About

 

UPDATE // Readers, I recently announced that I am working on a cookbook as an extension of my blog and life. Keep following VB in the CITY  and stay tuned for worldly eats and comforting southern sweets that really explain who I am through the recipes I create. 

Hello, my name is Virginia V. Blair and welcome to VB IN THE CITY!    I started this Lifestyle blog a year after I graduated college. I have lived in France,Italy, and downtown Cincinnati,OH for 8 years, I am currently living in Covington, Kentucky. I am a  fashion obsessed, foodie, yogi, writer, gourmand, and art gallery  owner of VADA GALLERY,  (an art gallery representing over 100 artists) that my husband and I opened in the Historic Clifton Gaslight District in Cincinnati,Ohio .  I can proudly say that I have transformed my passions into a career. Follow me, my husband Franz Diedling, and our pup Mochi, on an artful journey, traveling through life. Update on life, we are pregnant! Baby Diedling will be joining our adventures with his arrival October 2022. Please check back for more bits of wonderful as the blog is updated daily.  

A bit more about me…

Link to pictures from OUR Asheville + Hot Springs, NC Destination WEDDING

 

More about VADA GALLERY

Owners Virginia Blair and Franz Diedling ( the husband) , gladly have been in the art + music world for years. Virginia has been an art dealer and art historian for over 10 years. She has represented artists both globally and locally. With a background in Art History from SACI College of Art & Design, located in Florence, Italy, to education in Tours, France, BGSU, as well as completing studies at the University of Oxford in the UK for Art History, a dream of owning an art gallery has finally become a reality. She partnered with local music and avid art lover + promoter, Franz Diedling, to mesh the love of arts. Franz Diedling grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio, he then moved to LA for ten years where he did music promotion, a variety of jobs, and event planning. He found himself back in his hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio where he is currently a music promoter, taproom manager, and jack of all trades at Fretboard Brewing Company. His love of arts and entrepreneurship, Virginia’s knowledge of art history and the art world, have led to the creation of Vada Gallery. Vada Gallery is a place for the latest exhibits, new and seasoned artists (all mediums welcome), and live music.

Needless to say, I love my job and those I work with, as every day is an adventure.

More about me

I am an urbanite, I adore cooking, designing, and I have been in the art business for over ten years, I love antiquing, I love writing about food, eating food and the history of food, most importantly and recently Franz and I ventured off to Asheville, NC to get married in Hot Springs, so we are celebrating the seasons as Newlyweds. We are now creating our home in Covington, Kentucky. Follow our journey of creating our urban Kentucky oasis while we open our first business, VADA GALLERY,  in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio.

I am also a Contributor for  ,

More about the family 

My older brother inspires me everyday, and I am proud to say that he was matched with George Washington Hospital in D.C for his residency and currently practices at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore. Through kindergarten and high-school, from grad school to med school, he is and has always been such an amazing goofy older brother, and again I am so proud of him.  If you know me, then you most likely know Anne Black. She is my lighthouse, guiding me through and past hurricanes and into calm waters. My little brother and sister, Sam and Cathy, give me smile lines, and I’m kind of okay with it, thank god for La Mer. 

About the Man in my Life

Want to know about the man in my life: Let me introduce you to Franz Diedling, he has known me since I was 15 years old! We met in the most prep school college way – he went to the all boy school in Cincinnati, Ohio that my all girl school would pair with. He was living in LA for ten years while I was hopping around the world, where I eventually settled in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio as a food writer and art dealer. One day,  I was in OTR and Franz came up to me, now get ready for the roller coaster. The next day we went to the Listing Loon ( a wonderful jazz spot located in Northside) and we immediately just fell in love (swoon). The day after that we went to the Pink Floyd Opera, held at Music Hall. The next week I moved in, and 2 1/2 years later we opened VADA GALLERY, and recently got married in the mountains in NC. We have dined, traveled, i’ve had my mind expanded to see the world in a new and lovely light, and I am currently in the process of finishing the VB in the CITY cookbook. I’m looking forward to the future, the gallery opening in OTR,  and I cant wait to continue documenting our lives along the way. Thanks for following! This blog is updated weekly!

 -Another passion of mine is a cause that is very dear to my heart. Recently, my brother (Paul Blair) and I co-founded the Project Congo Art Benefit, which is graciously sponsored by Dr. Sylvia Gleason.  The show features black and white and color photography of East Africa, with proceeds going to Project Congo. For more information e-mail me at vvblair25@gmail.com to bring this show to a local Gallery or Museum near you. Please visit  www.ProjectCongo.org to learn about Project Congo. 

Peace & Love 

-VB