Wining and Dining.

Sorry, it’s been a while! I had quite an eventful weekend, starting on Thursday. Thursday was my friend Caroline’s dad’s birthday. One of his favorite places to visit is Greenville, so they were in town for the weekend. They are such a great family and I am so blessed to have the Bower family in my life. The fact that there are 3 sisters, I love being around them all since I am an only child!

Thursday night I went to the Bower’s condo and me, Caroline, Haley, and Mr. and Mrs. Bower walked downtown from there. We went to eat at the yummy Italian restaurant called Trattoria Giorgia. I had salmon pasta and it was wonderful. We then went to the Carolina Ale House to watch the Braves game. This was my first time going to Ale House and it is the total sports bar with like 15 TVs, which is right up my alley. It also has a retractable roof so it is almost like a rooftop bar, even more up my alley, we will just go ahead and say by the end of the weekend, I was already friends with one of the waitresses! 

On the way home from the Ale House, we saw a statue and decided to take a picture with it. Well also, on the statue's foot is a little mouse statue. I had heard about the mice statues around town but had not seen any yet. Apparently, there are all these little mice statues around town and you can go on a scavenger hunt to find them. I don’t know much about it, but I plan on investigating more and go on the mouse scavenger hunt and find them all!

Friday at work I got to close some orders by myself finally! I’m getting the hang of it all! Friday night I went to dinner with the Bowers again, but this time it was a HUGE crowd! All three Bower sisters, Mr. Bower’s friend Coach Joe, Caroline’s boyfriend Ben, 3 of Anna’s friends, Wake and his girlfriend…and I think that about covers it. This was the first time I had met Wake’s girlfriend Anna, even though we had been conversing because we are both new to Greenville. We ate at Rick Erwin’s. I had the best steak and cheesy mashed potatoes I think I’ve ever eaten.

After dinner, we walked back to the apartment to feed Haley’s dog Al the leftovers and then went back to the Ale House to catch the end of the Braves game. After all this wining and dining, I was worn out, so I went home to go to sleep because I knew Saturday was going to be filled with fun as well.

Thank you so much to the Bower family for taking me in this weekend and making me feel like I was part of their family! I loved getting to celebrate Mr. Bower’s birthday, as he might be one of the funniest people I know!!

Saturday morning I woke up early because my grandparents Ed and Randy were coming to town to take me to lunch on their way to Charlotte to stay with my cousin Jennifer and see Mary Ansleigh, their great grand daughter and go to a wedding shower for a friend’s grandson’s fiancé.

For lunch on Saturday we went to eat at Saffron’s a great little café that has great sandwiches. I then gave them a little tour around town, even though I’m not the greatest tour guide just yet. But they loved the area! I am so glad they got to come visit and see Greenville and my house! Love you Ed and Randy! 

Saturday afternoon, some of my best friends came to visit. Amber, Ginna, and Kelly all came up to stay the night. We had a blast! They all really hit it off with my roommate Sarah. To start the night, we went to Ginna’s aunt’s house for appetizers and wine. Ginna had wanted me to meet her aunt since she lives in Greenville too. She is so sweet!

For dinner, we ate at Trio, an Italian restaurant with the BEST flatbreads. I has pepperoni, mushroom, and sausage, YUMMY!! Then we went to Ale House, I guess I’m becoming a regular now. We met our friend Lawson. Then we went to Ford’s and then On the Roxx. Then it was time to head home.

Sunday we went to brunch and to walk around downtown. We ate at Mary’s at Falls Cottage that looks over Falls Park and has the prettiest little garden around it. I had maple walnut pumpkin bread French toast…mmmmm! It was like fall in my mouth! We walked over the bridge and around the park a little and then they all had to head home. I am so glad they were able to come! They all loved Greenville and said they want to move here, so I’m hoping and praying they will! 

Sunday afternoon, my roommate Sarah and I did a little shopping at Target and Old Navy. I got to explore another part of town that I hadn’t been to yet! We ate dinner on the front porch. We got sandwiches from Publix. We had our little black cat friend come visit; I’ve named him Louis. I then went to run and Sarah went to see her parents, and her mother sent me some flowers from her garden for my room!

And then Monday was just a typical Monday. The highlight my have been getting lost and having to make 2 u-turns on the way home from Chick-fil-a…or the run down some of the prettiest streets in Greenville.

However, I’m pretty sure this posts makes it seem like I am eating enough for a small army, but at least I am running to cancel it out, it works like that right?!

I still love Greenville! Sorry this post is so long!

Goofing off at work Thursday. The sticker was on my banana.

The train in Liberty crossing as I was leaving work!

 

Pretty sky.

Statue downtown, I can't remember who it is.

I found a mouse!

 

I'm going to have to get used to these colors. A little different than red and black with a bulldog or Georgia G!

Me and Caroline before dinner on Friday.

Flowers a guy on the street sold Ben to give to Caroline. Pretty sure he was a hobo and picked them out of someone's yard.

He had tied the flowers together with a plastic bag.

Before dinner at Rick Erwin's. Me and Ben creepin' in the back.

We found Ben! ha. Some guy leaving Ale House had this shirt on so we made Ben take a picture with him.

View from the parking deck on Saturday night.

 

Ginna, Amber, Kelly, Me, and Sarah (my roommate) downtown Saturday night.

Falls Park Sunday morning.

View from brunch on Sunday.

The cute logo of where we ate brunch.

On the suspension bridge of Falls Park. Kelly, Amber, Me, and Ginna.

Cool artwork in Falls Park.

Pretty sky leaving Publix Sunday afternoon.

Louis the little kitten that hangs out on our front porch sometimes.

Flowers from Sarah's mom!

Mural on the side of a building in Liberty.

xo,

Miranda

Siri is My New Best Friend.

Siri (my iPhone 4S) has become my best friend. She gets me to and from work everyday and anywhere I need to get in the city because I usually have no idea how to get home from wherever I may be. I am beginning to pick up street names and how to get around, but it's no quick and easy process. But then again, Greenville is much bigger than Gainesville, Dahlonega, or Clemson, which I mastered those cities pretty easy. You'll hear more about me getting lost later.

Yesterday at work was pretty eventful, still learning a lot. I got to close my first order completely! Hopefully I did it correctly. It was a very loud day at the office. We weren't quite sure what they were doing to the sidewalk in front of the office at first, but it is being replaced and also supposed to be getting some pretty nice street lights. We shall see.

When I got off work, I decided I would go straight downtown and drive around and try to figure out the city. Well, I ended up driving around in circles more like squares because I couldn't figure out where to park. I knew on Saturday night, we parked in a parking deck, so I finally found it and parked there. After all that I was relieved to be out of the car, so I treated myself to a Chocolate Monkey cupcake from Chocolate Moose...fat girl diaries.

After I ate my cupcake, I walked around a little bit, until it started storming and sprinkling. I've decided Greenville always has pop up storms. Luckily, I got back to the car before it started raining too hard. Getting out of the parking deck was quite an experience. We all know parking isn't my expertise. I found the exit easily, but there were 4 different gates to choose from to go out. One said "Cards Only," one said "Monthly Pass," one said "Daily/Monthly Pass," and one said "Daily Pass." Well, when I entered, it gave me a card, so I went through the "Cards Only" line, and found out that's not what it means.

There was nowhere to put my card, no attendant, nobody, nothing to help me out. I felt like such a loser. I looked around and could tell which line I was supposed to be in because I could see where I was supposed to insert my card. Luckily, no one else was behind me trying to get out. I had to back up and the whole time, I was praying, please don't let this speed hump be one of the ones that pops your tires when you go over it the wrong way. Thank God it wasn't. I finally got out of the parking deck, after paying $1.50 for less than an hour. I gotta find the free and easy parking in this city!

I then went home and cooked some pasta and had a little glass of red wine to reward myself for making it home after my miserable experience of feeling stupid and getting lost. I'm sure it will get better with time!

This morning, I got to go to the print shop at work! It's about a mile or so down the road. I forgot to take my phone in so I could take a picture for y'all to see, but it is HUGE and super neat! I got to see them printing the new Brewer's Lantern designs (I was a college rep for Brewer's). The new designs look great, I can't wait to get my hands on one! You should check out their website --> Click the following link Brewer's Lantern: An Outdoor Inspired T-Shirt Company. They have some great everyday shirts and some awesome new designs to look forward to. I think it's pretty cool that I worked with them in college and now work for the company that prints their shirts.

When I got in my car after work, my gas light came on...I knew I needed gas because I had mapped out the only BP near me where I could get my BP rewards points..it was about 8 miles away, so the whole time, I prayed that Jesus would let me get there without running out of gas, when I got there I thanked Him greatly because I made it!!

I decided to try and go HWY 93 because it was a shorter route, well, I won't ever do that again, it was a 2 lane with no passing zones, so of course, I got behind the slowest cars, and stopped at every traffic light. Eek! I then decided to go I-85 on the way home to see what it was like instead of the HWY 123 like normal, won't ever do that again. So many BIG trucks. So I'm going to stick to the routes I've been going. I-85 to work, and HWY 123 on the way home from work. However, best friend Siri got me home again! :)

Once I finally made it home, I went to run in Cleveland Park, needless to say, it might be my favorite new place! It is part of the Swamp Rabbit Trail. I've added running the entire Swamp Rabbit Trail to my bucket list before I move out of Greenville.

I am now currently sitting at 32° Yogurt Bar because I had to get wifi somewhere, and I decided this would be cheaper than Starbucks next door. It's also a nice cool down after running. I only spent $2.24, the guy said that was the cheapest he'd seen all day! I'm a pro at being cheap at a yogurt place, right Meredith?! ha.

Bobcat tearing up the sidewalk.

The man was sawing the street?

Looking down the street across from the office.

Waiting on the red light. Should've cropped. 

Always drop a pin, just in case!

I think I need to find a man who shops here.

Main street.

Chocolate Monkey cupcake from Chocolate Moose.

International restaurants.

Neat building.

The rain as I was leaving the parking deck.

Finally figured out where to pay.

Looking back at the exits. Where I picked the wrong one first.

Dinner, chicken pasta with marinara and parmesan cheese, and wine to drink.

I sat on the porch to eat and watch the rain/storm.

Then to end the day, I read my Bible before I went to sleep.

15.42 gallons, pretty sure my tank must hold exactly 16! At least I got $0.96 off per gallon!

Reedy Falls in Cleveland Park.

Airplane in the park?? It was a war memorial.

Pretty flowers for Mimi and Randy! :) My two sweet grandmothers.

Nike Freeeesss. You had to walk over this bridge instead of run, nice little breather.

I see the moon and the moon sees me.

My little ice frozen yogurt, only $2.24...but to get wifi to finish the blog for the day, I guess it was worth the price and the calories. Oh, Ginna, it tastes a lot like TCBY, so we will come back this weekend :)

Now I'm off to shower because I smell nasty and I'm sweaty after running in my new favorite place, Cleveland Park!

xo,

Miranda

One G'ville to the Next.

Well I am officially in Greenville now! So far I've loved it! I got all my stuff moved in on Saturday. My sweet parents came up and brought my furniture and other things I needed.

I'm living in a cute little house with my mom's friend's daughter (Sarah) and son (Colin). They are really awesome. We don't have wifi yet, so that's why I'm late posting, I wrote this today at lunch and posted before I left.

Right before we went out on Saturday night, it monsooned! The only rain jacket I had was my ΦΜ anorak! Sarah and I went out on Saturday night with Lawson, a friend that just moved back to Greenville. I hadn't seen him in two years, but it was great to do some catching up! We went to Ford's, a pretty cool restaurant that becomes a bar at night. We had a fun night out on the town! We even rode on a pedi-cab!

I went to run on Sunday. It ended up being about 3 miles because I just couldn't stop looking at the pretty houses! It rained on me, but oh well!

Sunday night, I went to church with a friend Rachael, who has recently moved up here too. She went to North Georgia too, but we didn't know each other until a week or two before we both moved. A mutual friend connected us because he knew we both were moving to Greenville.

I can't wait to explore downtown during the day! At night time, it is so pretty though. I didn't take pictures because it was raining, but next time I will!

So I think that y'all are up to date on my happenings in my new town now!

Mom and dad in the truck with the U-Haul! They sent this to me on their way up.

The living room.

The dining room.

My closet! It's little so I'll have to be super organized! :)

My shower caddy since we only have one bathroom, I didn't wanna leave all my stuff in the shower.

Desk and bed.

Desk that will also now be my vanity since we only have one bathroom!

Bed! I have some more pillows ordered, but they haven't come in yet!

Dresser and mirror. The mirror is going to be put over my desk, Colin said he'd do it this week. There was just an old screw it could temporarily hang on.

Looking in the door.

View from the front. We usually go in the back.

Augusta Road where I ran Sunday.

Pretty house on Augusta I ran by.

Love this little house down the street! Especially the South Carolina flag!

Looking out the door of the neat old church I went to Sunday!

Can't wait to see what else this town has to offer!

xo,

Miranda