Athens Famers Market

Yesterday, Emil Ryan, wife to OU Assistant Coach Will Ryan, and I had an Athens Farmers Market date!

I enjoy going to the farmer's market on Wednesday because it is not as busy as Saturday. I failed at picture taking, only getting a photo of my purchases (below), but it's just not as congested and I can think and price check before going in for my acquisitions.

I have also decided that Wednesday is the more "economical" day to shop at the market since it's not as busy. I have not really compared shopping on Wednesday verse Saturday, but it seems logical so I am sticking to it. You know, maybe Wednesday is the day in which the vendors are trying to sell the produce and products not sold from Saturday's market. I explained this to Emily, and she seemed to buy into my rationale.

Emily and I arrived at around 10:45am, and did a slow stroll to check out what the vendors were selling. Now, the farmer's market isn't that big, it's cute and intimate, but I still utilize my strategy of doing a once around before making ANY purchases as I used to do at the Madison Farmers Market.

If you are ever in the city of Madison, WI; I highly recommend that you check out Madison's "Saturdays Around the Square!" Now this is an excursion; wear your tennis shoes, come hungry, and enjoy the beautiful capital of Wisconsin!

Athens Farmers Market Produce for $11

3 Zucchini - $2
Pint of Blueberries - $4
Basil - $2
Green Beans - $3

I have been extremely pleased with all the produce and products purchased at the Athens Farmers Market. Coach Kemp can differentiate the fruits and veggies that were bought at the local grocer verse the market, which is comical to me.

I have been on a zucchini noodle kick, and also highly recommend one purchasing the Veggetti. I purchased mine for like $15 at Wal-mart about two weeks ago. Since then I have made so much zucchini noodles that I am afraid I may turn green! Coach Kemp also is a big fan so that is great. He is not a fan of spaghetti squash so I was a little hesitant when I first made zucchini noodles. He thinks the zucchini more tastes like spaghetti than a squash. Whatever, I am fine with that!

I too have been making lots of pesto, hence the basil. Specifically, this Clean Eats Pesto which uses walnuts instead of pine nuts is super delicious and uber easy to make! And then my recent recipe is Paleo friendly, Zucchini Noodles with Avocado Cream Sauce which mimics alfredo sauce! Get in my tummy now good!

Question of the Day: Do you frequent your city's farmers market? What do you buy?

Michelyn

DIY verse BUY & My Distaste for Pinterest

Let's have a serious conversation.

Ok, got your glass of wine or cup of coffee? 

Please tell me why I think I have the innate ability to be creative and artistic like those people I follow through blogland. Honestly, I have a love/hate relationship with Pinterest, and all those DIY blogs!

I have come to the conclusion that I was not blessed with the DIY gene. You know I completely embraced that for my wedding. My mother and I did very limited DIY projects. The one that we were/are most proud of is my invitations...

No, we did not actually print the invitations ourselves! If that were the case, I would be boasting and submit them for a wedding website/magazine. What we did do, was add the double-heart embossed stamp over the return address flap and on the cover of the invitations. We too had to glue the actual invitation to the tri-fold card-stock, and then glue and bow the entire package. Let's just say it was a family affair, including pops, during Easter break 2012. 

And then the second DIY was for the seating chart... 

From afar it looks like a place setting, but as the guests approach, they find their name and it then indicated the table number for dinner. As the namecards were removed, don't worry it did not go blank, we had a duplicate on the card board. This was a grand idea, but a huge feat to accomplish.

For starters, all those RSVPs nearly killed me! We waited until the 99th hour (aka the week of the wedding) to put this contraption together, but it did not go without a few bumps. In the end it turned out the way I had envisioned, so I guess the turmoil was worth it. 

Honestly, there was not much DIY in those two examples except for assembling. So why in H-E-Double Hockey Sticks do I now think I posses the abilities to successfully complete Pinterest-worthy projects for home decorating.

Which leads me to my current predicament. Where is my bottomless account for home decorating? Coach Kemp, I am talking to you?

With Coach being gone and no school in session, I have had a lot of "free" time on my hands. Typically, free time warrants swiping of the debit card, which has ensued on multiple occasions, but I also have found some unearthly idea that I am now creative and can pull off those DIY projects from Pinterest. I mean, I even have a board entitled "Just Don't Break A Nail." I may re-name it to "Wish Upon a Star" or "Think Again." 

My first attempt at spray painting and sprucing up an old, inexpensive white dresser was a semi-fail. Semi-fail because (a) it looks decent from afar and (b) it photographs well; HOWEVEVR, up close it is a little questionable. Because of A & B, I am not too ashamed to post it on my blog!

Please excuse the clear flower vases, I am trying to think of dresser accessories. This piece sits on the second-floor landing, and serves as a storage for health and beauty overages (e.g., soap, razors, lotion, etc.). We are very limited with storage options!

Also, since we are renting, I can't paint any of the walls, so I am constantly staring at a lot of white. But, I am not even sure if painting would be a good idea. I am horrid at picking out paint colors, and lets not even begin with Team Kemp painting excursions. Coach and I painted our master bath and my dressing room in our Toledo residence, and we vowed to never do that again in efforts of staying married. When we moved out, I hired a painter to paint a few rooms for our tenants. Prime example of BUY superseding DIY! 

I did a quick search for navy dressers and found these two options that are somewhat similar to my piece.

Inexpensive Find: On Sale for $368.00

Source

Pricier Find: $1859.00

Source

My final verdict is that I suck at DIY but my bank account is happy I went with this option. We purchased two of the dressers last year from Ashley's Furniture. I found a similar dresser at Sears for $159.99, and that price sounds about right. +/- $150. The spray paint (two bottles), sand paper, and plastic throw were $18 at Lowes.

In the end, I give myself a C.

Michelyn

Athens 6 Week Update!

Happy Monday folks! I know, I was MIA for a little bit! You forgive me, right!? Good, I love you for it!

Team Kemp has officially resided in Athens for 6 weeks and I am proud to announce that I love it! I know, this city girl actually loves the college-town of Athens, OH! Can you believe it? I am a little shocked to be honest!

If you have been following my blog, all 4 of you, you know I was anxious about the move. For starters we had just moved from Fargo, ND to Toledo, OH and I was finally feeling "settled." Part of my angst for our move to Athens - was simply that we were moving AGAIN!!! You can read about that in this post.

Then there was the obvious, I am a city girl, and was moving to a city that's focus is the university. Now I did view this as a positive, and still do. It is so awesome to walk around town and see students and others adorning Ohio University gear! Like super awesome. NDSU and Toledo both have a great fans base, but being a coach's wife, it is really nice seeing Ohio gear everywhere you go, even in the local restaurants! I did attend undergrad at the University of Florida which too is a college-town, but being a student, I had no perspective of living in Gainesville as an adult. It was challenging at first to imagine myself being an adult in a college-town. I am here to report, it is going just fine!

Granted I have only lived here for six weeks, I can announce that there is more happening than simply the university! Athens is home to some of the most beautiful trails and parks, in my opinion. On Saturday, I had the opportunity to run the Sells Park with some members of CrossFit SEO! Wow, just beautiful, and you would never even guess that the trail is tucked behind East State Street! Check out the Athens Trail Network, I am giddy just looking at all the options!

And talking about CrossFit SEO!!! Love my gym!!! The instructors are beyond amazing!!! (Wow, lots of exclamation points for those few sentences, lol.) For starters they are all super knowledgeable about CrossFit, proper form; and then top it off with their great personalities. I will forever cherish Renegade (Toledo) and Maximum Performance and Fitness (Fargo), but I again struck gold with CrossFit SEO!!! Just realized, that I previously raved about them in this post too.

Along with fitness, I have a love for the Athens Farmer's Market. Coach Kemp recently got some bummer dental news, so we have removed all extra sugars from our diet. Prior to this realization, we too had discussed lowering our dairy-intake overall. The farmer's market is convenient and open three days a week in the summer (Wednesday, Thursday [in the evening], and Saturday). I have been buying a large portion of our veggies and fruits from the market, swoon!

My shopping fix, or obsession, has been met with our new subscription to Amazon Prime. Not so sure where Coach Kemp and I have been, but hello free shipping! Even if I were living in a big city, I would still use Amazon. I love that everything can be found on one website. I kind of detest having to visit multiple online stores and even store fronts to find what I am looking for. Oh, and I am excited to check out the TJ Maxx in Parkersburg, WV which is only like a 45 minute drive. And if I just need a quick fix, then I head over to Uptown Athens where there are a number of cute stores! I am looking forward to stopping by Nelsonville too for some shopping as well.

Are you wondering about restaurants? Well, Athens has that covered too! We try to dine at the restaurants that buy local foods, those 30 Mile Meal  restaurants, and they have all been delicious. A few of my favorites include: Zoe Fine Dining, Casa Nueva, Sol Restaurant & Run Bar, and Crumbs! I too had a slight obsession with Insomnia Cookies, but we have placed a ban since we are not eating sugar; thank heavens as my waist band is very appreciative.

But the real reason the last six weeks have gone so wonderful for Team Kemp is because of the amazing people, and ladies in particular, that I have met thus far! Wow! I am beyond amazed at how genuinely friendly everyone is. This of course includes the amazing wives of Ohio Basketball but also extends to other women I have been fortunate to meet, to date. Everyone is so welcoming, inviting me to ladies dates, and functions. My social calendar is popping!!! Whoop whoop! And Prince has been invited to a few of these outings as well.

I know I have only tipped the ice in Athens. I am looking forward to partaking in some of the fun festivals and other outdoor spots like the beach!  Of course I am super pumped for Ohio athletic events, Go Bobcats!

Michelyn

Greece: A small picture and video bomb

Well hello. Last night I got all the professional pictures from our Greece trip and am planning to do a few extensive (aka photo heavy) posts about each of three cities that we visited, but today the UToledo athletic department posted this fun youtube video.

I have watched the video numerous times and it is making me so anxious for basketball season... Who needs football, ha. That previous statement is quite funny as I actually much prefer football over basketball. I guess Coach Kemp and his profession is rubbing off on me.

My plan is to disperse a few Greece related posts over the remainder of this week and into next, but in the meantime, I can tease with a few of my favorites...

What do you think of the Toledo MBBs program?

Did you try the corn side dish yet?

Have you ever been to Greece? If so, where?

Michelyn