Charleston Rocks!

So we decided to take a trip with some friends. We decided on Charleston, that was an easy choice, it's a great place to vacation and hang out. Our friends Eric & Missy went with us and they were super fun. We left Cleveland on a Friday at noon and headed toward the coast. We made a few stops on the way there (thank you for letting me stop at Target). I needed to pick up a few things including a memory card for my NEW CAMERA. And I got a really cool khaki long coat since it was going to be chilly in Chaz-town.
These pics were taken when we got there and got settled into our room. We stayed at Lodge Alley which is the best place to stay when you go there. It's a Bluegreen Resort and it's right in the middle of everything you can imagine to do in Charleston.


Our first dinner there, we ate at Tommy Condon's which is a famous Charleston spot and a good one for seafood and other stuff. I had angel hair pasta with seafood in it. Everyone else got something having to do with seafood too. We even got dessert. We also ate outside on the patio area but they had these cool plastic curtain type things because it was chilly.



(Sorry mom, the kids aren't in any of the Chaz-town pics, so you'll have to just deal with it.)







After dinner we walked around for awhile. There's a great place out by the water where they have these huge unbelievable cool porch swings. You can just sit and talk forever swinging in the dark by the water. It's one of my favorite places to frequent while in Charleston. This is Will and I on a swing, acting goofy....as usual.





This is E&M trying to "have a moment" I guess but that doesn't happen on a trip with friends. Ha! No really they were cutting up as we were...as usual.










After we did the swings and the water, we found a spot to watch some hoops becuase it was the beginning of March Madness and we were all (ha, anyone that knows me well...knows I wasn't that anxious about scores of b-ball games!)anxious to know scores and results.








This is gorgeous Lodge Alley. This is right outside our room. Our door to our room is the second one you see on the left. It really is a great place to stay, we had a fireplace in our room, flat screen TV and lots of other added luxuries.







On Saturday, we just had muffins and coffee for b-fast and then ate at this tiny little cafe close to the market. It had all of about 7 tables in it. Very good food and some very saweeeeeeeet tea.










Body art anyone?

Okay, so I wasn't going to make this huge announcement on my blog but I can't help but tell what we did and post the pics to go along with it. Will and I, at 33 years old, both got tattoos in Chaz-town. It was not an impulse decision, it's one we've been discussing for years. So before we went, I had been through tons and tons of designs and contemplated on what to get and where to get it. In the office for our most recent dinner, we used a very cute four leaf clover on our invitations etc. I really wanted something that signifies that I have 4 wonderful children that I love so very much. So, it was decided, I was getting a brown dainty but very sweet four leaf clover on the inside of my right ankle right above where my shoe hits.






I was a NERVOUS WRECK!! I had no idea how bad the pain would be and I was so afraid of the unknown.










Okay below is a progression of pics. My artist was Chris Seattle and he was great, we liked him a lot. E&M went for moral support and they were troopers!!


Only took 15 minutes or less under the needle to get my little brown clover on my skin. He was fast!!

Finished product and so very proud of it. I know, I know, mid life crisis? Probably not at 33 but it's something I've wanted to do for a long time and I finally had the guts to do it. Is it professional? Probably not but I'll try to be very discreet about it at work.

So, then Will's was a different story. It took 1 hour and 45 minutes. Will and Chris (the artist) worked together to come up with a very cool design. It's a cross and above it, Psalms and below it 127:4. The verse says, Sons born to a man when he is young are like arrows in the hand of a warrior. His turned out perfect and we love it as well.

This is in process. Below is finished product. His hurt worse than mine. By the way, mine didn't hurt hardly at all. His was way more red and tender looking than mine.



Okay. Now that we got that out of the way, on to the rest of the trip. We spent a lot of time in a vintage shop one day and let me say, we had a blast.

For dinner that night we went to Hymans Seafood. Its another Charleston fave and is known for its oysters, which I hate.
We waited over an hour for a table but it was worth it. By the time we got our food, we were pretty much starving.



That night, I was so tired. We went dancing for a little while at Club Light. Yes, we were the oldest folks in the place but it was a blast!!

So we were watching hoops when we got back in and I just pooped out right there on the couch and they took a pic to make fun of me. Classic!






Another day by the water on the swings. Great place to hang out.


























Okay, last pics to post are of the 4 of us walking in an alley in Charleston. They have the coolest alleys there and I thought it'd be fun to take pics of us walking down an alley. So here they are. I'll finish out with a picture of the four of us. We didn't get many shots of the 4 of us so I'm posting the best one we got.

What a fun trip!!!