Your Weekend on $20: A Tavola, Contemporary Arts Center, and Bubble Tea

Friday Night: Contemporary Arts Center then Dinner at A Tavola ($5.50 + $11)

• This museum is definitely the one of the coolest and most distinctive in Cincinnati. The Contemporary Arts Center is so unique and interesting to visit, being the only museum of its kind in the area. Even those people who are not fans of modern art will find something they like in this museum. They have a wide range of exhibits, specifically highlighting the artist. Right now, an exhibition has just opened analyzing Andy Warhol's photography, which was his inspiration and source material. I recommend getting here around 4pm so you have about two hours to walk around before dinner. The best place to park is the Center at 600 Vine Garage.
• 44 E. Sixth Street (Northwest corner of Sixth and Walnut)
• Open Wednesday-Friday: 10am-6pm; Saturday and Sunday: 11am-6pm; Monday: 10am-9pm (Free after 5pm)

• Have a nice stroll down Vine St. to A Tavola Trattoria. This gourmet pizza joint in the Gateway Quarter District of Over-the-Rhine is home to the best pizza that I have ever eaten. The Fig Jam and Prosciutto Pizza with Fontina  cheese and an arugula salad on top is so ridiculously delicious that you will find yourself craving it whenever you eat any other pizza. A Tavola is one of those restaurants where the appetizers are just as good as the entrees. My favorites are the bacon-wrapped dates and the Arancini, fried risotto balls stuffed with fontina cheese and topped with tomato sauce. For more traditional or crazy pizza-lovers, they have a create-your-own pizza  option so you can make it as simple or wild as you want. Each pizza and appetizer feeds about two people, so an $11 bill is about average per person. The restaurant itself is laid-back and trendy with a location in Cincinnati's fastest growing neighborhood. They tend to get a little busy on weekends, so I suggest giving your phone number to the host and walking over to the newly redone Washington Park a block over where they often have live music concerts and other free events. 
• 1220 Vine St. Cincinnati, OH (the right side of Vine going north just past 12th st.)
• Tues.-Sat.: 4pm-2am
• Closed Sunday and Monday
• http://www.atavolapizza.com/

Saturday: Bubble Tea at Tea 'n' Bowl then Shopping on Ludlow ($3)

• Bubble Tea is definitely on my top five list of favorite beverages. It is a drink very popular in Asia and recently starting to gain prominence in the US. It can be combined with milk or without and has a wide range of flavors. The unique part of bubble tea is the marble sized tapioca pearls at the bottom of the glass. They are chewy like gummy candy and are sucked up with the over-sized straw is the cup. Tea 'n' Bowl has a wide range of flavors for their tea and three different categories: Bubble Flavor Tea, Bubble Milk Tea, and Hot Bubble Tea. My personal favorite flavor is Vanilla Milk Tea, but other flavors include Passion fruit, Mango Milk, Green Apple. For only $3, their price beats Starbucks and, in my opinion, bubble tea way more delicious than a Frappuccino. 

• 221 W. McMillan St. Cincinnati, OH (across from Starbucks)
• http://byfusioncafe.tripod.com/index.html

• Ludlow Avenue is located in the Gaslight District of Clifton and has several great shops to visit. Two of my favorites are Mustardseed Boutique and Pangaea Trading Company. Mustard Seed has consistently been voted the top clothing shop by CityBeat's Best of Cincinnati vote. They are a resale store that has a large range of clothing and prices. I have seen designers such as Marc Jacobs and Calvin Klein for well below their original prices in absolute perfect condition. You can walk in with $15 or $150 and find something great. Pangaea is a boutique that contains a wide range of brands that you normally won't find in stores. They have a ton of cute dresses for dances or clothing for everyday. You will be able to find something unique and beautiful that you know nobody else will have (for those hipsters out there). Other stores include Toko Baru and Kilimanjaro where you will also be able to find great clothes and accessories. They are all located in the same area of Ludlow Ave. near the Esquire Theatre and the old IGA. There is a large parking lot behind IGA at 337 Howell Ave.
• Mustard Seed Boutique: 311 Ludlow Ave.
• http://www.mustardseedboutique.com/main.html
• Pangaea Trading Company: 326 Ludlow Ave. 

Sunday: Cincinnati Art Museum then Reading in Eden Park

• To finish off your weekend, spend the day wandering around Cincinnati's awesome Art Museum then chill out for a couple hours with a good book and your i-Pod in one of the prettiest parks you will ever see. One of my favorite ways to de-stress is by walking around the art museum, thinking about nothing inparticular, and looking at really pretty things. Since this Sunday is supposed to be beautiful, it will be a great day to be outside and take in how gorgeous Eden Park is. A great place to sit is the Seasongood Pavillion, where they have lots of seating for the concerts they hold there. It is also where President Obama spoke just last week. You can park in the lot to the left of the museum coming up Art Museum Dr. all day for free. After spending some time in your favorite sections of the museum, wander back down the walkway to either continue on your current novel, or finish some weekend homework (for the more proactive people reading this). All in all, a relaxing afternoon to wrap up an exciting weekend. 

• 953 Eden Park Dr. Cincinnati, OH
• Open Tuesday-Sunday: 11am-5pm

Photos Courtesy:
Yelp
Mustard Seed Boutique
Urbanspoon
Cincinnati Art Museum
http://queencitytour.blogspot.com