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Smoothies, Foodies, and the Vitamix Ascent Series Launch //

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In my constant search for balance in motherhood (and life) I have made certain concessions for the sake of time. For instance, we often forego eggs, toast, and cereal for breakfast in lieu of something we can take on-the-go — like smoothies.

I’m guilty of occasionally using those pre-made frozen smoothie fruit mixes. Yes, I know it’s basically nonsense because it’s just a mix of frozen fruit and still requires me to do the work of blending it all together. But, balance, friends. Lucky for me, we have been using a Vitamix for all the blending, chopping, and dicing in our home for the last 7 years!

So when I was asked to attend the launch of the newest Vitamix Ascent Series at their Solon, Ohio store, I was beyond excited!

Of all of the blogger events I’ve been to, this was quite possibly the most well put together event of all time! We were greeted at the door by the Vitamix store team and we were immediately handed a delicious cocktail, crafted by the Spotted Owl‘s very own Will Hollingsworth!

From there we snacked on mouthwatering appetizers, all made in the newest Vitamix! These Pork Belly Sliders on Brioche were absolutely heavenly!

After seriously munching (and by munching I mean devouring…) on all of this delicious food, we were given the rundown on the newest Vitamix Ascent Series blenders.

Even as a seasoned Vitamix user I learned so much! For instance, I was under the impression that we had to use a dry canister and blade to make our own seasoning or flour; but that simply isn’t true! Unless you’re making a lot — like, a lot — at once, even the regular Vitamix blade can handle it!

To call my bluff, they decided to make powdered sugar right in front of my eyes (PS. how was I so naïve to not know that powdered sugar is legit just sugar ground up into, well, powder?? Don’t judge me,  ya’ll.). Oh, and then they mixed up some ice cream in, like, three seconds (because, yum).

And I was happy to learn that Vitamix really stands true to it’s brand of being a family company with huge ties to the community. Vitamix is built and serviced all within a 200-mile radius! And, for those who may not be familiar, Vitamix offers an incredible warranty program on both their new and refurbished models! Our old Vitamix was a refurbished model and when the motor went, we just shipped it in and it was repaired within a couple of weeks and sent right back to us — at no cost!

In addition, the Vitamix Store offers help and assistance with all of your Vitamix needs. If you have questions abotu techniques? Come into the store. Questions about recipes? Come into the store! They also hold weekly in-store events and culinary classes to help you make the most of your Vitamix!

Seriously the best customer service from any company I’ve had any sort of contact with. 

If you are considering purchasing a Vitamix of your own, I strongly urge you to go check out their store this weekend! The Vitamix Store in Solon is running a huge sale this weekend, March 3rd and 4th, starting at just $199.95!

If you want visual proof at what can be done in a Vitamix (other than smoothies!) check out this delicious soup I made in my new Vitamix! It’s Maple Sweet Potato Soup — and the recipe is straight from The Vitamix Cookbook!

At the end of the day, I think this new Vitamix and I are going to create a more-balanced life for the whole family. Not only do I feel a teeny bit less guilty about feeding the kiddos smoothies every morning, but it’s helping me to break out of my comfort zone and make new dishes (like this soup) that I otherwise would be too nervous to do. So thank you Vitamix and my friends over at the Vitamix Store for such a fun event and fun new toys!

 

Disclosure: At the end of the night I was gifted with my very own Vitamix Ascent Series A3500, the Vitamix Cookbook, a Simply Blending spices ‘cookbook,’ and culinary classes for 2 at the Vitamix Store, in exchange for my honest review of the evening and of the new Vitamix Ascent Series A3500.

 

FeBREWary Beer School at Ohio Beergarden

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I’m finally just catching my breath coming off my crazy-busy week last week. While things had been crazy since Monday, the fun really took off on Wednesday when I had the pleasure of attending FeBREWary Beer School at Ohio Beergarden in North Olmstead.

While Chad and I have frequented The Rail since it’s early beginnings in Akron, this was my first visit to it’s sister ‘restaurant,’ the Ohio Beergarden, which features strictly 24 taps of all-Ohio beers! Even their bottles, cans, and wine offerings are sourced locally from Ohio breweries and wineries!

But we were there for a special Beer School of new Ohio brewery, Goldhorn Brewery. Goldhorn Brewery is located in the Hub-55 development on E.55th street in Cleveland. While it’s been open less than a year, the head brewer Joel Warger, formerly of Great Lakes Brewery, has made a mark on the local craft beer market.

We started the night with Soft Pretzel Bites and Beer Cheese paired with Goldhorn Brewery’s Polka City Pilsner. Admittedly, I almost always (okay… always) gravitate towards super hoppy IPAs, but I was so into this beer. It was super light, crisp, and I could still taste quite a bit of hops!

Next up, the Fire Pug Pale Ale, which is a smoked pale ale with Azacca and Chinook hops. I definitely could taste the smokey flavor and it was delicious! Still very light and easy on the palate!

Finally it was time to taste a few burgers, courtesy of The Rail. I’m not going to lie, and I’ve talked about it extensively here on this blog, but The Rail is one of my favorite restaurants of all time.

The burgers were paired with Play That Funky Music Witbier. Yep. Cheesy – ha! And apparently derived from a joke. But, like many jokes, they sometimes turn into reality. For a Belgian beer, definitely one of the best — even if Belgians aren’t my favorite! I could big time taste the coriander and orange peel! Yum!

Last but not least we were able to taste some of Ohio Beergarden’s pizza. The previous restaurant that was located in this space built a stone pizza oven so the folks at Ohio Beergarden are totally taking advantage of that hidden gem — and they’re doing it OH SO WELL!

I have to admit — I may have cheated a teeny tiny bit with the ‘no dairy’ thing. I did eat two crust pieces, but for the first time in a year, I didn’t pick off the cheese. And it was incredible!

Our last beer was the St. Clair Stout. Admittedly, I despise stouts. They are… heavy; thick; and overwhelming. But I tasted it. It was much lighter than other stouts I’ve tasted. It almost tasted like a Christmas ale of sorts, thanks to the cinnamon, ginger and honey. In recent years I’ve turned my nose up at Christmasy beers. And after tasting this stout, I immediately handed it to my friend Cristin and was like “Nope. You have it.” Except I kept coming back to it. I kept tasting it. It kept growing on me. Of all stouts, I think it’s the best I’ve tasted. I ended up finishing it; I just wouldn’t go as far as liking it.

It was so awesome hearing about the story of Goldhorn Brewery and spending an evening surrounded by friends! I have to say that my absolute favorite beer of the evening was the Polka City Pilsner and, as delicious as the pretzels and pizza were, my heart belongs to The Rail burgers.

Thank you so much to the folks over at The Rail and Ohio Beergarden for hosting! I can’t wait for our next event.

 

*Disclosure: I received to complimentary seats to The Rail Beer School in return for my honest opinions and review. As always, all opinions are my own.*

Red & White on Thursday Night // Recap

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Last week Chad and I legit skipped our way out the front door to attend the 20th anniversary of Red and White on Thursday Night — a food and wine event to benefit The Arthritis Foundation.

I’ve said before that this event is truly our favorite event of the whole year. It’s something we continuously look forward to, year after year. In prior years, Chad and I have entered together, but split up and gone in different directions.

This year was so different. It was clear — more than ever — that we truly needed this night to reconnect with each other, at one of our most favorite places. So we made it a point to stick together nearly the entire time!

We headed straight to the VIP Lounge when we arrived, which was more glorious than ever! Dante Boccuzzi and his team were serving up the most delicious sweet potato and shrimp skewers!


I’m honestly not even a big fan of shrimp, generally speaking. But these were beyond amazing, ya’ll. Chef Dante is just amazing.

After eating several of the shrimp and sweet potato skewers, we refilled our wine glasses with red wine and headed over to the VIP dessert table, which featured this incredible creme brûlée from West Side Bakery.


Here’s my moment of truth: It had dairy. AND I ATE IT! Honestly? It was absolutely worth the cheat. Truthfully, one of the only reasons I ‘cheated’ with dairy at this event was because it’s hard to tell if something has a bit of dairy in it or not. That being said, I totally passed up cheese and pizza and other just plain ol’ cheesy things. (Le sigh…)

The rest of the event was spent meandering around, trying new-to-us wines and sampling foods from some of our favorite local restaurants!

Some of my personal faves from the night were the tacos and guacamole from BOMBA Tacos & Rum, the bacon-wrapped-dates from The Twisted Olive, and the goat-cheese and berry donut from Hudson’s Restaurant!

And my all-time favorite wines from the night came courtesy of Filia Cellars in Wadsworth, Ohio! This local winery stood out amongst it’s competition!

All in all, it was another perfect event. We ate, we drank, and we reconnected in a way that we truly needed to do. Thank you, again, to the Arthritis Foundation for inviting us to attend this event!

crafts, drafts, + food trucks //

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I have about a gazillion things on my blog to-do list right now. But I would be remiss not to mention this past weekend — regardless of the crazy to-do list!

On Wednesday of last week I sent out an S.O.S. to my mama. It has been a few weeks since I’ve seen her, which is enough of a hardship on it’s own. But I had a helluva week with Remy Bea last week. Without getting into too much (yet), we entered the dreaded 4-month sleep regression, PLUS we had the mega teething issues going on. I cried. I cried a LOT last week, friends.

And Mama (aka, Mimi) saved the day! She, without question, just drove up from Kentucky on Friday afternoon, arriving at our house Friday night. Sure, Remy Bea was asleep; but Ari was awake and ready to snuggle! It was the perfect way to end a crazy week.

Saturday morning we woke up and we hung out. We just… chilled. We were supposed to go up to Cleveland, but the weather was just ridiculous. Not just rainy. It was a freaking downpour! And chilly. So we hung out at home for the morning. And by noon we decided to hit up Crafty Mart‘s Crafts & Drafts event at Thirsty Dog Brewing Company.

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When we pulled into the parking lot we immediately saw (and parked next to) another babywearing family. Be still, my babywearing heart! ♥

When we walked in, we were in the bar area of the brewery and there were seriously THREE other babywearing mama’s ordering a beer at the bar. THESE ARE MY PEOPLE!! However, it seemed that my people were being a tad bit ignored for service. Bummer, dudes. Like, we waited 20 minutes to be served whilst others were served who just walked up. Major bummer, dudes.

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However, the crafts part of crafts and drafts were the b-o-m-b. We meandered around the brewery and browsed, but I didn’t actually buy a darn thing.

Post-Crafty Mart we headed back home where I promptly took a nap with Remy. Because, Crazy Baby. And I ended up having to go work at the YMCA for a while that evening. So I left Miss Bea with Chad and Mimi for a while. Aaaaand she refused a bottle — again. Super. But I was home in time to feed that fussy butt before she passed back out.

Sunday morning we all slept in. It was GLORIOUS! I mean, I still didn’t sleep very well; but not setting an alarm was wonderful all on it’s own.

We decided to hit up the Tallmadge Food Truck Festival. 25 food trucks, a live band, and games for kids.

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When we got there, parking was an organized disaster. I wasn’t really surprised, considering 2k+ people had RSVP’d ‘Yes’ to the FB event online. I ended up babywearing Remy once again, while Chad pushed Ari in the umbrella stroller. PS. An umbrella stroller is a MUST-have for toddlers. They are small, compact, and super easy to navigate in crowded spaces.

Okay. How did I just go off on a tangent about strollers?? #MomLife, friends. #MomLife.

Anyways. When we got there I had my eye on the prize — Barrio Tacos. I love Barrio in Tremont, but I rarely get to eat there (no lunch hours = bummer for mamas who wanna be home before dinner). My mom ended up getting this killer burger from a food truck I cannot remember the name of.

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And we ended up finding a shaded spot under a tree to have a little picnic! It was super fun! And after our picnic Ari ran around and played for, like, 30 minutes straight. We also ran into some friends we haven’t seen in a very long time. It was, overall, an awesome day and a super cool event!

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Unfortunately, Mimi had to go home Sunday afternoon. Blah! We hate when she leaves to go back to Kentucky! But it was lovely having her visit!

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It was a fantastic weekend. I loved everything about it. Every second of sunshine; every moment of family time; and every single baby smile.

Red + White // Wrap Up

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The Arthritis Foundation of Northeast Ohio‘s annual fundraiser in Akron, Red & White on Thursday Night, is easily my favorite event of the entire year! Heck, even having just given birth, I desperately wanted to still attend. So last Thursday, at just 5 days old, Remy, Chad and I ventured to Quaker Station at Quaker Square for just a short time!

Luckily, we are very close to where the event is located; so with a babysitter for Ari [thanks, Grammy!], we bundled Miss Remy Bea up, and arrived shortly before 6pm. This was the 19th annual event for the Arthritis Foundation, and I believe it was also our 4th or 5th time attending [mommy brain is real, yo].

The entrance to the event was located at a different part of the building this year, and some new computer software they were using for auction-bidding slowed down the entrance process to a practical halt. My single critique of the event is that they should have set up the credit card/auto-bid process for the auction when people were purchasing tickets presale. Because it wasn’t set up that way, everyone who had a ticket in their hands, still had to wait in a half hour line. And for those of us with willcall tickets, we had to wait in line for a half hour as well. It was crazypants. And people were super upset. I was just super uncomfortable because I was babywearing Remy Bea.

When we finally got in, we went straight for the VIP room to meet up Crystal from EatDrinkCLE. Both Crystal and I weren’t feeling 100% well, but we managed to make sure we didn’t miss the event — even if that meant having to leave a bit early! After saying our hellos, I went straight for the wine and food [recognizing I’m a nursing mother, and I was wearing a sleeping baby, I recognized my ‘window of opportunity’ to taste a couple of sips of wine had to happen at the very beginning of the evening].

The VIP wine selection was beautiful. I wish I could say that I took a ton of pictures, but I didn’t. Because, babywearing an infant [duh]. But, thanks to the VIP section, I did have the opportunity to taste two fantastic wines — a Malbec and a Cab. And that was, sadly, all the wine I had that night. Because, nursing.

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[borrowed this photo from Jen at Why? CLE]
One of the awesome changes the organization did make this year was the introduction of a VIP Chef in the VIP lounge! Chef Dante Boccuzzi, of local Akron restaurant, dba, as well as Dante in Tremont, and Ginko in Tremont [as well as several other restaurants], was serving up tasty sushi!

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We ate so much of this sushi. Seriously. I mean, I hadn’t really and truly had sushi in about 9 months, so I was pumped to not only have sushi, but really, really, great sushi!

After checking out the complimentary chair massages, courtesy of Massage Envy, and pastry and coffee bar, courtesy of Panera, we headed out to the general admission area. I’m not going to lie, I was super nervous to join the masses. I was afraid of judgment from other attendees for babywearing an infant at a 21 and over event!

To my surprise, people were just super excited to see a newborn baby! No judgment whatsoever. So we made the rounds! I knew I had a very strict food limit. Being postpartum and being sick means my appetite is close to nothing. So instead of hitting up every single place, I carefully planned my ‘attack.’ Ha!

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Two places that were ‘musts’ were Nuevo Mod Mex [pictured above] and Melt Bar + Grilled. Nuevo had an awesome taco, but Melt disappointed me a bit. They had dessert cookie sandwiches. Bummer, cause I was totally looking forward to a tasty grilled cheese sample! Also, the cheesecake shooters [also pictured above] from West Side Bakery was awesome!

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Chad hit up a few more restaurants while I chatted with Jen from Why? CLE and her husband, Matthew, as well as my longtime friends Cristin and Chris. [above picture also borrowed from Jen! Again, I didn’t have much access to my phone throughout the event.]

We ended up leaving around 7:30pm. I was just… tired. And I wanted to get Remy Bea home so I could feed her before bed. All in all, it was a great first night out and a great event, yet again!

 

Disclosure: I was asked by the Arthritis Foundation of Northeast Ohio to help promote Red & White on Thursday Night and run a ticket giveaway. In exchange, I received 2 complimentary VIP tickets. As always, all opinions are my own.

GIVEAWAY | Red + White on Thursday Night

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Chad and I have had the honor of attending one of Akron’s most anticipated events, Red and White on Thursday Night, for the last 4 years in a row. And even though Baby Girl is expected to arrive just a week before this years event, I plan on my first post-baby outing to be the 19th Annual Red & White On Thursday Night, Thursday, January 28th, 2016!

The event will be taking place at Quaker Station in beautiful Downtown Akron, presented by the Cleveland Clinic Akron General, from 5:30PM to 9:00PM, and benefits the Arthritis Foundation of Northeastern Ohio.

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The event, voted one of the best in Akron by AkronLife Magazine, is expected to raise more than $82,000. All proceeds support critical local Arthritis Foundation initiatives including advocacy and access, help and support, and research.

Arthritis is the nation’s leading cause of disability and affects more than 50 million Americans and nearly 300,000 children. In Northeastern Ohio, nearly 1.3 million people of all ages have been diagnosed with arthritis. More than 108,000 of those are Summit County residents, according to 2013 figures.

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Nearly 750 guests are expected to attend and enjoy delicious dishes from Akron’s top chefs and a variety of both domestic and international wines, while checking out offerings from the available silent auction. VIP ticket holders will have access to both general admission areas as well as exclusive access to special fare from Chef Dante Boccuzzi of DBA, specialty desserts and high-end wine pairings.

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Participating restaurants include: Chef Dante Boccuzzi of DBA, Barmacy Bar & Grill, Bistro on Main, BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse, Cilantro Thai & Sushi Restaurant, Chocolates by Erin, Chowder House Café, Hudson’s Restaurant & Catering, Melt Bar and Grilled – Akron, Nuevo Modern Mexican & Tequila Bar, Panera Bread, Saffron Patch in the Valley, Silver Lake Country Club, The Galaxy Restaurant & Banquet Center, The Pierogi Lady, The Taverne of Richfield, Thorpe’s Market Avenue Grill & Pub, and West Side Bakery! I’m getting hungry just thinking about it now!

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Honestly, speaking from experience, this is one of the most anticipated date nights we have all year. Chad loves it, I love it, and we are always fed well and surrounded by so many fun people!

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And one lucky reader will get a chance to win TWO General Admission tickets (valued at $85 each) to the event. I just ask that those who enter be local to Northeastern Ohio and willing to attend this amazing event on January 28th!

a Rafflecopter giveaway
General admission tickets are $85 presale and $95 at the door. VIP Lounge tickets are $125 presale, and $135 at the door. Purchase tickets online at www.akronredandwhite.com or call 216-285-2822!

** Disclosure: I was not compensated for this post, but did receive two complimentary tickets to the event. All opinions herein are my own. I just really really love this event and believe in this cause! **