Taste of Cincinnati

Saturday night was the 32nd annual Taste of Cincinnati, which is now the longest running Culinary festival in the country. Cincinnati has some fabulous restaurants and all the award winning restaurants come out for Taste of Cincinnati. That hubby of mine and I went with our good friends Steph and Tad and we basically ate our way through the night and enjoyed every minute of it!

Food stop #1: Fish Tacos from Habanero Mexican Grill

Food Stop #2: Crispy Pad Thai Chicken from Bangkok Bistro

Food Stop #3: Brat in a pretzel bun and a Cream Puff from Mecklenburg Garden

Random side note...last year at the Taste I wore a brown flowy skirt and walked over a grate causing my skirt to fly above my head. Funny right? So this year we all enjoyed watching other girls with flowy skirts walk across the same grate and have the same thing happen. It made me feel less like an idiot. Haha. Here's a picture from last year after "the incident." Hope you are having a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend!

Unexpected

I love when unexpectedly pleasant things happen. Today actually feels like the end of May should in the Midwest...unexpected. Last night that hubby of mine, his best friend Brian and I headed over to Whole Foods for their awesome wine and food tasting. We ended up running into some of our good friends unexpectedly and the food and wine was fabulous as usual. As we were browsing the store I came upon this adorable dress...totally unexpected. Who buys dresses at a grocery store? They didn't have a dressing room so I risked it and bought one anyway. It just happened to fit and go perfectly with my new belt and earrings! I love when an outfit just comes together unexpectedly.

Dress:Whole Foods
Belt: Francesca's
Earrings: Francesca's
Shoes: Gap

Tonight we are going to Taste of Cincinnati with our friends Steph and Tad...details and pictures to come tomorrow. Have a wonderful Saturday! I hope something unexpectedly pleasant happens to you. :)

My first blog award!

Thank you to my new blogger friend, Sar for my first blog award! She thinks I have some style...I'll take it. Thanks girl!

As part of the award, you're supposed to give seven facts about yourself so here we go...

[one]

I have a soft spot for animals. I have been known to track down lost pets and return them to their owners. I have two cats that I'm kind of obsessed with as you will read about on Tail Wagging Tuesdays.

                            Source: puppy-dogs.com via Lucy on Pinterest

[two]

I still watch Survivor and have been a fan since season 1. In middle school my best friend and I used to have sleepovers (on school nights!) for the Survivor finale.

                                Source: tv.com via Summer on Pinterest

[three]

I love anything outdoorsy! I especially love canoeing (we actually own a canoe), bon fires, camping, disc golf, sun bathing, picnics, jumping on trampolines and hiking.

[four]

My camera is basically attached to me because I am almost never without it. I'm not a professional, but I love to scrapbook and of course blog with the zillions of pictures I take.

                    Source: flickr.com via Laurie on Pinterest

                [five]

I'm a kindergarten teacher and proud of it. I absolutely love my job.

                                                                                          Source: ritzybee.typepad.com via Filippa on Pinterest

[six]

I love Chipotle...I eat it at least once a week. Is that weird?

             Source: chipotle.com via Danny on Pinterest

                            
  [seven]

I married my high school sweetheart and am thankful everyday!

I'd like to pass this award along to:

Tiffany at Teach.Run.Love
Tatiana at Living life and loving it

Emily at Meme and He

Happy Friday!

I wish I had a green thumb...

I will be honest and tell you that I don't really remember ever actually planting a plant on my own or even having a desire to until I got married. With that off my chest, I've decided that plants and I have had a love/hate relationship so far.
Last year hubby and I had a tree removed from the front of our yard leaving a huge gap. What to do with a huge gap smack in the front of our new (to us) house?

We decided to build a retention wall and fill it with beautiful plants and we actually had a wonderful time shopping for and planting our mini garden of Eden. This picture was taken almost exactly a year ago.

The test was whether our plants would hold up after the ridiculously hot summer we had. I watered and watered and pruned and fertilized and did all those things a good gardener should do. The results are in and I'm proud to say that most of the plants in our retention wall area came back...now the side of the house is a completely different story. It's like the jungle book over there and I'm not happy. But to support the good news...here's a then and now picture of my favorite flowering bush.

Do you have any flower success stories? What are your secrets? I need help...my neighbor has a green thumb and I feel pressured to impress her. Ha.

Monday night love

Mondays are usually a downer. The weekend is over and the work week begins. But the past four years Mondays have held a special place in my heart. My bible study meets on Monday nights at Starbucks, good idea right? Amazing coffee-check, sharing our hearts and love for Jesus-check, fabulous company, double check. We are a group of 20-something girls from all different walks of life...a teacher, a beauty queen, a soon to be focus on the family intern, a personal trainer, a text book company publisher and the list goes on, but we have one huge thing in common. We all desire to grow closer to God and are committed to doing that together.

                              Source: etsy.com via Allison on Pinterest

Over the years our bible study has grown and changed. Some of us have gotten married, changed careers, graduated and several of the girls have even moved away *tear*, but we were all reunited at our friend Delyse's wedding and it was wonderful.  I love these girls so much and know God has big plans for each of their lives. I'm so thankful for these girls, for their prayers and for the support they give me. Starbucks here we come...

Let it Go...

My style sense has changed over the years, but there are some pieces I just haven't been able to let go of. Clothes can have sentimental value right? Well this weekend I was inspired by Gap to clean out my closet. They are teaming up with Goodwill and now through the 29th if you take in clothing donations you get 30% off your total purchase! So I spent my Saturday morning cleaning out my closet and then headed to the mall...
I am no fashion blogger, but here are a few things I've learned about my personal style.
Style lessons I've learned lately...
-Simple is better
-You can wear a scarf more than one way

Source: tipjunkie.com via Allison on Pinterest

-Skinny jeans aren't the devil
-You can wear heels just because, you don't need a formal occasion
-Just add a cardigan and you are prepared for the crazy Midwest weather

Source: rdujour.com via Allison on Pinterest

-A headband can fix any blah hair day (Anthropolgie's headbands make me drool)

-High waisted skirts are flattering

Source: cottonandcurls.blogspot.com via Allison on Pinterest

-Florals are fun
I'm no fashionista, but I'm trying...

Oh hello Mr. Sun

The sun has finally decided to show up here in Ohio and I am so thankful. Yesterday that hubby of mine and I decided to dust off our discs and play some frisbee golf. Have you ever played? It is one of our favorite hobbies because a.) you get to be outside b.) it's FREE and c.) we are Drew is pretty good. If you've never heard of disc golf, it is just like normal golf except instead of a golf ball and clubs you have a disc resembling a frisbee and you aim for a basket like the one below.

Source: en.wikipedia.org via Jake on Pinterest

On this particular course you have to throw your disc over a creek so since I'm married to Mr. Nature lover we always end up flipping over a few rocks to look for critters in between tosses. We ended up spotting 5 snakes and no I don't love snakes, but Mr. Nature lover is kind of obsessed and I think it is awesome.

We ended the night sitting outside at our favorite local ice cream spot. A sunny day is a happy day. I hope it's sunny where you are today!

Yep, I'm joining the club

Apparently all the cool kids are doing WILW so I'm joining in on the fun. Here's what I'm loving this week...
I am LOVING that there are only 11 days of school left.

Source: flickr.com via Johanna on Pinterest

I am LOVING dresses with belted waists.

I am LOVING that today one of my students drew dots all over her arms so she could be like me...I have freckles and I'm proud.

I am LOVING this idea for the many summer parties that I will be having

Source: marthastewart.com via Allison on Pinterest

I am LOVING this DIY project. It's on my summer must-do list.

Source: None via Allison on Pinterest

I am LOVING this fruit salsa with cinnamon chips! YUM

Source: the-girl-who-ate-everything.com via Allison on Pinterest

Mr. Renner Visits Room 315

Since that hubby of mine and I are both teachers and have similar schedules it is hard to visit each other's workplace. Until this week Drew hadn't been able to meet any of my students who I talk about sometimes constantly.  So Drew took a half day from his school and spent the morning with me and the kiddos. You would have thought a rock star walked in with how my kids reacted. There were gasps, there were screams and there were definitely hugs. It was adorable seeing the kids finally meet my Mr. Renner. Favorite moment of the morning: one student asked if he could have Mr. Renner's autograph. If you know anything about kids one kids idea turns into the best idea ever and before I knew it all the kids were grabbing scrap paper and waving it in Mr. Renner's face. It was priceless and he loved every second of it. It was so sweet being able to share my students with my hubby...two of my favorite things in the world.

Prom, Kittens and an Engagement brunch

This weekend was jam packed with goodness...
Friday- That hubby of mine and I stayed in, ordered pizza, watched episodes of Bones on Netflix and cuddled on the couch with the cats. We were official couch potatoes and we loved every second of it. There is absolutely nothing better after a long work week than Friday nights!

Saturday- was my brother's last prom. I love my little brother and I truly can't believe he graduates from high school this year. That makes me feel old. Drew and I went to watch them take pictures and it just so happened that there were kittens at the house where the pictures were being taken. I of course had to take pictures. I wonder what my cats would do if I came home with a kitten? Hm.

Sunday My newly engaged sister and her fiance came into town this weekend so we had an engagement brunch after church. My mom got heart cookies made with their initials on them. We had breakfast casserole, hash browns, asparagus, my new favorite breakfast- fruit parfaits, more cookies, cinnamon bread and mimosas. Yum. It was fun to be able to finally see my sister's bling and see her so happy. Oh and they decided they are getting married THIS summer so wedding plans are in full swing!

Hope your weekend was just as lovely.

A Corky Project

A few months ago I spotted a wine cork wreath at a craft show and ever since I've been hoarding wine corks. I think I finally have enough to get crafty with. I had planned on a wreath, but now I'm debating. There are so many corky ideas out there. So if you have some extra wine corks lying around here are a few reasons you might want to hold on to them...

Love this idea to record events on the cork with the date. Your very own wine journal. These could be set in a cute bowl on a table for decoration. via

This is just cute and could be up for any season. via

I love this wine CORK board. via

Wine cork trivets. via

This looks a little complicated, but I thought I'd share anyway. Picture via

Check out this website for other cute ideas. From wine cork to...???

What would you do if you had a collection of wine corks lying around?

Friday night fun at a...grocery store?

I am a big fan of Whole Foods, but I never thought I would enjoy spending my Friday nights there. Let me explain...

Whole Foods holds wine tastings to go along with unique and delicious food every Friday night for only 5 bucks! My girlfriends and I have spent many a Friday night at Whole Foods. Surprised? We were too...fun at a grocery store? But yes it's true!

What else is there to do at whole foods while you are there you ask...

Take classes. They have Sushi making classes...for only $5.00 and you get all of this:

Check your local Whole Foods calendar online.

Shop for clothes. They sell comfy recycled clothes. I have a few shirts from here and they are my go to comfort items.

Make your own peanut butter- Um yes please.

Plus they have an amazing salad bar-perfect for a grab and go lunch or dinner anytime.

Is your grocery store this much fun?