a short, but very sweet visit

{the only picture taken this weekend, thank you, self-timer}

Drew came to visit and we had so much fun! Just as I had predicted... we sat around my house watching movies, cuddling, laughing, eating and telling stories. Whenever we watch T.V., we don't actually watch it.... we just kind of goof around on the couch, and when we're not goofing around, we catch little snippets of whatever is on the T.V... its great. Its so funny because it always takes us hours upon hours to decide and agree on a movie to watch... but Drew brought up a very good point when he said, "Why do we care so much about what we're going to watch? We never end up actually watching it!" I thought that was a very true and wise statement, but I still care deeply about what we watch for some strange reason....

We were planning on cooking a fabulous and delicious dinner, but we were too busy snacking on spinach artichoke dip, salami, crackers and wine... I know, a very strange snack, don't judge...

We did get a chance to go bike riding, but for transportation purposes only, it was cold and rainy so it was not too enjoyable... we ate at Hominy Grill, which has the most delicious bacon I have ever eaten in my life... and then we spent hours at Kudu Coffee, chatting it up.

It was probably the shortest visit of my life, but I'm so thankful that he has the patience to drive 7-8 hours to Charleston just for the weekend! It was definitely worth it. Its amazing how doing nothing by yourself is so boring, but doing nothing with a person you love can be the most fun in the world.

my favorite person is coming to visit!

2 days and counting... Drew will be back in Charleston for a couple of days, and I can't wait! He's coming back to Charleston to move all of his things and I get to spend some fabulous, wonderful, quality time with him! Although it will be a short little visit, I am looking forward to every minute of it! Hopefully we will be going on bike rides, cooking, eating at our favorite places, spending time with Olivia and Tyler and staying up late doing fun things like bowling! Well... these are my plans, but I rarely follow through with my fun plans because I fall asleep or get in my lazy, homebody mood. However, I will be just as happy if we end up sitting in my living room watching movies, eating popcorn and eventually, snoring on the couch with cats lying on top of us.

what a sleeping beauty....

Big sisters are bossy, but for some reason I love them.

I've always been quite the jealous little sister. Both of my older sisters are much smarter, more mature and way more motivated than I am or ever will be. You may think I'm just saying that but its true... there are studies that show that older siblings are smarter than younger ones... its okay, I've accepted it. They always seem to be five steps ahead of me in life, although I guess its because they're older, its still frustrating. Rita is the most organized, on-top-of-it, creative and witty person I know. Jessica is the bravest and most adventurous, goal-oriented person I know... and I'm just the little sister trying to live up to their amazingness.

Its always been so annoying to be the little sister, because your big sisters are always first in being able to do things, like picking the better room, sleeping in the bed instead of the floor at the hotel, getting the window seat on the airplane, and staying home alone.

Plus, they have a way of making you do things you don't want to do, its weird. They have a technique of phrasing things so you feel like you have no choice but to do it. My sisters have always bossed me around, just because they can, and I'm a pushover. Recently, I have actually been standing up for myself and saying no to them when they tell me to go upstairs and get their shoes (I know, its taken me 21 years to be able to fight back, how pathetic).

Oh yeah, they're also much better shoppers than me. I hate shopping so I always stole my sisters' clothes growing up. I get lazy and don't want to look for the bargains at Marshalls, so I go to the expensive stores and buy what's on the mannequin and then spend all of my money on one thing... so stupid. They always yell at me for buying stupid things that aren't even cute. When I'm rich I'm going to pay my sisters to shop for me, it will be fabulous.

Anyway, my sisters are pretty awesome, despite the fact that they take advantage of my passiveness and are complete overachievers... I have learned a lot from both of them and I would probably be a complete loser if it weren't for them telling me that my outfit looks stupid or that I don't know how to put on make up or take care of my hair. They have also taught me how to behave like a normal human being, and not make a fool of myself doing stupid things. Even though I still do that often, like when I set my hair on fire. They've taught me a lot of life lessons. I was always the kid who knew about "older people things" before my friends did, because I had big sisters who would inform me about stuff that I probably shouldn't have known about.

Even though they boss me around, at least they are the only people on earth who are not scared to tell me that I'm being an idiot or that I look stupid in that outfit. I look up to them both because they're my big sisters, and I want to be just like them! I always have...

family picture, 1988

yum yum! cooking!

I am trying very hard to become a good cook and learn all about cooking... my dream is to someday be one of those people who can just whip up an amazing meal really quickly with some random ingredients that are lying around the house. I am so far from that stage, I don't know if I'll ever be able to get there. I have failed at so many meals and for the meals that turn out delicious, it takes me ages to actually finish making it... I think its because I am the slowest chopper in the world. It seems like whenever Drew helps me make a meal, it turns out way better, and goes much faster... I guess because then I have two brains and four hands working on it, instead of my measly one brain and two hands...

 so these are my two favorite meals we have made recently...

obviously another delicious homemade pizza complete with our own special tomato sauce, pepperoni, onions, mushrooms, garlic, basil and the magical ingredient: goat cheese... ohh my goodness, it was fabulous.

Second favorite meal... sweet potato gnocchi from the farmer's market in a brown butter sage sauce and asparagus on the side... simple and delightful!

These meals are absolutely to die for... I really hope and wish that I will be able to make dishes like these everyday without the slightest bit of confusion or frustration! Oh that will be the day! (and I have my doubts that this day will ever come)

Drew can fit into my clothes... I'm going to the gym.

So.... Drew attempted to dress as a hipster last week by wearing my clothes. I gave him some skinny jeans and a black V-neck T-shirt to put on (and unfortunately they fit him perfectly)... He had this silly bicycle hat that he put on and the whole look turned out to be more of a gay hipster outfit. It was hilarious, it didn't look right at all, there was something obviously off about the whole thing, probably the fact that Drew is so the opposite of a gay hipster that it just looked fake.

So the best part about the whole thing was that we went out in public with him dressed like this. It was soo funny because as we walked down the street we heard two hilarious comments... #1: a girl was walking by with her friends and said to them "oh my god, there are so many gay people out in Charleston tonight!".... #2: a grown man walked by and said to his wife "Times are changing...." just after passing Drew and I. Who knows what other kind of comments we didn't hear...

 Ohh jeez it was so hilarious, I can't believe I allowed him to do it but I got such a kick out of the whole experience. I really wondered what our waiter was thinking when we were eating dinner, part of me felt like he must have known it was a joke, because when you hear Drew talk, he's obviously not flamboyantly gay... at all. The waiter must have known that it was a joke or at least that something was a little off about him... and if he didn't, thats even funnier.

It was definitely one of the most hilarious and embarrassing experiences of my life... and the amount of enjoyment Drew got out of wearing my clothes really makes me wonder sometimes.... I'm not gonna lie. Drew??? Do you have something you need to tell me???

We headed to the county fair!

We went to the county fair and ohhh how fun it was!!! I was being such a sourpuss on the drive there because we were in rush hour traffic and I was driving and Drew was navigating and I kept getting frustrated because I didn't know where to go and Drew kept telling me to switch lanes and I wanted to cry... buuutttt Drew was very patient, obviously, and talked me through it and calmed me down. Once we got there I was happy as a clam! (and then, of course, apologized profusely for being such an annoying, frustrated driver)

First thing we did when we got there was eat some yummy corn dogs (which I had not had in years). There was way more bread on them than I had remembered and I ended up peeling a lot of it off, but it was delicious!

We went on just three rides (due to our lack of funds)... I really wanted to go on some fun, exciting, fast, spinning rides but someone (I won't mention any names)... was being a little baby and only wanted to do the little kiddie rides, so I agreed to stick by his side. We did this mini roller coaster ride that went forward and then backward really fast, then we did the spinning swings and finally we had to go on the ferris wheel (which had the most amazing view).

We watched these adorable kids participate in a pizza making contest...

....and watched every kind of food possible get deep fried...

and we even tried a FRIED SNICKERS BAR!! never in my life did I think I would actually try one of these absolutely disgusting fried fair food products, but I thought why not?? It actually wasn't bad but just the thought of it grossed me out and I could only eat two bites... it looked like a corn dog with chocolate sauce on it.

Ohhh and the absolute strangest part of the whole experience... we decided to pay a dollar each to go look at "The World's Smallest Woman"... they said she was alive but I didn't actually think about how awkward it would be to go look at her. She was just sitting there, right in front of you, chewing on a toothpick, and all I could think was how guilty I felt for paying a dollar just to come look at her and see how short she was!!! Most awkward experience of my life, we got in and out as fast as we could. Although she was very very small, and it was pretty interesting, I felt a little bit weird the rest of the night.

I must say one of the most interesting and entertaining things about going to fairs is the people-watching. The most unique and diverse crowds go to fairs for some reason, and I absolutely love observing them... it really is a whole new world.

It was such a great way to spend Drew's second-to-last night in Charleston! He left for his new job in Atlanta today and I am so very very excited for him!!! However, I am equally just as sad that he won't be here with me anymore... :(

saddest day in a long time...

...but he promises to visit!

we attempted to make our cats look cute...

We attempted to dress up the kitties for Halloween and it obviously didn't work out too well. I got an angel costume and a devil costume at the dollar store and they were terribly made and horribly cheap but we worked with what we had. We made Kiwi the angel and Binx the devil, purely for looks (we all know Kiwi's the devil). Kiwi just sat there in fear and anger. She doesn't move when she's angry, which is kind of convenient at times. Binx on the other hand, always lets you know if she doesn't like something... she wiggled and jiggled and rolled around trying to attack her costume. We couldn't even put the cape on her. It was pretty hilarious, though. I find it funny that our cats have completely opposite personalities and reactions.

dressing up is fun to do

Ooohhh I cannot express how much I love Halloween! I always have an amazing time just dressing up and getting into costume. Just being able to walk up and down the streets of Charleston in costume and admiring everyone else's creative ensembles is just so ridiculously amusing. I had fun going to the bars and everything, but I would have been just as satisfied if we simply walked the streets of Charleston. I can't wait until I live in a real neighborhood and kids come trick-or-treating to my door.. because then I can get dressed up and not even have to go anywhere to see the creative, hilarious costumes! They'll come to me!

Soooo... Drew and I dressed up as zombie prom king and queen, and it was hilarious. I was kind of jealous because Drew got way more compliments on his costume than I did.... but oh well, I guess I don't mind. So we got some dressy clothes from goodwill for about $8 and then tore them up and put blood all over ourselves... so. much. fun... We had some other good costumes in my house, too. Claire was "the lady from the birds", it was so random and funny. She put a crow directly on top of her head and another one coming out of her ribs, and of course, put blood all over herself. Everyone who saw her was like, "dude, did you see that girl?! She has a crow on her head!" it was hilarious how amused everyone was with her costume! Shannon was minnie mouse, Meredith was a murdered housewife, Diana was a greek goddess and Allison was raggedy anne. Everyone's costume was so fun and creative!

Baby Vampires

My baby nephew, Jack Henry, is the cutest little vampire I've ever seen! My sister shares the same view as me about halloween... scary and bloody. This costume is absolutely adorable... I love how unique it is for a baby, he even has blood on his face! And he's walking!!! He's going to be the hit of the neighborhood!

Farmer's Market, Bicycling, Eating (and taking pictures)...

The weather was amazing this weekend so Drew and I spent most of the time bicycling around Charleston.  Saturday morning we were able to make it to the lovely farmer's market! This is a rare occasion because about 95% of the time I'm working at 8 a.m. on Saturday mornings. We had to take advantage of my morning off and resisted having a late-night on Friday so that we could wake up early the next morning to go to the lovely farmer's market!!! I tried many samples from the stands who were offering them and bought some sweet potato gnocchi, butternut squash ravioli, and some lovely Kiwis! We ended it with an extra large lemonade and spent the rest of our weekend bicycling and eating... (and watching the notebook).

attempting with no hands... unsuccessfully

(yes, we are both wearing plaid... not on purpose)

...... how lovely!

The amazing mountains (and TONS of beautiful pictures!)

Back from camping! It was absolutely amaaazing! We had such a great time resting, hiking, building fires, cooking and traveling into Asheville. We stayed at Lake Powhatan, a great little campground with friendly staff and great trails for hiking and mountain biking (to Drew's excitement). This place was fantastic. I love escaping to the woods for a chance to forget about all of your worries and just relax and  have fun. Absolutely amazing............... SOOO.... here's a picture journey of our trip!

Our car ride turned into a sunset highway cruise... it was beautiful.

When we got there, it was already dark, so we quickly set up the tents and Drew got straight to the fire. We had a great fire every morning and night and cooked the most amazing meals! They all had that yummy smokey barbecue kind of taste... mmmmm... We had hot dogs, potatoes, corn, pasta, baked beans and tacos for our delicious dinners. For breakfast we had eggs, bacon and pancakes. Nothing compares to a meal cooked over a hot, smokey fire. The only thing I hate about it is doing the dishes afterward... miserable.

We always enjoyed playing with the fire and whittling sticks.... and playing with drew's hatchet and machete.

We enjoyed hiking through the woods and finding small lakes and streams.

 

 

 

The colors of the leaves were absolutely AMAZING!

Drew went mountain biking and from what I hear it was "FREAKING AMAZING!"

We had SUCH a fun time in the woods despite the slight rain that we experienced. I love being in the mountains with my fabulous friends!