The Inherent Consequences of Blueberry Donuts

I pretty much ate my way through my hometown last week. It was glorious! For whatever reason (namely a large and vibrant Italian community -seriously the greater Y-town area has literally 189 Italian festivals per year), Youngstown has some of the best food in the world. I feasted on pasta and Italian greens and wings and hot chips and Handles ice cream... But my favorite indulgence is always blueberry donuts from White House Fruit Farms. 

These things are a gift from God himself. I literally ate half a dozen over the course of a couple days. Consequently, despite the fact that I made myself go on two pretty decent runs while I was away, my pants were a little snug by the end of the trip (totally worth it, by the way). 

What are some of your favorite hometown foods?

Friends 2.0

This is my friend Katie. We grew up together, were college room mates (that's a picture of us at Miami circa 2000), were in each other's weddings, etc. Katie lives in Baltimore now and I haven't seen her since before Harper was born. That's just not right.

I got to see Katie when I went back to Boardman last week. We were both in town visiting family. And what was even better than seeing Katie, was meeting her daughter, Anna! Harper and Anna were fast friends.

Katie and I also got to see our friend, Mandy. Her little girl, Lydia, is about a month older than Harper. They were two peas in a pod! Lydia graciously let Harper and Anna play on her awesome swing set.

Anna was not too sure about all of the picture taking. But as you can see, Lydia and Harper have done this sort of thing before.

Can I just tell you how surreal it was to watch our girls play with each other while we sat in the shade laughing about middle school and high school memories? (Thanks to the dads, Ralph and Seth, for playing with the girls while us moms sat in the shade!)

The moral of this story is that reconnecting with old friends is wonderful. I have a feeling that I'm going to be doing more of this kind of thing soon.

Ohio

Harper and I are spending a few days at my parents' house in Northeastern Ohio. I grew up here and I always love coming back. Every time I visit this place, I feel like my mind is going a million miles an hour trying to incorporate the old with the new. It's all good stuff, but it definitely takes me a couple days to wrap my brain around everything. 

I took this picture this morning. I grew up in that house. Now, my daughter sleeps in my old room and I get the guest room. A lot has changed since I left home. 

Random Ohio Thoughts

Going back to my home town as an adult is always a great but strange experience. I feel like I'm in a time warp. Everything looks relatively the same, but I am a completely different person than the 18 year old who left 11 years ago. Going away and then coming back provides a nice perspective on things. Here are some things (mostly trivial and random) that I thought about while I was home.

• I love pedicures, but I'm always conflicted about the fact that it's another human's job to wash my feet and paint my toe nails.
• Hands down - white bread tastes way better than wheat bread. If you don't agree, you are just fooling yourself.
• The farm country of Northeast Ohio is some of the most beautiful landscape in the world.
• It's vitally important to keep in touch with your extended family even if they live far away. You share experiences and have an understanding that no one else in the world can match.
• Not being able to just fix my baby when she is sick is the hardest thing about being a parent for me.
• Having a beer with an old friend from high school is good for your heart.

Home Again

Well, our trip back to my home town didn't quite turn out how I wanted it to. On Thursday, Harper came home from baby school with a runny nose. No big deal (or so I thought). By Saturday night, I was contemplating taking her to the emergency room. Don't worry. She's fine - just a respiratory infection and an ear infection. Although Harper wasn't 100% we did manage to do a couple things while we were home.

My mom and I took Harper to Boardman Park to swing on the swings. This kid loves to swing.

We also went to my aunts house to have dinner with my grandma, my cousin and her children, and my mom and dad of course. Dinner was soooo good. No one makes pasta sauce like my family does. The highlight for Harper was making a new friend.

We also managed to squeeze in a trip to a Boardman institution - Handles Homemade Ice Cream. This is the best ice cream in the whole world. If you think that your local ice cream is better, it's only because you haven't had Handle's yet. Celebrities like Oprah and Bill Cosby have it delivered to them. National Geographic recently named it one of the best ice cream shops in the country. I got a single scoop of cake batter ice cream in a sugar cone and the girl literally put three scoops of ice cream on the cone. When she handed it to me, I said "Is this a single scoop?" and she said "Yep." And guess how much it cost. $2.00, not $4.00 like all of the big chain ice cream places. $2.00. Perfect.

For as sick as Harper was, she was a real trooper. We'll just have to make another trip home to do all of the things we missed out on this time around.

Off The Grid

We are headed up to Northeastern Ohio this morning. Going to spend a long weekend with my family. Harper has a nasty cold and was up half the night, so the flight should be fun... Anyway, I'm not taking my laptop and I'll have limited internet access. So, I may disappear for a few days. But, I promise to take lots of pictures and tell you all about our trip when we get back. Talk to you soon!

Let It Snow

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village, though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark, and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

This Robert Frost poem is one of my all time favorites. While I am enjoying the mild Nashville winter so far (it was 59°F yesterday, and yes I know it's not officially winter yet), I do miss the lake effect snow of my youth. These pictures were taken (not by me) in Mill Creek Park - one of the best things about the town I grew up in.