Lee's Wedding

I love love love weddings! A couple of weekends ago, my god-brother Lee got married! The venue was in the heart of Downtown Charlotte at the Ritz Carlton and was to die for! This was the first wedding we'd been to in a while and the first wedding Keith and I have attended as an engaged couple. We all had so much fun dancing and catching up with family and friends that I wasnt able to snap that many pictures; but here are a few:

 

I'd say it was purely fine dining. The severs would each come around with the next course, stand behind their respected chair and place the plates all at the same time.  

And the food..So so good! There were three different options on the RSVPs and the plan was for my mom, Keith and I to each get something different so that we could try out each option. But some how, when our plate arrived, we all had the exact same thing haha!

This guy is the best wedding date/dance partner/future hubby a girl could ever ask for :)

And my mama! Love this sweet lady so so much!  

This night just made us all super excited about getting into the spirit of planning and having our very own! We danced and danced and ate and danced some more and didn't turn in until the wee hours of the morning. I love hanging out with my peeps. 

This Semester

Alas

This semester is in the books and I am officially done with one more semester  of school!

If I am being completely honest, I have been over this semester long before now hahaha. #justkeepingitreal

This semester was particularly difficult since I never felt like I actually got back into the hang of being in school again. After such a crazy busy summer: buying a house, starting 2 new jobs etc. I feel like I was never actually able to settle in school mode. It seemed like every time I tried, there was something else that needed to be moved in or transported or picked up..ahhh. Thankfully, my family and Keith were super supportive of my mini breakdowns/late night panic attacks ;)

So what are my plans for the holiday season? 

Sleeping, working and most importantly

 

Eating and being merry! :)

5 Things I am Loving Right Now

Whew! I am going to be honest, this season is really kicking my hiney. School --which has been super crazy since August and we have finals coming up (insert mild panic here), planning a wedding and trying not to go crazy is just a tad bit hectic. ;)  I love making lists but it seems like every time I check one thing off, 3 more things pop up on there hahah.

In the mist of the busy-ness I love going to my happy place and thinking about things I love.

Salted Caramel Mocha

 

Often times, my mom and I joke about the craziness that has become spending $5+ dollars on a cup of coffee when you can buy an entire canister at the grocery store that will easily last you at least a month.  #thirdworldprobs

But Holy Moly this thing is good! I, just like 99.8% of the girls in American, am a Starbucks lover and this is probably my favorite drink thus far.

Last season it was the Chestnut Praline Latte

Survivor

  

I am loving this season of Survivor. I love it that they brought back the returning players...some of which haven't been on the island for 15 years! I can still remember that first season in Australia. Yep, this obsession begin waaaaay back when ;)

Fall

Even though this season is crazy I love driving down the road with leaves hitting my car. And I like sipping my coffee and seeing the gorgeousness of fall.  

Clemson Football

This amazing place holds a special place in my heart. After all, it is where Keith and I met. I am so so proud of these guys this season! It makes my football loving heart very VERY happy! eeeek! 

The football team may or may not have been one of my deciding factors when it came to choosing a college to go to ;). And by the way, it is absolutely GORGEOUS in the fall.

Cubby

Somehow, this little guy always manages to explain the moment hahaha. We are ready for a break around here. We cannot wait to get to fellowship with friends and family over the holidays :)

Mema's 80th Birthday

We love birthdays in our family. This year was going to be my grandma's 80th birthday and my mom thought it would be fun to get all of our family together for a surprise birthday party! 

I'm not sure what it is with my mom and all of these surprises. It seems like just yesterday, she and Keith managed a little surprise of their own for me :)  Read more about it here

My sweet grandma just turned 80 years young!!

 Everyone gathered up at J. Peters for the surprise and celebration. And what a celebration it was. When everyone was finally there, we had a party of a bout 40 people (20 at each table) and we took up an entire side of the restaurant haha! 

Mema's side of the table was packed with balloons and flowers, It was kinda hard to see her at one point :)

One of my favorite peeps

I love this fella so much! 

xo 

Some more of my favorite peeps :)

#obligatoryfoodpic

No really. There was SO. MUCH. FOOD! We had leftovers for days and days 

Getting ready to blow out the candles!

Happy birthday to the sweetest Mema I know. Thank you Mema for being such and inspiration and light to everyone who has the pleasure to meet you! We love you !!

Summer Reads

Ahh this quote is so SO true and it describes my life perfectly!

It is no secret that I love reading. Its my favorite. Summer is that time of year when I have time to actually stop and catch up on things such as sleeping like a regular human being again :) and read. On any given summer day, as long as I'm not working, you can find me with my nose in a good book. This summer I found some amazing books. I didn't get around to reading as many as I would have liked since I got all ambitious and picked up a second job this summer, but I really enjoyed the ones I was able to read.

Here are just a few of the books I read this summer:

 A few of my favorites were:

Some Luck by Jane Smiley 

I would have to say this was one of my favorites. It began in the 1920s and followed a family that lived on a farm. It narrated the lives of each member of the family over a 30 year span and covered everything from the war and great depression to loss and triumph. 

Winter Street by Elin Hilderbrand

This is probably my 4th or 5th novel by Elin Hilderbrand and by the end of each one of them I am left wanting more. My only complaint was that it took place around Christmas time which I did not want to think about when it was 840580 degrees outside ;)

Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline

Let me just say that this novel was deep--I really know of no other way to put it. It took place 

in the late 1800s to early 1900s and was based off of a true story of real-life orphan trains. It was a lot more than I'd bargained to read during what was supposed to be a vacation. It was an ah-mazing plot and story line, there were just some parts of it that were a little hard to swallow and unexpected. However, if I'd been prepared, then I'm sure the experience would have been a bit different. Nonetheless, I would defiently recommend it just be prepared to read it with a very open mind.

I wasnt able to read my all time favorite novel but there's always time for that.  This summer was seriously a blessing. I love being able to take a break and unwind a little and  I seriously love reading. Some people shop, others may travel, I read :)

Mid-Month Confessions-September

 
  


Hey hey hey!

After a summer long hiatus, I'm back to link up with E and Heather to share my mid-month confessions. Bare with me y'all. Some of these are from the summer but they were too awkward not to share ;)

 Birthdays and Babies

 

One of my pharmacy school besties was having a birthday party for her daughter and we were also throwing a diaper shower for one of the pharmacists I work with at work. So, Keith and I decided to go pick out gifts for both. First we we decided to pick out a gift for the birthday party. We  wanted something educational but not too much advanced and not too noisy. We found the perfect balance in the form of a little key pad game. 

Next up was the baby gift. We knew for sure we were going to get diapers---and we knew for sure picking out diapers would be the easiest thing ever and we knew for sure that it would not take two kid-less, mid-twenty year olds that long to pick out a pack of diapers.   We figured we'd go grab a few things we needed then pick up the diapers on the way out hence the milk. 

Well

Everyone knows what happens to the best made plans. 

Y'all, there were SO. MANY. Who knew baby diapers were so complex. I'd heard that new baby's could easily go through several diapers per day. So size was important and I did NOT want to be responsible for diaper rash or anything of the sort.

The most logical choice was to get newborn diapers...for a newborn but most of them only went up to about 7 lbs and considering the size of most babies, we desided to go up a size. Then we had to settle on a brand. I called my mom to ask her what brand was best only for her to tell us that mamas are 'very particular' with certain things. 

awesome

30 minutes later we'd settled on a brand with the best reviews and with the most logical size. 

At one point, I thought maybe we could buy the baby some food with a good expiration date of course, because you really can't go wrong with food.

 . Meeting an Alumni 

When we took our trip to Washington, D.C. Keith and I went to a National's game. And the guy at the ticket counter just so happened to be an alumni of the University of South Carolina! What are the odds that we'd be 800 miles from home and run into an alum of our rival college. My confession is that I was waaay too excited about seeing this guy that I may or may not have squeled right then and there as soon as he told us. 

What can I say? I am nothing if not giddy :)

On that same token, earlier on in the day, Keith and I walked at approximately 10,000 miles to see each of the Washington Monuments. Ok. I am exaggerating but we walked at least 10 miles. They were each gorgeous in their own right but it was A LOT of walking. 

Later on on this very same night we got ENGAGED!! 

When Keith asked, me in all of my hysteria I guess I forgot to give him an answer! Poor fella. #oops. Because before I knew it, he was telling me it was a little cold down there and asking me if that was a yes. hahaha. It was a crazy night to say the least. Also, I am aware that I'm holding my hands in a super weird way but that's because they were super shaky and clammy hahah. Read more about it here.

Thanks for stopping by! 

Summer Jobs

I have always wanted to step outside of my comfort zone and work in a restaruant as a bartender or waitress of some sort. I am not really sure why...I actually have no logical reasoning other than YOLO ;) I knew I wanted this summer to be the summer for me to check a few items off of my bucket list so I decided to get a job at Outback Steakhouse. What I did not know was that I would also get a job offer as an intern at a brand new pharmacy as well!

 I was only a hostess at Outback but man it was nothing like I thought it would be! I decided very early on that this was probably the closest that I would get to bar-tending and I was ok with that. :)  I applied way back in April to what I thought was a national database and had no expectations of being called in for an interview...let alone an actual job. But I was called in almost immediately and was interviewed and hired by the owner himself. (I blogged about that super duper awkward encounter in my confessions post here)

I am not going to lie in the beginning, I was not a fan. I mean, I hated it actually. My mom and Keith also were not big fans of the idea but it eventually grew on them. In fact each night I would tell my mom I wasn't going back, and every night she would give me the whole "you made a commitment so stick to it" lecture. But it totally grew on me too and I met some of the best people!It was so funny because everyone kept on asking my age and not one person would believe that I wasn't 19 or 20 haha. Even though I get carded all. the. time. I will admit, it was super flattering to be constantly reminded that I looked younger than I was ;)

A few of the things I did were...

Set up the waiting area

 

Guard the host stand ;)

Organize pagers

And sit people of course! 

During the middle of my job as a hostess, I got a job offer at another pharmacy to be apart of their intern program! It was super bittersweet to leave my previous internship. I wasn't sure about stepping out of what I knew into something so unknown. It was my first job ever right out of college. I worked there as a pharmacy techncion until I was able to get my internship license. My family and I prayed and prayed and I decided to accept the position.
I will be forever grateful to each and every one of my colleagues and co-workers that helped me along the way. The pharmacist I had the pleasure to work under became one of my favorite mentors and an even better friend. Before I left, she brought me all of her old pharmacy notes that she used through out the years. Here are just a few...

I mean, how sweet is that?!

As sad as I was to leave I super excited for a new beginning. My first day at my new internship was amazing. By trusting God and walking by faith rather than by sight, I knew right away I had made the best decision and I am so glad I did.

This Summer....

....Was Crazy!

 Back when I was thinking about this summer and planning things for us to do, I knew I wanted it to be epic. Because pretty soon, I will be out of school and working like a grown-up and I won't have the glorious, amazing 3 months called summer vacation...not all at once anyway. So my main goal for this particular summer was to make it as memorable as possible. 

 Today I am linking up with Erika and Andrea to count down my favorite summer moments! (just because I could not pick just one)

5. Beware of the Gators 

At some point during the summer, there was a sign put up in our old neighborhood reminding us the beware of the alligators! This sign was nerve-wracking and funny at the same time. Nerve-wracking because, alligators are pretty scary...and they love dogs or so we've heard. And we just happen to have a little lab who loves the water. But it was also funny considering our neighborhood was near one of the busiest streets in Charleston. Oh the irony.

  4. Summer Reading

One of my favorite things about summer, other than sleeping, is being able to read as many novels as I can get my hands on. While in school, I don't hardly get to read as much as I'd like since its so busy but there are very few things that I'd put above curling up with a good book. 

3. The Eye Doctor

As fate would have it, I have horrible eye sight. I'm one of those people who have to go to the eye doctor religiously for my eyes. This year while at my appointment, my eye doctor and I got on the topic about school. He informed me that he not only knew one of my professors but that they just so happened to be neighbor. Small world 

 

2. House Hunting & Moving

For the first 2 months of summer we were house hunting. I promise we looked at approximately 2480840958 houses. Each one of them we found something wrong with...it had to be perfect.  Everyone kept saying that we'd know when we found the one. And just when we were ready to throw in the towel, we saw a listing on a beautiful home that we just had to see. Sure enough, as soon as we walked in, we knew.  Such an exhausting process but so so worth it! (I'd also like to note that we have not seen any signs of alligators so far ;))

My favorite summer moment: Summer Vacation

Once the house hunting was over, we were able to finally relax and take a vacay to Washington, D.C.  This trip was one for the books. Read more about it here

While on our summer vacation, we also got engaged!! Read more about and how it all went down here.  I absolutely love this guy with my whole heart 

xo

I really can not believe how fast summer went by. I'm pretty sure the rest of America is scratching their heads and wondering the same exact thing and I know its super cliche but I really can't. This summer was such a blessing in so many ways.  I'm so sad to see it go, but fall is just around the corner. Hello, beautiful leaves, crisp morning runs and pumpkin and apple everything!