Saturday, August 29, 2009

Charleston Battery Soccer Games

Lynn and I have been down here in Charleston almost 2 months now, and something we have come to really enjoy doing together is going to Charleston Battery soccer games. The league the Battery play in is essentially national minor league soccer, as some of the players have gone on to play in the MLS, and the teams they play are anywhere from Vancouver, to Portland, or even just right up the road in Raleigh. We have gone to a few games thus far, and usually end up sitting with some of the same people, including our good friend Zee Patel. Here are some pics from last night's game against Portland.

Thankfully the rain held off during the game (the women in front of us were married to some of the Battery players, so it got intense at times!)

Enjoying the action (I think this was right after a Red Card on the Battery)

The Blackbaud office building I work in

Even though the game ended in a 0-0 tie, they still had fireworks!

- MB

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Five Foodie Friends

A few weeks ago, four of my girlfriends and I created a blog, Five Foodie Friends, for the five of us to share recipes and food ideas. It was also created as another way for the five of us to stay close together, even though we all live far apart.

So far, it has been incredibly fun and successful for us! Last week I made Sarah's Roasted Potatoes recipe, and tonight I am making her Chicken Tortilla Casserole with the Granola later on this week. Priscilla just added a fun pumpkin post, and we are anxiously awaiting the first posts of Rachel (who has been experimenting this summer) and Kristen. Feel free to check the blog and try some of the recipes for yourself!

-LB

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Sometimes it amazes me what little things can make a big difference. This is our sixth week in Charleston, and we still had not met any of our neighbors. Although we have talked about it often, Michael and I have yet to reach out and introduce ourselves. After conversations with friends and family, we decided to make cookies for a few of our neighbors as a way of saying “we live here and want to be friends!” Last night we delivered the first batch of homemade chocolate chip cookies and had such a positive experience. Our next door neighbors, Sharon and Ray, have two kids, Olivia (11) and Owen (8). They are an incredibly neat family and we spent 2 hours talking to them just outside our front doors (these are townhouses, remember!) “Why did this take so long?” is what I thought all night. But there is timing in everything. We enjoyed our conversations very much with the McGuirks and are looking forward to many more gatherings together over the next year.

Then, to place icing on the cake, as we were talking, another neighbor down the road with 2 pugs came over to chat. They no longer have the 2nd pug as they are a pug foster family and had just given one away to adoption. I FINALLY got to play with the little pug named Jaba who I have been admiring for weeks; I also got my “pug fill” in for a few days. I am obsessed with them. I may have mentioned this before, but I have an adorable little nephpup named Winston who I love and don’t get to see as much as I’d like to. Here he is:


I have been begging Michael to let us get one eventually, and after talking with these neighbors, I think I may have warmed him up to the idea. Brandy and Justin are a part of a large pug rescue I the Charleston area and might have convinced us not to go with a puppy whenever we get a dog (which probably won’t be anytime soon, Mom!). They, like us, are wanting to know their neighbors more, and especially the young adults (they are only a few years older than us). We gave them cookies too.

On Sunday evening our HOA is having a neighborhood cookout which will allow us to meet most of the rest of the division, which excites us.

So, a little batch of cookies can go a long way.


-LR

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Rachel and Rainey

My sweet friend Rachel came to visit with her new precious dog, Rainey from Sunday to Tuesday. I took off work to play at the beach all day on Monday, and it was well worth it! We baked in the sun and cooled off in the water, before Rainey took off running down the beach! Rachel had to run almost a 1/2 mile just to get her...it was quite funny to watch!

Rainey then pooped out on the beach...the sun got the best of her!
We know how to show a good time down here, and the two of them can attest to that! Rachel's friendship is so precious, and I am so glad she decided to share some of her break with us. PS- dogs are welcome, too!

-LR

Friday, August 14, 2009

I'm a South Carolinian

Well, I took the plunge…I got my South Carolina drivers license, title and license plate yesterday. It is the first time I have ever had anything but North Carolina. I have to admit, it was hard and a little sad! I love my home state of North Carolina, and especially that sweet little town of Boone. But, somehow being here with Michael made it okay- this is our home right now. He is my home. And we are making our home a great little place. (I am not sure I could live anywhere else in SC but the Charleston area though!). And I know we will go back to North Carolina one day.

We are really enjoying our time in Charleston so far. It’s hard to believe 5 weeks have already passed since we moved in. I feel as though we have done more in our time here than the whole time we were in New England. It might not have helped that for many of those months in Massachusetts, we were buried under snow! Charleston is such a warm and lively place to live. It has the ocean, rivers, live music, trails, delicious food, great churches, THE bridge, wonderful people, and the epitome of SOUTHERN HOSPITALITY. Oh how I have missed that. And, it doesn’t hurt that we live in a destination place where so many people love to visit. In fact, we got to have dinner with two of our NEWLYWED friends (Jason and Erin Huprich) downtown on Wednesday night who were on their honeymoon!! How unique; we felt honored.

So though I may not wave my confederate flag, I will certainly eat some shrimp n’ grits and catch some sun in my new home of Charleston. And visit North Carolina as often as I can. J

~LB

Thursday, August 6, 2009

October 3

I just wanted to share the most beautiful and creative wedding invitation I have ever received! It is for the wedding of my dear ASU friends, Carolyn Clark and Alan Rasmussen. I took a shot of it to show all of the precious details. Of course, being the most creative person I know, Carolyn handmade all of her invitations. Check it out:

Carolyn also keeps up a cool blog of all her wedding creativities (my new word!).

I can't wait for the wedding on October 3 in Banner Elk!!

-LB