Yum!

Liberty Steakhouse & Brewery's Tommy's Texas Cheese Fries.

They were a happy hour half price apps staple senior year of college.

A bit over a month ago, I was in W-S and met my college roomie at Liberty and this was the only thing we ordered. SO GOOD! SO bad for you but SO GOOD! And the Ranch dressing...oh my stars!

Kick off your shoes

First off, you should probably know that I am very organized and I like to plan things in advance. I love my color coded agenda book.

However, what I'm about to type will shock you.

I received a text message from my friend April while I was at work Saturday.

At 2:30pm she asked me what time I got off of work and if I had plans.

Well, let me tell you...I had the most random yet exciting weekend that I've had in a long time!

I left work, went home, threw random clothes in a bag and hit the road!

90 minutes later I was in A & K's driveway

and we were on our way here:

Keith and April waiting for the fun to begin!

April and I!

Now April and I have been friends since my freshman year of college, her senior year. We've had a ton of fun times together. I mean, I was her MOH when she and Keith got married, so clearly, the 3 of us get along great! However, we learned that things don't change as we age which is great! April and I dance and have a grand ol time and Keith hangs out watching and shaking his head!

Sunday for lunch we went to one of the fine dining establishments I miss the most...

Tokyo Express

and I enjoyed Teriyaki Chicken with Fried Rice, Broccoli and Carrots. Sweet Tea to wash it down.

April and I went grocery shopping, home to bake some cookies and just lounge and then I went to visit the kids I used to babysit.

We watched the Panthers win, ate dinner and then Susan and I decided to be creative and make Tyler's Halloween costume. He's going to be an Indian (MJ's going to be a Cowgirl). Well, we stopped in the gas station for the Sunday paper since it always has a 50% off coupon for ACMoore and my college suite mate Katrina (who I saw at Steph's wedding) happened to be in the same gas station on her way to Chapel Hill! however, I saw her car, looked around the store, couldn't find her, checked out, called her and she had already hit the highway so we missed one another...but how random!
Anyway, next to ACMoore is a massive Halloween store so we bought Tyler a costume (he's only 22 months old) and found this:

Overall, it was a random but amazingly exciting/fun weekend!

It's kind of nice to not have a schedule.

Stephanie & Marcus' Wedding

Stephanie and I met Halloween Night our Freshman Year of college.

We became instant friends and ended up being roommates sophomore year.

We also said that we were each others best roommate because we got along really well and we were both neat! In fact, we had such a great time as roommates during undergrad, I just happened to move in with her when I moved to the QC last year! :)

Stephanie and Marcus met as soon as our Senior year, his Sophomore year began.

Dave and Claire, the 6 week newlyweds, were at the wedding!!!
Lindsay, Katrina and I met the first night of college our Freshman year! It was SO MUCH FUN catching up with them! We all live in NC but are spread out.

Kat and I enjoyed some cake on the steps. That's how we roll!

And they're off!

Yep, Steph wore hot pink shoes! They were pretty cool.

Happy Birthday America! 5 weeks late

I LOVE July 4th.
It is probably my favorite holiday!
I LOVE fireworks!

I love wearing RED, WHITE AND BLUE.

I love Patriotic songs and gosh darn it I am PROUD to be an American and I proudly declare, "God Bless America"

So with a welcoming Patriotic Snack/Centerpiece

and a picnic basket and cooler, Stephanie, Marcus and I decided to enjoy the July 4th rendition of Pops in the Park!
With half, if not all of Charlotte....




I thought it was neat that someone hung this flag in the bushes.

While we didn't have VIP seats.....we still had a GRAND Ol time! Seriously though, I tried to become the guest conductor but for some reason they didn't like my answer to the question "What does the Charlotte Symphony mean to you?" or my answer to the question "What is your favorite Patriotic song?" Fear not, I'm already planning for next year! ha!

The Charlotte Symphony Orchestra was awesome!

The people next to us had cool sparklers. I think the last time I "played" with sparklers we were at my Grandparents for 4th of July festivities! Gramma always bought sparklers and poppers!

Sadly we didn't think to take a group picture until it was dark and we were packing up!

Claire and Dave!

I was (and still am) friends with Dave.

I was (and still am) friends with Claire.

*this picture makes me laugh because the entire time we were in Charlotte for the Sweet 16 games EVERYONE kept asking us if we were going to be in the Holiday Inn commercial! If UT had won their game, Carolina would've played Tennessee instead of UNC playing Louisville and since it was March Madness, the Holiday Inn rival commercial had been playing.

Claire and I went to see Bride Wars together the afternoon it opened. After the movie, we attempted to mock Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway but we couldn't seem to get the stance correct and have their movie poster in the background due to lighting issues...but you get the idea!

Looking back, my favorite part of this picture is that I am wearing black and Carolina Blue, which happens to be their wedding colors!

But one night in December, Claire and I went to the Elon vs College of Charleston Men's Basketball game at Elon University. It was quite the adventure to say the least! :) Actually, this story would not be complete without mentioning that Claire was very intrigued by the Cruz Thru and the dapper gentleman that was working very "politely" asked her "could you hurry up cuz it's cold outside" She bought an expensive bag of chips that she didn't even like due to being rushed!

Due to some construction and it being dark, I "knew" where we were going but the construction threw me off and we ended up getting a little lost (ironically 2 weeks after this I received a GPS for Christmas which helped immensely when we went to the Davidson vs Elon game in January!) We finally made our way to campus and found a parking lot but was told it was full and we weren't allowed to park there. Well, we turned in to the parking lot to turn around and happened to find a few empty spaces in the back corner. Being the gals that we are, I decided to leave a note so that Claire's car wouldn't get towed in case we really weren't supposed to park in the spot we found! I mean we had a game to get to! Priorities people! Little did we both know that even though we missed tip off, I'm really good at picking people out of a crowd and noticed Dave and his brother sitting behind the Elon bench all the way across the gym! During half time, I decided we should go say hi since I hadn't seen them in over a year.
Little did we all know that on this December 2008 night, they would both meet their soul mates! Claire and Dave got engaged December 2009 and get married THIS WEEKEND!!!!!

I am SO excited for them and so blessed to be a part of their special day! I'm also really excited that we are wearing black dresses and Carolina Blue shoes! Woo hoo! This picture makes me chuckle because it's so random but I can't wait to take part in the wedding festivities!

And this is a random sign that I happened to take a picture of that same week that I introduced Dave and Claire! God is great!
So there you have it. Claire and Dave are getting married this weekend and I couldn't be happier for them! Hope everyone has a great weekend!!!!

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres."

1 Corinthians 13:4-7

Last Fling Before The Ring!

Over the weekend, I hosted a Bachelorette Party for my dear friend Claire! Everyone came over for some light snacks and then the night began! Here are a few pictures of the set up. I'm pretty pumped about my first "party" in my new apartment. It was small, only 7 girls, but it was still fun! I love entertaining and getting to use the things that I've acquired. I can't wait to throw a party and really have fun with it recipe wise but I just couldn't do that this time around....work is way too busy and I didn't have time to clean or cook or bake! I mean I didn't even watch the Grey's Anatomy Season Finale until Sunday afternoon.......that's how busy life has been! :)