Well, at least I worked out today.

Lately when I've been watching tv I've been catching glimpses of this trailer and I CANNOT WAIT to see it! It was filmed on the Na Pali so I know it's gonna have gorgeous scenery if nothing else. So, so excited about it. So excited.

In other news, the OG employee picnic is tomorrow. I think it'll be a lot of fun. Rumor has it that there will be a sno-cone machine making an appearance. I have my fingers crossed. I'll let you know.

And by the way, if you haven't tried the new dessert Berries and Zabaione -- you're missing out! Seriously, people. It's the perfect summer dessert. I had some of that after I got some Grilled Shrimp Caprese and I thought my stomach was going to implode.

Thank goodness it's a seasonal dessert.

Get a drink - this is a lengthy one.

Yesterday and today Tim had the day off from work. Of course that means we did lots of good cooking. Actually, that means HE did lots of good cooking, and I assisted/tasted here and there. :) Not a bad position to be in. So let me tell ya what we made.

Well all day yesterday it was really rainy up here. I mean, I seriously think we got at least two inches of rain. It wasn't bad thunderstorms or anything, just a good steady downpour. To me, rainy weather = soup (or chili). So we ended up making a shrimp and corn chowder. Not any recipe in particular, just taste as you go. Oh. My. Goodness. Finger lickin' good. (I know it's not a finger food but just go with it.)

Oh! Let me back this little story up with a grocery store find that I was SUPER excited about. I mean, I wanted to do a cartwheel in the aisles of Jungle Jim's. People. Do you KNOW what I FOUND? I'll tell you. MAUI WINE. Yes, as in Maui, Hawaii. And they had TWO different kinds!! TWO! Maui Blanc (pineapple) and Maui Splash (passionfruit). Of course, I got one of each. That stuff just totally made my week. (Obviously, there's not too much excitement around these parts.) ;) I'm giddy just knowing that it's in my fridge right now.

So, back to the food. Tonight for dinner, Tim made a wonderful salmon entree with some sort of sauteed zucchini and yellow squash teriyaki sauce. All of this to go with the pineapple wine. Delicioso. Wait. I'm not done yet. Dessert was a .... trifle. Actually - I'm not exactly sure what to call it but I'll tell you what we did and then maybe you can figure it out. (Pictures will be posted later.)

First, we made our own lady fingers. That was an interesting process. Then we poked a few holes in them with a fork and drizzled a little Mocha flavored Kahlua and let it soak in while we made the rest of dessert (the other layers). Next comes the pastry cream. Kind of like what you would get in a cream puff I guess. Not heavy like in an eclair. Anyway, I digress.

We drizzled the pastry cream on top of the layer of lady fingers. Then comes blueberry sauce. (I really wish I were better at culinary terms.) I don't know if you would call it a sauce, but it was similar to a blueberry pie filling. Then another layer of lady fingers, then more cream, and then a layer of strawberry "sauce."

The third layer of lady fingers was put in, then another layer of cream, then a thinly-sliced layer of bananas, followed by a cherry-chocolate sauce. (Are you drooling yet?) :) Then a final layer of the pastry cream and then top it off with the last layer of cherry-chocolate drizzleness. So if you're a visual person, it'll look like this:

cherry-chocolate sauce -- top
pastry cream
cherry-chocolate sauce
pastry cream
thin layer of bananas
pastry cream
lady fingers
strawberry sauce
pastry cream
lady fingers
blueberry sauce
pastry cream
lady fingers -- bottom layer
bowl

done.

HOLY COW. It's making me hungry again just thinking about it and typing this. It is so decadent.

Enough talk about food.

Actually, that's the perfect segue to another thing I did this week: Buy a gym membership. :) Lord knows if we keep up this kind of cooking it will definitely come in handy. I went to Fitness 19, the YMCA, and Urban Active and I ended with Urban Active. They had the better value overall. Plus, that's where Tim's membership is so it'll be nice to workout together every now and then.

Now, y'all know I don't like to run unless the building's on fire or something; I'm definitely more of a yoga and spinning kind of gal. But Urban Active has the Cardio Cinema thing which may be just what I need to get off my butt and do more cardio. Imagine this: you are in a dark-ish room (maybe like a movie theater? hmm?), there's a good movie playing (with surround sound), and you have your choice of a treadmill, elliptical, or bike. And you can work out however long you want to. You can watch the whole darn movie and not have to do a sign-up sheet or anything. HOW COOL IS THAT?! I'm so in love with that idea. I know that when I miss a spinning or yoga class, I'll definitely be in there.

So, today we took the dogs to two nearby parks. The first one is next to the school and is going to be the location of the OG employee picnic next week. The other one was more of a nature preserve -- a great little photography spot. The awesome thing is that they're both only about five minutes away! Such great exercise for us and the dogs just walking around checking everything out. (And especially for me to just get out of the house. Whew.)

I can't wait to see what else Cincinnati has in store for us this summer.

Saturday? Already? Really?

I'm not quite sure where the time went this week but it sure did fly by for me. And the funny thing is, I don't really feel like I did a whole lot the past few days. There was the usual looking for jobs, cleaning around the house, then spending time on Etsy, and playing with the dogs in the backyard but somehow, I really still thought today was only Friday. In that case, I've got some catching up to do!

Last night I started working on a Charlotte mini-album (inspired by Elise's NYC mini-album -- except mine is not an "album on the road" since we lived there for a year, but you get the idea). I gave my printer a workout let me tell ya. I went through and picked out my favorite pictures from our time there (I'm sure it's close to 50 right now and I still have a few to get off of Tim's computer) but today, hopefully, I can get all my supplies together and get it started. I'm really excited about it. I haven't done a mini-album in a while. It's been way too long.

And right now, I've got three napping dogs, Tim is watching Delta Farce on Showtime (it is terrible, don't waste your time) and I'm ready for the weekend to start! Happy Saturday!

Newport and an Invisible Fence

This weekend when Tim's parents were in town we decided to go to the Newport Aquarium on Saturday. I totally loved it. There were certain areas where I felt I could have stayed all day and just taken pictures. I can't even remember the last time I went to an aquarium....if ever? I took some fantastic pictures that I plan on uploading soon. Probably will put one or two in the Etsy shop. Give it a few days though.

Anyway, Tim and I ended up getting annual passes to the aquarium, so that's cool. While down in the Newport on the Levee area, we ended up going to Brio for lunch. Also an excellent experience. We will definitely have to explore that area more when we have another weekend (or day) together.

So now, since we have all the dogs together again; we put in an invisible fence. We really weighed all the options and that was the best one of them all, I believe. Especially since we did it ourselves (well, Tim mainly -- I helped a little here and there), we saved a lot of money considering the size of the yard, labor, installation, etc. We got the PetSafe DIY invisible fence. It ended up only costing us about $300 I think. (And about 8 hours of manual labor.) It's only in the backyard so hopefully it'll be enough room for them to run around and get the exercise that they need without us having to worry too much. Layla (of course, it would be her) has already tried and successfully broken through the boundary this afternoon. Hopefully we won't have too many more instances like that. (Darn squirrel in the neighbor's yard.)

Although, I certainly got my exercise.

A Full House Once Again

Our dogs are with us once again. Tim's parents got here Friday afternoon with some rather excited Bella and Layla dogs. We've been going non-stop since then having nothing but fun.

Pictures from the Newport Aquarium and other activities to be posted soon. (Probably after the guests leave and the dust settles.) :)

Etsy Shop Update

New stuff listed in my Etsy shop! I'm so excited to put some new photography on there. It needed a little oomph.

Here's a sneak peek:

I will list one new item every day this week. :) Keep a look out and tell me what you think. Also let me know if there are certain flowers or subjects you'd like to see on there.

Happy Tuesday!

Weekend Photos and a Wii

This little guy has been hanging out in our yard recently and Niko is lovin' it. We won't be seeing him after Bella and Layla get here Friday.

A little boiled shrimp and caprese salad for dinner. Ice cream sandwiches for dessert.

Colerain fireworks over near the high school. Pretty darn good.

And Tim gave in and bought a Wii this weekend. :) We only have two games so far (both are sports) but we enjoy the friendly competition.
Actually, I forgot, we have four games. We downloaded two more the other day: Pong Toss (read: Beer Pong game) and The Legend of Zelda.

Guess who bought those? I'll give you one guess.

As for me, I will keep on puttin' the resume out there and practice more photography.

Maybe today I will scrapbook about my Dad. It's a good day to remember him.

Happy Birthday, America!

I always love a good fireworks show. Makes me think of my Dad. :)

Have fun and be safe!

"You have reached your destination."

Toasting marshmallows in the backyard firepit.

The 50 lb. cactus we inherited with the house.

The living/dining room.

After an eight-hour drive (including a crazy one-hour detour in TN) and lots and lots of unpacking, hanging pictures, and rearranging, we have finally settled in to our new home in Cincinnati. Ahhhh.

And now the job hunt begins!