Life Lately

Happy Friday, y'all!  Mike's family is headed into town this weekend, and we can't wait to do all of our favorite Charleston things with them.  Here's my five on Friday:

1. Running: Over the last few weeks, we participated in a few 5ks for great causes.  The first race was actually a walk, organized by Water Mission, to raise awareness for the global water crisis by carrying buckets of unfiltered water in solidarity with women and children across the world who make walks like this everyday.  We saw firsthand how water filtration systems work to help distribute clean water around the world.

The following weekend, we participated in the Doughnut Dash 5k for the Race 4 Achievement Scholarship Fund.  We ran a mile and a half down the greenway to Krispy Kreme where we ate a dozen donuts as a team, and ran back.  That's my kind of race! #caloriesburnedcaloriesearned

The final race, to benefit the Lowcountry Food Bank, was the Food Truck Rally 5k.  I really enjoyed this trail run through Middleton Place Woodlands, and afterwards, we were rewarded with a finisher's medal (that doubles as a bottle opener!) and tons of food truck food.  Mike met me at the finish line with delicious sandwiches from Cory's Grilled Cheese and Bac'n Me Crazy. I received complimentary entry into this race to publicize the event on my blog.

We don't have any other races on the horizon, but I'm really hoping Color Me Rad or one of those color-throwing races makes its way down here.  It's been forever since I did one of those in Connecticut!

2. Golf: I almost had a hole-in-one a couple of weeks ago, which was cool!  I heard it hit the flagstick, but it just popped out.  We also went down to Hilton Head earlier this month for the Heritage golf tournament.  It's one of the best Lowcountry parties of the year, and I love when the event overlaps with Easter, because they have the most fantastic sunrise service on the 18th green on Easter Sunday morning.

3. Charleston Blog Society: This month's event was at the Escapada Living Signature Store, and I am seriously obsessed with their summer line - give me all the OTS looks, bright colors, and tassels!  I got a couple of pieces while I was there (helloooo awesome discount) and can't wait to share them soon.

4. Unicorn Frappuccino: Of course, I tried it.  It was...fine.  I honestly had no idea it was supposed to be mango until I read a Buzzfeed article hating on it.  Mike and I split one (so much sugar), I thought it was some super sweet berry.  I'll stick with my unicorn toast!

5. Springtime: If you checked out my Wednesday post, you know I'm having a serious love affair with spring.  We've been spending all the time we can outside: lunch at Vintage Coffee, happy hour at Revelry, walks on Folly Beach, reading books (check out my Blogging for Books review below), and fire/outdoor movie night with friends!

This month, I read Our Man in Charleston with Blogging for Books - phew, it's been a while since my last review!  I was a history major in college and as y'all know, currently live in Charleston, so I thought this would be a perfect choice for my next read.  Now that spring is here and weather is perfect for reading outside, I finally got around to finishing it, and I'm so glad I did.  The book centers around a British consul before and during the Civil War named Robert Bunch.  Even taking an American history class focused on The South in college, I had never heard of Bunch, but his story is amazing.  It truly shows how instrumental slavery was to the Southern states' economy and how the Confederacy would go to any lengths to preserve this terrible institution.  The book is very informative and keeps you engaged with the story.  Here's a link if you'd like to check it out for yourself!

Linking up for Oh hey, Friday, Five on Friday, High Five for Friday, and two doses of Friday Favorites