I went to Charleston. And I kicked butt today.

Prepare for a picture OVERLOAD.

This past weekend my friend Amy and I headed south to Charleston. 

Charleston is a great city. I like it a lot.

Views from our hotel window

FIRST we stopped at Starbucks and I got the salted caramel hot chocolate. Friends I have been waiting for the right time to have my first of the season and Saturday was the day. Unfortunately...the drink was really disappointing. I had the best salted caramel hot chocolate in Tucson and that's my standard. Then again I also ordered it skinny so maybe that's why? It was lacking. Oh well. Dunkin' Donuts is better. Or Ghiradelli. Or Godiva, though I haven't tried Godiva hot chocolate yet, but I hear it's better than Ghiradelli. Whaaaat? I don't know if that's even possible! I shall find out.

So we arrived Saturday late morning and the first store we pop in to, mind you we've only been in Charleston for about 10 minutes, is Rack Room and conveniently they are having a sale. Now I'm on a blood thirsty hunt for the perfect pair of brown boots. I didn't find any BUT I did see, out of the corner of my peepers while I was looking at boots, a pair of charcoal Converse kicks. 

Well.

 

I bought 'em! And so did Amy. Yes we have matching Converse shoes. I love them. These are my first pair of Converse. I had an extra spring in my step while cruising the streets. 

I told Amy we had to stop at Belgian Gelato. I serendipitously stumbled upon this delightful shop the last time I was in Charleston and now it's a must-go-to every time I am there. I mean how do you say no to a Belgian chocolate lined waffle cone with chocolate hazelnut and white chocolate praline gelato? Answer: YOU DON'T. It's reeeeally, reaaaaalllllly, really good.  

 

 Sitting on a porch swing on the pier, eating gelato, in my new Converse, in Charleston. Bliss.

Then we played near the fountain.

 

And walked down Rainbow Row. BEAUTIFUL!

And played in an alley. This alley even has a legit street sign.

Pretending like we live in one of the cute apartments off of the alley.

Ok. We saw these everywhere. I have no idea what it's a picture of or what it's for or what it's supposed to represent. If you know, PLEASE TELL ME!!! My curiosity is killing me.

And then we spent lots of time walking up and down King Street. We stopped in a 2-story (!!!!) Starbucks for water and a bathroom break and a rest. We people watched from the second story and planned all of the shops we were going to hit up. So cool! 

One of the shops was Cupcake for...cupcakes! We got red velvet and salted caramel. To be honest, they were good but not great and definitely not worth $3 a pop. I made salted caramel cupcakes a little bit ago and I thought the flavor of mine was better. I'm not being a snob, I'm just sayin'...disappointing. 

Our purchases from the day. I think maybe we have similar taste?!? 

The next morning we slept in (*heavenly music*) and then headed out for brunch. We found this AH-dorable grocery/cafe called...Queen Street Grocery and Cafe! They have lots and lots of crepes so that's what we got! VERY, VERY good. If I lived in Charleston, I would eat my way through their menu because it looks scrumptious.  

While we were eating we heard someone at the next table say something about a pumpkin pie popsicle. Naturally we perked up and agreed after we finished to go back inside and search for the popsicles. SUCCESS! They had some fantastic flavors so we settled on blood orange basil (with basil leaves in it!) and pumpkin pie (with graham crackers in it!). They were incredible. We will be stopping by here on our next trip. I want to try the chocolate salted caramel. 

On our way home we stopped at Trader Joe's, because the one right outside of Charleston is the closest one to us (such a tragedy). I bought Scotty some pumpkin treats so he can enjoy the fall season with me! Then I bought the tea (which I'm sipping on right now-yum!) and those chocolate cat cookies because I love them and my mom always buys them and hides them in the freezer. Like that'll stop me.

It was a fantastic weekend! We're planning on going back in December to see what it's like around Christmas time and we'll bring our beach cruisers now that we have a pretty good sense of the town. I CANNOT wait!!!

So today.

I kicked butt. Not only did I finish my patients in a very decent time but....I taught Dr. W something he didn't know!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The man knows practically everything but, not about falsely elevated albumin and prealbumin! SHAZAM!!! I taught a doctor something new. Wahoooo!! I was a little intimidated while I was explaining it to him. In fact, I was so scared that I was wrong or had explained it incorrectly that I called the other dietitians afterward just to verify. Verified. WHABAM. Whew. 

Next.

Half marathon in t-minus 5 days. I'm nervous but at the same time, not really. I won't get nervous probably until the day of the race. Even then, I'm trying to approach this mentally as just another long run. That helps. Plus, it's my first half so I don't have a time that I'm trying to beat. I just want to finish. I ran my second to last run today of three miles.

                         

It was getting dark so I was hauling and I felt sluggish but apparently not. COOL. I will not be running that fast during the half, of that I can assure you, but it certainly makes me feel better! I was SO sore from walking all over Charleston this weekend. My hamstrings were to tight that you could have played a melody on them. Seriously. And my calves felt swollen. But today's run was confidence boosting and relieving. One more run to go! 

And this is what Scotty looks like when I scratch his belly every night before bedtime. Love that little smile!