I love going home from India. It works out that I can go home a month each summer (in Ohio), which is monsoon in Goa. There are about a million reasons why I love going home. We love Goa, but home is where my family and lots of my friends are.

There’s a third “F” though.. Friends, Family, and FOOD! I don’t need to do anything but sit on the couch with my mom watching TV, eat dinner with my family, hang out with friends, and just chill (and snack).

Even though I didn’t make plans, they sort of came to me. I had told the Ohio Tourism board I’d be in town for a month. They ended up reaching out to me and I came up with a couple of fun things to do with my mom (so she can see my job is real, lol).

We also had thought about going on a vacation, but I pitched to my parents like I do a tourism board, a trip to Toronto! I told them how it’ll be so international, cultural, and we’ll have the best time eating the best food and doing to fancy museums. It worked.

I bet you’re wondering why Ben didn’t come to the US with me. For one, it’s quite expensive and we were just in Hawaii, he’d just seen my parents in India, and he hadn’t been to England to see his own family since the last time he was in the US….. THEN there was the big reason, the one that made it impossible anyways…. Shanti ate his passport.

Some of my favorites things I did while home:

Trip to Hocking Hills with my mom

Hocking Hills is this gorgeous area of Ohio. If you’re from Ohio, you’ve surely heard of it! It’s a big vacation spot especially in the autumn months.

• A mother/daughter day in Dublin
• Glamping in Hocking Hills at Glenlaurel Inn
• Spa day & crafts in Cedar Falls

Family Vacation in Toronto.

Toronto is only 6 hours away from Lexington, Ohio by drive, it was an easy trip that I think we will make again. We seriously had SO much fun in Toronto and even though I was working with the tourism board, it didn’t feel like work. it was also cool to show my parents my new “job”.

• Family friendly hotel: Le Germain Maple Leaf Square
• 20 things to do in Toronto
• Splurging at the Four Seasons

The Bonfire @ Home

The most memorable thing was a cook out with all our friends just before I left at my house. It was so good to see Whitney’s twin babes, hear Erin talk about her new house, and have Arielle back at her second home. My college friend Colleen came up from Columbus with her boyfriends, and Rochelle my best friend growing up brought her husband over. Of course they ALL brought their parents, who are also my parents’ best friends. There were lots of other people as well, like the Cramers who are like second parents. It was such a good night!

Just chilling with my dog Brandi!

So, I had written this a couple weeks ago & now have to edit it because Brandi passed away. So, going through this post is hard since I have pictures of her throughout. I’m glad I was home as long as I was and pretty much spent the whole time with her. She was 12 and had skin cancer. She was the best dog ever. So, I guess her, Huck, and Piso are all running around in dog heaven!

Lake with my mom

We went up to Lake Erie which is less than two hours away for the weekend. It was pretty much the only sunny weekend we had. It was fun to just relax and sit on the beach. I read The Goldfinch which was pretty good but really long. We also stopped by my friend Jenna’s house and saw her cute baby Hudson!

July 4th @ Cincinnati

I went to Cinci to my BFF Rachel and her husband Ian’s house for fireworks on the 4th… partied with her parents, husband, and Melissa and Brad (Mel is my BFF from HS) & went to a couple breweries. That’s the thing to do back home now, drinking “craft beers” but I just get the lightest beer possible.

More fun things:

I also got to see my Grandma and Aunts and Uncles which was cool. I took yoga class with my mom, started working out (my friend Mel played basketball in college and came to teach me ones I can do at home)… and really we just hung out at home. I also got to meet my cousin, Des’s, baby. It was the perfect 6 weeks away from India! Also look how cool the present I got my dad was!!

Breaking Bad gifts from etsy

Amazing food I ate in the USA and Canada

(obviously the most important thing)

parmesan wings and breakfast tacos 

ice cream cake
broccoli salad is my FAVE

dad’s famous ribs

pot roast

pizza hoagie & loaded fries

I made this chicken haha, my mom made literally everything else we ate at home

PANERA
mexican food… yum

steak, wedge salad, home fries

favorite meal ever, stuffed peppers

The post What I did (and ATE) while home in Ohio appeared first on Hippie In Heels.

Although I was home in Ohio for a month, Ben only came for about a week, just in time for my best friend’s wedding. He knew I lived out in the middle of nowhere, but I don’t think he quite grasped it when he asked if we could spend a few days in NYC or Chicagao. I had to explain how far spread it they really are and how we don’t have trains to take us around.

I wanted us to be home the whole time anyways because he hadn’t met my family, but when Ben took me to England, we went to the theatre, a castle, all these fancy restaurants, and walked around London seeing places I chose. I needed to give him a balance of tourism and staying home. At home we shot guns, he watched the farmers bail hay (so funny that he thought this was cool) and went to huge shopping malls. I needed to find somewhere in Ohio to take Ben and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was the first place I thought of. I also wanted to take him to COSI in Columbus or at least have a night out there but we ran out of time. This is probably because my family and I spent so much time making sure he tried all our favorite foods.

The Rock n Roll Hall of Fame // Cleveland

The museum is HUGE and people come from all over the U.S. to see it. Like the NFL hall of fame, each year people are inducted and there is a big concert. We spend a few hours walking through, while spending most of our time reading about our favorite artists from the 70’s.

It was just announced Beyonce will be inducted in 2022 and they’ve already picked out her outfits to showcase… that’s how big of a deal this place is!

This year Nirvana, Kiss, Peter Gabriel, Cat Stevens, and more were inducted. I feel like you should see a Kiss photo from then and now.

I only took my iPhone because I really wasn’t thinking about blogging at the time, but it was too cool not to share. Some of the best collections were hand-written lyrics, Lennon’s passport and glasses, and all the clothes- especially Stevie Nicks and Jimi Hindrix

Here’s a little mini-tour (and tips at the bottom)

In the zoomed in look below, you can see Janis Joplin’s glasses, notes, and the drawing is actually a giant acid sheet she was gifted from a friend!

Above was a screen shot of the computer section they have when you can see who was influenced by other people. You can keep clicking until you go back to the beginning of music basically. We spent a lot of time scrolling through this. They would show two songs, one from the influencer and one from the person influenced- it was crazy how similar they sounded!

They had a huge selection of guitars, like the ones below belonging to Jimi Hendrix.

Handwritten lyrics from the Allman brothers as well as the band’s piano. I’ve always loved the song, “Ramblin’ Man”.

Above you have one of David Bowie’s outfits. He was such a character. Blow are some of Jimi Hendrix’s outfits from concerts. One thing I was a little surprised by is how bright the clothing was in the hippie-psy days. Now, I live in Goa which is the PSY capital of the world and a place hippie’s flock to and colors are black or naturals, kind of like the lost boys in Peter Pan.

I love Stevie Nicks’ style and think her costumes look very witchy. Every time I wear my fringe kimono I feel like her! Below are some handwritten lyrics by the likes of Janis and Jimi.

One of Tom Petty’s Jackets. It’s funny to me that now when people dress crazy and over the top (Lady Gaga) people HATE her for it, but at such a great age in music that’s just what people were doing and they were adored for it. Some of Mick Jagger’s clothes were border-line for women, yet he owned it!

Below is a drum set and guitars from ZZ Top. She’s got leeeegggz…

A shirt from Notorious BIG and below the gloves from the beastie boys video and CD cover.

I made Ben take a photo by “the wall”, a prop from a concert. The last photo here is a group of kids playing awesome rock songs which was nice to listen to on the way out. We skipped the top couple floors which always change and at the time were the “real festival experience”.

Tour equipment from the Rolling Stones above. One sticker says, “work free drug place”.

Important info for you trip:

• Hours are from 10 am to 530 pm
• Cost is $22 for adults, discounts given for children 9-12, seniors, military, AAA members if you book ahead of time, and Cleveland residents. Free admission for kids under 8.
• Rush hour is terrible in Cleveland. Be sure to miss it and give yourself time to check out the oldest market in town, the West Side Market
• Avoid watching all the movies in the museum or you won’t get through everything
• Parking is easy. There are garages, meters (not best for this day), and pay per park lots- one is right across the museum and was $10 to park.

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I’ve been back in Goa now for a week, just in time for a few months of monsoon that comes through like a Dementor sucking up my soul and stealing sunshine and happiness. Ok, it’s not that bad. I was in Ohio at my parent’s house for almost six weeks. It was the first time I’d been home in a year. It was so much fun and really bitter sweet to leave.

my backyard

Luckily, I think I’ve talked my parents into visiting Goa over Christmas this year. I gave my parents their 30^th anniversary gift, a painting done by Saffron Illustrations.

My Month Home in Ohio

Obviously, the first thing we did was go out to eat. I had sent my mom a list on Viber of all the homemade food I was dying to eat while I was home and she made every single thing on the list! Score! Some of my favorites are stuffed peppers, BBQ ribs, pizza hoagies, sausage gravy and biscuits, and pulled pork. I got to finally have Chipotle, Panera, and local pizza and Mexican food. I’m depressed just thinking about how long it will be until I eat it again. Of course, I packed lots of goodies to bring back- 50 pounds worth actually.

I had a bridal shower, bachelorette party, and wedding to attend for my best friend since I was 4, Rachel S. I got to see all my friends and made a couple trips to Columbus (where I attended Uni at OSU) to see even more of them!

As an expat, there are some things that need taking care of while I was home. I had to renew my driver’s license, get car insurance for the month, call my bank to get new cards sent out so they don’t expire while I’m in India, get my ACLS (Advanced Cardiac Life Support) certification renewed in case I ever end up working as a nurse again, and obviously shop enough for clothes to last me the next year! I have made a vow to do no online shopping this year in Goa!

I also celebrated my 25th birthday while I was home. Every year my mom gets me a DQ ice cream cake with a lady bug on it.

Ben came to Ohio for the last week to attend the wedding with me and meet my friends and family. I don’t think he was prepared for the country livin’! I live on a few acres out near Amish Country. Ben was surprised to see a buggy pass by my house.

I took him to Cincinnati to meet my grandparents and to Cleveland to the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame.

Ben shot a few guns; it was his first time even holding one! Where I’m from it’s normal to shoot. I think I killed my first raccoon when I was only 9 years old. I’ve attempted squirrel hunting, which according to my dad was hilarious. I ran around the woods like a chicken with my head cut off shooting up into the trees. I made a video of Ben shooting a few guns and it’s hilarious:

being blown away by the backfire!

One of my favorite parts of being home was the weather. It’s the perfect time of year in Ohio the month of May. Spring rains are gone but it’s not so hot that you can’t bear it. We planted loads of flowers around the house and all the flowers inspired me to make some flower headbands!

my new flower headbands I made with college bestie, Alex

I was afraid my dog, Brandi, who is 11 now would have forgotten who I was. She didn’t thankfully! She was as sad as I was to say goodbye at the end of the trip.

Now that we’re back in Goa, Ben has had to head back to Kochi to get the last couple weeks of work done on a project. I’m left to re-train our dog, Huck (who is mental), fix a broken fridge, attempt to make a DIY dehumidifier with rock salts, and get my fliers up for massage new massage clients!

Last monsoon, I went to Thailand for a month, which kind of leveled out the rains. This year we want to visit Ben’s dad in Vienna, get up to the mountains for a couple weeks, check out Sikkim and Darjeeling, and even maybe go down to Sri Lanka for a week.

It’s been raining non-stop and our Omni van has seen better days: it’s down to 2/4 working doors, one window is stuck open getting us soaked with rain, and the seats aren’t attached to the floor… But, Season 2 of Orange is the New Black is up on Netflix! Silver Lining!

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