Category Archives: Parties

Boogie Nights and Danny Frazier Band

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Saturday evening nine friends and I had a fabulous time at Hollywood Casino’s Boogie Nights and listening to The Danny Frazier Band.  Hollywood’s PR people contacted me after reading my post about a previous evening I spent with a girlfriend at their venue and wanted to treat my husband and I to an evening out with dinner, dancing and an overnight room which we enjoyed a couple of months ago.  I was thrilled when they also offered a VIP room at Boogie nights and a sleeping room for a group of my friends and I.

Here are my gorgeous friends at the beginning of the evening…

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Friendship Park

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Summertime and parks just go together!  Just this year a friend told me about a park in Cincinnati that I hadn’t heard of named the  Theodore M. Berry International Friendship Park.  I visited in the Spring with that friend and took photos.  You can read about that here.  Anyway, on Wednesday I met my friend Sherry there to walk and have a picnic dinner before heading over to Party in the Park.  This beautiful young lady, named Marie, was there with her skateboard and let me take a few photos.  Her mother was with her and informed me that she is a model.

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Stanley’s Pub Blues and BBQ

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One of my favorite things to do in the summer is to sit on a patio, listening to great music, talking with friends, having a drink and last night at Stanley’s Pub I got to do all of them!  Four bands played the blues beginning with the Leo Clarke Band.  We missed them but loved Band #2 — Chuck Brisbin and the Tuna Project.  Odd name but they were great.

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Loved this belt my friend Laura had on…

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Plan B for Jimmy Buffett Concert

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Jimmy Buffett had a concert at Riverbend Music Center in Cincinnati, Ohio Tuesday evening and my friend April (2nd from left) invited a group of friends out on her boat to listen to the concert from the water.  What an adventure!  Here we are pre-party.  (Not taken with my camera…little fuzzy)

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I’ve been boating on the Ohio River for 20 years and have encountered some hairy situations, but this one was the most intense.  I’m usually with my husband (the Captain).  Anyway, here are some pics before all of the “situations” occurred.  Love this photo of April having fun driving the short 10-15 minutes to the concert.  Grass skirt blowing in the wind…

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Tatoos and Hot Sauce

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Over the weekend, it was perfect weather for being in a pool and that’s where I was on Saturday, at the Four Seasons Marina pool.  It was lively and crowded because boat owners weren’t taking their boats out due to high water on the Ohio River.  There were seven of us women and I had my old camera (Olympus PEN) with me.  We were having fun talking to a group of twenty-somethings and I took some photos of their tatoos.

I like how this one looks in black and white.  It almost looks like he’s melting…

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So colorful and creative…

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April rode her motorcycle to the marina from a yoga class…such a fun pic!

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Football and Fun

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Saturday evening we attended a Bengals Playoff Game party at a friend’s house.  I’m not much of an organized sports watching fan…but I love to socialize.  I made some Tailgate Ham/Cheese Sandwiches that were a big hit.  Originally the recipe was on Pinterest, but when I went to the website, the recipe was no longer there.  Luckily, I had typed it up and saved it—

Ingredients:

* 1 pkg. (12 count) Hawaiian bread rolls

* 1 lb. shaved Black Forest ham

* 12 slices Gruyere cheese

* 1 tub (8 oz.) Philadelphia Chive & Onion Cheese Spread

* 1/2 cup (2 sticks) butter, melted

* 1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

* 1/2 Tbsp. dried minced onion

* 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

~Cut all rolls in half.  Place roll bottoms in 9 x 13 inch pan.

~Place equal amounts of ham on each roll bottom.  Top with Gruyere.

~On each of the roll tops, spread a generous amount of the cream cheese spread.  Return the tops to the bottoms making sandwiches.

~In a separate bowl, mix together the butter, Worcestershire sauce, onion and Parmesan cheese.  Pour over your sandwiches and let sit for at least 20 minutes.  (You can make these ahead of time and allow to sit in fridge overnight.)

~Place sandwiches, covered in foil, in a preheated 350 deg. F oven.

~Bake for 20 minutes or until warmed through.  Enjoy!  Yield: 12 servings.

After a while of talking, eating, and drinking, it was time to have some fun…so I arm wrestled four women and won!  They wanted me to try a couple of the guys…so I did…but I knew they would win.  My arm is a little sore today.

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Next, we convinced a couple of the guys to help us make a partial pyramid…

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The photos were taken with my friend’s iPhone.  Who says you have to act your age?

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Hallowine

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Most every year I go to the same Halloween party.  I met this group of people through the meetup.com groups I belong to…a few of which are the hiking club and the wine tasting club.  The majority of people are in their 40’s and 50’s.  This year I think everyone looked great in their costumes!

Our host–Bob–is an award-winning wine maker and makes a great pirate!  You might remember me posting about his pig roast over the summer.

I was a viking princess and the lumberjack was “Thor“…

Cindy was a very cute Little Red Riding hood and Kathy was an amazing witch!  I would guess approximately 50-60 people attended the party and every year there seems to be a costume that is more popular than others.  Last year there were at least six cats (I was one of them) and this year it was little red riding hood.

All of the couples dressed in matching costumes.  Ed and Jessie’s 20’s costumes were perfect for them!

Anne, Gina and Kathy are so much fun!  Kathy obviously was a nurse.  She had a rather large syringe filled with some type of alcohol that she would administer upon request!

I loved Dee and Chris’ Gladiator costumes!

Frank got really creative this year as a…you guessed it…”serial” killer!

Gina’s being accosted here by the Martians with too many arms!

I wanted to include my friend Shari in a photo…but in every one of them…she has her eyes closed and it wasn’t because she drank too much!

Dave and Kelly didn’t come together…but she’s a Fallen Angel and he’s a High Priest.

Janet was a jelly fish and John was a diver!  Very unique!

Spiderman looks sexy!

Todd’s eye makeup was nicer than mine!

Tina Tuner looked fabulous!

Tim was wearing another very creative costume — a tribal cannibal!

April makes an amazing Dominatrix with her friend Chris!

Later in the evening the party really got going when we turned the music up outside!

Us “old folk” sure know how to have fun!  Cheers!

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The Fling Barn in Hillsboro, Ohio

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You’re probably wondering why someone would name their music venue/bar…The Fling Barn.  If your last name is “Fling”…it makes sense.  The owner Bill Fling was there and is very friendly.  My husband…who I’ll nickname “The Lumberjack”…because he is constantly cutting down trees and splitting fire wood…and I went there last night.  Located an hour from Northern Cincinnati, we decided to see Serpent Mound while we were in the area.  I’ll save that for my next post.

The Fling Barn has 10 acres set aside for camping, with port-o-lets and it’s free!  They also have a cabin for rent.

Anyway, here’s a photo of a barn along the way…

The Fling Barn is situated on a 200 acre working horse farm.  In addition to providing live music in a unique setting, they host weddings and other events.  We stopped by for some photos during daylight hours, on our way to Serpent Mound, and returned later around 7pm.  Here’s a side view…

I love this weather vane!

Here is a different perspective…

This barn is in view of The Fling Barn and I loved the linear look of the corn and the colors…

Here are some of the horses…

There was a stand outside selling BBQ…so I had a pulled pork sandwich with mac-n-cheese and baked beans.  The barn itself is two levels with a full bar.  This is the upstairs where the band and dance floor are.

The barn is filled with antiques and Americana items…

The Mark Mays Blues Band was the entertainment for the evening and they were great!  We danced quite a bit!  Bill Fling has a dog that dances with you on the dance floor.  It was fun to watch!  Two other couples met us there.  The music started at 8pm and every table was filled by 8:15pm.

This photo is during their sound check…

If you haven’t listened to live music lately…get out and just do it!!

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Ladies Night in Columbus

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An evening of dinner and dancing with girlfriends is always a great time and this past weekend in Columbus, Ohio for my annual girls’ weekend, was no exception!  Part of the fun is listening to music while getting ready and taking fun photos!

I think we all looked Fabulous!  Lets embrace getting older and remember the most important thing is to have fun!  Too often, when we look in the mirror (especially those magnified mirrors), we have that inner voice saying negative things about the changes that naturally occur.  Of course, I’m not saying to let yourself go–always try to take care of yourself and find ways to feel and look your best!

Dinner was scrumptious at Martini Modern Italian.  My friend Sherry’s sister-in-law, Jane, who lives in Columbus, joined us for the evening.  She bought our first round of martinis and they were sinfully good!  A gentleman at the bar bought us a round of martinis.  Since we weren’t driving we could indulge!  Our waiter, pictured below, was very attentive!

Our next stop was the Park Street Tavern.  They had a live band and it was a younger crowd…mostly 20’s.  When you’re the only “older” people there, sometimes it can feel a little awkward.

No one was dancing, but that didn’t stop us.  We broke the ice, and soon were joined by lots of other party seekers!

It was a great time!!

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Meetup.com…Wine in Mt. Adams

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Meetup.com is a great way to meet people.  I was divorced about five years ago and  wanted to meet more single people my age, so I joined a hiking meetup and enjoyed that so much, began to join a number of the meetups.   No matter what your interest, there is almost assuredly a meetup for that!

Last night I attended a wine meetup in Mt. Adams, Ohio.  The venue, “Mount Adams Pavilion” overlooks Downtown Cincinnati and has a really cool interior.  I took quite a few photographs and really enjoyed seeing friends!  Over 100 people had signed up…but usually about 60% show up.

This fountain is located around the corner from the bar and seemed to have a lot of life radiating from it…

The walls inside the bar were painted by artists and as you can see…there were a lot of sexy women portraits…

I really loved the vibe and creative energy in the rooms…

 

The lighting was perfect…a variety of colors and more subdued!

 

The deck in the back has a wonderful view of the Ohio River and a portion of downtown.  You’ll notice that most people have a name tag on.  It may seem silly, but it definitely helps you remember names!

As dusk arrived, the view was spectacular!

The lighting on the street reminded me of Christmas!  Definitely gives you a warm feeling…

Get out and meet people!

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End of Summer

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This weekend has been wonderful!  Saturday we started the day with our usual three-mile trail jog at the nature center.  There were beautiful wildflowers weeds everywhere, so I picked some to bring home.  Breakfast was a yummy smoothie with strawberries, banana, Greek yogurt, coconut milk, oatmeal flakes, honey, 1 cup of ice, and some Chia Seeds.  I discovered the Chia Seeds at Trader Joe’s and was impressed by the amount of fiber, Omega 3, and Protein in 1 tablespoon!

That afternoon we rode the Harley to the Milford Street Festival.  We stopped along the way because Randy wanted a photo with this tank…

We stayed at the festival for about an hour and stopped by the booth of one of Randy’s friends…Steve Black…who makes cool jewelry out of spoons and forks.  A lot of the pieces are Harley and breast cancer (ribbon) related.

There were a variety of booths including face painting…

This parrot was cool…

We stopped in a gun shop and I thought this would make an artsy photo…

And this wall looked cool.  The three different colors and textures really popped!

We rushed home, changed clothes and left for our next adventure…Bob’s Pig Roast.  It was in honor of his deceased wife who had died from cancer.  Everyone donated $10 to the American Cancer Society…so $2700 was collected!

This is Bob…

I took about 150 photos, but picked out just a few to post.  This is my friend Shari.  I took 7 photos of her with my flash on and she blinked every single time.  So I turned the flash off and…voila…

This was the beginning of the party…before most of the group arrived.  The port-o-lets were for the guys and the inside restrooms were for the ladies.

Randy, Frank and I were toasting with three different beverages in a wine glass.  Wine for me, beer for Randy and water for Frank!

It was a busy and FUN day!  I’m grateful we have so many nice friends!  We’ve had beautiful weather, but it is cooling off this week.  Hope your weekend was great and wishing you a wonderful week!!

xoxoxo

Taste of Blue Ash and 38 Special

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Yesterday was another busy day.  We started with a 3 mile hike at Long Branch Farm & Trails.  I love to trail jog and hike there because it’s only 5 minutes from my house and it’s lovely!  First we hook Jake up in the back of the truck where he proceeds to whine and howl the entire way because he’s so excited…

Next we enter our enchanted forest…

We follow along the trail feasting our eyes on all of the nature…

Cross over some creeks or in Jake’s case — wade through them…

Emerge into a clearing….

Take a peek inside the corn fields…

Do a hand stand because I can…

After a quick shower…it was time to hop on the Harley and take the back roads to the beautiful suburb of Cincinnati called Blue Ash.  Every year they have an event called the Taste of Blue Ash that lasts the entire weekend with well-known musicians, lots of food and plenty of people watching!  And it’s free!

Of course, I went off of my Paleo Plan again and had a pulled pork bbq sandwich and some fried pickles…

 

The bandstand…

People watching…

My girlfriends April and Anne and Chris…

This balloon was way way way up in the sky…

The band “38 Special” sounded great and they had all different colored lights…but the blue were my favorite…

My friend Frank…

We had a great time!  Hope you’re getting out and enjoying life (especially free events)!!

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What fun looks like in your 40’s and 50’s

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Since I’ve been back from Africa…a lot has been going on.  Some of it is personal and heavy-duty–so I can’t talk about it.  But most of it has been FUN!

This was my friend April’s (on the left) boat christening party.  She’s amazing!  She just finished 1st in her age group in a triathlon.

I really enjoyed this 4th of July pool party.  That’s me on the right with the hat on.  I didn’t know most of the people…but its good to get out and meet new friends!

This was at an outdoor concert in a suburb of Cincinnati called “Blue Ash”.

Downtown Cincinnati with friends…

The wine tasting meeup.com organization I belong to had an event at the Art Museum…

Its been really hot here, so I’ve been to the neighbor’s pool, my girlfriend’s pool, and to the beach at Eastfork Lake.  Lots of other fun events like a Reds Game, bicycling 20 miles on the Loveland Bike Trail, jogging almost every day, hiking, and trying new recipes that I find on Pinterest.

Like, Spinach Orzo, Shrimp Tacos, and fresh peaches, lemonade and vodka in a blender!

Tonight after jogging or hiking (can’t decide which one to do) I’ll try a Blackberry Margarita…yum yum!!

Hope you’re having a fantastic summer (or whatever season it is where you are)!!

 

Lexington…by day and night

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To finish the walking tour of Lexington, Kentucky from yesterday’s post…this is the First Baptist Church.  I just LOVE the colors of this church…the pink and red just POP!

Resting and soaking up some Kentucky sunshine!!

We walked through the local farmer’s market which was located in the “Cheapside Park” area.  This had been the site of slave auctions and abolitionists’ passionate speeches!

We ate at Cheapside Bar & Grille.  Here’s a photo of my hamburger with caramelized onions and bleu cheese!

Next…we went to the Barrelhouse Distillery and had samples of their Pure Blue Vodka, Devil John Moonshine and Rum.  Woowee!!  We also received a quick run-down of how you make alcohol.

After arriving back at the VRBO, we took our time snacking, drinking and primping!  We had fun with our photo shoot…

That night we went to Bogarts at the Crown Plaza Hotel.  We got there too early and it was mostly people in their 70’s!  Then we went to a new nightclub called “Trust”.  It was too hoigty toity…so we went to the Skybar.  It was fun, but we never found the bar that quite fit us!