Life is back to normal.... my alarm going off this morning made that very clear!!  Had a great day at work.  Even better that it was Tuesday!  Already closer to Friday!!!  Wonderful!  Had some dinner... then some gym.  Pretty nice day!  

The Memorial Day weekend was great!  I love my friends and I enjoyed a lot of sun WITHOUT burning at all so it was definitely a successful beach trip!  

On another note I have found a new app on my iPhone that I am completely addicted to!  It is so much fun and I really enjoyed having it over the weekend.  It's called Instagram... go download it if you have an iPhone and find me!  Caslee is my name and here are some of the pics that I loved from vacation! 

Peter exploring in downtown Charleston

Coffee Coffee Buzz Buzz Buzz

Cloudy Beach

View from our back porch

Katie Ayer on the porch

Maddie and I tanning on the deck

Cooper River Bridge 

Flying pig Cow

First Brick house in Charleston

Pretty old house

I could live here

I hope everyone else had a relaxing and fun Memorial Day weekend and only a few more days till this weekend... can't believe that tomorrow is already Humpday!  

Sun&Fun!!!!!

Not a huge fan of the beach, mainly because of the gritty sand… I’d rather be at the pool any day BUT I do love Charleston.  Its definitely one of my favorite places and this weekend will be the fourth Charleston Trip Peter and I have planned!!!  Crazy to think that we have been on that many trips together!  That definitely makes me smile.

{ Trip 1 }

All family except for a few of us... Big Fat Arabic Vacation! ;)

{ Trip 2 }

BEST trip ever... everyone got along perfectly and it was wonderful!

{ Trip 3 }

The trip we took with my Mom and Grandmother! 

And now its time to pack and get everything together for Memorial Day weekend!  Laundry is waiting for me.  I can't believe how this year has flown by so fast… so crazy.  This year we have a house right on the beach for 12 people to sleep comfortably.  It will be a blast!!!  We will have a weekend full of sun, food, fun, chilled beverages, laughs and of course pictures!!  I am beyond ready!

Peter turns 28!

So, I got my first hint of sunburn over the weekend!  Peter got 2 passes from a friend at work for the BMW Pro-Am and it was a lot of fun!  Thank God I wore comfortable sandals and a light dress though… it was pretty warm and I tried to find the shade as much as possible.  We walked around a good bit, had a surprisingly GREAT Grilled Chicken sandwich and sipped on some beer while we enjoyed our day! 

That night we had a little celebration dinner for Peter’s Birthday!!

( he turned 28 today... :-D )

We went to one of our new favorites, The Trappe Door.  Awesome… go try it!  We’ve had a little bit of everything on the menu even though it’s only been open for less than a month.  I had Pork Tenderloin and Peter had a Filet.  Both very tasty!!!  It was a fun night with great friends!

Sunday Morning at Grace was wonderful… I loved the message and in between the songs during the worship this bible verse came up.

Colossians 2:13-14

 ¹³ You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. ¹⁴ He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross.

It was one of those times where I spent the rest of the service repeating the verse in my head (Col 2:13-14……Col 2:13-14……ect) so when I got in the car I could remember to write it down.  I think that verse is so BEAUTIFUL!  I’ve kept thinking of the verse all day today which made me happy!  Sometimes you need that on a Monday.

Like I mentioned earlier... today is Peter’s Birthday!!!!  I love Birthdays!  And I love him!  So this is a special day!!     

Happy Birthday, Peter!!!

Nashville weekend with Mom!

WOW!  I was not lying when I said that May was going to be busy!!!  I haven’t had time to sit down and write an update on the Nashville Weekend… non stop since I’ve been home. 

First of all the trip was perfect!!!  Even the nasty, cold, misty, no good weather could get us down.  We had a blast!!  ……Even if we did have to go buy a sweater for the last 2 days! ;)

On Thursday morning we started the trip with some Outlet Shopping!  It was a great day of awesome deals.  We finally made it to our hotel around 10 on Thursday night and crashed… shopping always makes you so tired. 

On Friday morning we started the day with some Starbucks Breakfast thanks to a gift card my mom had for $50!!!  (Yea… we gladly had a couple trips to Starbucks during the trip!)  After a quick trip to Target for Mom to find a bright pink nail polish we went to have a wonderful Pedicure.  Since I’ve become a nail polish fanatic and change my fingernails at least once a week I thought a French Pedi would be best!  After some more shopping we went to tour the stars homes! It was SO awesome!!!  Some of the houses were INSANE… some were simple and average.  My favorite was Taylor Swifts pent house suite!  That top area with the lights and table, yup... that's hers!

Later that night we went to the sweet and beautiful, Lindsay Willis’s house for a Grill Out In… thanks to the rain!  It was still a ton of fun and we loved spending time with Lindsay, her hubby and her sweet friends!

On Saturday Mom and I were both dragging thanks to the late night before… we started the day with some coffee and then went to try my new favorite fast & healthy food restaurant, Freshii.  It was so awesome… you pick whatever you want to eat from a menu full of all kinds of options and you make your own wrap, burrito, soup, or salad!  It was awesome, and everything is so fresh and organic.  GREAT place!  After some lunch we went straight to the mall (because you can’t get enough shopping on vacation) in Cool Springs, TN.  It was a great mall… tons of stores and I also found some great deals.  A few hours and pretzel sticks later we were hungry for dinner.  With Pizza in mind we tried Pie in the Sky and sadly we weren’t that impressed… especially for $30 each BUT, oh well… nothing to complain about!  Since we were both exhausted a movie was the perfect solution.  Not wanting to spend the night sitting in the hotel room but definitely too tired to sight see we decided to see Something Borrowed.  BEST IDEA EVER!!!!  It was even better than I thought it would be!  I’ve been reading the book and only had a couple chapters to go so I thought a little surprise ending for the movie would be absolutely fine.  We had a great time and enjoyed relaxing a bit after a busy day.

On Sunday we had such a FUN day!  We started with some Brunch at Jackson’s Bar and Bistro.  The food was so good and the Bloody Mary was even better!  After some window shopping all the cute closed stores and exploring Downtown Nashville it was time for our afternoon tea!  Yes… that’s right; we had a wonderful mini lunch at the Belmont Mansion while sipping on some tea. :) Here are some highlights from the afternoon! 

After the tour of the house (where pictures weren’t allowed… sad) we had some fun in Downtown Nashville!  All the cute little knickknack stores and honky-tonk bars were fun to see.  I made the wise decision to wear wooden wedges so I was definitely ready to sit down and have a glass of wine for dinner around 6!  We went to the most BEAUTIFUL place for dinner!  Prime 108 at Union Station… I definitely had to take a few pictures of this place.

The food was delicious and I had my new favorite cocktail!  

Definitely planning on making a couple of these at the beach for all the ladies!

Pear Vodka, 1 fresh squeezed lemon,

& Pomegranate Seed Puree  

We were such old ladies on Sunday night because we were both tucked in bed at 9!  HA!!  After a busy day and weekend that’s all I wanted to do!  I guess my body is used to winding down on a Sunday night to prepare for a new week of work…?

On Monday morning we had another Starbucks stop after packing everything up in the car and then we spent the day in downtown Franklin.  ADORABLE town… everyone knows each other and it reminded me of a smaller Greenville.  Great shops, awesome food and beautiful scenery!  We were planning on heading home around 2 but finally made it back on the highway around 2:45. 

It was such a great trip but after a fun filled Mom/Daughter weekend all a girl wants is a tight squeeze from her main man!  …and that’s exactly what I got at 9:15 when I got home!!

As for this week and the crazyness that has filled it I haven’t had a chance to do anything… I even skipped the “Wednesday Wishes” for the first time.  Oh well, I will make up for it next week!! ;)  Happy ALMOST Friday!

On the day after tomorrow...

My Mom and I will be on our awesome Mother/Daughter trip to Nashville, TN!!!! 

We've been planning it for a few months now and I am so excited about everything.  My mom is a HUGE planner and when ever we go on trips with just the 2 of us that always turns me into a HUGE planner as well.  

I have a file folder full of directions, Groupon/Living Social coupons that I've been buying the past few months and even malls with lists of the shops that we are planning on going to.  haha, it sounds crazy but that's what we do!  PLAN... PLAN... & PLAN!  

I know if I ever did this on trips with Peter he would look at me like a crazy person (in fact he's already told me I'm crazy when I've told him what all we have planned for this weekend) but its part of the fun for trips with my Mom!  It makes everything more exciting.  :) 

Also, this whole week I've been training in Downtown Greenville so I've had a nice break from driving to Spartanburg every day!  One last day of training tomorrow and then a vacation till Tuesday!!!!  Yessss.... so wonderful.  Of course I will have a nice recap from all the fun! 

Not much longer Mom!!!!!!!!!!!  YAY! 

busy, busy weekend!

This weekend was just as fun as I thought it was going to be!!!  I love it when that happens.  

Saturday was spent in Columbia for the Republican Party Convention.  Peter had to go since he is a state delegate and had some voting to do and he asked me to come along.  When we arrived we had to go check in so he could get his special badge to vote and all his paperwork.  After he was signed in they asked me if I as a delegate... I said no.  Then he asked if I was an alternate... I then said "No, I'm just a Girlfriend."  Everyone had a nice chuckle from that comment.  haha!  We got to hear a lot of speakers but I was most excited about hearing this beautiful woman speak! 

She is so great and I loved listening to her.  Like I said on my last post, I've never been super interested in Politics but I did have a great time!!!  After spending most of the day at the Convention we left for some a quick lunch before heading home.  I was really excited to try The Flying Saucer and it was wonderful!! Check out his beer menu... FOUR pages long!!!

Then the coolest part was seeing where the beers were from... when I found my new favorite beer, the Lion Stout (I'm definitely loving stouts lately) Peter pointed out where it's made!!  We were both shocked.  For those of you who don't know, Peter's last name is Eliya.  How crazy!!!  We both thought it was neat! 

After we stuffed ourself with delicious food and a tasty beer we started the drive home for the long awaited wedding!!!!!  Maria and Miguel's wedding was wonderful, and she looked SO beautiful!!  Sadly I don't even have a picture of her (SO SAD) but here are a few that I did take at the reception.... 

Jessica and I, resting our feet!    

 Peter and Joe... 

I say we are lucky ladies to have such handsome men!

 Getting some love from my hunny! 

 and the best part of the night....???

Catching the flowers!  About time!!!!! 

Peter doesn't look too afraid... does he? ;)

On Sunday to celebrate Mother's Day I went to church with my wonderful Mom and then we met the family at Miyabi for some Lunch!!!  It was so good and of course I ate WAY too much but how can you not when you go there!?!?  It was a beautiful day!  

 Here's we are... Brother, Mom and me! 

I still can't believe how tall and skinny he is.... crazy!  

And I also snapped a picture with my Grandma for a frame that I gave her for Christmas!  

Better late than never!!! 

Hope everyone else enjoyed there weekend!!!  And for all the Mother's out there, I hope you had a extra special day! :)  

I love you MOM!  You are the best and I would be so lost without you!  Check tomorrow to see what I am so excited about doing with my Mom in THREE days!!!!!!!!  eeeeeeek! 

Something New.

I have had a WONDERFUL Friday so far and a fantastic week!  This week has really flown by and I can’t believe its Friday already, definitely no complaining though!! 

Last night was a LATE night out.  Peter invited me to go to the Republican Debate at The Peace Center and I was so thrilled even though politics have never been something that I spend a lot of time learning about.  I think I am like most of the population, meaning I only pay attention when I feel I need to... which sadly isn’t that often. 

Peter is not this way.  He enjoys politics.  Watches CNN for fun, reads political blogs and listens to talk radio… he is a huge Ron Paul supporter and I’ve learned a lot from him in the past few years I’ve dated him.  I am very appreciative of that.  Without Peter I would have never thought about attending the debate last night BUT when he asked me I was so excited to go. 

Yes, it was very interesting and I really did enjoy everything but the main reason I was so excited to go was because he asked me.  For as long as I've known Peter he has always attended Republican campaigns, meetings, debates, etc and I’ve never been asked to go with him.  The fact that he wanted me there with him was so flattering. 

Here are a few pictures that I got from last night.

I sneaked this picture at The Peace Center even though we were told to turn off our phones!

Then Peter tried to get a good shot of Ron Paul at the Tea Party Convention.

And finally Peter got a picture with Peter Schiff!

It was a wonderful night & I had a great time with my awesome Boyfriend!!!

So excited about all the fun events during this weekend!!!!  It's going to be a wonderful couple of days full of happy times!

Get ready for on heck of a "Weekend Highlights". 

Happy Weekending Everyone!

MAYhem....?

Once again…… HAPPY MAY!

May is going to be a GREAT month for me.  It’s one of those things where you plan for all these different events and then they totally sneak up on you as the year flies by!  May is such a happy month!  The weather changes, plants start growing, the sun shines longer, and it’s always full of happiness! 

Some of the events that I’m very excited about for this coming May are………

{I thought the little flower bullet points were perfect}

{   Republican Party Events with Peter

{   Mother's Day loving

{   A wedding for a sweet friend

{   Training classes for work

{   Mom/Daughter vacation in Nashville, TN

{   Peter’s 28^th Birthday

{   4^th Annual Beach vacation with splendid friends

Busy, Busy, Busy!!!  I can’t wait!  There will definitely be a lot of posts for this month full of pictures… also May is important for one more reason!!! 

ONE YEAR OF BLOGGING!  Crazy!  I can’t believe it’s been that long.  I absolutely love going back to all the months this past year and remembering all the fun times.  It’s like a super, awesome diary that I will have forever.  It makes me happy!  YAY, MAY!