let the crazy begin

today starts the next 7 weeks of crazy (and it actually goes longer now) and marks the official start to summer in my books (despite it feeling like summer since march 29th when i arrived back in charleston).

so the last week was pretty quiet. i've been having a bit of a cold the last week so i wasn't up to much. but i did go to the beach both saturday and sunday which was interesting as we were under a tropical storm watch. the difference at the same spot on beach from saturday to sunday was very interesting. super windy and the waves were huge. there were soooo many people windsurfing and kitesurfing.

saturday at sullivans - this is looking back at the tide pool. i was by the ocean

sunday - you can kinda see where i was sitting on saturday.
the tide pool is in front of me and in the distance is the ocean.

but other than that it was a quiet memorial day weekend. amy left for a few weeks in philly for an internship on sunday. and i of course watched hockey! friday night was pretty exciting for me with the devils winning game 6 of the eastern conference finals! and then last night started the first game of the stanley cup finals. i'm upset with my schedule over the next few weeks though that it will be hard to watch a few games. uugh!

but tonight i'm off to philly to see the girls tonight and then friday head up to westchester, ny for jeanne's shower on saturday then a night in the city for her bachelorette and then i fly home on sunday night. busy busy busy!

and to make my summer even crazier i'll be in dc from approx july 27-aug 7th for work. i'll be doing a session of my absolute favorite conference - the one i went to myself, worked a few times and last summer ran in dc. soooooo looking forward to that! i've realllly missed dc and all my dc friends.

so have a wonderful weekend!!

quiet

it has been a pretty quiet week here in charleston and while the quiet is nice i'm getting bored, but i know i should appreciate the quiet before the crazy starts next week. my summer travel schedule is a bit crazy and i'm hoping it is going to change which will only make it worse, but hopefully i'll know whats going on in my life because of it. wow, way to be cryptic right?

so this week i've subbed monday. tuesday, wednesday and i will be friday as well and then i worked at old navy this morning. it kinda stinks school is done next week as my subbing income will be stopping, which makes me sad because it has been really great to actually be earning something. i think this is the first time i don't want the school year to end. but it has been nice one of the schools where i sub i've gotten to know people and they request me now so they've kept me pretty busy so it has been nice to be in mostly the same school and even the same wing.

but today after work i went to folly for the beach for a few hours and it was nice to relax and enjoy an afternoon reading and listening to the waves. plus it was finally warm enough/not windy for me to actually just wear my bathing suit and not be freezing so i could actually get some color! wooo! i haven't been to the beach in a few weeks and i plan on going a few times this weekend too.

folly beach - i've been spoiled living so close to the beach!

ummm, other than that i've been watching a lot of playoff hockey. my devils are playing the rangers for in the eastern conference finals which is a bit of a heated rivalry between these two teams. and it is even worse because my dad is a big rangers fan so there has been a few phone calls and lots of trash talking between us. it doesn't help that it was 18 years ago in 1994 when we played the rangers in the eastern conference finals and the devils lost game 7 in double ot and there are a lot of similarities this time to 1994. so i'm hoping the devils can win game 6 on friday night at home so we can get ready to play the kings for the cup.

so just enjoying a quiet weekend in charleston, no real weekend plans yet. the roomie is headed up to pennsylvania for the next 7 weeks for an internship and i'm starting an epic 7 weeks of travel. 

may 31 to june 3rd - PA/NY for jeanne's shower/bachelorette

charleston

june 6 to june 13th - colorado. conference the 7-10th and then the 11-13th rocky mountains!

june 13 to 18th - houston. conference the 14-17th and then playing on the 18th in houston

charleston

june 21 to 25th - nj. doctors appointments, heather's shower and general nj fun.

charleston

june 27 - july 1st - philly for a conference

charleston

july 4- 8th - connecticut for a conference

charleston

july 12 -15th - philly for jeanne's wedding

charleston

???

so lots of flights and a few days either sunday night/monday am to wednesday night/ thursday depending on if a work trip or wedding related back in charleston. it is going to be a crazy summer!

any fun memorial day weekend plans?

5 years

five years ago today i was celebrating my college graduation and walking across the stage collecting my diploma from washington college. saying goodbye to some amazing friends and reminiscing about an absolutely amazing four years and while knowing i can always go back to visit chestertown it would never be the same. and my life in the last five years while not exactly as i planned has been nothing short of amazing. i've grown so much since crossing the stage and had some crazy adventures.

so in the last five years since i graduated from college i have:

- spent an amazing summer living in asheville, north carolina teaching at an academic summer camp
- lived in ireland for two years
- graduated with honors with a masters in history
- travelled all around europe while living in ireland
- moved back to the states and spent a hilarious spring in mystic, connecticut
- started working conferences for high school students in washington, dc in summer 2009
- moved back to new jersey and had an incredible first year teaching social studies and coaching
- spent a summer back in connecticut sailing 
- been unemployed 
- ran my first half marathon
- been a nomad between nj, dc and all over working conferences for middle & high school students
- took off for a 3 week european adventure
- spent a summer living in nova, running conferences for 330 high school students
- moved to charleston, south carolina pretty much for an adventure
- tore my ACL and spent a few months in new jersey
- enjoying living in charleston and just trying to figure out my next step
- travelled to 15 states and 11 countries
- lived in 5 states
- made so many friends and have been so lucky to experience so many great places and adventures

it is kinda crazy how much i've been able to do and see, while my plan wasn't this unstructured i've had fun and i've gotten to travel and experience life which i know when i get the chance again i'll be an amazing teacher because of it

while my next step is still unsure i know i'll be ok. life is one big adventure and i'm just doing my best to live it and take advantage of every opportunity i've been given!

george and i 

barkley and the garrett c awards

worcester girls four years later

with the lovers

family

beaufort, south carolina

on thursday my aunt and i went to beaufort, south carolina for the day. it is about an hour and a half south of charleston and is one of the sea islands and a great example of antebellum architecture as the city wasn't destroyed during the civil war. we spent most of our time out on the outlaying sea islands as when we were in downtown beaufort it was pouring! so here are some pictures from beaufort!

hunting island lighthouse on hunting island. it is the only lighthouse in south carolina you can go into!

at the top of the lighthouse - it was super windy!

stairs going up - really interesting history of this lighthouse

my aunt and i at the lighthouse

along the beach at the hunting island state park
i think i'm in love. palmetto tree & the beach!

you can see the front moving in and the storm we ran into. looking across the marsh and the hunting island inlet

i also took her to old sheldon church ruins which i've visited before!

 it was great to have my aunt in town and to get to take her to some of my favorite places, take her to the best restaurants in charleston and give her a chance to see the city and area i love! i did have to work a lot, but she had a great time exploring on her own! now a pretty quiet weekend but after the last few weeks i'm happy with taking it easy!

ohio & charleston

been a real busy week. last wednesday i subbed and then headed to the airport to fly to columbus, ohio for the weekend to work a conference. a fun evening of flying as it was storming all in the southeast so my flight to charlotte was delayed and so i cut it super close in charlotte for my flight to ohio. luckily i had an hour and a half layover so i actually had about 10 minutes to catch my breath. and while on the flight to charlotte i ended up sitting next to a cute guy in the navy who was on his way to minnesota to see family. and so we chatted the entire time and then some as we were sitting on the ground in charleston for a good 40 minutes before we were allowed to take off. so we've chatted a few times and it looks like i might be seeing him again soon. but i was so glad to make it to columbus! i got in super late and then had a great weekend of work! lots of fun people and a great group of kids! i was only briefly in ohio though compared to my usual - i got in at 11:45 on wednesday and then was out ay 7:30 on sunday buuuuut i did manage to take in some history! down the road from the hotel was the ohio capital! ohhh and i listened to OAR's road outside columbus on repeat for a while to put me in the mood!

nothing like being a tourist at 11:30 pm!

very pretty capital

and then i had an adventurous sunday night getting back to charleston. my aunt was flying into town sunday night to spend a few days with me and to see charleston. and well the plane that i was taking from ohio to atl was delayed, which caused my flight to be like 5 minutes delayed. and then when we landed in atl it took us 15 minutes to get to our gate and it was 9:33 when the plane landed, my flight started boarding at 9:30 for a 10pm flight and i didn't get off the plane until 9:51 (so i was just hoping they hadn't shut the doors yet 10 minutes prior to flight) i RAN through the atlanta airport and luckily only had to go from terminal c-b but i was the last person on the plane and they shut the door. i know there was another girl on my ohio flight who was also supposed to be on it but she didn't make it. so arrived in charleston, met my aunt at the airport and then headed home. 

monday we played around charleston. i gave her the erin walking tour of charleston and took her all around downtown and we had the most amazing lunch at slightly north of broad (snob) and then amy met us for dinner at our favorite south end brewery. on tuesday i worked but my aunt had a fun day at fort sumter & the market downtown and i met her for possibly the best meal i've had in charleston at magnolia's. we had the best fried green tomatoes in my life, and i had the pecan chicken which was so delicious! and then last night just relaxed. today i worked again but my aunt went to one of the plantations and then i picked her up and we went to shem creek for dinner along the water and then i took her to sullivan's island to see fort moultrie and the beach. tomorrow we are headed down to beaufort, which i'm really excited about as i haven't been there!

college of charleston campus

snob - an amazing restaurant in charleston!

view down broad street

another amazing restaurant in charleston

fried green tomatoes over grits

waterfront park charleston

so i'm just enjoying my aunt's visit and enjoying being in charleston for the next few weeks without any travel! 

recently

so like usual i've been super busy and it is only going to get crazier. i've been subbing a lot. A LOT. (which i'm not complaining about) and also i'm back in retail land 1-2 shifts a week right now and also gearing up to start more conferences. so i've been busy with work, but the nice thing is with subbing i've been having my evenings free! and i've made friends with the secretary at one of the schools so she calls me up sometime during the day to ask if i'm free to sub another day. i knew last monday that i'd be subbing the rest of the week, and on friday i knew i'd be subbing mon-wed this week, and for the week after next i only have monday to find a job for. so that has been really nice. and i've been lucky that i've for the most part had good classes so subbing hasn't been hell. plus i've been reading like a manic. i read 31 books in april. and i'm already on book 5 for may. 

and i've also had some fun as well! i went to play at fort moultrie two weekends ago and also went to the beach, played in a historic house, went on a few first dates, celebrated amy's birthday, watched a lot of hockey, watched some more hockey, GO DEVILS!!, went to cypress gardens, charles pinckney national historical site and out to dinner with an amazing blog friend!

went to fort moultrie national historic site and played in some revolutionary - WWII history! 

went to visit the roomie at work at one of the historic
houses downtown and i <3 it! i also played downtown that
afternoon and read along the battery and enjoyed the day.

had a fun night out with the roomie & friends for her birthday!

a gorgeous sunset over the ravenel bridge on night over the weekend!

i went on a few first dates over the last few weeks and one of them
made it to date three where we went to cypress gardens for the afternoon
and played outside in the gorgeous!

i continued my national park love by going to the charles pinckney national historic site and spent about an hour there on the farm and learning more about pinckney and the revolutionary war/colonial south carolina.

met the wonderful angela for an amazing dinner! the food was delish and it was great to see her one last time before her & her husband head over to germany for a few years! 

 and my loves the devils won the second round of the NHL playoffs against the philly flyers and it was awesome. i've been watching a lot of playoff hockey as they beat the florida panthers in round one in game 7 in overtime. and they had quite a few overtime games in both rounds - so pretty crazy. so now i'm waiting on the winner of the rangers/capitals to see who the devils will play. i'm really hoping for the rangers just because the rivalry between those two teams is kinda intense and also my dad is a rangers fan. so it adds to the fun. so loving all of the hockey right now!


so yea - lots going on. i'm off to columbus, ohio wednesday night for a conference and i'll be there until sunday evening and then hoping back to charleston sunday night where i'm meeting my aunt, who will be visiting me for a few days after.

what i wore

so i decided it was time for another what i wore post. i love to re-wear my favorites so here are some things i've worn in the last few weeks. hope everyone has a good weekend!

dress: h&m summer 2010
shoes: sperry

dress: old navy summer 2011
shoes: target 2012

dress: ann taylor summer 2011 

cardi: ny&co summer 2011

shoes: bandalino spring 2012

dress: target summer 2010
cardi: ann taylor 2011
shoes: bandalino spring 2012

dress: old navy summer 2011
cardi: ann taylor summer 2011shoes: rainbows

shirt: gap spring 2011
jeans: old navy spring 2012
shoes: rainbows

               

shirt: old navy summer 2010
cardi: macy's spring 2010
jeans: old navy spring 2012
shoes: rainbows

dress: ann taylor summer 2011
cardi: macy's spring 2010
shoes: bandalino summer 2011

blazer: h&m spring 2012
shirt: ny&co summer 2011
skirt: target fall 2010
shoes: bandalino summer 2011

denver

so maybe i should write about my amazing trip to colorado! state number 33! wooo! 17 more to go! since this trip was a while ago and i'm so late writing the recap it will mostly be pictures! but i absolutely LOVE colorado! 

buffalo downtown!

had some fun frolicking downtown and exploring the 16th street mall area and just soaking up the gorgeous weather and the view of the mountains!

then annie and i went to the capital building in denver. and had some fun around the capital and courthouse and other important buildings in denver.

joined the mile high club.. haha

annie and i at the capital

then we met up with annie's law school friends for an epic happy hour... or six. i drank many margaritas and ate my weight in chips & guac, salsa & queso. it was delish! so early tuesday we were up and we went to pick up the little boy annie nannies for and we took him on an adventure to red rocks!

i have been dying to see a concert at red rocks since i heard friends from colorado talk about it at camp one summer and well i didn't get to go to a concert there but just seeing it was gorgeous. red rocks is probably the best natural amphitheater in the country and i've heard the acoustics and just unreal. here is my fav zac brown at red rocks. i'd LOVE to see him there. 

<3 him

enjoying some of the pretty scenery

we had a picnic lunch on stage and just took in the gorgeous scenery and watched all the people work out on the steps. it was intense!

annie and i - we totally had the 3 year old take this picture!

and the view from the top of the amphitheater. you can kinda see denver in the corner!

so the next day we were up and in boulder by 9am so we could play before i had to be at the airport. we had an amazing breakfast at snooze where i had red velvet pancakes that were absolutely delish! and after walking around boulder we headed to chautauqua to play in the mountains a little bit and hiked around the flat irons

i can jump again!!

i was in LOVE with the mountains and just seeing them everywhere and just so happy. 

so i absolutely loved my trip and loved colorado!

i am SOOOOOO excited i get to go back in a month! and i can play in the mountains more! woooo!