Hayes 301 is coming to Charleston!

/ Claire / 1 Comment

Tomorrow, something great and wonderful and glorious is happening.

Three of my best friends and college roommates are coming to Charleston for the first time. We will explore, gallivant, sunbathe, feast, and most of all, revel in friendship and sunshine. (Ok, that last bit might be a little much. But I’m excited!)

Hayes 301 in its heyday

I am thrilled to welcome them with open arms to my new home, and introduce them to Jamey for the first time. It is utterly preposterous that they have all yet to meet, so of course if they don’t like him then I’m calling everything off. (Kidding, honeybunch!) Continue reading →

A Letter to the Charleston Bureau of Tourism – a guest post by Sadie

/ Claire / 3 Comments

Last week, I invited Sadie to do a guest post for us. She has written such a lovely piece that I might have to make this a regular weekly occurrence, since I can’t get over how much fun this feature is. It’s fun to spice things up and read the blog from a different perspective.

If you haven’t had the privilege of meeting Sadie yet, she’s one of my closest college friends and a proud gal from North Carolina. We were so happy to have her in town for the Bridge Run – I can’t wait to host her down here again. (All photos in the post following were taken by the sassy Southerner herself.) I used to be an avid reader of her own blog (which she sadly hasn’t updated since she last reported from Germany), so maybe after this post here we can rally to encourage the lady to return to the written word (in blog form, at least).

Two days and 5 hours ago, I was walking the streets of Charleston—a classically Southern town (for more reasons than one), and the perfect place to spend the weekend. Charleston is a great place to be for many reasons…most of them being food. Also included is the old stones lining the streets that seem to cry out in southern accents, “Hey Ya’ll, wanna hear a story?” I’ve toured through the town, gotten sauced on the pier, and jaunted over that big old bridge. In the past, Charleston has been a wonderful respite from the 4 lanes of traffic that I face every day. But it wasn’t until I had the chance to walk down a very specific set of stones on Queen Street and pass time with two friendly southerners that I really got a feel for the truly blissful nature of life in this Southern mecca. Continue reading →

Grocery Store Escapades

/ Claire / 6 Comments

I’ve always enjoyed a grocery store trip, especially when I’m not quite sure what I’m getting but have a general idea of what I need. It’s the part of what I want that always is the most fun, along with the hunt of what I can find.

Grocery store round-up: yeah, I don't know how this happened, either.

Last summer, Jamey and I started venturing to grocery stores together when I made my way out to Charleston permanently. It was several months before we ever cooked our first meal, and even then it was probably some lame salmon attempt on my part. I like to think that our food knowledge and experience has drastically improved since then. Continue reading →

Bridge Run = Success!

/ Claire / 11 Comments

Well, guess what happened: despite all my initial fears, we ran the whole stinking thing.

I am in as much disbelief as you are, I am sure. But with Coach Sadie leading the way, Anne and I were both able to cross that Bridge and run the majority of the 6.2 miles – a personal accomplishment for both Anne and myself.

I don’t think I could have done it without Sadie. That crazy girl pushed us up the hill with her words of encouragement, down the bridge, and through to the finish line. (Even though we lost her while we tried to get bagels and fruit, we found her smiling halfway across Marion Square 20 minutes later. Sorry, Sadie!)

I now have no excuses and can’t wait to get going with the rest of my running career. This counts as a start, correct?

Here are a few pictures capturing our experience (starting with the 5:30 a.m. wake-up in our pre-race pageantry at my house):

Sadie and me at 5:30 a.m., pre-race and ready to roll

Continue reading →