i have a girl crush on joan rivers

Considering we had amazing weather this past week and a half in Cleveland, you know I'd be the one to go and get one hell of a head cold. I had been fighting my sinuses (and losing) all week long and passed on a former coworker's goodbye happy hour on Thursday (sorry Perk!) but pulled it together later that night when I received an invite from a friend with last-minute tickets to the opening Cleveland International Film Festival Gala.

Um...yes please. Pull yourself together, Allison!

So I walked over to Tower City with Cortney on Thursday to watch "Nesting" which was about an early 30-something couple who were trying to back to how they used to be by revisiting their past lives. It was pretty entertaining, laugh out loud at some parts and did I mention the lead actor was adorable. So damn cute.

hello film fest!

follow the signs...

In an effort to continue to finish decorating my apartment, I picked up a snazzy City Lights picture from Pier 1 and then a kick-ass larger than life mirror for my hallway, mostly because my bedroom isn't big enough to house everything and I need somewhere to critique my outfits.

Dad - I'm looking at you for help with this.

TJ Maxx Home Goods steal at $79

On Saturday evening, I joined friends Suzanne, Lisa and Gina to laugh our asses off to our favorite 78-year-old foul-mouthed sassy grandmother - Joan Rivers - at the Palace Theater.

I think I speak for all the girls when I say - we laughed our f'ing asses off to that woman. She owned that theater, strutting up and down the stage like she was running a marathon in her floor length magenta glitter robe "kicking" out all the Chinese, old and handicapped people, mocking her celebrity friends, accusing the woman in the front of sleeping with her husband and getting on the floor to mimic sexual positions. I hope to have her energy at 78.

Pre show drinks at Chinato followed by post drinks and dinner at Lola

On Sunday, I woke up bright and early to head to the Rocky River Metropark to kick our half-marathon training into high gear to run six miles.

I mean, let's get real, I have seven weeks to build up to 13.1 miles and the farthest I've ran so far was only 5 miles.

Can I do it? Abso-freaking-lutely.

Even with cooler temps and a little drizzle of rain, we completed our run in 1 hour and 2 minutes and we both felt pretty good post run and agreed to meet again next weekend. Strangely enough, it's a hell of a lot easier to run with someone and makes the time go back so much quicker too. This all coming from someone who prefers to run by herself mostly because if I break into song midway, no one can hear me, you know....

I recouped after the long run and invited another fashion-loving friend to attend another CIFF movie - Diana Vreeland - and OMG how I loved everything about it. Truth be told, I didn't know a whole hell of a lot about Diana or her contributions to Harper's Bazaar but was instantly intrigued by the movie to learn more about this lovely woman and added her autobiography, D.V., to my reading list.

friend fashion date

Post movie, I was supposed to meet another friend to see the Hunger Games over on the west side but on my drive over, we both decided we should spend our night sipping on $2 martinis from the grand opening of the Crocker Park Bar Louie. So we sat at the bar, caught up with each other and planned a few summer activities, including Put-In-Bay and how we need to get ourselves to the desert and hang out in Las Vegas for a few days. Done deal, now just need to pick a weekend.

dirty vodka martinis with blue cheesed stuff olives. My favorite.

Here's to only 10 more days with glasses and a quick trip to NYC this week - oh, it's been too long New York!

And a big thank you to all readers who voted me through to the next round of the Cleveland Magazine blogger brackets - it's the final four and here's the link to vote again if you want to vote again.... Just sayin'!

Disclosure: CIFF offered me two complimentary tickets to see a movie of my choice. Get out and go see a movie - you won't be disappointed! P.S. You may want to check out my friend Keith's film, King Me, this coming Thursday too, if you don't have plans.