We were in the Cincinnati area recently for one of our daughter’s crew races and despite staying in an area that could have been anywhere USA, we did find some delicious food and some fun shopping. This was my third birthday in a row in a random town somewhere in the US to watch rowing and we always celebrate with dinner wherever we happen to be. This year it was at the Asian Mexican fusion restaurant Lalo Chino Latino, which might like a strange combination, but it was absolutely delicious. We both chose an assortment of tacos and our favorites were the fish tempura, carnitas, and Asian fried chicken. We brought our daughter the Mexican Pad Thai (she couldn’t go because of her racing schedule) and she raved about it.

Amesbury is one of my favorite towns north of Boston. There’s a quaint downtown, with fun shopping and yummy restaurants. It leans more to the funky end and that’s just what I like. One of my favorite things to do there is go to the free Friday chocolate tastings at m cacao. Their chocolates are pictured above. I’m a total chocoholic and the fact that they let you eat as much as you want in the tastings is a chocoholic’s dream. Their chocolate is complex, with flavors like basil lime and earl grey with lemon. They also got new packaging that allows you to upload a video of your choosing which you can play when you open the box. As I may have mentioned before, I love astrology and this combo is totally Uranus in Taurus if you ask me.