A delicious night

We had a fantastic dinner party at Tyler's house this weekend. Our dinner party crew has grown from four of us to about fourteen of us. Our lovely Cupcake crew got together and we all invited friends to join in on the fun. We all brought food, chairs and tables and set them up in Tyler's backyard. It was a beautiful setting with flowers and candles lining the tables. The food was outstanding... we had cheese and crackers, butternut squash lasagna, cranberry apple casserole, miniature pizzas, fruit salad, sweet potatoes, squash casserole, mashed potatoes and green beans... followed by pumpkin pie and chocolate cake for dessert.... and of course, lots of wine. It was an amazing and delicious night with lots of fun and laughter all night long. We didn't end up leaving until 2:00 a.m... fabulous.

Margaritaass!

Margaritas, chips and salsa at La Hacienda with Claire is definitely one of my favorite activities. We always get a little too loud and talkative, but that's why I love it.

 

Some things I'm looking forward to...

an exciting dinner party with friends

my new field classroom

my parents visiting next weekend

fall break camping trip

and a crepe from the farmer's market

YYAAYYY!

Oh happy day!

My teacher observed in the classroom with me today for about an hour. Afterward, she told me that she agreed with everything I had explained to her about this teacher. She said that she realized if she kept me in that classroom that it would go against everything she has taught me these past semesters. I was sooooooo relieved when she let me know that she would place me in another classroom and that I had nothing to worry about. Oh how I LOVE HER! She is seriously one of the most understanding, hardworking and dedicated teachers I have ever had. I shouldn't have even wondered if she would help me get out of there or not, she's so understanding and caring. Now I feel just about as free as I did when I was standing on a mountain in Delphi, Greece, admiring the amazing view of the mountains and crystal blue ocean...

.......THAT is how relieved I am

late night bicycle rides....

Late night bike rides with friends are the most fun in the world. My friend, also named Shannon, recently got a new bicycle from the bike auction at school. She was so excited to ride it so we got a little crew together to explore the town of Charleston on our lovely little bikes. The bike ride included a stop at Fresh Berry to eat some frozen yogurt, a long exploration down King Street, bicycling in circle formation to create an intimidating vibe for onlookers,  horrible experiences riding on cobblestone, a detour to the Battery to enjoy a fresh breeze by the ocean, listening to our echos on the echo rock, stargazing on the dock at waterfront park, a stop at Harris Teeter and a bloody toe. We had a fabulous night relaxing and exploring the beautiful Charleston night.

THE CREW:

Late-night Fresh Berry!

 

The view

 

I think he's a keeper

Drew came over to my house the other day holding a beautiful bouquet of pink and yellow roses "just cuz". It was the most adorable surprise! He also arrived with a new bike so that we can ride around downtown together without having to borrow a bike from Claire, he found me a perfect rock to use as a centering stone for my creative arts class (long story) AND he brought a brand new tire for one of my friends who needed one. How thoughtful can he be??! I think I'll keep him :)

A beautiful setting for a fabulous party with the most amazing people

My manager, Sarah, threw an amazing birthday party for herself and our co-worker, Noodle, this weekend. The setting was gorgeous. She had these fabulous orange-red lights surrounding the yard outside, a beautiful table with all kinds of food and a little white tent for Noodle's band, "The V-Tones", to play under. The theme of the party was to dress as your favorite astrological sign. My friends and I were slackers and couldn't get costumes together in time, unfortunately, but we still had a great time and I loved the costumes everyone else put together, especially Sarah's! She made her own costume  by hand and dressed as a matador for the sign of a Taurus (my sign!)

Noodle's band was amazing, and they are quite the entertainers! They are full of jokes and engage in funny conversations between songs. I wish I had a recording of their performance to share. His wife even did an amazing tap dance performance during one of their songs! You can tell how much they enjoy playing their music by the smiles that never left their faces.

The V-Tones (Noodle is in the back and his wife is the adorable woman in front with pigtails):

And then there's Olivia and I, costume-less, relaxing and enjoying the fabulous music by the V-Tones, while we admire the crazy dancers prancing around in their costumes.

It was an unforgettable night of fun and laughter. I loved every minute of it!

Game nights are fabulous nights

Game nights are always the most fun in the world. I've been having quite a lot of game nights in the past couple of weeks. My roommates and I have been in to Apples to Apples and I recently bought Cranium, which is always a blast.

Last night we had game night in Tyler's adorable apartment after an amazing dinner at Five Loaves, one of my absolute favorite restaurants in the entire world. We played Cranium, boys against girls. Tyler and Drew preferred the data head and word worm cards, Olivia and I preferred the creative cat and star performer cards. They're the nerds, we're the creative ones. Anyway, the boys won and the girls lost, but it was a close one! And it got a bit competitive near the end...

Here are some lovely pictures from some other game nights (didn't take pics last night, oops)... mainly Apples to Apples and Bop-it Extreme... so intense (Claire gets pretty competitive.. but only if she's winning! haha)