southside walk (it out)

Lovin' me some sidewalks on my walk with Bales tonight.

impromptu kabobs

liquid sunshine

As one guy at the car show said today, "It's not rain. I call it liquid sunshine." He also told me his tombstone would read, "Keep the sunny side up and the rubber side down."

dashboard + water + sun

the north leg

I was the south leg for Halloween.

sophine

I met her nine years ago. She was an exchange student from Marseilles, France. She's a Parisian now and says that means being grumpy and wearing a lot of black. For a grumpy girl, she smiled a lot this weekend. Sophie is her name. Back in high school she got the nickname Sophine. Thanks for brushing off your jet lag to hang, Soph. You are so fine :-)

squirrels

Bales loves spring. Spring = more walks and more squirrels.

peace park

too cool for school

I spent Friday at Mizzou, my alma mater. I always coveted those little holding cells in Ellis Library. Some days I've thought of going back to school just so I can have one. But then I saw what they are selling in the vending machines these days and changed my mind. What happened to all the chocolate?

college bound

diggin' up dirt

Last night I met a self-proclaimed organic farmer. He's moving to Hawaii soon, so he's giving away a lot of plants from his amazingly lush yard. I arrived with a few bags, not sure what to expect from a guy I just met. I left with a car full (not an exaggeration) of plants and plans to transplant even more green treasures later this week. Plus I got to sample various types of mint, oregano and fresh strawberries. Here's to hoping the plants like their new home. I may not be an organic farmer, but my last name is Gardner. Maybe that counts for something.

graduation day

Shalonda graduated from high school on Monday night. From a Roughrider to a Tiger. That a girl!

03.07.09

Today I came across a folder of pictures from my birthday bash in March. [I'm filling in on the photo desk this week and had some time to play clean up on my computer.] My birthday weekend got chaotic as I prepared to leave town for a few weeks, and these pics never got blogged. Enjoy these three from the past. Can't wait for the next backyard celebration.

P.S. My friends are more friendly than they appear!

the cousins -1

Ana


Alex


Addy


Cody

I have five beautiful cousins who live in Ballwin - a short drive from where I live. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of the fifth cousin. (Sorry, Tyler!) Cody celebrated his 8th grade graduation this weekend. Backyard baseball games are a trademark of our family get-togethers. And the skill level of my cousins keeps getting better! Time to practice. Congratulations, Cody.

mad art

This weekend I discovered the work of Michael Baxley. If anyone has some extra cash burning a hole in their pocket, I'll take any of his mixed media pieces :-)

Speaking of art, my roommate had friends over for dinner the other night. One of them is an artist who paints murals, both commercially, residentially and theatrically. My bedroom has been in identity crisis for some time. I found my night stand in an alley. I inherited my dresser from my parent's neighbors. My bed used to belong to my parents. An empty wall in my house is kind of rare, but there is a great big one in my bedroom (a further sign of crisis). And it's about to get a makeover from Scott. I'll post pictures as soon as the project is done.

w.c.

So I photographed this one on the clock. Forgive me :-) This is the main floor bathroom of a Belleville home that was built in 1880, and I happen to adore it.

no gloves

west county purple

at the drive thru

I've been to many drive thrus before: McDonald's, Wendy's, Starbucks, to name a few. It wasn't until about a year ago when I first visited Cincinnati that I got to drive thru a convenience store. My friend from Cincinnati laughs at my fascination with these lazy-person stops they simply call "drive thrus". Convenience is brought to a whole new level. Roll in and order as many packs of gum, cigarettes, cases of beer or 5 calorie energy drinks as you want. The employees scurry around to get you everything you order. You sit and watch in the driver's seat, then drive on thru.

[Curious: Anyone not been to a drive thru like this? Is this just an Ohio/Kentucky regional thing or more widespread?]

la comida de cincinnati

Skyline Chili


Graeter's


Melt


Take the Cake

The culinary high (and low) lights of my quick trip to Cincinnati. I'll let you guess which was the low light :-) I'm still wondering why I ordered chili and a coney. Seriously ...

I would like to recommend Graeter's Toffee Chip (not pictured) ice cream. If it had a motto it would be something like, "Would you like a little ice cream with your chunks of toffee?" Yum. Also, be sure to check out Take the Cake's website. It's a tabletop adventure!

cincy to the 'nati

Pics 1-3: Northside. Pic 4: Covington.

ode to the curls

A diptych dedicated to the diptych king himself. The days of the curls were good. Now they sit in a garbage can or dumpster somewhere, swept off the floor after being cut from his head. Shaved. No more tight curls in front and fuzzy curls in back. Stay cool while we miss the chaos on your head.

d.c. move

The D.C. part might as well stand for dark clouds, which accurately describes the skies in Washington D.C. during my recent visit. I trekked east to help my sister and her husband move to their new home. I haven't turned a photo black and white for a long time, but I guess the weather just had me seeing in grey. Or maybe it was all the backbreaking labor! =)

[When converted to black and white these pictures look more like Appalachia than D.C., but, yes, this house is actually in the city!]