cleveland's a plum

feeling saucy?

2009-11-06T00:02:00.001-05:00

warning: this post may or may not have been written under the effect of great lakes christmas ale.

i don't know what it is about the last booth in the bar at flying fig in ohio city that always has me leaving the restaurant feeling SAUCY.

i've sat in the exact same booth at flying fig during happy hour on too many occasions to count with always the same result.

it may have been the bourbon apple ciders, the grenache wine or even just misty and salami rose's company but whatever it is that causes the state of mind change, i love it.

which got me thinking about other things that make me feel saucy which in turn was the catalyst for an excellent conversation over christmas ale at bier market.

it was one of those nights where a cocktail napkin becomes a blog memo pad...

1. no, that isn't the alcohol making my handwriting sloppy, i just have horrible handwriting. 2. yes, that is a four color pen.

from that cocktail napkin comes the top ten things that make me (with two cents from my friends), feel SAUCY:

1. anything short - skirt, dress, shorts (but preferably not men)

2. strutting in 4 inch plus heels and being obviously checked out (by a man or woman)

3. witty banter (can you keep up?)

4. a jar of ragu (see what i did there? literal SAUCE)

5. the back booth at flying fig (obvy)

6. a winning sports team (the cavs turn me on... when they win)

7. cooking an awesome meal for your guests (bring on the mmmm's and the wine)

8. attention from a hot unavailable man (it's so wrong it's right)

9. fake eyelashes (brings a whole new meaning to batting your eyelashes and the lingering stare)

10. good hip hop with a horns hook (think jay z's roc boys, outkast's spottie and kanye west's touch the sky)

so what makes you saucy?

whatever it is, i hope you participate it this weekend.

go ahead and MARINATE on that for awhile

2009-11-04T10:41:00.001-05:00

yesterday afternoon i had the following status on gchat:

"go ahead and marinade on that for a bit"

a phrase that for a very long time has been one of my favorites.

[i started saying it a few years back upon becoming obsessed with a certain outkast song called spottieottiedopalicious. <-- you should listen to it if you never have, it's awesome.]

so the status was up for a few hours to not much fanfare when i get a chat from my sissy saying the following:

sissy: leah wants you to know this.... "tell alexa it's "marinate". lol. "marinade" is a noun"

WHAT?

how have i never known this seemingly simple grammar rule?

i've been typing "go ahead and marinade on that" for YEARS and no one has ever corrected me.

i guess it took leah, a very good family friend who has her masters in writing to call me out.

i'm actually embarrassed that i didn't realize that i should have been typing, "go ahead and marinate on that for a bit"

apparently you marinate(verb) the chicken with the marinade(noun).

duh.

i mean i've always been aware of the other commonly misused words like
-affect/effect
-allusion/illusion
-capital/capitol
-stationary/stationery
-principle/principal (remember the princiPAL is your friend)

but marinade/marinate? nope, no clue - did you know better?

the shame, THE SHAME.

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i want to wish happy birthday to my newly employed love MAXIE who knows all the spelling rules.

vote vote vote vote

2009-11-03T06:08:00.002-05:00

instead of wasting time reading my blog today, how about you head out to your assigned polling location and vote.

all the cool kids are doing it.

i actually read somewhere that voting today and wearing your "i voted" sticker out will increase your odds of attracting the opposite sex (or whatever sex you are looking to attract), tonight by 68%.

78% if you are drinking christmas ale.

voting is sexy.

oh, and if you live in ohio, you should vote yes on issue 3 while you're at it.

spoon + fork = spork

2009-11-02T06:02:00.000-05:00

this weekend kicked my greek ass on multiple levels.

and for once i don't feel like sharing it with all the interwebs - i'm just gonna keep it all to myself.

but i will give you one little nugget to nibble on.

a picture so perfect, so amazing, that it can basically sum up my entire weekend with its sheer brilliance.

who do you think won? the spoon or the fork?

the world may never know...

well have a good week kids, and don't forget to enter my starbucks coffee giveaway - you can enter as many times as you'd like!

p.s. how the heck is it NOVEMBER already?

halloween cold medicine anyone?

2009-10-30T06:12:00.001-04:00

what 29 year old has two thumbs and still gets a halloween care package in the mail from their mother every year?

i'll give you two guesses.

but this year's package wasn't exactly what one would expect to receive for halloween.

there wasn't any snack size snickers or milky ways, no candy corn, no plastic spiders to bring the fright, and not a single ghost sticker.

instead, i got the following in the mail...

doesn't that picture just scream HAPPY HALLOWEEN?!?!?

hand sanitizer? zicam? cough drops? clorox wipes? airborne?

it's like i went trick or treating in the school nurse's office.

i adore my mom, and i would love to tell you that this is the first time she has included vitamins in a gift to me, but that would be a lie - you should see my easter basket.

as my friend jason said upon seeing the above picture via email, "that's a lot of germ fighting power in one single care package. that's really the definition of a care package right there. just a whole box of care."

brilliant.

well here's to you all having a fabulously sexy and safe halloween weekend - don't hesitate to let me know if you need any cough drops.

there are two types of people in this world

2009-10-29T10:30:00.003-04:00

so i was thinking yesterday about my friends/family/colleagues and i've decided that there are two types of people in this world...

...people who like purple grapes and people who like green grapes

...women who wears uggs and women who do not

...people who listen to and love howard stern and people who do not

...people who like cats and people who HATE cats with every bone in their body

...people who love neil diamond and people who do not

...people who can drink an entire bottle of wine at one sitting and people who can not

...people who have read and are obsessed with twilight and people who have not

...men whose names i add a "Y" to for no apparent reason and those i do not

...people who have tattoos and people who do not

...people who love the movie zoolander and people who do not

...people who place the toilet paper to fall over the roll and those who place the toilet paper to fall under the roll

...people who have cheesy quotes in their email signatures and people who do not

...people who love seinfeld and people who do not

...people who have their phone on silence/vibrate and people who have the newest nickelback song as their ringtone

...people who get along splendidly with their family and people who do not

...people who think i rule cleveland and people who do not - (you MUST click on that link)

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for the record, this is the type of person i am...
purple grapes, do not wear uggs, love howard stern, HATE cats, love neil diamond, can drink an entire bottle of wine, have not read twilight, the names change daily, have tattoos, love zoolander, over the roll, no email signature quotes, love seinfeld, phone on silence/vibrate, get along with my family, do not think i rule cleveland (that's all narm)

what about you?

an unplanned day in the life

2009-10-28T06:25:00.001-04:00

you wake up at the buttcrack of dawn to be at the office by 7am to prep for a presentation.

you wake up almost late so you walk out the door with tousled wet hair and a thrown together outfit - it could be worse though, you at least put your contacts in.

you slap a coat of mascara on while driving with your knee en route to said presentation.

everything goes well, and your day carries on.

after work you head to a client happy hour benefit with some coworkers. by now your hair is in a ponytail and the thought of an additional makeup application doesn't even cross your mind.

a cocktail or two at happy hour, turns into a buzz, which turns into a desire to continue going out, which combined with the cavs home opener, you end up at the local watering hole across the street from your apartment.

it doesn't matter that you think you look like ass from a long day.

until the bar starts to fill up.

you are running into more and more people.

you are suddenly becoming conscious of your flat hair and lack of blush.

you are running into more and more people.

you are suddenly becoming conscious of your unflattering dress and lack of eyeliner.

people you haven't seen in months. people you are meeting for the first time and want to make a good impression on. catty bitches you have had a run in or two with. people you may or may not have made out with.

they are all there.

you think why the hell does this always happen? why can't you run into all of these people when you think you look hot and put together?

typical, just typical you think.

but you snap out of it.

fuck it.

you're just as badass, eyeliner or not.

you go order another beer, sit down and laugh with your friends.

win some starbucks y'all

2009-10-27T00:12:00.004-04:00

it's giveaway time kids.

want to win some FREE STARBUCKS?

then go check out my review of Starbucks Doubleshot Energy+Coffee drink over on my review blog...

then leave a comment on this post between now and november 9th and you'll be entered to win one of five starbucks prize packs!

we. like. to. party. we like, we like to party

2009-10-26T06:07:00.003-04:00

over the course of the next year i have a feeling that 30th birthday parties are going to be a theme here on the plum, as myself and all my fellow '98 high school grads turn the big 3-0.

i just had to pause for a moment after typing that to let my age sink in.

last night it was time for my good friend hatchel to celebrate his 30th with a surprise party at the clevelander thrown by one of my favorite people ever and his girlfriend court.

for those of you that are familiar with the upstairs of the clevelander it isn't exactly known for its decor - but they did one hell of a remodel job because it looked great up there!

court helped decor too, and with her creative streak we knew this wasn't going to be a "normal" 30th birthday event.

the party was titled "three decades of matt: at retrospective" and you were asked to dress up as a person or object which represents some place that matt has lived over the past 30 years which include many locations in illinois (champaign, chicago, etc), NYC and cleveland.

being really into dressing up in costume (PSYCHE), i came dressed in black, as myself.

hey, I AM a person or object which represents a place that matt has lived - cleveland's a plum bitch.

the party was a success, so much fun and my favorite bartender trevor was pouring the blueberri stoli with a heavy hand - just the way i like it. after the party we went to maproom for a hot second and finally ending up the night at hotz's in tremont.

good times kids, good times.

hatchel being lead in to the party by court - surprise!!

hatchel and court post costume change - ZUBAZ!!!

which one is the real hatchel?

court, the klutz and muffin having some fun with hatchel's cardboard cutout

and that would be cleveland's own drew carey and mimi - aka jeremy and nikki

mitch as a white dennis rodman - nailed it.

ahmed dressed as captain and captain dressed as..... i have no idea other than his shirt said pants on it

awesome jen page and lara dressed up as each other which also means that they switched boyfriends for the evening - hope jon and wes liked the transition

driggs, fitchko, verdova, travis, hatchel, ahmed, captain and the jerk

hooray for hatchel!

hope everyone had a great weekend, now who's ready for halloween?!?!

best of cleveland party, DC for pb and tuna, and jay z taking over CLE

2009-10-24T14:24:00.010-04:00

what am i doing blogging on a saturday?

i have no idea - blame the cold medicine.

i've been admittedly a horrible blogger this past week having not recapped some of the fabulous things i've been participating, in some of which occurred over a week ago - oops.

even now i'm going to take the easy way out and just post some pics, you'll have that.

so remember when cleveland magazine voted me best blog in cleveland? well they did, and last friday they threw me a party to celebrate at the rock n roll hall of fame.

it was a packed event, tons of people, tons of food and drinks and very fun music - i would go again.

muffin, MOB, the klutz and court at the best of party at the rock hall

my friends and fellow best of cleveland winners CLE Clothing Co - buy their shirts!

last saturday found me hoping a flight from CLE to DC for a night to see maxie and lilu get "married".

my dearest lexa was kinda enough to host me and matt for the night and i had so much fun my head was buzzin' from all the people i was meeting for the first time. or maybe it was the gallon of carlo and rossi sangria we drank before we headed to the bar...

either or.

the list 35+ bloggers in attendance at the blessed wedding event is just too many to list right now, but trust me in saying that it was simply wonderful getting to meet and hangout with bloggers that i have been reading for years.

the happy couple, lilu and maxie!

some of my favorite lady blogger friends - shine, (girl that i don't know, sorry!), lilu, katie, maxie, alice, PQ, lexa and marie.

at brunch the next morning where i may or may not have drank 4 bacon bloody mary's - lexa, katie, cavy, maxie, jenn, f.B. and lilu

as quickly as i arrived in DC i left, and brought some sort of sickness home to cleveland with me but that couldn't stop be from attending the jay-z concert this past thursday night at the wolstein center in cleveland.

i've mentioned it before and i'm sure i'll mention it again - i love jay z.

i love him A LOT.

thankfully investigator muffin got us some excellent pre-pre-sale tickets and we had killer seats.

with this being the second time i've seen HOVA live in concert i kinda knew the awesomeness that was about to happen but throw in the 11th row center floor seats and my expectations were exceeded.

jay z is amazing. his stage presence, his swagger, his talent, his band, his extensive song catalog, his humor, his ability to keep 9,000 plus people dancing and singing nonstop is breathtaking to watch.

yes, breathtaking. all hip hop fans know what i'm talking about.

here are some pics i took from the concert...

jay z came out hard with "run this town" and "DOA (death of autotune)" off his blueprint 3 album

HOVA! HOVA! HOVA! HOVA!

did i mention lebron was on stage for the majority of the concert? well he was, and was rapping every single word of every single song

pharell from N.E.R.D (who was an opening act) joined jay z on stage as well

lebron showing off his guns while shawn carter provides the musical score

jay z and lebron - ya know, just hanging.

i have a ton of video that i want to post but for whatever reason i haven't been able to figure out how to export them with my new fancy camera - i'll post them when i do.

now if you'll excuse me i've got to go back to bed - mamma needs some rest after this past week.

and to think i haven't even recapped taco-thon '09 yet...

yo, jay z, call me

2009-10-22T06:09:00.000-04:00

dearest jay z,

lebron and i welcome you to cleveland! he's mentioned me to you right?

no?

well allow me to re-introduce myself my name is LEX, OH! L-to-the-E-X.

and i'm really looking forward to your concert tonight with j. cole, wale, and N.E.R.D. i'm digging the boys club you got together for this tour, they all can definitely hold their own and are for once gettin' me to think about actually going to a concert on time.

it was almost a year ago to the date that i saw you in concert at the Q for an Obama rally - shit, time flies when you are listening to good music.

but here's the thing, check it, you should probably let my friend and i that are going to your show tonight backstage to meet you.

have your people at the wolstein center email ~~my people~~ me (clevelandsaplum @ gmail . com) and we can set this up.

look forward to meeting you tonight (duh), but for now...

la, da, da, da - hey. hey. hey. - goo-ood-byyyeeee

love,
alexa

p.s. just in case i don't get to tell you in person, please play - encore, empire state of mind, izzo, and on to the next one for me

emotipros... and cons

2009-10-21T06:06:00.001-04:00

if you don't follow me on twitter you may not know that i'm currently in the middle of getting my butt kicked by a bad ass flu.

thankfully my blog knight in shining armor peter dewolf sent me a very funny email yesterday in response to a post i wrote last week about men using emoticons that is pure gold and needed to be shared.

hopefully i'll be back to my normal awesome self very soon.

______________________________________________________________________

dear alexa,

normally when we chat or e-mail or i comment (or guest post) on your blog i am all about the love and the niceness and the "hiiiiiiii muffin"ness, but not this time. no no no.

this time it is real.

this time it is serious.

i'm even eschewing capital letters, because i know they frighten and confuse you. (like clothing with colour.)

you recently posted about hating emoticons.

you said that "9 out of 10 time" it irks you when a man uses them. now even though i assume you are counting me in that other 10% (because i am explosively awesome on a variety of levels), i still must disagree.

sometimes, because i say 435 ridiculous things a day, i need to use emoticons to show that i really don't mean those things. well, that i don't mean most of them.

for example:

"and then i banged your sister. ; )"

without the ; ). you might think that i actually "banged" your sister.

when obviously i did not.

it was your cousin.

also i tell people 50 times a day "i'm adorable. : )"

without the : ) i seem like a jerk. i don't want that.

especially since i am really just so adorable.

: )

see what i did there?

you also said, "for whatever reason i think it makes the typer of said emoticon immediately less masculine..."

come. on.

chuck norris models his masculinity on me.

as does rosie o'donnell.

in closing, i think it was henry wadsworth longfellow who said, "use fucking emoticons it you want."

so i do.

adoringly,
peter

____________________________________________________________________

smart ass.

twitter stalking

2009-10-19T06:05:00.001-04:00

check back tomorrow for the weekend recap post involving the cleveland magazine party and my trip to DC!
____________________________________________________________________

by now we all know that twitter is an excellent ~~stalking~~ communication tool.

but it wasn't until recently that i realized one could actually subscribe to have someone's tweets automatically sent to your phone via text message when they update.

can it get anymore stalkerish than that?

i don't think so.

which means i immediately subscribed to receive a couple people's updates via text, but i'm starting to think it's too much - like i've crossed an unspoken twitter stalking line.

it's almost too easy now - it's no work at all...

i'm curious to see what people think about receiving twitter text message updates though. is it kosher and i'm just late to the game?

feel free to admit you get my updates texted to your phone, it's ok - i know i'm stalkworthy.

so for those of you on twitter do you have anyone's updates sent directly to your phone?

i'm so excited... i'm scared.

2009-10-16T09:27:00.004-04:00

it's 9:44am and i'm typing this from my bed cause this girl doesn't have to work today.

and to celebrate the occasion i headed to lakewood and the screaming rooster to meet up with friends to have dinner and see these dueling piano dudes rich and T - it was hilarious to watch and sing along with.

hello, pianos = many billy joel songs - love.

after dinner and drinks, 8 of the friends i was with needed to go home and go to bed for work (suckers), but not me and the giff who headed to the riverwood cafe to meet up with our friend rob who quickly told us that we needed to go to harry buffalo so he could find some tail.

(i may have paraphrased that "tail" part)

i have no words for harry buffalo it's an experience to say the least which just meant that i wanted to go back to the riverwood and their awesome jukebox.

the giff, my new bff lindsay and i bellied up to the bar - blueberri stoli please!

last night i decided that i needed to go out in lakewood more though because there are boys EVERYWHERE. it's like one big sausage fest - let mamma teach you how to drink tequila.

my friend selvaggio also came and me us at the riverwood after the metallica concert and multiple tequila shots may or may not have been consumed. we actually lights on closed down the bar which i something i haven't done in ages.

too bad i couldn't sleep in later this morning though, but there's no rest for the wicked as muffin is picking me up any moment now and we are having a ladies that lunch and shopping day at beachwood to find me something fun to wear to the best of cleveland magazine party at the rock and roll hall of fame tonight.

are you going? you should - tickets are available at the door!

and then tomorrow it's the event of the century when i head to DC to be the flowergirl in my loves livitluvit and maxie's "wedding". so many fabulous bloggers are coming from all around the country for this and i can't even wrap my head around the awesomeness of it all.

watch out DC, i'll see you tomorrow.

have a great weekend everyone, make sure to do something fabulous!

greece, the cavs and cleveland bloggers - oh my.

2009-10-15T06:05:00.002-04:00

you all know i'm greek right?

100% in fact... but all that basically means is that i'm loud, wear a lot of black, have a nosy big family, eat feta cheese and lamb, can get very tan in the summer, have dark hair and big boobs.

stereotype much?

moving on.

this past monday night my friend pete who writes the sports blog cleveland frowns, and also a fellow greek, invited me to the cavs preseason game at the Q verse greece's team olympiakos.

pete also invited a couple other local sports bloggers in scott from waiting for next year and vince from scene magazine - which was perfect cause i could not only geek out about the cavs/greeks but also about bloggers. nerd alert.

vince, scott and pete showing their man love for each other

pete, scott, me and vince who is really awesome at smiling in pics - #sarcasm

to say that the game was a greek fest would be an understatement.

i was literally bouncing around the arena visiting friends and family. but while i was busy bouncing vince experienced quite the hilarious "it's all greek to me" situation - read about it here.

halftime brought the st haralambos hellenic dancers on the court which was extra special because, 1. st haralambos is my church in canton, 2. i actually was a member of the dance troupe many moons ago, 3. i had friends/family that were performing

talk about a blast from the past - here's a pic of the junior dancers from the early '90's. i'm not in it, i think i was in the senior group by now, but my sissy is standing dead center.

a handful of the dancers in this picture are actually still dancing - crazy!

they've come a long way from the first pic huh?

halftime came and went and the cavs starters began to gravitate to the bench because the lead was so demanding.

rest up lebron james, we have a long season ahead of us - also, i love my new camera's zoom!

after the game we walked to la strada on east 4th for "greek night".

a shot from the la strada balcony

it was pretty packed actually. there was a band, too many cheesy greek men to count (a couple normal ones too), lots of champagne (including a broken glass courtesy of me), one mr. anderson varejao and an acrobatic blogger.

pete showing us that he like yoga. i've learned that this is actually normal for him.

just a normal monday night in cleveland kids.

bring ben to cleveland for the gay games in 2014

2009-10-14T06:10:00.002-04:00

a couple weeks back my lover from the north ben from no ordinary rollercoaster decided to let his readers ask him ANY question to which he would answer said question with a video response.

excited to be able to see ben's adorable face so prominently place on my my blog i quickly came up with the following question for him to answer:

so cleveland has just been announced to host the GAY GAMES in 2014.

now while i love my gays, you know this, i can't help but think about will ferrell doing the ribbon dance routine in the gymnasium during the movie old school every time i think about the gay games.

is this a problem? haha.

so what is your take on the gay games?

are you going to be representing Canada in 2014? if so, what event will you be competing in?

please tell me the ribbon dance. PLEASE.

if you aren't competing i can expect you to visit me in cleveland in 2014 right?

yeah, i kinda asked more than one question, sue me.

i wasn't quite sure what to expect from bennie and the jets in regard to an answer but i couldn't be happier with the results - he's so hilarious and my love for him has only grown.

i don't want to spoil too much of the video for you but the following topics are discussed:
- shirtless men and short shorts
- lesbians
- what ben really thinking cleveland is really like
- ~~sponsorship~~ bribery opportunities
- awesome math skills
- the word bitchin'

just watch....

NOR Video for ClevelandsAPlum.com from Benjamin Boudreau on Vimeo.

thanks for answering my question ben - you are my hero for making all of these videos.

now if you can excuse me, i have some phones calls to make to get you that free trip to the cleveland for the gay games in 2014 - just know that if it doesn't work out, i have a very comfy couch for you to crash on.

don't you emoticon me

2009-10-13T11:06:00.005-04:00

at times i like to think that i get along with men more than i do with women.

frankly, sometimes men are just more fun to hang around with - this is a fact.

but as much as i enjoy the non hassle that is a guy/girl friendship, i have one ongoing beef with the online male species.

9 times out of 10 i get really irked when a man uses emoticons in emails, tweets and online chats.

[ editors note: mom, an emoticon is a text representation of a facial expression - i.e. : ) ; ) : p or : ( ]

for whatever reason i think it makes the typer of said emoticon immediately less masculine and at times i feel that it is condescending to a woman.

for example:
"hey lady, you look cute today ; )" <----- GROSS.
"don't worry sweetheart i would never hurt you : )" <----- LIES
"it's 2am, want to come over? ; )" <----- JUST TELL ME TO COME OVER

gentleman friends, potential suitors, CLIENTS, please don't online wink or smiley at me, ever.

and if the smiley face is actually animated, or makes a noise? you're dead to me.

do NOT emoticon me.

am i bat shit crazy for even thinking this, let alone letting it bother me so much that i write an entire post about my hatred for men using emoticons?

so ladies and gentleman, what's your take on men using emoticons? yay or nay?

d-ray and teen take over cleveland

2009-10-12T10:29:00.007-04:00

this weekend ~~three~~ two of my best friends and roommates from college came to visit me in cleveland.

one from pittsburgh (teen) and another one (d-ray) from a town that i lovingly call "the bubble" but is actually grosse pointe, michigan.

reason #521 how you can tell d-ray is from the bubble, she wears MONOGRAMED LEATHER CLOGS!

d-ray's pink monogrammed clogs? PREPTASTIC! but don't expect me to be rocking AMH anytime soon... (we harass because we love).

sadly another one of our roommates seifs got sick last minute and had to cancel - we missed her though.

i'm a very lucky girl in that i met these two ladies freshman move in day at UD august 1998, we lived together all through college, i was a bridesmaid in d-ray's wedding a few years back, and will be in teen's wedding in april.

i'm really good at being in and attending weddings if you guys haven't figured that out yet...

these two ladies are very important people in my life and the fact that they came to cleveland this weekend made me very happy - and d-ray is even pregnant with her second child, that's dedication!

everyone arrived saturday afternoon. and teen surprising me with her mother's famous chicken dip, my favorite snack in college (thanks mrs t!). also, my mom made the trip from canton to hangout with us for the afternoon cause i think she loves teen and d-ray as much as i do.

after stopping at phoenix coffee to say hi to my CLE clothing friends and for my mom to buy a plum tshirt we headed to bar cento for lunch. sidenote: i never realized how many of my favorite restaurants aren't open for lunch on saturday...

arriving at bar cento i informed the group that we needed to get the pomme frites and the sunnyside pizza which everyone was glad i recommended. veggie burgers, ohio beef burgers and acorn squash ravioli was also consumed.

and wine, don't forget the wine - none for d-day though, sorry friend.

another surprise d-ray and teen had for me was that they had purchased in advance the "cleveland's a plum" tshirt and had worn them to cleveland to make me blush.

teen, me and d-ray - i wasn't embarrassed at all taking this picture, (PSYCHE)

after a long lunch of catching up with did some shopping with stops at banyan tree, room service and duo home.

sidenote to the dude at duo home: if you would have taken a moment from checking facebook during our entire visit in your store to say hello maybe we would have bought something. end rant.

saturday night brought us to a girls night out party at MOB's house in westpark.

our fabulous hostess MOB and her crazy wiener dog monti

there was tons of food and drinks, lots of catching up and laughing at ourselves.

one gem in particular: my very dear friend beaver thought that the gps system GARMIN was actual called a CARMEN and was a play off of "where in the world is carmen san diego" - i have no words, just snorting laughter for this one.

here are some pictures from the evening. i am absolutely IN LOVE WITH MY NEW CAMERA - it's a sony cyber-shot dsc-h20 - i still have so much more to learn about it though.

party people. party shot.

MOB, muffin and kate

beaver torturing monti the wonder dog

the klutz, babs and mrs. verdova having a dance party humpfest with MOB's boyfriend pete when he got home all bombed from an all day bachelor party. this is what happens when a boy walks into an all girls party

all the girls minus myself and court (not sure where she was) - mrs. verdova, the klutz, muffin, martha, kate, MOB, babs, the giff, beaver, teen and d-ray.

after i had multiple black cherry cruzan rum's and diet pepsi i was ready to cause a ruckus at the public house but thankful with d-ray's bun in the oven we needed to head back downtown. i thanked her in the morning for my lack of a hangover - the public house (or the blackout house as i call it) would have put me over the edge.

we woke up sunday and headed to brunch at the tremont taphouse with beaver. there's a reason i named it best brunch in cleveland - it never disappoints.

after brunch teen and d-ray headed back to their home states of michigan and pennsylvania and i headed to my couch. i'm so thankful that i got to hangout with them this weekend, we need to do it more often.

the last and final thing that i did on sunday was go see the movie WHIP IT with beaver - we really enjoyed it and i definitely recommend it to anyone. as i mentioned on twitter, i'm a sucker for all sports themed movies and my crush on everything that drew barrymore does officially continues. i guarantee that whip it is way better than couples retreat which got the most horrific reviews ever...

so that's my weekend in review, i hope you all had as good a weekend as i did.

but is it bad that i'm already counting down the minutes to friday's cleveland magazine best of cleveland party at the rock hall (did you buy your tickets yet?) AND my trip to DC on saturday to see my lovelies maxie and lilu get married?

didn't think so.

have a good week kids!

dress me up for halloween

2009-10-09T05:48:00.001-04:00

so it's that time of year kids.

halloween.

parties are thrown, costumes are constructed, girls have an excuse to dress like trashy whores and boys have an excuse to be half naked.

last year the klutz and i hosted a party in our apartment, some people came...

and this pic doesn't even show the deck - it was such a fun night.

i love any kind of party, but i'm not a huge fan of dressing up.

you see i HAD to dress up last year cause i was hosting the party, but most of my recent costumes simply involve me wearing something black with an accessory of some sort and that's about it.

except for that one time when i was a ballerina:

poo poo and i three halloween's ago - maybe i should just wear that costume again...

ugh. what should i be?

can't i just wear a cleveland's a plum t shirt and be myself? too lame?

thought so.

but you see it wasn't too lame for a group of my friends and coworkers to show up at my party last year DRESSED UP AS ME.

apparently i'm that predictable in what i wear to work everyday....

black dress, black tights, black hair, black rimmed glasses and various accessory options like a scarf, long necklace or large black purse.

i still think about them doing this and laugh out loud to myself multiple times a month.

i'm easily amused.

so i'm wondering what you guys are being for halloween? or if you have any fabulous ideas of what in the hell i could be this year besides myself, please share with me.

cruzan rum dinner at lola

2009-10-08T05:15:00.000-04:00

oh hi blog friends! how ya been? i've missed you terribly.

i'm not one to make excuses for missing a day or two of posting, but i've happily been busy with fabulous events, cavs games and driving to pittsburgh - but i'm back.

back in ~~black~~ blog ______________________________________________________________________

monday night i was fortunate enough to be invited to a cruzan rum tasting event at michael symon's famous lola.

when i got the invitation a couple weeks ago i don't think i've ever responded to an email quicker - sign me up! (reason #903 why i love blogging)

i was able to bring a guest (court) and was pumped to find out that my friend, and fellow blogger michelle and her husband would also be in attendance.

as court and i walked into the lower level private dining room at lola we were greeted with a rumosa. translation: a rum mimosa. sounds kinda iffy right? well it was completely delicious - this version was served with cruzan mango rum and topped with dry champagne.

this girl loves her some bubbles - that and a more than plentiful spread of lola starters including the beef cheek perogies, a cheese assortment, pork stuffed won tons, shrimp and vegetable skewers and a pan friend greek cheese i'm forgetting the name of with an apple on top.

i would have been satisfied with some rumosa's and the aforementioned appetizers but there was so much more in store for us.

as we got seated at our dinner table with my 11 other eating companions we were introduced to andrea bearbower, the cruzan rum brand education manager, who gave us all some background and historic information about all that is cruzan rum.

most importantly how the cruzan rum brand is the oldest rum on the market and is still to this day made by the same family on the US Virgin Island of St. Croix like it has been since 1760. with a light rum, several dark rums, a single barrel and ten flavored rums there are plenty of options to choose from.

let's get into the food and specialty cocktails shall we?

sidenote: i left my camera at home (duh!) so all these photos were taken with my blackberry so sorry for the not so perfect resolution.

first course: a pear and apple salad with blue cheese, spiced pecans and raisins. the most delicious and satisfying salad i've had in my life - true story.

first cocktail: single barrel cider - refreshing and a perfect combo with the salad

1 1/2 oz single barrel cruzan rum
3/4 oz fresh lemon juice
1 oz simple syrup
2 oz apple cider (fresh cloudy kind)
fresh grated cinnamon on top
serve in tall glass with ice

pear and apple salad with a single barrel cider cocktail

second course: wild alaskan salmon with heirloom tomato, white beans, cucumber and cumin - i'm normally not a huge salmon fan but the fresh and lightness of the entree was enough to make me a fan.

second cocktail: classic daiquiri with cruzan rum float - this version of a daiquiri was how in my opinion all daiquiri's should be served, straight up martini style with a flavored rum float.

1 1/2 oz cruzan light rum
3/4 oz fresh lime juice
1 oz simple syrup
served in a martini glass with a spoonful of your favorite cruzan rum flavor over top

wild alaskan salmon and a classic rum daiquiri

michelle pouring a coconut rum float over her daiquiri

third course: coconut chocolate bavarian cake with pecans, toasted coconut and caramel - chocolate cake, chocolate ganache, coconut and pecans? YES please.

third cocktail: hot toddy - i think this was my favorite cocktail of them all because it was so damn smooth, sweet and strong all at once. something that i would enjoy drinking every single evening in the fall.

1 1/2 oz cruzan single barrel rum
1 oz honey or sugar
1 large lemon peel
prepare a snifter or mug by rinsing it with boiling water and pouring the water out.
add the sugar or honey and the lemon peel and pour in an ounce of hot water and stir until the sweetener has dissolved.
add cruzan single barrel rum and top off with more boiling water.
options to add: cinnamon stick, cloves or a little melted butter. (add the butter it's the best part!)

coconut chocolate bavarian cake with a hot toddy

talk about an awesome dinner - thanks so much to cruzan for inviting me and sending me home with all sorts of SWAG like a hat, tshirt, book on rum and a full bottle of flavored rum for me to become my own mixologist at home.

after the event court and i went to flannery's to watch monday night football where cleveland frowns and hatchel came and met us out.

tuesday was how you say a little rough for me, but that didn't stop me from accepting a last minute invitation from my friend lara for head to the Q for the first preseason cavs game club seat style.

let me just say that seeing the my man shaq in a cavs uniform was wicked cool and i can't wait till they start playing the regular season.

one major thing i noticed at the game though was how much jay z was being played which makes me think that when the new team intro is unveiled on october 27th a jay z song will be featured - we'll just have to see now won't we.

another major thing i noticed while at the game was the new bar symon outpost in the club level of the Q.

it's a great location and while at first i kinda talked smack about the fact that michael symon was opening restaurants in the Q because i thought it was diluting his brand, my mind was quickly changed once i was able to enjoy the delicious popcorn with tons of feta, oregano and red pepper flakes all mixed together.

also, the staff was probably the happiest bunch i've ever encountered. kudos symon, you did it yet again.

so i'm thinking that popcorn may be my new favorite snack. as i'm typing this i'm literally craving it - want. some. more. now. i don't think i'm ever going to be able to go to the Q without getting it.

ok then. i think we're all caught up!

now i just have to tackle that google reader of mine...

the weekend according to me whilst half in the bag

2009-10-04T20:39:00.000-04:00

you guys want the truth?

of course you do!

well, since honesty is cool....

i'm typing this as i'm just getting home from an all day browns game outing. i've had a few beers, a few slices of pizza and more than one shot. it's only 8:30pm and all i can think about is how much work i have to do tomorrow.

in fact, last night (saturday) i dreamt about work and about all the paperwork that's waiting for me when i get into the office tomorrow - this apparently happens to me when i take a day off like i did last friday.

my day of rest this past friday meant a mani/pedi at john roberts spa in mayfield, a stop at beachwood mall, a drive down to canton for a hair cut and color at gsv salon and then quality hangout time with my mommy.

saturday night i had my '09 wedding season closer when my friends batch and ben got married in the cleveland cultural gardens - the greek garden to be specific, with a reception at the beautiful josaphat arts hall.

this wedding had every detail accounted for in the perfect design and flow that one would expect from two creatives. it was pure awesomeness.

congrats to the happy couple, batch and ben!!

the beatles music themed wedding had "all you need is love" drink stirrers - pure perfection.

constance, batch and their fabulous miami university college friends.

after the wedding i met up with friends at around the corner with a move to tremont taphouse shortly there after.

sunday i arose just in time for tailgating in the pit and attending the browns game with muffin, MOB and the klutz. the club seats made our time at the stadium more enjoyable but the browns loss in overtime made it all the more depressing.

but at least the browns showed up this game...

the view from our seats.

blind pig was where we landed before the game even ended to meet up with more friends and fellow bloggers but not everyday, cleveland frowns and vince the polock.

from there we attempted to go to liquid but that place was simply unbearable so maproom it was. pizza and miller lite was ordered and it was the perfect location to wind down our buzzes and our weekend.

and that brings me to the present.

i'm exhausted and truthfully the LAST thing i wanted to do right now was blog but if i didn't write something now while i was half in the bag i wasn't going to be able to write anything until wednesday.

so you'll take this blog post and LIKE it kids.

i hope you all had a fabulous weekend and i'll personally be counting down the days till next weekend when all of my college roommates will be visiting me in cleveland from pittsburgh, dayton and grosse pointe - CAN'T WAIT...

hope this week is a quick one.

more than a game - over a year later for me

2009-10-02T08:26:00.015-04:00

in september 2008 i was lucky enough to attend the toronto international film festival with my mom and cousins.

it was an awesome experience that allowed me to sit mere rows behind major A-list celebrities like brad pitt, anne hathaway, the coen brothers, john malcovich, zac efron, claire danes and many many more.

you can read my two re-cap post here and here.

there was one movie out of the 8 i saw that weekend that i made my mom attend with me - it was her compromise to me....

in toronto (over a year) ago i witnessed lebron james and company view the world premiere of the basketball documentary more than a game.

here's a bit of what i said about the movie in sept '08:

when the director of the whole toronto international film festival announced the film saying that more than a game was his favorite film of the festival my mom and i were like, huh, maybe this is going to be better than we thought. it WAS.

we were both balling out eyes out by the end because although basketball was at the core of this film, i'll be cliche and say that it was about a lot more than a game of basketball.

it was about a group of friends who grew up and played ball together from 5th grade, it was about a coach who cared, and family - that was at the heart of it all. it just so happened that one of these players became the chosen one, pretty convenient eh? i seriously can't gush enough about this film - GO SEE IT if you get a chance.

for the viewing the documentary director, the whole team and coach dru (minus cotton) got together for the screening. my boy lebron said on stage that he has only cried two times in his life from basketball. this screening being one of them - the big man cried on stage!!! i heart him.

the director, stars/players, coach dru and lebron himself on stage answering questions after the premiere of more than a game at TIFF '08

ultimately i thought so highly of this movie that i not only stole the movie posters on my way out of the theater but have been talking it up to my family and friends forever.

i've been waiting so long for more than a game to be in local theaters and with it finally premiering here this weekend, i feel like i must urge everyone to go check it out.

it's going to be raining in cleveland all weekend anyways - perfect fall movie weather!

have a good weekend kids, i'm off work today...... nice ride.

if you want to sing out, sing out

2009-10-01T05:43:00.002-04:00

since fall tv is back in full effect my roommate the klutz and i have been spending some quality time watching the tube recently.

for the last few weeks a certain tmobile my touch commercial has been hitting the airwaves hard...

and no matter if i'm on the phone, mid gchat, doing dishes, or reading a blog i stop what i'm doing and sing along...

"if you want to sing out, sing out. and if you want to be free, be free. 'cause there's a million things to be. you know that there are...."

and then, when the commercial is over i say to the klutz, whether she is listening or now, "i LOVE that song. i LOVE cat stevens", and then i giggle.

fact - this happens multiple times throughout the evening every time the commercial comes on.

here's the background: since i was very young and listened to the tea for the tillerman vinyl on repeat i've always had a schoolgirl crush on cat stevens.

(and i will always call him cat stevens, sorry yusuf)

i love his raspy voice, i love his songs/lyrics, i loved his long curly black hair and beard, i loved his dreamy good looks (back in the day), and i love that he is a british born greek hippy.

attention men: if you look like the man above, CALL ME.

basically when i hear cat stevens i get happy and sing out, and that's really the only point to this post - that and i'm a sucker for a catchy commercial song.

there is one majorly ironic thing about my strong love for cat stevens though... i ~~hate~~ strongly dislike actual cats.

you'll have that.

so are there any commercials driving you nuts and or making you happy recently?

just me and my sissy

2009-09-30T05:21:00.000-04:00

so i have a little sister that i call "sissy" here on the plum, but her name is nicolette.

"hi nicolette" -------->

and while her and i are very close we are also very different people. the core values are the same thanks to our mother and tight-knit family but oooo-eeee are we opposites in so many ways.

except for our love of home alone, seinfeld and ice cream of course.

i went to a "traditional" private catholic college in the university of dayton, where everyone was basically cut from the same cloth. i majored in the very vanilla public relations and to say UD wasn't exactly diverse would be a major understatement.

nicolette on the other hand went to school at university of the arts in downtown philadephia, with the most eclectic group of kids i've ever seen. she majored in photography and her senior project involved nude models and guns....

currently i drive a yuppie mobile and live in cleveland's warehouse district and my sissy rides the subway while living in harlem.

yes, that harlem.

where i have a huge group of close friends and acquaintances in my network, my sissy has a smaller core group of friends by choice.

i spend money faster than i make it, while it takes nicolette three years (true story) to simply pick out a purse she likes and will almost never buy anything full price.

the biggest difference between us though is that my sissy doesn't understand this whole blog thing.

she constantly brings up how she can't wrap her head around why so many people follow me on twitter or why anyone even reads let alone cares about what i do with my life. and then turns it around on me as to why i care about the bloggers i read about.

we're just different, so much so that it's not even worth arguing/explaining it to her anymore - i just laugh at her for getting so fired up about my social media usage.

but yesterday morning i woke up to find an email from nicolette that she sent at 4:38am, obviously in some sort of tizzy...

can you please stop having 683 friends on facebook! who are you!!! you're one of those people who i friend because i used to work with them at the gap or something... but then i unfriend because i think it's weird that they have so many friends!!! you can't know that many people!!!

but i do, i can't help it sissy - once you're a friend of mine you are stuck with me like a sticky booger.

kind of like how you (sissy) are stuck with me FOREVER, me and my 683 facebook friends.

i mean, nicolette, if you want me start unfriending people on facebook i know a way i can get to 682 real quick...

ahem.

xoxo

best blog in cleveland (and for once, not just according to me)

2009-09-29T05:09:00.002-04:00

so last week i'm sitting at work when i get an email from cleveland magazine's marketing director lisa letting me know that cleveland's a plum had been chosen by cleveland magazine readers as the best blog in cleveland.

cue hand over my mouth screaming at my desk.

cue me jumping up and running into my bosses office to share the news.

cue me emailing all my girlfriends and texing my mom.

cue me having the shittiest perma-grin on my face for HOURS after i read the email.

for those of you that are longtime readers of mine you know of my mild obsession with getting the plum mentioned in cleveland magazine.

it was one of my new years resolutions, and even though they wrote a whole blog post about my blog i wasn't letting them off the hook till i saw "cleveland's a plum" mentioned in the glossy pages.

and in the october 2009 issue i got my wish and i can't thank every single one of you enough that voted for me.

it actually makes my cold black heart all warm and fuzzy.

best blog in cleveland - it's kind of surreal.

especially so when i got my hands on an actual copy of the issue and saw what the best blog category was listed under...

personalities and entertainment... me? well that's hilarious in and of itself.

and then, AND THEN, to be listed above friggin' brady quinn and LEBRON JAMES.

hilariously rad. giggle-worthy in fact.

in all seriousness though, i can't thank you all enough for taking a few minutes out of your day to click through to my blog to read about the ramblings and often time mess that is my life in cleveland.

but now it's time to celebrate with the other best of cleveland winners.

on friday october 16th at 7pm, cleveland magazine's best of cleveland party will be held at the rock and roll hall of fame. buy your tickets online today in either the VIP or general admission variety.

it's guaranteed to be a good time and an awesome opportunity to meet the winners, eat the winning dishes, toast with the winning cocktails and celebrate all things cleveland.

i'll be there, so you should be too.

cause y'all know i'm going to milk this award for all i can get - duh.

thanks again cleveland, as always, you rock.