Long Overdue Updates... My Christmas in Vegas/Cali and More

I went to Vegas for Christmas and all I got was this:

If you read The Bloggess at all, you're also thinking, "Knock, Knock ****** ******!!"(See my recommended blogs, to the right.)

Vegas was... interesting. Definitely not like any other place I've ever been.  A strange mix of the Great Gatsby and well... brown. 

Things like:

Surrounded by:

Sean did take me to Freemont Street to see the light display and all of the "unique" people, but all in all, Vegas was just a weird place.  All the lights, the hotels... it's just trying SO hard.  And it's surrounded by... nothing!!!

After a day in Vegas, we piled in a teeny rental car with Sean's daughter Ryiah, and made the seven-hour trek to his parents home in  Fresno.  Through the desert.  For seven hours.  I was really glad to start seeing farmland!

Ryiah was SO good the whole time, until about 6 1/2 hours in, when she pulled at her car seat and said, "DAAAAAD, I just can't STAND it anymore!" He told her that we couldn't either and that this trip was stinky.   And he was right... a barrage of pig and cow farms in the last hour of the trip really stunk up the drive.

We spent Christmas in Fresno, which was nice and quiet, even without snow.  We didn't make it to Yosemite, but I'm hopeful that I'll get to cross that off my list next time! 

After another quick day in Vegas, we came home to Kentucky with Ryiah in tow.  We had so much fun with her for the better part of three weeks!  She is a daddy's girl for sure, but she and I had some fun too, especially when it came to girly and crafty things:

Mad Potter kept Ry entertained for almost three hours.  A welcome break for her dad!

Yes, that's HOMEMADE playdough.  In four colors. I'm awesome.

Glow sticks in the bath.  This was FASCINATING to her! We had to pull her out of the tub!



And thanks to Pinterest, I'm already full of fun ideas for her next visit! 

We stayed on the go with trips to Monkey Joes, Newport Aquarium, and more, but by far the funniest and my favorite was taking her to ice skate in downtown Lexington.  She was immediately determined to do it BY. HER. SELF. and didn't want Sean or me to touch her AT ALL.  One terrifying hour later she felt like she had accomplished something and Sean and I were exhausted, but proud!

Daddy and his Boo Boo outside of Newport Aquarium, saying hello to Cincinnati.

Ryiah also had a big time with our dog Cassie, better known as "Dumb Old Passie."  Passie seemed terrified, but kept coming back for more.

"Passie is pretty!"

Ten pound dog.  Twenty-eight pound kid.
You do the math.

All in all, it was a crazy and wonderfully fun holiday.  Now, before the end of January, I will finally buy some curtains and new lamps.  And spend a lot of time in the sauna that we FINALLY have working.  And sleep. Alot.

What's Kentucky to You?

I'm lucky to spend nearly every day at work traveling through--or writing app listings for--destinations around Kentucky.  (Shameless plug--download the Travel Kentucky app! It's free on iPhone AND Androids).  I'm a tried and true Kentucky girl, and I wouldn't have it any other way.  Sure, it's a little too conservative and sometimes a little too behind-the-times.  But I have yet to visit anywhere else in this world that rivals the diversity of Kentucky's countryside and landscapes.  Rolling horse farms, mountains, "city" living, charming small towns--we really do have it all.  Throw in our local culture, style, food, and special traditions and you have a place beyond comparison.  And its easy to forget that most people don't grow up with all of this right in their backyard.

Sean's family is coming to visit this week, and I want to be sure they get a real "Kentucky Experience" while they are here.  His mother was here for WEG last September, but didn't get to visit anything other than the event. His dad and brother have never been here.  We only have one full day to be tourists, and I want to be sure they get a widespread look at what our state has to offer! 

I know this state backwards and forwards, and yet I am somehow overwhelmed by making the right choices on the key things they should see and do while they are here.  Sean's mom wants to visit Berea, and I would love to take them to a distillery.  But what else can we squeeze in? Breakfast at the Keeneland Track Kitchen?  A quick stop at Shakertown?  And where, oh where, should we EAT? These places all seem iconic Kentucky and at the same time, I feel like I'm missing something. 

More than anything, I want them to leave here with a fond and affectionate impression of the place I call home.  Sean and I have very different upbringings and that's largely due to geography.  Growing up in California brings a widely different perspective than growing up in Kentucky!  It has been so much fun to experience Kentucky through his eyes, and see his fondness for this place grow over time (I think we may be making a resident out of him!).  And yet he will never quite understand what it's really like to be "from" here.  I just hope that we can give his parents a whirlwind taste of our state... so they will want to come back and see more.

So... what should we do? What is Kentucky to you? 

HELP :)