Only 8 Days Late

No, I'm not pregnant. I've meant to post about our weekend that happened over a week ago. We had a fantastic time. We've really enjoyed the extra time that a completed football season has led to. We miss watching games, but Duke is playing now, so Wes is okay. It's nice to get back in the habit of regular life where we have time to do everything we want to do.
Friday was payday for BOTH of us, so we felt like millionaires. We went to Outback for dinner. I could eat just a Blooming Onion for my meal. After dinner, we decided to go by the Fresh Market. I love going in there during the Christmas season. They had so many yummy candies and cakes. We resisted the temptation, though, and we didn't buy a single thing! We then went to see Fred Claus, which is actually a good movie. I wasn't very excited about seeing it, but I ended up loving it. It's very clean, pretty funny, and quite sweet.
On Saturday, I got out early to enjoy a non-crowded Greenridge. I stocked up at Barnes and Noble because teachers could get 20% off. Then I met my mom and my grandmother at a really non-crowded WalMart. Yes, it really exists! It was good to see my grandmother and to shop with them. Wes and I then prepared to go to my school Christmas party. First, we went to Monterrey with Michelle, Katie, and their boyfriend/husband. We thought we might prevent hunger in case there was no good food at the party. It's a good thing we did, because there really wasn't any good food there. We did have a good time at the party, though. There was even a TV with football games on so the girls got to talk without worrying about bored husbands!
Jane, me, Liza, and Michelle - some of my favorite work friends!

A Whole Year

Our first anniversary was on November 18. The first year of marriage has been wonderful, and it has flown by! We have been told by many married couples that we need to celebrate our anniversary together each year. We decided to go to Charleston. We love Charleston, and we always seem to run out of time to do everything that we want to do there. There is a cute bed and breakfast on Queen Street called The Elliott House that we have fallen in love with. We stayed there again, and we were not disappointed.
This is the entrance to The Elliott House.

We checked in and rested up for a bit in our pretty room. Then we went down to the courtyard for a wine and cheese reception. This courtyard is our favorite part of The Elliott House.
Wes took a picture of me in the courtyard from the balcony outside of our room.

We decided to walk around before going to dinner. We walked through the (empty) market and went to Waterfront Park. Surprisingly, there was no line for the swings.
We are so excited because we usually have to wait too long to get a swing!
We walked to Henry's, which is a bar that I really like. I forgot, though, that it was Sunday, so it was quite deserted in there. After a very sad drink, we went to Hank's. Hank's is our new favorite Charleston restaurant. Their crab cakes are so good that they do not need ketchup. They also have an amazing thing called fried mashed potatoes. Delicious!
After dinner, we decided to go on a ghost walk. I had been on one long ago, and it was pretty amusing. We went by or into some graveyards and learned many of the ghost stories that are told in Charleston.
The next morning, we ate breakfast in bed! We had Danish and tea, which Wes mixed perfectly (he is a great mixologist). After breakfast I actually fell back asleep. I never do that! We left our room at checkout time and went to the market. Then I dragged Wes all down King Street. I did not buy one thing. We were so excited about halfway down that it was time to eat lunch at Jestine's Kitchen. Yum! We walked up to the door only to find that they are closed on Mondays. So we kept walking until we found a nice barbecue place that actually had pulled chicken and really good cornbread. It was called Jim N Nick's Barbecue or something like that. We will be going back there. After lunch, we grabbed a cupcake at Cupcake and headed home. I am already planning our next trip back!