SCAD Move-In Weekend/Year 2

 

 Year 2 at SCAD is now underway. Different Building. Different floor. Different room. Different view. Different suite mates (better suite mates!). And this suite has two bathrooms which is awesome.

This was Briana moving in last year...

https://waitingforbriana.blogspot.com/2024/10/scad-move-in-day-and-some-scad-updates.html

 

It was nice because this year, we knew the drill. Dropping off Bri's things went a bit differently, but the gist of it was the same.

 

Here we are all loaded up and ready to leave for school (Doug drove my car and Bri drove hers)...

 

We arrived...

 

The school courtyard...

We were told to pull into a parking garage to unload Bri's things. The SCAD student staff helped us once again unload into roller bins. Since we had two cars and we were told we needed to park in a completely different parking garage further away (ugh), Doug hopped in Bri's car, I hopped in mine and Bri went to her dorm room with the roller bins. It took a little bit of time for Doug and I to find parking and then walk all the way to Bri's dorm.

 

Some of the sites of the building Bri is living in...

 

When we arrived at Bri's room, we finally met Bri's friend/suite mate A (I will just use first initials for now) and her service doggie...

When Briana arrived in her room (before Doug and I arrived), A and M (Bri's roommate) decorated Bri's desk for her birthday because they missed it in August. There were balloons, streamers and gifts. M wasn't even moving in until the next day, but she had come the day earlier to help decorate. I'm telling you - these are the sweetest girls. (Side note - Doug and I met M last year during freshman orientation)...

Bri was overwhelmed by the generosity.

It took a while, but we got everything all set up...

 

We were tired and hungry and I asked Bri if she wanted to go out to eat some lunch with me and Doug before we headed home. She was all for it. 

We decided to try a restaurant nearby called "Nan," which serves Thai food. We had been wanting to try this place forever.

It was phenomenal. Appetizers, meals - delish. Expensive, but phenomenal...

 

Tired but happy...

And yes, it's weird, but I took a picture of the bathroom. It was so pretty!

 

 We dropped Bri off after lunch, and that evening, the school showed the movie "The Wild Robot" - free popcorn,  candy and drinks!

 

 We provided a TV for the suite, but that day of move-in, we weren't able to get it set up. So, Doug and I drove back the next morning to do that and I also brought Bri a couple more items that she requested. We got there before Bri's roommate/friend M arrived, did what we needed to do and left so her family could move her in easily.

My girl...

Bri does have a third suite mate, but B does not know her as well. K kind of keeps to herself but is nice. She lived with A and M last year. Bri is now the new fourth person!

 

B's roommate came not long after Doug and I left and when M got settled, she and Bri went to the Panda Festival across the street...

 

Briana texted me on Day 3 and said she had a full, super fun day with her friends and sent a couple pics...

I am happy and relieved that B has settled in so nicely so quickly. I hope she has the most amazing year!

So now it is just me and Doug (and Mei Mei) for the next couple of months.

I'll update on B every so often - she does like to send me pics which is very nice.

August Recap (And Very Beginning Of Sept Before School)

Besides Briana's birthday celebrations and our trip to Florida in August, we did do some other things that are worth mentioning.

Before leaving for Florida, my wonderful childhood friend Debra sent me a gift to cheer me up since I had/have been struggling so much lately. She wrote me the sweetest note and it put a smile on my face and a tear in my eye...

Mei Mei was a very big fan!

After we got back from our trip, it was full steam ahead in regular life. I went to doctor appointments, therapy appointments, dentist appointment, hair appointments (for me and Bri) and I had my mammogram done. I also met up for a long coffee date with my friend Kathy who I hadn't seen in many months and we need some big time catch up.

 

Doug, Bri and I were missing the beautiful sunrises of our vacation each morning, but Doug did manage to catch a shot of a beautiful sunset one evening at home...

Bri and I had a couple of ladies days out in August.

We had been wanting to try out a new soda fountain that we had heard about, and we are so glad we did. It was so delicious and we had the whole place to ourselves around lunchtime (the benefit of the kids being back to school)...

The food was so amazing. The sandwiches were fresh and delish. Bri had a thick, creamy shake and I had a fountain soda. And the deviled eggs - amazing! It is a small place - seating is only barstools, so going at an off time was the perfect thing to do. And then we went shopping at Hobby Lobby - heh.

Another day, Bri got her hair cut and highlighted (caramel color). I tagged along so we could run a couple of errands and have some lunch out when she was done...

She and I ate at Burger 21 and it was so yummy...

While Bri and I were having some girl time, Doug had to take a short trip to Vegas for a sales kickoff for the new company he is working for. He stayed at the Fountainbleau Hotel and it was gorgeous. View from his room...

 

The lobby...

 

One of the evening events...

When Doug was in town with us, the three of us checked out a couple of restaurants (yes, this is becoming very much a foodie post).

We took Briana to the Anchor Bar for Buffalo style food/chicken (because she had never been)...

We also tried out a new Mongolian stir fry and sushi restaurant that allows customers to select from a raw meat/veggie bar on their own. Customers fill their bowls with veggies and meats - add in rice and/or noodles and choose sauces - and the chefs fry it up and bring it to the table. So delicious. We got some appetizers and sushi, but we agreed we really didn't need them - the bowls were filling enough!

This is a pic I took off the internet, but this what the raw bar looks like...

 

And one other evening, Doug and I went to eat some sushi at another Asian restaurant (yes, we love Asian food)...

Eventually, we arrived at the last week of summer break before Bri headed back to SCAD (which was actually the first week of September).

Bri had a few requests.

She really wanted me to watch KPop Demon Hunters (because she loves it) and I obliged. It was really entertaining and the music was really good! These are the times I love having a home theater...

She also wanted to visit with my parents (and vice versa) before heading back to school, so we did that...

Briana wanted a gyro really badly, so we had some take out one evening...

She wanted to eat at her favorite Korean BBQ place...

Briana needed to get some art supplies, so she and Doug made a trip to Blick (and they once again posed with Bob Ross - he's still there - LOL)...

And Briana's last meal/dinner request was eating one of her mac n cheese trays (hamburger mac) at home from Mr. Macs (with a salad)...

 

A couple weeks before, we ate our tray of chicken bacon ranch mac n cheese - so delish...

Bri and I wrapped up packing that week and I got mostly everything loaded into our cars on Thursday (last minute stuff on Friday)...

It was pretty tiring, but it got done! Whew!

My next post will be about moving Miss B back to school. She is living with good college friends this year and so far (she is a week in), she is doing really great. Makes a mama's heart happy.

Coming soon...

Amelia Island Vacation 2025 - Day 5/Heading Home And Final Thought

Day 5 arrived and it was time to head home. I forgot to mention that Bri did use the workout room one time while we were there and she said it was really nice.

It wasn't a super long trip, but we decided to do it up big - and do it up big at a Ritz Carlton. So, we opted for a shorter stay to enjoy all the bells and whistles of our fancy trip without going completely bankrupt.

 We had one last breakfast the club lounge before heading out (we paid extra to access the lounge each day like last year and for us, it was again totally worth it)...

One last look out of our balcony...

Leaving the property...

Crossing back into Georgia...

The weather roller coaster...

Ugh - McDonough, Jodeco Road area south of Atlanta. Slow traffic/bumper to bumper every single time we drive through there. Any time of day. Grrr...

Driving through Atlanta and seeing my kid's school...

Love, love, love having a Peach Pass...

While we were gone, Bri's bestie Meredith checked in on our furry love. We got pics daily...

 

She really loves Meredith. 

 

But, she was definitely happy to have her family back home!

* Final thought...

There was a moment on the trip when I was floating in the pool, soaking in everything and everyone around me. I wasn't feeling 100 percent on that trip, but I'll say I was 90 percent. And my heel felt great. It felt good to be vacationing again. I was truly content/happy in that moment.

At the same time, I was thinking about how privileged I am. I don't take any of it for granted. I have a husband who loves me and takes care of me while I am trying to push through my ongoing chronic illnesses. He is successful at what he does and that has allowed me and Bri to live a very comfortable life (as comfortable as I can be with chronic illness). I understand there are so many people who will never get to experience a visit to a Ritz Carlton, much less a resort hotel. I know there are so many people who don't really get to go on big vacations (or modest vacations) even when they work really hard - and that is very unfair. Everyone that was vacationing at that hotel was privileged. I hope everyone there realizes that. I wish everyone could experience a lovely vacation(s). I truly do. I know I am not more deserving than anyone else. I am lucky/blessed.

I am not sure what I am trying to really say with all this, but I'm just putting out there that I am grateful for the things I have, I take nothing for granted and I wish everyone could experience something nice like this. I don't want to come off as being braggadocios when I am sharing my life with you all. I am truly happy when I see other people have great experiences.

So that was our trip. Thanks again for reading. Going back to regularly scheduled programming!