At Second Sunday on Main

Tried to get out and enjoy myself a bit this weekend, despite the fact that I’ve been anxious about today for weeks.

Today, I have to take my boyfriend – aka FriendBoy, aka Ted – to the airport because he’s moving to Poland for three years. He’s been my homie, my photographer, my roller coaster-riding partner, my confidante, my blog’s biggest promoter, and my all-around BFF for almost 4 years now, so I’m extremely sad about it. My goal is to stay busy so I don’t get too depress-y, but I know some days will be better than others.

Taking pictures for the blog

I’ll miss you like crazy, babe! Good luck!

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Last weekend, I:

Fell in love with a jacket (yes, AGAIN) at Brush Factory; “worked” at PopShop and got my sugar rush on eating salted caramels, birthday cake fudge, AND a fried Snickers bar; checked out the Final Friday happenings up and down Main Street; got sick and spent the better part of Saturday on the couch; recovered in time for an hour-long bike ride by the river on Sunday morning; and cooked–then ate–an entire pot of spaghetti.

How was your weekend?

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Zara tee, thrifted shorts, DIY scarf necklace, Jeffrey Campbell shoes

Spent the weekend running around pulling clothes for an upcoming TV segment (Tuesday morning, Fox19, BE THERE), remembering what it feels like to have an actual backyard, and wondering if Beau would get along with a dog.* I figured a certain level of comfort was in order, so I wore a classic tee-and-shorts combo with my DIY scarf necklace and The Ugly Shoes, and it felt just right.

In other Very Important News, I watched this video and this is now my new favorite quickie hair style! Aren’t you happy for me?

*Nope, not a chance, no dogs allowed.

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Last weekend, I:

Got dressed up as a bottle of Sriracha sauce for a surprise party, had my first taste of homemade peach sriracha ice cream (um, YUM), took some street style pics at The City Flea, was rudely reminded of my lack of hand-eye coordination during a shoddily played round of beer pong, and realized that despite the horrible writing for Crazy Stupid Love, I should probably be hanging out with Ryan Gosling.

How was your weekend?

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Despite hot weather-laziness setting in (you know when it’s so hot it just makes you TIRED?), I managed to get the couch and enjoy the weekend!

T-Shirt Fest

Friday evening, I headed to Fountain Square to check out T-Shirt Fest. In my deluded mind, I always feel like I don’t have enough casual tees for trips to Kings Island and hanging out on weekends. This is not actually true–I have plenty of t-shirts– but that’s how I FEEL. I am an emotionally complex creature.

Washington Park

On Saturday, 3CDC offered area bloggers a tour of the almost-but-not-quite-completed City Homes, and still-under-construction Washington Park. Yes, my head fits into a hard hat. Barely.

I don’t always agree with 3CDC, but it sounds like Washington Park is going to be pretty dope when finished. There was talk of a playground slide I really feel like I NEED to test out at least once. It’s technically for the bebehs, but believe me, I will push a kid. I can take ‘em.

Cincinnati Boutique Sale

Later, I stopped by the Cincinnati Boutique Sale with plans to find a black top and/or silver earrings. Failing that, I immediately switched to Plan B (in which “B” stands for “Buy Something I Clearly Don’t Need”) and got these cute little espadrille mini-wedges from Morrison & Me. Mission accomplished.

The Best Commercially Sanctioned And Therefore Not Really a Holiday Day Ever

Sunday was National Ice Cream Day, so as a proud Amurrican, I headed to Graeter’s for a specially priced scoop. Hey, I’m nothing if not patriotic.

How was your weekend?

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Since last week, I:

Wore the new AllSaints top I bought in the sale.

I love wacky asymmetrical draping, but FriendBoy immediately said “You’re wearing Theo’s shirt!”

It is now officially known as my Gordon Gartrell.

Hit the Jodi Arnold event at The Limited.

Due to underestimating traffic (I don’t know how I did the rush hour thing every day), I missed the fashion show, but did manage to snag the tunic I wanted as well as one or ten of the little cake hors d’oeuvres that were being passed around. Win-win as far as I’m concerned.

Found another (?) gray hair.

I’ve had two gray hairs since I was about 8 years old, and I used to be able to pinpoint their location with GPS-like precision. Since I stopped straightening my hair, it’s not easy to find anything in there, so I’m not sure if it’s a new gray or one of the old ones. Hmm…

Tried the new butter tart at The Bistro.

Doesn’t the name just sound like a good idea? Butter. Tart. How can you go wrong? The tarte tatin used to be my fave, but the gooey caramely-ness of this new concoction has just earned its own place in my dessert-lovin’ heart.

Hemmed a pair of my own pants!

I got motivated and learned how to do a basic catch stitch from this YouTube video:

Now that I think about it, I can’t remember the last skill I learned that didn’t involve a YouTube tutorial–god forbid I pick up a book and get some learnin’ the old fashioned way.

I got out my tape measure, needle, thread, scissors, even a seam ripper ’cause I was serious about getting the job done! One leg at a time, I carefully measured, cut, ripped, and stitched by hand. This was the result:

Oops.

Seriously, one leg was a full inch  shorter than the other. Ha! There goes my career as a tailor…

Bought a hot glue gun.

Who knew they were so inexpensive? I’m feverishly searching for random items to glue together at this very moment. As soon as I can think of a good reason to add feathers to my plastic plants, it’s on.

What have you been up to?

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My plans for this weekend include a rooftop celebration at a friend’s condo, my cousin’s graduation party, and judging dogs in dressed in drag.

What are your plans?

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Summer’s here! No, for real this time. After last week’s regression to early spring with temperatures in the 50′s, last weekend and the coming week promise sunny, 80-degree weather. Perfect for summer camp.

To celebrate, on Saturday I headed to a…well, a celebration in Over-the-Rhine’s Gateway Quarter. There were crafts and clothing and jewelry (oh, my):

The combination of the cross-and-black lace earrings and wooden rings  with biblical figures (from St. Theresa’s– they’re back in Pendleton!) totally put me in a Madonna-circa-Like A Prayer mood.

This shirt made me snicker.

There was art for sale:

As well as art on the street:

How sweet is that?

Anyone who knows me, knows that 90% of the reason I leave the house revolves around the possibility of eating good food. I pretty much devoured the tacos from Senor Roy’s Taco Truck in 30 seconds, and indulged in a cool lemon-y/pomegranate-y treat from Dojo Gelato in the name of supporting local businesses. ‘Cause I’m thoughtful like that.

It only took about 12 seconds before this was nothing but a plastic cup with a little gelato juice in the corners.

Good times.

How was your weekend?

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Even though I spent most of last weekend huddled over my computer working on the next issue of Style Sample and lamenting the neverending rain (it made me sleeeepyyy), I did manage to get out a bit on Friday evening.

My new Nikkor 55-200 lens was waiting for me when I got home on Friday (woohoo!), so I hit Final Friday with Friendboy and tested it out a bit.

Of course, my first subject was Beau the cat, who cooperated for approximately 12 seconds before going back to sleep. I also took a shot of the fragrant (lavender?) bush that makes the entire block smell lovely.

Beau-bear/Beau-bunny/Buns/etc., the bush that brightens my day

We were walking past the Over the Rhine Chamber of Commerce when chamber president Brian Tiffany invited us in for drinks and a tour. Who could say no to that?

Nice digs and good food at the new OTR Chamber

Colorful abstract art (my favorite kind) on display at the OTR Chamber

We continued on to Main Street to see what was happening there:

There was a neat art demo at Venue 222, where this gentleman showed how he acts as a sort of “medium” for artists with disabilities.

There was an exhibit featuring illustrations by DAAP students at Atomic Number 10.

I really wanted to buy something, but I was, um…strongly discouraged.

I could spend hours searching through the records and movies at the new spot that just opened up next to “my office” aka Iris Bookcafe.

Amazing glass work by artist Jamie Payne at one of the galleries. I have absolutely no use for a glass grenade, but I WANT ONE.

On Sunday, I managed to drag myself away from my computer to make a yummy barbecue chicken “pizza” (no pizza crust on hand, so I used flour tortillas) with fresh mozzarella, smoked gouda, and fresh basil.

It looked a little weird, but it was goooood.

How was your weekend?

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The weekend before last, I was lucky enough to celebrate my birthday two days in a row! I spent time with people I love, ate wonderful food, and dressed up for absolutely no reason. Oh, and I got to say I lived another year. I guess that’s pretty special.

Honestly, I spent most of the weekend working on the new issue of Style Sample magazine. Putting this one together was a doozy–missing photos, extra layouts, unanswered requests for information, a procastinating editor-in-chief (ahem)–but I was dedicated to meeting the deadline. Gotta git ‘r done!

The hours when I wasn’t chained to my laptop, I was treated to two lovely dinners. Saturday evening, FriendBoy took me to Honey, a well-reviewed little spot in Northside.

The food was excellent, but the ambiance could use some work. It was packed (see: excellent food), a bit noisy, and the decor was utterly nondescript. I wonder if they’d let me come in and decorate…

Sunday evening, my two favorite crazy people, also known as Mom ad Dad (hi mom!) took me to  Mt. Adams Fish House. They proceeded to act like children (I’ve always been the mature one) and showered me with gifts and love and unsolicited advice. Awww…

Perhaps due to my rapidly advancing age, I was really in chill mode for this birthday. No need for over-the-top celebrations or big parties, just…chill.

Am I the only one who’s not extra excited about this stuff any more? How did you celebrate your last birthday?

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Chasing the Moon
OTR Gateway Celebration
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