Tag Archives: Cincinnati Ohio

Lazy Sunday

 

Today has been a weird day. Mostly due of the weather – it’s been overcast most of the day, with really gusty winds. Then it started to rain.

 

And now the sun is shining and the sky is clear and blue. Weird, right?

 

So, it seemed like a good day to be lazy. To me, a Lazy (Fall) Sunday includes football and cooking. I feel so oddly domestic when I say I truly look forward to spending a Sunday in the kitchen. It’s weird – ever since we moved into this house, I have an overwhelming urge to be a homemaker! How can a house do that to a person?? I mean, I yearn to spend time with my oven. I don’t really even mind doing the laundry.  I relish the moments I get to spend with my house (told you this was weird) Has anyone else experienced this phenomenon?!?

Anyhow, now there’s delicious black bean and zucchini chili bubbling in the crockpot and a batch of pumpkin & butterscotch cookies cooling on the kitchen table! Yum!

 

How have you spent your Sunday/weekend?

(ps – if you’re interested, the cookie recipe is from Annie’s Eats.)

 

Fun in the Sun(flowers)

The older I get, the more I appreciate a perfect Fall day. And we had quite possibly the best one this past Saturday. The sun was shining, not a rainy-looking cloud in the sky, and perfect sweater-weather temps. It was poem-worthy.

So we did the most logical thing – got some friends together and went to a Sunflower Festival at this cool local farm!

Just a couple of friends, hangin’ in a sunflower field…

I think we’ll definitely be going back next year.

Signs of Fall

Ladies and Gentlemen, Fall has arrived! And maybe rather more quickly than I hoped/expected. It was 37-degrees (!) when I woke up this morning. Which practically qualifies for Winter. But, anywho… we celebrated the season’s arrival with a football-filled Sunday. We hosted a Bengals party, complete with beer cheese, Yuengling, taco soup-chili, and a specialty “Cider Cocktail” (thank you, Pinterest!).

It was a delicious Sunday 🙂

We’ve added some mums to the front porch. Once I get some new planters, pumpkins and a new wreath up on the front door, I’ll snap some pics to share!

Weekend Photo Montage

Whew! It was a long, busy weekend! Apologies for the lack of a photo post on Friday – I was hauling dirt around our yard all day. In lieu of that, here’s a weekend recap in photos!

An “after” photo of Friday’s hard work. Doesn’t look like much, but we pulled crabgrass, spread dirt to fill in the holes we created, and re-seeded in hopes that next spring’s yard will be lush, green, and weed-free!

The berries are starting to come out on my Snowberry bush. So pretty!

Captured some raindrops on one of the Knockout rose bushes in our front yard.

We went to a wedding on Saturday night that was hosted in an art gallery. A cool environment, with a really cool view of Cincinnati at sunset.

On the way out of the reception, Tom sat down in these funky, mod chairs. I think he looks pretty handsome, no? Like Mad Men meets James Bond?

On Sunday, my mom and I hit up the Burlington Antique Show across the river in Burlington, KY. I picked up this little table – it’s the perfect size to fit between our two accent chairs. And it was only $28!! Now I just need to decide how I want to refinish it. I think spray painting is in order (yellow? black lacquer? metallic?) and I’m debating adding a mirror trim, a la Kristin of Bliss (check out her DIY makeover here). What gets your vote??

I also picked up some new, upcycled yard art at the antique show! The dragonfly is make out of silverware handles (so clever!) and the flower is made out of glass bowls. The center is a tiny amber beer mug! Ha! Love that! You can check out the artists’ website here – Allglassflowers.com.

That about covers my weekend! We finished Sunday out by watching football (welcome back, old friend) and eating some delicious black bean and zucchini chili (recipe from Real Simple)…

Now that’s what I call a good weekend!

 

My Skills of an Artist

(how many of you picked up on the Strongbad reference? Anyone? Anyone?)

I have never been a particularly good artist. I enjoyed the art class I took in high school – we explored pretty much every medium, from drawing to oil painting to sculpting and printmaking. My stuff was okay, but I certainly wasn’t going to be displaying my works in a gallery anytime soon!

My relationship with art is very similar to my relationship with crafting, probably because these two are cousins. I get wild ideas about painting a scene or sketching little works in a notebook. But the outcome is never how I picture it in my head. And, yet again, my husband has a knack for art – sketching out little logos for the apps he develops or little characters on scraps of paper around the house.

But when some friends told me about an art studio that’s as much about painting as it is about a fun night out, I knew I wanted to check it out! If you’re in the Cincinnati, OH area, you need to check out Cheers to Art! You can sip your adult beverage of choice, groove to the music and hang out with your friends, all while painting a work of art! The best part is that the instructor gives you step-by-step instructions, so you’re not left to fend for yourself if you feel less-than-sure of your skills.

My friends and I planned a Girl’s Night Out to paint the “Paris Stamp.” We started off by layering in the background colors. First yellow, then red, then green.

Then we added some brushstrokes of white and the black scalloped edge to give it a “stampy” feel:

Then came the hard part – the lettering and the Eiffel Tower! I was too focused on keeping a steady hand to snag some in-progress pictures, but here’s me with the finished product!

I’m not sure where I’m going to hang it yet. None of the colors match anything in our home at the moment (I would have chosen other paint colors if that option had been available). So, I just stuck it in between the double sinks in our spare bathroom to add a splash of color!

Happy Painting!