Roadtrippin'

It's was not too difficult to convince my friends to join me on my latest blog-mission. Especially when it includes cute shops, icy treats, and a beach! It was a little difficult though to get everyone ready to go on a Saturday morning. After all the errands were run, burnt breakfasts remade, and a full-on temper tantrum by yours truly, we hit the road.

The scenic route was decided on mostly due to the fact that I was not in the right lane to go the other way. And despite the late start we made a u turn to check out THE cutest garden shoppe outside the south of France.

Once finally parked in Delaware, the sun beating down on us, we lathered every inch of pasty exposed skin with SPF 50. Then we hopped through the shops. Now, Jesse went to college here so I was thrilled to have her expertise with us. Little did I know that she would not only know every shop owner but that they would greet her as if she were their long lost puppy. If you know Jesse this actually would not surprise you. She has artwork in the little bike shop, and her best friend made the website for the pizza shop, she writes novel length emails to the boy running the book store... well you get the picture. She had little sway though with the brash lady manning the vintage store who REFUSED to move her portable fan away from the counter as it flung apart our piles of old photographs.

Exhausted from bellies full of pizza, we grabbed our complimentary iced coffees and sped to Alum Creek Beach. The entrance to the beach is the last one, miles from all the others. And the sand is a little bit like cat litter. And the water might be a tad soupy. But we live in the Midwest and we are at the beach! It takes 2.5 seconds for us to acclimate to the water and we couldn't be more thrilled about how this day turned out.

Update: The Small Town Tourist post for Delaware, Ohio is up at Cotton & Brass!

Spring Flee

Each season's Flee is a hodge podge of crafters, food stations, and local shoppes clearance racks. And each time it is packed with an equally eclectic mix of our local population. The weather was ideal, the warmest day yet and we ate our lunch on the grass. I couldn't pass up the chevron coasters despite the fact that they are nicer than our scrap wood lopsided coffee table.

Afterwards Tasha introduced me to City Folks Farm Shop. This darling gardening shop features seedlings, burlap sacks of composted dirt for just $3, and the cutest little pooch, Olive. The customer service was so impressive that I've gone back three weeks in a row, also maybe because Olive is so cute.

We spent the rest of the afternoon watching the sun cross the sky in Tasha's backyard with Toby and Logan fighting over sticks.

Easter dinner for the rest of us

We maxed out our table settings on Sunday and devoured the pork roast, arugula salad, potatoes, and stuffed peppers. Then we washed it all down with carrot cake. There was even a toddler running around which finally gave me an excuse to bring out the singamajigs.

If you help me with my wedding I will feed you sweet things

Sometimes I wonder if it would be better to elope. Skip all this fuss and just sign the paperwork. I can't help but feel like this is so much for just one day.

But then my mom and friends congregate in my little apartment and spend the day eating paczkis and sewing. It would be a shame to miss out on these moments. Almost every wedding graduate will tell you to enjoy the journey.

I might actually be a little sad once it's all over.

Some cool ladies

Last weekend was spent cozied up in a cabin with 16 other awesome ladies. There was cave hiking, and hot tub confessions, and night time zip lining. Also talents shows, arm wrestling tournaments, and large quantities of fried eggs.

I can't recommend enough schlepping your friends into a cabin in the middle of winter for Girl Camp. My sense of feminine-awesomeness was rejuvenated. Never underestimate us.

Tip of the Hat

The hat contest was fierce this year at the Corgi Christmas Cocktail Party. Good job ladies.

Thanksgiving

Yesterday concluded with yet another amazing dinner by Mark and a table of friends to help eat it. The dinners have been consistent over the past several months. Sometimes they are at others houses and sometimes it's just us two while other times it's 20. No matter the setting though it's always wonderful to sit down with people you care about and polish off a roast.

Sometimes in the quiet of the meal, when our mouths are too full for conversation, I think about how lucky I am. How did I get this lucky? Despite the dim economy and our own struggles with finding sustainable jobs we have a thriving community.

some things have happened

•I finally visited Columbus Commons, our newest park (it has a carousel!)
•Evie stole me away for a secret mission.
•Ed & Sue came to visit
•the power went out
•we went to Franklin Park Conservatory,
•we visited Nanny and Poppy and met some cute puppies as well,
•and my parents dropped in.
•Evie and Nick had their joint switch-your-gender-sing-kareoke-and-confuse-Bourbon-Streets-swell-patrons Bachelor/Bachelorette party. It was amazing.
•Tasha birthday was celebrated at Camelot Cellars.
•The Country Living Fair continued to live up to the hype.
•Bouquet's were arranged,
•and friends were married.

Anything for pizza

Do you think Kate Middleton assembled her invitations with her besties? ...I hope so.

We gathered around pizza boxes and paper cutters and set to work on Evie's invitations. Creating a DIY Wedding is so much easier with a posse.

NO BOYS ALLOWED

A marvelous "Girl Fort" has taken residence in the living room while Mark is away on tour (more about that later). There is ice cream, girl talk, and movies such as "Girls Just Want to have Fun". Best of all there are incredibly intelligent ladies that make me laugh almost-crash-the-car hard (Evie, I'm still chuckling about the bike peg story).

There was a time in my life where I was surrounded by boys. Both at home and in my High School clique. Then I chose a major in college that was 95% male. I always assumed that it was better that way, less drama right? Feelings of anxiety even began to creep up as more and more girls replaced my guy friends.

And at my birthday party this year I was completely surrounded by ladies. We were all eating fantastic food and talking about toe puss and laughing our faces off. Maybe girls aren't so bad. Maybe I was really missing out on something. Who else is going to enable my girly yard sale purchases, or swap canning recipes, or tediously search through pantone swatches to come up with the perfect color palette for my wedding?