Gone in the blink of an eye...

...that was the weekend. It seemed like the entire weekend fit into a span of just a couple hours! I guess that means it was a good one. And, I can confirm, that it was. Antoine and I did some cleaning/tidying of the house Friday night in preparation for Amanda's arrival the next day and for my birthday celebration with the girls. Saturday morning, after shaking Antoine awake so he could make his famous waffles, I drove a couple minutes down the road to meet up with Amanda and our friend Barb. Amanda had crashed with Barb and her fiance Jon Friday night, so I met up with them for breakfast. Then Amanda and I made our way to Findlay market to pick up my deliciously crafted Dojo gelato cake!

Behold! I layer of fudgy chocolate cake (from Take the Cake) underneath a thick layer of mouthwatering Vietnamese coffee gelato, all surrounded by a thin layer of light whipped cream-style frosting. It was delicious...the perfect cake! And, since it was so massive, even after Antoine and the four of us girls had a piece we still have more than half the cake left! Yay, gelato cake for the rest of the week!

We ushered the beautiful gelato goodness safely home to the freezer where it sat until later in the evening. Amanda then decided this would be a good time for me to open my birthday present from her. Wrapped in fun paper with little baby cartoon elephants and hippos on it was a photo album. In the front of the album there was a cut out section for a small photo. And there sat a photo of Amanda and I...from Amanda's 25th birthday. It's high up there on my favorite pictures of Amanda and I. In the picture we are both wearing our Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman t-shirts (naturally) and a very intoxicated me is making a ridiculous face as an even more inebriated Amanda plants a big kiss on my cheek! Already, this gift was making me laugh. Then I proceeded to open the album...on the first page there wasn't a picture, but a note written by Amanda; a journal excerpt to be exact. An excerpt from the day Amanda and I decided we were going to get an apartment together. See, it wasn't just any photo album, it was the story/journey our of our friendship. Of how we went from being classmates, to study partners, to roommates, to friends, to best friends, and then to HLPs. Once I made it through the album, laughing out loud numerous times, I was in tears. It was perfect! Possibly one of the best gifts I've ever received! And I plan on continuing to fill it with pictures of Amanda and I and our adventures for years and decades to come! After the laughing and the tears, I naturally told Amanda I hate her for turning me into a weakling and melting my heart of stone.

Then we were off to run a couple errands before we picked up my sister and headed to the Ohio Valley Antique Mall. It was by far the largest antique mall I've ever been too! It was so large, in fact, that we got lost a couple of times. And when we had finally made our way through it we were all thoroughly exhausted. I walked out with a couple of awesome things, including these adorable crab salt n' pepper shakers...

Look at those wee-little crabby mustaches!

After the antique mall (which I totally want to go back to and take Antoine in the near future) we picked up our friend Helene and headed off to dinner at the Dilly Cafe (formerly Dilly Deli). We ate beer cheese, chit chatted about life, laughed, sampled each others tasty dishes, and had a great time...

Time with the girls always has a way of releasing any tension you had and makes you appreciate the good friends you have!

After dinner it was back to our place a little Dojo gelato cake, which everyone LOVED! It was a great night. With bellies full of Dilly fare and gelato goodness Amanda and I drove Helene and Michelle home. On the way, Helene and Michelle honored us with a wonderful sing-along performance to Salt-n-Pepa's "Push It"! It was fantastic, the perfect end to a fun day with the girls/birthday celebration! Those ladies are amazing, and I completely adore them!

The next morning I opened at Sbux, but Amanda came in to do some work and keep me company. Then we got some brunch at Roxy's, since I had a restaurant.com certificate. It was great to have some good one-on-one HLP time! We chatted, talked girl talk and it felt good! And then she was off, back to Indy. As soon as she left I began to miss her, but I'm looking forward to March when I'll hopefully be heading to Indy to spend some quality time with her for her birthday!

So, that was pretty much my weekend! I did not watch the Super Bowl, and I'm glad I didn't! Although I got thoroughly filled in just by reading my Facebook and Twitter feeds...down to every flippin' MF-touchdown (can we say, "a little much")! Hope you all had an amazing weekend! See you tomorrow!

You're So Vain...

Well, it's Friday. Woot! I was worried it would never come, weren't you? I'm so excited because this weekend I'm celebrating my birthday with some of my favorite ladies in the world! So, since Saturday will be a very egotistical day for yours truly, I decided to share some of my vain shots from last weekend's fun...





Have a wonderful weekend party people! If you're into the Superbowl I hope whichever team you want to win does, although I could really care less! I'm just in it for the wings. And I have every intention of letting Antoine camp out on the couch and watch the game downstairs while I sit in bed, eating wings, and watching movies! See ya later alligators...

Natural and Manmade: Closeups from Weekend Exploring

Exploring Mt. Adams

Mt. Adams is a place I've only been to a handful of times. At night it's hopping with yuppies getting their drink on and frankly that's not, nor will it ever be, my scene! But, in the early afternoon on a Saturday it is surprising how deserted it can be...

Exploring Mainstrasse and Newport

As I mentioned yesterday Saturday was a fun day for Antoine and I. After breakfast at Half Day Cafe we made our way down to Covington, KY with camera in tow. Mainstrasse Village, an area of Covington along Main street, was our destination. It's a place that gets a lot of hype for it's bars/ pubs, restaurants, and excellent tattoo parlors, but it's also a place Antoine and I have only been to a couple of times. So, it seemed like the perfect place to go and take a walk on a sunny yet chilly afternoon.

Mainstrasse is littered with these beautifully ornate and colorful slender buildings that house it's many restaurants, bars, and boutiques/shops.

It's the perfect destination for little exploring, shopping and maybe some lunch (we didn't partake, but we surely will next time).

We popped into a little store called Julie's Inspiration Consignment Shoppe, where the lady behind the counter was friendly and let us have fun trying on hats and taking pictures of one another. She then directed us towards the downstairs/home area. It was a super cute little store, and I was excited to walk out with two new pairs of adorable earrings.

Peacock feathers in the downstairs portion of the consignment shoppe.

Part of a mural we stumbled across. Love the little robot!

After Mainstrasse we decided to head towards Newport, near the river, so we could take some pictures of the Cincinnati skyline.


I would highly recommended checking out Mainstrasse and the riverfront sometime, maybe when it's warmer and the sky is a little bluer! We'll definitely be going back sometime after April once the 4th Sunday Mainstrasse Antique event kicks back into gear!

Stayed tuned tomorrow for more weekend adventures...