As you might have gathered from the previous post … I was at the beach this past weekend.

The Boyfriend and I made a fairly impromptu trip down to Fernandina Beach/Amelia Island to see Dr. Phibes and Co. It was a pretty awesome weekend.

Something I Learned on the Drive:
– Follow your instinct and don’t get out of the car to beat up the old man with his grandson because he’s a thoughtless asshole and left his car at the pump when he went inside even though he was well aware that you were waiting behind him to get gas at that pump and that the gas station was super busy.

Some Things That We Did:
– I went to the beach Friday morning and watched the sunrise.
– We all went to an after hours event at the Jacksonville Zoo. It eventually rained us out.
– Saturday we kicked around Centre Street for lunch and shopping.
– We went walking on the beach and then had a fancy steak dinner.
– Sunday included wings for lunch and Mission Impossible: Fallout (which is most excellent).
– We drank way too many Gin & Tonics.

There is an Irish store on the island called Celtic Charm and I like to go in there every time I am down that way. I was looking for a new Guinness hat this year, but ended up with a Ireland/Harp Rugby Jersey. Not really sure why I bought it considering I am not a huge sports fan and don’t know a lot about rugby. I think it’s cool though, and hopefully I won’t look too dumb in it if I wear it out and about.

Seen out and about-ish in recent weeks …

Seen here at a Saturday Night Gathering at Kat’s a few weeks back. It was a fun evening until well meaning people brought up things (in an attempt to fix them) that I am still pretty hurt about. It all ended with me being depressed for the last 1/4 of the evening and crying myself to sleep when we got home. Such fun.

Seen here getting ready to grill at the Annual 4th of July Cookout. Mom’s grill crapped out as only one side would stay lit. It took a while to get the burgers/dogs cooked, but everyone was cool about it. Maybe they were just drunk enough not to care.

Seen here this past weekend at Dom and Clara’s wedding. I bought a new shirt and tie for the occasion. I really need to get some “slimmer” looking dress pants though. My pleated suit pants tend to look “big” on me. Anyhoo … this is a super cool group of people.

Seen here in my Serial Killer Passport Photo because of … no glasses and no smiling. This will be my first passport! The boyfriend has been bugging me to get one so we can take trips abroad. I have never been out of the country and the idea makes me a little nervous. An appointment to turn in my application is set up for tomorrow morning. Hopefully they won’t reject me as a security risk.

We did have fun this past weekend in everyone’s favorite tourist trap (i.e. Gatlinburg, TN).

The hotel we stayed in was pretty nice and had a cool indoor pool. Not so cool were the hoards of super unruly children in said pool. Oh, well. It would have been nice to have used the pool a little more as it was stupidly hot outside. We cooled off by spending way too much time (and money) in the fine distilleries that Gatlinburg has. We like Doc Collier the best with Sugarlands coming in a close second. Ole Smoky doesn’t even make the list.

G&S came over the mountain and we had lunch and hit Sugarlands and then Doc Collier.

Here we are before and after tasting that sweet, sweet moonshine at Sugarlands …

While we were there, I saw a guy wearing this shirt and now I need one pretty badly.

Yeah … so pretty much all we did was drink moonshine and eat. It was quite gluttonous.

And speaking of gluttony, tomorrow is the Annual 4th of July Cookout! There will be lots of snacks, beer, burgers, cocktails, hot dogs, and dessert consumed. Will I get drunk and pass out again … or will I manage some self-control? Only tomorrow can tell!

Say “Hello!” to iPhone X.

My trusty old iPhone 5S was becoming just that. Trusty … but old and super slow. It had gotten to the point where I had to disable most of my apps, remove all music files and keep photos to a minimum because the phone kept running out of storage (it was the 16GB model). Plus, it’s been kind of a stressful year so far and I needed something bright and shiny to distract me. I have only had the phone a day and, needless to say, I am really loving the gestures based navigation system. I am sure there are lots of other fun new features to discover. Viva, Apple!

Funny thing is, I was super skeptical about the iPhone when it was first announced. I guess I am eating crow on that one.

Meanwhile … is there a light at the end of tunnel on that freelance job that has been making me slam my head against the desk for the past two weeks? I sure do hope so!