Round on the Ends, Hi in the Middle

Today's collection is inspired and based on my traveling with my husband to Ohio today! It's where I grew up and I am so looking forward to seeing my family.

 

Cutting Board: AHeirloom on Ety
Covered Bridge Print: Laurie's Designs at Etsy
The Heart of it All Print: Lil Burritos at Etsy
I Heart Ohio Necklace: Truche at Etsy

FUN FACT: I grew up in Ashtabula County, which is "famous" for it's collection of covered bridges. It's currently home to the world's longest covered bridge, and the world's shortest is being constructed as we speak in my hometown of Geneva.

So anyway, why am I going to Ohio in mid-January to visit when the summer is generally more awesome? (Everyone loves a segue disguised as a rhetorical question!) It's because my family is having a winter cookout, which sounds crazy enough, but it's not just a winter cookout, it's The Winter Cookout. In it's 37th year, The Winter Cookout is an annual event that our friends and family look forward to. We've got a fire outside, a spit with lots of meat, a pond for skating (if it's frozen enough!), snow for playing (usually), a hundred and one CrockPots full of comfort food and... what am I forgetting? OH! My dad's bar in the garage where we keep warm.

Bar, you say? Like your dad keeps some beer and some stools at his work bench kind of bar?
Not really. Here, I'll show you:

(This was a Thursday night in June 2010. My husband and I had just flown in that afternoon... then people started coming over to visit and have drinks. That's my dad in the back, me in the green in my traveling outfit, and various friends and family all with us.)

So bar. BAR. We've always had the actual bar in the garage, but over the years it's kind of turned into a real looking bar. It's always been a lot of fun to have. What you don't see, is that the side of the room where the camera is is my dad's full work bench.

I'll conclude here. I don't do too many personal posts, but hopefully this one was worth it.