Ohio: Part Deux!

Serious picspam ahead, because the last two days of my Ohio trip were pretty epic. So epic that I'm going to break it down into two entries. All the pics really don't even cover the two days totally, but they give a quick glimpse! If you're on my Facebook, you've seen a lot more :) (And most of these are posted on there too, so you're getting a double dose.)

The twin cousin & I hit wineries on Saturday - and when I say we hit wineries, I mean we went wine tasting at 7 wineries in a span of 6 hours. Do we get some sort of award for this?! We were pretty proud of this....

And after all that, we still had the energy to go to one of our cousin's gigs and hang out with family for a little while. Bad ass, we are indeed. But one of the best days ever. Everyone should be so fortunate to have a cousin they grew up with & are still best friends with almost 30 years later!

We started the day off by -- surprise! Taking a self portrait in the Target parking lot!

If there was only one photo to describe our day, it would be this! This first winery even gave us goldfish! 

The gorgeous background behind us at winery 2, 3....I can't even remember!

What I DO remember there though is this stuff. Iced Concord.  How much do I rave about my beloved concord wine?! And this is ICED?! Total heaven. I could have had this all day! 

But, we had plans, and had to head off to the next winery --- and even in the rain, we found gorgeous places to hang out outside to enjoy our wine! 

At some point during the day, we stopped at the restaurant at the winery & got some food. And our appetizer was this awesome bread with Olive Oil & Balsamic tasting tray. Have you ever seen a better idea in your life? No, you haven't. It was agreed that White Balsamic & Roasted Garlic were the winners!

On the way to one of the wineries, we stopped by one of my childhood homes! We lived here when I was a little shit, before we moved to Florida, and I still remember it. 

When we made it to the Firehouse Winery on Geneva on the Lake, it was only slightly raining, so we got to sit outside & listen to a seriously terrible musician! But we totally got a cute video out of it, so it was worth the torture, right? Also, this stuff we got with our wine cups was some sort of wine with like sprite & something else. It was one of the best drinks you'll ever have. 

What's that? Another cute picture of me and my cousin? Yes, yes it is. 

For our grand finale, we stopped at the Spring Hill Winery (which I INSTANTLY recognized. Props for a good memory! My mom used to buy apples at this place!), and got wine SLUSHIES! Heaven, I tell you. Brainfreeze too.

A short time later we were hanging out with our family at my cousin Nick's gig -- visiting with my Aunt Cookie & Uncle Paul!

three of us cousins

with my cousin Nick

Nick doing his thing!

Sooooo much fun, and so great to catch up with more of the family. We ended the trip with a cookout at Uncle Scott & Aunt Faye's, so that's up next!

Week recap....

This has been a super busy week! I'm so lame during the week, I usually sit at home and watch my shows.  This week I stayed out....

Tuesday I took short stuff to Opry Mills theater (you know, his "second home") to see Smurfs 2.  Seriously cute movie--- I love all the old stuff coming back! As we sat there before the movie, Kadin goes "Aunt Nicole, have you ever watched the old Smurfs?" and I said "Dude, that was on TV when your mom and I were little" --- and his eyes got so huge and he said "REALLY?!" - I love this kid. Guess it's time to dig the Smurfette pillow from the 80's out of my closet - it was my sisters, and we found it at my Granny's house when she passed away, so I brought it home. Kadin will totally freak.

I'm hearing they are doing a Smurfs 3 -- I kinda hope they stop with 2. There's only so many storylines they can fit in a 2 hour movie.

I say it all the time, but I could just eat this boy up. Cutest boy ever. 

Wednesday, Samantha, Paige & I went to see "We're the Millers" - critics can say whatever they want about this movie, but it was BEYOND hysterical, we laughed so hard we cried. Not to mention, I love love love me some Jason Sudeikis. It's totally worth seeing. And stay for the outtakes in the credits, especially if you loved watching Friends ;)

Zanies was on the schedule twice this week - Thursday for Victoria Jackson, Saturday for Bobcat Goldthwait! Both were absolutely hysterical. Larry had never been to Zanies and always wanted to go, so he & I went for Victoria, and then Mom & Sis came along for Bobcat.

Victoria was so hilarious -- and thankfully, left out most of her politics in her stand up routine. She did so many of her SNL skits, and sang some hilarious songs she wrote -- pretty perfect for Nashville. And coincidentally, she wrote a song about Nashville too. (Which had a perfect line about "that show Nashville" messing some places up for the locals hahaha)

I was super excited to see Bobcat - he has made some hilarious movies! While a lot of people mention Police Academy when they bring up his film, my personal favorite that I will forever associate him with is Burglar! Seriously, if you've never seen Burglar with Whoopi Goldberg, run out and get it - he steals every scene he's in! He didn't let us down in his standup routine - he was on for about an hour and a half, and there were so many people that were in tears from laughing so hard. 

with my sissy before the show!

After such a busy week, I'm enjoying a lazy Sunday! Soooo here's a little Sunday Social!

1. When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up? I totally wanted to be a Country Singer, I was absolutely positive I was going to be just like PL. 

2. What was your favorite way to kill time as a kid? Usually in my room, listening to music, or taking a bike ride. 

3. When did you get your first cell phone? When I was 16. I had a pager before that, and after I turned 16 and got a car, I had an accident not too terribly long after. My parents got me a phone immediately following my car accident.

4. What is your favorite magazine to read? Glamour

5. What is the one random object people would be surprised to find in your purse? If you don't know me - my camera & extra lenses, and a lens for my iPhone. If you know me tthough, you wouldn't be surprised by that :P 

Weekend Catch up....

Happy Monday! It's a "time to sit down and look over the calendar" morning -- when did August get so busy?!

Saturday we took the kiddos to see Despicable Me 2 - and we all loved it as much as the kids did! It was totally cuter than the first one, and we cracked up. They are making some seriously funny kids movies lately. Is there anything funnier than the Minions!?

This entire scene had the whole family cracking up --- so hilarious & adorable.  

There are SO many movies coming out we want to see --- and being the movie freaks we are, we're headed BACK to the theater tomorrow & Wednesday. Tomorrow we're taking Kadin to see The Smurfs 2:

Because he talked about it ALL.DAY Saturday. And I made the mistake of saying "I'll take you to Opry Mills to see it" -- and most of you know his deep love for that damn theater there that he calls "his second home" --- so all afternoon I got the "SO, Aunt Nicole, when did you want to take me to Opry Mills?" So freaking spoiled.

I finally upgraded my iPhone 4 to the 5 over the weekend (hooray for a better battery! Man I love my iPhone, but I was really going to throw the 4 through the window for the horrible battery life I had! I know, my phone is glued to my hand, but that was the worst battery life in any phone I've ever had!), so Kadin had to play with it, and had to test out the camera on it at lunch...

My boy is growing up! Aunt Nicole is not liking this at all :(

And after a cute pic, he said "Cross your eyes or stick your tongue out!"

love love love this boy. 

That sums up our Saturday! A day with the fam, and smooching on my sweet boy, can't ask for a better day than that. 

Sunday Funday....

It's a lazy Sunday afternoon....this morning I got up a little early to head over to Watertown for a session. This couple is one of my favorites to work with - their past sessions couldn't have been any easier, and she was by far one of the best brides I've ever worked with! Today we shot at their property, and explored some of the land, which is absolutely gorgeous, rustic & out in the country. These times just remind me even more how much I love living in the south. Towards the end of their session, we brought the dogs out to be included - and then headed to the back to include the chickens. And as I cull the images and edit, the one with the chickens is just absolutely one of my favorites:

I love this place.

A little Sunday Social time....



1. What are 3 items you can't live without on a daily basis (water, food, shelter, and clothes don't count)?
iPhone, camera & eyeliner

2. What is your all time favorite book? Why?
The Great Gatsby. I was such a book nerd as a kid, I read all the time. I am so so glad this was on summer reading, because I fell in love with the story. And surprisingly, I loved the movie too!

3. What is something you'd like to accomplish before the end of 2013?
Put my degree to use. We'll see how this plays out.

4. If you could go back and relive any year of your life which year would it be?
This is kind of hard because the past year has been pretty awesome. I guess 1998, the year my niece was born. It was pretty magical becoming an aunt. Not to mention, we watched her, so I saw her every single day of the week, and usually on weekends since I was at my sisters when she wasn't here! And of course, 2002 would follow, when the nephew was born. Not only was it a great time for the entire family, being in the delivery room and watching my nephew take his first breath is definitely one of those moments you never forget.

5. What do you wish people knew about you without you having to tell them?
That I'm seriously allergic to onions, and no I don't just not like them and playing an "allergy card". It would be great to not have to dissect my food and make sure there's no onions on it before I eat :) 

Happy Sunday!

Ohio! Part 1

August is officially here! My favorite month - and it's not just because I really love my birthday and celebrate all month long (no really, we pretty much are celebrating all month long this year! I may be an end of August baby, but I'm still an August baby and I hate celebrating my birthday in September!)- but I really love how HOT August is too!

You know, I travel a lot. We are always taking weekend trips everywhere we can - so I really should be accustomed to packing and unpacking. But for some reason, when I come home, it takes me FOREVER to unpack and get situated. Mom & I got home Monday night from our trip to Ohio, and I may or may not be partially living out of my suitcase still. I'm such a slacker, I know.

Some pretty great picspam from my fabulous Ohio trip ahead..... We had such a great time. I have a lot of Aunts & Uncles on my fathers side (compared to my mom's side, where I only have one of each), which means I have a lot of cousins. And, as it often happens when you don't live in the same area with your extended family - I don't keep up with a lot of my cousins. Well, I say that, but I guess I actually do "keep up" with a majority of my cousins - I'm just not close to them all. However, my cousin Emily & I have been partners in crime  since we were little.  It's been a year and a half since I had seen her, when I flew out to California for our Epic Thanksgiving adventure in 2011, so we were totally overdue for a visit! Not to mention, I was super stoked at getting some time in with my Uncle Scott, Aunt Faye, Cousin Dan & his wife Alice & all their boys! (Especially since I hadn't seen some of them in a few YEARS!) I won't be back until December, which isn't the ideal time to be able to be out in my Aunt's AMAZING back yard garden & play with the boys, so this trip was so perfect.

I know, I know, it's a long post --- I will break it down ;) Here's our first two days of vacation!

Before we went to see anyone, we went straight to the cemetery. Honestly, I think we had to mentally prepare ourselves for this moment - it's just never going to feel right to have to go to the cemetery to see my precious granny! 

Hanging out with my Aunt June & Uncle Gay. Seriously, are they not totally adorable?

Nothing better than baby toes! The split second Alice and Dan brought the boys to my Uncle Scott's house  and put them down, I started snapping toe pics. 

This was the HOORAY! TWIN COUSINS REUNITED pic!

Playing with my sweet cousin Gavin.  Probably one of the coolest kids you'd ever meet!

Aidan is such a great kid - such a good big brother! The last time I saw him he was a baby, and my cousin Emily might have had to pry him away from my aunt to give him to me --- hooray for having four kids to spoil and play with this time, there was plenty to go around ;)

I know ladies, Jacob is probably making your ovaries ache right now. We've been joking about his Gerber baby pose in the lower picture. I could EAT THIS BABY UP!

I could eat THIS baby up too - Baby Lucas is so precious. Look at those eyes!

For lunch Friday, we went to a Geneva on the Lake staple - Eddie's Grill. Love this place...and my Granny was a frequent visitor to this place -- to the point that we had to call Eddie when she passed away to let him know. He loved her! 

They have some pretty fab burgers, mixed with great fries -- which taste amazing with vinegar (try it, you'll thank me), and last but not least - the best root beer you'll ever have, even if you don't like RB!

We got some time in at the lake....how beautiful is that!?

twin cousin selfie at the beach. This is pretty much how we are the entire time we're together. Well, that's when we're not obnoxiously singing (more on THAT later, we might have made some pretty epic videos this weekend. 

and then we went on the playground and acted like 4 year olds together. deja vu! 

Love this girl!  And if these pics aren't enough to show our fun....the video below should, just make sure to scroll over it and turn the volume on in the top left corner ;)

We went to dinner with our old neighbors Friday night --- neighbors I actually have a ton of memories of! 

And then we hit some local spots! Cheers from Billy's Martini Bar! RUN there and get the cherry kiss martini, because you'll die at how amazing it is.

I don't even remember where we were at this one! Maybe at "Just One More", where we went after checking out Em's new apartment? All I know is it was another moment where one of us got our phones out & we both instantly posed. We're pretty awesome like that ;)

Proof that Emily got me, the non beer drinker, to try a beer! No really, this never happens!

That sums up my Thursday & Friday in Ohio pretty much! Now to enjoy Friday night at home - tomorrow it's movies with the sis, Mom & Kiddos again! Happy weekend!