Merlin's Beard

Allow me to set the scene. I have been dating Randall for about 4 months. When I met him in July, he had a full beard. I thought he was cute, but it did take me a couple times meeting him to get used to the beard. Once I was used to the beard, I was fine with it. I did debate dating him at first over it, because I really could not tell if I could get used to it. How shallow is that??

Anyway, for the first 6-8 weeks of our relationship, he was "Bearded Randall" to me as well as all my friends, because quite honestly, does anyone under the age of 50 really need that much facial hair? In truth, according to him, that is the reason he has the beard, to age himself. Randall turned 29 on December 7. He is a Project Manager for a large national contractor. Most people his age are not trusted with the amount of work or responsibility that he has. While this says a lot about him, it has created problems in the school of hard knocks, as like many things, the construction industry is all about experience and people often have a hard time taking orders from someone with less gray in their hair, thus the beard. Apparently Randall is able to channel Chuck Norris via his beard and can make heads roll via telepathy.


So back to my story. After a month or so of dating Randall, I saw a picture of him in the summer time sans beard. I gasped. He was so cute! I did not understand why I should be dating a lumberjack who wanted to look 40 years old when I could have a tan hottie who looks 29! So the subtal (ahem obvious) hint dropping began. SHAVE YOUR F-ING BEARD!


Around month 2 of our relationship Randall disappeared one night while I was cooking dinner and emerged 15 minutes later clean-shaven. It was a shock. His face had not seen the sun in 8 months and yet again I had to adjust. Well one game of golf fixed that and I have been enjoying a clean-shaved Randall ever since. YAY!

Cute right?? (Please ignore my Blue Steel)

In the mean time, every single person who has known Randall for more than 5 minutes has a comment on the presence (or non-presence) of his facial hair. I am almost as tired of hearing about it as I am the recession and Tiger Woods. It is seriously unbelievable how many people have an opinion and it is especially amazing how rude some people can be. For example, one older "friend" told him that without a beard he looks like a fat-faced twelve-year old. I mean seriously??? How mean is that? Who says that to a person, especially when he looks totally HOT without it?? If someone got a bad hair cut, you wouldn't tell them, "WOW you really look fat!" or "Grow it back now!" Here's a thought: he looks younger than you because he IS younger than you!

Well he is now saying he wants to grow it back, sigh, but I am not dating him for his facial hair so I don't really care. I just thought the world need to know my opinion on my boyfriend's beard.

Hicks Wedding!!

This past weekend JD and I made the 7-hour trek to Edenton, North Carolina to see my good friends Paul and Betsy tie the knot! Other than the fact that the drive sucked, the wedding was beautiful! The ceremony especially was very traditional, as I would expect nothing less from these two conservative Southern Baptists. Betsy was dazzeling in her ivory gown and Paul was dapper in his tux, complete with ascot.

First dance as husband and wife! (Yes those are tails on his jacket!)

I was extremely impressed with reception, most specifically the food. We had lamb chops, beef tenderloin cooked to a perfect medium, shrimp cocktail, oysters on the half shell, stuffed mushrooms, about ten kinds of cheese, and let's not forget about the cake!! I was stuffed (the fact that they had an open bar and I was bourbon-gingering my face off didn't help either)!!

What really made the reception though, had to be the band. I wish I knew who they were, but they rocked the house. Earth, Wind, and Fire, Bon Jovi, The Temptations, Loius Armstrong, you name it they played it! My only regret and complaint is that I did not get to dance with the groom, as over the fast few years, we usually are known for our moves. I suppose he will have to make it up to me at my wedding, sometime in the next 50 years.

Pretty much par for the course with Paul.

Pretty much par for the course for Jon.

Paul and Betsy both seemed so happy and excited. It was great to share their special day with them. They are on their honeymoon for the next week and then will be residing in Mt. Pleasant, SC, which I am excited about as it is always nice to have friends at the beach. I am sure I will be a frequent visitor.

Oh, and I also got Randall out on the dance floor for a solid hour. Success!

Frank the Tank

As many of you know, I have an almost 11 month old bulldog. He is the cutest thing. But just as cute as he is, he is also a terror and handful to put it lightly. Some classic Frank stories include:

• The time he got mad for being shut in the bedroom, ate an entire bottle of red NyQuil (except for the drops, ahem, splashes, he got on the carpet...under the bed...in JD's bedroom...)
• The time he ate a rubber flip flop and pooped it out for two days.
• The time he ate a hole in my couch (luckily not a pillow, just the mat beneath. I have a nice view of the springs though! Super interesting).
• The time a 1.5 pound mini-Chihauhua attacked him and he did not retaliate until he had to go into kill mode, nearly gave Ashley's (see friend who just got married) grandmother a heart attack. I had to pull Frank away by his harness, even though that little bastard had it coming!!
• The time I came in from a party and thought my friends had unknowingly let him out of the house. Rational reaction (at 1 am after pitchers of margaritas): Burst into tears, wake up all neighbors, and go on a man (or should I say dog) hunt for ten minutes only to have my DI partner in crime Paul find him under the guest bed. Dog found and day saved!
• The 100s of accidents he had in my Charleston condo aka present home of Crazy Bia Bia Landlady Joan (Good boy!)
• The dozens of times a day he passes gas. I have seriously been woken up by the smell. I didn't know if was possible to be roused by pure smell, but apparently it is.
• And let's not forget, the explosive diarrhea he had IN HIS CRATE while I was at work yesterday...poor guy. I don't know who had the shittier day, pun intended.

Baby Frank!

Frankie and his best buddy Jack. They are gay lovers (note Frank is whining about his collar and Jack is doing a can can dance) and it pains them to be separated.

Frank ready to get out of the car. Poor guy spent his first few months of life back and forth to Greenville with me. He is quite the car rider now though (minus the tooting).

Ashley's Wedding!

This weekend my dear friend Ashley got "hitched" as she would say (she is from Kernersville so we'll cut her a break). She is my first friend still in my life to tie the know and it was very special for me to be a part of the celebration. I had the honor of singing a song "Feels Like Home" in front of 200+ guests during the ceremony. It was a little stressful, as I have not sang like that in front of a crowd, well ever. I remembered all the words and was able to hold in my tears (I am a sap at these things) so all in all, I would consider it a success.

After the ceremony it was on to the party! They only had wine and beer, but luckily my boyfriend and I, we'll call him JD, are also rednecks so we had a good ten ounces of Jack Daniels to get us through the first few hours of the party. It was a massive Kernersville reunion, one I am not sure I was ready for, but it turned out to be great fun. I made sure to get Ashley's grandmother out for a spin on the dance floor.

I also caught the bouquet!! I have been teasing JD about it ever since. He's a good sport about it though so I guess he must like me :).

Every other wedding I have been to in the past few years has weirded me out. Marriage was just something that was so far off for me, it was hard to relate. I think often times, especially in the south, people get married because it is just what is expected. That line "until we are parted by death" just really hits me. Is anyone ever really ready to say that?? I know I am entering the years of engagements and weddings for my friends, and thankfully I now feel as though I am mature enough to be there. What a difference a year or two can make.

Well I think Ashley is really happy and I am really happy for her. There are so many bad things and people in this world, it was great to be at such a joyous event for a change.

My First Post!!

Helllllloooo World! Well Kylee suggested that I start a blog, and since I can only look at the facebook for so long, I decided to give it a shot!

Let's start at the begining here. Topic one: the name of my blog. The second "B" in "BYOB" can stand for many things. Beverage, Beer, Bag of Crazy, etc. If you were under the impression that this was going to be a religious platform, you had better start praying because we are about to do some sinnin'!

I am a fairly new resident to the state of South Carolina, I am orginally from North Carolina, not that far away right? Wrong! We may share a border, but there is one vast difference; I believe that South Carolina stopped advancing with society in 1959. To be more specific, South Carolina is at a stand-still as it relates to business, religion, civil rights, technology, and pretty much anything else that one would consider a social norm. I am very excited to share my present (or should I say past??) life experiences with you as I grow in my career and personal life as a South Carolinian.