Cheesy gifs

I thought I'd share a couple cute, pointless Cheese gifs with you today since posting gifs on Friday has unintentionally become a thing with me.  Perhaps I should include a whole series called "Friday gifs" or "Friday Fun with gifs"?  If so, this will be number 7 in the series...enjoy!

Love that face!

Happy Friday everyone!  Any exciting plans this weekend?!  We're doing one of my most favorite things ever...picking pumpkins!  I can't wait!  I hope you all have a super fantastic weekend.

Campfire Magic

Since it's Friday and I've been slacking on posts lately (and I have a thing for posting gifs on Fridays) here's a couple gifs of the campfire from our recent camping trip in Mohican...

There's just something so magical about a campfire!  It's so warm and mesmerizing.  Though I only got to enjoy one campfire this summer, I'm hopeful that next summer will be filled with lots of camping adventures and campfires.

Happy Friday everyone!  Any awesome plans in the works this weekend?  A and I were hoping to go see Gone Girl, but I'm still working my way through the book so that'll have to wait.  Instead we might check out the Cincinnati Nature Center which I've never been to but have been hearing awesome things about for years.  Have a great weekend!

A Walk on the Fourth

Let's rewind for a bit and go back to July 4th weekend.  I took a bunch of photos that weekend, but of course I was too busy editing and sharing Hawaii photos to think about them, until now!  Our fourth of July weekend was very laid back, mainly because my back was still bothering me.  But I was also getting antsy from spending most of my evenings resting indoors so I was dying to get out of the house and do something.  Antoine and I decided to go to French Park and take a long, slow walk with Cheese...

I really don't know who likes French Park more, us or Cheese!  It's such a great park.

I love when Cheese gets a burst of energy and goes nuts!  It's so much fun to watch him run around!

Haha, this just makes me smile!

And just like that, the energy is gone!

After his running spree Cheese proceeded to pull Antoine over into the shade of a tree and plop down for a while.  Poor guy!

I'm not going to go on and on about how much I love this place, because that's already a widely known fact in these parts.  But there's just something about a walk in the woods when you've been laid up in the house for a couple weeks that brings you back to life...even if it does leave you a little sore in the end.  I have some more French Park photos and July 4th weekend photos to share next weekend.  Until then, happy Friday and have a great weekend!

ACL & Austin in Instagram

Sorry it took me so long to get on this Texas recap thing, but there's been some stuff going on that was more important than the blog.  But I wanted to get back into the swing of things and start off this recap before I forgot all the wonderful details from our trip to Texas.  I thought I'd begin with the main reason we went to Texas in the first place, Austin.  And more specifically, the Austin City Limits Festival.  I've only been to a couple of music festivals in my life, none of which were very large, but ACL has always been on my wishlist.  My bucket list, if you will.  It always seemed to have the best lineups, and the completel lack of camping in the middle of summer (which I am not a fan of), so Antoine and I finally decided this was the year to do it.

We bought our tickets and then they announced the lineup, that's how it usually goes.  Initially we were a little bummed about the lineup...not that it was bad, but we were hoping for more of our favorites.  Still, after we inspected the lineup a little further we decided it was still going to be a great weekend of music and we were excited.  After we bought our ACL tickets we decided to make a little Texas road trip out of the trip and added San Antonio, Fort Worth and Dallas to the agenda.  And that's how our trip to Texas came to be...

We flew out early Friday morning, the first day of the festival, and landed in Austin a little after noon.  In hindsight, it might have been better to fly in Thursday, so we would have been a little more refreshed to the first day of the festival, but oh well.

I went into the ACL experience expecting to be overwhelmed.  And while the crowds were a little daunting at times, I am happy to say that I didn't have one single crowd-induced panic attack! 

The highlight of the first day, and one of my favorite shows of the festival, was Vampire Weekend!  They were fun and their performance was perfect!

Before Day 2 of ACL we met up with my cousin and his girlfriend for a little sugary sustenance at Gourdough's.  We got the Fat Elvis (a donut with peanut butter frosting, bacon and caramelized bananas) and the Granny's Pie (a donut with caramel, pecans, bananas and graham cracker crumbs)...and wowza!  They were delicious, but our heads felt all fuzzy afterwards from all the sugar.  Warning: if you go to Gourdough's, which you should because it's delicious, two people only need one donut!  Please heed my warning, it's for your own good!

Fueled by an insane amount of sugar we headed off to Day 2 of the festival.  First up was Deap Vally, two rocker chicks who killed it even though the lead singer was losing her voice!

Next up was Walk the Moon, during the hottest part of the whole weekend!  But it was so worth it because they were sweating even more than the crowd, their energy was insane and they put on arguably the best show of the weekend, in my opinion!  It doesn't help that they are all so ridiculously adorable!!!

By the end of Day 2 we were so exhausted, but at least we got to see some fantastic bands...and the weather started to cool down a little that even which was nice.

Antoine's friend Phillip, who went with us to the festival, was nice enough to show us around town.  On Saturday night we tried one of the few places in town he hadn't been, Ms P's Electric Cock.  It's a cute little airstream trailer with a gigantic neon "CHICKEN" sign out front and their serving up some tasty fried chicken!

When A and I got back to the hotel, we finally noticed the crazy sunburn I had gotten that day despite the fact I was wearing SPF75.  OUCH!

Sunday morning, before the festival, Philip, Antoine and I headed to 24 Diner for some brunch.  The highlight for me was definitely the milkshake, roasted banana and brown sugar!  It was so insanely good!!  Probably one of the best shakes I've ever had!

Day 3 highlights were definitely Grouplove (in the video above), the National, and Phoenix, even though Antoine was about ready to fight some rude jerk in the crowd!

The sun coming through the iconic tree at Zilker!  FYI: this is the crowd during a slow time.

On Monday morning, after three days of standing out in the sun, Antoine and I were in need of a little relaxation, aka San Antonio.  But on our way to San Antonio we made one last Austin stop, Salt Lick BBQ.  Antoine and I had both never been, but heard such good things so we were committed to trying as many things as we could.  Antoine got the Rancher plate, which included brisket, pork ribs, sausage and turkey, and I got the beef ribs and then we shared.  We both agreed the beef ribs were the best and had the best flavor!  We also both loved their sauce.  And I was surprised by how much I like the sausage and the potato salad, which are two things I'm usually not crazy about in general.  If you're in the area, I'd say Salt Lick is a must!

All in all, Austin was fun but exhausting!  We loved the bands we saw (though Portugal. The Man was a little bit of a disappointment), but in the end we were just tired.  Three days of nonstop music and sun might be a little too much for us, but we were glad we got to experience it!  And we were glad Philip decided to go with us, because we got to check out some tasty food thanks to him!

Check back later for some more Texas Recap, but be patient with me as it's going to take some time to add the insane amount of photos I took (as per usual)!  Until next time...

Weekend in Instagram

What a weekend! Midpoint was fantastic, I finally got over my stomach bug, we ate some amazing food, had friends in from out of town and went to the park several times.  It was a great time!

Thursday was the first night of the Midpoint Music Festival and I was still feeling a little rough, so Antoine and I took it easy.

We started off the night with some dinner at Quan Hapa.  I got the ramen in order to appease my still upset stomach and it did the trick!  Mighty tasty, I can't wait to go back!  We took it easy the rest of the night and only went to a couple of shows.  But we still had a great time.

On Friday I had the day off and I was finally starting to feel better so I spent the morning cleaning, in anticipation for the arrival of Amanda and Aaron.

It must have been very tiring for Cheese, watching me clean, because he slept most of the morning.  Then Amanda and Aaron arrived and we all (4 humans and two dogs) headed over to French Park for a little hike through the woods.  After the dogs were properly worn out, we got ready and headed downtown.

After some tasty sushi at Fusian, we all made our way to Washington Park to check out Youth Lagoon and The Head and the Heart, which both put on great shows.

On our way out of Washington Park.  We headed over to Street Pops for some tasty popsicles, then listened to Warpaint for a bit before heading to Japp's.

Good Graeff put on a great show at Japp's (they are so cute!) and I totally fell in love with their pumpkin they carved!  Antoine and I finished off the night with the Kishi Bashi show at CAC (awesome!), while Amanda and Aaron went to see Murder by Death at the Taft Theatre.

Saturday morning started with Cheese jumping into our bed, being adorable and staring out the window.

After a quick breakfast at Panera, we took the dogs to Alms Park and then Ault Park for another walk through the woods to tire them out!  

I think it might have work...

Then the humans got cleaned up and headed over to Barrio in Northside for some tacos and margaritas.  And that's when things got really interesting.  The first pitcher of margaritas tasted so good that we decided to get another...

And the tacos were delicious too.  But those margaritas...so good!  And we left Northside feeling all kinds of good.

We headed downtown for the final night of Midpoint and continued to drink and just got happier and happier.

 And then Aaron rode a pig!  (I'm pretty sure he was a rodeo cowboy in a previous life!)

And then Amanda decided to straddle two pigs, because why not!

All in all, it was a pretty fantastic weekend with some outstanding music, great times with friends and amazing food!  How was your weekend?

Weekend in Instagram

Friday night Antoine and I had plans to go to a Red's game.  We're not diehard fans, mainly because we're not Cincinnati natives.  But we do enjoy going to a game or two every year.  We always make try to make sure we go to a Friday game, because we love the post-game fireworks.  Fireworks make everything better!

 Before the game we headed over to Rookwood to check out the new taco/burrito joint, Lime.  It's a chain that's just now starting to pop up around Cincinnati.  Antoine and I shared some tacos and some chips and queso and it was quite tasty!

As the sun was going down, the sky behind the stadium turned this awesome shade of purple.  It totally distracted me from the game!

We were lucky and the rain mostly held off, only sprinkling a bit here and there.  Even though the Red's lost, the fireworks were still fun...though the music selection was a bit strange...such a jumble of styles, including some strange early 2000s rap.

Saturday's nonstop rain led to blueberry picking getting cancelled and gave Antoine and I both killer headaches.  We decided to veg and take it easy all day.  I made a little progress on the afghan I'm crocheting for the guest bedroom.  I would have had it done already if I hadn't ignored it for several months!

That was pretty much our weekend, along with some errand running on Sunday.  How was your weekend?  Did the rain ruin your plans as well?

(girls)Weekend in Instagram

What a fantastic weekend! On Friday, Michelle (my sister), Helene (her best friend) and I made our way to Hocking Hills.  There we met up with Amanda (my best friend), who lives in Cleveland.  And with that, girl's weekend began.  We had been planning this weekend for forever and we were all beyond excited for a little relaxing time together.  We rented this awesome cabin, which had more than enough room for all of us.  And, fyi, it is owned by the sweetest people ever!  Bud even drove past, saw us trying to collect wood for a fire and within 5 minutes was at our cabin with kindling, newspaper and a lighter...and then he built our fire for us!  So sweet!

It was a pretty relaxed weekend.  Since I'm still recovering from a fractured ankle we only did a very modest amount of easy "hiking" (aka walking).  We mainly played wii dance and cards against humanity (All our first time playing! It was an offensively good-time!), drank wine, ate tasty food and talked.  Here's some highlights via Instagram:

1.) Creepy-ass bear lamps that were in each of our rooms (except Amanda's).  I was lucky enough to have two in my room, one on either side of the bed!  Going to bed the first night was a little terrifying, but then I got used to them.
2.)  Breakfast consisted of fruit salad and sticky buns, both made by moi! (Side note: I love Bake with Anna Olson!  I first saw it when we were in Vancouver, and I really wish we had it here.  Hell, I just wish I had the Food Network sometimes!)
3.) For our post-hike lunch on Saturday I, with the help of my sous-chef Amanda, whipped up a red pepper, broccoli and goat cheese quiche.  (Sorry, no recipe...I just winged it.)
4.)  After Bud was nice enough to start a fire for us, we roasted marshmallows, made s'mores and cracked open a couple bottles of wine, relaxing by the fire.
5.)  Then things got out of control or rather, I got out of control.  I apparently was so excited to be out of the house with the ladies that I decided to drink FAR TOO MUCH wine!  It was much more wine than one person should ever drink, the next day was proof of that...worst hangover of my life!  Though, I did still manage to kick some ass at wii dance!  And none of my competitors were nearly as intoxicated me.
6.) Guillermo was permanently glued to my lap once I got home Sunday afternoon.

Waking up Sunday morning sucked!  Not only because my brain felt as if it had shriveled up like a raisin, but also because it was time to pack up and head home.  After sleeping in the car the entire two and a half hour drive (because, did I mention, I was so stupid the night before apparently thinking I was 21 again!?), I got home and Antoine made me a late lunch while I vegged on the couch and attempted to recover from my hangover.

Still, what a great weekend!  Let's just pretend the part where I turned into a wine-guzzling idiot didn't happen, okay?!  I can't wait for the next girl's weekend!  Stay tuned for some more weekend related goodness, once I finally get around to editing my photos.