On Memorial Day

... I am thinking about all of America's soldiers who lost their lives fighting for our country.  I studied abroad twice in college, and both times, I spent American Memorial Day in ways I will never forget. 

In 2009, while in Luxembourg, I visited the Luxembourg American Cemetery and Memorial, near where the Battle of the Bulge took place.  It was beautiful to see all of the wreaths laid by the Luxembourg and American governments.  Most powerful was definitely witnessing General Patton's grave at the front of the cemetery, overlooking all of the soldiers who fought and died together with him.

In 2010, I spent the day in Normandy, visiting the beaches where Americans stormed into France.  My uncle was killed on D-Day, and I even though I couldn't find his grave at Omaha Beach, I wrote his initials into the sand to honor him.

Visiting these sites truly showed me what Memorial Day is for, and I thank each and every one of our military who have given our lives to protect Americans as well as people around the world.

April Recap - Because Tomorrow...

Sorry, I had to.  Can you blame me?!  April seriously feels like it blew by.  I feel like every weekend I meant to do a weekend/life recap, but things got in the way.  Life happens, right?!  So, I decided to consolidate into one recap for all of April...

Easter Weekend - My parents are so cute and left us baskets when they were here to visit at the end of March.  We also decorated eggs with friends... because we're basically children haha!  On Easter, we went to church, brunch, and one of our local breweries: Low Tide.  They crafted a batch of their "Aloha Beaches" beer with edible glitter and turned it teal.  "Aloha Bunnies" wasn't one of my favorite beers taste-wise ever, but it sure was pretty!

The Masters - Mike and I headed to Augusta, GA during the first week of April for the Masters golf tournament.  No cameras or phones are allowed during tournament days, but they do have a photo station set up in front of the clubhouse, so you know we had to take advantage!

Dallas - Mike and I went on his surprise birthday trip to Dallas April 6-9.  You can read the full review here.

Golf Girls Visit CHS - My college golf team came to visit me and sightsee through Charleston the weekend after we went to Dallas.  We did everything "touristy" I could think of from eating biscuits at Callie's to drinking at the Vendue rooftop and sailing out to Fort Sumter to walking around Folly Beach.

Kickball Champs - Mike and I won our first belt!  One of our Wednesday kickball teams made it to the winter finals, and we won the AAA division.  The spring season starts this week, and we are looking forward to defending our title!

New England Wedding & Beer - Last weekend, we were in New England for the wedding of one of my college friends in Boston.  We also had a chance to stop at some of the best breweries in the country while we were in New England: Tree House and Trillium.  We will be back up there for a few weddings this summer and can't wait to try even more of their beer.  Spring has finally hit New England, and all of the flowering trees were so pretty!

Pirates Takeover Folly Beach - Last, but not least, my friends and I had our second annual pirate pub crawl out on Folly Beach this Saturday.  Seriously, I'm so lucky to have some of the best friends ever here in Charleston.  I would say the number of laughs, photo ops (one even with a bride getting married on the beach!), and conversation-starters with strangers far outweighed the number of eye rolls directed at our little, rowdy group!

Weekending + My Birthday!

Happy Tuesday, friends! And yes, it's October 3rd, in case you were wondering...

It's also my birthday!  I wanted to pop in today for a quick (and late) weekend recap of our trip up to New England.  My first boss is retiring this month, and my old staff threw a going away golf tournament for him and honored him with a dinner afterwards.  I was so happy to be able to go up, see all of my old co-workers, and thank him for starting me on this career path.  We just caught the tail end of the fall New England heatwave, and it was in the mid-70s playing on Thursday.

The rest of the weekend dropped into the 40s at night, and even in the sun, it was only low 60s. We visited family, played games, ate doughnuts, drank beer, and picked pumpkins.

I assume I'm the last person to finally find these seltzer jrs in ridiculous flavors, but if you haven't yet, you need to!  For those who don't know, Polar beverages are a staple in New England.  I actually went to college right up the hill from one of their factories, and I loved looking out my window to see their giant inflatable Polar bear on their roof!

Speaking of my alma mater, we stopped by Holy Cross on Saturday morning on the way to visit family in Massachusetts to buy a bumper sticker for our golf cart, and apparently it was homecoming!  (I guess I don't read my emails well...)  It was so fun to walk around and see everyone in their purple and white.  Holy Cross also holds an extra special place in my heart, because that's where we got married!

Since our trip a few weekends ago to Chicago, I've been on the lookout for the best doughnuts everywhere.  I found Tastease online in Hartford, and they're mini donuts - yes, please!!

And last, I am praying so hard for everyone affected by the senseless violence in Las Vegas over the weekend.  It hurts me to say that I am feeling so desensitized by all of this terror, and our country needs to finally take a stand on gun violence.  Acts like this cannot and should not be the norm.  We need stricter regulations for gun holders now.

A Look Back...

Talk about the ultimate review on a Monday... all of 2016.  It was quite a year, and while I will remember the highs of this year (a new home, new friends, weddings, and weddings) fondly, there were so many ways that I dream 2017 will be better.  On a personal level, I hope that all of my eye troubles are behind me, and for our world, I wish that we can all find peace, love, and acceptance, no matter who we are, who we love, or where we come from.

I also want to thank all of you for your support this year.  I thought I'd round up my top post from each month in 2016, and I was pleasantly surprised at what y'all enjoyed the most:

January - Tax Tips for Bloggers 

February - Carmelita Bars 

March - Disney Glass Slipper Race Recap 

April - (New House:) Framed and Financed

May - Guide to Charleston Breweries

June - Host a Spa Party at Home & Southern Proper Style on Kiawah Island

Two posts within two days got the most page views all year, so I thought they both deserved to be shared. 

July - Watermelon Sangria

August - A Lilly Look

September - Game Day Football Banner

October - The After Matth(ew)

November - Builder Grade to Custom Made Bathroom in Five Easy Steps

December - But the Prettiest Sight To See...

And continuing with December, Mike and I spent the last week in New England with our families.  I can honestly say that I've never "unplugged" for a vacation so much in my life.  I snapped a few times, but took literally 11 photos on my phone.  It felt great, and I am definitely recharged for a new year of blogging.

Mike and I always do our own Christmas before we leave for New England so we don't have to bring the presents for each other up and back down on the plane for no reason.  The cats were obviously very excited about his tickets to the Daytona 500 this year!

I don't even understand how my ring bearer and these twins are getting so big!!

 Coffee dates with old friends

Our annual college friends reunion and Secret Santa party!

New Year's with fantastic friends!

I hope y'all had a fantastic New Year's - happy 2017!  Linking up with Biana for some New Year's Weekending!

Nautical Bachelorette On Cape Cod

Two weekends ago, myself and 9 of my closest friends headed to Cape Cod to celebrate the upcoming wedding of my sister-in-law.  I'll be a bridesmaid for her in just over a month, and it was such a pleasure to help plan this wonderful weekend for her!  We rented a beautiful and historical four bedroom home that we found on Airbnb.  It had four bedrooms, two living areas, and a huge kitchen.

By far, my favorite part of the whole house was the porch that wrapped around the whole thing.  There were so many cute sitting areas, and it was the perfect place to set up our breakfasts and lunch.  When the rain cancelled our Saturday beach plans, we happily sat outside, played card games, and watched the rain come down for hours.

We went with a nautical theme for the event, since we were on Cape Cod!  One of the maids of honor went above and beyond and created so many adorable banners and photo booth props for us to enjoy!  How cute is that little crab mask or the "Bridesmate" speech bubbles?!

The other MOH put together these amazing goodie bags for each of us in attendance: sunglasses with "bridesmates" written on the side, mints, ibuprofen, Swedish fish, and a first aid kit.  Everyone especially loved the leis and gold tattoos, and the bride wore her sailor hat all weekend!

On Saturday night, we headed to downtown Falmouth for our dinner out.  If you're ever on the Cape, I highly suggest Bear in Boots - the service and atmosphere were fantastic and the food - just wow!  Our table ordered everything from homemade pastas to barbecue and enchiladas to grilled pizzas.  We were all so impressed with the selection and attention to detail.  The staff even brought us out complimentary prosecco at the conclusion of our meal to celebrate the bride-to-be!

We woke up early the next morning to pack up and drive to central Massachusetts for the bride's shower.  I'll be sharing more on that fun event next Wednesday!  So excited to be back linking up for Wedding Wednesday with the lovely Macy and Nikki!