I was so looking forward to visiting Lily’s Bistro and on my husband’s birthday, we had the perfect opportunity. I was mainly excited to try this restaurant because it’s owned by the owners of Blind Bob’s, which has some of the best food in the world. (You are welcome to quote me on that!)
I love what they’ve done with the place. You may remember this space as its former restaurant, Boulevard Haus, but now it’s sleek and stylish with a completely updated look.
The food is absolutely amazing. I was so impressed with everything, right down to the presentation. I ordered the fish of the day and my husband ordered the chicken thigh. The dishes were flavorful and delicious, and you could tell that everything was completely fresh (and I found out later that they strive to use locally sourced food whenever possible).
For dessert, I had to try the grown up cookies and milk (the milk is mixed with brandy and nutmeg for a fun twist). I loved it and now I can’t wait to try their other desserts.
I’m so glad to have a great new restaurant like this in the Oregon District! I’m looking forward to many more visits to come.
You know how I feel about Somme Institute and Gloss 48 but did you also know how I feel about WINNING? Well, I love it very much, and recently I found out that I am the first Gloss Boss for Gloss 48!
I am helping to host the private 48 hour sale for Somme Institute products on Gloss 48 and I’m able to extend a special invitation to all of you to shop the sale early!
Click here to visit the sale and take a look around!!
That’s right, Girl About Town has been around for 2 years now! It’s really something to be able to write about the city I love and to get such great feedback for doing so. Thank you so much for reading Girl About Town and telling your friends!
I found this picture in my computer and I think it’s fitting here (although I apologize for having no information as to where it came from or who to credit!).
Also, if you haven’t already, consider liking me on Facebook or following me on Twitter. Thank you so much for all of your support!
These are the best, aren’t they?
Yes, I made varsity. No, I didn’t remember that I did until I dug this out of a box at my mom’s house. It’s sort of bittersweet because I’m from Vandalia-Butler High School and I’m starting to think they won’t even have a choir here pretty soon thanks to budget cuts.
I took this pretty picture by accident at work! I was about to take a walk and was checking my phone to see what time it was.
My grandpa got this guy out of storage to visit with us at Christmas.
The back of St. Mary’s.
Why, you ask? East Dayton is why.
I lived in Vandalia for 20 years, and in that time we never had anything cool. I mean nothing. Tim Horton’s was the coolest thing we had. REALLY. So imagine my delight and, I’ll be honest, jealousy, that Bloom – an incredibly cute and stylish boutique – opened and is taking Vandalia and the internet by storm! I’m jealous for all the Vandalia girls who now have a great, local place to source very pretty dresses, tops, and accessories right in their very own neighborhood.
I love shopping here and getting a chance to see the items up close and personal, but when I can’t make it to the store, their website is convenient and fun to shop as well. I mean, it must be: They have 17,455 likes on Facebook!
I’m very happy that they now have weekly hours: (Tuesdays 3-8, Thursdays 3-8, Fridays 3-8, and Saturdays 10-2). Now I can shop after work!
If you’ve been looking for a locally-owned, affordable fashion boutique in the Greater Dayton area, look no further than Bloom!
Bloom 515 Helke Rd Vandalia, OH 45377
“Storytellers are a threat. They threaten all champions of control, they frighten usurpers of the right-to-freedom of the human spirit – in state, in church or mosque, in party congress, in the university or wherever.”
- Chinua Achebe
Chinua Achebe wrote one of my favorite books of all time, Things Fall Apart, and I was sad to hear of his death a few weeks ago. He was one hell of a storyteller and this quote I feel is very true. Storytellers can reach into the heart of anyone and that’s a powerful thing.
To continue my anniversary weekend, my husband and I decided to visit the Dayton Flood Exhibit at the Dayton Art Institute and try Leo Bistro for the first time.
The exhibit was amazing and haunting – they did a great job of bringing the flood into perspective. I don’t remember learning anything about it in school (because it wouldn’t have been on a standardized test), so I’m picking up these local history lessons on my own to make up for lost time.
Leo Bistro is amazing and I love having a beautiful new place to enjoy art and delicious food! I feel like Leo Bistro really turns DAI into a really fun destination for date night or a quiet weekend afternoon.
I tried the Leo Salad and my husband had the pork tacos.
We shared the Spumoni Bomba, which I recommend highly!
I can’t wait to try more dishes from Leo’s menu! I have a feeling I’ll be visiting DAI more frequently now that I can plan on a yummy lunch or dinner while I’m there.
For the last part of our adventure in our state’s capital, my husband and I had planned on visiting the Columbus Museum of Art for the Rothko exhibit. As amazing as the exhibit was, I was also just very taken with the place in general.
CMA is very modern and I loved the pieces in the permanent collections. The kids area was very neat – I especially loved the color rooms. The first room was purple and it asked on the wall how it made you feel to be surrounded by nothing but purple.
The next room was yellow and it asked the same question. I loved how they were trying to get kids to think about how color can affect us emotionally. There were so many activities like that.
One exhibit that scared me quite a bit was the puppet exhibit. It was generally terrifying but educational as well. The only puppets that weren’t scary and were even sort of cute were these two of a boy with a trumpet nose and his armored dog by Michaela Bartonova.
We had such a great time in Columbus! We can’t wait to go back for some more adventure sometime.
Read Part 1 and Part 2 here.
To walk off some of the calories we happily consumed in Columbus for our anniversary, we decided to do some shopping (because shopping is cardio, never forget that). Since we were in Columbus, we had to visit Used Kids.
I love record store shopping and it’s never easier to find amazing records than at Used Kids – the place is just full of great buys. I was lucky they had some stock left over from Record Store Day and bought a Bob Dylan single demo to “Wigwam.”
Other than that, if you’ve never been to Used Kids, I’ll just say that walking up the stairs to the store is overstimulating because you want to read all of the stickers and old posters lining the walls but there are only so many steps (and only so many hours that they’re open). On our way back down, we really took a look at some of them and found some great ones.
If you’re ever stumped on where to continue the hunt for a specific record, think about making the trip to Columbus to visit Used Kids. They might just have what you’re looking for, and even if they don’t, you’ll find amazing records you didn’t know you desperately needed in your collection.
Used Kids 1980 N High St Columbus, OH 43201(614) 421-9455
My husband and I love Dayton with all our hearts, but on our 5 Year Wedding Anniversary we decided to take the day off from work and explore Columbus a little for a change. Here is the summary of the edible part of our adventure.
We started the day by returning to Northstar Cafe and it was just as wonderful as we remember from October! I had the Buddha Bowl and Rob had the Avocado Chicken with sweet potato fries. I cannot stress enough how deeply we love this place!
Next door is one of the Jeni’s Ice Cream shops and I was overjoyed to get to visit. I love Jeni’s and no amount of giving up most dairy is going to stop me from enjoying their delicious ice cream.
I tried the Brown Butter Almond Brittle and Ultimate Buckeye while Rob had two scoops of the Honey Pistachio.
After some shopping, we decided we desperately needed some coffee and as luck would have it we were parked next to a coffee cart called Tree Spirit Coffee.
Inside were the nicest people on this planet who were sweet enough to be really happy for us celebrating our anniversary in Columbus. They pretended to swipe my card and I didn’t realize until the next day they hadn’t charged us. I absolutely love them! Oh and in case you’re wondering, their coffee is amazing!
I think next time we’ll spend a weekend in Columbus because I have a lot more restaurants I want to try. We had such a great experience in Columbus and I can’t wait to go back!
Welcome!
I love Dayton, I've lived here for all of my 26 years and don't plan on settling anywhere else. I started this blog as a way to showcase the best of Dayton (as seen through my perspective) and also to share some of the things that occupy space in my mind, namely beauty, home decor, quotes, and various aspects of my life.
