As Neil Sedaka sang:
Oo, I hear laughter in the rain
Walking hand in hand with the one I love
Oo, how I love the rainy days
And the happy way I feel inside
It’s been raining on and off for three days, but Eric and I haven’t let it ruin our good time. We’ve been enjoying Columbia, Irmo, and the surrounding areas, and making the best of the wet weather. The one thing I’m happy about is, even though it’s been raining, it’s been very warm – at least 65 degrees every day, most days about 70! So, the rain doesn’t bother me much.
We really slept in this morning, even though we didn’t go to bed very late last night. We watched SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE with John C. Reilly hosting, and turned off the TV around 1:00pm.
Eric woke me around 8:00am and asked if I wanted to go down to breakfast, but I wasn’t interested and we both fell back to sleep. The next thing I knew, housekeeping was knocking on the door and it was 10:45am. We told them we were still sleeping and they left.
We got up, took showers, got dressed and decided go out to do laundry, since there wasn’t much else to do. I also wanted to try to get a manicure, so my nails would look nice on New Year’s Eve.
We took all the dirty laundry we had accumulated all week and left the hotel. First, we ate lunch at a place called FATZ CAFE.
Fried Green Tomatoes. Doesn't this look delicious?
We started with Fried Green Tomatoes (Southern green tomatoes, hand breaded and fried on top of creamy stone-ground cheese grits with their special FATZ remoulade sauce). You know how Eric loves his grits (which is one reason he loves the south so much!). Well, this dish was fantastic. We loved it!
Shrimp and Grits--so good they could be "Magic Grits!"
Eric had MORE grits with lunch—Edisto Shrimp & Grits (their version of a lowcountry classic. Stone-ground cheese grits with Cajun jumbo and popcorn shrimp and chopped bacon drizzled with burgundy mushroom gravy. Garnished with parmesan cheese. He loved it and I thought it was delicious, too!
I had soup and salad – the Loaded Potato Soup (rich, hearty homemade potato soup topped with Monterey jack, cheddar and bacon, and a Caesar salad. Eric ate all the bacon pieces off the top, and the rest of the soup was creamy and fabulous!
We were both impressed with the quality of the food, since this is a chain with restaurants in North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Georgia.
After lunch we drove a few miles to the coin laundry and I did 2 loads. We drove around town for a half hour and then Eric waited in the car while I put the clothes in the dryer. I like to hang out while the clothes are drying, because I don’t let everything dry all the way.
After the laundry was done, I dropped Eric off at the hotel, so he could watch football, and I drove off to find a nail salon. The waitress at FATZ had given me a few leads, but we weren’t sure they would be open on Sunday.
I found a place called NAIL PRO on Harbison Boulevard and I was actually the only customer! I got a manicure and then, since I was in a shopping center, I decided to do a little shopping. I went into a clothing store, tried on a few things, but didn’t buy anything. Then, I saw a fabric store called HANCOCK FABRICS and decided it would be fun to take a look.
I was actually thinking about finding a fabric store in San Diego, because I wanted to make another frame with velvet for my other rhinestone pins. The only pins I have on the black velvet with the silver frame are my clear rhinestone pins (in silver metal). I decided to get a yard of chocolate brown crushed velour velvet and then I would find an ornate gold frame in San Diego to put all the multi-colored rhinestone pins. It should look really pretty! I figured it would be easy to pack a yard of fabric, and I should get it now, since it was very cheap ($7 per yard) and it was the exact color I wanted.
It was starting to get dark, so I drove back to the hotel. Eric was relaxing in bed watching football and I read more of my book. I am almost done. We left to go out for dinner at 6:30pm. We were going to drive to Columbia again, but it was still rainy and we figured it would be better to stay local.
First, we filled up with gas. We have to give the rental back with a full tank. Then, we decided to go to CARRABBA’S ITALIAN GRILL again. It was really good food and we enjoyed it last time. We thought this was the second time we were ever there, but when we were in Florida and Eric’s sister and family took us out to eat, that’s where they took us! I only figured that out tonight, when I was blogging, because I did a search for CARRABAS and it took me to the paragraph in my blog about our trip to Ft. Lauderdale!
Tonight, we got two delicious dishes. Eric had a salad, and broiled rainbow trout with a side of fettuccini Alfredo. I had a cup of minestrone and the manicotti. I haven’t had manicotti in years. Everything was delicious. Our waiter, Ryan, was very sweet, but a bit of a “hoverer.” It seemed like every time we looked up, he was standing there telling us our meals were on the way, or asking if we needed more drinks, or if everything tasted good.
Then, when the meal was done, it took him forever to bring us the check and then another 10 minutes to bring us the receipt to sign. It was 7:57pm when he finally brought it. We wanted to go across the street to an ice cream place to bring home dessert. I said, “If the ice cream place closes at 8:00pm, I’m going to kick Ryan’s ass.” Luckily, the ice cream shop was still open and Eric and I each got a scoop in a cup to go.
I got my usual – Chocolate and Peanut Butter. Eric got something called a White Turtle, which was vanilla ice cream with pecans and caramel. You’re never too full for ice cream!
There was more football on when we got back, so Eric watched TV and I read my book and worked on the computer.
We have to go to bed really early tonight, because we are leaving tomorrow and our flight is at 6:15am, so the alarm is set for 3:30am.
My mom called and I spoke to her for a while. Then, I packed as much as I could, so we would be ready in the morning.
I’m anxious to get home. I miss the apartment! I’m also ready to start working and I’m hoping there will be lots of temp jobs coming my way. I have a lot of crafting projects in mind, and I’m excited to find a frame to use with the brown velvet. There’s a lot to look forward to!