NYC? Whatever. Columbus, Ohio is the new awesome

Lest you think Betsy is the only jet-setter in the apartment, I will share a few details of my fun weekend in Columbus, Ohio. I know, I know. Columbus, Ohio. Why there? And why in the middle of winter? Good question.

It had something to do with this:

and a lot to do with this:
1990:

2006 :


See, I planned this trip with my two best friends that I have known since I was seven. Quinn moved to New York to make the big bucks, and Danielle got married and moved to Ohio with her husband, where they live in a cute house with their new baby, Abigail. Quinn and I had been promising a visit to Ohio for some time, and decided that now was as good a time as any, when the baby was young enough to sleep a lot, but still old enough to be cute.

Ben and Danielle were great Ohio hosts. They took us shopping. They let us take naps. They didn't make fun of us for not knowing how to hold babies. They never made us change a diaper the whole time we were there. They fed us turkey and hormone-injected strawberries. They made us shower in the basement and sleep in the attic. They let us sing "In the Ghetto" and Backstreet Boys songs to Abby. It was everything I could have hoped for.

And did they make it look like fun to have a baby? Yes they did.


Quinn and I had fun getting introduced around as the 'city girls', and having people ask us wide-eyed questions about public transit and having something to do every night of the week. They, on the other hand, had fun blowing our minds by telling us that the mortgage payment on their cute house is under $500 a month. Quinn and I have since been running the numbers, and if we quit paying rent in our respective cities, I think we might be able to afford the entire state of Ohio.

I got made fun of a little because I had done some research and made a list of things that I wanted to see while in Columbus. On the last day of the trip, with about 2 hours to spare, Quinn and I headed to the city and tried to knock off a few of the things I had on my list.

Wholly Craft : Closed! Foiled by shorter "Winter Hours." The first defeat of the morning.

Ragorama : Also closed. This is probably what I get for trying to go shopping on Sunday.


Pattycake Vegan Bakery : Success! No animals were harmed in the eating of my cupcakes. (The leather purse under my arm, however, is another story).



Village Thrift : Biggest success of the morning. 7 new skirts for $10.

Book Loft of German Village: Honorable mention, since we actually went to this little gem of a bookstore late Saturday night. This great bookstore takes up an entire city block and boasts 32 teeny tiny rooms that you could pretty much get lost in. They stay open late, AND if you can top that, apparently they also house the largest collection of jigsaw puzzles in the midwest.

And that, was Ohio. Don't even try to tell me it wasn't awesome.