24 Things I Love at the Age of 24

Last Tuesday, May 21st, was my 24th (!!) birthday.  And, since I was on vacation in the Outer Banks with my family, the day consisted of donuts for breakfast, lounging by the pool and reading all day, a champagne toast with strawberries, and authentic Carolina BBQ (mmmmmm) for dinner followed by massive cupcakes.  It was a great day :)

Duck Donuts: made to order!

My 21st birthday was my last big "milestone" birthday, but I've always been one to celebrate my age and embrace the next year to come.  I love getting older, and seriously, the years just keep getting better!  24 promises to be a great age-- my first full year without school, my third year in my apartment, and hopefully my first year at a full time job!

But those are big, grown-up things.  This post is about the little things I'm currently loving in my life :)  So here goes: 24 Things I Love at the Age of 24:


1. Coffee!  I prefer it dark (Gevalia French Roast til I dieee!) with some Truvia and a bit of milk.  And if I'm feeling fancy at a coffee shop, I order a skim hazelnut latte with extra foam.

2. French fries- all kinds. tiny and crispy, curly, seasoned, steak fries, restaurant or homemade. I love me some taters.

3. The food scene in Columbus

4. Books- new ones and re-reading all my favorites. I'm a huge geek and I love adventure fantasy and science fiction novels.

5. Birds- again with the geekiness, I love bird watching. In the Outer Banks we had ospreys nesting 20 yards from our pool and I watched them all week. In Ohio, I love seeing cardinals, goldfinches and especially bluebirds!

6. Running, and working out in general

7. Walking around barefoot in the spring and summer

8. Hiking- close to home at Highbanks or out in Hocking Hills or Mohican.

9. Talking with my best girlfriend about her upcoming wedding (!) next year, among other things :)

10. Kerrygold Irish white cheddar cheese and rosemary crackers

11. Acrylic paints, and the mystery of an empty canvas

12. Grabbing the Glass of the Month at the Winking Lizard- my once-a-month beer and wings tradition

13. This website

14. Making up recipes- my current favorite is throwing various veggies into different shaped pastas with lots of olive oil, lemon, parmesan cheese and black pepper.

15. Reading restaurant menus

16. Sitcom re-runs

17. Black and white clothes- I pretty much never shop, but recently I took a trip to H&M and found tons of summery tops and dresses in various black and white patterns and solids. We've already established that I love neutrals, and black and white is going to be my summer go-to.

18. My curling iron- I've never been one to spend much time on my hair, but since I got it cut short, my new curling iron makes quick waves that I love!

19. Ice cream- I quite literally crave it all year round. Coldstone, Graeters, Orange Leaf (froyo), Dairy Queen... yum.

Last summer, up north- Moose Tracks! Vanilla, fudge, and peanut butter

20. Board games- Scrabble with my mom, Munchkin with my friends

21. Upbeat country music- yes, it's my guilty pleasure, especially when it's hot outside and I can crank it up on the radio in my car.

22. Nighttime things- candles, fires, bats, stars, the moon, darkness

23. Bricks- I love brick streets and buildings, bricks as decorations, brick walls indoors a la the Mohawk:

This was one of the little things I loved about Ohio University so much- most of the streets and buildings are brick, and there's a lot of cool old bricks from decades ago (again with the being-a-dork thing, I know). I currently have an Athens, OH brick and a Nelsonville Star brick decorating my mantle:

Here, to the left, you can kind of see them! (I was taking a picture of the little spots of light all over my living room, lol.)

24. Grilling out, and any food that can be put over a charcoal grill, from the classics (burgers and brats) to the funky (salmon, fajitas, pizza, polenta)


So there you have it!  Granted, nearly half of these are about food or drink, but hey, a girl's gotta eat.

Happy birthday to me!

--Sammie

Ohio Love.

[from here]

Now that school is done (forever!) and I have a few weeks before I go back to work, I'm in the mood for some little Ohio road trips! I love Ohio, and there's so much to see, do (and EAT) in little towns all over the place. Here are my top priorities in the next few weeks:

-Prospect Place and The Depot (Trinway and Dresden, Ohio)

Remember this place that I visited last August? It was part of the Underground Railroad, and is supposedly haunted. Now that it's gorgeous outside again, I'd love to make the short drive back, explore the area a little more, and of course have some of the best BBQ ever at The Depot, the home-smoked barbecue joint in the teeny town of Dresden. 

Prospect Place--my own photo, obscured by a tree.

-Ohio University (Athens, Ohio)

Oh, Athens, how I love you so. I haven't been back since graduating nearly two years ago, and I miss the pretty scenery, College Green, the cherry trees, the brick streets, the people-watching (unmatched by pretty much anywhere in Columbus), and most of all Jackie O's, my favorite brewpub. Fried cheese curds and a pint of house-microbrewed Razz Wheat would really hit the spot!

[from here]

-Glen Helen and Antioch College (Yellow Springs, Ohio)

As a kid, my mom used to take us to visit the little town of Yellow Springs and go hiking in the nature preserve, Glen Helen. The area is so pretty, and the hiking trail winds around the edge of a huge gorge, across a small river, and up through some amazing rock formations. The town is home to Antioch College, which I recently wrote a big paper on--the college closed for a few years due to poor financial management, but was purchased and reopened by alumni members. How cool! It's also home to a great pizza place and Young's Jersey Dairy, some of the best ice cream ever. 

The actual "yellow spring." [from here]

Also on my May agenda:  A North Carolina vacation with my family :: my 24th birthday!! :: Friday night wine bars :: a Clippers game, hopefully on a dime-a-dog night :: movie nights :: game nights :: cookouts :: spring cleaning :: planting herbs and flowers :: getting my patio in order :: finding the right JOB! :: getting a little color on my pale, pale skin, haha.

Here's to MAY!  

--Sammie

May Day!

Happy May Day, everyone! I'm pretty darn excited (and might secretly wish I had a maypole to dance around); May is my absolute favorite month of the year. It's the really warm part of spring, full of flowers (lilies of the valley, my favorite!) and sunshine and it's perfect for picnics and adventures. It's full of celebration (May Day, commencement, wine tastings, Cinco de Mayo, the Kentucky Derby, Memorial Day, and my birthday!). And it's the gateway into summer after months of cold, snow and rain. Yay May!

A few photos from late, rainy April:

"If you can't get out of the rain, you might as well drink from the puddles." -Snickers

Flowering tree!

I'm so thrilled to be done with school. I found out yesterday that I not only passed, but got an A in my capstone class! I really enjoyed college, loved it in fact, and I appreciate all the amazing opportunities and the growing personally, professionally and academically that I did during those years. However, after six straight years of college, two schools, two degrees, dozens upon dozens of classes, countless pages written and presentations given, I. am. done. At every stage in life, I think it's a good sign if you look back fondly at the last part, but are also really looking forward to the next part, whatever that might be, and I've been fortunate enough to feel this way at every stage.

Champagne, because there's been lots to celebrate lately :) also, the coolest wine label ever. 

Speaking of the next stage, I have a second interview at Battelle for Kids on Friday! Wish me luck :)

Like I was talking about at the beginning of this post, there's a lot going on soon. The first Friday night wine tasting is also on Friday-- it'll be a great way to unwind after the interview. The first outdoor farmer's market is Saturday morning, and the Glenn School's Pre-Commencement ceremony is in the afternoon. Then commencement is on Sunday, and our speaker is President Obama! Seriously, whatever your political views, it's pretty awesome that OSU got the president to speak at our commencement. (However, it's going to be a looong day. But worth it! Helloo second college diploma.)

A few more shots of life lately:

New shoez. Thanks Mom :)

This building always makes me think of The Big Bang Theory. I wonder if there's a Sheldon in there somewhere... 

Emily dog-sat for this lil' cutie last week! His name? Binkley. *cue animal sqee-ing noises* I almost dognapped him.

Cheers and happy MAY!!

--Sammie