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5 iPhone apps I’m loving right now.

February 5, 2015 by Rachel 2 Comments

A girl and her iPhone are never apart. Am I right!? As someone seeking balance, I try not to have too many unnecessary apps downloaded on my phone. Yep, I’m one of those nearly OCD people who clears out apps and keeps them in nice little “folders.” If only I was that organized with my physical things! Ha!

But really, it’s so simple to get lost in the neverending sea of apps. Here are my fave 5 apps right now!

Podcasts. I can only listen to SO MUCH music. I find talk radio soothing. And I like my mind to be stimulated while I’m running or driving. We all have favorite podcasts. I, myself, have like 18 favorite podcasts. I suppose it’s a good thing I have a lot of running to do these days.

Road ID. It leaves “e-crumbs” to keep you safe in outdoor runs. You’re able to set up notifications, or “e-crumbs,” to be sent to friends/family to keep them updated as to where you are. It has a stationary alert so that if you are stopped for 5 or more minutes, it sends out an alert to your friends. We have had several runner attacks in the last year and this app makes me feel so much better on my solo runs! But in general I prefer to run with a partner.

Life 360. At this point it may seem as if I’m obsessed with safety, but we recently had our home security system installed and it includes Life 360. In our area and climate, you can never be too safe. Sure, it’s a safe area; but what if you run off of a snowy road and don’t have access to your phone to call someone for help? Where that’s where Life360 comes in. It’s location-based and doesn’t require a subpoena or court order to find someone. And you can personalize alerts

Plowz and Mowz. I found out about this app at random. But it is my newest saving grace. We are just so far south in Northeast Ohio that we don’t get the snowbelt snow, but we get some snow. (PS. This is totally weird to me. I grew up in an area that gets crazy amounts of snow; and I went to school in Buffalo & Syracuse, which get crazy amounts of snow. When I lived in New York, I always had someone to plow my driveway every day. Every.DAY. That’s crazy! I’m so happy to live in a place that gets less snow… but still a significant amount. So just a couple of times this year we have “ordered” we have been satisfied with our driveway clearing services! 🙂PS. Here’s a $20 off code for your first plow — use code Y5H515 to get $20 off! That’s right – our first plow was only $10! TWENTY DOLLARS OFF!

Camera. Simple, easy, and my way of documenting life. Yeah, I post a LOT of personal stuff on Instagram, Twitter, and FB. But honestly? I take a LOT of photos on my phone. And video, for that matter. Moosh is always doing something cute and I’m always trying to document it.

That’s it. It’s simple. Well, kind of. We all know there are photo apps and whatnot. And obvy GMail runs my life. But these apps? THESE are what run my life. 🙂

Grind Burger // Review

December 18, 2014 by Rachel 1 Comment

Oh, hey, interwebs! ( :: waves :: )

I’m just over here being busy with real life + dealing with all of that! (ie. Work, illness, etc.)

I’m about a month and a half behind on life. But I want to talk about this restaurant … because better late than never, right??

Yeah. Let’s go with that.

Grind Burger has been open for the last month and a half now; but Chad + I were lucky enough to attend the soft opening a day before their actual opening.

We arrived and were quickly greeted by some awesome familiar faces that I hadn’t seen in a while. And we were also greeted by delicious cocktails.

I was eager to try the Bourbon Bacon Bloody. It lived up to it’s promise of bourbon, bacon, and delicious tomatoey (is that a word?) goodness! Chad tried the Not So Jalepeño, which according to the crowd could have used a bit more jalapeño! Ha!

After a bit of socialization with friends and foodies alike, the owners pulled us over to view the double-grinding method — which they do in full-view for customers to see. The certified angus beef and wagyu beef is sourced locally from grain-fed, hormone-free cows and double-ground for what they call the perfect beef-to-fat ratio.

Each patty is seared just right, which locks in the juiciness of the patty. This is also the reason the burgers are terribly, terribly messy.

But first, the appetizers. Sauerkraut balls are huge here, but I haven’t had a large urge to try them. That’s not to say I wasn’t excited to try them! I totally was!

They were a perfectly fried combination of beef, sausage, and sauerkraut — the owners own family recipe! I’m not certain I’ll try any other sauerkraut balls for fear that they’ll be sub-par!

Next up, hot dog sliders. For me hot dogs + mac and cheese or chili topping = divine. Chad & I both loved that they were on New England style buns (all other kinds should be outlawed).

I ordered the Aria Burger (which it turns out is named after the owners’ daughter. They were delighted to hear that Mooshie’s name is Ari!).

The Aria Burger has garlic cheddar, fried pickles, smoked bacon & 1000 Island dressing. It was perfection. And messy. Very, very messy.

Chad & I usually order different entrees in an effort to both try something different. But this time we both went all in with this one. The burger was incredible. Juicy, delicious, and surprisingly flavorful (I say surprisingly because I really do think it has a lot to do with the double-grind and grilling process. Yep. I’m a believer!). The only difference is that Chad ordered like 17 extra pickles.

And we also made sure we got to try the fresh cut fries. They were definitely yummy, crispy, and I’d love to revisit these fries when I’m a little LESS full. Ha!

Speaking of less full, of course I didn’t say no to a Bananas Fosters Milkshake! At first I ordered the Kit Kat milkshake, but when Chad’s milkshake came (and pretty much everyone else ordered the Bananas Foster milkshake too), I asked the waiter to please switch my Kit Kat Milkshake to a Bananas Foster Milkshake. And he did. And I fell in love.

Overall our experience at Grind Burger was awesome. I can’t wait to go back. In fact, I’m plotting our next visit…

On the agenda for a future visit:

For The Love Of Bacon (on the starter menu). Bacon Candy, Deep Fried Bacon & Warm Maple Syrup.
Burrata Burger. Burrata cheese, raspberry reduction & arugula. Those at the soft opening either ordered the Aria Burger or the Burrata Burger. I was torn. So now I need to try this.
Maple Bacon Happiness. A milkshake. Vanilla ice cream, house-made maple bacon reduction, bacon candy strip.

weekend wrap-up

April 15, 2013 by Rachel 1 Comment

This weekend was how I wish every weekend would be — simply amazing.

It started on Friday when I spent the evening in my pajamas! I cleaned and relaxed and started the weekend out on the right foot.

Saturday I stayed in bed for as long as possible. It was a dreary morning and Ari was sleeping in [hooray! — but he was up a number of times throughout the night]. So I snuggled up in our big cozy bed and caught a few more z’s.

We spent most of the morning cleaning the house and preparing for our date! It was our first date where we had a teenage sitter watching Ari. But not just any teenager — our sitters daughter! The only teenager I would completely, 100% trust with our Babycakes! By 2pm we were on our way to Cleveland for the Indians game!

We had tickets to the Indians Social Suite — a suite reserved for people who frequent social media to observe and live-tweet the game! [you can check out all of the details and apply here; or you can follow the social suite by following #socialsuite or #tribetime on twitter.

We watched the Indians destroy the Chicago White Sox from the comfort of our suite, thankfully! It was cold and rainy, but we had a blast hanging out with @koskim and @jensteer!

The game ended by 7PM so we were home early enough to put Ari to bed. No matter how long or short of a time we seem to be away from him, we miss him tons!

And then Sunday morning was here before we knew it! Besides plans to meet up with my friend Gretchen and her new baby, we had very little on our agenda! Spending the morning at Nervous Dog Coffee Bar with Gretchen & the baby was perfect. Two lattes and lots of conversation later, and both babies started to get fussy.

After our coffee date, Ari and I headed to Earth Fare to pick up some delicious healthy food [and perhaps some vegan oatmeal raisin cookie dough as well!] before heading home! I was able to get a run in while Ari napped.

He napped! Like, a real nap! 2 hours and 45 minutes, to be exact. It was lovely. And it made our day. Once he woke up he was happy and playful and it even warmed up enough for us to go swing in the park!

It was pretty much the most perfect weekend ever. Any weekend that’s fun and leaves me feeling refreshed & ready for the week? Amazing.

my mind is all over the place. so this is random.

September 16, 2011 by Rachel 1 Comment

This past weekend I went to two yoga classes: one at Cleveland Yoga and one community class at Lululemon eton in Chagrin. I forgot how much I miss switching up teachers. My practice has been so stagnant as of recent; likely because I haven’t been keeping my teacher options open. Thank you, Marni Task, for enlightening me this weekend!

{Lucy’s book}

Exactly 7 days stands in between me and our cruise! Not that I’m counting or anything…

Monday night was our fourth meeting of book club at Yoga Bliss Akron. We read Yoga School Dropout {and by “we read” I obviously mean, I read half the book prior to our meeting :P}. And while we were enjoying our wine and food, the author, Lucy Edge, dropped in on us via Skype from the UK to answer our questions! I have to say, it was an incredibly awesome experience to be able to talk to someone about the book that they’ve written. It brought a whole new level to the book for me.

This week I’m featured on Cleveland.com’s Twitter Twenty: Twenty Cleveland Tweeps discussing today’s hot topics! Topic of the week? Where has the summer gone!? Ohhh boy do I have a lot to say! 🙂

Downtown Akron Restaurant week was amazing! Tuesday we went to Downtown Akron’s Bricco. Previously I had only had their gourmet pizzas. I was much more impressed with their entrees than their pizzas. Wednesday we went to Crave, which is my favorite restaurant in Akron! I branched out a little and got something different {I always, always, always get the Espresso Braised BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwich on a pretzel bun – and yes, it really is as amazeballs as it sounds!}.

{Picture of food, Clockwise from Upper Left: Tomato and Mozzerella Salad from Bricco;

Filet with Yukon Gold Potatoes and Broccolini from Bricco;

Smoked Gouda Mac and Cheese with grilled chicken from Crave;

and Pan-Seared Scallops and Grilled Shrimp with Bacon and Apple Risotto,

and white-wine buttered green beans from Bricco}

I am really excited to go to the BFs cousins bridal shower tomorrow. It’s at Shooters on the Water in Downtown Cleveland, and I’ve never been! But this also means that I’m going to be really nervous driving there by myself. I hate not knowing where I’m going.