St. Louis, MO

One of our stops on our little trip was in St. Louis. Kevin's brother lives there, so we spent a few days hanging out with him. We didn't really have anything planned for Saturday afternoon, so we decided to go to the Anheuser Busch factory. The tours are free, and you get to sample beer after the tour is over. I think Kevin and his brother have done this about 50 times (exaggerating, but still) but they were happy to go back. The tour starts by showing you the horses and the stables that they live in, which are absolutely gorgeous. Those horses live better than we do. And they had the little Dalmatian dogs there too!

Then it continued out to show us how beer was made and bottled. I could not get over how beautiful the factory was! Unfortunately the bottling section was closed down for maintenance the day we were there, but I can picture what it would look like in action thanks to Laverne and Shirley.

We actually did the tour twice because Kevin saw that we could go to beer school for $10 and that just had to happen. We even got diplomas. The guys swear that they are going to frame them, even though they don't have their college diplomas framed. So half way through the first tour we left and went to the free beer drinking room, then to beer school, then did the whole tour and went back to the free beer room. All in all, we spent about 5 hours there for a tour that was only supposed to last 45 minutes! The one thing I could not get over was how many kids there were there. I know it's free and it's a Saturday, but come on. Lots of crying and boredom going on there after the horses.

Kevin doesn't like having his picture taken. I promise, he was having fun.

Ithaca, NY

A few weekends ago, Kevin and I drove to Ithaca, NY for a wedding (his friend from college). If I could even tell you how much we have driven this summer... you have no idea. It was about a 7 hour drive, and I was looking forward it it because I had actually never been to Ithaca.


It was a cute, small college town with lots of hills that had tons of hippies! Seriously, I don't get it. You are like 20 years old, it's 2010, and you're white. Why do you have on tie dye driving a VW bus with dreadlocks and smell gross? And I don't have a job, so I'm not going to throw money in your guitar case when I have to step over it to get to lunch. Just sayin'. We did eat at some great independent restaurants though.


The wedding was totally awesome. The girl used to be an event planner in NYC, so every detail was perfect. The hotel was great, and we knew where to be when, and how we were getting there for everything going on because of her organizational skills. Loved it. We ate, drank, danced (ok, maybe Kevin didn't, but I did) and the partied continued until 6am. I was asleep LONG before that, but it just goes to show how much fun everyone had!

June in Canada

You would have thought it was April, I swear. When I was up at the house in May, it was so warm that I pretty much wore my bathing suit and shorts the whole time (even thought I had brought a down coat). So I brought summer clothes for this trip, and it was a little chilly!


Kevin, myself, Bethanne, and her BF from France went up for three nights and four days. Lets just say we didn't come back with killer tans, but we did have fun. We had some storms come through, so we spent more time on the screened in porch watching the rain than on the dock catching rays.


Bethanne's boyfriend wanted to go water skiing, so we took The Biz (our boat) out for her skiing maiden voyage. He did really well! He got up on his second try. Did I mention the water was about 55 degrees?


We woke up on the Thursday we had to leave, and had no power on the island. Which is kind of an issue. No power up there means no water. Which means no washing the sheets and towels, no flushing toilets, and no SHOWERS. They said it would be between a few hours, and a few days. Huh? We had a long day ahead of us with stopping at Niagara Falls, and being detained at the border for a bit (that's a whole other story). So BA and I jumped in the lake (note the comment about the temp earlier) which woke us up, to say the least.

Yet another beautiful Canadian adventure! I hope I can make it back again in August!

Condo Update

What now looks like this:

Used to look like this:

I pity anyone who remodels!

What's Next?

I have told myself I will only tour if I am in management. Most likely, an assistant company manager for a show. But maybe that will change.

I have told myself that I will take a job in Cleveland not in my "world" if it is something I feel OK about, in case I have to quit because something better comes along in the entertainment or touring industry with PR and event planning, or I decide to go somewhere else. But maybe that will change.

I have told myself I can get by on unemployment for a while. That will change.

I am stressed.

Some days are just fine. The days in Canada, the days when I hear my grandfather play his sax, the days with my family, the days with Kevin, and the days with my girls. Just fine.

It's when I walk into a company to give them my resume, printed on $24 dollar paper, and they tell me that they only accept resumes online (which I also did). It's when I press "send" on an email application that I have worked on for hours, and my email goes into cyberspace and I never hear from anyone.

I have worked so damn hard for the last 11 years, and I can't find what comes next.

What will it be?

I hope the Power Ball.

Blossom Time 2010

Memorial Day weekend is my favorite weekend of the year. Better than Christmas, better than my birthday- I LOVE IT.


The little town I lived in for a while here called Chagrin Falls has their Blossom Time. I have blogged about it before. It's pretty much just one long party. The reason I love it so much is that it is the one weekend a year where I pretty much get to see everyone I enjoy spending time with, all at one time. People show up out of the woodwork at parties, the fair, bars, the parade. It just makes me so happy!

I didn't take as many pictures this year, but here are a few!

Baumer couldn't make it from Charlotte because she is preggers with twins, so we kissed her wedding coozie instead.
My cousin Heather's baby enjoying her first Blossom parade!

It was REALLY hot and sunny out, so everyone had to find shelter during the parade

Pig Roastin' and Island Relaxin'

A few weeks ago, I flew down to Chapel Hill to visit Kevin. We were planning on going to the island in Canada, but he realized that there was a party in NC that he really wanted to go to, so we switched our plans around, and I went there instead.

Kevin's dream came true that weekend. He finally cooked a whole pig! Being from Ohio, I had never seen this before. We went to this kind of run-down place that sold meat and literally threw a 100 pound pig in the back of his truck, and put a pig cooker on his hitch. We took the pig to his friends house where they put it in a bathtub, and brined it (did I spell that right?) overnight. Then he woke up at 5am, and they started cooking it for the party.

It was SO GOOD. There was so much left over- I think we ate pig for about a week after that party. I had no idea that you could just cook a whole pig, and it would all turn into yummy deliciousness.

During my few days there, we also had fun visiting with his parents and friends. NC is a little hot for me though. 90 in May? Really? But I sucked it up, and had a great week.

After our time down there, we drove back up to Cleveland for a few days, and then went up to the island for a week. While I am still bummed we didn't make the trip to Europe, I think we were honestly just as happy to be in Canada. It's so nice and quiet and private at the house. It was a typical Canada vacation week. Beautiful weather and sunsets, board games, drinks, movies, eating (amazing food, thanks to Kevin's cooking skills). And I went in the water! It was about 55 degrees. I just had to do it. We are going back in a few weeks with my sister and her Frenchie boyfriend, and hopefully we will be able to make it up a few more times.

This unemployment thing isn't so bad. :)