Bollywood and Yo-yos

Hi lovelies! How was your weekend?

Lately, I've been trying on a new wardrobe of activities to find out what "looks good on me." It's sort of been my unofficial theme for 2011. This weekend, I picked up some new finds:

Bollywood Dancing
As my mom says, I was dancing before I left the womb.  But as much as I like to cut a rug, never would I have thought the moves of Bollywood would capture my intrigue. This weekend I took a workshop to learn the dance that has taken the Hindi-film industry by storm, and I loved it. It incorporates many forms of international dance with Indian classical and folk into a bouncy yet expressive dance form. We learned a simplified version of the choreography above. I can't wait to learn more!

Sewing Yo-yos 
I've been bursting at the seams for a craft project lately, so this weekend I headed over to Hobby Lobby and picked up some fabric and a yo-yo maker. Sewing has always been a frustration for me, but right now, I'm drawn to the needle and thread (even if I did get the thread tangled and lose the needle a couple thousand times). I'm hoping I'll get the hang of things quickly, so I can start making cool necklaces like this.

I've been experimenting with lots of new things lately, like crafts and music and dance and yoga. I think this is because I'm afraid of my life becoming boring. Or worse, complacent. Do you think this is a healthy outlook? Have you tried anything new lately, and why?

Friendship: Mm Mmmm Good

Hello, darlings. How is your weekend treating you so far?

Lucky me, my longest best friend is visiting from back home. (We've been friends for more than 17 years, and when we met, we didn't speak the same language. Can you believe it!?) We're getting in some long-overdue QT together, and I get to share my home with her. It's wonderful! Today we:

• Danced the Samba
• Ate a hot brown and pie at a local diner
• Drove through horse country
• Went grocery shopping at the local co-op
• Reminisced about the past and the future
• Wore cute aprons while cooking risotto

We've been laughing all day because we are so different from each other. She is a very energetic and overly ambitious, while I'm more laid back and contemplative. But we're both driven and goal-oriented, and man, do we like to eat (and eat well)! That, I think, is the key to our long-lasting friendship.

Have you spent time with your BFF lately? What do you do together?


Photo thanks!

Feather Fascinators and Creepy Crawls

How was your Halloweekend? Did you dress up in ghoulish garb? Stuff yourself with tempting treats? Inch your way through a haunted house?

I had a mellow day of the dead. While engaging in some much needed retail therapy with my friend Kristen, I picked up this awesome feather fascinator.



Ok, maybe it's more of a glorified clip. Either way it's fun and I've been craving one to add to my accessories collection.

Once dark hit, we took to the streets on a ghost tour of Lexington. (For some reason I keep finding myself in haunted towns.) In addition to checking out some of the amazing downtown historical architecture, we learned the afterlife residences of Mary Todd Lincoln and other notable apparitions.

Happy Halloween!

Have I mentioned yet how much I'm loving fall?

This week some girls from work got together for pumpkin carving. Don't our oversize squash look amazing?! This is the first year I used a stencil on my pumpkin. My artistic ego is a little hurt, but I'm happy with the outcome. (Check out the second from the left. Creepy, eh?)

Did you carve a pumpkin this year?

(Thanks to Leslie for the photo!)

Horses Rushing

Before I moved to Lexington, the term "Keeneland" meant nothing to me. But as happens when one wishes to successfully transplant, the local vernacular must quickly be adopted. This weekend, as my official initiation to Lexington life, I attended the October horse racing invitational... at Keeneland. I've never been into horses or gambling or races or anything of the sort, so I had no idea what to expect, but I was eager to learn. Luckily, the managing editor on our magazine -- an avid rider but not racer -- came along with me to show me the ropes.

As we took our seats in the grandstand I couldn't help but think of the horse race scene in "My Fair Lady" because we were in attendance to quite the swanky event. On this cool, crisp sunny afternoon, I, in my "nice" jeans and heels and fallish pea coat, felt under-dressed among the girls in cute dresses with tights (so excited for tights this year!) carrying parasols and men in crisp blazers and ties. (I believe I even spotted a bowtie.) The scent of cigars wafted through the air and people cheered as the thoroughbreds galloped by. It was, as the chorus would say, a "smashing, positively dashing spectacle."

For the novelty of it all, I had to place a bet. I put my minimum $2 down during the 7th race on a horse named Naughty Bits. She had a 1-30 chance in winning, and while she didn't completely lose the race, that is $2 I will never see again. What can I say? There's a reason I don't gamble.

I will be up front is saying that I've never understood horse people. Never got the obsession, whether it be riding or racing. But this is Lexington. Horse country. It's as much part of the culture as bluegrass and bourbon. I might not have gotten it before, but I'm starting to catch on.

(Forget convos on health and the weather. Want to talk the talk at Keeneland? Check this out.)

A Harvestful Weekend

Hello dears. How was your weekend?

I'm sad to see mine end. Saturday, I ventured up to Cincinnati for my annual trip to Shaw Farms (home to my former college roomie) where I met friends Ginger and BJ. We picked out pumpkins and mums that I'll use to spruce up my living room and squash that I turned into a yummy soup. We also took a hayride through the mud and played in the pumpkin scenes. (I love fall!)





We then visited Jungle Jim's, the Disney World of grocery stores, where we spent two hours! As an avid foodie, I wasn't prepared for the trip, but I did manage to find some good munchies, such as these Food Should Taste Good Buffalo tortilla chips.

And of course, no trip to Cinci is complete without a stop at Skyline Chili.

Sunday, I hit the racetracks, but more to come on that later.

(P.S. Happy Thanksgiving to my Canadian friends.)

Ladies Weekend

Hello all! How did you spend this wonderfully beautiful weekend?

I had an intergenerational ladies weekend with my mom and grandma who traveled from Columbus to Lexington for a visit. Mom brought me a few things I left behind and Grandma "Mam" had to give her stamp of approval of the place. In her words, "This is a nice area you picked, honey. Much more well-kept than Ohio."

We visited a small town between here and Frankfurt called Midway, where we browsed the boutiques and antique shops. Mom bought a hand-painted Santa made of driftwood for her Christmas tree collection. Sunday, we sauntered through The Arboretum. My grandma has a green thumb and I found it to be the perfect spot for running or sitting and writing.

Wrapping up the weekend, we had lunch at Ramsey's Diner, which is quickly becoming my mom's and my favorite Lexington restaurant. Their homegrown veggies are fresh and delicious. Of course, we had to split a piece of chocolate pecan pie from Missey's pie shop next door. To die for!

Enjoy your week! I will for sure.

Photo courtesy CasheeFoo

Best Weekend

How was your weekend? Mine was so much fun and I'm exhausted. Here are some highlights:

• Securing my new apartment
• Buying a sleeper sofa 70 percent off
• Hanging out with a long, lost best bud and engaging in our own unique style of banter
• Celebrating Emily's birthday in Athens with college chums
• Drinking Donkey coffee
• Apple picking at Lynd's Fruit Farm

Here's to seeing that this good feeling will last through the week.

Photo courtesy jadaography

Three Understood

Three best friends.

A ring.


A toast.


Love.


This weekend I got to spend uninterrupted quality time with my two best friends, Ashley and Minyet. It's the first time all three of us have been in one place in two years. I always cherish these moments because when we reunite - after riding out years and crossing oceans and living thousands of stories - it's like we were never separated. This time our Ashley came home with a ring, given to her by a handsome Dutch engineer. We celebrated with a classy picnic in the Hocking Hills, complete with a champagne toast and heart biscuits.

She understood my wonders,
And listened to my dreams.
She listened to how I felt about life and love,
And knew what it all means.

Take Me Home Country Road

Don't you love how the outdoors clears your head and elevates your mood? This weekend some college chums and I roadtripped east, West Virginia bound, for a weekend of camping, hiking and white water rafting at the New River Gorge. All of us 20-somethings have felt reasons to feel discontented lately, but we all agreed, the perfection of a weekend in nature left us feeling blissful. Nothing soothes the soul like the smell of campfires, the sound of rushing rapids, the warmth of sun on your cheeks, the sight of endless tree-filled hills and the presence of dear friends.

How did you spend your beautiful weekend?

Ohio State Fair Top 10

#10 People Watching
You can't deny that fair goers are a rare breed. So why not grab an elephant ear, sit on a park bench and let the amusement walk by?

#9 The Butter Cow
An Ohio tradition, this sculpture contains enough butter to make 7,200 batches of cookies. Wow!

#8 The Tilt-O-Whirl
More like the Tilt-O-Sway, we managed to get the broken seat that didn't quite swivel as it should.

#7 The Chicken Fro
Can you dig it?

#6 Ohio Roller Girls
These chicks are burly and surprisingly punk rock, but I'm slightly jealous of their fearlessness to get shoved onto hard surfaces and trampled upon by skates.

#5 Deep Fried Buckeyes
The ooey-gooey richness of peanut butter and chocolate oozing out of the greasy battered shell makes me wonder why Ohioans did think of this treat before 1999.

#4 The Bump-It
I like to call it my "slice-n-dice" item of the year. The fair's expo center is good for anything that comes with a horrible commercial attached to it.

#3 Angry Turkeys

This fowl will not be made into your Thanksgiving dinner.

#2 Cows Waiting In Line At The Hamburger Stand
The irony is sick, twisted and too easy.




And for the #1 reason to go to the fair...




#1 This Guy

645-Mile Bargain

How cool is it that the world's largest yard sale runs straight through Ohio? The 654 miles of reusable goodness starts in West Unity, Ohio, and runs all the way to Gadsen, Alabama, making for bargain shopper's dream come true. If only I hadn't packed my Saturday and Sunday full, I'd try to make it to the weekend-long event. Maybe next year.

Check out the map below if you are in the market for a deal.

Fore!

Although I'm not very athletic, I like most sports, especially ones where I get to run around a lot. Golf, however, has never fallen into that repetoir. This weekend, my friend Tom talked me into going to the driving range and much to my surprise, I had fun! As he said "I'm a little crazy in the legs," which I attribute to running and dancing, and apparently I open my mouth when I swing (as you can see above), but by the end, I was catching on.

Have you rediscovered anything lately that you thought you didn't like?

A Family, A Fair

The people in my family love a good fair and today's Columbus Dispatch quoted my aunts and uncle in an article about their visit to the Ohio State Fair. My aunt Joy made the lead of the story while by aunt Crystal, who was on her first visit to the fair, rounded out the end. My uncle Steve, in this snippet, demonstrated the eating habits that keep us in our family relative:

"For me, it's a food stop," said Steve Mertz. By noon, he'd eaten a sundae and a Bahama Mama and was planning to down a corn dog, elephant ear and fried buckeyes.

My family does seem to attract media attention at the fair. At this time 24 years ago, just days before I was born, my pregnant mom was shown on the local television station as she stopped for an elephant ear.

I haven't made it to the fair yet this year, but I plan to make time for fried food, cows and the Midway sometime before it commences next weekend. Hopefully, I'll even get to catch the finale show, Rascal Flatts in concert.

Happy Weekend!

you are beautiful 2, originally uploaded by pumpkin pie :) [emily].

Happy Saturday friends! What are you up to today? I'm thrifting in Grandview with my mom then playing euchre (a very popular midwest card game) with some friends. Have a wonderful weekend and remember you are beautiful!

Photo courtesy Emily

Sandwiches, Cyclists and The Bard

I am, if nothing else, a people watcher. I also love being outdoors during a summer's night and appreciate a good dose of theater every now and then. How perfect, then, that I managed to combine the three in one delightful evening.

Last night, packed myself a homemade sandwich along with some blueberries and cherries (I've been hooked on them this month) and met my friend Matt and some of his friends for The Tempest at Schiller Park in German Village.
Every summer for the past 25 years, Columbus' Actor's Theatre Company has put on free productions of Shakespeare classics.

People gather at dusk in the park's center with blankets and picnic dinners for the show, while other community folk continue their evening activities. As we set up for a night of entertainment, around us a juggling club performed tricks and unicyclists whizzed by along the parks paths. It was people watching at its quirkiest and entertainment that's good on the pocketbook.

Photo courtesy cookeville-tn.org

Summer Fests

One of my favorite things about summer in Ohio is festival season. Between June and August there's a myriad of community events: the Arts Festival; Creekside Festival; Comfest; Red, White and Boom; the Irish Festival; the Ohio State Fair. This weekend was one of my favorites, the Jazz and Ribs Festival. There's just something about good food and good music that makes a sunny day downtown even brighter.

Ribs:


Jazz:


What's your favorite part of summer?

Here Comes the Bachelorette

'Tis the season to get married and last night I helped my beautiful friend Stef celebrate her final week as a single lady. She and her girls went out for an amazing Sushi dinner at Tyfoon followed by an evening of boogieing. Doesn't she look like she's having fun in her hot pink Bachelorette sash and froo froo tiara veil? Next Saturday is the big day! Wish her luck!

P.S. What's your favorite Bachelorette (or Bachelor) party activities? (Keep it PG-13!)

Happy Friday!

Hi friends. It's been a great week. I feel like I've been home forever (even though it's only been 9 days). Jet lag might even be wearing off a bit. I think the early morning run today helped.

Also, lucky me, I've gotten to spend the week watching my old college roommate's two-month-old cutie patootie, Lena Kate, while she goes back to work. Isn't Miss Lena adorable?!


We've had fun this week eating and sleeping and singing country music. Yes, she likes to sing along to Keith Urban with me. I hope mommy and daddy approve. She's such a good and happy baby and I can't wait to hang out with her again next week. (Thanks Sara and Nick for sharing your daughter with me!)

So what are you up to this weekend? Like every other day since I've been back home, mine will be jam packed. Here's what's on the agenda:

• Columbus-area Ohio University Alumni happy hour tonight.
• Sushi.com with Dustin and his friends tomorrow night.
• Stef's bridal shower on Sunday afternoon. (We're going to play Bridal Pictionary!)

Much love and happy Friday!

Columbus Art Classes

If my posts are few and far between, I apologize. I'm still in the process of getting my grounding and rediscovering America, Ohio , Columbus. Here's a little fun Columbus find I came across:

The Cultural Arts Center run by the Columbus Recreation and Parks Department offers adult art classes and at a good price. For just $48 plus possible supplies costs, aspiring artists or those just looking to relieve some creative energy can take 3-months of lessons in drawing, painting, jewelry making, clay sculpture and stone carving. I think the bronze casting class would be interesting and different.

Isn't that a great way to wake up a dormant hobby? And since you aren't taking a class at a university or some hoity toity arts studio, it's economical as well. If you are in the Columbus area and want more information, check out this link. The center also offers workshops, a free coffee and conversation hour and volunteer opportunities.

Have you found yourself having to cut back during the economic downturn on the things you love to do? What have you done in order to keep your hobbies alive?