Twenty-Eight

Another year, another birthday in the books! I lucked out on awesome events landing on my big day this year, happily celebrating surrounded by loved ones.

Going into work on my birthday wasn't so bad this year. Not only did Elyse decorate my cube and make amaaaazing shirley temple cupcakes, the entire marketing team went bowling! The bowling wasn't necessarily to celebrate my birthday...it was more of a bonding exercise for the team. Either way, we were out of the office and it was my birthday. I call that a win! We split into teams and I walked away winning both games AND scoring over 100 each time (that's always my goal). It was a great time spent laughing and enjoying time with co-workers and friends.

Next on the agenda was an Eric Huthcinson concert! Concerts on your birthday are simply the best. Saints of Valory opened up the show with an amazing performance grabbing our attention with drum solos and uplifting sounds. I won't be surprised if they make it big-time soon. I can't get enough of their current EP and am excited for whenever a full album is available. Eric Hutchinson soon came out and didn't disappoint with his sing along melodies and classic Hutchinson dance moves. Jeremy, Elyse and I bugged Hutch throughout the day via twitter asking him for a birthday shoutout. Sure enough, about midway through the show, he mentioned my name, looked & found me in the crowd and said Happy Birthday to me and a few others who claimed it was their birthday as well. Cloud 9. I was on Cloud 9. Hutch had the entire crowd on their feet and dancing for the next 1.5 hours. He even jumped into the crowd at one point! We stayed after to meet and say thank you for the sweet shoutout and to let him know my day was made.

Saints of Valory

Eric Hutchinson

Everybody with Eric Hutchinson

The night sadly ended but my birthday celebration continued with family that weekend. We all gathered together on Sunday to celebrate Easter as we feasted on the usual Easter dinner consisting of ham, green bean casserole, macaroni & cheese and our beloved family fave, strawberry shortcake. I am always grateful that both families (Jeremy's and mine) get along so well and that we can spend time with one another over the holidays. We had a blast entertaining Keegan as we dyed Easter egg monsters full of hair, stickers and glitter. It was a great way to end my birthday celebrations and, as always, I'm excited to see what another year brings. Twenty-eight, let's do this!

All of me loves all of you

What happens when John Legend comes to town? You simply put on your Sunday's best and join him.

 Jeremy and I enjoyed a romantic evening uptown swooning over John Legends stripped down, piano-driven love songs. Okay, maybe Jeremy didn't swoon, but I sure did. We enjoyed two hours getting to know John Legend as he told a few personal stories of his 10 year musical journey, dating tips from his father and behind-the-scene stories of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. We may not have had the best seats in the house (5 lucky couples got to sit onstage) but we had a pretty awesome view, front and center on the balcony as we sung along with the sold out crowd at Belk Theatre.

Get Over It: Cooper River Bridge Run

I am happy to write that April has definitely started off on the right foot. April 1st finally rolled around and I got a full HOUR of The Mindy Project after a 30+ day hiatus. Needless to say, I was happy.

The first weekend in April unintentionally turned into a Girls weekend with all three of my very best girlfriends. I was happy to have a 4 Day mini vacation in the books and planned to take advantage of each and every day. Vacay started right at 5pm when I got off work when Elyse treated me to an early birthday present of seeing Kris Allen perform at the Neighborhood Theatre. It was a small, interesting crowd but Kris put on a great show and I loved every single minute of it. We were able to snag a set list and meet and talk with him after. He's a super sweet, down to earth guy and I can't wait to get his new album when it releases later this summer!

Next on the agenda was the much anticipated trip to Charleston for the Cooper River Bridge run with my other two best friends. Charleston greeted us with perfect warm weather as we walked the cobblestone streets strolling through shops here and there. Naturally, we loaded up on carbs at Joe Pasta for dinner for our big run the next day. We stuffed ourselves and headed to the hotel to rest up for the night. Lucky for us, ABC Family was airing a Zac Efron movie marathon and we happily fell asleep to Seventeen Again.

Before we knew it, our alarms were going off and we were up at the crack of dawn. We ate a hearty breakfast and were on our way to the bus shuttle that would take us to Mount Pleasant. The sun slowly started to rise and we joined the sea of people in a crowd of 40,000 runners in our respective corrals.

We paused for the National Anthem and cheered as the Elite and wheelchair runners started off the race. The start line was all the sudden beneath my feet as I picked up the pace as I started to run my first 10K. There were tons of people cheering on all the runners as well as bands that pumped us up along the way. I was off to a great start but when my eyes met the bridge and saw that HUGE incline UP, my legs and heart said, NO THANKS! My pace slowed into a power walk as I snapped pics of the amazing landscape and soaked in my surroundings for about .75 miles up the bridge. Once I crossed the top, I had no problem picking up the pace, running down and finishing up the last 3 miles of the race into downtown.

I finished the race with a smile and a sense of accomplishment at completing my first 6 mile race at a final time of 1:03. I soon met up with Sairy as we scanned the booths set up and had our heart broken by Gru and his minions when they turned us down for a picture. We recovered from our heartbreak and lounged on the lawn waiting to meet up with Chelsea. Once we were all reunited, our stomachs told us it was lunch time. Sairy led us to a tasty restaurant, Juanita's, where we loaded up on nachos, burritos and margaritas. (It was well deserved.) Afterwards, we paid the Market a visit, buying keepsakes and gifts for loved ones back home.

We arrived back at the hotel, plopped on the bed and didn't feel like moving. So we didn't. In fact, guess who was on tv again? Mr. Zac Efron. The channel didn't change and we watched two more of his movies while resting up for dinner that night. We eventually showered and headed to the Noisy Oyster where we grubbed on shrimp, crab cakes and more tasty drinks.

The weekend ended with a shopping trip to the Tanger Outlets. We scored some great deals and before we knew it, we were on the road again headed to Charlotte! It's not often that I get to be with my best friends all in one weekend. Although we all have completely different personalities, I'm so grateful that we can find the one thing that makes us click and get along. We were able to share countless laughs, memories and hardships with one another and for that, I will always be grateful. I have the best friends ever, hands down.