We're Baaaaaack!!!!

Welcome to Charlotte!

The picture of the city was taken from the Mall's parking deck.

Darren and I are back from our over night trip to Charlotte, NC. We had a very nice time together. We spent our entire time shopping and eating!

Friday, we arrived in Charlotte around 1:30 pm. We headed directly to the Cheesecake Factory! YUMMMM!!! Afterwards, we shopped the Southpark Mall until 7 pm. We headed to our hotel to check in and then we went back out to eat dinner at the well-known Maggiano's Italian Restaurant.

On Saturday, we "slept in" (7 am) and ordered our free breakfast via room service. We were supposed to receive a free buffet, but on Friday night, after returning from dinner, Darren and I both stepped off the elevator and directly into a drunk person's vomit. So the hotel manager rewarded us with free room service ($50 value) and $20.00 off of our total bill. After we ate breakfast and loaded up the car, we headed to the Concord Mills Mall. We shopped from 10:30 am - 4:00 pm.

When we arrived home the kids squealed like crazy with excitement. Lilah even cried because she couldn't contain her enthusiasm. It was so sweet.

I figured you wouldn't want to see pictures of the malls we shopped at, the food we ate, and the hotel room, so we decided to capture a few hysterical or interesting photos of things we witnessed during our shopping experience.

Aside from the vomit, the worst part about our trip was we left our pillows at the hotel. Neither one of us got any sleep last night.

One thing I want to add, is a special thank you to those who genuinely texted, called, or wished Darren and I a safe and relaxing time together. It's amazing how my Christian friends truly rejoice with me during happy times. It still is hard to get used to. In the past, I have hid special times, out of fear, that envy would strike.

The first mall we shopped at was SOOOOO high end. Just to give you an idea, Tiffany jewelry and Louis Vuitton shops excited. I spotted a ferrari in valet parking, outside of the cheesecake factory. His license plate read, "any?now"

This man was not hired help! He walked into Brookstone, took off his jacket, laid on the tempurpedic bed, and fell asleep. He was even SNORING!!!!! The store manager had to kick him out after 1 hour. When they first woke him, he said, "Just 5 more minutes." People are so strange! Who can sleep peacefully on a mall mattress? GROSS!

While checking into our hotel, look who was standing next us.... Rick Flair. He was wasted and throwing his money all over the place. I had no clue who he was, but Darren knew exactly who he was. He is known as one of the best professional wrestlers in the world.

A riot broke out at the local Nike store over the latest and limited addition Nike Space sneakers. The nike store was closed on Friday, but on Saturday, when we went back to the mall for our tempurpedic pillows, there were three police officers allowing 2 people in at a time. Apparently, these shoes are going for $1,900.00 on ebay. Darren and I were tempted to buy a pair for $280 in hopes we could sell them on ebay for that amount, but we were afraid we be stuck with those ugly things.

If I had my cell phone out, I could have captured so much more. That mall definitely provided MANY comical moments to say the least.