End of Cbus52 - Start of This Ohio Life

This is the official end of my blog, Cbus52: Columbus in a Year. Kenneth and I had a wonderful last year in Columbus (we miss you already, Cbus!) and we're ready to start a new adventure in Southwest Ohio.

While this is the end of one blog, it is not the end of my blogging. In a few days I will begin posting to my new blog, This Ohio Life. I enjoyed creating Cbus52 so much, I thought, why stop at Columbus? Why not blog about our entire awesome state?

This Ohio Life will feature restaurant, museum, park and festival reviews, just like Cbus52. I am also starting a new series of recipes featuring local Ohio ingredients. You may even see a review of a Columbus event or two!

Check out my new blog here!

Cleveland Museum of Art

Last month Kenneth and I were able to check out an amazing exhibit featuring one of our favorite artists, Vincent Van Gogh at the Cleveland Museum of Art! Neither of us had ever been to the Cleveland Museum of Art before and we were excited to check it out. The drive from Columbus to Cleveland was a bit long (two hours and forty-five minutes) but it was definitely worth it!

Luck Bros' Coffee House - Grandview Heights

Luck Bros' Coffee House is a hidden gem in Grandview Heights! It's a little off the beaten path, away from Grandview Avenue where several great restaurants and shops reside, Luck Bros' can be found in a little shopping area along 1st Avenue, across from Pierce Field.

Slate Run Historical Farm

Slate Run Living Historical Farm is one of my favorite Columbus Metro Parks! It's actually the first Metro Park Kenneth and I ever visited. We drove up one afternoon from Athens when we were still students at Ohio University. On that visit we were able to watch horse powered grain threshing. 

Mozart's - Clintonville

Mozart's Bakery and Piano Cafe is an Austrian inspired treat in Clintonville. There's something for everyone on the menu! Breakfast include waffles, breakfast sandwiches, omelets and quiche. Other menu items include soup, salad, sandwiches, wiener schnitzel, strudels, spatzle and beef stroganoff. Afternoon tea is served daily from 2 to 4pm and includes three courses of scones, canapes, pastries and tea. In the bakery you'll find a ton of specialty tortes, including the wheat-free Wolfgang, Esterhazy and Ginnsbruck Tortes. The bakery also makes breakfast pastries, European tea cookies, biscotti and adorable petit fours and marzipan peaches.

Goodale Park

Goodale Park is a 30 acre park near downtown Columbus in the Victorian Village. It's the site of the Music in the Air concerts, the annual ComFest and a great place to watch Red, White and Boom. Goodale is the oldest park in Columbus and was donated to the city in 1851 by Lincoln Goodale, for whom the park is named. To learn more about the history of the park, watch these History Videos with Terry Sherburn on the Friends of Goodale Park website.

Urban Plein Air Paintings

Urban Plein Air Painting - Deb Haller

In 2012, the Columbus Public Art initiative commissioned artists from the Central Ohio Plein Air group to paint 24x26 inch murals for the public art display Finding Time. Finding Time included temporary and more permanent artworks exhibited in downtown Columbus for 200Columbus the Bicentennial, the 200th anniversary of the founding of the city. Finding Time included art and events throughout 2012 with work by more than 50 artists both from the central Ohio area and artists from around the globe. I most enjoyed the pieces I was able to see on my drive to work, "Columbus never..." by Janet Zweig and the Bicentennial Towers by David Best on Broad Street Bridge.

Buca di Beppo - Arena District

Buca di Beppo is an eclectic Italian restaurant that focuses on family-style served meals. Serving extra large portions makes this a great option for large groups, which is what we had the evening of Kenneth's Oath and Hooding Ceremony for the Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine. The larger portions makes ordering a little different (especially taking into account all of our dietary restrictions and preferences in our family), but everyone was happy with what they ordered.

Cbus Bloggers Lunch at Cafe Istanbul - Bexley

This past weekend I was able to grab lunch at Cafe Istanbul in Bexley with some of my fellow Columbus bloggers! A few of the lovely ladies I met in February at the Explorer's Club brunch, others were new faces. This blogging get together was organized by Lauren of A Few of My Favorite Things. We had a very long table in the cafe, which was decorated with golden vases, pink flowers and pink and gold placemats - very pretty!

Short North Murals + Public Art in Pictures

Short North Window Shopping in Pictures

Highbanks

Highbanks Metro Park is where I recently had my favorite bird watching moment (to date). Kenneth and I got a really close up look at a Pileated Woodpecker. The bird was about thirty feet from the path. We stood and watched the woodpecker for about ten minutes while I frantically snapped photos (which Google+ turned into a GIF!) and pointed the bird out to other hikers. Some of my other favorite birding moments have been seeing Sandhill Cranes for the first time, getting a really close look at a Northern Saw-whet Owl, watching Carolina Wrens on our apartment balcony and correctly identifying Blue-Winged Warblers the first time I encountered them on a hike. What made seeing the Pileated Woodpecker so special was how long we were able to observe the bird, and how close it was to the pathway. We didn't even need binoculars!

I really enjoy birdwatching - it's a fun and relatively inexpensive hobby. All you need is a bird book, a pair of binoculars and a place to watch birds. This could be a metro park, or your backyard - just throw out some bird seed (or set up a feeder). You might be surprised by what birds show up!

Ohio Pocket

I love my new t-shirt from Ohio Pocket! I got five compliments on it yesterday in the short period of time I was out and about (Kenneth and I are still in the middle of packing!). 

Final Photo of my 365 Day Photo Challenge

This is my last photo of the day for my 365 Day Photo Challenge. I didn't manage to take all 365 photos in 365 consecutive days as I had planned, but that's ok. I was definitely challenged by this project! I love taking photos, but I just didn't feel like doing it some days. The hardest part of the challenge was coming up with a good photo idea when I hadn't done anything interesting or very different that day - I'm glad I had my three cute furballs to help me on those days!

Furry Family

Looks like Elliot is singing "Lalala" like Babe!

While visiting my family for Mother's Day today, I spent some time with my furry family too. These are my parents' cats. Toby is the yellow tabby, Elliot is black and white cat and Henry is white with some pale orange. Nora (not pictured) is my sister's little gray Russian Blue, but she's not very photogenic. 

Elliot is sick right now, so he got a little extra love from Kenneth, whom he snuggled. He's such a sweet boy!

GF Review: Rudi's Spinach Tortillas + Multigrain Bread

Rudi's Gluten-Free Bakery* is a gluten-free food company with a nice selection of products: sandwich bread, tortillas and wraps, ciabatta rolls, cherry almond bars, pizza crust, buns, rolls and stuffing! I recently received two coupons from Rudi's in order to review their products for my blog. I chose the Spinach Tortillas and Multigrain Bread to review (I'm still waiting for our local grocery store to carry the ciabatta rolls - they look delicious!). 

Ohioana Book Festival in Pictures

Emma's New Chair

This was my chair at work. I say 'was' because as soon as I brought it home, Emma claimed it. I'm positive that she has sat in this chair every day for the past week. I like having her company while I'm on the computer, but I wish she'd let me have the more comfortable chair! I can't kick her out of it though, could you? 

Rainy Day

Bravo! Cucina Italiana - Grandview Heights

I think a lot of gluten-free diners miss pasta. I'm not saying I miss it as much as I miss regular pizza, but it's up there. Pasta is such a comforting, filling food that seems to find its way into a lot of special events. My Grandma's macaroni and cheese is a staple at Hill family gatherings. I also remember how excited I used to be when my high school cross country team would have pasta nights two days before a race, or when we'd stop at Fazoli's on our way home from a race. One of my favorite meals my mom would make when I was a kid was spaghetti. When I was a vegetarian in high school and college she switched from using a meat based sauce to a vegetable sauce so I could enjoy the pasta too. Now she makes my own batch of macaroni and cheese or lasagna with gluten-free noodles for family gatherings. Pasta is wonderful and it was definitely one of the top foods I missed when going gluten-free. I'm really glad that there are restaurants offering gluten-free pasta!

Prior to eating at Bravo! for the first time a few weeks ago, I'd only had gluten-free pasta at two restaurants: Rusty Bucket and Olive Garden. Both have great gluten-free options and their pasta is pretty tasty. A fellow gluten-free friend of mine, Sarai McCulley, suggested I eat at Bravo! for their gluten-free pasta, which she prefers over Olive Garden. I couldn't wait to try it out!