sc :) once we got back to nicole & charlee's new {and awesome!} house, we made the brilliant decision to go swimming in their new pool after 12 hours of drinking. needless to say, we slept well!

{you're a trooper, ams}

cheers to football season & go gamecocks!

bridesmaid x2!

rewind back to the weekend of may 10th-12th when two of my sweet friends got engaged! laura was first on friday, may 10th and called around 8pm to give us the news! her fiancé, rob, proposed at their home when she got home from work that evening. rob & laura met through some mutual friends but just so happen to be from the same small town, marion, sc. rob used laura's mom's original setting for her ring - it is so unique & gorgeous!

 

 

{both redheads named laura - things get confusing!}

 

so about a month ago, i got this adorable little card in the mail...

 

 

i am so excited to stand next to laura as she says "i do!" they will be getting married at her parent's beautiful house that she grew up in on april 26, 2014. laura has the kindest of souls & impeccable style, i cannot wait to see how she pulls everything together for her big day!

 

skipping through saturday onto sunday, i got a picture from kathleen around 10am with a big ol' rock on her left hand! kathleen & i have been friends since we were about 7 years old. we have gone to every school together (elementary-college), rushed the same sorority, and lived together all 4 years of college - definition of lifelong friend!

 



 

{over the years!}

 



brandon asked kathleen to marry him on his birthday, using the barstools from the bar they met at two years ago! i am so thrilled kathleen asked me to be part of her big day and can't wait to watch her marry the man of her dreams next may! they are getting married on may 10th, 2014 at alexander homestead here in charlotte.

 

 

kathleen gave me this little bottle of champagne that she got all crafty with (she's insanely talented) to officially ask me to be her bridesmaid. the picture is kind of dark but it says "i have something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue, but the day won't be complete without you. will you be my bridesmaid?" i will be keeping this little bottle forever!

 

i am so excited for both my girls and am so honored both asked me to be one of their bridesmaids! it's gonna be a busy 2014 and i can't wait!

murrells inlet, sc: the fourth of july.

i took a half day on tuesday and headed down to murrells inlet for the rest of the week! in a last minute change of plans, i stayed with ammie & her family & was so excited to spend some time with her parents!

 

tuesday night we headed to dinner on the inlet. we had yummy seafood & then spent the rest of the evening playing this super fun ipad game & drinking beer.

 

wednesday we woke up & it finally wasn't raining! we spent the whole day on the beach where i proceeded to get fried regardless of all the sunscreen i put on. redhead problems. wednesday night we went to the marsh walk and scored an awesome spot in the rocking chairs at bubba's. all sorts of our friends showed up & it was good to see everyone! that's my favorite thing about the inlet - you never plan to see anyone or know who is going to be around, but you always end up seeing exactly who you want to.

 

 

{ammie, laura & i at dinner on tuesday, meggy & i at bubbas on wednesday, the sweet bully i met at bubba's}

 

 

thursday morning we woke up & headed to the point! ammie's family is from hartsville & all of their family friends come to the inlet for the week, too. one family has a house right on the point, so we went to their house & walked out on their dock to the party. the point is where most people from the various surrounding beaches go for the 4th - everyone piles on a boat and pulls on up - it's a great time! we had an epic american ceremony before eating hamburgers & hot dogs that included about 30 of us saying the pledge of allegiance, singing the national anthem, reciting george washington's prayer for our country, and singing proud to be an american. i was in american heaven.

 

you see, the fourth of july is my favorite day of the year. i absolutely love this beautiful country that we are lucky enough to call home. i don't ever take for granted the fact that we enjoy a life & freedoms that most of the world could never dream of. we are truly blessed & i am thankful for those who fight for us and keep us free.

 

after packing up from the point, we showered & headed out to hot fish club. this is my favorite bar ever. think of 3 giant gazebo-like-tree-houses & you have hot fish club. we met up with the rest of our friends there & had a super amazing evening celebrating the us of a!

 

{dalton & i, the girls, laura & her bridesmaids, laura & i with the crocker girls}

friday morning we woke up and did a whole lot of nothing. dalton & i eventually went for a walk on the beach, but that was pretty much it. ammie's birthday was on saturday, and since we wouldn't be with her fam on her actual birthday, we did her party on friday night. we ordered the ever so famous prosser's bbq & had some friends over for dinner. after dinner we met up with our friends at causeway & watched the world's best country cover band, the austin mowery band. i was seriously drooling.

 

 

{the gang on friday}

 

saturday morning we woke up & it was ammie's birthday which i will write about in the next post since this one is already way too long. hope y'all had an amazing 4th of july & got to spend some time celebrating our beautiful country!

rachel's going away party - except now she's not going away!

i met rachel way back when in 2006 during my freshman year at south carolina. we were in the same sorority, but i didn't get to do much my freshman year due to cheerleading demands. 36 of us moved into the house our sophomore year and we slowly but surely found our little "niche" in our pledge class of 65. it's safe to say we have been pretty much obsessed with each other ever since.

{carolina cup 2010}

rachel (or bradshaw as i like to call her) is from hartsville, south carolina. never heard of it? what? and while she has a small town heart, she has never had any intentions of being a small town girl. after graduation in 2010, rachel & i both moved to atlanta for work. and since we couldn't stand the idea of not living next door to each other anymore, rach moved into my apartment complex! we had a year full of shenanigans in atlanta before i unexpectedly moved back to charlotte. well guess what? rachel got transferred to charlotte about 2 weeks after i got home.

so last wednesday, i threw rachel a going away party because she was supposed to move back to atlanta this thursday. yes, as in tomorrow. like, signed a lease, bought a car (she had a company car since college) & packed all of her stuff in boxes. well, yesterday she got a kickass offer from the company she had originally wanted to work for here in charlotte. so looks like i get to keep my rach after all :) i really wasn't looking forward to living in different cities for the first time since we met 7 years ago and i'm super thankful that now we won't have to.

here are some pics from her georgia themed going away party!

{georgia peach fizz = vanilla vodka + frozen lemonade}

{the spread}

the quick & dirty on my wednesday - sunday.

it has been an insanely busy week/weekend in my world! two of these events will get their own posts but wanted to share a little bit before that!

wednesday after work i threw one of my best friends, rachel, a going away party at my house.

thursday night we celebrated brittany's birthday at selwyn pub.

friday night was my step mom's 50th birthday party! i have been planning this event at my work for the past few months. i can't wait to get the pictures back from the photographer - it was the perfect evening!

{sneak peek - so proud of how this turned out!}

saturday morning i laid on the couch with kristin and laughed a lot. then i had some things to do at work from the party the night before. i took my sweet kristin to kickstand before she headed back to columbia.

saturday night we went to dinner at del frisco for derrick & mary ann's actual birtthdays.

{YUM}

sunday morning we had brunch for mother's day with momma. after catching up on some me time, i went to my dad's house for a cookout with stepmom & my mema. i'm typing this as i am having a sleepover with my momma - a perfect end to mother's day!

{mema & i}

it's been an awesome 5 days, but i'm exhausted!

rewind: friendsgiving 2012.

to say "i've been busy," is the understatement of the century. i've been married to my job since, well, july? but the past month has been insane, leaving little room for much of anything, especially blogging! however, this event was too special not to have a post, so rewind with me back to the tuesday before thanksgiving...

roomie amanda texted us few weeks before thanksgiving and told us that her work was giving out free turkeys to all their employees . i know, nice employer, right? so we figured since we'd be going to our parent's houses for actual thanksgiving, that we would throw a "friendsgiving!" we picked a date, sent out the invites via the oh so fabulous paperless post, and started planning.

once in a blue moon, working at an event venue has its perks. this was definitly one of those times. we had about 30 people RSVP for the party, but where the heck were 30 people going to sit? solution: borrow tables & chairs from work. i rented some dinner party essentials and borrowed some as well. we got everything set up on monday night, leaving just the food to be cooked on tuesday. guests arrived around 7:15pm and we sat down for dinner about an hour later. let me just say, i don't know how moms do this every holiday! i'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking...

{pumped about our first turkey!}

{meet henry. yes, we named it.}

{panoramic view... after moving half our furniture into the garage}

{the set up}

{katie's banner}

{i made baked corn...}

{ ...and mashed potatoes}

{me and d were so proud of the turkey}

{momma helping us derrick carve}

{pals!}

it took a lot of work, and a lot of help from a lot of sweet people to pull off this party, but we did it! it was such a fun night spent with so many people that are so important to us.  a special thanks to...

derrick, for letting me borrow his car to run things back and forth from work and also carving the turkey & the ham; to my mom, for also helping transport chairs, helping us with the turkey, letting me borrow her silverware and making dessert for a party she didn't even attend; to my dad & stepmom for answering all my crazy questions about cooking the turkey; to party reflections, for the linens, napkins, plates, and glasses and for honoring my work discount for a personal event; to everyone who brought a casserole or dessert or alcohol; to andy for his awesome toast; to courtney for making everyone go around the room and say what they are thankful for, that was hilarious/awesome; to everyone who stayed to help us clean up; and lastly, thanks to my roomies! we may just have to make this an annual event!