Holiday Gift Guide for a Glamorous Grandma

When Rookwood Commons and Pavilion asked if I could help pick out holiday gifts for “Grandma” I said sure, as long as she can be a Glamorous Grandma. If you know my mom, you know what I’m talking about. So I put on my mask and headed to Rookwood, on the east side of Cincinnati to go holiday gift shopping. I was a little trepidatious about shopping in the current climate, but I didn’t need to worry: there are social distance markers and reminders, as well as sanitizers, throughout the shopping center and I never felt crowded or unsafe. Many stores are also offering curb-side pick up if you prefer to stay out of stores. So, you know you can shop for holiday gifts, but what should you buy for Glamorous Grandma?

Here are ten ideas for the cool Grandma (she’s not a regular Grandma) in your life:

*Sur La Table: My mom loves to cook and this Le Creuset Dutch Oven the perfect size for making her homemade Matzo Ball soup or maybe a Roast Chicken recipe from her favorite, Ina Garten. They are also offering virtual cooking classes you can take at home starting at just $29!

*Maverick Chocolate Truffles: I’ve yet to meet a Grandma that doesn’t like chocolate and you can mix and match a box of truffles at Maverick Chocolate to make sure she gets all her favorite flavors

*Joseph-Beth Booksellers: My Mom is a voracious reader and she’s been dying to read President Obama’s new book. If you don’t have a specific book in mind, the staff at Joseph-Beth are always super helpful with finding the perfect one for you.

*Athleta: Only in 2020 would I be suggesting face masks as a gift, but these are by far my favorite. Their Made of Move Masks are breathable, have a filter pocket and metal down the nose to make sure it fits snugly, but comfortably.

*Talbots: We have an ongoing joke about “tops” from Talbots in our family as it’s always what my Grandma wanted for Chanukah. That said, this chunky purple sweater is nothing to joke about. My mom really suits jewel tones, so I’d love it on her. Talbots also has petite sizes for those, like my mom, who are vertically challenged.

*Whole Foods: Did you know Whole Foods has an extensive wine selection? They happen to carry my mom’s favorite, Rombauer Chardonnay. An easy holiday gift you know she’ll love.

*Nordstrom Rack: Before moving back to Ohio, my mom lived in California so winter attire wasn’t really in her wardrobe. These super cute, but super functional, Ugg gloves will be a must for Ohio winter and at a fraction of the retail price!

*Ulta: Every Glamorous Grandma knows the secret to being mistaken for your daughter’s sister is in taking care of your skin. This Sunday Riley gift set will help her glow from within and keep people asking how she could possibly be a Grandma.

*Redlands Grill: Somewhere between fast-casual and upscale dining lies Redlands Grill. My son always chooses to have his birthday dinner there and they are now offering online, take-out orders, too. A gift card from Redlands will not go unused!

*Mitchell’s Salon and Day Spa: Last but not least, who couldn’t use some pampering right now? I know my mom would love a facial, manicure and pedicure to help her recharge. Right now you can get a $100 gift card for $80 or $50 for $40!

I’ve clearly shopped with my mom in mind, but there’s something for every Grandma, glamorous or not, at Rookwood Commons! Keep an eye out for the full gift guide from @ShopRookwood and @CincinnatiBloggers!

Let's be friends! Find me here:

    

Icons made by Pixel perfect from www.flaticon.com

Freddy's Frozen Custard and Steakburgers, Cincinnati, Ohio

We’ve been regular visitors to Freddy’s Frozen Custard and Steakburgers since it opened on Red Bank last year. When you get a chance to shout about one of your family’s go-to food spots, you’ve got to, right?

We’d never heard of Freddy’s before we saw the signs go up last year but we were intrigued, so we headed over shortly after it opened. It more than lived up to our expectations! For starters everything is so fresh, the burgers are cooked completely to order and the toppings are always crisp and delicious – no wilted lettuce here. Freddy's grill is actually heated with water and designed curved to create crisp patties. The fries are up there with the very best – super thin and always hot and crispy. And don’t get me started on how good that fry sauce is (so good I might have a bottle in my fridge).

The portions are more than generous and we’ll often manage to share one order of fries between four of us. While most burgers are served as doubles, you can also ask for a single burger if you’d prefer a smaller portion and if don't do carbs, every burger can come wrapped in lettuce, too. My kids are big fans of their chicken fingers and hot dogs, but grilled cheese and burgers are also an option.

If fries and onion rings aren't your thing (or even if they are), you can now get cheese curds as your side--YES-- cheese curds. I didn't know that fried cheese curds were something I was missing from my life, but now I've tried them there is no going back. The boy described them as mini mozzarella sticks, but the cheese is similar to Halloumi to me-- firm, squeaky and addictive!

No matter what you choose, make sure you save room for dessert.

The steakburgers are delicious, but the custard is divine -- so smooth and creamy, it’s super rich without being too heavy to eat after a meal. PRO-TIP: order and pay for everything at once and ask them to “hold your custard,” then once you’ve finished your burgers you can walk straight up to the counter, skip the line, and the staff will get you your dessert!

The food is definitely a step above the usual drive thrus, but it’s also quick and convenient. It’s definitely our go to for those nights where we know we need to eat, but we have 16 minutes between school, and soccer, and swimming, and bed!

There are currently 7 Freddy’s around Greater Cincinnati so hopefully there is one near you!

We received our meal for free, but all opinions are our own.

Honestly my kids are obsessed with Freddy's and we eat there out of our own pocket on the regular and you should, too!

Frisch’s Big Boy Presents The Nutcracker

6 year old Ballet Blondie

When I was 6 years old I was a page in the Cincinnati Ballet company's production of Cincinnati Christmas classic The Nutcracker.  Now **cough cough** years later, Blondie Boy is 6 years old and I took him to his first performance of The Nutcracker.

From the very first performance of The Nutcracker in 1974, Frisch’s Restaurants has been the Ballet’s primary sponsor. It is one of the longest-lasting examples of corporate sponsorship in American arts history and a Cincinnati tradition that I grew up with. I hadn't been personally since 2003 before I left Cincinnati and moved to the UK and I couldn't wait to share it with BB for his first Christmas in Cincinnati.

He likes it!

First though we headed to Frisch's to try their family dinners and famous Hot Fudge Cake. For $7.99 you can choose from carved turkey, country fried chicken, country fried steak, roast beef or meatloaf served with mashed potatoes, gravy and green beans. BB can be a picky eater. I knew he'd love the country friend chicken but I was surprise that he also loved the country fried steak! But let's keep it real, we both were after one thing: dessert.

As part of that partnership, Frisch’s worked with members of the Cincinnati Ballet to launch Frisch’s first-ever holiday edition of its best-selling dessert, Hot Fudge Cake. Peppermint Hot Fudge Cake is available for a limited time (until Feb.7) and this is the first time since the original dessert debuted in in 1970 that it has been offered in another flavor!

We were brought one to share, but BB loved it so much I had to get my own. We both loved this holiday twist on a classic and dare I say that I even liked this more than the original? Both the original and limited edition peppermint desserts are available at restaurants for $3.29.

After practicing his best Nutcracker moves, we headed over to the Arnoff Center, where the Nutcracker is this year while Music Hall undergoes renovations. The performance brought back so many forgotten memories for me.

Even if you've seen the Nutcracker multiple times this year's show is an update: some hip-hop moves even make their way in to the performance. Classic characters are updated in ways you couldn't have imagined. Blondie Boy's favorite parts were when (spoiler alert) the Rat King died and the "very awkward dancing poodle."

Tickets for the Nutcracker are on sale through December 18th.


Let's be friends! Find me here:
Frisch's invited us for dinner and to watch the Nutcracker. We were compensated for this review, but all opinions are our own.  I couldn't get a 6 year old to lie if I tried!

What I Wore Wednesday: Cincinnati Reds Opening Day

When I found out I was going to be able to come home I checked to see if I'd be home in time for any baseball and I decided to book my flight for the day after Opening Day. The Cincinnati Reds are the only team in baseball who always have Opening Day at home (we were the first professional baseball team don'tcha know) and the Opening Day parade is a 94 year old tradition in Cincinnati. Shockingly enough neither I, nor my Dad, had ever been to the parade! So we decided to go!

It is crazy how many people were down around Fountain Square and the parade route and there was lots of free stuff and fun going on around the parade. It was SO freaking cold though. It had snowed earlier in the day and while it was dry for us it was so cold until the sun came out at the very end! The parade was some old baseball players from The Big Red Machine, current players (including my favourite Bronson Arroyo), marching bands, Senators, council members and a whole bunch of other random stuff! Everyone seemed really excited about the Budweiser Clydesdales for some reason as well even though Bob Evans and some others had Clydesdales, too.

We wanted to get tickets but scalpers were selling standing room only tickets for $100 each so we decided to head back home. We did stop at Skyline Chili first which was INSANE because it was free coney day. Normally when you go to Skyline you get your food literally in under 5 minutes. We probably waited close to 45 minutes it was crazy! The staff were handling it all really well though and it was, as always, delicious. The Reds ended up losing 3-1 after 13 innings so it was probably best we didn't stay for the game anyway.

Like I mentioned it was freezing so my outfit was more practical, if you can call not wearing a coat practical, than stylish:

St. Patrick's Day Cincinnati Reds Hat

Cincinnati Reds V-Neck (hidden under 2 layers)

Cincinnati Bearcats Hoodie

Gap Puffy Vest

Old Navy Sweetheart Jeans

New Balance Gym Shoes

What baseball team do you support? Does your team have big opening day celebrations? Apologies if I don't reply to comments/posts asap but I will be on a plane home to Glasgow as this goes live tonight!

 Loading InLinkz ...

What I Wore Wednesday: Cincinnati Chic

I'm going to be totally honest; I've not taken a single outfit photo this week. I travelled down to Manchester on Wednesday for a work event that went really well but after being "on" all night when really I was still pretty upset just left me emotionally drained by the time I got home. I came back up on Thursday and didn't get out of sweats really until yesterday for Blondie Boy's parent teacher conference (beside apparently trying to bring home Playdough daily he's a super star natch).

I wore my faux leather ponte dress again for work but again didn't snap a single photo. It's not exactly professional to ask a colleague to take a picture of your outfit and I was going to snap one in the hotel elevator but it was so dark in there it wouldn't have worked. I wore an oversized cream sweater with black leggings and my new spiky shoes yesterday but again, no photo. 

I'm still in a bit of a funk about being stuck here; I've heard this afternoon that my application has been given a caseworker but security checks still have to happen and that could take 7 days. I'm not sure what other processes take place after that but it's good to know something is happening. I'm really grateful to my MP's office for helping out by phoning to find out what's going on (the general public can't).

I've been Facetiming with my Grandma and for the most part it has been great (especially the part where she asked my Mom how old I was and then insisted I only looked 28!) but it is also really hard to see her get upset and say she missed me or ask when I'm going to come and visit her. My Mom has told me there isn't much I can do and if I was there I'd be doing the same as FT but in person but it's still rough. I'd like to be there to help support her as much as to see my Grandma. Hopefully my application will be sorted soon but even once it's decided it could be another 20 days after that.

Tomorrow night I'm going to the Debenhams SS13 Show in Glasgow so that is something to look forward to and keep my mind off of things I really can't control. So since I am beyond rubbish this week I give you a photo a a little boy who's always styling:

Zip Hat-Gap Kids

Cincinnati Shirt-MiCA 12/v

Skinny Jeans- Marks and Spencer Indigo

Boots-Next

I don't know who bought Blondie Boy these skinny jeans but they crack me up; he's such a skinamarink that even skinny jeans are a bit baggy on him. He definitely looks better in skinny jeans than I do! Are there any adult trends that you find funny on children?

 Loading InLinkz ...

What I Wore Wednesday: Family Photos

As I mentioned last week our first attempt at family photos was thwarted when our photographer had her camera stolen. Luckily my sister works with a lot of photographers since she's an event and wedding planner and we were able to schedule another session.  We couldn't get everyone we had together for my Grandma's party but we were able to get photos taken with my sister and her husband by the crazy talented Tine Hoffman of TM Photography.

It was a gorgeous day up in Eden Park and despite Blondie Boy not always being the most cooperative subject we got some amazing photos.

I wore a purple vest I got at the Gap outlet and a Mossimo flannel shirt from Target. Blondie Boy's sweater is from Target and his pirate t-shirt from the J. Crew outlet. I freaking love American outlets and Target. We have outlets in the UK but they really don't even come close to comparing to the ones back home.

I'm so grateful we were able to get some photos for my Grandma and for ourselves. I love that photo of my sister and her husband and the ones of Blondie Boy in playing in the water fountain with NBH are just such fun! I'm really grateful we were able to get them done--how often do you get family photos done?

What I Wore Wednesday: Toddler Holiday Chic

We didn't get home until after midnight from France last Wednesday so I didn't get a post up in time for What I Wore for the first time! We had a great time at Eurocamp Le Grand Metairie but I'll get into that more in another post. We really just spent time together the three of us without tv or computers and with very little internet; it was fun to just hang out and play cards or dominos with NotBlondeHusband on the deck at night after Blondie Boy had gone to bed.

I'm pretty sure we all ate our body weight in baguettes and Blondie Boy discovered a love of French butter which he'd lick and eat off the baguette and then ask for more--he'd end up with a shiny butter face and need to be hosed down afterwards.


We kept it really casual  on holiday so my outfits really aren't worth a post. I wore several different Old Navy or Gap Vest Tops mixed with jeans or shorts--nothing exciting. So I will focus on what Blondie Boy wore because he is cuter than me anyway :)

Cincinnati Reds Baseball Hat

Harajuku Lovers Tee-shirt

HM Skullie Shorts 

Polliwalks Sandals

I made him pose because I loved this outfit and knew I'd use it for What I Wore Wednesday! I just think he looks so cool but maybe I'm biased :)

Sevylor Puddle Jumper

If you have a toddler this is the coolest swim accessory EVER! Blondie Boy swam around by himself! There was a lazy river so he could just float and swim around and around and he loved it! He had so much fun at the pool and I can't recommend the Puddle Jumper enough!

Cincinnati Reds Baseball Cap

Superman Tee Shirt

Tu Cargo Pants

Converse

Blondie Boy loves his Cincinnati Reds hat, LOVES it. When we were sitting outside Beauvais airport waiting for check-in to open a man and woman saw his hat and asked if we were from Cincinnati. It turned out they were from Kettering where my Grandma lives in Ohio. It is "small world" moments like these that I love! It is probably why I subconsciously almost always travel in Cincinnati Bearcat shirts :)


I also puffy-heart love these Converse. There is Velcro to the side of the tongue so they are easy on and off and no laces to trip over. Plus the turquoise are just a super fun colour; I got them at the outlet malls in Cincinnati; if you are ever near a Converse Outlet go because the deals are amazing!

Blue Hooded Gap Sweatshirt

Marks and Spencer Jeans

Umm is it just me or does he look majorly grown up here? This is when we were kicking it outside the airport waiting for check-in. He just totally looks like such a big boy to me in this photo. I also love this sweatshirt because you can't tell but it makes his blue eyes just pop ;)

What do you wear on vacation? Do you dress up or just keep it casual?




Transatlantic Blonde's accommodation at Eurocamp and the Puddle Jumper were provided for review but all opinions are our own. Y'all know I only say things I really mean, right?