Day 3 of Trip

On day 3 of our trip to Ohio, we slept in and took an early lunch at Allyn's Cafe. Allyn's Cafe is a great little Cajun place in Cincinnati that I wish were closer so I could have lunch there every Saturday. Not only is the food amazing...I had the Mardi Gras Pasta and Robert has the Blacken Chicken Quesadilla...but they have a great, friendly staff.

We then headed off to Jungle Jim's, a place that is as big as Costco but is an actual grocery store. This store has everything you could possibly want...beer from places you can only imagine, a hot sauce section that is 4 isles and listed in alphabetical order, and a snack section that you could spend days in. Robert got beef jerky in wild flavors like Alligator, Kangaroo, and Venison. He also stocked up on hot sauces that made him sweat for hours and burnt off some of his taste buds. ;-) I grabbed the most amazing, large, blackberries that I couldn't get enough of them!

From there we drove up to my hometown to go bowling with my parent, my best friend Trisha, and her four boys that range in age from 2 to 10 years old. Bowling was fun, especially when playing pass the "baby" with Trisha's youngest. And teaching the boys how to bowl and watching them get better with each game.

After bowling we went to Marion's Pizza and got to catch up a little more with Trisha and the boys. The boys were so excited to here that the next day Robert would be coming with me to visit. They love playing video games and with Robert coming over they couldn't wait to challenge him on the Wii.

Tune in tomorrow to to find out who won the video game challenge and what happened on our last day in Ohio.

Photo of the Week - Frank

Frank is another mid-western transplant that not only is a joy to chat with but also speaks fluent Italian. Which trying to learn the language myself, I have great admiration for him! He works with one of the locale Italian schools, go to www.Italianclasses.com to find out more about the school. In addition he has a brother that live in Italy full time and a wonderful wife, Katie, who organized his birthday party with his kids, grand kids, and brother.

Check out the photo of Katie and Frank here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rhondagiedt/3807819999/

What's been going on...

Well it has been a crazy few weeks with a vacation, a destination wedding, and a local wedding back in the Bay Area. So I thought I would recap everything over the next several days. The trip started on July 23rd and we headed to Ohio to visit my friends and family.

Day 1 and 2 of the trip
Flying to Ohio takes all day. You get up before the crack of dawn, feed the dog, say bye to the cats, and beg a friend to drive you to the airport at 5am. (Thanks Susan!) You then sit on a plane forever and a day to arrive in Ohio. We had a layover...and when I say layover I mean we barely made the connection for our flight...in Dallas. This layover was just an excuse for our bags to not make the connection and start off our trip with a bang. Luckily though, my hubby was smart and we packed extra clothes just in case this happened.

Once we got to Ohio, we headed to the hotel and then off on what has become a tradition with Robert and I. Robert was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area so he has not experienced a lot of the chain restaurants that Ohio has. Therefore, on our yearly trips back, we try new restaurants that he hasn't been to. For our first meal in the mid-west, we headed to Bufflo Rings & Wings. Anyone that knows my husband knows that he loves hot and spicy food...especially hot sauces. And Buffalo Rings & Wings didn't disappoint. With their atomic sauce he was sweating and sucking down "pop" (or soda as we call it out here) like no tomorrow.

With a nice meal we headed back to the hotel to rest up for the next day. On day 2 of our trip, Robert played a round of golf at Beavercreek Golf Club and enjoyed every minute of it. I got to take a trip down memory lane by going through old photos with my Mom and packing them up to ship back home. But of course, I couldn't stop in Ohio without going to Skyline Chili. I love this chili so much that I have it shipped out to me in California, but nothing beats the real thing in the resturant.

After picking up Robert from golf, we headed back to Cincinnati to go to my favorite resturant, The Precinct. This is absolutely the best steak in the world...don't believe me, grab a flight and go try it. It's worth the flight! There is no steak that can touch what they do at The Precinct and the staff is so wonderful that you never ever want to leave. And to top it off, we hadthe nicest note from the manager, Chris, when we arrived back home. Thank you Chris and everyone at The Precinct for such a wonderful time.

Check back tomorrow as I continue to recap our time away with stories and photos from the trip!

Kiauna & DeDan Engagment Photos

I received a call from Kiauna telling me that her fiance had found the perfect spot for engagement photos at a place called Marcom Rose Amphitheater in Oakland. I was so excited that the groom was getting involved in the pictures! And wow what a place he picked! I fell in love with this location as soon as I saw it. Here is a little sneak peak at some of their engagement photos.

Engagement Photo Sneak Peak for Sonya & Ken

The engagement photography session for Sonya and Ken took place on a a beautiful day in Oakland...even if it was a little hot. The two are getting married this September at this gorgeous church in Oakland. For their engagement pictures we took photos at the church as well as near Tilden Park Botanical Gardens. Not only did I love this location but I loved the color of Sonya's dress, it was the perfect dress for a summer engagement photo session!

Congrats Sonya and Ken! I can't wait until your wedding day but for now, enjoy this sneak peak of your engagement photos!

Photo of the Week - Yummy Corn

Summer is in full swing and that means picnics, sun, fun and.....corn. At least this little one is enjoying his corn on the cob!

Here is wishing everyone savors summer as much as he does!

Photo of the Week - Filoli

As you know Filoli is one of my favorite places to photograph! I went there last week and their rose garden is in full bloom. The rose are amazing, but I also found this area at Filoli to be amazing. The lavender and combination of designs made this a true haven within an already beautiful place.

Here is the photo of the week (and a few more to enjoy too):


And the roses...