Well friends, this is my first Thursday since turning a year older. However, I am not going to let my senior status get in the way of my weekly tradition of running down random topics. So since I am not getting any younger, how about we get right to this Thursday’s wild menu?

Birthday Recap – Yesterday I celebrated my 28th birthday. After a nice day at work where my co-workers recognized my day of birth, I hustled home to get the evening festivities started. Sidney and I went to an Italian restaurant called Ciao for dinner. Just a little hole-in-the-wall joint on Kings Highway that requires you to make reservations, we arrived for our birthday date at 7:30 p.m. I had chicken limone while Sidney had fettuccine alfredo. We then went back to her place and I opened up my gifts. Next I Skyped with my family as they sang “Happy Birthday” to me right before I blew out the candles on my cake. Ah yes, my cake…Sidney baked what she called a “Candy Bar Cake.” Chocolate with a white frosting mixed with Hershey bars, I had two big slices. I had a very pleasant birthday.

Sidney and I with the Candy Bar Birthday Cake she made me.

Licensed – I am now an official licensed driver of the state of South Carolina! After jumping through some hoops and making three different trips to the DMV, I was finally presented with my South Carolina license plate on Monday. Notice how I just said “plate.” In this state you are only required to have a plate in the back, thus allowing you to have pretty much anything you want in the front. After flirting with the idea of having a custom front plate displaying my social media handle and my blog address, I decided to support my school instead and I purchased a cool looking Coastal Carolina University plate. Although a great conversation starter with total strangers who had never seen Washington state license plates before, I finally removed them on Monday night.

I am now a licensed driver of South Carolina.

Weekend Plans – I am ecstatic to return to Clemson this weekend. Just like last Saturday I will be watching a big football game in Memorial Stadium. However, things will be just a tad different. Instead of rocking the Clemson orange again, I will be wearing red as I cheer on the Louisville Cardinals. I have the honor of watching the game with my good friend Kenny Dow. It just so happens that his uncle is Bobby Petrino, the head football coach of Louisville. Kenny is coming to Clemson all the way from Seattle to watch this game! When we meet on Saturday it will be the first time that I have seen someone I actually know since before I made the move to Myrtle Beach. After almost six months living here in the South, it will be nice to see the face of someone familiar.

I purchased this shirt online to wear on Saturday.

Candy Corn M&Ms – On Sunday morning, Sidney and I ate at a Cracker Barrel in Simpsonville, South Carolina. Because of my sweet tooth, I had to purchase a new kind of M&M’s that I spotted in the restaurant’s store. Although I have never liked candy corn, it didn’t stop me from buying a bag of Candy Corn M&M’s. I am happy to report that the candies tasted nothing like candy corn. Instead, it tasted exactly like white chocolate. Although not bad, I still prefer peanut or peanut butter M&M’s.

The package of Candy Corn M&M’s that I purchased.

Niece Update – Mikayla is now five weeks old. After work today I got to Skype her and my sister. The whole time she made cute noises as she laid on her back and moved her little arms all around. Although her grandma reported that she wasn’t very cooperative when she went to get her month old photos taken this past Saturday, she acted like a little angel during our Skype session. Here are some of the most recent images of Mikayla.

Mikayla gets cuter and cuter each week.

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Age is just a number, right? Got to keep telling myself that. I am excited for my first major adventure as a 28-year old this Saturday. Thanks for all the birthday wishes and have a great weekend! Don’t Blink.