Adventures in the South: Part One

A few weeks ago, Daniel came to visit and traveled with me to my half marathon in Jacksonville.

After a performance with the Augusta Symphony, we stopped in Savannah on the way down. I had never been to Savannah and was really excited to explore!

There was the obligatory stop at Waffle House. Yes, I ate all of that. Don't judge.

(I was following the advice to up my carb intake before the race very seriously...)

Our first stop in Savannah was pizza at Vinnie Van Go Go's, which was recommended to me by Lindsay of Paint Me a Picture. Thanks for the awesome suggestion Lindsay! As you can tell from the picture below of me stuffing my face, we really enjoyed it!

We then explored the City Market and meandered in and out of several candy shops, munching on free praline samples.

I kindly offered to taste test this vat of chocolate, but the shop owners turned me down.

On River Street, we strolled along, peeking into shops and admiring the huge riverboats.

We bought some chocolate in one candy shop and decided to make our own chocolate and beer pairing at the pub next door. It's not as weird as it sounds my friends - it was actually quite good!

Our pairing? Butterfinger bark with Black and Tans.



Cutest picture ever?

We took a ride on the ferry at sunset and watched a gigantic ship go by.

The night ended with fish and chips, Shepherd's pie, and drinks at an Irish pub with a gorgeous view of the river and live Irish music. It was so nice to relax, listen to music, and enjoy each other's company!

:)

Chocolate Milk. Oh, and Milwaukee.

I'm back from my trip to Milwaukee!

(And a trip this weekend to Augusta to play with the symphony.)

Daniel and I had a great weekend together exploring Milwaukee!

He picked me up from the airport, and during the car ride to his house he told me that there was a present waiting for me in the refrigerator. (Wait, what?)

Yes! Chocolate milk! He apparently read this post, and there was chocolate milk waiting for me.

He's a keeper, right?

That night we went downtown to dinner and the symphony, where we saw one of my favorite violinists, Itzhak Perlman, play! It was a beautiful concert!

Here we are all dressed up - and freezing - waiting for the bus.

On Friday, we drove down to Chicago! Lots of pictures to come!

The next day, we went on a tour of Lakefront Brewery. It was a fun time...

...and we met up with a friend of mine from Florida State who is now living in Milwaukee.

By the end of the tour, I was pretty giggly, and Daniel and I tried to take some photos. He and his family often make "The Face" in pictures, and I tried...and failed. It's hilarious!

On Sunday, we made some yummy breakfast of chocolate chip pancakes and some real bacon...

...and drove around Milwaukee for a bit looking at some huge houses, including one by Frank Lloyd Wright. (At one point, I wanted to be an architect, and I love Wright's architecture!)

We stopped for some coffee at Alterra, the coffee shop where Daniel works, and I ended up buying a cute mug and a t-shirt. (I have a thing for coffee mugs. And teacups. And t-shirts.) I also had my first taste of chai - so yummy!

There happened to be a yarn shop across the street...more on that later. Let's just say that if there had been more time to shop and more room in my suitcase, my bank account may have been depleted...

So, on Monday, it was time to say goodbye, but we got to hang out again this weekend in Augusta!

:)

Story Time.

Ok, it's story time with Emily.

Got a cup of coffee? Or tea? Ok, good.

Remember the guy in the picture from my last post?

Meet Daniel.

(He likes coffee just as much as I do! Probably more...I know!)

Here's how the story goes...

September 22: I left Spartanburg after a long day of teaching to drive to Augusta, Georgia to play with the Symphony Orchestra Augusta for the first time. I arrived in Augusta, checked into my hotel, grabbed dinner, went to rehearsal, trudged back to my hotel, and passed out...

...until 5:30 the next morning - when I woke up in a panic and realized that I hadn't brought black shoes. Why not just buy some, you say? Well, the entire orchestra had to be on a bus at 6:30 that morning to drive to Swainsboro, Georgia for two concerts. Gold sandals it was. Oops. I definitely fell asleep on the way over - in some embarrassing fashion as you can only do on a bus. (I later found out that Daniel was sitting rather near me. I hope I wasn't snoring. I'm not actually sure if I snore at all...) After our morning concert, we had an extremely long time to do absolutely nothing until our evening concert. So I made some new friends, right? Umm, this is where my inherently shy nature comes in, and I read a book...for about seven hours.

October 2: I get a random friend request on Facebook from this guy named Daniel. Um, have we ever met? I see that he's in the orchestra, so I add him. I later get a post on my wall: Hey there! Sorry to not see you in Augusta this week... Um, did we meet? I text my pianist, Julie: This random guy from Augusta added me on Facebook. Response: Ooooh, is he cute?? Response: Uh, yes... :)

So, Daniel and I started exchanging messages and chatting on Facebook, and we discovered that we have a lot in common. We had such long (fun!) conversations that I began to suspect that he was interested, but if you know me at all, you know that I can overanalyze just about anything. To death. What if he just wants to be friends?? And now I'm interested in him. Ahh! Panic.

Fast forward to December 2: I left Spartanburg after an extremely long last day of school to drive to Augusta to play in the December pops concert. Oh man, I was super nervous. As in, terrified. What was I going to say?? (Hi. Nice to finally meet you in person? Lame.) Again, panic.

After I survived my near heart attack on the drive down, the weekend (and I'm sure you could see this coming) ended up being amazing! We went out for coffee (ahem, lots of coffee), took a walk by the Savannah River, and just talked for hours. He admitted that he liked me, asked me if that was weird (um, no!), and we decided to date. (By the way, Daniel, if you actually read this, thank you. Had you left that conversation up to me, it probably would not have happened. I'm a chicken.)

The only downside? He lives in Milwaukee. Wisconsin. (Yes, he flies to Augusta to play in the orchestra.) So, I don't love the distance (who would?), but I definitely think he's worth it! :)

By the way, he's the principal timpanist. Here's a picture:

(Sorry, Daniel. I know I stole this.)

The end.

(Well, for now.)

:)

p.s. I would like to apologize to all my friends who bore the brunt of my freak outs about Daniel. I'm really sorry...I know that I'm crazy.