Honk if you love your Mom!

This week I was blessed to have my Mom visit for a few days while Ryan went on a climbing/rafting trip to the New River Gorge in WV.

She came in on Thursday around noon, and we jetted off to "Bel Lago" for lunch. This beautiful restaurant is situated in the perfect spot to overlook the Hoover Reservoir. We enjoyed fish and chips, salmon salad, and fried polenta - all with a view of the water.
After lunch we headed to Easton for some light shopping. I am so happy that we decided to stop in Francesca's Collections while there. We ended up finding the perfect hair accessory for the wedding. No longer will I be ripping apart JoAnn Fabric flowers and hot-gluing them back together. I can't post a picture quite yet, because you-know-who might see.

In front of the fountain at Easton:

We stopped at Target and got some vitamins for me and a bathroom mirror for mom. I attempted to take us both to ComFest, but turns out it didn't start til Friday. We drove through Victorian Village and the Short North, which is always pretty.

For dinner we decided to pick up soup and hummus from Greek Corner (they have the best chicken lemon soup) and watch the Golden Girls. We went to Jeni's for some ice cream, and relaxed til bed.

We woke up without an alarm and then went to breakfast at SunnyStreet Cafe (formerly known as Rise and Dine). We hung around a little after that, went to the bead store, Filene's, Trader Joe's, and then back to the apartment for more of Rose, Dorothy, Blanche and Sophia. We decided to head out for more soup for lunch.

On our way we spotted Ray Ray's Hog Pit. It's only Ryan and I's favorite BBQ place in Columbus! In fact, we took Ryan's parents there when they visited Columbus. Anyway, we immediately pulled over and got some pulled pork.



I forgot to mention, there is no where to sit around the hog pit. We took our paper bags and went to Lavash for some lentil soup (we figured if we bought soup we'd be allowed to eat our pork in there too!).

After lunch we continued down High Street all the way to campus. We pulled onto 12th Ave, parked at one of the dorms, and walked over to the new Ohio Union. It is a state-of-the-art student facility full of OSU memorabilia, art, and endless rooms for meetings and study.

Playing in the board room:

We had fun exploring the rooms. We decided to head home afterwards and rest up for our Zumba class that evening. Lifetime is hosting "Empower," a fitness event that brings leaders of the fitness industry from around the country to Lifetime to teach master classes. They had a Zumba class hosted by some Zumba education instructors.

Resting before Zumba:

Boy did we get a workout. It was pretty crazy compared to the classes I'm used to, but we had a lot of fun. I was also able to introduce my mom to my 2 of my favorite Lifetime instructors.

With the Zumba "Master Instructors":

With Jeanne and Pam, 2 great LT instructors:

After class we went to Giant Eagle and got some watermelon for a bedtime snack. We ate it while we watched TV and uploaded pictures.

I was up early this morning for work. Luckily, my mom had a race at 8:00 (2nd place, way to go!) and a massage appointment after that. We stopped into a massage place on Thursday night and made her an appointment with a guy who worked on me Wednesday. He's the best!

So while I was working, my mom ran, got massaged, and got some items for dinner. When I got home from work I could smell the veal in the hallway! She made veal scallopini (one of my favorite dishes of hers), parsley potatoes, and corn on the cob. It was delicious!

Unfortunately, the good meal meant that our visit had come to an end. We loaded up the dishwasher and said our goodbyes, but not before narrowly escaping a bee attack by the apartment dumpster.

It was a wonderful visit and I can't wait to go home in a couple weeks for my bridal shower. It's going to be a busy summer :)