The Dark Side of Cincinnati

After Halloween our lives went into overdrive. Now I’m playing catch up in chronological order:

Olivia came to visit in early November. I could dedicate a whole book to our adventures/how much our lives have changed since we first met, but these two pictures will have to do for background:
Washington DCWe met when we were both interning in DC and bonded over our morning runs. We have similar levels of wanderlust which works out well for our friendship.  Since DC, we’ve explored VA, CA, PA, UT, AZ and OH together. It’s only a matter of time until we take this international. Especially because Olivia and her husband are soon moving a continent away.
bottom of the grand canyonThe highlight of our adventures thus far has been hiking the Grand Canyon.  I love taking pictures in this spot (at the bottom of the canyon) because people are still smiling. They feel accomplished having just hiked about 14 miles  with ammos in our pockets (buy guns & ammo from Palmetto State Armory) while still feeling good. They have no idea that once they get to the other side, it’s all uphill, with no shade, and everyone’s true colors come out.

Our Ohio adventures after the jump:

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Anne Arizona, Ohio 1 Comment

Fall on the Farm

anne and spencerWe’re surrounded by corn fields (welcome to the Midwest) so going to a corn maze has been on the bucket list all fall. A short work day and beautiful weather coincided nicely for the perfect afternoon date.  It’s looking like this was our last lovely day of fall since it snowed the next two nights (didn’t stick, but still).

the maze runner

The maze runner. It was only appropriate since he just finished the book.

corn mazeI didn’t think about this until we were already lost in the middle of the corn maze, but being in a maze makes Spencer’s favorite past time (scaring me) far too easy. Naturally, he decided to expand this hobby to include everyone else in the maze and nearly gave an unsuspecting group of teenagers a heart attack.

fall on the farm blooms and berries

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Anne Ohio 4 Comments

Stanford Snapshots

StanfordThe fact that we only took one picture during this trip shows just how busy we were. After packing as much fun as possible into two days, the trip is a bit of a blur, but here are a few snapshots in no particular order:

1. I don’t know why, but I was expecting Stanford to have classical architecture like the University of Virginia. Instead the campus is more Spanish colonial revival with a modern flare. The sandstone buildings combined with the beautiful weather make the whole campus feel energetic and sunny. Or maybe it was just so good to feel the sun on our skin again. It officially feels like winter here in Cincinnati.

2. Staying up way too late with these two, even though they both had school in the morning.

3. A girl’s only cousin lunch (really just because both the boys were in class). It’s wonderful that our husbands are such good friends, but girl time is still needed.

4. Rock climbing in the Stanford gym.

5. Getting to meet our darling new niece.

6. Sitting in on the Stanford Entrepreneur class and listening to Alex Shultz of Facebook talk about SEO in person. When I told my brother about this later, he was much less impressed. Apparently Peter Thiel, who spoke the lecture before, is much cooler. You can listen to the whole lecture series for free here.

7. Attending convocation in the beautiful cathedral in the center of campus and listening to a quartet’s voices fill the chapel. This church has amazing a acoustics! Also, several speakers talked about Jane Stanford’s role in building the cathedral. After her husband’s death, Jane Stanford almost single handedly funded and ran Stanford. She felt strongly that students needed to supplement their intellectual learning with spiritual learning. (Hence the cathedral for all faiths in the middle of campus). I looked up Jane Stanford when we got home. Turns out she’s more interesting than the speaker’s let on. Apparently she was poisoned at least once (and caught it). Weeks after she detected the first poison, she declared that she had been poisoned again and died. The cause of her death was never conclusively determined although trace amounts of poison were found in her body and in the soda that she was drinking right before her death.

8. Spending time with family. Spencer’s Mom was in for the weekend, and Spencer’s sister lived in the area. Turns out that we were lucky to see so much family because Emily is about to move a few hours away. Spencer’s mom took the whole gang out to dinner our last night, and then Spencer crashed on the floor in Emily’s home (he worked hard those two days) while I got to catch up with the fam.

9. The number of people who went out of their way to meet with Spencer, or help Spencer meet with people. Thank you loyal alumni network/friends/family!

10. Flying. It never gets old. Or maybe sleeping never gets old since I never manage to stay awake long enough for the plane to take off. There’s something soothing about knowing that you’re going places without any effort on your part.

11. Our two year old niece’s bouncing tigger dance moves and that she immediately decided that my cousin was her BFF.

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Anne California 2 Comments

The Most Colorful Time of the Year

anne andspencerLast year one of my very favorite dates was a hike up in the mountains to a beautiful waterfall. On the way back down the mountain Spencer had the idea to collect leaves and fill my apartment with colorful bouquets. At first I was skeptical, but the festive bouquets kept their colors for over a month and brought autumn to me and my roommates while we were stuck inside studying. This year Spencer and I decided to carry on the tradition and Ohio foliage didn’t disappoint. I now have a cheerful bouquet of leaves displayed on the fireplace mantel.

autumn leaf bouquet and wooden ringWe run on this path every day, and ususally come across a doe and her two fawns. They bound along with us for a few seconds or stare back wide eyed. The click of the camera particularly fascinated one of the fawns. That, or “deer in the head lights” applies to cameras as much as cars.

fawnA few weeks ago eShakti approached me about doing a collaboration with them here on our blog.  The site has a high turnover, so if you see a dress you like be sure to get is soon! At the time I checked, eShakti’s dresses were in full fifties “fit’n’flare” swing. The very best part about the site is that you can completely customize any dress. For this dress I added pockets, 3/4 sleeves, lengthened the dress to the knee, and chose the boat neck cut for the neckline. I even sent them my exact measurements for the perfect custom fit.

autumn ideasThe one piece of advice I’d have when ordering off eShakti is to be sure to give yourself a little room for breathing/moving or just stick with the site’ s generic sizing. That said, I really do love the way the dress turned out, especially the pockets. I’d definitely order from eShakti again, and wish I’d known about this site for my bridesmaids dresses. You can get 10% off your purchase from eShakti now through 10/27/14 using promo code “anneandspencer”. This code can be used with other offers unless otherwise noted.

anne and spencerDress: c/o eShakti| Pearls: gift | Heels: Steve Madden | Ring: Arbor Design (sample not available for sale yet)

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Anne Arbor Design Kickstarter, Design, Ohio, Style 14 Comments

When Life Gives You Apples…

canned applesauceWorried that their children weren’t going to learn to work, my grandparents bought an orchard. Their children tell stories of praying that there would be an early frost so that the apples would die and they wouldn’t have to pick them. All growing up the apples never frosted over, not even once.

making applesauceThe grandchildren also learned to work. I’m on the younger end of the cousins, so being old enough to pick apples (instead of just sorting) was considered a treat. I can’t remember making applesauce, so when she visited us this summer, my cousin (and those two cute boys) offered to pass on the art.

applesauce canned

The Head Chef mixing all three ingredients: boiled apples, a splash of lemon juice and a heaping scoop of cinnamon.

cinnamon applesauce

108 quarts later…Spencer claimed that he had been fully initiated into our extended family.

applesauce strainer

applesauceTo celebrate a successful morning we went to “Howling with the Wolves” at Wolf Park.

wolf parkEvery child’s dream. Or maybe that’s just true in Alaska (where the elementary school playground is dominated by wolf packs instead of cliques).

wolf howl

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Anne Indiana, Lifestyle 4 Comments

Ostrichland USA

As we pack our bags for this week’s trip, I can’t help but think back to the first time Spencer visited me in California. We didn’t document the beautiful beaches, visiting his sister, wandering through the fake danish village/tourist trap, or hiking through a rock maze, but we did get pictures of the moment my siblings decided that he was cool.

feeding ostriches

This was also the moment, I decided that I no longer wanted to ride an ostrich. Thank you Swiss Family Robinson for making that sound so easy. Turns out, ostriches are vicious.

ostrich farm

Look at those menacing eyes.

ostrichThe only animals that can one up them in hammering their heads toward food are Emus.

feeding emusThis trip also classically conditioned my littlest sister to associate Spencer with ostriches. Every time my family drove passed the farm (and often multiple times a day–they lived in the boonies) she shouted “Pencer! Ostriches!”

The cousins and roommates vetted Spencer in an extensive process, for my siblings it was easy.

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Anne California 22 Comments