The Restoration Grand Reopening

Last night my husband and I attended the Grand Reopening of The Restoration hotel. They were formerly known as The Restoration on King but they've dropped the "on King" part.

We had never been to the hotel so had no idea what to expect. Let me just say, this place is freaking awesome.

We started off in the lobby where we were handed a glass of champagne and then directed to The Rise coffee bar.

We sampled a coffee/vodka mix which was delish. 

We then headed into The Library. 

 Another amazing space that I could live in.

 Inside the Amethyst Spa

 Sunset view from the rooftop pool

 Obsessed with these white cruisers outside The Rise.

 Inside the hotel's retail shop The Port Mercantile.

We also took a tour of their Signature Suite which was huge and checked out The Watch,which is a rooftop kitchen and bar. The view were absolutely amazing from all the balconies and windows. If you are in the area, I definitely recommend checking out the hotel!

Have a great weekend, y'all!

The QB {a Review}

I just finished The QB: The Making of Modern Quarterbacks by Bruce Feldman. I received the complimentary book to review through the Blogging for Books program. 

I have always been a fan of football. I went to high school in Texas where football is pretty much life and I have a family member who coaches the sport. This book grabbed my attention because it's about the "high-stakes private quarterback-coach business". The book mainly focuses on Trent Dilfer and his Elite 11 program, among others. It also follows the private QB coach of Johnny Manziel (George Whitfield), who has been all over the media lately for domestic violence accusations and his problems during the season with the Cleveland Browns. I've honestly never been a fan of Johnny Football despite ties to Texas A&M. I was super curious to see if getting an insider look into his training and his coach would make me like him just a little bit. He pops up throughout the book and, quite honestly, it was just more red flags after red flags.

But this books isn't all about Manziel. It's about so many other prospects who are now in the NFL or are playing NCAA football. I found myself stopping to Google different names to see if they were still playing (the book follow peoples in 2013-14 with some updates in 2015 in the afterword). I loved learning about all the different ways these kids are being trained, physically and mentally. It's amazing how a tweak to one little thing can change the way someone throws and  can, in turn, get them on the college football recruiting radar. I was also shocked at the number of kids whose parents start them with high dollar coaches when they are 8 or 9 years old.

I found this book incredibly informative and was always reading something aloud to my husband or texting him things from it... to which he responded, 'I want to read it when you're done...stop texting me stuff!!" Haha! Bruce Feldman did a really great job with this subject matter. I thought it flowed and captured this world of private quarterback-coaches and elite quarterbacks amazingly well.

 

InstaMeetUp

Last weekend I met up with professional and amateur photographers from around Charleston for a fun Instagram meet-up. We were treated to a walking tour around parts of the city that I'd never explored before so it was really cool. 

Here are some of the pics I snapped using my cellphone:

 

Have you ever been on an Instagram meet-up? Where?