Happy Birthday to me :)

I celebrated my 27th birthday this week! Wohoo! I love birthdays and absolutely can not understand people who dread their birthday and getting older. Why would you not like to celebrate a day that is all about you??? Jesus gets Christmas and Easter, St. Patrick gets his own day, Cupid gets a day, so why not me? Ha! I had a wonderful birthday lunch with my dad's parents, a delicious dinner with my mom's parents, a fantastic party with my family, and an exciting dinner with Sam at a fondue restaurant. Yum! I highly recommend the Melting Pot to anyone who visits Columbus. It's an entirely fondue-menu restaurant and a romantic place to relax and enjoy an evening. We had a swiss cheese and wine appetizer with bread, veggies, and apples to dip. That was followed by dinner of steak, chicken, shrimp, and more veggies, which we fondued in a spiced vegetable broth. Then, the mecca of all desserts ~ melted chocolate, caramel, and pecans, with strawberries, bananas, pound cake, brownies, cheesecake, graham cracker marshmallows, and Oreo marshmallows to dip. Wow!

Anyways, so 27 years old now and I'm excited for everything this year will hold. Happy birthday to me :)

Wild Wild West

Loading the bullets

Ready, aim, fire!

I did something this weekend that I've never done before and never thought I would ever do....I shot a gun! It was a 22 semiautomatic rifle; heavy, solid frame but no kick-back. Sam and I went to his mom's house in Amanda where there is a plenty of rolling farmland to have a little fun with a gun. I think Sam was just as surprised as I was that I'm actually not a bad shot! Ha! He hung a couple pop cans on tree branches about 100 feet away and I hit the can multiple times, even knocking it off. You can see some of the bullet holes in the last picture where I'm holding the can I shot. As someone who firmly believes the world would be better off without guns, I have to admit, I enjoyed a little target practice :)

The Morgan House

If you're looking for a quaint place to enjoy a "ladies luncheon" with some friends, look no further than the Morgan House in Shawnee Hills. My mom and I have been going there for years now to have a quiet lunch and do some seasonal shopping. It's a very old historic home now turned into a lunch room and store. The menu is what you would think of for a tea house ~ quiche, salad, sandwiches, and soup...nothing "hearty" for men! Ha! Rarely is a man ever spotted in this place, and if one happens to be there, guaranteed he was dragged there by a woman :) I love going to the Morgan House for the shopping - one room dedicated to food items (mixes, teas, kitchen gadgets, hand towels, etc.), another one for boutique items (clothing, shoes, jewelry, furniture), and 3 levels filled floor to ceiling with one-of-a-kind knick-knacks for the home according to whatever holiday/season is coming up. There's so much to look at and it's very easy to find your shopping basket filling up quickly :)

A True Parade

It's St. Patrick's Day weekend and when you live in Dublin, you live it up in style! Saturday was the annual parade, which by the way is ranked in the top 5 St. Patrick's Day parades in the nation, and it was the perfect weather for it. Gorgeous 50 degree temperatures, blue skies, sun...magnificent! I was impressed with all the giant balloons this year. The wind certainly made for a tough time controlling them, but they made the parade seem like I was watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade in NYC....almost :) But, it was definitely better than the last parade I watched - the 4th of July parade in DC - because like a true parade, there was CANDY!!! Just how a parade should be :)

The Ohio "Ice Berry"

As much as I loved Ice Berry in DC, and spent a good amount of time there, I knew I had to find a frozen yogurt place back in Ohio....and I did! It's called Menchie's and it's delicious. I first drove past it on my way to get groceries and then lo and behold, there was a buy one get one free coupon on the back of my grocery receipt, so I knew I was meant to try it. It's different from Ice Berry because it's all self-serve yogurt machines and there are about 10-12 flavors to choose from. You get a dish and fill it with as many flavors as you want, then choose as many toppings as you want from the 40 or so they have, and finally the price is determined by weight. Very good thing to know BEFORE filling your dish to the top!! Frozen yogurt is heavy....and putting a little of every topping on it makes it even heavier. Just a warning. And now I'm off to Menchie's to celebrate Mardi Gras :)

Hayden Run Falls

Hayden Run Falls is located in Dublin, Ohio and is a great little weekend excursion. It's nothing super fancy and there's only one path leading to and from the falls, but it's in a secluded cove along the Scioto River, away from the hustle and bustle of the main road. Worth pulling into the parking lot should you ever find yourself driving along Hayden Run Road :)