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Explore Ohio

Bonefish Grill — 3-Course Date Night for Two!

April 1, 2019 by Rachel 10 Comments

Chad and I are rapidly approaching our 7th wedding anniversary. It’s hard to believe that nearly seven years have passed. And in the last seven years, we’ve only had a handful of evenings completely to ourselves. In fact, the last time we actually relaxed at a dinner out was probably two years ago.

Last week Mimi was in town to watch all three kids, so we were able to sneak out for a proper date night at Bonefish Grill. Chad and I were greeted by the friendliest staff at the North Canton location and promptly seated.

We were really excited to try Bonefish Grill’s O M G (Ocean Mixed Grill) 3-course dinner for two! Here’s what’s included in this special offer:

Course 1 // Bang Bang Shrimp

Course 2 // House or Caesar Salad

Course 3 // Potatoes Au Gratin, Seasonal Vegetables, and Jasmine Rice

Course 4 // Caribbean Cobia, Shrimp & Scallop Skewer, Atlantic Salmon and the Local Catch

All four courses for 49.00 with a bonus of select bottles of wine for $25.

I have to admit something, I’ve never had Bang Bang Shrimp before (I know, I know — pure craziness!). Well, friends, I am in love. I could eat Bang Bang Shrimp all day, every day!

You certainly can’t beat the cost of $49 for three courses for two people. It was more than enough food, for sure.

Recommended Add-Ons //

I highly recommend pairing your meal with a bottle of their $25 wines. With options of reds, whites, and rosé, there’s something for everyone!

I also cannot say enough about the Crispy Brussel Sprouts! They were flavored perfectly with the bacon and mayo. So, so, delicious!

And then we were greeted with dessert! First, it was the Molten Lava Carrot Cake (holy smokes — warm and gooey cream cheese in the middle!) followed by the Crème Brûlée

Not only was the food delicious and the service spectacular, but we were actually able to sit and enjoy one another’s company without the distraction of children talking at us for a change.

Hurry up and get a sitter because this special is only good through April 30th! Find your closest Bonefish Grill location here and be sure to sign up to become a Bonefish Insider!

What’s your favorite menu item

from Bonefish Grill?

Disclaimer: I was given a gift card to cover the cost of our meal in exchange for this post.
As always, all opinions herein are my own.

Filed Under: brews + food, date night, deals, desserts, Explore Ohio, money saving tips, parenthood, restaurants + bars, review, wine Tagged With: brews + food, date night ideas, deals, desserts, explore Ohio, money saving tips, parenthood, restaurants + bars, review, wine

Somewhere In Time // Visit 1969 in Cleveland

January 25, 2019 by Rachel 12 Comments

Have you ever been swept away to another time, whether it be from a vivid memory or a scent or a photograph? Or have you ever wanted to be taken back to a time and place that you’ve never been before?? I know I have!

The Cleveland History Center and the Western Reserve Historical Society are bringing the year 1969 back to us for their annual signature event, Somewhere In Time on Saturday, February 2nd from 7PM – 11PM.

This incredibly fun event raises money to support nearly 35,000 local community members through education and public programs.

This year’s event features the year 1969, “The Year of Change.” Protest and change (which feel mildly relevant today, am I right!?) are the fundamentals of this year and we’re going to celebrate with sounds and cocktails of the time!

Here’s what you can expect for the event:

EVENING HIGHLIGHTS

Groovin’ Music

Funkadelic Open Bar

Cool Threads Costume Contest and Prizes

Super Square Silent Auction

Delicious Food

Complimentary valet service off of Magnolia Drive near the entrance to Cleveland Starts Here®.

Want tickets?! Well, what are you waiting for! Come dance the night away with me! Tickets are available for purchase here. WRHS member tickets are $100, non-member pricing is $150. And don’t forget to RSVP to the Facebook event to let everyone know you’re going!

Disclosure: I was given two tickets in exchange for coverage of this event. As always, all opinions herein are solely my own. 

Filed Under: Akron, brews + food, cleveland, explore locally, Explore Ohio, NEO, Ohio, review Tagged With: akron, brews + food, cleveland, explore locally, explore Ohio, NEO, ohio, review

Disney On Ice // Mickey’s Search Party

January 14, 2019 by Rachel 15 Comments

This year I was invited to attend Disney On Ice as one of it’s Cleveland influencers. We attended the event last year, strictly as patrons, and absolutely LOVED it. But this year? Blew last year out of the water by leaps and bounds!

We had a meet and greet with the big mouse himself during our pre-show dinner (thanks to FELD Entertainment). Remy, whilst at first skeptical of anyone in costume, was enamored by Mickey. She just kept looking at him and holding his hand. It was adorable.

After our incredible fajita feast, we headed to our seats. They were basically right on the ice — literally — we were sitting on folding chairs right at the ice.

The show was totally spectacular. From Tinkerbell, to an amazing Belle number, complete with Toy Soldiers from Toy Story giving us high-fives, it was inredible. Both Ari and Remy loved the songs and skating. I, for one, was not disappointed by any of it.

The acrobatics were stunning, especially during the Coco number. Miguel came to the stage by walking right beside us. And then? Then these crazy women on stilts began flying all over the place It. was. INSANE! — in the best way!

It was such an incredible experience. I was once a skeptic of these types of events, but that’s no longer the case. I’m 1000% on board with the magic that is Disney. ♥

If you have a chance to catch them while they’re in Cleveland, do it! The show runs through January 20th. Tickets are on sale at the Q Arena Box Office.

Disclosure: I was gifted tickets to this event, but this is not a sponsored post. I simply loved this event so much!

Filed Under: Akron, cleveland, events, explore locally, Explore Ohio, NEO, Ohio, review Tagged With: akron, cleveland, events, explore locally, explore Ohio, NEO, ohio, review

2018 // That’s a wrap!

January 2, 2019 by Rachel 10 Comments

This blog post is coming to ya 3 days late, thanks to a healthy dose of laziness at the holidays! Ha! At least I’m being honest.

But also? I’ve been doing a lot of extra reflecting over the last couple of days. And my emotions are straight up all over the place.

I truly expected 2018 to be SUPER hard. I started the year pregnant with baby number three and fully anticipating that this child would send me down a deep dark hole of PPD and PPA. It turns out she didn’t. In fact, I’ve kinda been flourishing and finding myself kicking butt at this mother of three thing.

We ended our night in perfect ‘parent-of-3-kids’ fashion —  with an 8:30pm Netflix countdown with party hats and sweet tarts. And followed it up with a parents-only movie night in our NEW home, with a bottle of champagne, and homemade lobster rolls.

So while our 2018 came to a slow and quiet end, I looked back through my camera roll to see all of the amazing things that transpired since last January.

January 

 

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A post shared by Rachel L (@itsahero) on Jan 8, 2018 at 5:01pm PST

I met up with some great local bloggers for a little networking and brainstorming. It really kicked off my year in a big way by getting the creative juices flowing and reigniting my spark!

February 

 

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A post shared by Rachel L (@itsahero) on Feb 12, 2018 at 5:05pm PST

Visited NASA Glenn Research Center with a special group of influencers for the State of NASA address. We got a behind the scenes look at some really cool aerospace technology.

 

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A post shared by Rachel L (@itsahero) on Feb 23, 2018 at 4:56pm PST

Later in the month I covered the Cleveland Auto Show on behalf of Toyota!

March 

 

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A post shared by Rachel L (@itsahero) on Mar 23, 2018 at 5:30pm PDT

We spent most of the month having fun at Cafe O’Play with the kids (thanks to a Winter family pass!). It wore the kids out and allowed me to get some work done at the same time!

 

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A post shared by Rachel L (@itsahero) on Apr 13, 2018 at 5:35pm PDT

Oh – and Chad and I had a much-needed date night at Hilarities at Pickwick and Frolic, complete with a Barrio dinner-date beforehand!

 

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A post shared by Rachel L (@itsahero) on Mar 27, 2018 at 5:31pm PDT

April 

 

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A post shared by Rachel L (@itsahero) on Apr 5, 2018 at 5:32pm PDT

This was a pretty big month for us. We had (secretly) known about the gender of baby number three for a while, but we finally revealed the news to our friends & family! Baby number three was officially a GIRL!

 

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A post shared by Rachel L (@itsahero) on Apr 22, 2018 at 2:27pm PDT

We also celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary with little fanfare. And, by little, I mean none! Ha! But that’s what happens when you’re pregnant with your third baby, right?

May 

 

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A post shared by Rachel L (@itsahero) on May 1, 2018 at 4:12pm PDT

 

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This, the month before my due date, I spent as much time as possible loving on my existing two babies. Lots of small adventures were had.

 

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A post shared by Rachel L (@itsahero) on May 24, 2018 at 2:11pm PDT

Oh, and I had some maternity photos done.

 

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A post shared by Rachel L (@itsahero) on May 10, 2018 at 4:15pm PDT

And met up with some fabulous bloggers for glass blowing at the Glass Asylum.

 

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A post shared by Rachel L (@itsahero) on Jun 8, 2018 at 2:19pm PDT

And then again for a photoshoot meetup at Borrow Rentals.

June 

 

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A post shared by Rachel L (@itsahero) on Jun 16, 2018 at 4:01pm PDT

I swear to you I spent this entire month just ready for Mila to arrive. In any spare moment I had, I was walking. Usually with the other two kids in tow.

 

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A post shared by Rachel L (@itsahero) on May 28, 2018 at 4:02pm PDT

The kids also enjoyed a LOT of swimming!

 

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A post shared by Rachel L (@itsahero) on Jun 20, 2018 at 1:04pm PDT

And then, of course, the arrival of Mila Rose.

July 

 

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A post shared by Rachel L (@itsahero) on Jul 2, 2018 at 4:12pm PDT

We adjusted to life with another little.

 

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A post shared by Rachel L (@itsahero) on Jul 19, 2018 at 4:24pm PDT

But I still managed to make it out of the house with all of the kids! Like Mila’s first trip to the Cleveland Flea with me and Remy Bea!

 

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A post shared by Rachel L (@itsahero) on Jul 21, 2018 at 5:40pm PDT

And her first trip to the LEGO Store with Ari!

 

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A post shared by Rachel L (@itsahero) on Jul 25, 2018 at 4:20pm PDT

Oh, and we had amazing newborn photos done.

 

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A post shared by Rachel L (@itsahero) on Jul 28, 2018 at 4:28pm PDT

Then visited Edgewater Park Beach.

 

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A post shared by Rachel L (@itsahero) on Aug 7, 2018 at 4:15pm PDT

And I took a yoga class with some fellow bloggers at Sibling Revelry Brewery. Mila came, too, although she spent most of her time in her car seat. Ha!

August 

 

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A post shared by Rachel L (@itsahero) on Aug 23, 2018 at 5:34pm PDT

My first baby went off to his first day of Kindergarten!

September 

 

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A post shared by Rachel L (@itsahero) on Sep 14, 2018 at 4:25pm PDT

I spent my first week completely solo with all three kids. I survived while Chad went away on his business trip AND I even managed to sneak out with just Mila to see the Infinity Mirrors by Yayoi Kusama exhibit at the Cleveland Museum of Art.

 

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A post shared by Rachel L (@itsahero) on Sep 7, 2018 at 4:24pm PDT

Remy and I went out exploring our local Akron neighborhoods.

 

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A post shared by Rachel L (@itsahero) on Sep 30, 2018 at 4:24pm PDT

And we visited the apple orchard when Mimi came to town!

October 

 

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A post shared by Rachel L (@itsahero) on Oct 15, 2018 at 5:43pm PDT

Ari turned SIX!

 

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A post shared by Rachel L (@itsahero) on Oct 22, 2018 at 5:32pm PDT

Chad and I went on our first truly solo (no Mila!) date night to the Best of Cleveland party at the Rock Hall.

 

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A post shared by Rachel L (@itsahero) on Oct 31, 2018 at 4:25pm PDT

And we had a fun Halloween photo shoot with the girls!

November 

 

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A post shared by Rachel L (@itsahero) on Nov 16, 2018 at 5:27pm PST

I got to check out the new indoor putt-putt course at Punch Bowl Social in the Flats!

 

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A post shared by Rachel L (@itsahero) on Nov 17, 2018 at 5:43pm PST

The Big Kids went to Kringle’s Inventionasium to see Santa’s workshop!

 

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A post shared by Rachel L (@itsahero) on Nov 26, 2018 at 5:05pm PST

And we decided to purchase our forever home!

December 

 

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A post shared by Rachel L (@itsahero) on Dec 3, 2018 at 3:28pm PST

We closed on our new house!

 

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A post shared by Rachel L (@itsahero) on Dec 24, 2018 at 5:04pm PST

…and between moving and getting settled, we celebrated Christmas.


 

Seriously I could not be more grateful to all of the people who made 2018 the best year yet. I may not have taken a fancy vacation or gotten a big new promotion, but I had the most fulfilling year to date! It was full of everything that is most important — family, friends, lots of love, memories, and delicious food.

Cheers to 2019!

Filed Under: #MomLife, Akron, bloggers, brews + food, busy mom, children, Christmas, cleveland, Cleveland Flea, Columbus, explore locally, Explore Ohio, fitness, live happy, mommyhood, NEO, Ohio, parenthood, pictures, restaurants + bars Tagged With: #MomLife, akron, being a mom, brews + food, busy mom, celebration, children, cleveland, explore locally, family, Live Happy, motherhood, NEO, ohio, parenthood, restaurants + bars

Cleveland Food + Brews — The South Side + the Best of CLE Party

October 23, 2018 by Rachel 17 Comments

The last few weeks have been filled with exhaustion, thanks to a cold that we’ve been passing throughout the house and a baby that is teething; but in between the sickies and the sleepless nights, I wound up getting out of the house not once but 2 whole times for fun events with friends.

First came a blogger meetup at The South Side for Chef Natasha Pogrebinsky’s fall menu preview. Even though I was exhausted and a big part of me wanted to stay home snuggled up in bed with Mila, I decided to venture out. I’m so glad I did.

I was able to meet up with some of my favorite local bloggers and enjoy a night of wonderful conversation, laughter, and fantastic food.

Some of the new menu items include a Clam Bake (basically a clambake in a bowl), Garlic Rose Flatbread, Mushroom Arugula Flatbread, Tuna Stuffed Roasted Tomato, The Clevelander (fresh local kielbasa and sausage, a poached egg, butter beans, tomatoes, and kale), Roasted Tomato Hummus, and Sweet Potato and Sage Pierogi — to name just a few.

The food was creative, fun, and best of all delicious. My favorites were the calamari, hummus, short rib, maple sweet potatoes, our world tots, and the flatbreads.

Oh, and rumor has it that The South Side has a pretty killer Bloody Mary on the weekends. I’ll definitely be returning to check it out.

The next big adventure was the Best of Cleveland Party at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Our two VIP tickets not only meant that Chad and I could go on our first real baby-free night since Mila was born 4 months ago, but also that we could visit the Rock Hall and check out all of the 2018 winners of various food, drinks, and live music.

Winners included Sunoco Cafe (Best Hummus), B Spot (Best Burgers), Barrio (Best Tacos), Mitchell’s Homemade Ice Cream (Best Ice Cream), Rocky River Wine Bar (Best Wine Bar), Market (Best Bloody Mary Bar), and so many more!

We dined, we danced, we drank, and we explored so many pieces of music history. It was, by far, one of the most fun events I’ve been to in Northeast Ohio. Many thanks to Cleveland Magazine for putting on such an incredible event.

Sometimes a little bit of (extra) exhaustion is worth the fun, right? Absolutely, totally right. Thanks for being so awesome, Cleveland. You continue to amaze me. ♥ ♥

 

 

Filed Under: brews + food, cleveland, events, explore locally, Explore Ohio, live happy, NEO, Ohio, pictures, restaurants + bars, review, shop local Tagged With: bloggers, brews + food, cleveland, events, explore locally, explore Ohio, Live Happy, NEO, ohio, restaurants + bars, review, shop local

Celebrating SIX at CLE Social

October 15, 2018 by Rachel 18 Comments

I can hardly believe it, y’all. But my first baby — my little #BabyAri — my little “Moosh!” — is six years old tomorrow. SIX!

I’m in disbelief that six years have flown by this quickly. Our little man has kept us on our toes from the moment he was born. And yet, somehow, he’s always been incredibly level-headed.

It should come as no surprise to anyone that my baby boy has blossomed into a pretty cool little dude. He loves pretty much everything — school, his friends, his family, video games, YouTube, LEGOs, blind bags, and being wild and crazy.

But when Chad took Ari to CLE Social, a local old-school arcade in Hudson, he had an absolute blast. And I just knew that this was the spot that we would have his 6th birthday party. I mean, it’s seriously 1000% ARI.

CLE Social is an arcade that features 30 classic arcade games, like Super Mario Bros., Donkey Kong, Pac-Man, and two pinball machines. The coolest part of the arcade is that the only two games that accept quarters are the pinball machines. The rest? Free with the cost of admission.

They regularly host private birthday parties and private group parties, so they were totally able to accommodate my request for a small gathering of Ari’s friends and family.

We supplied the pizza, beverages, cake (Minecraft, of course), and decorations, and CLE Social provided the fun! But the kids weren’t the only ones who had fun. In fact, I think the adults had more fun than the kids!

Ari was honestly so excited and happy that friends and family came out to celebrate HIM. He is still grateful (and has thanked me daily) for a great party. And that’s just it — this kid has so much love and charm. He truly is a grateful child. He feels love by telling people how much he appreciates them.

So on this eve of his 6th birthday, I am grateful for him. I’m grateful for his kind heart. I’m grateful for his silly soul. And I’m grateful that he was the one to make me Mama. I will always love you, my little Baby Ari. ♥

 

 

 

Disclosure: Our party was complimentary from CLE Social, but all opinions herein are my own.

Filed Under: #MomLife, Akron, Ari Davis, birthday, children, cleveland, Explore Ohio, family, fun, mommyhood, NEO, Ohio, parenthood, review, shop local, sponsor Tagged With: #MomLife, akron, ari davis, being a mom, celebration, children, cleveland, explore locally, family, family friendly, life, motherhood, NEO, ohio, parenthood, review, shop local, sponsor

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