I love a cutie pie and her name is...

Emmie!  This DC housewife took a road trip down to South Carolina to visit friends and eat a lot of good food.  On Monday I drove from DC to Columbia and had lunch with my friend Josh in Hartsville.  Monday night I had dinner with my great friends Libby and Mollie.  I had such a great time catching up with everyone.  I haven't seen Josh since I got married and it's been 3 months since I've seen Libby and Mollie (at Libby's wedding).  While in Columbia, I stayed with my friends Stacy and Paul and their cutie pie Emmie (and my favorite puppy Franklin).

My favorite puppy!

My favorite niece!

On Tuesday, Stacy and I hung out around the house with Emmie and then had dinner with my old college roommate Dana.  It was so great to catch up with Dana and she and I had a great time watching Emmie inhale cheerios while we were at Olive Garden.  I think Dana and I learned a lot about babies that evening (especially since there was a screaming kid next to us and Emmie was perfect).

Isn't she the cutest???

Emmie is so happy!

On Wednesday, Stacy and I got up early to take Emmie to the zoo before it got too hot.  We got to the zoo around 9am and saw a bunch of animals.  Emmie was really into anything that moved and loved the birds because they were loud and flapping around.

This is a Toucan we saw in the morning.

One of the kangaroos we got to see.

Stacy and Emmie at the Giraffe exhibit.

After the zoo we went to the stadium and I picked up the new Carolina Football posters from Jake.  After the stadium we headed home and I left to meet Ricky my old roommate for lunch.

Ricky enjoying his lunch.

After lunch I went back to Stacy's house and met up with her and Emmie for a relaxing afternoon.  Wednesday night we went to dinner with some friends from Stacy's church and had delicious sushi!

On Thursday we got up and took a long walk around the neighborhood and then relaxed at home before meeting our friend Brook for lunch.  Lunch at Grouchos was, as always, delicious!  Thursday night Stacy made pork chops and then I got in the pool with Emmie.

                                        

 Emmie and Franklin at the pool.

After the pool we went for a walk and said goodbye to Stacy's friends down the street (they are moving on Sunday).  After we got back we put Emmie down to sleep and hung out with Paul until it was time to sleep.

I woke up early on Friday morning and drove back to DC.  Six hours into my drive, the traffic stopped on

I-95 and I got off the highway and onto Highway 1.  It took me an extra 3 hours to get home.  But... when I got home I found a surprise left by my husband...

Ben surprised me with flowers, chocolate, and champagne!