I like staying home

Some of you, ahem Nilsa, think that all I do is go go go.

And while some of the time that is very true, for once instead of recapping my weekend I'm going to let you all in on how I spend a night on the couch (last night in fact) with my trusty laptop and household chores.

It's going to be sexy, get ready.

- load the dishwasher

- book a hotel room at the Inn at Hillbrook for MOB's wedding weekend

- eat a bowl of honey nut cheerios

- check twitter, facebook and instagram

- separate my laundry and put a load in

- shop for bathing suits for the my upcoming trip to Florida, fill up various website shopping carts

- check twitter, facebook and instagram

- shop for dresses for my upcoming trip to Florida, fill up various website shopping carts

- switch laundry

- eat a popsicle

- buy a wedding gift from Crate & Barrel 

- buy eight bathing suits from various websites and promise yourself you'll return six of them

- check twitter, facebook and instagram

- fold laundry

- pluck my eyebrows 

- eat another popsicle

- watch Bridesmaids on HBO

- check twitter, facebook and instagram

- crack a beer, because i can

My couch makes an excellent beer bottle holder 

- write this blog

- fold laundry

- check twitter, facebook and instagram

- go to bed

This is my life during the week when I'm all by my lonesome and just need to get shit done... like a boss.

Jealous?

Happy Thursday, kids.

Pinch me, this is my life

A happy hour with two of my favorites buddies (Seanski and Lzone) at Luxe turned into dinner, turned into MOB happily crashing and then turned in more friends joining us at Stone Mad. Nice little Thursday.

A conference called TEDxCLE with Lzone and lots more friends at the Cleveland Museum of Art turned into an education on multiple topics, turned into a late lunch after party at Severance Hall and then grilling shrimp and flank steak for dinner for me, CK and his little one. Nice little Friday.

An almost four and a half year blogger run turned into forming amazing friendships with fellow social media geeks like me, turned a raging party at Alana and Dean's with said social media turned real life besties, turned into me posting emo tweets, turned into a raging #BVBonfire, turned into more laughs than I've had in a long time, which turned Lzone wearing reflective pants, hurling an axe and doing splits. Nice little Saturday.

EMO TWEET ALERT!!!! #suchanerd

All of the friends I got all emo about + Lzone doing exactly what I said she was doing + JoeG becoming a Chippendale dancer

The official #BVBonfire in action!! BV stands for Bay Village, natch.

Our hosts Alana and Dean noshing on some fried calamari + Suzanne copping a feel on Kimi and Lzone + Kimi max relaxing in Dean's prized hammock + Alana and Seanski table dancing like professionals

A well deserved sleep in turned into a lazy afternoon, turned into grocery shopping with CK, turned into making my Yiayia's chicken and noodles and watching Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol with my handsome beau. Nice little Sunday.

Nice little weekend, huh? Can't wait to do it all over again in a few short days.

Happy hump day, kids.

The 5 minute blog post

I wonder if I could hire an assistant for my blog - or better yet a super savvy social media intern god or goddess.

Ya know, to edit my pictures and write posts for me when I don't have time to put anything proper together. To update something fabulous on this here slice of the internet when I'm swamped with work and can't muster up the time on my own.

The job perks could be hanging out with me and my fabulous friends and all the Starbucks one can drink.

Any takers?

Going once...

Going twice...

Yeah, I didn't think so.

Stay tuned, kids.

mmmm, Graeter's

A common phrase in writing is "write what you know", well I'm hear to tell ya I know a lil' somethin' somethin' about ice cream so I shall write about that today.

Recently I was sent a few pints of Graeter's, ya know, the Cincinnati based ice cream chock full of hunks of rich dark chocolate that is absolutely to die for? That Graeter's.

If you haven't heard of or tried Graeter's and you're close to a Giant Eagle you're officially in luck because Graeter's has officially landed at a Giant Eagle near you. Even better they will be handing out ice cream samples at Cleveland's Fabulous Food Show next weekend.

mmmmmmmm.

I promise I put my ice cream to good use --  D&E ice cream party anyone?

I think Cailtin loved her pint of Mint Chocolate Chip.

I'll take another pint of Black Raspberry Chip for myself please.

And I wonder why my metabolism hates me.

Happy Thursday, kids!


[disclosure: Graeter's kindly send me some complimentary ice cream in hopes of my helping to promote the brand - the opinions and every last drop of the ice cream that went directly to my thighs are mine, all mine]

How to Rock and Roll your way into Greek Easter

It's Wednesday and I'm about to post about my weekend, ya think I'm a little behind? I'd say so.

I'm going to attempt to make this brief but be sure to note that the length of this post doesn't properly correlate with all the fun that was had.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 2012 Induction Ceremony at Cleveland's Public Hall will most likely be the highlight of my year, and this isn't hyperbole, you guys. It really was. I didn't have the best seats but it didn't matter, I was in the room for the speeches, the music was heard and absorbed into my core - hell, I was breathing the same air as Carole King.  I was a happy woman.

My friends Becky, Tim, timmybennett and KJ all joined CK and I at my house for some concert pre-gaming around 5pm - little did we know that we wouldn't be walking out from the show until after 1:45am. Good thing we have some friends in high places that let us into The Greenhouse Tavern for an ultra rock and roll late night - oh so fitting and awesome.

The view from our seats, it wasn't close but the acoustics were awesome and we dead center. I can't wait to watch it up close and personal though when it airs on HBO in May

Becky, CK, some new friends who traveled all the way from the UK for the ceremony and Tim at Greenhouse late night + a couple of random dudes dress up as the Beastie Boys a la Sabotage + Becky and Tim looking swanky as ever

My head not hitting my pillow at 4am wasn't going to make it for an easy Sunday, especially an easy Easter Sunday but I'd do it all over again. Praise goes going to the entire Rock Hall staff for all their hard work, long hours and sacrifices - it was because of them that we got to experience an amazing week of events. Can't wait to do it all over again in three years when the ceremony is back in Cleveland.

As previously mentioned, Sunday was a bit rough but not for too long because it was Easter! Greek Easter in fact which meant the little one, CK and I headed down to Canton to celebrate with my big fat Greek family.

Fun times were had by all, quality family fun time was had, we ate tons of delicious food, the kids big and small enjoyed their Easter egg toy hunt thanks to Thea Joanna and we laughed, A LOT.

My family is one of the best things I have going for me - this is a fact.

Things that I were most excited about on GrEaster were on the left, the giant dinner table and the giant plate of lamb. Things that the kids were most excited about on GrEaster was the giant toy hunt in Thea Joanna and Uncle David's backyard.

My beautiful family: Suzanne, Criseyda, Cara, Cathi and Jenna + the always hilarious and adorable little one

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how to Rock and Roll your way into Greek Easter - I'd say it was a success.

Happy Wednesday, kids!

it's too heavy

It's 11pm on Monday night and I got home not too long ago from a full day at work, a CMA Summer Solstice Party meeting and a delicious dinner with the fine folks behind Murad. 

There will be more on all of that fabulousness later but one thing there won't be more of is me writing a proper weekend recap blog.

I think I'm in a Rock Hall, Greek Easter and lamb hangover.

Maybe if there were a few more hours in the day, but alas, there's not so I'm just going to post the best video I saw today. It's of an adorable 3-year-old who's having a full out meltdown over taking her bowl to the sink, apparently "it's too heavy"....

For some reason when I watch this I just laugh, probably because I witnessed a similar mind blowing meltdown this past Sunday over lamb - yes, lamb.

I suppose you'll have that. I also suppose that a mind blowing meltdown about lamb on Greek Easter isn't going to be forgotten anytime soon - it was kind of adorable and hilarious in hindsight - too bad my video camera wasn't on, ha.

Happy Monday (almost Tuesday), kids!

hello cleveland

It's finally here! It's finally here!

I think you all know where I'll be on Saturday night as I've only been talking about it for months now....THE ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME 2012 INDUCTION CEREMONY!!!

Granted, I have arguably some of the worst seats in the place, but I don't care, I'm in the door. I'll just watch all the highlights on HBO in May if I need to.

It's going to be awesome.

Now, what bars should I hit up to stalk celebrities at? 

Decisions, decisions.

Happy Friday, kids!

metabolism, shmabolism

You always hear that your metabolism slows down after the age of 30. 

Well, this fact sucks for me because well before I even turned 30 my metabolism was already as slow as a snail. 

LUCKY ME!

As someone who has always struggled with her weight I oddly was always able to drop weight quickly if I actually tried and watched what I ate - i.e. If you gave me a week with clean eating I could drop 5+ pounds in a snap.

Recently though this hasn't been the case, I've been trying to watch what I eat, cutting down on the alcohol, etc and I'm gaining instead of losing. It's depressing and frankly annoying as all eff.

Apparently I need to work out - I know, I know, this isn't rocket science - but I was in denial of the lbs I was packing on because my eating habits hadn't changed.... even though my metabolism obviously has.

Because of this, last week I started personal training sessions three times a week at Fitness Edge in Lakewood. MWF at the crack of dawn is definitely a pain in the ass both literally and figuratively but I'm feeling great so far... still waiting for the scale to move down, but I'm feeling great so far.

So here's to attempting to successfully diet and workout program over the age of 30, I don't even want to think about what it'll be like after 40.

LUCKY ME!

Happy Thursday, kids.

Villa y Zapata, La Strada, Girl Talk, Moriarty's and American Easter

Even though the weekend ended two days ago it's just like yesterday to me, guys.

With Thursday being Indians Opening Day I made a point to head out after work for some kicking off the season cocktails stopping at Greenhouse Tavern and Hodge's. Dinner though was the highlight for me as CK and I dined at a restaurant that I've been staring at for 1.5 years from my kitchen window - Villa y Zapata - a dive and a half, this restaurant is officially the best traditional Mexican I've had in the city. Delicious and I can't wait to go back.

Friday was a night in for me and CK where I cooked the Pioneer Woman's Peach Whiskey Barbecue Chicken which lead into shopping all over Beachwood Place Saturday - we're so domesticated these days.

Saturday night we headed to La Strada on East 4th in celebration of my friend Tricia's 40th birthday. In addition to Tricia being my friend her family and my family are all besties, my aunts and uncles, cousins, etc - it's like one big happy Greek mafia Canton family, ha ha ha.

Tricia with her boyfriend Tom and parents Jim and Cathy + Olga, Mike, Uncle John, Thea Susie and Linda looking smashingly good + Tricia blowing out her candles + my Thea Susie blowing out more candles as it was her 60th birthday week as well.

After fun times with friends and family a big group of us headed to see famed mashup and mixtape master Girl Talk at Cleveland Public Hall to start the Rock Hall Induction Ceremony week of events - it was quite the dance party to say the least and I was impressed with his stage presence and stage design, all cool.

What wasn't cool was the bar situation in that only one was set up for thousands of people and you had to buy tickets first blah, blah, yeah it wasn't ideal. My only hope is that it isn't a cluster again this Saturday...

Girl Talk Balloon Drop, before and after of course.

The man love of Driggs and CK continues to grow, I mean they even dress alike.

After the show a group of us headed to Moriarty's Pub for a night cap and to rest our feet from cutting a rug but couldn't not enjoy the drink back up markers....

Moriarty's drink markers are so cute Ginenne wants to pet them.

With Sunday just being my Palm Sunday, thanks to Greek Easter being this upcoming Sunday, I spent the day with CK and his little one at church, lunching, Easter Basket grass fighting and Puss in Boots watching. Just a normal Sunday, you guys.

And that's a wrap, as I'm already working towards this upcoming weekend.

Happy Tuesday, kids!

Bone Pugz

It's Friday, Good Friday for all you non-Greek folks, but just plain 'ol Friday for me which means I'm in a weird mood and ready for the weekend.

Proof of the weird mood is in the length and loudness of my laugh upon watching the following video for the first time yesterday afternoon.

May I present to you, "Bone Pugz"...

BONE PUGZ from Bone Pugz on Vimeo.

It's so ridiculous it's fabulous, plus the song brings back all sorts of inappropriate memories from my teenage years.

Immediately after watching "Bone Pugz" I needed to YouTube the original Bone Thugs-n-Harmony version for old times sake and it's way better in 2012 than I remembered. So 1996, and so awesome.

I can only imagine what a tool I looked like as the opposite of "gangsta" in my catholic school uniform pretending to be tough, trying acting older than I was and listening to Bone after school in the parking lot as a sophomore in high school. Oh, the younger and naive me. 

Who would have ever thought that all those years later I would actually end up living in the 'hood of Cleveland? ha ha ha.

Cleveland represent.

Happy Friday, kids.

Hodge's + Cirque du Soleil Dralion

I had a hot date with Lzone last night because I really don't see enough of her. Psyche, now that I work with her I get to see her EVERYDAY, good thing I like her.

That being said, girl dates are still good, regardless of the fact we share an office wall Monday through Friday.

We walked over to Hodge's, Downtown Cleveland's newest culinary delight, after work for dinner expecting great things and we were not disappointed - everything was great.

And I mean everything.....

Did I mention Zone and I are currently in a Biggest Loser competition at work? #FAIL

As you can see from the above tweet that Lzone sent to @dlayphoto we had quite the menu sampling of snacks and appetizers between the two of us. Everything we ordered was phenomenal and I'm already thinking about what I want to go back and try off their entree section. Hopefully on their amazing patio once it gets a bit warmer.

After dinner we headed to the Wolstein Center for a performance of Cirque du Soleil Dralion. Last night was my first official Cirque experience and it definitely exceeded my expectations. The acrobatics, dancing, singing, visuals and athleticism of the performers blew my mind. I think the clowns were my favorite though, or the trampolines, a close call to say the least.

We couldn't have had better seats and even sat next to Charity and Ben which was a pleasant surprise. Cirque du Soleil Dralion will be in Cleveland through Sunday and great seats are still available for all upcoming performances - I highly recommend you check it out! You can purchase tickets here.

And with that my date with Lzone was over, maybe if I'm lucky I'll get a second one.

Happy Thursday (and Indians Opening Day), kids!

too many things happen in the post to fit into a proper title

Congrats to commenter #63 (chosen via random.org), Ali Lukacsy, who won the ultimate Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony prize pack - thanks to all who entered and thanks to the Rock Hall for the tickets for the giveaway. It's almost induction week - woo!

_________________________________________________________________________________

This was yet another family filled weekend in Northeast Ohio, I say Northeast Ohio and not Cleveland as half of my weekend was spent in my hometown of Canton.

Let's start with Thursday though.

Thursday brought a hopefully new tradition of Triple Dating with Alana/Dean, Jen/Stephen and me/CK - this triple date occurred at the new(ish) Westpark restaurant/bar, Lion on Lorain and it's safe to say we all had an absolute blast.

Lion on Lorain serves bar food on steroids. Their menu is massive, everything we tried between the 6 of us was delicious and they even serve a fried ice cream sandwich for dessert. It's cheap but delicious grub with a fun staff and a great backstory so take this as my official recommendation - go check out Lion on Lorain!

The boys: CK, Dean and Stephen. The girls: Alana, Jen and me.

Friday the family fun began with a night in at CK's with his Dad and Stepmom visiting from STL, we spent the evening catching up and visiting - a quiet evening in with good people is always going to be a positive in my book.

Saturday afternoon was spent with CK, his little one and his parents at the "legendary" I-X Indoor Amusement Park (I'll let you finish the jingle in your head). The indoor amusement park was kinda what I thought it would be (the people, etc) but also WAY bigger than I thought it would be. It was a great time to my surprise and a perfect thing to do on a not so nice out Saturday afternoon with a 4-year-old, she had an absolute blast, and that's all that really mattered.

Saturday evening I headed to Canton to continue the Melanie + Bob wedding festivities (you guys remember the engagement party in Toronto?) with Melanie's bridal shower kick off dinner. Yes, we had a kick-off dinner.

A party of 14 Greeks invaded Lucia's Steakhouse for wine, steaks, laughs, mocking and cellphone stealing - just your average Saturday night with my family. In addition to all my Toronto family in town my sissy (!) was also in from Boston - yay!

There was a lot of the above Saturday night... laughing. That's my Thea (Aunt) Eros, Sissy, me and Melanie in full out crying laughing mode - about what? I'm not sure.

Family! My Uncle Nick and Thea Eros + Marcia and my Mom + my Uncle David + Thea Joanna + my cousins Peter and Suzanne

Sunday was the big day - Melanie's bridal shower that is.

Myself, Sissy, my Mom, Thea Eros, Thea Joanna, Suzanne and Kathy played hostess to family and friends at Glenmoor Country Club in Canton for the Disney themed tea party.

Melanie's love of Disney knows no bounds so we did our best to make it as nice (but not cheesy) as possible - Sissy really did it all, she's a professional planner with mad design skills and it showed.

A shot of the venue + the tea / princess themed centerpieces + the napkin / menu wrap + the Disney princess themed name table assignments

We played one game, put the Disney movies in order of their release + a shot of the place cards and the yummy desserts + my table service tea pot, faaaaaaaaancy

All the shower hostesses with Marcia and Melanie holding court in the big chair. Also, I can't not mention Ariel, Cinderella and Belle the true celebrities in attendance - photo op!

Marcia (mother of the bride), Thea Beth (grandmother of the bride) and Melanie (the bride!!) + an engagement pic of Mel and Bob + Melanie (tiara and all) and Belle

I needed to end with this picture because it makes me laugh so much, it's the mother daughter team of my Thea Eros and my 87-year-old Yiayia posing with Ariel - I mean, this is pure gold.

The shower was beyond successful and the best part about it? Melanie was super surprised and genuinely happy with the theme which is all the hostesses could ask for - it was truly our pleasure putting this together for Melanie, she's the best.

Now, onto the wedding in Naples, Florida!!!

Phew, now that's a heck of a recap post, no wonder it took me till today to get it live, ha.

Happy Tuesday, kids.

p.s. Today is my two year anniversary with CK. How it has been two years already I have no idea but what I do know is that I'm a better person with him in my life. I love you Chris!