It's really lovely to visit local vintage shops, but after a while of frequenting the same overstuffed places where new stock is a rarity, I kept wishing a new shop would spring up. A place well curated with modern sensibilities. Lucky for me, Ohio City's Leigh Ring recently opened a gem of a vintage boutique- The Rag Refinery.

The Rag Refinery also doubles as the Pink Eye Gallery, with the shop walls covered in fresh art installations every month and parties on the first Saturday. I was really surprised at how affordable and desirable every single item was, and am already thinking about when I can visit again.

Next door you will find the gourmet Chili joint, Palookaville, where apparently the chili is to die for. I didn't get a chance to stop inside, but next time I visit, I'll be sure to step inside for a bite.

Leigh, owner of The Rag Refinery, is a really charming girl who I loved talking to about design and vintage shop keeping. Who knows, maybe in the near future Canton will find a new vintage shop springing up downtown? :)

Our little dinner party has been in the makings for a while. Josh wanted to whip up some delicious food that any of our allergy-ridden and picky-eating friends could enjoy, while I’ve been itching to host friends in my home again. So, coinciding with the end of Shark Week, we enjoyed a low key dinner party with good eats and fun games.

Our group of friends include vegetarian, gluten-free, dairy-free, pescatarian, and non-sea-food eaters. The mix makes for kind of a nightmare when planning a small feast, but Josh did wonderfully in his considerations of everyone. Each person brought an ingredient, and Josh prepared bruschetta appetizers (some gluten-free, some dairy-free), a goat cheese, tomato, and olive salad, curried squash and chickpeas served over polenta, roasted asparagus, and seared salmon.

After dinner, we played a hearty round of Loaded Questions, a game in which one person reads a question, everyone answers, and the reader has to guess which person belongs to which answer. For example, “If you were on America’s Most Wanted list, what would be your crime?” Answer: “Extreme abuse of Jedi mind tricks.”

After the game was over, we played a few boisterous rounds of BS (during which I ended up with almost an entire deck of cards in my hands) intermingled with giggle infused bubble blowing sessions. The whole evening was so much fun that we decided it will be a monthly event, with hopefully even more of our friends, Shark Week or no.

When Amanda asked me to participate in her fun blog series by sharing a cute photobooth photo of myself and Phil, I realized that I don’t really talk much about married life on this blog. Not that things don’t get exciting around here, let me tell you! I mean, just yesterday we hunkered down on the sofa with some Little Caesars (like the innuendo in the photo above? We did!) and a DVD from the library. How much more exciting can it get? Well, I’ll leave that up to your imagination. Or not. That could be a bit awkward.

Here are a few of our favorite date night activities (PG only. Ahem.):

1. Going out for ice cream and talking about where we see ourselves in five years.
2. Rolling a heavy black (or pink) ball in an attempt to knock down some pins.
3. Enjoying a treat together while snuggled up at home.
4. Hitting up some live music venues to listen to our favorite musicians.
5. Visiting local art galleries and admiring the beautiful creations.

If you want some more fun date night ideas, check out this Catching Confetti series post by Naomi Davis of The Rockstar Diaries.