Back to School!

Finally! I have a few spare moments to myself! The boys went back to school this week and I am so excited. It's nice to begin a new routine, even though it's rather stressful to coordinate schedules for four people.
It has been a crazy summer around here, which is why my last post was sometime in June (!!!). I began a new job in a trendy downtown restaurant. I love it, but the shifts are much longer than my last job, so it is very tiring. We also adopted a little (now huge) puppy when our local shelter busted a puppy mill in town and took in over 100 animals! He is so sweet, but needs puppy finishing school for sure.
We've also had intense record breaking rainfall here in Upstate SC!  Go figure--our first summer in the South and we have a muddy jungle of a backyard. I should be thankful we don't live in a flood-prone section of town, but it has caused a lot of issues in my garden and weeds are out of control. And needless to say, mosquitos are also out of control. Yuck.
Speaking of "yuck," I celebrated my 30th birthday last month. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but I don't enjoy telling people "I'm thirty."  Yuck.  My husband and sister threw a great party (in the rain, of course), so that made it awesome, especially since I was bummed couldn't celebrate with my best friends from NJ.
We also had visits from my mom, mother-in-law, brother, and my godmother decided to move to SC from CA! All wonderful, but hectic!!
While Mom was visiting, hubby and I escaped for a mini-vacay to Atlanta. We had a blast going to two Phish shows and doing the touristy thing at the Georgia Aquarium and World of Coca Cola. It was my first time to ATL, and I can't wait to go back. Jay was also sweet enough to take me to CB2 before we headed home. I have been getting the catalog and shopping online for the past few years, but the actual store was so awesome!! I would move into the showroom if I could.
All that's missing from this summer is a beach road trip. Hopefully we'll squeeze at least an overnight in before the official end of the season. It's definitely been hard for this Jersey Shore girl to go all this time without sandy toes and the smell of salt water. Ahhhh I really do miss it!!!
And finally, after a successful month of going wheat/gluten free during June, I've decided to try to go without wheat for good. I went back to a regular diet in July and although it was nice to try new beers and indulge in some cookies, it is just not worth it to feel sick afterwards. I am always searching for new recipes and trying out some of my own creations, so feel free to share any tips or ideas!!

Thanks for reading!
-meghan :)