Tuesday, August 26, 2014

A love letter to Columbus

Dear Columbus,
In just a few days I will be boarding a plane and I will be leaving you for a while. I am not sure that I will ever live here again on a permanent basis though I am sure I will be back for visits. And while I am wildly excited to take this new adventure there are some things I will miss about you that I want to share with the rest of the world.
First let me say that Columbus has some awesome things going for it that I am not going to mention. You can already find most of these on top ten lists somewhere. So here is the list, in no particular order:I will also say it should go with out saying that I will miss the many wonderful people who have touched my life here. Many who have proven to be wonderful friends. I will say it now CBus has smart, involved, talented, giving people who are also very down to earth and generally open and friendly.

1) Macarons at Pistcia Vera. Yes they are as good as the ones you get in Paris. www.pistaciavera.com
2) The Clintonville Farmers Market, particularly the bread from Lucky Cat Bakery and the Cheese from Blue Jacket Dairy. www.clintonvillefarmersmarket.org 
3) Actors Summer Theater in Schiller Park. If you haven't been you should really go. www.theactorstheatre.org
4) I know this is a given but Jeni's Ice Cream. Particularly Sweet Corn and Blackberry which I am grateful to get another chance at this August. www.jenis.com
5) Hound Dogs Pizza, Back Yard Dog with the Smokin Joes crust. www.hounddogspizza.com
6) While we are on pizza Mikey's Late Night Slice Cheese Pizza with Slut Sauce.
7) O.S.U. Buckeye Spirit. It's a big city with a big school and we are all fans. You can't help it. Just stay off 315 on game day.
8) Fete en Blanc Columbus.  I love this event so much I may have to start one in Jakarta. Do you think the Randeys would come?  http://feteenblanc.wordpress.com/
9) Taste of Dine Originals. If you haven't been I will tell you now this is worth way more than the $100 ticket and it is for a good cause so go!  www.dineoriginalscolumbus.com
10) Fourth of July celebrations in Clintonville, particularly the dog parade and the pancake breakfast. www.clintonvillechamber.com/communityevents.asp
11) The Short North. www.shortnorth.org
12) The Vegetarian West Virginia Slaw Dog at Dirty Franks. Tater Tots too. www.dirtyfrankscolumbus.com
13) WOSU Radio. I'm hoping I can still stream it. www.wosu.org
14) Studio 35, local theater that is also a bar and you can get pizza delivered in. Love. www.studio35.com 
15) Wild Lights at the Columbus Zoo.  Our families must visit location over the Christmas Holidays complete with stop to see Santa for pictures every year. My kids do love me. www.colszoo.org
16) The Ohio State Fair. I'm pretty sure there are other things like state fairs in other parts of the world but I'm pretty sure there is no one else does weird but delicious fried food quite like we do. Then there is also the people watching and seeing all the animals. Yeah, I love the fair. www.ohiostatefair.com
17) Finally, because CBus is a city where you can only enjoy al fresco dining for a few months a year. My favorite patio..Basi Itallia. www.basi-italia.com

Yes. I know there is a lot of food on here but I saw a quote today "Life should be Delicious". I'm sticking with that.

Sunday, August 24, 2014

Surrounded by Piles

This weekend I have done a lot of packing. 
My Saturday started with the amazing experience of loading my first born into the car and driving him one mile down the road to move him into his dorm room at The Ohio State University. I did this along with about 20,000 other people, a rough estimate based on 7,000 incoming freshmen and their families. I will take this moment to tell you that despite the very large number of people moving in OSU has this down to a science and almost made it fun. I say almost only because it happened to be the hottest steamiest day we have had this summer.
The highlights of the day include the very perky move in team who swarmed my car and emptied  it of all F's belongings and  hustled it and the boy off into the dorm while I parked the car, discovering that the boy did not pack either his pillow or his sheets (fortunately we live the aforementioned mile from the dorm) and discovering that his roommates may be even nerdier than he is. We just might have the next Big Bang Theory in the making.
Because F has been taking classes at OSU for over a year now we didn't do all the normal lets tour campus and find your classrooms or lets find the dining hall so after making a trip home for the sheets and pillow and the mandatory trip to Target for  things we didn't know we needed till we got into the dorm I hugged my boy as tight as I could, he tried to make me laugh and I tried not to cry, much, and I drove the mile home and worked on my own packing. 
Now I am surrounded by piles for the movers. Pile A will go by air and hopefully we get it quickly. Pile B contains things we want but can wait for I hope the container stays on the ship and we see it soon too.
On another hopeful note I think Shanti, our dog, will be confirmed in Jakarta tomorrow. I hope she doesn't hold this whole thing against us.
Wish me luck tomorrow with the movers..I let you know if I survive. 

Friday, August 22, 2014

Between Chaos and Order

Today I am surrounded by boxes and bins, piles of towels and sheets, all of our family photos, and food and toiletries I'm told are hard to find in Jakarta. Upstairs my oldest is packing his bags for college. My husband and daughter are most likely sleeping because they are already in Jakarta and it's the middle of the night there. And my dog is winging her way over oceans in the hold of a plane.
I'm excited to begin this adventure but this process has been similar to pregnancy. Many months of waiting and excitement and now the time is almost here and so I admit there is pain, I'm going to miss many friends and family who are dear to me, lack of sleep with the constant lists running through my head and anticipation, I just want this all done with and to be there.
I had originally thought I didn't want to start this blog on what feels like a negative note but it would be dishonest. This is part of the process. This is part of the big change and adventure that T, Z, Fe and I so desperately wanted. Making a big life change is scary. But you know what is even scarier...Regret.

I promise to take you along on this adventure, be honest with you, and hopefully prod you to try some adventuring for yourself.


Peace- D
www.curlygirldesign.com