Oh Portland.

You may or may not know that "my other half" lives in Portland, Oregon. That would be my best friend Heather. Max and I visited for the first time last month and had a wonderful time. The Northwestern part of America is a magical place, full of the most beautiful scenery you could lay your eyes on. If I didn't have family here I think I would move. You will see why.

8, 8, 8

I heard a wise saying once. A healthy lifestyle uses the 8, 8, 8 rule. 8 hours for work, 8 hours for sleep and 8 hours for you. I think this is so smart! I love my husband, dearly. Madly. That being said, I don't often get evenings alone and let me just say, I am in heaven! I can watch stupid girl movies on t.v. (Twilight, Real Housewives Of NJ, Everyday Italian etc.) Not only that, but I can pour a glass of wine and read, or Facebook with a quiet house, with nothing to do but be lazy. Oh yes, and I am not cooking..oh no. Take out sushi. That is my perfect alone night meal. Sushi and wine.  And maybe a cookie, but who's counting? Basically, I am just enjoying my brief 2 hour break between work and a delightful 8 hours of deep, restful sleep. I love this little life.

Perfect Peace...

On April 16th, Max and I along with our good friends, Dan and Lauren headed down to Sevierville, Tennessee to spend the weekend in a spacious chalet on the edge of a mountain, literally, we were hanging off the edge. The cabin was appropriately named Perfect Peace. 

Photo Courtesy of americanmountainrentals.com

We had a fabulous weekend with nearly perfect weather, which was great because it rained the entire time we were away from lovely Cincinnati (which by the way has not let up since we have been back). The evening we arrived was a little chilly, so we stayed in and made dinner, opened some wine and around 11:30 jumped in the hot tub. We played a couple games of pool as well.

The second day we ventured to Smoky Mountain National Park with our sights set on Abrams Falls in Cade's Cove. It was an absolutely perfect day for our 5 mile hike, 75 and sunny. 

 

At home that evening we made delicious kabobs and Dan made Spanish rice, and enjoyed the hot tub some more!

For our last day, we went all touristy and visited Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge. We did it all, Old Timey Photos, Fudge, Go-Carts, Mini Golf etc... 

For dinner we ate delicious BBQ at Bennett's where we stuffed ourselves and then went home to make s'mores in the fireplace. Num Num Num! Lauren and I faded in and out of sleep on a pile of blankets in front of the fire while Dan and Max watched Louis C.K.'s latest stand-up.

On our day of departure, we decided to take one last final adventure on the way home, so we decided to zipline at Smoky Mountain Ziplines! We didn't buy the tourist photo, so luckily I can't embarrass myself, but we zipped down 14 lines and spent about 2 hours.

In summary, we all got a little closer, and laughed all day/night and drank ourselves happy. I think we all wished that we could have stayed one more day at Perfect Peace, but maybe we can do it again next year!

Getting organized.

It was a glorious day in Cincinnati yesterday, 75 and sunny. It was so nice driving with all of the windows down. Since this weekend is officially the start of Spring, I suppose it is time to begin my Spring cleaning. Max and I are heading over to Ikea tonight and this weekend I am going to work on organizing our office/my business/my hobbies/our textbooks/other things that are currently littered all throughout our second bedroom upstairs. 

Also, this weekend is special because tomorrow (3/20) is Heather's birthday (pretty much the most awesome BFF a girl can get) and my F-I-L Glenn/Max's dads birthday (3/21).

Even though Heather is in Portland, I will be celebrating with her in spirit and when she comes home in 2 weeks, she will get her present I got her. So, cheers to a productive weekend!

Lost and found

Max and I have spent many, many hours watching Lost on Netflix. We started Season 1 in January and completed Season 6 yesterday evening. This show was amazing. I have no idea how anyone could stand to watch Lost episode by episode once a week for 6 years. It is nonsense. Max and I could take 4-5 episodes in one sitting and that is being modest. We wanted to watch it for a while, but we knew well the commitment involved in starting something so huge. Having finally convinced ourselves to take the plunge, we are so happy that we did. I am not going to act like I have a complete understanding of it all, but who cares. The journey was fun, but I am glad to have my life back. That said, thank you J.J. Abrams, for making great TV. I salute you.

What is next on the agenda? Catching up on all of the episodes of The Office, Community, Outsourced, Fringe and lots of other favorites that we have stashed away until we finished Lost.

Oh television happiness. <3

-Tara

Coffee in the morning, coffee in the evening...

I am a person who generally disagrees on being dependent on any substance, but then there is coffee. I have always loved it, and by always I mean from the time I was a toddler. My family didn't believe in not giving coffee to little ones (mostly my grandmothers). 

Now that I have a full time job, I am drinking it almost every morning, and sometimes in the evening. It has become something I need/want to get going in the morning. I am obviously becoming dependent. But, it is so good. I heard on the Today show that in most women, coffee makes them more focused. I completely agree! I feel much more productive after a cup of coffee. 

What do you guys think?

A little taste of Spring.

Photo by graphixoutpost

I have several little tulips popping out their heads in my yard and it makes me so very happy. The sun was shining today and I was lucky enough to get out of work early. Hachiko and I just took a nice long walk around Clifton and enjoyed each others company.  This sunshine gets me all antsy for Spring.  I can't wait to get my hands in the dirt to plant my vegetables, herbs, and flowers (not excited about the weeds). Oh yes! And grilling out with friends. This is one of my favorite things in general. I love a good hamburger, or BBQ chicken, oooh and kabobs!I must say that it helps that my husband grills like a pro. Ahhh, num, num, num. So ready for Spring!

Sunday and Oscar Predictions

Let me start off saying that I am not an award show follower. I have only seen a couple of these movies but since I am attending an Oscar party tonight, my friend Jennifer told me that I have to make my Oscar Predictions. Here are the nominees that I guessed would win. To be honest, I have am more entertained by the Red Carpet fashion show. It is always fun to judge. 

• Best Picture - The King's Speech
• Actor in a Leading Role - Colin Firth
• Actor in a Supporting Role - Geoffrey Rush
• Actress in a Leading Role - Natalie Portman
• Actress in a Supporting Role - Hailee Steinfeld
• Animated Feature Film - Toy Story 3
• Art Direction - Alice in Wonderland
• Cinematography - Black Swan
• Costume Design - Alice In Wonderland

 I mean, honestly, the chances of me even staying awake 

to see the main nominations are unlikely anyways. 

Happy Sunday.

- Tara

An introduction to my little charmed life.

This is me....and my husband, Max....and my faithful dog, Hachiko.

Welcome to my little charmed life.

Let's start with an introduction. My name is Tara Ellerbe, born on July 24, 1987. I grew up in a little neighborhood called Pleasant Run Farms. My husbands name is Max. He grew up in the same little neighborhood. In fact, one street down from mine. When I was a kindergartner at Welch Elementary, Max was a third grader in the same building. In my fourth grade year, I switched to private school.

Fast forward to 2000. My brother, Aaron, was in a band at Northwest High School called Speed for Valerie. Max just happened to be the drummer of that band, which happened to practice at my house. So this was the first of a long series on coinciding events that led me to meet my future husband.

We married on December 16, 2006. 

One year later....

We purchased an Akita puppy that we named Hachiko.

And this is our little home.

My life is full in all of the best ways. I created this blog to share the little

 details of my life, but mostly my best attempt to awaken my creativity 

that I feel has been laying dormant for far too long. I don't know which 

direction this will go, but I'm sure it will be fun.

- Tara