It is an exciting time to write a Thursday Rundown. We are approaching Sloan’s birthday weekend and my parents flew into town yesterday. Why hold this up any longer? Let’s get started…

Parents in Myrtle Beach – This year, my mom and dad selected Sloan’s birthday weekend to make their annual trip to Myrtle Beach. My parents arrived yesterday afternoon and are blown away by Sloan’s development just over the past few months. Saying their goal is to spend time with their granddaughter and give Sidney and I time to spend together, we are so thankful that “grandma and papa” are here.

My parents with Sloan tonight.

Cake Heaven – This past weekend, we ordered Sloan’s birthday cake. We went into Coccadotts Cake Shop and ordered something that will fit her party theme. Next week I will explain more and publish photos of the cake. But for now, the purpose of this Thursday Rundown topic is to discuss how much fun Sloan had inside the store. As she ran from one side of the counter to the other, leaving her fingerprints all over the glass, she kept saying “birthday cake! birthday cake!” She didn’t really like being told that she would have to be patient until next weekend but I think the wait will be worth it.

Sloan got pretty excited in Coccadotts on Sunday.

Social@Coastal – A project I had envisioned for a couple years came to fruition last week. Thanks to the direction of our social media specialist, Anthony Bowser, a spotlight on the student influencers at Coastal Carolina University made its debut on Friday. Called Social@Coastal: #Influencers, this campaign features the social media innovators on campus who have distinguished themselves in the digital world by building large audiences. Senior public health student Taylor Freeman, an Instagram model, led us off. She explained how she achieved influencer status and how CCU helped her along the way. By doing this campaign, it is our hope that we can provide our audience with excellent content on some of our most creative students while also developing relationships with our influencer population. You can view Taylor’s feature by going here.

Our Social@Coastal: Influencers campaign made its debut last Friday.

He’s Not Here – About 12 months ago, I started going to a different place to get my hair cut. Although I liked the previous place I frequented, it was hard to get an appointment. They say everything happens for a reason! I now go to He’s Not Here, a barbershop just for men. Not only are the cuts great, but you get the full treatment. I am talking a scalp massage, hot towel facial, and straight razor neck finish. I had definitely not experienced something like this in my life until I made the switch a year ago. If you want to treat yourself, try out He’s Not Here on Broadway Street in Myrtle Beach and ask for Chelsea!

He’s Not Here is located on Broadway St. in Myrtle Beach (photo courtesy of Yelp).

Dear Soon-To-Be First Time Dads… – On this date two years ago, I confessed in a blog post that I had a lot to learn about becoming a dad. Anxious and nervous when writing it, I found comfort as well. How so? I knew that my wife was a baby pro and extremely excited to teach me how to be a great parent. With Sid’s guidance and the love I felt immediately when Sloan was born, the transition from childless to daddy was smoother than what I thought. Ironically, when I wrote this post, I thought I had several weeks until my daughter would come. Not so. I published this post on the eve of when Sidney would go to the hospital and the doctor would make the decision to start the induction process. Sloan would be born less than 72 hours from the blog post going live.

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Well, I got parents and an almost 2-year-old girl to tend to. When I write next, there won’t be anything “almost” about it. Enjoy your St. Patrick’s Day. Don’t Blink.