Five on Friday

We've made it to another Friday - I seriously cannot believe it's already April... how is this year flying by so quickly!? I do have to say March-July is one of my favorite times of the year so I'm not too upset ;)

One
I will be the first one to admit that I'm not very adventurous when it comes to trying different cultural food, so when a co-worker asked if I wanted to go get Vietnamese food one day I was weary of that idea. A few people said it was delicious so I figured why not and I'm so glad I did! He took us to a cool, trendy Vietnamese place that was in a sketchy plaza but oh so delicious. I got the chicken rice bowl and it was so good and I'm so glad I ventured outside of my food comfort zone - not to mention, it was very instagram worthy ;)

Two
One of our co-workers recently moved onto another job and our admin asked if I wanted his stand up desk - I couldn't say yes fast enough! I've been wanting to try one but I was unsure if I'd really use it given my head is above the cube walls and I thought my legs would tire easily. It's been a few days but I really enjoy it! Let's hope it helps keep me active and moving throughout the day instead of sitting for 8 hours

Of course I have to have a Lilly background - and yes, the men make comments on how bright it is lol

Three

Work stepped it up and finally brought in a Yoga instructor for the end of women's week. We were all super pumped that they're finally letting us do group exercise activities on the lawn behind the building. We had a great time - minus the bugs but the weather was perfect! This was my first class since I do this Tone It Up yoga video in the morning and man, it was a lot harder than I expected! I also didn't expect a normal class to be so "spiritual" so that was new/odd to me. We're all hoping this becomes a semi-regular thing!

Four
I've received so many good recommendations for our NYC trip a week from today!! We're still in disbelief that we'll be in the Big Apple so soon! I'm pumped but now I need to figure out how to dress warm without looking too fall/winter - this is a struggle I've never really had to deal with being in FL. I'd still love any recommendations y'all have for things to do, places to eat and now, what to wear

Five
We are super excited for a low-key weekend. Stephen might have to work tomorrow but regardless, I have some orders to get done and we're going to an air show on Sunday with some friends. I've never been into an official air show before (just seen them from the sky) so I'm really excited to see what it's all about. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!!

What I Wore in Charleston

Since I loved wearing this dress around Charleston (minus the wind and constant surprise updrafts) and Stephen took so many good photos, I thought I'd dedicate a whole post to it. It was so much fun running through the streets with Stephen - he loved taking pictures of everything :) Most of these pictures were taken at Waterfront Park and the feeder streets near Bay Street and Broad Street.

Linking up with Annie

Charleston: Day 3

I'm back to share our last day in Charleston which was our friends' wedding day! If you'd like to catch up, you can see day 1 here and day 2 here - I will also include an all-inclusive list of the things we did and where we ate at the end of this post.

The wedding was an earlier wedding, at 11:30 am in Mount Pleasant which actually worked out really well! I got ready and dropped Stephen off at the venue around 9 am and then I headed over to Old Village in Mount Pleasant. I should've done a little more research as to what to do but everything was closed until 10 am so I walked around the town in my wedding attire and took in the beautiful houses. I looked so incredibly out of place because of my dress and the fact that it was freezing outside. Once I walked a few blocks, I headed back to the Old Village bakery for some tea to warm up before browsing the stores and heading to the venue.

The wedding was beautiful! The weather was perfect (a little cold) and the view of the Cooper River was fantastic! I loved that you could see the Arthur Ravenel Bridge and the USS Yorktown. The whole thing was beautiful and I'm so thankful we could celebrate with them!

All of the Coke bottles were personalized with different things

We look like giants in this picture lol!

Since the couple had to catch their honeymoon flight, the wedding ended at 4:00 pm which was perfect because we were able to return Stephen's tux and head back to the hotel to rest. After resting, we got ready and headed out to dinner downtown. We wanted to go to 167 Raw but it had a 1.5 hour wait so we went to the Bay Street Biergarten which was super delicious! It was a Southern twist on German food and had the coolest outdoor area and group tables. We wanted to get a fun dessert after dinner but it was getting late and it was super cold outside so we called it a night and headed back to the hotel. Sunday we drove home, I unpacked and then repacked for Louisiana the next day.

We seriously had the best time in Charleston, we would move there in a heartbeat if we got the opportunity to - there is so much to see, do and eat there! Below, I've rounded up everything we did and where we ate so you don't have to go searching through the different posts.

Where we stayed: we stayed at the Hampton Inn on Daniel Island which was about a 20 minute drive into downtown. We stayed there for a few reasons, the main one being price. Daniel Island is beautiful and fun to explore in itself and there was a straight shot to Mt. Pleasant and downtown Charleston on the highways.

Where we ate:
Bull Street Market: I ate at this salad/sandwich shop for lunch the first day and it was good but nothing special. I wouldn't recommend it.
Hominy Grill: This is our favorite restaurant in Charleston. They serve amazing, traditional Southern food. Next time we go back, we need to go there for breakfast - I've heard it's amazing!
Callie's Little Hot Biscuit: The best biscuit you've ever eaten. Enough said. There was minimal seating inside so be prepared to stand and eat outside if you can't wait to find somewhere to sit.
Magnolias: This place has upscale Southern food - I've heard about it from multiple people and it did not disappoint. We ate here for lunch but I've heard dinner is a little more fancy and expensive.
Bay Street Biergarten: Super delicious and fun Southern flair to German food. The atmosphere was fantastic and so much fun.
Butcher and Bee: Although we didn't eat here this trip, it's very delicious and has a variety of fun foods. I believe they are constantly changing their menu as well which keeps things exciting.

What we did:
Rainbow Row: This iconic street did not disappoint. Right off Bay Street, Rainbow Row is filled with the most beautifully colored houses close to the water. It also has a lot of stunning feeder streets which makes this a fantastic place to walk around.
Broad Street: Just south of Broad Street (close to Rainbow Row and Bay Street), you'll find the most beautiful houses of Charleston. Filled with history and stunning architecture, you'll easily get lost in your daydreams and camera.
The Battery Park: Located at the southern tip of Charleston at the end of Bay Street, the Battery is a beautiful park overlooking the water and magnificent houses. It's a great place to have a picnic or let kids get some energy out.
The Pineapple Water Fountain: One of Charleston's most iconic land marks is their Pineapple Fountain over in Waterfront Park. The fountain is stunning along with it's surrounding trees and beautiful waterfront scenery.
King Street: Probably some of the best shopping in the South is on this street. I loved dipping in and out of stores and browsing the beautiful selections. I enjoyed doing this without Stephen because I didn't have to worry about him getting bored ;)
Charleston City Market: I've never been there before and wanted to check it out. It's basically a bunch of local vendors selling their products. It's really a large farmer's market without food - not a big deal to see.

I hope everyone enjoyed my recap of our Charleston trip! If you haven't been there before, definitely add this to your list! Linking up with Jessi

Weekending at Disney

We had the absolute best weekend together. Stephen finally had off of work (he was off last weekend but we had so much to catch up on we didn't do anything fun) and so the first time since January, we headed back to Disney. We were itching to get back to the parks and I couldn't wait to go to the Flower and Garden Festival going on at Epcot. I've also been dying to get to the parks to take pictures of something new I'll be debuting with Premium Pineapple hopefully soon. I'm actually looking into opening an Etsy store so if anyone has one, please send any advice!!

Friday after work, I basically got home and got back to work lol I finished up an order for PPE, gave Stephen a haircut, got a workout in and packed everything we'd need for Disney the next day. Super exciting stuff, y'all.

Saturday was Disney day. It was the best - the weather was amazing and we just loved walking around, taking pictures and taking our time. We got to Magic Kingdom early and had fantastic lighting for pictures in front of the castle, rode Buzz Lightyear and then headed over to Epcot for lunch. The rest of the day, we walked around Epcot and split dishes from different stands for the festival. Once we were done, we headed back over to MK to ride Big Thunder Mountain and get ice cream before calling it a night. Having my new watch was so much fun to see how far we had gone and how many calories were burnt. Although I wasn't wearing it for the pictures we took, we walked 9 miles (my feet were killing me) and burned over 3,000 calories - my Fitbit app was going nuts.

I've seen so many people talk about the Violet Lemonade on Instagram so of course, I had to try some and it was delicious! Please ignore my super pale legs...I need to get to the beach ASAP

They had an area setup with Adirondack chairs and I couldn't believe more people weren't taking advantage of them!

Sunday, we went to church, I dropped off an order, did our grocery shopping and then came home to clean. As awful as this sounds, I can't tell you the last time I really cleaned the house - I've kept up with it but not cleaned it well. Stephen was a saint and mopped the whole house for me! A clean house is seriously the best thing. Later that evening, Stephen grilled some amazing steaks for us as we start to enjoy these long days :)

I think I mentioned last Monday that I started the 7 day slimdown program with Tone It Up. I'm happy to report back that I was able to follow the plan very well (except Saturday and half of Sunday) and I lost 2 lbs! The plan went really well and was a lot easier to follow than I expected. I feel so much better and stronger and I'm excited to continue a lifestyle of cleaner eating!

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!! Linking up with Biana