I'm on Vacation!!!

I am officially on vacation from work for the next 9 days!  I am SO ready for some much needed rest and relaxation.  The best part is that I get to see my bestest friend Linaya in less than 48 hours!!!  I haven't seen her in two years!!!!!  I am flying into Chicago on Sunday and I will be staying with her in Michigan through Wednesday.  Then, Brad and I are headed to Hilton Head to celebrate our Four Year Anniversary next weekend.  What an exciting week!  :)

Liberty on the Lake

The hubs and I have a new favorite place to eat!  It is literally 5 minutes down the road from our house.  I didn't even realize how close to the lake we lived!  Ha!  It is called Liberty on the Lake and it just opened a few weeks ago.  The views are amazing.  The menu is the same as Liberty's downtown in the Vista.  If you live in the Columbia area you need to try it!

Dillard's Baby Shower

On Sunday night, one of my associates from work hosted a baby shower for another co-worker.  It was such a fun evening showering the mom-to-be with lots of presents for her new baby!  We played fun games and ate lots of yummy food.  I took lots of pictures with my iPhone, but I wish I had brought my Canon Rebel so the quality would have been better. 

My co-worker Katherine and I

Check out this diaper motorcycle!  Isn't it adorable?!?  The girl who made it got the idea from Pinterest.

The Mom-to-be Tiffany and I!

The gifts I gave Tiffany.  I monogrammed the little rattle blanket.  I think it turned out so cute.   (Too bad Tiffany decided to change the baby's middle name and announced it at the shower right before she opened her gifts.)  Ha!

Catching Up with an Old Friend

On Sunday,  Brad and I went to brunch at Liberty's with one of my childhood friends Elizabeth.   I haven't seen her in over six years!  We went to pre-school and took dance class together when we lived in New York.  Elizabeth and her husband John live in Wilmington, NC now.  John is a professional comedian and had a show in Columbia over the weekend.  It was so great getting to see Elizabeth and meet her husband. 

Day Trip to Charlotte

The hubs and I had the day off from work on Monday, so we decided to go to Charlotte, NC for the day.  We went to South Park Mall and did a little shopping.  I didn't buy anything because I find it impossible to shop when Brad is with me.  Plus, everything I would have wanted to buy would have been out of my price range.  They have a Kate Spade store and a Lilly Pulitzer store at this mall....enough said.

We decided to try a new restaurant for dinner.  We normally eat at The Cheesecake Factory, but this time we went to Maggiano's Little Italy, which was right next door.  I have always wanted to eat there. 

I ordered the famous "Rigatoni D" and it was amazing.  Probably the best pasta dish I've ever had.  Holy.  Yum.  I have been researching recipes for this, so I can try making it at home. 

We couldn't stand the thought of being right next door to The Cheesecake Factory and not getting a piece of cheesecake, so we decided to get one for dessert.  We always split a piece of cheesecake when we go there.  The slices are huge and incredibly rich...I could never eat a whole piece by myself!  We decided on the Chocolate Raspberry Truffle flavor and took it to-go for the car ride home. 

What a fun day!  :)

Easter Sunday

We had such a wonderful Easter this year!  Brad's Dad was in town for weekend from West Virginia and my parents came up Sunday morning to spend the day with us. 

We started the day by enjoying some mimosas...yum!  :)

My parents brought us this gorgeous pot of flowers for our front porch.  I love them!

Look at these festive cookies my Mom made!  Aren't they beautiful!?!  They tasted great also!

Of course we had to do a bunch of family photos.  Brad hated every minute of it.  Why do men hate taking pictures so much?!?  (Maybe it was because they were trying to watch the basketball game on tv....)

I tried to make the dining room look as "springy" as possible.  I bought this blue linen hemstitch table runner at Dillard's and monogrammed it with our initial.  :)  I think it turned out pretty cute!  In fact, it looks exactly like the one they sell at Pottery Barn. 

For dinner, I fixed a Turkey Breast, mashed potatoes, macaroni & cheese, and rolls. My Mom fixed corn casserole and green beans. The whole meal was delicious and everyone was extremely full afterwards.

 For dessert I made an Angel Food Confetti Cake and topped it with my homemade Raspberry Whipped Cream.  This Raspberry Whipped Cream is seriously amazing stuff.  I made it last year for Easter and I have been dreaming about every day since...you should try it!

I gave our guests these festive boxes of Harry & David Moose Munch.  I thought they were so pretty, so I had to take a picture of them.  :)

I hope everyone had a great Easter weekend! 

High Five For Friday!

I'm linking up with Lauren over at From My Grey Desk to share my five favorite things about this week.

1.  The hubs and I had a date night on Monday night.  We had dinner at our favorite Japanese Restaurant Tsunami.  I bought a $15 groupon last week, so it was a great deal!  After dinner, we went to Redbox and rented Playing for Keeps.  It was a very cute movie!  (Here's a tip:  You can always get free Redbox rentals by entering the promo code DVDONME...it works once per credit card!)

2.  I got to play my first role as Matron of Honor and helped my friend Sarah pick out the bridesmaid dresses for her wedding in October.  We decided on this gorgeous dupioni dress in majestic purple by Alfred Sung.  We went to the bridal shop were I bought my wedding gown four years ago.  They remembered me and gave me a 10% discount on my bridesmaid dress since I was a former bride of theirs! 

3.  I have been sooooooooooooooo excited to try one of the new Bud Light Lime Stra-Ber-Ritas.  I saw them at Kroger in the 10 for $10 bin, so I decided to buy one.  OMG!!!  It was love at first sip.  Now I'm mad I didn't just buy a whole box!  :(

4.  I ordered another Kate Spade phone cover.  I couldn't resist.  It was on clearance.  It came in the mail yesterday and I've already put it to good use! 



5.  I got a new vacuum!  I had been eyeing this one for a long time, but I just didn't want to spend the money.  Brad and I were shopping at Lowe's the other day and we found it on clearance!  We threw that baby in our cart and didn't look back. It's the small things in life that make me so happy...:) 

I hope y'all have a Happy Easter weekend!