The Antidote

Last week I had a really discouraging conversation (don't worry, it was no one you know) and I just haven't been able to shake it off since then. It was one of those conversations that doesn't just rain on your parade, but leaves you wondering if having a parade was foolish and childish to begin with. Sigh.

So when I walked into Crossroads yesterday morning I was feeling pretty heavy-hearted. And THIS is how the worship service kicked off (watch all 4 mintutes--it gets bigger and better). Freakin beach balls and tire swings and a flash mob and an Owl City sing-a-long complete with 1000's of "fireflies". Perfect. Timing.

The current series is about Playing--- how we were created for work AND play AND rest. And when it comes to our relationship with God, play is invaluable (imagine a relationship with YOUR kids/parents that didn't involve laughing together, playing together, just enjoying being together---it'd be pretty hollow). Play brings our hearts out of those depressing ruts (like dwelling on discouraging conversations). It is good.

Anyway, if this is something that resonates with you, I suggest listening to the message here. For me, I'm feeling the need to really meditate on this all week and be intentional about play.

Step 1: This morning's date with the sweetest, funniest two-year-old. One whose hair laughs in the face of gravity.
journaling and an iced soy latte (for me, not him)
spontaneous clapping
silly faces
and finger dances.

On with the parade : )

Now go play,
Arian

OTR

Over the weekend we took part in a tour of some of the new rehabbed apartments and condos in an area of Cincinnati called Over the Rhine.

I have a deep love for that part of town. I think I'm drawn to its story of fallen beauty. Once created for great things as the center of art and music and architecture. Then decades of neglect, ruin, crime, hardship, riots. Now 2/3 of its grand, ornate buildings stand abandoned....crumbling, filled with trash, peeling paint, boarded windows. It reminds me of OUR story---Creation, the Fall, finding beauty amongst ashes, hope of restoration.

I'm down there at least once a week. Over the Rhine is home to my favorite art store, my favorite coffee shop, Findlay Market, Shadeau Bread, Atomic #10, the creative arts school where we're thinking about sending Hudson next year.... These places are little pockets of beauty that have either weathered the dark decades or popped up recently as new signs of life.
Now a lot of those empty buildings are being bought and restored which is cool. But when you walk around down there, the tension between destruction and restoration, hope and despair, beauty and ugliness, life and death is tangible.
I think that's why I love it. It's very real. It stirs something in me that the suburbs don't. It makes me want to paint.
So who knows what our relationship with this place will be like in the future. We'll continue to go on dates there, support the businesses there, meet the people who live there, take our boys down there, and watch its transformation. And hopefully we'll be a part of that in some way or another : )



Music Hall where the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra plays...probably one of the biggest signs of what Over the Rhine used to be.

Hope your week is off to a good start!

Arian : )

Gettin' It Done

Yesterday it felt like Andrea and I were on one of those crazy design shows where they have a limited amount of time and money to make over a space so they rush around all over town picking out furnishings and stay up well into the night assembling furniture, painting, hanging light fixtures... Probably because we had a limited amount of time and money to make over a space so we were rushing around all over town picking out furnishings and stayed up well into the night assembling furniture, painting, and hanging light fixtures. Yeah, that's probably why.

I call this the "Gettin' It Done" series...

Andrea gettin' it done at Ikea.


Andrea gettin' done at Salvation Army Thrift Store

and Andrea gettin' it done at Ohio Valley Antique Mall. That place is a wonderland of vintage goodness....

Wow.
Love it. It'd be such a sweet little eat-in-kitchen table.

I've got my eye on that little wooden table with the green top to replace my current desk/computer table. It'd match the green in the fireplace right next to it.

Some of the day's purchases-- wire baskets, an old radio, vintage suitcases, an old globe, pretty green and orange glasses...
..and these chairs and stools.

Andrea is working on redecorating a friend's office space downtown that's in a refurbished warehouse...super tall ceilings, giant windows, exposed brick. I'll show you pics in a few days when it's all done.

Hope you're enjoying your weekend!

Arian : )

Labor Day

So all weekend I've been calling "LABOR Day" weekend "Memorial Day" weekend ...about 25 times on facebook, flickr, the blog...so silly. So happy LABOR Day to those of you in the U.S. and happy Monday to the rest. : )

Yesterday it felt like the entire city of Cincinnati was a playground and EVERYONE came out to play...crowds and crowds of happy people all day long...live music, good food, parties, friends, family lining both sides of the river as far as you could see. We logged about 10 miles on our stroller it seems. It was awesome.
We watched my sister and brother-in-law play a show in the park in the morning, hung out downtown and took turns holding the babies in the family all day,
and finished off the night with the grand fireworks display.


Perfect.

Our out-of-town family members are heading back and we're all figuring out when we can see each other again...Christmas? seems too far away....Thanksgiving? that's not til November....How 'bout Halloween?....sigh. I guess we can wait til then. : )


Arian : )

Family Saturday

In my late teens I became a member of a blended family that has learned (and still learns) to blend quite beautifully. I love them. Dad, step-mom, 7 of us kids plus our 7 significant others, and 6 grandkids now scattered over all over the U.S.
A lot of them are in town for all the Labor Day weekend festivities and it is awesome.
More than I love hanging out in the city, I love introducing people to my favorite city hang outs.
Like Findlay Market.
This is baby Nan. She lives on the west coast. 6 months old and it's my first chance meeting her....too long!
A beautiful day ended with a beautiful night, catching up around the campfire with wine and s'mores (an excellent, sophisticated combo...next time you're picking up a bottle of wine, ask the wine shop employee what pairs well with s'mores).




S'mores with Reece's peanut butter cups instead of the chocolate. Try it.


Today promises to be just as wonderful. My sister and brother-in-law playing an outdoor concert in the park, everyone in Cincinnati out on the river enjoying the day, GRAND fireworks to cap it all off. I'll be sure to have more pics : )

Hope you're having a wonderful weekend!

Arian : )

Success!

Friday afternoons are our weekly date time (a perk of having a husband who works from home). And today we found THREE new places to love in Cincinnati! THREE! Got a haircut at the newly-opened High Five Salon. It's such a creative, artsy space and the people who opened it and work there are first class. So if you're a local, you should totally check it out. It's worth it.

Lunch at the BonBonerie...amazing. I need to go back for their afternoon tea sometime.

Then finally Atomic 10, a vintage thrift store downtown I've been meaning to check out. Such a pretty rainbow of vintage dresses....so dreamy : )

I walked away with a cute "new" dress (show ya later) and Daniel got a shirt and tie. A pretty successful date, I'd say!


New haircut : )

Hope you guys have a great weekend! It's a three-day one for us here in the U.S.! Lots of family coming in town, BIG fireworks on the river, beautiful forecast....good times, good times.

Arian