cleveland's a plum

the flats in spangle magazine

2010-07-30T09:03:00.004-04:00

guess what?

our web series "The Flats" already got some ink!

well maybe not literal ink, rather an awesome write up on the online LGBT focused Spangle Magazine.

check out the article HERE

seanski does a great job of explaining our reasoning behind starting the web series, lzone is called an upcoming cleveland executive and my blog is called "popular" - loves it.

and for all you new Flats fanatics we just finished shooting episode two last night so look for the finished product sometime next week - can you control your excitement?

i can't.

happy friday everyone, and have a great weekend!

it's become apparent that i heart MAC makeup

2010-07-29T05:55:00.002-04:00

this is not a beauty product blog.

this is not going to become a beauty product blog.

but i like beauty products so y'all are going to have to deal with this post, ok?

i'm often asked the following questions
- from my friends: will you do my makeup? can i borrow your lip gloss? will you put blush on me? (of course x3)
- from randoms: are you wearing fake eye lashes? (no)
- from men: if i had a nickle for every time i saw someone as beautiful as you i'd have five cents. (HEY-O!)

apparently i'm doing something right in regard to my makeup application so i'm going to share with you what products i use and in turn highly recommend.

side note: while i LOVE makeup and am passionate about my products/brands i probably only wear makeup 3 out of seven days a week tops. it's all about wearing it for the event/occasion in my opinion. i supposed that when i choose to wear makeup i want wear it to make it count.

odd? perhaps.

application order: eyes, complexion, cheeks, lips - easy peasy.

eyeliner - i use a wet angled liner brush from MAC with a pot of MAC eye shadow in carbon. you can make this line as thick or as thin as you'd prefer. i've used eye pencil and liquid eye liner, but always go back to the eye shadow as liner option. it's the bomb and i've been using MAC carbon since i was 18 years old.

lashes - the newest and most prized addition to my eye lash regimen is lash primer.

you know how when you're at a makeup counter buying mascara and the sales clerk always tries to up sell you a lash primer? LISTEN TO THEM NEXT TIME because lash primer is the shit.

the variety i use, MAC Prep + Prime, makes my lashes appear longer/fuller while allowing me to use less mascara. i'll never not use this product, i'm sold forever, hook-line-sinker... BUY IT.

as for mascara i've been using the same mascara brand/variety since i was 14 (that would be 16 years ladies and gentlemen) and while i've tried almost every brand out there, expensive and cheap, nothing compares to Estee Lauder, More Than Mascara for me.

as for eye shadow, i'm not picky at all as i don't end up using it all that often - you can never go wrong with MAC though and that's what i prefer to use... sensing a trend?

complexion - i'm not a big liquid foundation girl and i've been blessed with an evenly colored and (generally) blemish free complexion so i prefer to use a powder compact with light coverage... enter MAC Studio Fix Powder + Foundation. my tip with this product is to buy LOTS of refill sponge applicators, i change mine almost weekly.

blush - i used chanel joues contraste powder blush for a very, very long time and still recommend it, but about a year ago i purchased MAC Blushcreme which i apply with a large angled contour brush and quickly fell in love. it's just so natural looking.

lips - yet again, it's a MAC product... this time it's MAC Tinted Lipglass. i think i have 21 colors of this glossy gloss because it just makes your lips shiny, voluptuous and kissable. who could ask for anything more?

until this very moment i didn't realize how much MAC product i use.

talk about brand enthusiast... hey, MAC marketing department, hook a sister up!

well there you have it ladies (and 2% of the gentlemen who are still reading this post), that's how i put on my face.

don't hate me because i'm beautiful.

so what makeup product can you not live without?

i'm a woman who lives too much

2010-07-27T06:24:00.000-04:00

weekend. weekend. weekend.

friday
- slept off my hangover from thursday's abc wine dinner, obvy.

saturday
- celebrated the upcoming wedding of my friend addison montgomery by attending her bridal shower in brecksville

top row: meghan, liz, the bride addison montgomery, meghan #2, and yours truly. front row: foxxy, muffin, MOB and beaver

- decided that there wasn't a need to go home and "rest" before going out for the evening so myself, beaver, muffin and MOB shielded ourselves from heat by hiding out at harry buffalo in lakewood with our friend john daly.

at harry buffalo the four of us created a band called KAMM which stands for kara(beaver), alexa(me), mary(MOB) and megan(muffin) - yes we are 30 and yes you can tell who the greek girl is among 3 irish girls by our skin coloring.

- once the sun, and temperature, went down we headed to reddstone where we meet up with more friends (thanks to 4sq stalking), for dinner and drinks

- quick pit stopped at old angle before muffin, beav and i walked to bier markt to help our friend shibani celebrate her 30th birthday - this is also where we started drinking blackout beer.

AJP, lara, JV and the birthday girl shibani at bier markt

beaver and muffin sitting on the pool table because that's what we do.

- headed back to old angle to meet up with more friends where i decided to call it a night after lots of sex talk with my girlfriends.

sunday
- spent a quiet and enjoyable evening at home with a bottle of wine and a cute boy where i reminded myself yet again what a phenomenal cook i am. (why yes, i AM humble, thanks for noticing!)

sooooooooooooooooooooo is it the weekend yet?

au bon climat wine dinner at the greenhouse tavern

2010-07-26T10:34:00.002-04:00

last thursday i was lucky enough to attend the Au Bon Climat Wine Dinner at the greenhouse tavern. it was an amazing evening with ridiculously good food and wine with great friends.

i love these types of dinners because the thought put behind the five courses and wine pairings always impresses me and getting to hear directly from the chef and the wine maker is pretty legit - can't get much better than that.

chef sawyer of the greenhouse tavern and jim clendenen of the au bon climat winery in southern california discussing the food/wine (and amelia rehydrating, obvy.)

1st course wine: au bon climat pinot blanc
1st course food: potato roasted monk fish with herb salad

2nd course wine: stanford & benedict chardonnay
2nd course food: corn roasted pork with spicy soubise and fresno chilis (my hands down favorite of the evening!)

3rd course wine: santa barbara pinot noir
3rd course food: rattatouile stuffed zucchini flower, chevre de provencal, tomato broth and fresh herbs de provence

4th course wine: isabelle pinot noir
4th course food: fatted calf with poached cherry, proper polenta and filbert

5th course beer: dogfish head red and white
5th course food: pinot noir granita

CK and amelia toasting the granita after we all because pretty toasted

thanks again to chef sawyer and the greenhouse tavern for hosting the event! it was an excellent night out and fun to hangout with my blogger friends, classy chaos, chef's widow, cleveland foodie, i heart cleveland, greendog wine, mile 26 and more and so i married a chef.

let's all do it again sometime ok?

this is the crap i think about when i'm alone

2010-07-22T06:41:00.001-04:00

as i was catching the end of ringo starr's concert at nautica pavilion from my apartment's deck tuesday night i got to thinking about exactly how long he's been doing what he's doing being a rock star and all.

i mean, he just turned 70!

SEVENTY.

i wonder how many times he's played a hard days night or love me do?

which got me thinking more (scary, i know)... he's been lucky enough to work/tour/etc on a ridiculously large music catalog - he's got variety at least.

but what if you were vanilla ice?

or the proclaimers?

or skee-lo?

or dexy's midnight runners?

how many times has rick springfield sang jessie's girl?

one would think it would be repetitive and monotonous right?

but then again so is working for 35 years on a factory assembly line inserting tab A into slot B.

and so is compiling endless TPS reports till your eyes bleed, fyi.

so what's worse? for me, a life filled of mundane paperwork.

at least having a one hit wonder makes you a rockstar which in turn brings groupies.

i'm sure ringo picked up some hot tail at shooters post show...

just sayin.

weekends make me happy

2010-07-20T09:06:00.001-04:00

this past weekend was so damn near perfect that i hesitate to even write about all the details here on the plum.

surprisingly i am allowed to keep things to myself every so often... even if i am a blogger.

perhaps i'll just conveniently leave some parts out, ya know, for the sake of mystery.

thursday: cleveland.com and cleveland indians tweetup at treehouse, and cocktails at abc tavern, dragonfly and garage bar to celebrate lara's birthday was an excellent kick off to the weekend. what is it about thursday's that make me want a cocktail?

friday: headed down to canton for some quality time with my mom. we cooked dinner, i did some laundry and watch the movie leap year which i may or may not have fallen asleep during. you'll have that.

saturday during the day: shopping! headed to beachwood where aside from some makeup, dresses, and earring purchases i bought a hot new pair of chanel sunglasses from saks. i also hung out at beav's pool with babs and the klutz before beav and i headed to anthony vince at crocker for mani/pedi's and new dress procurement at urban.

saturday evening: my friend CK and i had an awesome night out that began with delicious dinner and drinks at lolita and ended with the best cocktails in all of cleveland at velvet tango room - swoon.

sunday: it was taste of tremont day! ANG* was in town! we got to drink mimosas! i used lots of exclamation points all day!

myself, CK, beaver, ANG*, and jessi all started out at babs's house in tremont for morning cocktails before heading over to the taste. we met more friends at flying monkey, wandered around, ate some food, sweated our asses off it was so hot, went back to babs's for icings and ended up at treehouse to see the boys from county hell perform. sadly a storm was brewing at the show had to be cut short around 8 but what they did get to play they nailed per usual, i love them.

lara, me and ANG* being awesome on flying monkey's patio

jessi demonstrating exactly how hot it was on sunday

beth and mitch being the adorable couple that they are

babs, my bottle of miller lite and muffin

another one of me and ANG* just for good measure

for so many reasons this was just a fun/happy/awesome weekend, i could get used to this.

finally as promised, i'm going to announce the winner of two tickets to the greenhouse tavern ABC Wine Dinner this thursday at 7pm - drum roll please....

congrats to carly from the blog so i married a chef - kinda fitting she won huh?

if you sadly didn't win the contest i think seats are still available so call and reserve some for yourself!

happy tuesday kids.

a couple of items

2010-07-19T08:29:00.010-04:00

you guys are just going to have to wait until tomorrow morning to get the recap of my amazing weekend because i was too busy enjoying it up until the very last moment to stop an write a blog for today.

i do have a couple of housekeeping items to mention though.

first, i like you guys - thanks for reading my blog.

second, today's the last day to enter to win two tickets to the greenhouse tavern ABC Wine Dinner - simply leave a comment on this post to enter and i'll be announcing the winner tomorrow.

thirdly, if you could please help support my dear friend livitluvit in her attempts to become the first MTV TJ (that's twitter jockey, fyi), by voting for her HERE i'd be pretty thankful.

lastly, happy 30th birthday to one of my best friends in the whole entire world, teen. this blog post mention may not be as awesome as the new louis vuitton tote that your husband surprised you with but i have a feeling it's a close second, right?

i hope you have a wonderful birthday teen, i love you very much.

and on that note, have a great monday!

some random lebron jabs

2010-07-15T10:11:00.003-04:00

full disclosure, i didn't watch the ESPY'S last night.

but upon looking through my facebook feed this morning i felt like i did due to all the re-posting of the lebron spoofs/comments.

thanks to mr. verdova i read that the host, seth meyers, said this to cleveland fans:

"Don't worry Cleveland, every team who has ever won a championship did it without Lebron James."

so true.

also this steve carell and paul rudd parody of the circus that was "The Decision" is worth watching, if only to simply see my future husband paul rudd - marry me?

for me personally, the disappointment has passed and it's time to have a sense of humor about the whole thing.

sidenote: are you going to the cleveland.com and indians tweetup tonight at the treehouse in tremont? you should, i'll be there!

the flats: episode one

2010-07-14T06:46:00.000-04:00

i teased you with a video last week about the web show, The Flats, that my friends and i have been working on.

well kids, today's the day that i'm pleased to premiere the first episode of The Flats!

enjoy, but remember it's all just for fun... we may or may not have too much time on our hands and prefer not take ourselves too seriously.

don't forget to enter to win two tickets to the greenhouse tavern ABC Wine Dinner by commenting on this post!

win a pair of tickets to the greenhouse tavern ABC Wine Dinner

2010-07-13T20:20:00.002-04:00

it's contest time friends!!

today i'm announcing a giveaway for two tickets to an event at one of cleveland's hottest and most acclaimed restaurants the greenhouse tavern.

you guys know how i love everything about this place and when chef jonathan sawyer emailed me this weekend to tell me about the Au Bon Climant Wine Dinner, extend an invitation for myself to attend AND offer a pair of tickets to a lucky reader i accepted faster than you could say Food & Wine best new chef.

the Au Bon Climant Wine Dinner, or ABC Dinner for short, is happening next thursday july 22nd at 7pm at the greenhouse tavern and involves a five course wine and dinner menu and tickets are $60 a person - unless you're lucky enough to win two here on the plum.

to enter: simply leave a comment on this post (with your contact information, if i don't already have a way to get a hold of you), telling me your current favorite type of wine and i'll announce the winner tuesday morning july 20th.

good luck and thank again to the greenhouse tavern for the opportunity!

vital juice bikini body challenge update

2010-07-13T06:53:00.002-04:00

close to two months ago now i posted about how i was going to take the vital juice bikini body challenge to prep for my upcoming 30th birthday.

as you know that birthday has come and gone, hello old lady status, but i've still been continuing with the vital juice workouts because i love them so much.

initially, following the workout program was a bit weird for me not because they kicked my ass (which they did), but mostly because in the last 7 months or so of my working out i had been for the most part only doing cardio. and while the vital juice bikini body challenge does incorporate plenty of cardio into the workout there's also a solid 45 minutes of weights and strength training - which i quickly became obsessed with.

there seriously isn't a better feeling then the next day barely being able to walk due to the insane amount of jumping deep lunges you completed.

there also isn't a better feeling than after 6 weeks of the program seeing new definition in your legs, stomach and arms - it's like where did these muscles come from?!?!

now while i may not be hot body bikini ready it wasn't because of the workout, i just have some more work to do to meet my goal. i'm definitely WAY closer than i was in may when i started the plan.

do i recommend the vital juice bikini body workout? HECK YES.

bikini or no bikini goal you'll end up feeling better about yourself and 100% notice a difference in your body - trust me.

i need to thank my sissy and amy for introducing me to this workout as well as my friend ANG* for inviting me to join her biggest loser challenge in january - i've made some serious progress in these past 6 1/2 months.

wanna see some proof?

the first picture was taken of ANG* and i this past december on a browns sunday at blind pig before either one of us started trying to get in shape and or eat healthy.

the second picture was taken of ANG* and i two weeks ago at my 30th birthday party at hoopples.

i absolutely LOVE the fact that ANG* found the first picture of us and that we unbeknown to us at the time took the exact same picture recently.

what a difference 6 1/2 months can make huh?

we look waaaaaaaaaaaay better now if i do say so myself and we did it the right way - diet, exercise and didn't starve ourselves in the process. i mean, you guys see how much i go out on a weekly basis!

and while i still may have a lot of work to do to get to where i want to be i have a great start and can't wait to see what the next 6 1/2 months bring.

happy tuesday kids!

i know how to weekend

2010-07-12T06:42:00.001-04:00

it was yet another weekend win for me here in cleveland.

friday night being spent in tremont for the art walk, at flying monkey to be exact, with friends like AJP, lara, jon, CK, hartzell, cubby, martha, KJ, colleen and more.

the whole evening was a little fuzzy based on the amount of wine and grand marnier i consumed. yes, i said grand marnier, i'm thinking of a drink change - go with it.

after multiple hours at flying monkey it was time for me, CK, AJP and hartzell to make a location change to tina's nite club for some late night karaoke. for the record though i'm still on a no karaoke streak, but i'm gonna be honest in saying that friday night was the first time i actually considered it only because i knew i could do better then the people on stage, minus CK of course.

with the final stop of the evening hartzell's condo in battery park for continued randomness i'd say that friday was a successful night out on the town.

saturday morning waking up still half in the bag i kinda felt like i was in college, it was weird. there was no time for hangovers though because it was beach day for lara's birthday!

by noon it was time to hop on my bike, yes, my bike, as AJP and i peddled over to shooters to start our day of fun. i mean, nothing prevents a hangover like a pina colada on a beautiful saturday.

brothers matt and jon strutting their stuff in short shorts for the day - there's nothing sexier, RAWR.

after multiple cocktails at shooter's the group of us biked over to edgewater park to spend some time at the beach. random alexa fact: i've never been to edgewater park until saturday but it's official i'm 100% obsessed and want to spend all my saturday's at the beach.

yes, cleveland has beaches.

pretty nice huh?

AJP, JV and lara enjoying the weather and water

jon and lara - baywatch style run? but of course.

after a couple of hours at the beach AJP and i biked back downtown to winking lizard for dinner, drinks and to cheer on our friends who were participating in the shot in the dark run. it was fun for many reasons but mostly because they close down the street for a beer garden and have a band. there's nothing wrong with a little street drinking in my humble opinion.

post shot in the dark party myself, AJP, hartzell, muffin, the klutz, captain, timmybennett, colleen, and allison made the loooooooooooooong walk to the clevelander to enjoy more cocktails and meet up with more friends.

it was around that time that i facebook updated that "i love cleveland and my friends, that is all." .... i can't help it, i love cleveland in the summer! i also had been drinking for about ten hours at this point.

the biking continued but AJP and i kinda cheated because we only biked back to our apartments on w 9th and then hopped in a car to take us to hotz's in tremont for our final bar destination. our butts were tired, sue us.

the gang reconvened at hotz's where upon realizing that the dim and den sum food truck was parked in front of flying monkey myself, babs, cubby and martha decided that walking to grab some grub was the best decision ever - and it was.

while i had the pineapple burger which was good, but not amazing, i'm kicking myself in the butt for not ordering the reuben like martha because upon taking a bite i think i fell in love with a sandwich.

ridiculously good, seriously.

if you see this truck parked somewhere you should immediately stop and order something or you'll regret it.

post food stop back at hotz's it was apparent that my bed was calling my name so i headed home waking up 11 hours later sunday morning totally refreshed.

which was good because lzone and i had to head over to seanski and nugget's condo to shoot scenes for the flat's first episode (it's going to be posted wednesday morning, fyi). it's going to be so good.

and that ladies and gentlemen is how you weekend.

guest post: lebron's gone but you're not

2010-07-09T16:17:00.004-04:00

a good friend of mine, cubby, just emailed me the following blog post saying that he didn't care if i posted it or not but he just wanted to share how he was feeling about the whole lebron debacle.

and who am i to stifle anyone's freedom of speech? plus, after i read it we are essentially on the exact same page.

enjoy. have a great weekend, kids.
___________________________________________________________________

Hi. My name is Kevin. And I love Cleveland.

Sound like group therapy? Apparently we need it. Just when you feel like things are looking up, something comes along to take the wind out of our collective sail. I don’t need to rehash any portion of The Decision. Where the therapy comes in is helping make sense of what it all means (and maybe a big group hug at the end).

(Insert any athlete’s name here) leaving is not an indictment on the state of a region. Athletes exist in a bizarre, parallel universe that you and I will never comprehend. Logical reasoning and decision making are typically not part of the equation, since making millions of dollars for playing a game and being fawned over isn’t particularly logical in and of itself. Plants grow in conditions where they can thrive; egos aren’t much different. So it comes as no surprise that they flock to bright lights and maximum attention. In this instance, the old break-up cliché is actually true: it’s not you, it’s me (me being the athlete’s id).

Question – when you woke up today, what was different in your life? Answer – absolutely nothing.

Lebron James has had no discernible impact on your life. You’ll do everything today, tomorrow, next month as you would have if he were here. Cleveland will not crumble into Lake Erie. Downtown will not turn into Ghost town. No bars or restaurants will close, and if they do, they sucked anyway (I’m looking at you, Local Heroes and Forti’s).

What has changed: the Cavs now suck. So what? Most of our sports teams have sucked for the majority of their existence, with a few minor aberrations that inevitably led to heartbreak. Those heartbreaks make us what we are. You know what championship starved fans look like once relieved of that burden? Three words: Red Sox Nation. Have you seen these people or dealt w/ them post-October 2004? Words can’t describe the contempt that winning breeds. Insufferable pricks comes to mind. Embrace the hardiness of being a Clevelander. It gives you character.

So what have we learned? Cleveland is still alive and kicking, and the only loyalty towards it you can count on is your own. Other than just simply living here (or being from here), what will you do to prove your loyalty? You love this city for some reason; let it be known why. I’m not asking you to put on a cheer-leading skirt and pick up pom-poms. What I am asking is not to be an accomplice to stereotyping and bashing, which amazingly comes exclusively from narrow minded people who have never been to Cleveland. Your portrayal of Cleveland is ultimately the picture that is in the minds of others; paint it the way you see it and live it. Only then will the distorted view of our fair city finally come into focus.

Don’t worry about one man’s legacy; he made his bed last night and history will define it for him accordingly. The better question is: what will your legacy be? Don’t be bitter. Be better.

(Group Hug).

my interview on front row talley

2010-07-09T14:00:00.004-04:00

i'm still not sure what (if anything) i'm going to say about the lebron situation.

i think i need to let it marinade for a while longer to gather my thoughts - we'll see.

but in the meantime i do have something to say about my personal style.

the lovely allyson from front row tally blog asked me recently to fill out the tally questionnaire which focuses on learning about ones personal fashion and style choices.

so if you want to know why i wear so much black check out my answers HERE.

and if you are into fashion/design/awesomeness start reading the front row tally blog!

LA may have the hills but cleveland has the flats

2010-07-08T06:27:00.000-04:00

everyone has heard of the hills, fact.

but have you heard of The Flats?

no? well you are about to...

i'm pleased to announce a pet project that myself and my friends (matty, seanski, lzone, moe and more) have been working on over the past month or so.

think of the hills, trade in california for cleveland, get rid of lauren/heidi/audrina/etc, throw in alexa/sean/moe/lisa and viola! you have The Flats.

there will be full length episodes to come, but for the time being, please enjoy a delicious little taste of The Flats.

oh. it's. gonna. be. so. so. so. GOOD.

my 30th birthday bash

2010-07-06T06:25:00.000-04:00

i'm not sure how the heck i'm going to recap one of the best weekends i've ever had, as i'm pretty positive i'm not going to be able to do any justice to the awesome, but i'm sure going to try.

first i need to thank MOB for organizing my 30th birthday party at hoopples. i know she put a lot of time and energy into it, along with coordinating with my amazing mother and sissy, and it means the world to me - thanks so much MOB, mom and sissy - love you guys.

second in need to thank all my friends who traveled all the way to cleveland from out of town to help me celebrate, all my cleveland friends who came out to party and everyone who wished me well via social media etc - you all sure know how to make a girl feel special.

friday night (my 30th birthday) was literally overwhelming in the best way possible... so many amazing people came out and i just wished i had more time to spend with everyone.

the party brought some surprises, things like "Pin The Cell on ALEXA".... think pin the tail on the donkey but with a huge picture of me holding my ever present cellphone - hysterical (see below).

another surprise was this AMAZING slide show full of pictures from my childhood through today. if you've ever been to hooples you know that on their patio they project games on the bridge column. imagine your ugly freshman year college pictures broadcast on a huge 10 x 10 foot screen for all to see - again, hysterical and touching all at once.

i let my picture taking slip as i was too busy being party girl but thankfully teen took some great shots from the beginning of the night for me to share with you all.

so heeeeeeeeeeeeere we go:

diva, me and teen on my deck before heading to the party

martha, court, me, ANG*, muffin, erin and the klutz

poo poo, foxxy and beaver

mike, laura, patti and maura

party planner extraordinaire MOB and diva

teen and allison - teen is allison's blog's #1 fan, FYI.

cassi, jason, brooke and sissy

some embarrassing childhood pics, me, sissy and my mom

i seriously can't say thank you enough to everyone who came out to make my birthday so special for me. i've said it once and i'll say it again - i dare ANYONE to try to find a better group of friends and family.

hope everyone had a great long holiday weekend!

30 is the new 30

2010-07-02T06:23:00.001-04:00

i'm officially 30 today - happy birthday to me!!!

it's weird... i don't think i've ever been so pumped to celebrate a birthday before, but i have nothing NOT to be excited about.

my day will be spent shopping at beachwood, getting mani/pedi's and lunch at sushi rock with my girls.

some amazing friends and family are coming in from NYC, chicago, north canton, pittsburgh and beyond to help me celebrate tonight.

the local kids are ready to kick the long holiday weekend off with a bang.

and the patio at hoopples has been rented for my birthday party.

i hope tonight is nothing but epic.

let's do this.

buy local week july 3 - 10

2010-06-30T10:05:00.001-04:00

as a general life rule i make it a point to shop and buy local as often as possible.

for example, i go to constantino's market more often than i care to admit.... for christmas one year i bought every single gift i needed to buy at banyan tree... and i rarely ever eat at chain restaurant or bar.

go independent or go home, yo.

so i can obviously get behind the 2nd annual Buy Local Week that is happening from july 3rd to 10th - i buy NEO and COSE are asking the people of northeast ohio to pledge to redirect $100 of existing spending to locally owned and operated businesses.

easy enough right?

a startling fact is that if everyone in NEO participated in the buy local challenge $48 million would be pumped into the local economy - how awesome would that be?

personally i took the Buy Local Pledge (with probably all $100 being spent at local bars this weekend, FTR), and by doing so i'm going to receive a thank you gift within the next week that allows for discounts at up to 40 local businesses - so sign up for yourself here to get your own!

i hope you sign up and take the buy local challenge seriously - think of it as a 30th birthday gift to me... that and voting the plum as the best blog in cleveland would be rad gifts.

i also accept diamonds and cash - either or.

summertime and the livin's easy

2010-06-29T06:32:00.001-04:00

wait, what did i do this past weekend?

let me check foursquare.....

...

ok, memory refreshed.

friday: reddstone, speakeasy, flying monkey and lava lounge

saturday: barley house, mercury and touch supper club

sunday funday: sunset grille and tremont taphouse

apparently, i like to go to bars. apparently, i like the near west side. apparently, i'm a lush. apparently, i like to celebrate birthdays (MOB and moe's on friday).

yet another great summer weekend with great friends is on the books.

too many of my friends participated in the weekend festivities to list in fact.

although i will say that i was with hartzell... cause he'll whine like a baby if i don't.

let's look at some (of the very few) pictures i took over the weekend shall we?

the jerk had a brilliant realization at reddstone on friday - our friend hartzell (left) looks like scott from keeping up with the kardashians (iphone pic on the left). fact.

moe, myself and lzone at speakeasy on friday for moe's 30th birthday party

AJP, sara, shibani and JV at touch supper club saturday for old school hip hop night

lzone and selvaggio at sunset grille for sunday funday... save the date card?

some of the sunday funday crew - myself, seanski, lzone, moe and selvaggio. this picture was blatantly stolen from moe's FB page, fyi.

so where did you go that was fun in cleveland (or your hometown) this past weekend?

sidenote: i turn 30 in three days, omg.

summertime and the blogging isn't easy...

2010-06-28T06:43:00.000-04:00

i've decided that blogging is easier for me to do in the winter...

it's cold in cleveland, miserable even, and with blogging for the most part being an indoor activity it's pretty easy for me to cozy up on my couch and type.

but it's summertime in cleveland and the last thing i want to do is be inside with my laptop.

plus this whole trend of spending my sunday nights on whiskey island isn't helping my monday morning weekend recap writing to say the least.

but when you write out the pros and cons of either laying in the grass on the lake listening to reggae while drinking a beer vs blogging - it doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure out which one i'm going to choose.

on that note, it's time to head to sunset grille with the crew (i'm typing this sunday around noon, fyi).

have a great monday kids!

when 29 becomes 30

2010-06-24T06:08:00.002-04:00

can we please talking about the fact that i'm turning 30 next friday?

//pause//

//deep breath//

THIRTY.

i was born july 2, 1980...

almost at a billy joel concert // almost an independence day baby // almost named blair

instead i was born...

at a traditional hospital // on july 2nd // named alexa harriet marinos

i grew up...

at st. haralambos // at central catholic high school // in canton, ohio

but became me...

at university of dayton // in cleveland

but instead of the cliche freak out about 30 i'm going to embrace it. i'm actually looking forward to it.

it's going to be a really good year, i can already tell.

but the question is... what should i do with my last week in my 20's?

go crazy? i.e. tequila shots for breakfast, random bathroom sex, 8 balls, wild nights out, drink whole milk instead of skim? all of the above?

the possibilities are endless.

so i'm pretty positive this upcoming weekend is going to usher me out of my 20's in style.

bring it.

K & A, bowling, screaming rooster, icing, rock hall and sunset grille

2010-06-22T07:33:00.002-04:00

guess what?

i had yet another fabulous weekend in the CLE.

actually, i'm starting to think i sound like a broken record in regard to my fun weekends, but i'd rather write about the fun then the suck.

obvy.

thursday (cause the weekend really starts on thursday)
- delicious lunch at crop bistro with CK.
- delicious strongbow and caprese salad at reddstone with lots of friends including the likes of CK, miss metromix janet herself, and salami rose.

friday (it was a K and A kind of night)
- K and A kind of night means quality beaver and alexa hangout time, ftr.
- had a mouth orgasm over spoon me (i order the natural flavor with coconut, almonds and white chocolate chips, ridiculous). you guys all know my obsession with pinkberry.... well the fact that this spoon me opened up in westlake makes the fact that cleveland doesn't have a pinkberry almost bearable.
- The A-Team at crocker park with beaver. ok, i enjoyed this movie way more than i expected to, WAY MORE. it was SO entertaining, way funnier than i expected and the cast was perfect, i actually want to go see it again and i hope there's a sequel. "i love it when a plan comes together"

saturday (some of this, some of that and lots of icing)
- tons of errands, with some shopping in between.
- sunning with AJP on my deck paired with a killer vital juice bikini body workout was the perfect pregame to a fun saturday night out.
- cubby's 30th birthday party at madison square lanes where too many good friends to list got together to celebrate yet another one of us crossing into our 30's.
- the screaming rooster for post bowling cocktails and lots of bros icing bros. i wonder if i can start hos icing hos?
- laughing so much i snorted, taking more shots than i have in a VERY long time and hanging out with good people makes me happy.
- finding things like this in bowling alleys also makes me happy.
- oh, and i ran into HARTZELL at harbor inn. (hartzell likes attention, fyi)

the birthday boy cubby and his wonderful wife martha

boooooooooooooooooooowling at madison square lanes

beaver, verdova, the klutz, babs, martha, and mrs verdova rockin' the cubby-esque shades

sterl icing cubby at the screaming rooster

taking a knee and chugging said ice

mmmmmm tasty.

suns out guns out! a father son pick-up team showing off their guns, they're like weapons i tell you, weapons.

babs, beaver, me and the klutz

sunday (funday)
- world cup watching at barley house with CK.
- a very enjoyable U2 3D viewing at the rock and roll hall of fame (thanks KJ for the tickets!! xo)
- landsharks and beautiful weather at sunset grille with CK, AJP, hartzell, timmybennett, colleen and katie.
- back to the future soundtrack on vinyl, mojitios, sunnyside pizza and frites with CK, AJP and hartzell.

yeah, i'm thinking i did pretty good this past weekend.

i like my friends.

and of course i'm already thinking about this weekend.... is it friday yet?

you know there's a blog called cleveland's a plum?

2010-06-21T06:09:00.000-04:00

the scene: constantino's market in the warehouse district. it's early this past saturday morning and i'm buying a roll of paper towels and turkey bacon.

my outfit: i was being totally cliche and wearing workout shorts, my very own "cleveland's a plum" tshirt, and my glasses... essentially looking like a hot mess.

check out girl (noticing my tshirt): you know there's a blog called cleveland's a plum?

me (playing along): oh yeah?

check out girl: yeah, it's pretty random, it's just like this girl who lives downtown and writes about going out in cleveland. she's all over the place.

me (smiling): hmmm, sounds cool, i should probably check it out.

check out girl: for sure, you should, have a good day!

as i walked out of the store i was literally looking around to see if someone was playing a joke on me, or if there was a hidden camera.

i preceded to laugh out loud to myself as i walked home to eat my turkey bacon.

as for that weekend recap showing me "all over the place" in cleveland, check back tomorrow.

happy monday, kids.

HOT in cleveland

2010-06-17T06:18:00.000-04:00

you guys knew i had to comment on the new TV Land sitcom HOT in Cleveland eventually right?

well this past tuesday night i had the opportunity to attend a VIP premiere party put on by positively cleveland and tower city center for the new comedy based in the city i call home.

the premise is simple: three fabulous yet slightly over-the-hill best friends from LA (valerie bertinelli, jane leeves, and wendie malick) end up in cleveland after their plane makes an unexpected emergency landing. upon being "stranded" in cleveland they rediscover themselves in a new "promised land" where they all end up living under one roof with a feisty caretaker (betty white).

the premiere party itself was fabulously fun. with the copious amounts of food and heavy wine pours it didn't take much for myself, seanski, lzone, lara and AJP to get equally full and looped.

and just as our wine buzz came to a head it was the perfect time to settle into the screening room to check out the HOT in Cleveland pilot.

my group screening HOT in Cleveland - can you spy my friends in the audience?

i was giggling from the very beginning, and i even guffawed at a few lines - hello, betty white!

while the pilot was entertaining, funny and surprisingly positive towards cleveland, personally i'm looking forward to additional episodes to see where the show really goes - which you can catch every wednesday night at 10pm on TV Land, fyi.

what it comes down to though is that i'm ecstatic that my fair city of cleveland is getting exposure on a national level - who cares if they take little jabs here and there, those jabs are what make cleveland cleveland in my opinion.

hey, i may not be hot in LA but damn straight i'm HOT in Cleveland.... i mean, have you seen me and my friends?

top 3% hotties FOR SURE.

may i show the jury exhibit A...

the HOT in Cleveland premiere poster...

lara, seanski, AJP and lzone reenacting the premiere poster, obvy.

post party the group headed to reddstone for cocktails and more laughs than i've had on a tuesday night in. my. entire. life. i'm pretty positive that 6 of 8 people at our table were crying because they were laughing so hard.

if you don't believe me ask zee dishes... (about their leeeeeeeeeeeeegs) #insidejoke

this entire evening is just another reason why i'm so damn happy in CLE.

____________________________________________________________________

shameless self promotion: if you like me (and my blog) do me a favor and vote cleveland's a plum best blog in cleveland magazine's best of cleveland 2010 reader's choice awards. i won last year so i have a reputation to uphold... you can vote here, and thanks in advance!

happy 30th birthday MOB!

2010-06-16T11:12:00.008-04:00

dear MOB,

from the moment i met you at university of dayton that summer in between sophomore and junior year of college i knew we were going to be friends.

who would have thought that over ten years later you are still one of my very best friends in the entire world.... i wouldn't have it any other way.

you consistently make me laugh till i snort while always being there for me when i need you - no matter what the situation.

you are the best.

my very, very, very SPECIAL friend...

see, i love you enough to even be your friend when you broke your neck and had to wear a neck brace during our junior year of college.

on that note....

happy 30th birthday MOB!

i wish you nothing but happiness and hope this is your best year yet.

love you!!

:: alexa