Vacation in Charleston

Sohail and I just got back from a fun filled week in Charleston. We were busy with lots of wedding planning but also managed to get time with family and friends in.

Because of Sohail's hard work we were able to make it down to Charleston in time to go to an oyster roast in celebration of Sarah & Barney's engagement. It was a great way to kick off the weekend and Sohail's first oyster roast. Here he is about to devour one.

With my college friends.

The next morning we went downtown to watch my Dad and brother compete in the Bulldog challenge. This was at the start of the race - looking good.

About 1/2 way through the course they had to swim through the marsh with huge sandbags.

At the finish line. Not looking so hot anymore!

Saturday night was Deena's bachelorette. Here we are at dinner.

Then at a drag show in an oddly placed and surprisingly fun bar that was right between a Seven Eleven and a Little Ceaser's Pizza

Sarah tormenting the bachelorette!

Shirin et al dancing.

Sunday morning we regrouped for a baby shower for Shirin and Kyyam.

Duckies

Watching on as Shirin opened her gifts.

On Monday, after our friends returned to their jobs, we went to this beautiful coffee shop downtown that a couple from NY just opened.

We had several tastings and meetings with wedding vendors over the course of the week. Here's Maman ready to dig in a one of the tastings.

Sohail bought shoes and Max happily ripped up all the paper.

Sohail reading French kids books after aperitif.

On a walking tour of downtown.

Playing Anna and Josh in fusbal.

Our competition was nicer (looking) than us!

Friday was beautiful and Derek took us out on his new boat.

At Castle Pinkney - an abandoned castle in the middle of the Charleston Harbor that Derek and I both always wanted to explore and finally go to.

Sohail and Derek exploring amongst a lots of pelicans.

The three of us.

Fun with Derek

and Sohail!

Afterward we went to Ft. Sumter on which the first shots of the civil war were fired. It's also in the middle of the harbor but thanks to Derek, we didn't have to take the tour boat.

Derek's boat... the small one.

At Ft. Sumter.

On our way back.

Sohail took a turn driving. He's a natural.

On Saturday we took advantage of the nice weather and went on a long walk on Folly Beach.

Max went for a dip.

getting creative

ok, so i'm not the most creative person in the world but the combination wedding + free time has led me to tap into my inner martha. here are two of my latest creations:

wedding decorations made my yours truly

first attempt at making a bouquet. the beauty of this project is that as long as i'm not completely satisfied with the result, i'll have to keep buying flowers to practice until i get it right!

Guests!

This week has been full of visitors. Xavier, my Mom's cousin, was in town from Paris for an annual conference and it was great catching up with him. Then we had Anahita & Ali's visit from San Francisco. It was so nice catching up and having fun in DC.

Out for a night of dancing and catching up

Ali

With Anahita & Sohail

Learning Persian dance moves.

Walking through snowy DC

Sohail focused on his footing!

Catching up at Mienuu in Georgetown

The first time we went out the Californians were freezing so we came back to add some layers!

So great catching up in person for the first time in almost 2 years!

After dinner with Xavier

valentine's day skiing

our recent addiction to snow prompted us to go skiing for the day today in pennsylvania. it was probably my best experience skiing on the east coast (not that i'm such an expert...) because of all the snow that fell recently.

a farm on the way there

the view

today's fun

Another day off = another day to get stuff done and have fun in the snow.

First we rearranged the living room.

Then I met some friends for a game of "capture the scarf" but before it started I made my first snowman ever. He has a mustache.

Looks like I had some competition. These were about 8 and 9 feet tall!

Let the snowball throwing begin.

Here's a video of capture the scarf. It was a lot more intense than it looks here. Basically the objective is to capture the other team's scarf which is attached to a sign and to get it back to your base but if you get hit by a snowball at any point you have to tag the base before you can play again. It was exhausting - especially running through a big snowbank to get to the base - anda lot of fun.

Then we ran into a law school classmate of mine who built this igloo with some friends using a cake pan. It took them 3 hours!

It was really cool inside.

Then we went sledding.

Eric and Brad about to race.

Eric & Brad's race.

Eric back from a run down.

Meridian Hill Park. Sarita - remember this!?