Mild Winter Weather Distracts Sincere Blogger From Her To-Do List

January 21, 2015August 29, 2018 / Ally Bean / 21 Comments

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I HAD PLANS for this week. Big plans. I was going to be all about updating this blog. Making it prettier. Revising my pages. Getting back into the blogging groove.

Admirable goals.

BUT WE’VE HAD unseasonably warm winter weather this week. I’m talking snow-free days in the 50s with lots of sunshine.

This is unheard of around here.

AND I’VE FOUND it impossible to sit still in our home office staring at a computer screen when I can be outside… in January… wearing a lightweight jacket… and goofing off wherever I want to be.

I’m sure that you understand.

SO I’VE DECIDED that instead of missing out on what is right before my nose, I’m going to put my To-Do List in my desk drawer where it can rest until I get back to it. Which will be next week, presumably, when winter, inevitably, returns.

Someone Likes My Laura Ingalls Wilder Blouse & It Isn’t Me

September 24, 2014July 29, 2015 / Ally Bean / 18 Comments

{Sub-titled: Never Underestimate The Youthful Appeal Of Calico}

Personal style is such a fickle thing.

I was in the grocery store about 10:00 a.m. standing near the deli counter, but not at it. I was looking for a particular brand of taco chips, not sliced meat.

A woman behind me started talking to me. She said: “Oh, it’s you! I always know when you’re shopping in the store because of that blouse you’re wearing.”

I turned around to see who it might be that was aware of my grocery shopping ensemble, which I apparently wear quite often.

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Standing there, in her Kroger uniform, was a women who works full-time behind the deli counter. She is, as you can imagine from her unexpected chatty hello, a happy person who always gets my order right.

I like her.

I thanked her, and then not knowing what to say next I shared with her that this blouse, which I think of as my Laura Ingalls Wilder blouse, came from the Lands End at Sears sale rack years ago.

I didn’t explain to her that I bought this blouse, not because I thought that it was pretty, but because it fit perfectly, the price was right and the blue/periwinkle colors of the fussy pattern flatter my skin tone.

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The woman went on to tell me that she liked my blouse because: “I had one just like it in junior high when I was 14 years old. And now when I see you in yours, I feel young again.”

Now isn’t that sweet?

The only problem here is that this faded summer blouse, which I do not like, is living on borrowed time. Come cold weather it’s leaving my closet permanently and going into the Goodwill pile.

I hate to disappoint the best deli meat slicer in the store, but honest to goodness, I’ve seen enough calico print on me to last a lifetime. I only hope that my decision to part with this blouse does not adversely affect my future deli counter service.

Only time, and a half pound of turkey sliced thin, will tell.

Let’s Talk About Cowinkydinks

March 4, 2014July 29, 2015 / Ally Bean / 19 Comments

So here’s how it all happened.

I went to the grocery to pick up a few things for dinner. Me with a list, even. Rather clued into what was going on around me.

As I was walking into the lobby of the store I thought that I recognized another woman walking into the store. I wasn’t sure at first, but I thought that this woman was my R.A. during my sophomore year of college.

At a small liberal arts university nowhere near here. About eleventy hundred years ago.

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As she was grabbing for a shopping cart and turned toward me, I realized that she was, indeed, my R.A. in college, who I hadn’t seen in decades. So I exclaimed her name. Loudly.

Fortunately, she didn’t seem fazed by some crazy woman, moi, shouting at her. And in fact we began to talk. After a few minutes of re-connecting in the lobby of the grocery, she suggested we meet for lunch.

Which we did and had a great time of it. We even plan to get together again next month to continue the conversation.

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This would be the end of the story if it weren’t for the weirdest coincidence that happened later in the day. While at lunch my former R.A. told me that she had grown up in a town that I’d never heard of before, a small town in the next state over.

That evening Z-D came home from work and told me that he had to get up early to drive to a meeting somewhere he had never been to before.

Where was he going? To a little town in the next state over where my R.A. had grown up.

Now what are the odds of that?

Hazy With A Chance Of Slot Machines

July 16, 2013July 1, 2025 / Ally Bean / 13 Comments

On Saturday some friends who live in a small town north of here came to the ‘Nati to play for the day. We get together a few times a year and just goof off.

And the best part? No detailed plans, just hanging out for the afternoon seeing where life would take us. Yeah Team Mellow.

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We drove up a large hill, on the west side of town, into an old part of the city called Price Hill, and stopped at a small city park dedicated to a long forgotten form of transportation, the incline. An incline was a cable railway that took passengers up & down steep hills. In this park there were a few plaques commemorating The Price Hill Incline, which allowed people to ride out of & into the city of Cincinnati from 1874 to 1943.

And the best part? This tiny park was a hidden gem– clean, quiet, providing a city view from a different angle than I have ever seen before. Way cool.

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While we were up on the hill we went to lunch at a restaurant, Incline Public House, located beside the park. We sat out on the deck that looks over Cincinnati, the Ohio River and into Kentucky. Even though it was a hazy day, seeing the buildings, railroad tracks and barges from way up high was mesmerizing. The food was delicious. I had lamb sliders with goat cheese + cherry bourbon chutney, along with a side salad of fresh greens + peppercorn ranch dressing.

And the best part? A shot of Woodford Reserve Bourbon in my iced tea. Yum.

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After driving around Price Hill so that we could admire the architecture of the old homes, we drove down into Cincinnati and went to the casino that opened there in March. Casinos are a new big deal in Ohio. While I’m not much of a gambler, I’m nothing if not a curious person so I was happy to see what Horseshoe Casino was all about. It was much nicer than I thought it was going to be– beautifully decorated, good sound system, a variety of restaurants and smoke-free. [Take that Indiana.]

And the best part? I walked away from the 25¢ slot machines, $5.00 richer! Cha-ching.

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