Easter in Cincinnati!

April 15-17, 2022

Dear Blog,

This weekend I ran away from Los Angeles... to Cincinnati. Now, I know what you're thinking: why? Well, when your three-day weekend coincides with your sister's first full-stage performance in 2 years, you stop asking questions and just book the flight.

I left work on Thursday night in time to race home, make a quick grilled-cheese-and-tomato-soup dinner, and scoop up my bag. Marco gallantly drove me to the airport and I made my 10pm flight!

My arrival at 5am (local time) was a little wonky. I didn't realize how remote the CVG airport in Kentucky would feel compared to LAX, so it took more time than it should have to find any car service willing to pick me up and take me to Cincinnati.

Mom let me sleep in at the hotel, and I woke up around 10:30 with Rose *inches* from my face telling me to "wake up, wench!"

Thanks.

But she made up for it with the best brunch location I could have imagined.

Taste of Belgium!

I might need to work on learning how to add videos or gifs to my page, but in the meantime, here's a boomerang of the fun mimosas we got! You have to start your mini vacation right, right?

Rose: Passionfruit and pineapple

Mom: Strawberry, basil, lemonade

Lillie: Chambord (raspberry liqueur)

Waiting for our Uber. Rose picked our next stop, a surprise activity!

And we rolled up to The Candle Lab! A candle-making experience.

Mom and I had never been here before, so Rose showed us all the tricks.

First you go and smell the smells, listing all your favorites on a little clipboard. Don't be shy, pick the craziest ones! List them all! You can narrow it down later. There were candles that smelled like actual dirt from the garden and sparkling ginger ale fresh from a can, and the more classics like "vanilla bean" and "spearmint".

Then you're set up at the bar and given a label to name your candle and decorate while the supplies and ingredients were collected. Rose and I picked matching candle holders, and I named mine Giselle and covered the label with flowers. After all, it is the grand event of the weekend!

Here are the ingredients I settled on for my masterpiece. Rose, having made a light and floral scent on her last visit here, went the opposite route and chose "coffee bean, vanilla bean, and dark chocolate" which turned out to be a nice and cozy, warm combination.

Leaving our candles to set for two hours, we took ourselves down the street to wander into shops. I'd like to note that almost every shop we looked in, there were twisty candles, like unicorn horns. Must be the new thing!

Also, I replaced my iphone recently with the new 13 pro max and so far I'm pretty happy with the photo quality. Still figuring it out!

I never did stop long enough to figure out why there's a blue-footed booby here, snuggled between these two shops.

And, with a couple more bags in hand, we went back to pick up our candles! Happy sisters!

Heading back to campus, (the fancy building in the below image is actually a local high school), we made a quick stop at Rose's apartment so she could unladen herself on her way to the theater for her performance.

Here we have Rose and Mom searching for *anything* they can use to put Rose's bouquet in. I believe they settled on some nice big plastic cups, since there were no vases at hand.

But not before I could use them as props to show off my new candle! Taadaa!

And then we went and dropped Rose off in the dance wing of the conservatory, so she could start getting ready for the show.

(Many selfies were taken this weekend.)

Merde, Rose!

While you were busy putting on your tutu and pointe shoes, Mom and I took ourselves to dinner at the Drunken Taco and got heaping plates of... tacos.

They were delicious.

And then we came to see the show!

No photos or videos allowed, obviously, so I've gone and borrowed a few images from Instagram so you can see what went on.

And I arrived on the perfect day, because there was a meet-and-greet with the dancers after the Friday night performance! So, naturally, I went and met Rose.

And she met all her adoring fans.

And after it was all over, we went back to the Drunken Taco and fed her chips and queso (per her request).

Phew! Long day... let's do it again!

It being an exceptionally chilly Saturday morning in April, we found ourselves in the back booth of Waffle House. Something LA doesn't have! And they serve grits, another thing LA is lacking.

(Peep my grits)

We made a quick detour to see the room Rose is going to rent this summer while she stays in Cincinnati. This is the view from her porch!

I find the area around Cincinnati and her campus fascinating. The architecture is gorgeous and classic but also haunting and oftentimes abandoned, so I took some pictures to set the scene.

Next, we got a tour around campus. It was nice and quiet, since most college students are asleep on Saturday mornings anyway.

I believe these are the parts of campus Rose does not frequent, as she spends most of her time in the conservatory.

A gorgeous spring morning, (if a little windy)!

'Fit check! Outfit of the day:

With some time to spare, we went over to check out the Historic Findlay Market. Super cute!

The market itself is housed inside this long, skinny covered building, with all sorts of vendors lining the walls selling things from fresh meats and vegetables, to pastries, tacos and Greek gyros!

Of course, we were the most interested in the pastry options. Look at the teeny pies and cheesecakes! And we found a littler version of yesterday's breakfast (though we didn't stop for waffles this time).

I did, however, fall for a chocolate torte which they wrapped up in a little box for me.

Rose went for a different route and opted for the stand displaying tiny bundt cakes, choosing two of the strawberry.

We continued wandering around, making all the necessary stops.

Rose found this ring with "eyes" on it.

My favorite part of the day: we noticed a sign advertising tea and wandered into the most wonderful tea shop I've ever seen. The organization was meticulous, and just look at that board of selections! It's locally owned but they do sell online, and the people behind the counter were the most helpful and knowledgeable about every tea you could have asked for.

I picked "vanilla grapefruit," Mom got "French vanilla," and Rose ordered a "white Georgia peach" (or something similar, we can't remember). Hers smelled like a peach pie, it was delicious. Mom's was a warm and comforting tea, and mine was the perfect taste for a light spring day.

Now I know where I'll order all my teas from!

Here's a link for safe keeping: https://churchillsteas.com/

Eventually Rose had to pirouette off to the theater to get ready for her next performance, but Mom and I stuck around and sipped our teas. I bought Rose a mint plant for post-show. (If she doesn't have any vases and we've run out of cups, then it doesn't make sense to buy her more flowers. At least the mint plant comes in its own container.)

A peaceful Saturday.

Post-show mint plant party!

And then we went to post-show dinner with the Mitchells, where the mint served as a nice table centerpiece. Truly a multipurpose plant.

So much fun!!! Let's do it again tomorrow!

Ok so "tomorrow" we woke up on Easter Sunday, put on our Sunday Best and hopped, skipped, and twirled to the Sleepy Bee Cafe for breakfast!

Unfortunately and due to a long list of unforeseeable events, Dad, Charlotte and Max missed their flight out of New York to join us, so while we waited for them to hop on the next flight (it's a super quick trip from NY to OH), we perused the menu.

100/10 would recommend. There was not a bad bite of food on any plate in the vicinity. My bacon was candied with maple syrup, my roasted potatoes were doused in a light garlic sauce, the pancake was fluffy with spiced apples and crunchy hemp granola... I'd go back to Cincinnati just for this breakfast.

Happy Lillie!

Aaaaand... TAADAA!! Easter family photo! Everybody made it to mass! Happy Easter! Hooray!

Rose had to leap off to the theater, so we made a quick detour to Waffle House to make sure the rest of our crew had been properly fed.

And to the theater ourselves for one last show!

We got there a little early...

Siblings supporting siblings!

And post-show with my sister, the selfie-stick. The family went back to the Drunken Taco for a late lunch, early dinner, while I hiked up my bag and whirled off to the airport with tacos-to-go. Did you know TSA will allow tacos through the scanner? Well now you do.

I had a layover in Detroit, where my flight was delayed two hours, and I arrived in LA at 2am.

But my flight crew was dressed up for Easter, I got a window seat, and Marco picked me up on the other end.

:)