Dunkin Donuts Iced Coffee

This morning Currier pointed to the iced coffee on the counter and said, "Mama". I'm actually honored to be associated with DD.

From Sicily to Charleston

Our Jeep made it. It arrived last week and after spending 10 days in customs we picked it up this morning at the port in Charleston. We have hope that our furniture will be arriving any day now... not that we have a house to put it in!

The House Hunt

How's the house hunt going? Well, it's still going and going and going. We've probably seen close to 100 homes now and there are so many more on the market to see. We've actually put offers on two houses that we absolutely loved and wouldn't you know someone offered more money on the same damn day! We're still optimistic that we'll find the perfect home for us for the perfect price.

A Delicious Glass of "Murder"

Currier cannot get the word "milk" to come out right. I continuously correct his strange mispronunciation and still, every morning when he wakes up he demands in his raspy morning voice, "Murder. Mama. Murder".

It's the creepiest thing I've ever heard come out of a child's mouth.

Date Night At Poogan's Porch

My Gym hosted a parent’s night out on Friday so for our first date in Charleston, Trent and I dined at Poogan’s Porch. Named after a dog that wandered from porch to porch begging for scraps, Poogan’s Porch is one of Charleston’s oldest and most famous restaurants. It’s known for its upscale Lowcountry cuisine but moreover it was voted “third haunted place in America”. Legend has it that the ghost of Zoe St. Amand, a woman who once lived in the house, appears in a long black dress and has been known to knock over pots and pans and slam doors. There have also been claims that the fur of Poogan, who is buried in the front yard, can be felt against bare legs as his ghost searches for scraps under the tables.

To my disappointment, I had no encounters with Zoe or Poogan. I did, however, slip and almost fall on my ass in the middle of the dining room. It was one of those slow motion cartoon things where I made eye contact with everyone in the restaurant while waving my arms in a fast circular motion. I pinched a freaking nerve in my lower back trying not to fall. I swear Zoe pushed me because she was jealous of my new strappy shoes from Target. How dare she make me look foolish! I'm going to keep going back there until she shows herself just so I can tell her off and since I have to keep going back there, I might as well eat my way through the menu. We had a wonderful dining experience. I got the Shrimp and Grits and Trent got the Pan Seared Jumbo Scallops. Both dishes were delicious but we agreed that the fist sized scallops sparkled with yumminess and will keep us coming back to this charming place again and again so watch your back Zoe!

ChErYlEEsKi Visits Charleston

"Marn" is my cousin Cheryl’s made up word for "dork", so when we picked Cheryl up at the airport last week for her 6 day Charleston adventure, Currier enthusiastically greeted her!

After a few beers at the apartment we hit the Sullivan's Island oyster roast. We’re now experienced enough to know that you don’t show up to these sort of things sober! Although Cheryl doesn’t like seafood, she does like firemen and since this was a fire department fundraiser it was the first stop on our week long adventure. Cheryl was forced to try at least one oyster by a friendly local. Thankfully she had two beers handy to wash it down. We had such a good time; we stayed until the kegs went dry and the last oyster was shucked.

The following morning we drove to the Isle of Palms to check out the incredible waterfront mansions on Ocean Boulevard. It was fun to collect the property information on the ones for sale—all of them priced over 5 million. I’m sure we looked like serious investors driving around in our Chevy Malibu rental drinking Dunkin Donuts Iced Coffees. I bet if we had that fancy Starbucks coffee, we would have been more believable. After choosing which houses we would buy if we ever won the lottery, we took advantage of the gorgeous weather and walked along the beach, dipped our toes in the freezing ocean and played in the sand.

On Monday, Cheryl, Currier and I went to John’s Island to see the Angel Oak tree. Over 1500 years old, the Angel Oak tree is the oldest living thing east of the Mississippi River. We determined that the second oldest is our Papa. He turns 90 on March 2nd.

On Tuesday, we went to one of America's oldest working, living plantations—Boone Hall Plantation. Unfortunately Currier wasn’t up to sitting still or being quiet so Cheryl took the house tour on her own while Currier and I walked around and took a nap in the car.

After touring the plantation, we headed across the street to Boone Hall Market because we misunderstood and thought this is where we could buy some of that delicious, fancy flavored wine—Boone’s Farm Strawberry Hill. It turned out to be a farmer’s market filled with fresh produce and other products produced on the plantation so we bought sandwiches for lunch instead.

Oprah made us do it... Later that evening, we went to Jestine’s Kitchen for some good ole Southern cooking—fried chicken, fried green tomatoes, meatloaf, fried okra, shrimp Creole, fried oyster po' boys, country cream corn, black-eyed peas, and blueberry cobbler. Many of the dishes on the menu are recipes of Jestine Mathews. Jestine, who lived for 112 years, was the housekeeper for the owner of the restaurant. Celebrities such as Oprah and Rachel Ray rave about the place and so do we!

After dinner, we went on the Charleston Ghost and Graveyard Walking Tour. The tour guide was thrilled to have Currier on the tour. He said that children and animals see the things that our brainwashed adult minds can’t. He told our group to keep an eye on the baby for his reactions to the ghosts. Unfortunately, I think Currier was a let down to our group because the graveyard night watchman was there with his two dogs and Currier kept chasing the dogs around and couldn’t be bothered by the ghosts. However, even with my brainwashed mind, I see a man on a horse on the walkway in the photo above. Do you see it?

The next day, we decided to work off some of the Southern cooking and walk across the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge, also known as the Cooper River Bridge. It is the bridge that connects Charleston to Mount Pleasant. The length of the bridge is 2.5 miles. We made it half way and then turned around because we are lazy it was so windy.

For Cheryl's final day, we went to The Spa at Charleston for a little pampering. I got a massage and a facial and Cheryl got a facial and a mani/pedi. We sipped tea, we relaxed and we giggled. It was the perfect way to end her visit. We miss you already Cheryl!

Seriously Cheryl,

If we’re going to go ahead with this cupcake reality show, we’re going to need a car like this one.

1-2-3-Wheeee!

My cousin Cheryl was just here visiting from Massachusetts. I'll post pictures from her six day adventure as soon as I have a few minutes to sit down and go through them all. Until then, here's a taste of how much Currier enjoyed having an air mattress in our living room.

Happy Valentine's Day

Hope your Valentine’s Day was as delicious as ours. XOXO

Our Temporary Home

This is where we live temporarily. It's a small one bedroom apartment and nothing in it belongs to us. All of our worldly goods are still on a ship somewhere on the Atlantic Ocean, but we're learning that we don't really need any of that stuff...

as long as we have this to come home to everyday.

Busted!

Perusing the Victoria's Secret catalog.

Hanging Out With Currier

Here's an interesting fact... If Currier and I were to visit a different park in Mount Pleasant every day, it would take us 182 years to visit them all. Not really, but there's a lot of parks here!