Update on Life

I have done a terrible job keeping up with the blog since the beginning of July. Multiple reasons to blame for that..visitors being a huge one. The other reason is that I have been CONSTANTLY job hunting and looking for places to live in Charleston. 

Towards the middle of July, I decided that I was going to move to Charleston no matter what- job or no job. Bold move right? I kept going back and forth on the decision. Whatever the decision was going to be, it needed to be made fast. July was quickly ending, and I did not want to put my principal (back in Houston) in a bind, scrambling to find someone in August. 

After I went home for my brother's wedding, I pretty much made up my mind and had my family's support to make the big move. I got back to Charleston, called my principal and quit my job. 

As of July 24, I was officially unemployed with no hope of finding a new job. 

Since that day, I have been job hunting endlessly as well as looking for a place to live. As of this morning, I officially have a job until November working at a school in town- a great school actually. It's only temporary, but could possibly turn into a long term position. It's actually one of the best schools in town so I could not turn it down because this will get my name into their system in case a long term position does open up. I also have an interview tomorrow morning for a part time position that would help out until I have a full time teaching position. 

.

So I have a paycheck at this point. I am still homeless. I have found a roommate. She's super sweet and thought she was going to be here temporarily. Like me, she fell in love with the city and wants to stay. We have been searching craigslist 24 times an hour hoping to find a place downtown. The problem is that the college is located downtown and starts soon so all of the places are already rented. 

For now, I am leaving to go to Houston on Thursday morning. I will pack up all of my stuff, see some friends, go to my old school to get stuff, and then head back to Charleston by August 16 to start working. I have a place to stay in Charleston until September. I have hope that between now and September 1- something will open up downtown. If not, I guess we will look in James Island or Mount Pleasant. 

I have been very nervous about the decision and even last night, there were some tears about whether or not this was the right decision to make. After today, I feel confident that I am making the right decision. In the end, it's only a year. If I don't like it- I can always go back or somewhere new. I have made some great friends in Charleston already, and hope to form many more great relationships once  I get back. 

So Houston friends- I will be in town next week. Let's meet up!

Charleston friends- See ya in 2 weeks!!

Get ready for a huge birthday/college football celebration on September 1!!!

The best present you could give me is a place to live!!

I am moving to Charleston!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Friday's Letters

Dear College Friends, I am so glad that I get to spend time with several of you over the next week. We always have such a great time together, and our friendship cannot be replaced! This weekend will be great in Charleston and so will next week in Houston/Louisiana. Getting to spend the summer with my best friend from kindergarten has been the greatest of all! I will miss her dearly once she leaves me! 

Dear brother and future sister-in-law, See you next week at YOUR WEDDING! I cannot wait to spend time with all of my family that I haven't seen in awhile. Some of them I havent seen in a couple of years, while others it has been a couple of months. Can't wait to "get jiggy" with ya on the dance floor! 

Dear nephews, You will be the absolute cutest little things at the wedding! I can't wait until I get home to see you! I can't wait to see "Baby Luke's" precious smile! I wish I could see you more often! I guess I need to go shopping this weekend for a present to bring home to you, Mr. Big Man! 

Dear Sophie, I love you for being so well behaved. You are absolutely the best dog I have ever seen. People tell me all the time how lucky I am for having a dog that is so calm and listens so well. I would like to believe that I had something to do with it. I am sorry that you might feel a little left out because your sister hogs all of the attention. 

Dear Maggie, I love how you tilt your head for every picture. You make me realize that I am not the dog whisperer like I thought I was. You might be the most hyper dog I have ever met. I love your hyper ways though. I love how obsessed you are with me. You are not happy unless you are attached to my hip (literally) at all times. There are nights when I would like a little room to move in the bed though. Maybe you don't need to get so close. 

Dear Charleston, I will miss you terribly while I am gone. When I get back, I will only have 2 weeks left on your beautiful beaches. I intend to not waste a single minute of my time left here. I cannot believe the summer has gone by so fast. Maybe by some miracle, I will get a job in the next three weeks so I never have to leave. 

Hope everyone has a great weekend! 

Chs, Wedding Randomness, and a note to Htownbloggers

Today's post is just a few pictures around Charleston, the city I have fallen in love with!

This is a really bad picture of me. I went straight from Folly Beach to downtown to meet up with friends. This was my first time meeting up with Ashley. We have met up several times since then. She has big plans for me! :-) 

She is also here for the summer. It was so strange how much we had in common. She wanted to get away for the summer and found a sublease here just like me! Now we are both trying to find a way to stay here and never leave! 

I went for a walk in the Waterfront Park. It is so beautiful out there! The houses are gorgeous and so is the view. 

I may have posted this picture already. I can't remember. Oh well, here it is again! 

Last weekend, we visited the USS Yorktown. 

I have many pictures from our tour, but will save those for another post. 

It was super cool to see how they lived though! 

I definitely plan on walking around on E. Bay to get more pictures pretty soon. This weekend might work since it is supposed to be a little cooler!

My friend from Louisiana gets here today. We were in the same sorority in college, and I know we will have a blast! Tonight starts out with happy hour with some girls I have met from twitter, and from there, who knows! 

Maybe this check in on foursquare will give you some idea of where the night will lead us. Oops!! 

In my defense, we went to King Street Grille ONLY for salads. No drinks at all!

For the other 8 weeks, I doubt I can say the same! :-)

In other news, I found a dress for my brother's wedding! This picture is absolutely terrible. The color of the dress is coral. 

I got it at the BCBG outlet  here in Charleston. 

Thoughts?

Now I need to find jewelry, shoes, etc.

I also need to decide on a hair style! 

I am thinking something like this...

half up, poof at the top with curls

Well now that this post is way longer than intended, I will stop boring you with details of my boring life! Any advice on hair, jewelry, etc is appreciated! 

P.S. Htownbloggers, I will be in Houston on Tuesday. Happy hour is in the works! Hope you can make it! 

Fishing in Chs

Last Friday, we went fishing! It was my first time to go fishing in at least 15-20 years. I didn't think I would like it, but I had so much fun! 

Booze + boat = my idea of a good day

Getting up early..not so much!

Of course I caught the biggest fish and the most!

I think I caught 6, and he caught 3-4. 

After fishing, we spent the afternoon relaxing on Sullivan's Island. 

Awesome day!

If I have to leave this city, I sure am going to miss the outdoor activities. 

So........

who wants to take me fishing again???

First RiverDogs Game

 

had to get the guys in uniform right? 
such cute mascots!
Jorts koozie anyone??

 

Michal and me
definitely wishing those beer cans weren't in the picture

In the back of the stadium was the river/marsh. I am not sure, but it was so pretty! 

There was a beautiful fireworks show after the game. I took lots of fireworks pics, but I am sure everyone is tired of seeing those by now. 

Terrible lighting, but it's the only pic I have of the 3 of us. 

A male friend came to visit from Houston so I needed to find some activities that guys would like. The baseball game worked out perfectly because the girls got to enjoy the fireworks show, and he got to enjoy the game! The game was so much fun, and thankfully our seats were not in the sun! It was a great way to spend the beginning of a fun July 4 weekend! 

Phone Photo Fun

It's been a busy past couple of weeks here in Charleston. I have had visitors constantly for 2 weeks. I have a couple of days to myself before my next visitor gets here on Thursday.  I definitely love having my friends come to visit me, but it does get exhausting to be on the go constantly with no days to myself. Thankfully I get a break this time with a couple of days to relax. 

I am linking up with Savanah to show a few photos from the past week.

I don't have the energy to upload/edit my other pictures right now! 

We went to the Riverdogs baseball game on July 3 mainly to see the fireworks show! 

This is a video of some of the fireworks. It was a really good show. 

On Sunday, we had a relaxing day on Folly. 

Kayaking on Shem Creek

My arms were definitely feeling this the next day! 

Pineapple fountain in Waterfront Park

Pretty cool area back here along the water and I plan on going back for walks with my pups. 

lunch Saturday at the farmer's market

views from the rooftop bar

This week, I HAVE to find a dress for my brother's wedding. I also have a hair appointment tomorrow to get my hair highlighted. It's WAY past time. Hopefully I will get some blog posts written before I forget what to write about! 

Right now, it's time to relax!!

Hope you had a great weekend and a great fourth! 

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

Since my dad was playing golf on Thursday, my mom and I had the day to do whatever we wanted.

   

 We started off with a visit to the Aiken-Rhett House.  This is one of few, if not only plantation homes that has been preserved rather than restored. You can see exactly how they lived back then since they haven't changed anything about it. Even the wallpaper is still on the walls. Of course the color has changed, there are tears, etc but it is still so neat to see how it was. We saw the slave quarters, the stables, the parlor, the ballroom, the bedrooms and possibly a couple of other rooms. 

After touring the home, we were pretty hungry. I had been hearing about Husk for quite some time so that is where we went!

I just love how so many restaurants are in old homes. They are so beautiful inside and out. I had the shrimp and grits and my mom got the catfish. They were both really good. 

After lunch, we walked around on King Street to do some shopping. We both picked up some dresses at Warren on King because they were having a 50% off sale on basically everything in the store. We shopped on King for about 4 hours before it was time to head back to their hotel to pick up my dad for dinner. 

We ate dinner at Magnolia's, which I must say has been my absolute favorite restaurant so far in Charleston. I will absolutely be back here! In fact, we went back again for lunch while my parents were here! 

We didn't discuss what we were going to order beforehand. When the waiter got our orders, we all ordered the exact same dish! It was kinda funny, but definitely worth it! We all got the Parmesan Crusted Flounder. It was so good!! There was crab with it, awesome rice that had been cooked in a lobster stock, and delicious local veggies. 

On Friday, my dad played golf again. The girls went shopping. Shocking right? We started the day with lunch at Five Loaves Cafe and then headed to Mount Pleasant Towne Center. We did minimal damage there, and then went to Belle Hall Shopping Center. After that, we did more shopping on Daniel Island. I got two cute dresses from Monkee's. From Daniel Island, we went back to King Street. I guess it's an understatement to say we did "some" shopping! 

For dinner that night, we went to Poogan's Porch. This was my third time there. It was good of course! Magnolia's is still my favorite though! 

After all that shopping, I still didn't find what I am looking for! My brother's wedding is going to be here in 3 weeks, and I still don't know what I am going to wear! I am looking for a bright colored dress that is fitted. I will be in a lot of pictures and I don't want to wear a baggy dress that makes me look bigger than I am. I have a couple of dresses that I can wear if I don't find anything, but they aren't as dressy as I would like. 

Any suggestions on where to shop???

More Charleston Fun

One of my bed partners thinks she is a human and has to have her head on the pillow and her body under the covers. She either sleeps like this or curled up next to me. The other one sleeps on top of the pillow or curled up against me on the opposite side of Maggie. 

My friends from the aquarium. I had to take a picture of the LSU fish even though it came out blurry. 

This was at Kilwin's on Market Street. I didn't get anything, but will probably have to before I go home!  

I didn't take too many pictures with my phone this week. I think the quality of my camera on my phone is getting worse and worse. I can't wait for the Iphone 5 to come out specifically for a better camera. 

I haven't blogged in a week because my parents were here all week. They got here on Tuesday and left on Sunday afternoon. I spent Sunday laying on the couch resting from being so busy all week. A long night out on Saturday night also had a little to do with it. :-)

Tuesday- They got here and we went straight to Hominy Grill. It was my first time at this restaurant, and I have to say I wasn't too impressed. Maybe I will give it another try, but that is unlikely due to my limited time here and so many other options. I got the big nasty or whatever it is called, and my mom got the shrimp and grits. I wasn't impressed with either dish. 

After lunch, we drove around downtown for a little while so that they could see King Street, the Battery, and all of the fancy houses. We made a stop at the farmer's market in Mount Pleasant. We had dinner at Coast, which I thought was OK. After dinner we walked around downtown and went to Kaminsky's for dessert. I didn't take any pictures on Tuesday unfortunately. 

Wednesday-  I visited every golf course within 60 miles of Charleston it seems like. My dad golfs about 5 times a week so of course he wanted to play golf here a couple of times. He wanted to check out all of the golf courses before deciding which ones to play. We drove out to Kiawah Island to check out those courses and the beach. 

We had lunch out there at Crave, which was delicious! 

After lunch, we drove to several more golf courses until we ended at Isle of Palms Wild Dunes Resort. I think he ended up playing one day on Kiawah and one day at Dunes West, but I am not really sure. Golf is not my thing. 

After all of the driving, we went downtown for a drink at the Pavilion Roof Top Bar. 

We walked through the city market, trying to waste some time before going to dinner.

For dinner we went back out to John's Island to go to Fat Hen. It was delicious!!

The restaurant was super cute too. I love how so many places serve drinks in mason jars! 

Stay tuned for the rest of the trip with my parents! 

I am about to have another full of week with another visitor coming tomorrow and staying until Monday. I need to figure out some July 4 plans. 

What are you doing for the fourth??