This [slightly backdated entry] might take a while.
I truly don't believe me telling the tale of today is going to do
any sort of justice to how
happy I really am right now.
My friends from Illinois & Virginia are here, and we have wasted no time since they arrived.
I suppose the best way to tackle this would just be chronologically. So, deep breath, and... go.
➊ || Breakfast. This was a null question as far as
where we would go; Taste of Belgium is the only contender for breakfast whenever we have visitors, especially first-timers. I wanted to wait until tomorrow when Marianne would be with us, too, but she's on the Daniel fast for Lent right now and wouldn't have been able to enjoy it with us... so... yeah.
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| "i'll just take the usual, please..." |
➋ || With breakfast out of the way, our next order of business was basically a blank slate. I decided that since we were already in OTR, it was the perfect opportunity for a visit at Findlay Market. We ran into Becky just briefly, and I was able to say hello to Mike, too, super-awkwardly as I was being overly self-conscious about knowing the details for his
surprise birthday party later in the evening. Hah. I don't think Market will
ever get old, and I love that.
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| [photo by marianne ;) ] |
➌ || Down the street from Market: Rhinegeist. I had forgotten that
Bockfest was this weekend, which meant an overabundance of extra people literally
everywhere. It's not a bad thing; really it makes the place feel fully alive with families, friends and even pets. Of course Rhinegeist in and of itself is a playground worth mentioning, so we were fine spending the nearly three hours there that we did.
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| friendssss! |
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| a bunch of outta-towners & some cornhole |
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| hiya! |
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| my soulless, naturally-ginger, acca-amazing best (: |
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| [my] better half! |
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| "and now the brown folks will demonstrate brand loyalty..." |
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| yay, home brew! |
➍ || Eden Park. The Donald A. Spencer Overlook is still my favorite place in Cincinnati; I don't know that that will ever really change. While I honestly wouldn't declare it a majestic view or breathtaking vantage point, a part of my heart will always stay on that hill. I wasn't always as level-headed and in touch with myself as I am [on my way to being] now; there were many days and evenings spent sitting on that wall, alone to regenerate and reflect on a direction that I'm just now starting to actually find. I'm more than happy to share that with the people I love.
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| eden park || donald a. spencer overlook || cincy, oh |
➎ || Jungle Jim's. Rob peeled off between Rhinegeist and this part of the mission, since he was on the bike and a chill was setting in. Plus, I've dragged him to JJ plenty of times, so he's plenty familiar with the labyrinth that is JJ. I of course picked up some mochi, edamame and hummus before I left, but I more enjoyed the reactions and purchases of my visiting friends.
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first stop: the restroom.
& good friends don't let friends go at life alone... |
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| ali & her cheee-eeeeeese! |
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| in honor of the not-yet-here marianne... |
➏ || Eli's BBQ. Again, this is a no-brainer for infrequent visitors. Marianne's still not here, so we took advantage again of being able to inhale the sweet barbequed loveliness of Eli's without the accompanying guilt trip.
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| eli's retrieval crew ;) |
➐ || INSERT MARIANNE
HERE. Yes, that's right, she's HERE. The four of them are here. And that makes me happy. So. Very. Freakin' Happy!
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| this girl.. is here! |
➑ || Mike's [SURPRISE!] Birthday Party!! Becky invited us some number of weeks ago to what would be a surprise birthday celebration for Mike, held at Jenn & Jordan's farm out in the western plains of Cinci. The gap of time between Marianne walking in the door and us all walking right back out was just a matter of minutes; we were soon en route via the truck to help celebrate Mike's 50th birthday. Oh, and did I mention there were baby goats and bonfires [not...
combined, though]? Because there were. And it was all... just... perfect.
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| baby goats. |
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| bonfires + friends!! |
Here are some ways to treat your friends at a bonfire goat birthday party:
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| diversify them ;) |
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| synchronize them |
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| ♥ them. |
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| chop them. |
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| laugh with them. |
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| wonder... at them.. |
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| laugh more with them. |
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| admire, respect & thank them. |
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| take pictures of them.. taking pictures of you. |
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| appreciate them, wholly |
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| let them... go hiking? |
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| & creep them! |
Haha. They... are the best. ♥ Happy birthday, Mike!
➒ || OTR. Okay, so this probably wasn't the highlight of our night, but I promise I had good intentions. My plan was to introduce my friends to the soulful goodness that is
Magnolia Sons, the band from Tennessee that frequents The Drinkery on the first Saturday of each month. They are so contagiously energetic, and I knew my friends would dig it. The reason I don't often make concrete plans like this is because of unforeseen hiccups like tonight: a] MS only played for the
first half of the evening; the second half was booked by some other still-fun-but-definitely-not-MS ensemble, and b] it's Bockfest. There were lines of night-owls around the block at most places, which was a nightmare once you actually got inside. Sardines in a can. No good. We passed the time by pushing through crowds and taking a couple pictures before we wised up and headed home.
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| these girls..♥♥ |
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| & they're the three best friends that anyone could ha--- what? |
➓ || Family photos!! Duh... SO, almost one year ago to the date [25 April 2013], we were all gathered at Ali's house in Collinsville, and the cameras were out in full force. We captured an unplanned photo that would be coined the Awkward Family Photo for the rest of its existence. Our one goal of the entire weekend was to recreate that. Mission. Accomplished:
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| 25 april 2013 |
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| 08 march 2014 |
Things that make me a bit sad: Ali, Tim & Damanji are leaving in the morning, due to some obligations they have back home tomorrow evening.
Things that mildly counteract that sadness: Marianne will be here until Monday. There's nothing like a slow withdrawal.
Things that remind me it's all ok?: We're doing this again in September before Tim ships out to Korea. We'll all
really cry then.
For now, gooooood night to a truly amazing day!
xo |
cmd
