just me and my sissy

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)

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.

lexa and maxie take over cleveland, and this blog post.

what.
a.
weekend.

friday evening as i cleaned my apartment and waited anxiously for my friends maxie and lexa to arrive i paused and thought about this blog and how if i never started the plum these awesome people that were visiting me wouldn't be in my life.

even if i decide to shut this blog down tomorrow i'm so thankful for all the awesome friends i made through this little social media project of mine.

(cue sappy tears of joy)

once my emo moment passed on friday i quickly twisted open a jug of carlo and rossi sangria (classy) and waited.

narm came over around 11pm which with both of us combined created the best cleveland welcoming committee ever. so when i heard maxie and lexa rolling their luggage down my hallway i jumped out of my chair mid conversation with narm and ran to greet them.

i even flashed my underwear to maxie in the process of jumping up and down with joy while in my dress. talk about a welcome present.

wine was immediately poured and laughter was immediately heard.

narm, lexa and maxie on my deck - pardon the grainy blackberry picture quality

after multiple bottles of wine the music started to get louder and we started to whip out our cellphones - drunk dialing our blog friends obviously.

we also happened to make friends with boys on an adjacent deck in the building next to mine, going as far as to inviting them over at 3am.

don't ask.

saturday i made a delicious sausage egg bake for brunch and we chilled at my apartment for a bit before heading out to explore cleveland. with stops at the west side market, rock and roll hall of fame area, banyan tree and the cleveland bridge project i think i gave the girls a great tour of the city.

(sidenote: the cleveland bridge project was AMAZING. such a cool hip event, i hope it happens again soon)

after some needed nap time our saturday evening plans started with @lzone joining us for dinner at michael symon's lola restuarant. with lexa being a DC foodie we let her pick the restaurant and i was obviously happy about her choice - i think she was too. maxie and lzone ordered the hangar steak, lexa the pork and myself the scallops. all of which were glorious.

the pear martini was delicious as well - too bad i broke the martini glass though. i promise to buy you another one to replace it michael symon.

after dinner the girls and i headed to suite sixx on west 6th for my friend lippe's birthday party. seeing as lippe is one of the plum's biggest fans as well as an avid blog reader in general she was very excited to meet the ladies.

lippe, the birthday girl (in the middle) with some of her friends which are girls i don't know other than the lovely kelly on the left

maxie, lexa and lzone at suite sixx

we picked up some more friends at suite sixx in lara and karate jon before we tackled the rain and made our way to touch supper club in ohio city for old school hip hop night with my favorite djs mick boogie and terry urban.

touch was a blast as always, we danced our asses off and i don't think i have ever sweated so much on the dance floor which was exactly why i wanted to murder this photographer who was taking pictures of the dance floor (specifically where me and my friends were dancing) every two seconds.

i politely asked him to stop taking pictures of me to which he said no (shocking), but wasn't too happy when i went to take a picture of him... hypocrite. i'll refrain from posting the picture i took of him, he doesn't deserve the plum real estate.

lexa and @lzone - sweating to the hip hop

muffin and gina taking a break from dancing upstairs at touch

aside from losing maxie only to find her "resting" in the bathroom and me not taking nearly enough pictures the night went off without a hitch, although i'm disappointed that lexa didn't cuddle me when we were sleeping.

sunday morning brought us brunch time with myself, lexa, maxie, the klutz and selvaggio heading to melt in lakewood for lots of good food and laughing about selvaggio being old and maxie being young, followed by shopping at big fun and flower child.

i didn't have nearly enough time at the flower child retro shop which may quickly become one of my favorite stores in cleveland - i simply can't wait to go back.

and thus wraps up the XXX's weekend fun and i can't thank maxie and lexa enough for coming to visit. i love them so much and was sad to say bye - luckily i'll be in DC in october so we'll all be united again.

have a great week kids!

i don't think i can even call this a real post

holy shit this has been an awesome week - now if only the mailman would deliver a certain local magazine to me so i can scan a certain page and post about its contents...

guess that'll just have to wait for next week.

for now i have just enough time to catch my breath and get ready for the weekend because the XXX's are going to be reunited tonight.

the XXX's are - me (aleXa), leXa and maXie. get it? XXX!

moving on.

cleveland is going to be hosting some awesome DC bloggers this weekend and if anyone out there reading this wants to hangout with us email or DM me @clevelandsaplum and i'm pretty sure we can make that happen.

now i just have to get through this work day, and i know ya'll are in the same boat.

collective sigh.

so to help speed the day along i recommend listening to the song below while tapping your feet and thinking of the weekend - a vampire weekend - it'll help, i promise.



don't you just want to go yachting in the fall now?

yes please.

have a great fun weekend kids.

random letters from last night

dear girl who found my blackberry in liquid's bathroom,

thanks for not stealing it, you rock.

also thanks for being super proactive about trying to find me by texting the last person that had texted me - @lzone - and saying to her,

"hey the owner of this phone left it in the bathroom. let her know somehow, i put it at the bar".

so awesome!

i'm lucky that the smartest girl at liquid's ladies night happened to come across my baby blackberry.

thanks,
alexa xoxo

____________________________________________________________________

dear sushi rock,

are times that tough that you have to charge 50 cents for a side of spicy mayo now?

it's weird.

although you did redeem yourself by providing me with a rainbow band-aid for my blister.

let's call it even.

love,
alexa

____________________________________________________________________

dear barley house,

i have a proposition for you.

you stop letting in men that wear cheesy metallic screened t-shirts and me and my friends will start coming there more.

what do you think?

kisses,
cleveland's a plum

p.s. i do love your side patio. bonus points.

____________________________________________________________________

dear court,

i love you to pieces and i hope you had a fun birthday celebration with the girls last night.

also, all the men on w 6th last night thank you for wearing those heels and shorts.

love,
your #1 fan

let's get some shoes

i bought a new pair of black flats last night to replace a michael kors pair that i wore so much i literally got a huge hole in the sole.

i'm a hobo apparently, one step away from duct tape.

so i hit all the major department stores in beachwood mall looking for a new pair. after trying on about 26 styles i ended up with an affordable pair ($80) of black flats by arturo chiang (who i had never heard of).

i completed all the standard flat shoe testing, walking, skipping, jumping, falling, socks, no socks and the always important running man dance.

the shoes passed with flying colors so i handed over my trusty debit card and bought them - mine all mine.

excited to wear them this morning i took them out of the bright orange box and slipped them on with my standard little black dress for work.

and i walked.

by the time i got to my car the black flats weren't as comfortable - but that's ok, they just needed to be broken in right?

kept walking.

when i got to my office i noticed that the rubber soles squeaked and made a weird noise on my office's wood floors - annoying.

still walking.

went on a client meeting and while taking a tour of their facility the heel blisters started to form.

wasn't able to stop walking.

so now as i sit at my desk with my uncomfortable brand new shoes - i shake my fist in the air.

i hate shady shoes that lie to you in the store boasting of their comfort only to turn into uncomfortable rude little monsters once the sale transaction has been complete...

kind of like marriage or puppies. (i've heard)

ugh, why is it so damn hard to find a pair of comfy flat black shoes?

recommendations welcome as long as "easy" and "spirit" aren't in the brand name.

FLAVORS of northeast ohio 2009

last night, for the second year in a row, i've had the pleasure of attending the american liver foundation FLAVORS of northeast ohio dining event.

this year the event was held at the fabulous ritz carlton silver grille in the higbee building in downtown cleveland.

basically the some of the northeast ohio's premiere chefs prepare a table side 5 course meal with wine pairings for a table of ten. it's an intimate affair fueled by good food, good wine and great company for an important cause.

before dinner is served all the chefs prepare hors d'oeures for the attendees to sample during the cocktail hour. my friend and fellow blogger michelle (cleveland foodie), and i deemed blue canyon's caribbean jerk duck wings, and the greenhouse tavern's beef tartar starter dishes the best.

i simply can't get enough of chef sawyer's tartar - um, yum.

my buddy chef jonathan sawyer and the greenhouse tavern crew at FLAVORS

for dinner i had the pleasure of sitting at chef steve schimoler's table who is the executive chef and owner of warehouse district's crop bistro.

i've been on a crop bistro kick lately and am a big fan of schimoler's concept so i was overly excited to see what kinds of dishes he was going to come up with to serve us. and man was i impressed.

the table place setting (taken with my blackberry for a twitpic)

course one - Lobster and Pearls: when i first saw "pearls" listed i was thinking onions, but in all actuality it was tapioca pearls which are something i've never had in the non-sweet variety but it ended up being a really cool concept and was SO tasty. plus, everything is better with lobster. wine pairing - santa margherita prosecco brut.

lobster and pearls

course two - Squash Bisque with Duck Confit and Truffle Cream: as my friend batch said after tasting her first bite, "it's like fall in a bowl", and it was exactly that. with a hearty portion of duck with the smallest hint of the truffle i could eat this bisque everyday. wine pairing - les domaniers (domaine ott) rose.

squash bisque with duck confit and truffle cream

course three - Shaved Fennel and Late Summer Tomato Salad: this salad introduced me to my new favorite cheese - tallegrio - a brie style cheese with amazing nutty flavor that went perfectly with the fennel and a 50 year old sherry vinaigrette. wine pairing - castello sonnino virginio.

chef schimoler preparing the shaved fennel and late summer tomato salad

course four - Rack of Lamb with Nicoise Salad and Roasted Tomato Vinaigrette: i'm greek, so i know my lamb and this was hands down the best rack of lamb i have ever had (sorry mom). the combination of the cool white and green beans of the nicoise salad with kalamata olives and roasted tomatoes were unlike anyway i've ever had lamb. it was perfect! wine pairing - la fiorita laurus (a blend of sangiovese and merlot)

omg this was so amazing - rack of lamb with nicoise salad

course five - Apple Bread Pudding with Creme Angliase and Apple Slaw: this dessert was perfectly executed - with just the right balance of being sweet and tart. the vanilla bean creme angilase was awesome. wine pairing - munzenrieder gruner veltliner welschriesling (a white ice wine).

the awesome ending - apple bread pudding with apple slaw

so yeah, you can say we ate and drank pretty well huh?

if you have yet to dine at crop bistro, i highly recommend it for lunch or dinner - they have great cocktails (i gave them best cocktails in my best of the plum post), and a great space worth checking out.

osu comes to cleveland

this weekend i realized that i think i like the drinking and socializing around sporting events more than watching the actual sporting events. (except for the cavs, fyi)

so for those of you that didn't know, saturday OSU football came to cleveland this weekend to play university of toledo in browns stadium.

and they won, which is good to know that someone is winning in that stadium...

my good friend biscuit came up from north canton for the festivites and we were ready to go at 10am - heading to w 6th to tailgate and see the OSU marching band (check out my twitpic of the scene).

we were all over the place, starting out at a tailgate with my friends moe and marc, meeting up with selvaggio - rocking the VIP tent, taking over blind pig with muffin and bethany's big balls, maproom for awhile with too many people to count, velvet dog, make-out bandits, liquid and then a lakewood trip to around the corner.

i don't stop.

can you keep up with me?

biscuit, moe and me - party faces!

julie, beth, muffin, mitch, bethany, and lastic at blind pig

the giff, c-rossi, me, biscuit and mike and maproom - guy in sunglasses? no clue.

biscuit, me and selvaggio at velvet dog rooftop - drunk eyes in effect.

brad, bethany, muffin and biscuit - muffin and biscuit? haha - i need a friend nicknamed "cookie" apparently...

well that's about all the post i can muster up after saturday's shenanigans as i need to rest for the upcoming week because it's going to be a packed one...

i have events monday, wednesday, thursday and maxie and lexa are coming on friday - YAY!

have a good week kids.

it's time to reserve the church

it's no secret here on this blog that i want to get married and have kids.

but it's finding a man that i adore as much as he put up with adores me that's my current problem. i can't help it, i know who i want.

so when my sister sent me a video from "video mate" last night of full of hot single available men, i couldn't wait to click play.

but then i did.

and i couldn't stop laughing/crying/jumping for joy, so thank you sissy.

thank you for finding my future husband (monroe) - at exactly the 3:12 mark.

two words - cleveland browns.

Dating Montage
Uploaded by smithy00101. - Arts and animation videos.

oh, there's one more word i should add to my love for monroe - sarcasm.

please, please watch the whole video because it's amazingly awesome.

my favorite hilarious "hot single male" comments of note:

maurice (0:20) - "hi, i'm maurice. an executive by day, and a wild man by night"

monroe (0:24) - "hi, i'm monroe. and you've probably already noticed that i have incredibly blue eyes"

maurice, again (0:50) - "i'm not afraid to get sand on the tuxedo, if your not afraid to let the wind mess up your hair a little bit when i take the top down"

guy with deer on sweater (1:00) - "hi mom"

the knight (2:07) - "at night i operate a damsel in distress hotline. i guess you'd call me a knight"

the entire "fun" montage.

how are these people so awkward?

it's brilliant.

i love you rudy's fly-buy

random fact #892 about me: i worked at a convenience store in college.

now before you think of me flipping hot dogs and filling up an icee machine, i want to let you know i didn't work at your average convenience store.

i'm not talking about a circle K, a 7-eleven, or a UDF - i worked at a magical convenience store on the university of dayton campus called rudy's fly-buy.


my convenience store (pictured above), was totally student run on a day to day operational basis, and i was the VP of public relations/marketing. basically i planned 3-on-3 basketball tournaments, the taste of rudy's and many cookout events for my fellow classmates.

heck, we even expanded to a second campus location on my watch - entrepreneurs baby. i also worked shifts throughout the week where i would man the counter ringing up hungover kids gatorade, fountain drinks, bulk candy, frozen pizza's and cigarettes.

it was the absolute perfect job for a social butterfly like me.

all my friends came and visited, i got to see who was with who, who bought what and flirt with all my crushes by giving them free fountain drinks. i also got to blare my awesome music choices through the outdoor speakers.

i may or may not have blown more than one set of said speakers though.

during the summer between my junior and senior year i decided that we needed picnic tables in on the patio outside the entrance and i painted those bad boys by hand - UD red and blue baby.

i sound like a great employee don't i?

weeeeeeeeellllllllll - i also fudged somethings.

like too many times to count after closing down bw3's or tim's i went with friends and opened the store at 3am to get late night food. leaving a list of items for me to ring up in the morning and add to "my tab" (i.e. flyer express).

i will forever have an image of one of my guy friends stuffing multiple bomb burritos and digiorno pizzas down his pants thinking i wouldn't notice.

randomly, i even picked up boys by working at rudy's.

"oh, you want to know what rudy's looks like in the dark?" i would say, "well i can show you, i have a key...."

what happens in the walk in cooler, stays in the walk in cooler.

so as i'm sitting here in my rudy's fly-buy tie dyed '02 "homecoming isn't dead" t shirt i couldn't help but reminisce about being a clerk at a convenience store at the best university in the world.

too bad it closed in '07 after 17 years of operation...

shit, i hope it wasn't because of the stolen bomb burritos and pizza.

'09 browns home opener

it's weird recapping the weekend a day late, but with the ridiculousness that was my weekend (specifically sunday), i didn't really have a choice - blogging was not in the cards when i got home sunday night.

you can ask the klutz, typing wasn't really an option for me.

friday evening started it all with the klutz, babs and i going to prosperity social club where we saw the mother of all whale tails and hung out in my favorite back patio in cleveland.

next came drinks at the harp for foxxy's birthday and meeting up with more friends at hotz's in tremont for shuffleboard and monkey drawings. see babs on the right and note the enrique lyrics.

saturday we rested, for we had a big day ahead of us on sunday - browns game day!

i was drinking champagne by 9:30am and bonging a beer by 11:30am. apparently that's what one does while tailgating. i also last minute went to the game, but left at halftime with babs to go to the blind pig where we were for a while (i think).

with stops at panini's, maproom and little bar i made the warehouse district my bitch, much like the vikings did to the browns.

i also took a couple of pictures so i'll let them speak for themselves cause this girl is still exhausted.

pig roast!!

the pit > the muni lot

i love this pic so much - i wish i was in it.

pre-game skull beer bonging

andy, the klutz, bo and babs

and that would be browns stadium

kim and ahmed

jenn, jen and captain

awesome jen page

babs, me and the klutz

that's a wrap, and while i'm sure there are many more pics that i should be posting this will have to do. and while there are many more stories that i should be sharing these we have to do.

and just think, we get to do it all over again on saturday for the OSU vs UT game being held at browns stadium.

i'll meet you guys in the pit.

i'm alive, but barely.

the first browns tailgate of the year entailed...

a bottle of champagne for breakfast, too many miller high life's to count, multiple shots, a browns loss, a few hours that i don't recall at all, a broken blackberry, and no food (oh wait, muffin said i ate), which means y'all aren't getting a full post till tomorrow.

you'll have that.

text messages from my mother

over the last two days my mom (stepho) has sent me some text messages that have caused me to laugh/snort/roll my eyes simultaneously.

and because it's friday, and no one is paying attention to the internet anyways i'm going to share them with you.

text message chain background #1: our family business is getting it's first ever website, and my mother has put me in charge of writing the whopping 5 pages of website content. easy peasy. well on wednesday she asks me this:

mom: when am i going to get my website content?

alexa: saturday, i'm going to stay home saturday night. i'll write it then.

mom: so are you coming home [to canton] then?

alexa: no. i'm going to stay in cleveland.

mom: how am i going to get the website content?

alexa: well mother, email. all the kids are doing it these days.

mom: smarty pants... don't be a pain in the ass doing it with me either.

____________________________________________________________________


text message chain background #2: upon reading this TMI teaser blog post from yesterday she sends me this:

mom: what the heck is TMI..and a DM...i need proper english...and why do i have to email you to get it?

alexa: sorry mom, but you can't read this one.

mom: you suck......you shouldn't have anything on the internet i can't read....not good. so what do those letters stand for anyways missy?

.....

i couldn't even respond to her, it's better just to keep her in the dark.

sorry mommy. xoxo.

also, HAPPY BIRTHDAY FOXXY AND COURT - i love you guys!

well that's all for now folks, have a good weekend, and GO BROWNS.

p.s. will i be seeing you tailgating on sunday? all the cool kids are doing it.

and to think i thought i'd never be able to post a TMI thursday

drum roll please...

today i'm participating in my first ever TMI thursday, a weekly blog event that was started by my friend lilu many, many moons ago.

unfortunately though, because it really is a true TMI, the story isn't something i can share here on the plum - meaning i'm not going to be able to link you to it from here.

but that doesn't mean i don't want 95% of you to be able to read it, it's just that 5% of you i'm worried about.

so here's the deal - if you want to know where my TMI thursday post is hiding shoot me an email at clevelandsaplum @ gmail com or send me a DM on twitter @clevelandsaplum and i'll send you the link.

i highly suggest you message me, if you haven't found the post already...

it's a good one.

the boob tube

you know how around this time of year some men are freaking out about their fantasy football drafts?

well i'm freaking out about something else.

my DVR draft picks.

you see, i can only DVR two shows at a time, and if my tv is on i have to be watching one of those two shows.

THE PRESSURE.

trying to set the perfect schedule, trying to make sure shows don't overlap - all while researching online to see what new shows i should be investing my time and my precious DVR space into, as well as nixing new shows starring jay mohr that are looking to be duds.

but then i think - what if the critics are wrong, and i end up missing the first season of the new seinfeld-esque comedy.

raises fist in rage.

it's a gamble kids.

sometimes you just have to pick a show because it falls in an open time slot - much like having to draft ray finkle just because you need a kicker.

the humanity.

so i'm looking for DVR draft day picks. what shows should i be sure to include in my fall line up?

my labor day weekend in cleveland

the cleveland weather gods blessed us with a picture perfect weekend - the best weather anyone could have asked for. well monday night got all rainy, but it made me feel not guilty to stay inside and lounge.

so i'm not quite sure how i am going to recap friday, saturday, sunday and monday in one post - but i'm going to try.

to my blogger friends: this may be totally boring for you to read

to my non-blogger friends and or online stalkers: you will find this fabulous

friday
the scene: cubby and martha's house/backyard in lakewood
the food: cookout grub - hamburgers, hotdogs, etc
the people: too many to name here

we hungout, laughed a lot, drank girly beer (michelob ultra pomegranate raspberry), and played with fire. the fire, and my fire stick, were my obvious highlights.

martha, the klutz and kim - back decking it

cubby, head lamp for guidance and all, starting the fire

the klutz, babs, mrs verdova, cubby, mr verdova and bo

some of the boys, being boys

muffin's cookout/backyard shoes. although she did get bonus points for wearing my cleveland's a plum t-shirt - have you bought yours yet?

saturday
the scene: bo and babs's house/backyard in tremont
the food: queso con carne dip, crab rangoons, salsa stuff, pasta salad, brisket sandwiches and oreo dirt deliciousness
the people: too many to name here

a few key thing from this party need mentioning:
- me, babs, beaver and heather completely dominating muffin, mr and mrs verdova, DBLB, and dan in partini
- another fire (YAY!)
- a university of dayton (my alma mater) vs everyone else flipcup game where the UD alumni didn't even allow "everyone else" to win one game. go flyers!
- a lone cubby verse 8 girls flipcup game where cubby drank and successfully flipped 8 cups beating all the girls. that was a bit embarrassing for us.
- a dude who i have never met picking a fight with me during boys vs girls flipcup because he "hated me". as if that's possible... don't worry we called a truce.

muffin, martha wearing heels, and the klutz

"everyone else" on the left verse the dayton kids on the right

captain, brooke, babs, martha, the jerk, muffin, mr verdova and steve - ya know, just some of the UD flipcup champions

sunday
the scene: the superior viaduct, whiskey island/sunset grille, w 6th
the food: late night panini sandwiches (a bacon egg and cheese for me, um yum) - oh and brunch with cubby and martha at the west side market cafe
the people: muffin, erin, lastic, the klutz and i - and various guest appearances

just when i thought i couldn't go out again after friday and saturday i got a third wind for sunday. party up. it was fun times out at whiskey island, and even more fun people watching. unfortunately i didn't take many pictures.

lastic, erin, the klutz and muffin at sunset grille

monday
the scene: crocker park
the food: aladdin's eatery
the people: muffin, the klutz and i

we grabbed some lunch, and after i found out that swirl cupcakes in crocker has pinkberry style frozen yogurt and that just about made my month. so damn good.

after the lunch and fro-yo we went and saw my boy jason bateman in Extract. the movie wasn't the best, but bateman showed some michael bluthesque characteristics so i could sit through it to watch him alone.

...

end scene.

shit, back to the daily work grind.

have a good week kids, just think - it's only a four day week.

hey shorty, it's the weekend

narm emailed me yesterday after i posted this to see if i was "ok" - he actually went as far as to call me EMO.

good god boy.

bite your tongue.

while i may have recently written a couple of posts pondering some shit, "emo" if you will, things are actually pretty damn awesome.

can't a girl just reflect once in awhile? or give props to her friends awesome post?

gaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwdddd.

i'm a lucky girl, and i'm the first to admit it.

...

anyways it's friday, i'm hungover, and we have a long weekend ahead of us - mine just happened to start a day early with maproom happy hour last night with lara.

i got some great news and i needed to celebrate with some vodka.

go me.

after maproom we headed to dive bar to meet up with more of our friends (the klutz, court, hatchel, captain, the jerk, jeremy, the jen's and jon), and watch the browns preseason game against the bears.

hilarity and drunkenness soon followed.

jon and lara - see? bears and browns fan do get along

court and the klutz

umm. umm. umm. umm. old school dance party?

captain, jeremy, hatchel and court

well kids, i hope you all have a wonderful labor day weekend.

i want you to unplug your computer, enjoy the beautiful weather, drink some beer, and eat a hot dog.

and that's an order.

couldn't have said it better myself

a very good friend of mine, lexa, who writes under the lemmonex moniker on her blog wrote a post today that hit me close to home.

and i feel the need to share it with you guys.

so if you are so obliged, click on over to lexa's blog and read the risky business post.

she somehow captured everything i've been thinking about recently in a vulnerably pure, honest, personal voice that's in a style that i simply don't have the guts to write like here on the plum.

check it out.

Blogcation Day #5!

yes, people i know there WAS something wrong with my blog design. but now it's fixed thanks to splendid sparrow design coming to the rescue. also, shout out to @bcullen for helping me fix the code while everything was getting worked out.

so today i have a very special guest in blogger peter dewolf who is a fantastic writer that makes me want to do inappropriate naughty things to his written word - see below.

_____________________________________________________________________

Hello, people. I'm Peter. No. It's true. This is Day #5 of my Blogcation. For some reason, Alexa thought it would be a good idea to host one of the posts. And then she got nervous about what topic I might choose to write about. That was probably wise...

Last week (week before?) I was shooting the poop with Alexa on gchat.

Peter: "Blah blah I'm adorable"

Alexa: "Blah blah Cleveland is awesome"

The she started telling me something about some friend who sent her some link for some dude's funny personal ad on some dating site.

I only get bits and pieces of the story because:

1) It had nothing to do with me.

2) I was singing Dashboard Confessional's "The Best Deceptions" at my desk.

But at some point it dawned on me that it might be fun for me to do a fake personal ad for myself as my guest post over here.

She... disagreed.

Alexa: "This is MY blog. If you think for one minute I'll allow the focus to shift to you... you have NO idea who you are messing with. The audacity!! By the power of Greyskull, I'll crush you--"

Peter: "Say 'Hi' to Muffin for me?"

Alexa: "--and toss your Canadian ass in Lake Erie... or whatever big lake is closest to Cleveland."

Peter: "Yeeaaaah. That's super."

I may be paraphrasing a tad.

It is entirely possible that part of her rage was due to the fact that I had recently told her that Lebron James straight up stole his silly powder tossing pre-game ritual thing from Kevin Garnett.

She did not like that. But it is a fact. And I can't understand why more people aren't calling him on it.

I also can't understand why I am sharing this fact on a Cleveland blog. Put down your pitchforks. I totally hope that he (and his powder puffs) re-sign long-term in Cleveland in the summer of 2010.

Anyway. I mentioned writing a post about my personal ad on here. Alexa threw a chair through a window. I took a couple steps back because, well, I wasn't married to the idea.

But then... But then, dear readers, I remembered that I put up a post about HER and her search for love (or lust or some light S&M) on MY blog. (The 457th most popular blog in southeastern Nova Scotia, no less!)

So I am going to write whatever I want. Hmmmph.

I took the format from that very personals ad for the boy that Alexa loooooooooooooooves and filled in my info.

My Self-Summary

6 feet, 4 inches of twisted steel and sex appeal.

Or, you know, tin foil and goofy charm.

What I'm doing with my life.

Taking a strange, erotic journey from Milan to Minsk.

I'm really good at

16 different Canadian sex acts.

The first thing people usually notice about me

The face tattoo. Some people tell you they like Harry Potter.

Others prove it.

My favorite books, movies, music and food

Books, MOVIES, music and food, eh? I see what you're doing. You think you're soooo slick. You want me to admit it? Fine. I've seen TAKE THE LEAD (starring Antonio Banderas) more than once. So what? Nobody believed in those kids. Nobody! And ballroom dancing gave them hope. It made them think anything is possible and -- you know what? Screw you.

Screw. You.

The six things I could never do without

1) Pancakes

2) James' "Laid"

3) My Adidas Gazelles

4) Maybelline vibrating mascara

5) "The Manitoba Mouthful"

6) The ozone layer

I spend a lot of time thinking about

Kimmy Gibbler from "Full House"

On a typical Friday night I am

Dressing up as Kimmy Gibbler from "Full House"

The most private thing I'm willing to admit here

I thought I'd come up with funnier answers for these.

And I like your bum.

You should message me if

You are a woman who wants to be absolutely lavished with much attention and spoiling... until you do the slightest thing wrong and then are disowned with lightning quickness.

Or if you know Kimmy Gibbler.

Note: If any of this appeals to you, and you think we would fall in love, email Alexa. I am sure she'd love to hear about it.

i feel it in my fingers, i feel it in my toes

seriously, it's september? how did that happen?

summer, i'm not ready to say goodbye to you quite yet.

yesterday morning as i was walking to my car in my dress, cardigan and open toed heels i felt a tinge of cold on my bare legs, and was immediately reminded of the fact that i'm going to have to start wearing tights and a coat soon.

and then i pouted and kicked a rock on the sidewalk like a 6 year old.

now don't get me wrong, there are some redeeming qualities for the fall - browns football, pumpkins, halloween, bonfires and apple cider but there is one thing that rises above the rest for me.

pinot noir.

you see i have this odd habit where for one half of the year i strictly drink white wine (during the warmer months) and the other half of the year i strictly drink red wine (during the colder months), and once i make the switch i can't go back till the weather turns.

because of this weird ritual i haven't had a sip of pinot noir since end of march and to say i'm craving it would be an understatement.

so i think it's time, time to say goodbye to summer and to savignon blanc and hello to fall and some delicious reds.

there's just something about getting all cozy on the couch, candles burning, wrapped in a blanket with a nice glass of red watching the new fall lineup.

welcome back purple lips, i've missed you!

what have you missed about the fall?