Happenings

So it's been quite a while since I've posted to my beloved blog. And I feel like a lot has happened since then. If I may, I'm just going to do a quick recap realizing that some of it may be repeated...

My sister, Jennifer, and her husband, Alex, had their first child. Little Riley Jade Patterson was born July 27th at 5:30 am weighing in at 8 lbs 7 oz. and 21 inches in length. She looks just like her father with her big lips and almond-shaped eyes (no, Alex is not Asian). I saw her this past weekend at four weeks of age and she still looked ever so tiny to me. It's nice to have a new addition to the family.

I changed jobs...again. My old contract expired so I needed to find another one, which meant working with a new company. What I'm finding out is that this is not out of the norm for contractors. It happens a lot and you just roll with it. So I'm rolling. I work for a great company and I'm happy where I am. I like my new customer and I like the path that I seem to be headed down with my career.

I have tried out multiple new restaurants in the area (none of which I have written reviews for as we can all tell): Five Loaves in Mt. Pleasant, Red Orchids in North Charleston, Madra Rua in North Charleston, Ali Baba in Daniel Island, Pearlz Oyster Bar in West Ashley, Al Di La in West Ashley, Finz in Mt. Pleasant and Uno Mas in Mt. Pleasant. Real quick I'll give you my faves. At the top of my list cam Five Loaves with the best BLT ever, Ali Baba with some incredible hummus and Al Di La with Tagliatelle pasta and Duck. None of the rest mentioned were bad by any means, but you know, these are my top faves.

I do have many restaurants on my list that I want to try sometime soon (i.e. Cypress, SNOB, Halls Chophouse, Tristan's, Peninsula Grill, Fish, Chai's, Sermet's, Sette, Vickery's, High Cotton, Magnolia's, Anson, Oak, Joseph's, Jim and Nick's, The Fat Hen, Mondo's, Carolina's, Virginia's on King, Circa 1886, Grill 225, Toast, Cru Cafe, Hank's Seafood, Liberty Tap Room, McCrady's, Mercato, Muse, Red Drum, Saffire, Southend Brewery, Wild Olive, etc. There are more, but my gosh this is already a long list!

I have started reading The Economist, which I love.

I'm also studying to take the GMAT this fall in hopes of starting classes towards receiving my Master's degree in the spring. Yikes! What a big commitment! And might I add-I HATE studying. This will not be easy.

And Gruyere, my Subaru Forester, will be departing me in the spring (that is, if he'll last that long) and this girl will be getting a new car. This also is a big decision because spending that much money at one time really gives me anxiety and heartburn. Not looking forward to writing that check.

I've also been taking Carolina Shag lessons with my boyfriend. We're having a blast and we're quite good. (Thanks to my Dad who apparently passed on the dancing genes.)

And I'm going to take scuba lessons with a girlfriend this fall. I'll be ready whenever the time comes that I need to go diving deep!

So some big things have been happening and some small things, but all at one time it adds up to a whole heck of a lot.