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Things To Do This Weekend // Fall Fun Guide!

September 16, 2015 by Rachel Leave a Comment

Just because Summer is coming to an end in Northeast Ohio, it doesn’t mean that the social calendar slows down! In fact, there are plenty of fun things happening THIS WEEK!

Aviation Heritage Fair // Kent State Airfield // Saturday, September 19th, 7am – 5pm // FREE

The event kicks off with a pancake breakfast to benefit the Stow-Monroe Falls Kiwanis Aviation Scholarship Program. At sunrise, you can catch a ride on a hot air balloon. Shortly thereafter the rest of the fun begins! Airplane rides in WWII aircraft, museum exhibits and food! I’m not 100% sure on the details of cash versus credit, so bring cash to be safe! See event information here.

Crafty Mart // Thirsty Dog Brewing Co. // Saturday, September 19th, 11am – 5pm // FREE

Spend the afternoon shopping at the Pop Up Market and sippin’ on some tasty craft brews! Artists will be selling their finely crafted goods and the brewery will be open! This event is sure to be jam-packed with our favorite local artisans and a fun crowd! In addition to the vendors, the Akron Art Museum is hosting a free art-making activity from 11am-3pm! Most vendors have card readers so either cash or credit is available! See event information here.

Maize Valley Fall Family Outing // Maize Valley Winery, Hartville, OH // Open Daily, Hours Vary // $10 age 2+

While the winery and store itself are free of admission charges, the fall family festival area does have an admission charge of $10 for anyone over the age of 2. I highly recommend getting to the event early (and on a weekday) to take full advantage of the hayride and pumpkin picking! There is also a huge corn maze and lots of activities for little kids. Ari was wiped out after our trip last year. See full list of hours and event information here.

Sunday Market in Hingetown // Ohio City, Cleveland // Sunday, September 20th, 10am – 4pm // FREE

From the people who bring us the Cleveland Flea, enjoy a smaller-scale version of the event in Hingetown! Vendors and makers will be selling their goods while attendees brunch their way through the streets of Hingetown! See event information here.

What fun things are you planning on doing this Fall!?

Luau On The Lake // Giveaway

June 23, 2015 by Rachel 7 Comments

Summer in Cleveland is a festival-goers dream! And this year I’m excited to attend (again!) the 10th annual Luau on the Lake to benefit Shoes and Clothes for Kids, on July 25th at Wendy Park on Whiskey Island.

One of the major changes from last year is that there are now three different levels of tickets:

General Admission – $50 through June 26; $60 through July 20; $65 at the door – includes island buffet, beer, wine, soft drinks, and souvenir cup. Pre-mixed Island Cocktails available for purchase.

Big Kahuna – $60 through June 26; $75 through July 20 – includes all the above plus 3 Island Cocktail drink tickets, Hawaiian lei, VIP cup and tote, and half-hour early admission.

Tiki God – $125 per person or $200 per couple through July 10 – includes all of the above plus open bar (beer, wine, liquor, and Island Cocktails), appetizers, VIP tent with seating and port-o-lets, and one-hour early admission!

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrTxLOXtdoA]

Based on my experience last year, early admission is KEY! You have prime pick of your spot (BYOB — Bring Your Own Blanket/Chairs). An extra bonus of a VIP tent with seating and potties is also a huge bonus.

Regardless, all three ticket levels are supporting a great cause. If you aren’t aware of this awesome organization, know that their mission is to “provide a unique service for income-eligible families in Greater Cleveland by distributing new shoes, clothing, and items for infants and youths.” Hugely important in our community!

You can purchase tickets to Luau on the Lake online or you can enter to win two Big Kahuna tickets using the Rafflecopter widget below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Winner will be announced within 24-hours of giveaway close. Entrants must intend to use the tickets and be 21 years or older.

Disclosure: I was not compensated for this post. I was asked by Shoes and Clothes for Kids to help promote the Luau on the Lake. In exchange, I will receive 2 Big Kahuna tickets for myself and 2 Big Kahuna tickets to give away. All opinions herein are my own.

life lately // a wrap up

May 15, 2015 by Rachel 2 Comments

Life has been crazy pants over the last month or so. But isn’t that kind of always the case when you’re working and raising a toddler and taking care of family responsibilities and training for races and trying to actually fit in some fun, too?

Moosh started a new session of tumbling at the YMCA. The class is PACKED, which makes me mega anxious. But it turns out his ‘girlfriend’ we met on Valentine’s Day at Café O’Play — Veronique — is in his tumbling class. These two are SO cute! They are a week apart in age; plus they are both pretty much exactly the same size (aka — tiny).

We took a short trip to Louisville, Kentucky to visit with Mimi and Poppy. And we jam-packed it with fun and adventures! The first of which was to the Zoo. Here is my review of the zoo in Louisville: dirty; packed; but we still had fun. Moosh wanted to walk everywhere, which was exhausting for us, but we were hoping it would wear him out so he would take a nap (newsflash: he didn’t.)

The zoo did have some cool Lego thing going on though. Moosh wasn’t nearly as interested in the Legos as we were. Ha! Some day, kid, you’ll realize how freaking cool it was.

Chad, my parents, Moosh, and I went to the Louisville version of the Cleveland Flea — which is appropriately named The Flea Off Market. It was like an early version of the Cleveland Flea. It was cute and crowded and full of local finds, foods and brews — which is pretty much my paradise. So while I was sad we were out of town for the Cleveland Flea, it was exciting to experience something similar as an out-of-towner!

I had the chicken and waffles from something that is not considered a food truck — it was a food wagon. And it was DELICIOUS. And I tried a (new-to-me) brew from Bluegrass Brewing Company — a red IPA! Perfection.

And Moosh ate the crap out of some plantains. This kid loves the most random fruits and veggies! My dad had this delicious cuban food. He loved it; I thought it was spicy-ish. I’ll stick to my chicken and waffles.

We took a family-friendly betting trip to Churchill Downs — just one week after the Kentucky Derby. My thoughts? Churchill Downs is huge; there were a ton of people (even for an “off” day); the horses are beautiful; and betting has never been my thang. It was still cool to experience all of it. Moosh ‘bet’ on the “orange horse,” aka the horse with the rider who was wearing orange.

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6No4I_CHZY]It’s a good thing the chicken and waffles were small because we had a date night at an Ethiopian Restaurant, Queen of Sheba, — a first for us! I would be lying if I didn’t say I was skeptical. Sure, it sounded great; but my dad referred to it as a “hole in the wall.” Then recanted and said “Well, it’s not a hole in the wall…” and I was like…. Yay [sarcasm]. But when we showed up I immediately felt at ease.

The food was incredible. I mean that in the most serious way. I told Chad that I wish we had eaten at this restaurant for every meal while we were there. The meals come “family style” on the same big plate… really it’s a platter, not a plate. And there isn’t any silverware. You eat with your hands and the injera, the Ethiopian bread, serves as your utensil. Mine was the Shifta Chicken (the meal on the bottom) and Chad had the Gored-Gored (the spicy beef dish on top).

Moosh played HARD at the playgrounds in Kentucky. And he came back with the bruises to prove it. I seriously wonder if our sitter thinks we beat him. (PS. We did not. Dude just doesn’t know how small and fragile he is. Ha!)

Mother’s Day consisted of a long drive home. Which was accompanied by Moosh sleeping — HOORAY! The perfect gift. 🙂

But we did at least watch some Monsters Inc before we hit the road… <3 Chad happened to snap this photo of us. Too cute!

I took another canvas painting class! I’ve taken several (ie. SEVEN) Wine + Canvas classes. This time I used Paint Nite in Akron. I have to say, it seemed to be a bit more lively and fun; but the teaching of technique was severely lacking. However, I still love the outcome!

We celebrated Chad’s birthday with a low-key night. A quick trip to Café O’Play, then dinner at Aladdin’s new space in Portage Crossings, followed by cake and presents at home.

I think we try not to get each other “things” because if we needed something (or wanted something) we would get it. We try to celebrate with experiences that last a lifetime. So I got Chad tickets to see Joe Machi at Hilarities at Pickwick and Frolic. If you’re not familiar with Joe Machi, he was on Last Comic Standing and placed 4th. The dude is funny in just our sort of way — dry humor. However, he is not attractive like my boy Tommy Jonaghin. Sigh. I love that man (sorry Chad). Regardless of his level of attractiveness, it’s going to be fun. Too bad we have to wait until July to see the show!

I cooked another Blue Apron meal. I feel like this needs to be documented every time. Because it doesn’t happen often. Technically, I cooked the meal pictured on the top — Baked Empanadas de Picadillo with Arugula, Queso Fresco, & Pickled Onion Salad! Chad made the meal on the bottom — Shrimp Tacos with Pineapple and Avocado salsa.

Basically, life has been busy, but perfectly lovely. When I look at this blog post and all of our pictures, it fills my heart up completely!

weekend wrap up //

May 6, 2015 by Rachel Leave a Comment

After last weeks drama that nearly put Moosh into the hospital for an overnight stay, we welcomed the weekend with open arms — and hesitation. Cause who knew WHEN this kid would have another episode, right?

Well he definitely wasn’t feeling himself Friday. In fact, after a quick trip to Café O’Play where we pretty much just stood in the dance room, we picked up a pizza and headed home. It was definitely needed after our week. Chad went to an NFL Draft party with some of the dudes in my family and I stayed at home with my snuggle bug watching movies.

Scratch that: we watched movies together for a while; then this mama scrubbed the house from top to bottom before Mimi showed up for a weekend visit!

But let’s talk about how seriously not himself this kid looks. It definitely was NOT cold; but Moosh kept saying “Mommy, I cold! Blankie Tom, peas!” And then he wanted my Lululemon Vinyasa scarf to wrap around his head (he’s been a bit attached to it since I wrapped him in it in the hospital last week).

We ate “peetzy” and salad and watched Monsters Inc and Finding Nemo on repeat until Mimi arrived.

And then? Mass chaos! Ha!

Yep. That’s my kid running around in his underwear. Moosh finally fell asleep way way later than he should have. With promises of lots of fun on Saturday and goodnight kisses from Mimi, that seemed to do the trick.

My mom and I had planned to wake up early to get a long run in Saturday morning. But we stayed up WAY too late. And then Moosh woke up earlier than anticipated. So we improvised. We brought him with us. I despise running with the jogging stroller, but Mimi decided that we could switch off pushing him, so I agreed. Hesitantly. Ha! We got a couple miles in before having to head home. But every step counts, right?!

Mimi agreed to babysit Moosh while Chad and I went on a day-date to see the Avengers: Age of Ultron. The movie was amazing! Yes, yes… I’m a total dude-movie nerd. I love all of those nerdy comic book movies. But it really was good. And funny. Also? Robert Downey Jr?? LOVE that guy.

While we were at the movies, Mimi took Moosh (or is it the other way around — Moosh took Mimi?) to Café O’Play in an attempt to wear him out and get him to nap. Well, he was worn out. But he refused to nap. Which was extremely inconvenient because we had suite tickets for the Indians versus the Blue Jays that afternoon. So a nap of some sort was nearly required to prevent crazy-baby meltdown. But the little dude did extremely well. We even got to meet the hot dogs! Moosh loved Mustard, could care less about Ketchup (weird considering he eats ketchup as a main course these days), and was downright terrified of Onion! Ha!

Mimi and Chad had fun watching the game. Moosh and I mostly just played. Cause for me, a ballgame is more about the experience of the ballpark than paying attention to the game. SPORTS! Ha!

I’m super bummed that I didn’t get any photos of our food. We visited the new Right Field District and I was in awe of the food and drink selections! My mom ordered a sandwich from Melt, Ari got ice cream from Sweet Moses, and Chad and I split nachos and a taco from Barrio. And GLBC on tap for the win!

On the way home we indulged a little more with some Rita’s Ice. Moosh wanted “Boo ice!” which means blue ice, if you haven’t figured that out. 🙂

Moosh obviously didn’t fall asleep on the way home. And he went to bed really late. Like 10:30.

And Sunday morning he was up at an ungodly hour. 6:00 am. This kid sleeps til 9:30 on the reg, and decides after a day of no napping and staying up late to wake up at 6am!? Sigh, kid, sigh.

Mimi and I took him to Café O’Play for an hour or so before calling it quits! Kids had fun but was nutso! So we grabbed lunch from Planet Sub and headed home.

PS. I’m not certain how I feel about Ari’s most-recent obsession with Monsters Inc. and Monsters University. So he just does this “Roar!” face all of the time. Sigh. It’s cute; but not when he’s meeting new people. KID you do NOT greet people with a roar! Ugh!

We totally bailed on a family party (sorry fam!) so that our teeny family could rest. We were all exhausted and Mimi wanted to get home to Poppy before it was too late. Honestly, we needed it. We slept and slept and slept! It was perfection. The night ended with a clean house and happy hearts.

The perfect ending to a perfect weekend. 🙂

weekend wrap up //

April 23, 2015 by Rachel Leave a Comment

I would like to say that we have grand weekends full of fun and adventure. However, that truly is not the case. In fact, a wild weekend for us means an evening at Café O’Play and PJs by 8pm. For serious.

Let’s be real though — this is my life 99.9% of the time… and that .01% of the time? I’m faking being a functioning adult; I’m pretending to be a childless 30-something.

But this past Saturday we went balls to the wall, friends! Chad had to work so Moosh and I took an early morning trip to Columbus to see my sissy and my mama!

Sadly I have like ZERO pictures from our day — because wrangling a sleepy two-year old while flying solo is a LOT of work.

But here’s what we did:

We stopped at Starbucks and Target. Because, first, coffee; and second, because this mama didn’t anticipate 80+ degree weather. Thanks, Mimi, for running into Target and grabbing the first (yet, adorable) shorts/shirt outfit for Moosh. He looked very… dapper!
We checked out my sisters new place. Well, they aren’t moved in yet. In fact, they are in a temporary location because their new home is being built. But it was exciting to see that they had the foundation and basement done. Moosh loved walking around the property. He INSISTED on walking by himself… which made me very nervous. But he did great. Even though he did take a tiny tumble once.
Post-house visit we ventured to the North Market, where we found rockstar parking (thank GOD, cause let’s be real — I wasn’t going to walk a million years to visit this market — awesome as it may be). Here’s what we ate: Pretzel sticks from Brezel; Ari’s favorite bubble tea from Bubbles; lunch from Best of the Wurst; macarons + lavender shortbread from Pistacia Vera; and we rounded it out with a bag of amazing belgian waffles from Taste of Belgium.
It was basically a food coma. And it was LOVELY. PS. I didn’t eat all of the food at once; I definietely brought TONS of food home with me.
… and then I stopped at The Daily Growler, which is my JAM! Thank you for the CBC Bodhi, friends!
Moosh slept for the WHOLE RIDE HOME. That’s TWO WHOLE HOURS. He hadn’t napped in days; but he slept HARD in the car (thanks Mimi, Jimmy, and Shauna!).

Sunday:

We went to Café O’Play on Sunday to get some energy out of the Moosh. Turns out he kinda lost it shortly after we got there (Ohhhh, life with a toddler!). So we all went home for lunch and a nap — and we ALL enjoyed that 2 hour nap. Isn’t that the best thing about Sundays.
Last but not least, I cooked a delicious dinner, courtesy of Plated. Wrapped up a perfect Sunday!
Yes we are totally boring people. But that’s OK. 🙂

Ohio Blogging Association // December Meetup at TownHall

January 14, 2015 by Rachel Leave a Comment

Just before the holidays the Ohio Blogging Association celebrated it’s last meetup of 2014 with a visit to local Ohio City restaurant, TownHall.

[photo credit: Alicia – Poise in Parma]

The philosophy behind TownHall is definitely a philosophy I support — organic, sustainable, and locally sourced food. They offer an array of gluten free, vegetarian and vegan dishes — and all are delicious!

We learned that over the last year they have made it a goal to become 100% non-GMO. And as of just the other day, they have succeeded! They are now 100% non-GMO!

Trust me, while I was there I certainly had some questions about this for the staff. Chad + I put a huge focus on consciously choosing our food from sources that are non-GMO when we can. ‘Cause let’s face it — there are somethings that are difficult to locate non-GMO. So serious props to Townhall and the staff for this huge accomplishment!

In addition to me grilling the staff on their non-GMO initiative, I promise I did taste a LOT of food.

Our meetup was on a Monday night, which happens to be both Vegan Night AND Craft Beer Monday (every Monday $3 for any of their 36 drafts from 6pm to close). Their craft beer list is extensive and impressive. And as a non-vegan, I can testify that meat-eaters will love their vegan offerings, too!

We started our food journey with Black Bean-Quinoa Falafel Steam Buns (with pickled red onions and sriracha cucumber vegan aioli). So, so, good. I have to admit, I love steam buns; but these weren’t just any steam buns. The falafel and aioli packed a little bit of a kick, too!

Next up was a gigantic Raw Vegetable Crudite Platter with White Hummus and Kalamata Olive Dip. That kalamata dip — heavenly. I could have licked the bowl clean. Really.

My entrée of choice was the Kobe Steak + Potatoes (Rosemary fingerlings, portabella + roasted red pepper roll, with a balsamic reduction drizzle). It did not disappoint. I, for one, did not expect to be able to finish my meal. Let’s face it — my eyes are always bigger than my stomach. But I dominated this kobe steak and potatoes. It is by far one of the best meals I’ve ever had.

I think most of us felt this way about our entrées because we were all silent. A large group of 20 or so outgoing bloggers not speaking!? That’s more outrageous than the idea of me finishing a meal! But it’s the truth.

I nearly forgot one of the coolest features of TownHall — you can take home any of their 36 draft beers in a 32-ounce Crowler, pressure sealed for freshness in an aluminum can! This is way cooler than any Growler I’ve seen. As the only one in my household that enjoys beer, a 64-oz growler is just not something one can (or should) tackle on their own! Ha!

We ended our TownHall food adventure by stuffing ourselves to the max on a giant Skillet Cookie (chocolate chip cookie topped with Mitchell’s vanilla ice cream).

At this point in the evening I was fairly certain I couldn’t eat another bite, but when Mitchell’s ice cream is presented to you literally on a platter, you eat it. That’s foodie rule #1 in my book: Never say no to Mitchell’s ice cream.

Other items of note about TownHall: In addition to the restaurant, they have a more laid-back side which features an Urban Cafe, complete with wifi and laptop accessibility. The menu is the same on the Urban Cafe side, but offers a more relaxed “on-the-go” versus sit and chat vibe. It also features a bean bar complete with artisan coffee offerings, as well as a juice bar!

It was an awesome evening spent with awesome blogger friends. I’m so grateful to have these people in my life and to have ended 2014 with such a bang (and food coma)!