Happy Belly!

New places to visit! Yay!

Elisa told me a week or so back about Happy Belly, a new resident to the 1300 block of Vine in OTR. I took a peek at their website and FB page, and decided I wanted to try it out. Like, really wanted to go. We decided today would as good a day as any to go and check out the new digs, so we closed up shop for an hour and headed south.

green smoothie & spirulina bites!
happy belly | cincinnati, oh

What a cute place! Their menu boasted of some tasty lunch items, but we decided to go light today and snagged a couple of smoothies and bite-sized snacks for the road, instead.

adorable (:

With plenty of time to spare, we stopped by Mica 12/v, just across the street from Taste of Belgium. I think I've figured out some things Sydni might be getting for her birthday [which, btw, is way too quickly approaching].

wall clocks!! specifically, owl wall clocks!

And for the car:

magnets!

^^ There were about five or six different versions of this magnet book: people, faces, animals, nature, robots... all kinds of fun combinations to be made. I'm pretty excited. I went digging and found a lot of the other versions I saw today (& then some!!), on THIS WEBSITE. The website pricing is about the same as I saw instore, once you figure in shipping/handling and all that jazz.

Anywho, we are one step closer to the weekend, and the countdown is in full effect for Tyler, Jason, Miranda & FGL at the Burn It Down Tour on Saturday. CAN'T WAIT!

xo | cmd

Just. A. GREAT. Sunday.

Reluctantly-early start? Yes, please. Haha.

Catie had a baby shower to attend, and we had to get on the road before too much daylight burned itself away. We opted for quick showers and headed off in the direction of Taste of Belgium, where Ryan eventually joined us. 

taste of belgium!
"mediocre latte art" | chicken & waffles

I have to say, I'm pretty pleased with the array of foodie stops we've made this weekend - and it's been a lot. Some of my favorite places, all wrapped up into one short visit = happy me :).

Oh! Rewind to us stopping over at Mica 12/v before our seats were ready at Taste; we were looking for Trisha, but ran into Beth instead! Small world. I love it. I thought it especially funny since the last time I was there, I walked out with an Ohio Roots hoodie, which I took to Arizona. Kalyn immediately made me promise I'd get her one on my next trip home; now that I know Beth works there, should be easier to make that happen :).

My parents were still en route down from Mt. Vernon when we wrapped up with our visiting, so we did some last minute sight-seeing out to Westwood Northern Blvd to an old apartment I'd lived in, and the old industrial trainyard I used to photograph. Fond memories, all around.

We didn't dare leave Cinci without stopping by Findlay Market for one last hello with Becky [& because she's not seen Sydni in I don't know how long....

Happy Mardi Gras, Findlay Market! 

♥ findlay market!!



And to top off an already incredible weekend...

... DRUMROLL.....

SYDNI IS COMING HOME WITH ME!!!
Let me try.. just try to explain to you just how excited I am to have her with me for the next few weeks. It's just one of those mama things that nobody will ever fully understand until they are one. She may not be the best road trip companion, but I don't care. She's here, and we're gonna have a blast over the next few weeks.

LOVE. of my life. ♥ ♥

You're lookin' at one happy girl.
Life.. is.... good.

xo | cmd 

Sunday | Scrumptious Eats. Sweatshirts. Springrove.

[back-o dated-o, folks.]

I found myself back at Taste of Belgium this morning. What can I say - it's pretty stinkin' amazing. I headed there to find Catie, Ladd & Ryan, and we again made with it putting back some delicious food. Confession: This was my first time [ever] going for the whole chicken & waffles thing. I went out on a limb at Catie's advising, and if I think of it later, I'll thank her for it. haha.


deeeeeeeeee...lish.

Breakfast out of the way, we ventured over to Mica 12, a corner boutique in which coincidentally my last roommate Trisha now works on weekends. It's a grassroots sorta store [lots of local artisan product & gear], and just has that feel to it that makes you wanna stick around for a while.


ohio roots! | mica 12

So I did. Long enough to snag an Ohio Roots hoodie. With which I am now obsessed. Dangit.

I decided it was time to get over to Becky's; if you don't know who that is, she's my friend that originally served as my first college RA. She's pretty much awesome, and we made quick plans to do some light urban hiking up to Spring Grove. That was after a run at Findlay Market. That's another place I love. Let's be honest: Of course I went camera crazy.


corkscrew pine | spring grove cemetary | cincinnati

I'm here at Becky's finishing up some last minute things before I hit the road back to IL. It's been a great weekend, and I am ever thankful for the friends I have here. Much love for this city & its people. ♥

See you soon!

xo | cmd