Graduation weekend!

I feel awful for not blogging in a while, but I have been out of town for my little brother's graduation.  My brother went to school in Columbus, OH at Columbus College of Art and Design.  He graduated on Saturday, May 15th, with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Photography.  I'm so proud of him!  And I can't believe he's already done with college.  Granted, we were always just a year apart in school, but it's still hard to imagine that he's "all grown up" now!  Columbus, OH is a wonderful place to visit.  There are beautiful trees, flowers, buildings, homes, and really neat places to eat.  I will post some pictures below of our trip.  But I thought it would be neat for you to see the restaurants and shops that we visited on the trip.  

On Thursday, our family went to Hound Dogs Pizza.  It is a cool pizza place attached to a bar.  There is graffiti on the wall and the decor is definitely unique.  The pizza is amazing.  My brother and I had a cheese pizza with pepperoni, black olives, and green pepper on their naturally rising crust with garlic/olive oil drizzled on it.  It was delicious!

On Friday, our family went to Katzinger's Deli for lunch.  They have really wonderful, unique sandwiches.  My mom and I shared a #16, which had on it: oven roasted turkey breast, Swiss cheese, creamy coleslaw, Russian dressing and was on grilled rye bread.  It was so good I could have eaten the whole sandwich by myself.  :)

For dinner, our family went to Schmidt's Sausage Haus and Restaurant for dinner.  This restaurant has authentic German food (and of course is found in German Village of Columbus, OH).  The food here was also delicious and very filling.  If you can't tell, we ate really well on our trip.

Then, on Saturday, after the graduation, we went to Dirty Frank's Hot Dog Palace for gourmet hot dogs.  Last time I went there, I had a typical Chicago Dog and only a bite of Amy's Big Boston Dog (which consists of a hot dog, Boston baked beans, fresh onions, and sharp cheddar).  Both hot dogs were delicious, but I decided to try something different this time.  I went with the Lara's Pittsburgh Princess, which has a hot dog, cole slaw, fresh cut fries, and malt vinegar.  All of their hot dogs are fantastic and I was not disappointed either time I went there.

Then, for my brother's graduation dinner, we ate at Latitude 41, which was the restaurant in the hotel we stayed in.  As if I need to keep saying it, the food was amazing as expected.  I had a wonderful green salad, speckled hen with grilled Radicchio, green beans, and pommes frites, and then some beignets for dessert with a chocolate cream cup.  Again, I was completely satisfied after dinner.  To top the night off, I went swimming on the rooftop deck and soaked in the hot tub outdoors.  It was a wonderful day from start to finish.

Finally, for shopping, we frequent Columbus Ohio's Short North District.  There are so many places to shop and browse.  There are also many good restaurants in this area.  The last time we were in Columbus, my mom and I fell in love with Bink Davies: a specialty store with really neat collectible items and room decor.  Of course, we went there again this trip.  I purchased things like a coin purse and kitchen towels--which I am quite excited about.  

The trip to Columbus was great as always.  Luckily, my brother is still staying there for now, so hopefully I can visit him again the near(ish) future and go to all my favorite places. I would most definitely consider moving there in the future if I felt a calling and an opportunity opened up.  If you haven't been there, I would recommend it.  It's beautiful this time of year.