I'm not made for lawn care

Growing up my family didn't even own a lawn mower, let alone know how to use one, as we always had landscapers take care of our yard.

My mom would do all flower planting, but lawn cutting, raking, edging, mulching, etc was taken care of by a very talented team of sun kissed men.

That being said when I moved into my house just over a year ago I didn't have much of a knowledge base of what I needed to do to take care of my little city backyard.

Like, I had to cut grass? On my own?

Hiring someone wasn't an option as my backyard is totally enclosed and no one can get to it without going through my house, so I purchased a push lawnmower, a rake, and an edger/trimmer thingy.

I am woman here me roar.

9 times out of 10 I live by the above statement, if a man can do it I can do it - but after a summer of failing miserably at taking care of my lawn and hating every minute of attempting to cut it I'm admitting that lawn care is NOT my thing.

My backyard after not cutting the grass for about six weeks this fall... I told you I didn't like to cut the grass. It's not much, but it's a pain, I promise you.

So after successfully ruining all my grass due to not cutting it for so long my Mom gave me a great idea while we were cleaning up my yard yesterday in preparation for this upcoming winter - STONE PAVERS.

Who needs grass when you can just have nice pretty stone everywhere? Spring project anyone?

That being said I need to not get ahead of myself here, I need to be thankful that I finally did a whole bunch of things yesterday that no one tells you about when you buy a house, aka cleaning garages, cutting down bushes, organizing closets, covering patio furniture, putting shit away, digging up plants, etc.

I'm happy I can call my house officially winterized! Now if only someone would agree to fix my poorly installed windows....

Happy Tuesday, kids!

this is how you do thanksgiving weekend

Things I did over Thanksgiving weekend:

1. Saw Paul Simon at EJ Thomas Hall in Akron with my Mom, Sissy, Jason, CK, MOB, Muffin and Jesse. Paul and his band were really REALLY good - awesome set list and venue but my only complaint was the crowd was pretty stiff... I just wanted to dance, you guys.

2. Participated in my first ever Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning (against my own will) at my old high school Canton Central Catholic. My whole family ran/walked it and literally dragging my mother across the finish line may or may not have been the highlight of my day.

3. Ate my face off at my cousin Cathi and Greg's house on Thanksgiving day. The Medifast police would NOT have been happy with my calorie consumption to say the least.

Jason, sissy, yours truly and CK all dressed up for turkey day!

The adorable nameplates my cousin Jenna handmade, the dining room table, my very full plate and the spread that keeps going.

4. Ate my face off at my cousin Cathi and Greg's house on Black Friday, the Medifast police are still looking for my willpower, but the ATV riding made everything better.

Me all cocky and ready for my ride but then me holding on to CK for dear life...

5. Dinner and movie + movie + movie night equaled catching Ryan Gosling in Drive with CK, sissy, Jason, my Mom and C-Rossi, a dinner at Sylvester's North End Grille in Canton and then a viewing of the Last Waltz AND Home Alone 2 (I was so sleeping by then) in Tia Jo's theater room.

6. Breakfast at John's Bar with my Yiayia, Nouna, Mom, sissy and Jason, a viewing of The Muppets and a little shopping.

Sissy and Jason all ready for the Muppet Show Tonight!

7. Dinner and bubbles with lots of old friends at 91 Wood Fired Oven on Saturday night in North Canton, continued debauchery at Biscuit and Oakes's, The Basement and my Mom's house for my sissy's 10 year high school reunion after party where this was just hanging out in the kitchen.

Jessie, me and Biscuit being photo bombed by Oakes + douche bag Kevin being a douche bag with a skull on his shirt, Keter-O, Oakes, Worm and Glen.

8. Took in a showing of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part One with MOB to round out my third movie in three days. Have I mentioned how much I love going to the movies? Because I do.

And I think that's it.... now why do I feel like I'm forgetting something.

Meh, who cares, I have a vacation day on Monday as well so the looooooooooong holiday weekend continues.

Have a good one, kids.

mmmmm, pasta with the prince winner announced

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

While I'm still dealing with my food coma almost 24 hours later I'm working through it to announce the winner of the pair of tickets to the Brick & Mortar Pop-Up Dinner at Noodlecat featuring the Prince of Pasta Chef Jeff Michaud this upcoming Monday.

And the winner is....

Why CLE?

Her comment, #15 out of #81, was chosen via random.org.

So why I'll be sitting at home eating bland diet meals instead of attending the event I'll be dreaming of pasta - I can promise you that.

Enjoy the rest of the holiday weekend, you guys!

The one where I go to lots of bars and restaurants - totally out of the ordinary, right?

I'm tired you guys, and I'm really really really really looking forward to this short work week and thanksgiving festivities!!

But while I'm patiently waiting for 12:30pm Wednesday (when my holiday vacation starts) let's chat about last weekend shall we?

Friday CK and I meet Moe and Mark for dinner in Tremont. We had all planned on going to Southside but the wait was too long... we headed to Lava Lounge next, but no tables were available... finally we landed at Bac and while no table was available but there were 4 spots at the bar.

We sat down to get comfy at Bac and much like my last visit the service was seriously lacking. I'm just NOT a fan of this place. It took the bartender waaaaaaaaaay to long to greet us and when he finally did he just gave us menus and walked away. He came back 5 minutes later and threw coasters at us... still no water, still no drink order - it was DRIVING ME NUTS. Yet another 5 minutes later we got to place our drink order - 20 minutes waiting for a drink at 12 seat bar with only two other people sitting at it is completely unacceptable.

Ok, I'll stop now.

You know I don't rant about restaurant experiences here, I try to keep it positive, but man I've just had it with Bac. No thanks.

Honestly the whole experience kinda ruined my mood and because Moe had to go back to the station and report the news we all called it a night and CK and I just went home. Sleep on a Friday night is oh so good.

Saturday lots of errands/laundry was done, as was car shopping at Montrose Volvo but the real excitement came around dinner time when CK, Seanski, Nugget and I ventured approximately one block away from our homes for dinner at Ferris Steakhouse.

Ferris Steakhouse is the oldest family owned restaurant in the city, over 70 years in business, and we loved it. We had bubbles, wine, soup, salads, steak and scampi's - it was a great kitschy experience - pianist playing Disney tunes included.

Ferris Steakhouse in pictures: My newest reasonable priced bubbles love, Freixenet Cava. My surf and turf. Our bill - I told you this place was old school, handwritten tickets and all, awesome.

After dinner we all headed to Market Garden Brewery in the OHC for Cara's birthday celebration. After a couple hours the group couldn't handle the ridiculously crowed establishment so we headed to Tina's for some open air....

We didn't find much open air at Tina's either, it was just as packed. But at least at Tina's there's ridiculous karaoke. Win.

Sunday brought brunch at XYZ the Tavern (I didn't eat, but everything looked AMAZING) and the Browns game with Lzone, Seanski and Allison - and you all know that with this crew ridiculousness was a given.

Seanski, Lzone, me and Allison being awesome while watching the Browns win! The best part about this pic though is the photo bomb taking place in the background, this little girl would SO be friends with us if we was older.

Me and Allison rocking our hoods because it got cooooooooold and Seanski and Lzone being uber odd with their peace signs and duck faces.

For me the Browns game was weird for two reasons: 1. we won and 2. I didn't drink or eat. No beer, nachos or hot dogs at a Browns game just isn't right, you guys.

After the game it was home with CK to have dinner and movie night, aka a great way to end a wonderful weekend with friends in the CLE.

Now, bring on the holidays... AND PAUL SIMON WEDNESDAY!!

mmmmm, pasta with the prince

I'm 100% positive your Thanksgiving food coma will be gone by the following Monday.

This is a good thing because I have two tickets to a Brick & Mortar Pop-up featuring James Beard Award winner Chef Jeff Michaud to give away here on the plum.

Chef Michaud, aka The Prince of Pasta, will be taking over Chef Jonathan Sawyer's Noodlecat on Monday November 28th at 6pm to present a 6 course pasta and wine pairing dinner.

The menu has been set and as I'm typing it my mouth is watering...

Stuzzichini //semolina gnocchi stuffed with taleggio cheese. chickpea and bottarga zupetta with pastine. rigatoni baccala mantecato and parsley.
First // squash tortelli with amaretti and sage
Second // fettucine with chicken liver ragu
Third // squid ink risotto with calabrese style octopus
Fourth // pheasant and porcini lasagna
Fifth // gratinned quince crespelle, zabaione and sbrisoluna

So who wants to go?

To enter:
: Leave a comment on this post telling your favorite kind of pasta.
: Tweet the following about the contest: "I want to win tickets to @bricknmortar216 at @noodle_cat featuring @JeffreyMichaud from @clevelandsaplum http://bit.ly/vfNizg", leaving a comment telling me you did so.
: Share a link about the contest on Facebook (http://bit.ly/vfNizg) - leaving a comment telling me you did so

You have until 11:59pm on Thursday, 11/24 to enter and I'll be letting the winner know they won on Friday 11/25.

Good luck to all who enter and happy Friday!

520 + Bubbles + Doughty

Congrats to Cortney, aka @ActivDefiance, who won a pair of tickets to the Compassion From Fashion event benefiting the Gathering Place at Beachwood Place this Saturday. Sad you didn't win? Don't worry, you can still purchase tickets online or at the door.
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This past weekend my company cleaning was in full effect Friday night as I scrubbed, vacuumed, mopped and dusted my way into a clean house in preparation for three of my University of Dayton roommates to visit.

My roomies traveled from Dayton, Detroit (Grosse Pointe), and Pittsburgh to visit me and see my home for the first time in Cleveland. Additionally CK's Mom was in town from St. Louis for a visit making this weekend a great opportunity for everyone to head over to my house for some cocktails and appetizers.

So after lunch at Latitude 41N and boutique shopping around the CLE at Room Service, Salty Not Sweet and Banyan Tree with the girls it was time to get ready for some bubbles at my house.

Teen, Seifs, D-Ray and I had a great visit with CK, his Mom and little one before heading to Chinato for dinner on East 4th. A bottle of Veuve Clicquot was ordered, a delicious dinner and dessert was consumed. Nothing beats visiting with my girls, nothing.

Teen and Seifs + Me and D-Ray. These ladies get me.

Sunday we all headed to brunch at Luxe with MOB and Beaver joining as well. Brunch was delicious as always and when the morning came to a close and three of my favorite ladies in the world headed back to their homes I can't help but happily anticipate seeing everyone again in June for our ten year college reunion.

The rest of my Sunday was spent watching the Browns lose with CK, then heading to Momocho for a bottle of malbec, and yummy lamb chops and finally the Beachland Ballroom for the Moon Hooch and Mike Doughty concert.

Andy, CK and Driggs - my very handsome dates for the Mike Doughty concert.

Good friends, good food, good music, good weekend.

It doesn't get much better then this.

Happy Tuesday, kids.

it's the freakin' weekend, baby i'm about to have me some fun

Have you entered to win a pair of tickets to the Compassion From Fashion event at Beachwood Place yet? Comment on this post to do so!
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{Insert witty comment about 11/11/11 here}

It's Friday, I have a 1/2 day at work, I'm spending my morning molding the minds of current college Public Relations students about managing their online persona and my college roommates are coming in town this weekend.

{Insert witty comment about how I'm going to pretend I'm still in college this weekend after I give college students tips on how to manage their life in "the real world"}

Have I mentioned I have my 10 year college reunion coming up this summer? Does this mean I have experience now?

{Insert witty comment about how old and distinguished I am}

So I'm just going to give up now. It's the freakin' weekend, baby I'm about to have me some fun.



How's THAT for an online persona?

Happy Friday, you guys.

What new TV shows I'm watching

Visit Wine Chateau for the best in fine wine.

We're what 6ish weeks into the new fall TV schedule?

Which is right about the time that I start deleting all the new shows from my DVR that I started recording, realized they suck and move on.

But this year no new shows that I started recording are disappointing me - I have yet to figure out if this is a good or bad thing though.

My "New Show" List:
1. Person of Interest
2. Once Upon A Time
3. New Girl
4. Grimm
5. Pan Am
6. Up All Night (This is the only iffy one, it's on notice but not getting the ax just yet)

As I go through my list of new shows I'm officially hooked to almost of them and when you consider these are in addition to my already very full television dance card, I'm thinking I may need a new hobby.

So are you watching any of these shows? What do you think? What new shows have made your DVR cut?

Compassion From Fashion + my definition of a "celebrity fashion model"

Awhile back I foolishly agreed to be a "celebrity fashion model" for a very awesome and worthwhile event called Compassion From Fashion.

Me, a fashion model? And celebrity fashion model at that? P-sha.

I blame my dear friend Maureen Kyle who is a legitimate Cleveland celebrity/WKYC television personality for making me believe I could actually walk the catwalk at Compassion From Fashion with her and the other celebrity models including TWO Cosmopolitan Magazine hottest bachelors on Saturday, November 19th.

Additionally, if we look purely on "celebrity" model status in Cleveland, Maureen has been on the cover of the Cleveland Magazine City List issue in 2010 which equals true celebrity status. I've just had my name on the cover of Cleveland Magazine City List issue this past year which equals a cute-ish blogger (aka face for the internet) version of celebrity status.

Maureen Kyle - 1
Alexa Marinos - 0

But I digress. I recently came to my senses and decided against acting out my best Carrie Bradshaw impersonation on the catwalk and decided to just attend the event as a guest and talk about it here on the plum. Same thing, right?

The details:
What: The 3rd annual Compassion From Fashion event to benefit The Gathering Place, a community based cancer support center
When: Saturday, November 19th at 4pm for shopping, 6pm for food + cash bar and 7pm for the fashion show
Where: Beachwood Place
Why: See celebrity models and cancer survivors alike showcasing the mall's hottest fashions, complimentary food from Maggiano's Little Italy, $10 Beachwood Place gift certificate, $10 McCormick and Schmick's dining certificate and exclusive retailer discounts valid throughout the event - click here to view all shopping discounts! How: Purchase your $20 ticket online here, your $25 ticket at the door the night of the event or win a pair of tickets here on the plum! (all proceeds from the tickets go straight to The Gathering Place)

You can enter to win a pair of tickets to the Compassion From Fashion by simply commenting on this post telling me what item you need to add to your wardrobe ASAP.

You can gain an extra entry by tweeting the following, "I want a pair of tickets to Compassion From Fashion at @beachwoodplace from @clevelandsaplum http://bit.ly/sq0EmV"

You have until 11:59pm on Monday 11/14 to enter as I'll be announcing the winner a week from today on 11/15. Good Luck!

SEMA, goats and aretha - oh my!

How does one wrap up 5 days in Vegas at the 2011 SEMA Show on behalf of work? I'm not sure, so I'm going to skip it and just post a handful of pictures of some of my favorite cars and exhibit pieces at this years convention.

I'd drive any of these, you guys.

I love how you can choose the color of your car like you can choose your nail polish color, as well as bedazzle your engine.

Coming back to Cleveland after my time in Vegas on Friday I came home with $60 more than I went to Vegas with and a massive cold which I'm still fighting on Sunday night as I'm typing this. I like money, I don't like being sick though.

I needed to work past the sickness though because two of my CLE favorites JoeG and Justin were celebrating their 29th birthday's at AMP 150 with 18 of their closest friends.

The dinner party, creatively titled - The Billy Goat Ball(s): Two Boys... One Goat! - equaled one delicious goat being roasted for the group. I've never had goat before but would compare it to dark turkey meat, if that makes any sense at all. We had delicious sauces and sides paired with the meat and we all left full and happy.

The whole gang (minus me), the birthday boys Justin and JoeG and THE GOAT!

After dinner a group of us headed to the famous Velvet Tango Room for cocktails and jazz where we got to visit with Paulius and even head into the VIP room for a nightcap.

I'll never complain about being the only girl at a table - NEVER. There's Seanski, CK, Me, Ryan, JoeG and Adam and I blatantly stole this pic from VTR's facebook page.

Saturday brought continued sickness and lunch at Buckeye Beer Engine in Lakewood where I drank hot tea instead of beer to rally myself because CK and I had the American Music Masters Tribute to Aretha Franklin Tribute concert at PlayhouseSquare's State Theater. In preparation for the concert Hot Toddy's were drunk at Market Garden Brewery in Ohio City with CK, Jody, Becky and Tim.

The concert was fabulous as the Rock Hall always puts on an amazing show no matter what the topic. Additionally, the music of Aretha Franklin was moving, toe-tapping, and even brought a little bit of Jesus to the audience. Highlights for me included the Chaka Khan singing Natural Woman, just being in the same room as Rita from Sister Act 2 (aka Lauryn Hill) and when Dr. Franklin herself took the stage to perform.

Like, you guys, I saw Aretha Franklin perform live! I'll always remember that.

Sunday was a little bit of this and a bit of that but mostly involved some much needed rest... and cooking.

I made a big pot of white chicken chili with all the fixings and a warm apple caramel crisp with ice cream for dessert - as you can see they both came out splendidly.

And thus the weekend concludes and the work week begins, have a great one, kids!

And the winner of the Gap Jeans is...

You still have time to enter to win a pair of tickets to the 16th Annual American Music Masters Tribute Concert honoring Aretha Franklin this Saturday - comment on this post to enter!
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So I'm on day 4 in the Vegas and I'm up $200, and if you know me at all you know what a big deal this is.

That being said I still have one more night here. Here's to hoping I still come out ahead!

But now for the moment all you Gap Jeans lovers have been waiting for - the winner (out of 172 entries chosen via random.org) of the FREE pair of Gap Jeans is........

Commenter #106 @sarahcleimbach - Congrats Sarah!!

Thanks to all who entered and even if you didn't win all you ladies that wanted to try out the great Gap Jeans I talked about you still definitely should.

Happy Wednesaday, kids.

The 16th Annual American Music Masters Series honoring Aretha Franklin

(ooo!) What you want. (ooo!) Baby I got it.

And if want you want it a pair of tickets to the 16th Annual American Music Master Series Event honoring the one and only Aretha Franklin, baby, the plum has got it.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum and Case Western University, through the American Music Masters series titled, Lady Soul: The Life and Music of Aretha Franklin, will have a week long celebration of events to honor the first woman ever inducted into the Rock Hall.

Additional information on the full week of events, which started yesterday, can be found here, but I'm most looking forward to Jump To It: DJs play tribute to Aretha! at the House of Blues Friday, 11/4 and the Tribute Concert Saturday 11/5 at PlayhouseSquare's State Theater.

The tribute concert will feature performances by Dennis Edwards of the Temptations, Ronald Isley of the Isley Brothers, Spooner Oldham, Chaka Khan, Ms. Lauryn Hill (!!!!), Carla Cook, Idol's Melinda Doolittle, Mike Farris, the great Cissy Houston and more.

That "more" also includes Ms. Aretha Franklin herself - right here in Cleveland.

And I (and the Rock Hall) want you to give you a pair of tickets to the Tribute Concert.

To enter:
1. Leave a comment on this post telling me why you want to attend the 16th Annual American Music Masters THIS SATURDAY.
2. Tweet the following and leave a comment on this post telling me you did so, "I want to win tickets to see Aretha Franklin at the @rock_hall this Saturday from @clevelandsaplum http://bit.ly/sqsUic"

I'll announce the winner this Friday but don't forget to leave your contact information if I don't already know how to get a hold of you.

Good luck!
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Update: Congrats to @maliningrl (who was chosen via random.org) for winning the tickets