Three months in five minutes.

Hi, everyone. I'm Brittany and I have a blogging consistency problem.

Once upon a time, I actually blogged with regularity. It seems impossible to believe, given my track record the last couple years. Nevertheless, here I am and I've made it my personal goal to finish blogging about our trip to Spain. You know, before a year has elapsed since the trip...

Fun fact: I never even blogged about my own wedding. Oops.

First, I'll catch you up on life in general. Baby steps, folks.

Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year happened. My whole family celebrated Thanksgiving together a week early, but it was a welcome change to have all of us crowded around the dinner table. With my sister in Arizona and Wheat in Texas, Christmas was tamer than usual. Still, it was glorious to have a week at home in Ohio with family and friends. New Year was spent in our typical fashion, with me and Wheat staying in and making fun of the painfully awkward ball-dropping telecast.

Christmas REALLY happened. I didn't really mean to, but I went hard on the Christmas festivities this year. My mom and I explored the Christmas Ranch in Ohio. Wheat and I attended a friend's Christmas cocktail party. We admired the incredible displays and performers at the Chinese Lantern festival at the Indiana state fairgrounds, which I hope becomes a yearly tradition for us. We ate delicious raclettes (cheese melted onto a baguette with dijon mustard, pickles, and green onions), drank hot chocolate, and checked out the German vendors at the Carmel Christkindlmarkt. I organized our company Christmas party with bowling and lunch at Punch Bowl Social. We had our eighth annual Central Perk gift exchange and a few of us ventured to Columbus for a fun evening of bowling and bar hopping with some of my best friends. In other words, I could have used a break from my break.

I turned 30. Yikes. As I'm sure you can guess, it feels the same as 29, but man, it doesn't sound good, does it? Fortunately, my actual birthday celebrations were wonderful, thanks to my awesome friends and family. Wheat surprised me with tickets to watch the Bengals beat the Browns, 30-16. Several of my friends came to Indy to do an escape room with me for the first time (we didn't escape - hmph). I watched competitive eater Joey Chestnut defend his St. Elmo's shrimp cocktail eating title by downing 10 pounds, six ounces of it in eight minutes. I mean, if that doesn't make your birthday, I don't know what will.

...and lots of other things happened, too.

My sister and Denny got married in a small ceremony at a courthouse in Tucson. Denny was deployed to Iraq and my sister moved home to Ohio. My brother-in-law paid us a visit in Indy and my family continued our Christmas Eve fondue tradition. My mom's cancer has continued to evade her chemo and my brother got a ridiculously, almost impossibly cute puppy. I tailgated with Jenn, Paul, and LP before watching the Bengals beat the Lions, 26-17, on Christmas Eve. I drove to Toledo for CJ's baby shower, hosted Kate in Indy for a night, and explored the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery in Dayton.

I did my best teenybopper impression (which isn't very hard to do) while watching the Backstreet Boys, The Chainsmokers, Zedd, Hey Violet, and Maxx. We cooked some HelloFresh meals and realized that, with a little effort, we can cook, too. Wheat and I attended our second consecutive Indianapolis BaconFest and I regretted nothing, especially not the bacon s'mores and donuts. We made strides trying to watch all of the Oscar-nominated movies, binged Mindhunter on Netflix, and visited Veal's Ice Tree before it melted in unseasonably 60º weather. Wheat and I supported each other's alma maters when we traveled to Muncie to watch the Miami Redhawks play football and to Dayton to watch the Davidson Wildcats play basketball.

Mostly, I've felt overwhelmed - sometimes in good ways, sometimes in bad. Sometimes drowning in sadness, other times floating with joy. I suppose the benefit of getting older is realizing that that's life.

Coming at you with more Spanish goodness soon...

She's a wild one.

A full month ago (**world's worst blogger award**), my niece turned one and we celebrated with a precious birthday party at Elizabeth's parents' house. The party had a 'wild one' theme and the decor and Scarlett's outfit were too cute for words. I mean, look at the skirt that Elizabeth made for the woman of the hour.

We socialized, watched Scarlett "open" presents, and begged her to smash a massive cupcake into her face, which she basically refused to do. Instead, she picked sprinkles off one-by-one and ate them like a real lady. It took some serious convincing and someone physically pressing the cupcake into her face for her to finally get started.

Oh, do you remember Jagger, the boy baby racer that befriended Scarlett at the Pacers game? He (aka his parents) gave us a birthday present to give to Scarlett! Since he "won" the race, their prize was a cart full of baby items from Kroger and they decided to give the girly things to Scarlett with a note thanking her for keeping him company at the start line. How cute is that?

After the birthday party, Wheat and I met Jenn, Paul, Kenzie, and Zoey at Liberty Center for dinner. I hadn't been to the new-ish outdoor shopping center before and I was absolutely blown away by it. There was an impressive variety of stores and restaurants and the design of the public space had me asking myself, "This is Ohio?" A highlight for me was the amazing toy train track set up in the central park area. I could have watched it for hours.

That was convenient because we had to wait two hours to get a table at Pies & Pints, but the food was actually worth it. We split an order of pizza skins (do I need to say anything more than mashed potato pizza?) and I drooled my way through the chicken gouda pizza. Needless to say, we'll definitely be back to sample some more.

An Ode to Lebanon

I'm sure I've mentioned this at least a dozen times on my blog, but I'm from a super dreamy midwestern town. The kind of town that decorates for every holiday, holds seasonal festivals and homecoming parades, and smacks you in the face with charm when you walk along the main drag's antique storefronts. Last weekend, my mom begged me to come home to celebrate my belated birthday and when I realized the historic horse-drawn carriage parade was Saturday, it was a done deal.

In hopes of avoiding crowds and traffic, we decided to attend the afternoon parade instead of the gorgeous night parade and I think we made the right decision. It was an overcast day, but the temperature was perfect and the sun even peeked through the clouds for a bit. We posted up along a side street and spent an hour admiring the gorgeous carriages, costumes, Christmas decorations, and horses. Since I have a pulse, my favorites were the precious miniature horses (that pulled our town mayor and my neighbor) and the incredible Clydesdales. You can actually feel the ground rumbling as they pass.

The parade also served as the perfect excuse to use my new camera. I'm obsessed, guys. Since most of my blog friends are camera wizards, does anyone have any easy DSLR tips for night pictures?

After the parade, we went to Bob Evan's for lunch, where I ran into my favorite teacher from high school. It was wonderful to see him again after nearly a decade and I finally got to meet his precious daughter. He was having lunch with my recorder teacher from fourth grade and I was reminded yet again what a cozy, small town we live in.

That night, Wheat, Mommles, and I decided to check out Mad Potter, a paint-your-own-pottery place that we've been meaning to try for months. The pottery selection was overwhelming, but we eventually settled on a dog treat jar, a Buckeyes-themed snowman light, and a little ceramic bear. I'm a bit of a perfectionist, so crafts like this can be a challenge for me (especially the paw prints), but we had a great time. I can't wait to see the finished products.

The rest of the weekend included the Bengals dominating the Browns (WHO-DEY?!), a pumpkin caramel upside-down cake (my blowing-out-the-candles game is strong), some college basketball, and more quality time with my guy and parents. Some things just never get old.

Friends, turkey, and suddenly, I'm 28

Whoa, guys.

Between Thanksgiving, my birthday, illness, and general life goings-on, blogging has clearly been on the back burner for me lately. Admittedly, I also really want to blog about my wedding, but can't because I still don't have any pictures. The last few weeks have been both awesome and weird around here. Let me try to explain.

I don't really feel well - physically or emotionally. Aside from a cold that won't go away (despite two courses of different antibiotics), I've also been battling some severe anxiety and an unexpected jump in my blood pressure. So, I'm officially a 28-year-old girl who takes blood pressure medication every morning. I also asked my doctor to restart my antidepressants, but I've been feeling awful ever since. I'm not sure if I'm experiencing side effects from the Zoloft or something else, but it certainly doesn't help my anxiety.

Aside from that (and a Buckeyes loss and two Bengals losses - boo!), life has been really great. Even through my ever-present cloud of fear and sickness, I can see that. The weekend before Thanksgiving, my parents came to visit so that Wheat and I could properly thank them for everything they did for our wedding. We watched the Pacers trounce the Milwaukee Bucks and enjoyed an incredibly delicious dinner at St. Elmo Steakhouse. In full disclosure, Wheat and I had been searching for a good excuse to go back ever since our first visit and this seemed like a more-than-worthy reason.

 

As it should, Thanksgiving break filled both my heart and belly. We spent time with my amazing friends from high school at a local bar, enjoyed two delicious feasts (beef wellington and turkey), and rested. We watched CNN documentaries on the '60s and '70s, I saw the final installment of the Hunger Games saga with my mom, and met with some dear friends over a delicious Gold Star lunch. We watched the Bengals beat the Rams at my brother's new house and I got to see Jenn's extended family during their Thanksgiving dinner. My mom and I laughed over the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and the National Dog Show and it felt wonderful to saunter out to the living room in my pajamas at 11:00 AM.

 

Then, on Tuesday, I turned 28. We didn't do anything too special for my birthday, but Wheat spoiled me as he always does. He came home from work early with a dozen pink roses and an ice cream cake and serenaded me with the birthday song. He took me to dinner at my favorite Indy restaurant, Bru Burger, and oh yeah - bought me a Canon Rebel DSLR camera. The kind with multiple lenses and a legitimate camera bag. The kind I've been wanting for ages. Needless to say, I was thrilled. I have a lot to learn (understatement), but I'm excited to finally capture some high-quality photos for this blog.

 

I also received tons of love in the form of texts, e-mails, calls, and Facebook messages from the best friends and family a girl could ever imagine. My awesome boss not only brought in doughnuts and danishes to celebrate, but she also treated me to lunch at Qdoba and made me a birthday crown. So yeah, life has been good lately.

I feel pretty behind in some things - laundry, this blog, Thank You cards, changing my name, combining bank accounts, Christmas shopping - but ultimately, I'm just taking some necessary time to ground myself, soak in these moments, and be thankful for this ridiculously full life I'm living.

Dinner with a Bird's-Eye View

For Wheat's birthday this year, I did exactly what any red-blooded, American girl would do on their fiance's birthday: Go straight for his heart and offer him food. Last year, I took him to Rick's Cafe Boatyard for a nice belated birthday dinner on the lake, but this year, I upped the ante and took him to Eagle's Nest at the Hyatt Regency.

Eagle's Nest is Indy's only revolving restaurant, so I made reservations for a sunset spin on one of the highest rooftops in the city. Although the day was overcast, the view was still impressive and we had a blast pointing out our apartment complex, the Capitol building, the canal, and other notable landmarks in the city. It took our entire dining experience (slightly over an hour) to make one complete revolution and we left a bit before the sun went down.

Although dinner itself was delicious, the highlight of the meal was honestly the appetizer we chose - braised short rib gnocchi with chives, shallots, and creme fraiche. We practically licked the sauce off the plate when it was finished and I'm still dreaming about it. For the main course, I chose the grilled center cut filet with potato and artichoke gratin, broiled pearl onions, and marrow butter. Wheat opted with the herb crusted prime rib, garlic and horseradish fries, and pickled onion salad. Needless to say, we were both happy with our choices.

We closed our meal with a lemon meringue bomb with brandied cherries and phyllo dough, which is a fancy way of saying lemon pudding with cherries. Coupled with some hand-holding, it was the perfect end to our mid-week date night.

It's a rare occasion for us to dress up and go somewhere fancy. We're more of a frozen-pizza-and-Bachelorette-on-the-couch kind of couple, but I must admit - it was nice to celebrate my favorite guy in the way he deserves.

Here's to next year.