One thing going on around town this weekend is the annual Ohio City Home Tour. The trolley tour consists of six historical, chic, unique designed home of the OC. You can choose to take Lolley the Trolley around while exploring the neighborhood or wander on foot to discover small details you may have overlooked if by car. It really is a wonderful late morning/afternoon Sunday happening. Pair it with a bubbly brunch at Market Garden, Flying Fig or Le Petit Triangle (get a reservation now!) and your are in for a sure Sunday funday!

Want to win a pack of FOUR tickets to the home tour for you and 3 friends? Tweet me @iheartclev and let me know you want the 4pack to Sunday’s @ohiocitytweets home tour. Winner to be announced Friday, plenty of tie to make a brunch reservation! If you don’t want to wait, get your tickets TODAY here! Good luck.

Also, the winners of last weeks promotion @PatCatans, @Prizm_stores for the 2; $50 gift cards are @KellyBrouse (can’t wait to see some new comics!) and @McCarthyGarland (for your summer garden sign!) Congrats you two and thanks for playing! email me at editor@iheartcleveland.com with your mailing details and we will get those gift cards out to you…Let the crafting begin!

One of the things that I LOVE about this time of year are all the amazing flowering trees we have in Northeast Ohio…especially lilacs. The white ones are my favorites, then the super dark purple ones and I would never turn away a bundle of the simple everyday light lavender hue as well.

In my old house I used to have a sappling of a white lilac tree in the backyard, when I first moved in it was thought to be a weed and mowed over, little did I know I’d spend the next ten years waiting for a fragrant bloom to fill a tiny vase on my countertop. While my new home doesn’t have lilacs (YET!) I have been enjoying the neighboring trees on my way to work each day. The limbs of the trees hang heavy with these massive floral blooms, just begging to be cut. If you’ve got one, watch out I may just pull over and snag a few branches for my studio desk. Unless you want to just to trim me off a few pretty branches? :)

Enough about my lilac infatuation…did you know this weekend in the CLE is a filled with opportunities for healthy living, sweat, sparkly good play fun? From the 10K, half & full marathon of this years Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon, to the second annual Bike for Beck road race through the Metroparks, to checking out the new Cleveland Yoga uptown location ($15 for a week unlimited practice to all new students) there are somany opportunities to move for bosy and get fit for summer. Good luck to all my runner friends who are tackling this weekends run, looks like the weather is going to be gorgeous.

Have a wonderful tuesday everybody. Stop and smell the lilacs. And if you are so inclined get out there and register for a spring fitness healthy living event around town. Peace.

Hey friends, happy sunny Monday to you! Did everyone have a nice weekend? Did you shower the Mom’s in your life with lots of love and special somethings?

It was a busy weekend for me including drinks at Luxe followed by a late showing of Gatsby, a trip to PA to hit up IKEA  and purchasing gobs of tile for our home remodel project, yoga at the new uptown Cleveland Yoga and to top off the night a smidgen of menchies! 

On the way to IKEA I was lucky enough to be a passenger and get through a stack of magazines that were on my weekend to-do list. I love tearing out reference, inspiration, things to buy…you know like old fashioned pinterest! One of the things that caught my eye was the Cleveland Independents Bartender Competition…while I may have missed the first one I am gonna try my darndest to get out, support these local celebrity’s and “sample” a few of their best creations.  Check out who is actually competing here.

Enjoy the sunshine and get psyched as it looks like the summer temps will be back later this week. Peace out!

Now, onto my friend, “i heart cleveland families” as she offers a few tips from her perspective with regards to the weekend holiday. Happy weekend everybody!

“Hello CLE! What incredible weather we are having! And it looks like Mother’s Day on Sunday will be equally shiny and bright. I want to extend a big shout out to all you fabulous moms! You work hard, and deserve a beautiful day.

Many of my friends prefer going out to brunch or dinner, and after perusing some of the fabulous CLE eateries websites, almost all had a Mother’s Day offering. Some other friends prefer planting flowers on their day and right now the garden centers are bursting with color. Petitti’s Garden Centers never disappoints, and I recently came home from Dean’s Greenhouse in Westlake with this little gem. A succulent arrangement that’s almost impossible to kill :) When I was growing up, my mom always preferred a family bike ride and picnic. With the Cleveland Metroparks so close and virtually in everyone’s backyard, it’s easy to find a spot to hike, bike and picnic. 

University Circle is another favorite spot of mine. We never seem to get there enough, and Mother’s Day is the perfect opportunity for a special outing there. After all, who can so no to what Mom wants to do that day? The Cleveland Museum of Art has Second Sunday Family Day (perfect) and it’s FREE! The Botanical Garden is sure to bring joy to both moms and little ones. The last time we visited, the chameleons in the Glass House were actually hanging from the trees right in front of us. 

And if baking is something your kids like to do, there is Mother’s Day Cake Decorating offered at Wild Flour Bakery in Rocky River. They can create a special cake just for you. This is offered on Saturday from 1 – 3 pm. Be sure to call in advance.

However you choose to spend it, CLE has so much to offer. I am having a hard time deciding what to do myself. Enjoy, mamas!”

Also, don’t forget to enter the Pat Catan’s & Prizm Art Supplies $50 gift certificate contest. ENTER HERE! 

This is another shot from by cruise down Superior Ave the other evening, the hand lettering and bold colors pulled me in. Made me wonder about who designed that sign and the Clevelanders who painted it…because it’s awesome. As a designer I tend to gravitate towards modern, clean and simple signs and such. However with this sign the retro charm, the funky type and the no fuss design is super impressive, i heart it. Next time you need an expert air conditioning service, you should totally take a ride Brunkow’s…if nothing else than to check out the sign! Keep cool Cleveland, and GO TRIBE!

]]> http://iheartcleveland.com/?feed=rss2&p=4560 1 http://iheartcleveland.com/?p=4560 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Iheartclevelandcom/~3/sbICkB1xszo/ http://iheartcleveland.com/?p=4551#comments Wed, 08 May 2013 13:52:45 +0000 charity http://iheartcleveland.com/?p=4551 Continue reading →]]> Hey CLE! Have you entered the giveaway for a $50 gift card to Pat Catan’s/Prizm Art Supplies Store? If you haven’t no worries, you still have time! Enter NOW!

Yesterday I was driving down Superior probably around the 40′s somewhere and I spotted this incredible wall mural. The colors were awesome against the gray stone wall, the organic nature of the abstract floral shapes seemed to dance in the sunshine. I had to pull over and snap a few shots to share.

I love discovering new public art. It makes me smile, makes me happy and makes everyday a bit of a surprise! Happy Wednesday peeps.

Many of you might know this about me but I am a total art geek. Thanks to my Mom, I spent my childhood growing up with a craft box under my bed. My Saturday mornings were spent in painting classes with other “free spirit”kids and by the time I reached college I was attending gallery openings in my down time, hanging out in the painting lofts of fellow art school students and taking extra credits in anything from silk screen to stained glass. As a professional graphic designer I feel lucky each day that I get to create visual inspiration for a living.

Can I even tell you how excited I was when I was shopping at Pat Catans, Berea Road store the other day when I discovered row after row of gorgeous fine art supplies? Enter the friendly Pat Catan’s employee who immediatley informed me they were integrating the “store-within-the-store” idea by moving the Prizm Art Supplies Store into this “Catan’s” location.

Each aisle is filled from floor to ceiling with high-end paints, pastels, canvases, stunning papers everything you might need for airbrush artwork, to gold leafing to really great how-to books not to mention the rows of great pens, colored pencils and charcoals! It really is a feast for any artist.

Do you HEART art supplies? Do you bust out your watercolors at the beach? Perhaps have your own “craft box” under your bed? How about digging down deep to find your inner Rothko and whipping up a modern color block painting for your home? THIS GIVEAWAY IS CALLING YOUR NAME!

Pat Catan’s and Prizm Art Supplies has given me not one, but TWO $50 gift certificates to shop the new art supplies at Pat Catan’s/Prizm for all of your summer creations. To enter to win, tweet me @iheartclev and let me know what project you would use your @Prizm_Stores gift card towards. Make sure to use our special #CLEartsupplies tag. (For example; “@iheartclev with my #CLEartsupplies cash from @Prizm_Stores I want to buy paints for a summer project”) The more you enter, the better chance you have to score…one entry per tweet! Artist winners will be announced Monday, May 13th.  Good luck everybody!

Also, if you are interested in this really great new store, some cool art demonstrations, high end art supplies, save the date for May 17th for the official OPEN HOUSE  at the Berea Store location! Be there with your art smock on. :)

Good Monday morning to you CLE! Sorry to be MIA for a few days as I took last week off to holiday in the Hawaian Islands with family and friends. It was like nothing I have ever experienced before, surf lessons, lots of tropical drinks, hula, beach, hiking, sun, super fine sand, turtles, tiki, morimoto, early to bed, early to rise, lagoons and lots of hot sun! It was a tropical paradise.

Upon my return, I noted my westside lawn had grown a foot, the trees were all a bloom and so many Clevelanders were out and about on bikes, nestled in convertibles and enjoying the warm temps! It was like I had brought tropical paradise back in my carry on.

It was great to get away, to make time to think creatively, to dream, to plan new initiativites, to laugh a ton, to get tan (even with my 50SPF everywhere, my italian genes never disappoint) to try new food and to give yourself  new perspective on home and your day to day. Do you have any getaways planned for summer? A weekend camping trip? A long weekend at our “islands?” Perhaps a day trip down south to explore Amish country? Pencil in a weekend or two, grab your friends and make sure to schedule some time to see things from a different perspective, I promise it to be a good time!

A few things I didn’t touch base on while I was away…@melissahigey from yarnovercleveland was the winner of the @GVartwork t-shirt. Congrats Melissa!

Another thing to note is that tickets to this years Cleveland Museum of Art, Summer Solstice event goes on sale TODAY, Monday May 6th. Don’t miss out, grab your tickets today!

And last but certainly not least…to celebrate yesterday’s Cinco De Mayo, the new Lakewood location of Barrio opened! more tacos in Lakewood, get pyched!  Also, don’t know if they still have any on the shelves, but I heard that the chocolate covered tortilla chips by Malley’s and Momocho’s was a big hit. Check them out.

“Mahalo!”

After a few failed try’s for reservations we all agreed that the oldie but a very goodie would be our dinner destination for the evening. One of Tremont’s coolest places to eat Fat Cat’s was way better that any of us remembered.

We had a 7:30 reservation and when we showed up it was jam packed. We enjoyed some great cocktails, insane tater tots with tomatoe jam, korean barbeque ribs, mussels and lumpia (filipino egg rolls.) The food was great, the service was outstanding and the company was even better.

I have to admit, I often forget about Fat Cat’s but not anymore, back on my top go-to places for a great dinner with friends.  If you haven’t been there in awhile go grab a drink but make sure you have a reservation because unlike me, a lot of Clevelanders haven’t forgot what a gem of a restaurant it is.

Fat Cats, 2061 West 10th Street, Cleveland, OH 44113

Happy Tuesday yall. Fun stuff today at “iheart” the guys of GV Art & Design have offered one lucky reader one of their stylish and well-designed CLE shirts.

I picked out a few of my favorites to share and show today. From all the non-sensical weather we’ve been having, to celebrating Superman to a chic “lovely” shirt, these three are just a sampling of all their great work.  You can see them all at their online store here. 

To win one of their t-shirts tweet me (@iheartclev) which @gvartwork shirt you would proudly wear. (ex : @iheartclev, I heart the “Totem Pole” tee made by @gvartwork!) Winner will be drawn on April 30th. Good luck to you.