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.
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