Confessions of a CLE Habitant

through the looking glass - jump back ball

2012-02-27T03:00:00.000-05:00

If you weren't at the Jump Back Ball this year, you really should mark your calendar for February 23, 2013 and get yourselves and friends to this event.

photo borrowed from Monina

Last week, Alexa and Cleshopaholic helped me choose from over 10 dresses that I ordered from sparkles to sequins to one shoulder to strapless. I couldn't make a decision and was up to my elbows in everything shiny so they saved the day and picked out a winner in a brand I never wear - Jessica Simpson. Who knew, right?

Why yes it's possible to have a winning dress and by winning, I mean that NO ONE else had the same sparkly, lacy navy dress that my friends decided was the one to rock.

Pre JBB, I hosted a few friends over to sip on cocktails before we headed down the street to the main event. There's nothing quite like getting ready with your friends, especially when your friend just happens to be your personal hair and make up guru for any and every occasion. (See the talented Danielle below.)

And the process begins....

How was the party? Fabulous. As always. While I've only attended the past two years, I will say it is an event that I look forward to and always try to recruit more friends to attend because it's that great of a time. It's like nothing I've ever been to in Cleveland. This year's theme was "Through the Looking Glass" aka Alice in Wonderland in my head and the committee pulled it all together from the decorations to the food to the props set up through the theater. (Side note: As a kid, I always thought people were saying "Allison's wonderland" so I never understand why Alice had blonde hair if I had brown. Clearly, my mother should've correct me and if she did, obviously I wasn't paying attention.)

Danielle, me and Carli

the stage - loved the theme and decorations

best dressed goes to Nick with his fashionable wife peeking from behind him

Radio Active - the lead singer loves her sequins too!

on the dance floor

clutches on the ground = better dancing

Lia, Danielle, yours truly and Katie

And we did.

When the party cleared out, we headed over to Touch Supper Club for old school hip hop night. Yes, we were incredibly overdressed and no we didn't care because even Snoop Dogg likes a fancy dress.

Sunday Funday began with a trip back to Touch because we didn't get enough of a fill the night before for brunch, a round of mimosas and bloody mary's with friends.

chicken and waffles, you win

Wrapping out this fashionable weekend, I joined a few friends to watch the Oscars Red Carpet live in a not-so-fashionable outfit involving leggings, oversized shirt, pearls and the same hair I had from the night before. My friends, I was doing the walk of shame all day and loved it - I thought adding the pearls helped! As usual if you follow any of us on Twitter, the critique session was filled with smart and witty comments from everyone but the oscar goes to Suzanne.

My best dressed goes to Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Lopez, Ellie Kemper and Guiliana Rancic. Hate on J.LO but she always brings the glamour to the red carpet, even though that dress did have those random arm holes.

Ahhhhh, another successful weekend complete.

Editors note: Shout out to reader Sara(h) - it was great to meet you and your man and thanks for reading. Oh, and I also received one comp'd ticket for blogging about the JBB, in case the FCC wants to patrol this blog.

at the moment

2012-02-24T03:00:00.000-05:00

i'm in love with these girls. I can't get enough of Sophia Grace and Rosie.

chandelier earrings, can never have too many in my book

on sale makes it even better

new flat black clutch that I've been wanting for months. hello new friend!

complete with a gold chain arm strap

hmmmmm I could find somewhere to wear these, but, the question is will my friends want to go out with me?

Harem sequin pants are so in. well, maybe not.

all three of my favorite girl scout cookies - tagalongs, caramel delights and thin mints

somebody i used to know.

2012-02-23T06:00:00.000-05:00

there's that meeting.

the time where you picture seeing him out unexpectedly when you are looking your best with your skinniest jeans wearing your highest stilettos with a troop of your best friends.

you've played the scenario a thousand times in your head. who doesn't?

what you would say, what've you said a hundred times out loud, alone, to your friends and repeated another million times over and over in the mirror.

you anticipate his reaction, his comebacks and lies back to you.

you know it all too well.

then that scenario becomes reality and you see him and her when you aren't expecting it.

but at least you were wearing those heels, added that black eyeliner for the hell of it and had those friends with you.

your heart beats a little faster as you come close enough to kiss him while looking him in the eyes as you move through the crowd.

really?, you think rolling your eyes, this is going to happen tonight.

he approaches you almost immediately upon arrival and walks away from her to ask you meaningless questions. how are you? congrats on the new job. he just heard. are you excited? did you get a big raise? all questions which are none of his business but you answer in short responses, wondering why you don't feel something. where is it? where is the rush of anger? rush of emotion?

everything you wanted to say, all those words you prepared for that encounter, all falls to the wayside. you realize it doesn't matter anymore.

there's nothing more to say. all those thoughts crumble around him, all the jabs and insults you want to throw, you don't need to defend yourself, you aren't fighting for anything.

it just doesn't matter anymore.

and you realize he's just a shell of the person you knew. not the one you slept next to you for years. not the one you were planning the future with. he doesn't even look the same.

wasn't he taller? did he always mumble when he was nervous? who is that cute guy at the next table staring at me? wait, I think he is checking me out. how much longer can this last because I want to go talk to that guy?

he wishes you a good night and walks away, back to her, and you turn to your friends who crack a few jokes, buy you a drink and then you spend the rest of the night laughing, flirting and dancing feet away from them, knowing that he was just someone you used to you know.

case closed.

new chapter.

beads, beads and more beads

2012-02-21T10:24:00.002-05:00

While I'm only 25 percent Polish, my Hungarian grandmother used to cook all traditional dishes from both countries because her husband was 100 percent Polish. Growing up in Lorain, you ALWAYS had paczki on Fat Tuesday - I don't remember ever not eating paczki from Kiedrowski's Bakery.

Apricot and poppyseed are my absolute favorite along with lekvar but my good friend, Lindsay, reminded me that my non-Polish coworkers probably won't the traditional flavors, so I purchased a dozen of assorted jelly for them.

So, have a paczki, or three and eat and drink your heart out today! One of these years, I'll make it to Mardi Gras down in New Orleans, too!

Celebrating my Polish heritage with paczki from Stan's Bakery

Happy Fat Tuesday!

adventures in allison's weekend

2012-02-20T05:30:00.000-05:00

I absolutely love my Sunday night routine. I actually just love the night part where I'm all alone after running around all day, relaxing with a cup of tea and toast, watching Mob Wives and taking note of how NOT to act in public with a group of ladies and can finally blog about my weekend antics.

Friday:

Dinner with friends at XYZ Tavern where we waited almost an hour but it was well worth the wait, as always.

hello 16 oz of fun to kick off fun Friday

We headed over to Market Garden Brewery to celebrate Laura's fabulous birthday. (You know how much I love a birthday party, people, I take them seriously!) And, let's just say it was the place to be on what I thought would be your average low-key Friday night out where I ran into some blasts from the pasts from college. Oh, how I loved my days at Kent State......

Birthday girl, Laura, her BF Mike and yours truly

3 kick ass sidekicks for the night

Saturday:

My friends and I headed east to attend a reverse raffle for a friend's cousin where we all entered a million raffles and danced the night away in his honor complete with an incredibly off-key serenade to Whitney's "I Will Always Love You."

Phillip Devito Foundation

my friends were major winners, me not so much but there was an Aveda basket calling my name!

college friends Erin and Katie; post picture we sang our hearts out to Whitney

Sunday:

Let's not forget that the 21st annual Jump Back Ball is coming Saturday night at PlayHouseSquare and over the past two weeks, I've legitimately ordered 12 dresses from Zappos, Nordstrom, and Dillard's. That's fashion dedication!

CLEshopaholic and Alexa came over to throw our own runway show complete with shoes and jewelry while letting our very own Tim Gunn aka CLEshopaholic critique our choices. I needed honest opinions because I was swimming in a sea of glitter, sequins and one-shoulder dresses.

"I can tell you that at least a dozen girls would have tried that dress on and could be wearing it."

"No, it's TOO safe. Next!"

"Where did you get that? That looks like something you could buy at Forever21."

"No, next, it's been done before."

"I like it, don't love it, but very predictable. We don't do predictable."

Good news - we both settled on dresses with the help of our very honest and fashionable judge and have a little work to do before Saturday to complete our looks.

Next, I headed over to the Rock Hall because it only took me seven months to finally take myself over to the Women Who Rock exhibit. Oh, I heart all pop stars from the 80s and beyond and I completely got lost for an hour and half looking at Lady Gaga's Grammy costume, Britney's 2000 VMA sequin outfit and Cher's Bob Mackie creations.

If you have seen it, you will agree that those ladies are tinnnnnnnnyyyyyy. My god, they are all zeros or smaller with the exception of Donna Summer who has some cleavage based on the dress on display.

open until 2/26 and well worth it

I closed out this weekend with a takeout dinner with my family with entertaining and memorable conversation where they needed instant updates on my life - what I was doing this, what am I wearing to Saturday's event, how did I blow my tire out last weekend, what is going on with your dating life, etc. Apparently, I haven't been filling them in as much as I though I had.

Oh how I love this pizza.

Happy Monday, everyone! Let's get dieting in preparation for this weekend's events.

snowshow weekend part 2

2012-02-15T07:00:00.000-05:00

After a long day trip, a few games of flip cup and meeting new friends, most of the group was up and ready to kick some ass on the slopes on Saturday morning.

Well...my friend Amber and I had serious intentions of going skiing and then snow tubing, I swear we did.

I mean, we even left at 10 a.m. to head up to the town to look around and then met the larger group for lunch knowing that we'd plennnnnntttty of time to snow tube because based on the wind, we wouldn't actually be skiing.

snowshoe!

proof - we were out in the snow

longest lunch of our lives

After the three-hour lunch with the group, Amber and I headed down to the snow tube area because we were determined to tube but we had to be back up to the town to catch our ride back and ultimately didn't actually snow tube. So, to make up for the fact that we did no actual snow sports of any kind, we climbed up a mountain of snow with a group of kids and slid down on our asses to get snowy and to act like we participated in some kind of winter activity.

The group spent the last night at the house with another dance party but this time to the one and only Whitney Houston. After a friend received a text she died, I took over as DJ and we danced around celebrating Whitney by singing our asses off key like only a bunch of white girls can.

I wanna dance with somebody from Allison Peltz on Vimeo.

the boys didn't dare ask us to move our dance party

I don't think security could've gotten up the driveway

some new friends

of course we didn't actually use the shovel for snow

Cheeseeeeeee!

This trip pretty much rocked and a big thanks to my friends Gretchen and Mike for organizing the whole thing and gathering a fabulous group of friends from DC, Charlotte, PA and Cleveland to for an incredibly memorable weekend.

See you girls in April for our annual girls' DC trip!

the big Vday

2012-02-14T05:00:00.000-05:00

Ha ha - Let's get real - Do girls really do this?

Sh*t, let's hope not. Leave them in the past, ladies!

Happy Valentine's day to you and your significant other!

happy vday - who doesn't love candy hearts?!

What will I be up to? I will be wearing some red or pink and thought it would be hysterically cliche to go see the most lovey dovey movie out there right now - The Vow - with another single girlfriend.

Who doesn't want to look at some eye candy for two hours? Channing Tatum, I'm lookin' at you!

snowshoe weekend trip part 1

2012-02-13T05:30:00.000-05:00

I don't even know where to start as I sit here drinking tea and watching a tribute to Whitney on NBC. Because my weekend was filled with too much fun, I figured I'd divide my recap into two posts mostly because a) I'm tired and b) the Grammy's are going to be on and you knowwwww I love me some music!

The trip to Snowshoe started just like another trip does with an early wake up time to make the 6 hour drive to the snowy mountain. I was packed and ready to hit the open roads with my iPod and best singing voice of course.

colorful outfit ready to go

Somewhere around Marietta I decided to stop, fill up my tank and run to the restroom and it was about this time where I pulled an "Allison" and totally ate the curb on my way out of the gas station.

How did I manage to do this? I don't know.

How do I do anything I do? I still have no idea and Dad don't answer that!

As I crossed over in WV, my tire pressure gauge light came up and I do believe I said, "mother of god, you have got to be kidding me!," knowing full well what I had done. I drove a few miles realizing that I probably messed up the tire more than I actually wanted to know, pulled over, saw the nice little tear, immediately turned around and looked up the nearest tire center to hopefully make it there before my tire went flat.

proof I can't drive

So, I hung out in the pleasant Glotfelty Tire Center, checked up on my current events, sent a few emails for work and was on my way $129 later to the awaited ski house, where I couldn't wait to get a beer in my hand.

I made it and so did the snow

What was supposed to be a six-hour trip turned into an eight-hour trip so this --------> girl was ready for several beers, a meal and lots of laugh with all the housemates for the weekend who I had yet to meet.

assigned sleeping arrangements

been dying to see these fools - Gretchen and Amber

I dominated at beer pong, sadly, my teammate Amber did not

boys waiting their turn

reliving our college days with a game of flip cup

cooking with jello shots. always a great idea.

everyone does the skinny elbow....

Somewhere between flip cup and the dance party to my sweet mix of old school hip hop and pop music, I called it a night to prepare the next day which was supposed to involve skiing and snow tubing. Oh, how easily we got distracted.......

i'll show you a ski bunny

2012-02-09T23:15:00.004-05:00

That's right.

This girl right here is heading skiing over the next few days. We are staying at the house below with 25 friends of friends this weekend in West Virginia.

how much fun does that look!

I'll be joined by a few of the usual suspects pictured below and a lot other people I don't know. But we all know that makes for a great party!

Have I ever skied?

I don't think you can count Camp Fitch in 6th grade........

However, I am somewhat athletic so hopefully I will be able to pull it off. Maybe for an afternoon. Or for an hour.

While I'm not a ski bunny yet I am REALLY good at sipping cocktails in a hot tub or sitting at the bar with a bunch of people I don't know and socializing into the early hours. Either way, we will all have an amazing time together.

So, that will be my weekend - here's to coming home without any broken bones, sprains or any other crazy fluke accidents that would only happen to me and navigating myself to and from the destination by myself.

who doesn't love a new pair of heels?

2012-02-08T06:00:00.000-05:00

OMG how I heart shoes.

My coworkers joke that I receive the most Zappos shipments to the office. (This is sadly true but it saves me so much time from trying them on in stores AND if you order enough, they upgrade you to next day delivery. It's ah-mazing!)

Only 2 of 4 pairs fit

Ever since I dropped down to a smaller size over the past few months, I've had to literally update my entire wardrobe from jeans to leggings to dresses to shirts. I'm talking donating a quarter of my wardrobe and rebuying all the basics. (By no means am I complaining. And I'm a sale shopper. I own the BCBG sales.)

Not only did my actual wardrobe need a face lift but so did my shoe collection. Major overhaul was needed.

What happened to me? How did I go from having a closet full of heels to owning mostly flats?

Everything flat - flat boots, knee-high flat boots and ballerina flats. It's almost like recession had some kind of effect on my shoe choices and I took away the height. Butttttttt since we are finally coming out of that, I'm raising my own heel height back up to 4 inches, too.

heels galore

Let's be honest here - ladies, our backsides can look ahhhhhhhmazing in heels. It's perfectly OK to admit it - it's true. They prop you up, instantly giving you more confidence and perfectly toned legs in a matter of seconds.

new heels, ready to wear

Throw on your favorite pair of skinny jeans, cami or fitted T-shirt with a blazer for fitted jacket with a pair of platform stilettos and that is my perfect outfit. It looks classic yet chic and one of my favorite outfits because of the structured look. Plus, heels always glam up even the most casual outfit!

Guess black pumps, Nine West leopard and grey peep toes

Nine West black booties, two toned and cognac booties

Indirectly only one of those pairs isn't Nine West but when I find a comfortable pair, I run to get them in other colors. Other favorite brands include Steven by Steve Madden, Guess and Sam Edelman and if you watch, you can snag them at killer prices, too. I am obsessed Dolce Vita and Kelsi Dagger but they never quite work out.

What are your favorite heels? Brands? Colors? Do tell because you know I love to shop!

Disclaimer - In case there was any confusion, I'm in no way affiliated with Zappos, but I love a company with an excellent return policy and kick ass customer service. So I'm a fan for life.

the one where I don't have a clever title that includes Madonna, juke boxes and bar hopping

2012-02-06T06:30:00.000-05:00

Who didn't love that halftime show!

I don't care that she lipsynched.

I don't care that she almost fell on those bleachers. (She was in heels for god's sake!)

I don't care that she is bringing back pom poms. (I can wear a fingerless glove or two but I straight up draw the line at pom poms.)

Visually, I thought it was stunning for viewers.

Pom power!

I sat with my friend, Erin, glued to the TV and dancing on the bed and singing at the top of lungs, texting with CLEshopaholic as we are already planning to attend her unannounced concert tour this year.

Between Lady Gaga, her and Britney, I'm a fan for life of Madonna's. I can remember my aunt giving me her "True Blue" tape all those years ago and my mom bringing me home the only "appropriate" poster from her Blonde Ambition Tour to tape up on my bedroom door.

My friends and family know my love for all things Madonna and made sure to text me during and after the performance -

From my friend, Ryan, who hearts pop music but denies it- "decent."

From my brother - "So yeah there was no continuity with the songs. it just kinda stopped and started."

From my friend, Jessica - "MADONNA WAS AMAZING."

From my friend, Katelyn - "Please don't tell me you liked that halftime show."

From my cousin, Bryan -"Wow, Madonna is more geriatric than I thought. She can't even move her hips and is just walking around!"

From my mom - "I loved the halftime show. I had predicted 2 of the 4 songs she sang. She snuck in open your heart."
(Side note: How cute is my mom with her texts! She knows her Madonna too!)

So, what did I do this weekend beside spends the evening with friends and this cute little baby?

Little BKE

I joined a friend at the Cleveland Aquarium for a networking event on behalf Hahn Loeser & Parks where I ran into a fellow Twitter friend and a few fellow Kent Staters too. Hi @Billablesean! The group had the whole place to ourselves to take our time to walk through the exhibit at our leisure. P.S. Apparently you will be able to swim with sharks soon.

lobsters, Nemo and stingrays

Such a cute captain and my dress totally matched indirectly with the setting

Friday was a mix of lots of work and a little play, where I joined my coworkers for the last few minutes of glass blowing on w. 25th and then had a few drinks and snacks at Market Garden.

Bet you've never had a conference call in the bathroom? Yep, that's right, this girl did because my phone had AMAZING service in there but not outside, in say.....the rest of the place.

Nic making an octopus

instagram makes all food photos look better

Saturday night was pretty hilarious in its entirety because it started off with a classy belated birthday dinner for Lisa at Parallax and ended with a dare game with complete strangers in ABC Tavern, which included galloping like horses and convincing someone to do the worm.

In between a delicious and equally entertaining dinner conversation and our late night trip to ABC, the group held an impromptu dance party in Hotz Cafe. I've never been to Hotz but leave it to that Alexa to direct us to an awesome little dive bar with a kick ass jukebox. You want Blink 182? Check. M83? Duh. Rihanna? You better believe it.

dancing till the world ends

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll be navigating through a week completely scheduled out with something every single night (and definitely blogworthy content let me tell you) and counting down the days until I will be ~~falling on my ass in the snow~~ skiing and hot tubbing with a group of of 20 friends and friends of friends for the whole weekend. Maybe a few of them are even cute and single....

Here's to hoping I come back in one piece with no broken bones!

at the moment

2012-02-01T09:45:00.001-05:00

Just a few things I'm feeling at the moment in no particular order.....

After signing up to run my second half marathon, I was in desperate need of new workout gear. Pants, tanks, jackets and still some new socks and possible shoes.

What surprisingly arrived the week of my birthday? New workout gear courtesy of Gap Fit.

Surprise! I live in the yoga pants

5 new pairs of pants, a tank and a new running jacket

I kept hearing this song on the preview of a show ~~Khloe and Lamar~~ I'd rather not mention and instantly fell in love with it.

A few years back I saw Chris Mann perform at Mom 2.0 and look who is all grown up, a Warbler on Glee and singing on The Voice this season.

Back in August when I was on my way to my first BlogHer, I needed some reading material for the plane and randomly picked up Elle, which happened to include an article about Gabrielle Bernstein which couldn't have come at a better time.

Upon landing, I ordered a copy of Add More -Ing to Your Life and have read and reread sections of the book and even bought a copy for a friend. That girl speaks my language.

It's winter and I need boots. Not just knee-high ones or Hunters but a pair of dressy boots too. And I found the perfect booties from Nine West via Zappos.

sassy and stylish and only $97!

Disclaimer: I'm a Gap Enthusiast, which means from time to time they send me surprises in the mail from Gap. Full review to come!

taming the weekend

2012-01-30T07:00:00.000-05:00

The weekend, oh the weekend.

Since I've moved downtown, I've had plans almost every night since October for every weekend night. I've wanted to stay in and relax but I've pretty much been on the go for the past three months straight whether it's going out to bars, dinners or entertaining friends at my new place. (Don't worry, I'm not complaining at all!)

I finally spent my first Friday night in with a date night with my DVR and sushi for dinner. A night in was so needed after a busy week and fighting a cold that I believe is still coming on now. (Seriously, this snow then rain then 45 degrees then wind storm isn't helping my sinuses.)

Philly, spicy scallop, crab salad and miso soup. OH MY!

I passed up happy hour invites, invites to east side and movie nights to stay in to lay on my couch, catch up on Grey's Anatomy, Prime Suspect and the Mob Wives while enjoying sushi from Sushi 86, which is a stone's throw away from my place.

Saturday night I turned things up a notch and joined a group of friends at Touch Supper Club for Old School Hip Hop Night. Holla!

Hip hop hooray,....hooooo....eeehhhhh...ohhhh

That's my best Naughty by Nature impression of course.

We busted a move in the basement for a few hours but my god it gets crowded as hell down there. And, I can't tell you how many guys were in layers after layers with even winter coats on and were dancing in them. In full winter gear! I had on a silk shirt with a blazer and leather leggings and I was DYING after a few minutes of bopping around on the floor.

How the hell did those boys last the whole night in those coats?!?

The back view of my all black ensemble courtesy of Sean

After waking up without the help of an alarm clock, I headed to the wayyyy eastside to my old stomping grounds of Chagrin Falls and joined two friends for a belated birthday brunch at Yours Truly where we were joined by one of their adorable and incredibly animated almost 4-year-old daughter.

little cutie!

I finished Sunday off visiting my friends and little Brooklyn because she just celebrated her 2 week birthday. They just grow up so fast! She's already walking and talking. Just kidding!

apparently i'm more popular when I'm single

2012-01-25T06:00:00.000-05:00

While I don't normally pay attention to analytics from this blog, I will occasionally peruse my stats and see when and where people are reading and what seems to be better days to post versus others. (Yes, my dear, I see you!)

When I took a blogging break back in September, everyone took a liking to my new single status and must've shared this blog with everyone and their mothers but I'm not complaining. Keep on reading, friends!

The most popular question I get now from friends is - "Are you dating yet?"

Me: "Nope, not yet."
Random friend: "Youuuuuuu haven't gone any dates."
Me: "Ahh, no, just not really interested quite yet."
Random friend: "How is that possible? Noooo guys have asked you out yet ?!?"
Me: "Nope, none. I'm pretty sure I have an invisible force field around me that says, 'stay away, stay far away!"

social dating at its best

Hmmmm. Let me be honest here. I'm not going to pull a J.Lo or a Madonna and start dating someone incredibly younger than me to where you all will think, "What the hell has gotten into her?" Will not be happening.

But with the end of a very serious relationship, I'm taking time for myself and doing whatever the hell I want, when I want. I was consistently in relationships for the last eight years, compromising my wants and desires way more than the boys did, and I promised myself I would take at least six months to relax, unwind, reconnect with new and old friends and refocus on what I want before I even think about hopping on the dating scene. No dating, just me, myself and I. (Sing it, Beyonce!)

And........I'm still on the fence about putting myself out in the dating scene, depending on which day it is of course.

Even thinking about it causes some anxiety because I'm not even remotely interested in a relationship. Commitment. None of it. At this point, I am to dating as what kryptonite is to SuperMan. And, not to mention this all seems so complicatedddddddd and sooooo much work. Don't text me if you get my number, call me.

Pick. Up. The. Phone. And. Dial. My. Number. Really, what is so hard about that?

Anyway, I'm on the defense and my walls are up pretty high around me. While the walls won't stay up forever, I'm hesitant to take any of my friends up on introducing me to guys, going on blind dates or even calling back those numbers I have mostly because I'm just interested in having fun without the commitment. The last thing I want to do is hurt someone because I'm not in an open and truly trusting mindset quite yet.

I'll get there, I know I will, but I'm completely content and satisfied relishing in my newly found freedom and refined version of myself, which is more fashionable than ever before, if I do say so myself.

So, friends, hold onto those guys that will be PERFECT for me because you know never, I just may take you up on that offer sooner than I even think.

And, of course, I will share about alllllllllllllllllllll the good, bad and ugly dates that take place because if nothing else, I can laugh about the stories I'll have to share.

Update: Shout out to reader Marie who called in last night when Alexa and I appeared on This City show on CSF Radio. Glad I can entertain you and your coworkers!

i heart a birthday celebration

2012-01-23T07:00:00.000-05:00

Well, that was amazingly exciting weekend.

The birthday week has ceased and what a kick ass week it was as all the celebrating is complete.

Knowing Saturday was going to get bat shit crazy (and it did), Alexa, Jenn and I decided to stay in and avoid snowmaggdeon by eating Noodlecat, drinking champagne and devouring not one but splitting three ridiculous decadent sundaes from Sweet Moses.

We owned these sundaes.

We thought it would be a great idea to watch a movie, so we rented "The Ides of March" but Alexa and I passed out incredibly quick and I slept over because we were too lazy to move cars - adult sleepover!!! The next morning we continued our relaxing day with brunch at Latitude 41 where we laughed, picked guys who Jenn and I should consider dating and discussed other important topics over coffee.

best brunch ever

Saturday night I gathered a group of friends from work, high school, college and social media peeps and we drank and partied the night away at Market Garden Brewery. Apparently, everyone thought it was my 21st birthday, not my 29th, because several friends thought it would be a GREAT idea to start buying shots for me.

Sidenote: I can't drink like I used to. Not even close. A few drinks and I'm done for it - if I were to take on a bottle of vodka, chances are I'd lose. Very badly. And, I lost to the shots too.

Danielle, Meredith, Katie and me

before the shots, I'm standing tall

Apparently Sean was sleepy, Charity and Ben

Alexa, me and Ahmed - photobomber

And, two friends thought it would be a great idea to scope out the scene for guys and capture as many numbers as they could for me by letting every guy know it was my birthday. I would like to apologize to the bartender who put up with my talkative friends, incessantly asking for his number and giving mine out.

I finished out the weekend with most of it spent in bed on Sunday, then on the couch and then my weekend roommate Danielle and I were functioning by mid afternoon to take ourselves out of my apartment to grab dinner at Tremont Taphouse for some macaroni and cheese and burgers.

We killed it.

A big thank you to everyone who came out on Saturday night, sent a birthday tweet, gave me a sparkly birthday card and made this a fabulous weeklong birthday celebration for me. And, I apologize in advance if I didn't say goodbye to everyone because I KNOW I didn't. I'm pretty sure of that as I recall what happened that night.

most hilarious and appropriate group of cards

one year older.....

2012-01-18T07:30:00.000-05:00

.....and a lot wiser, smarter, more sparkly, vivacious and excited for my year as a 29 year-old.

So as I thought of ways to celebrate my impending birthday, I made a pretty extensive list on my iPhone called "presents to buy myself." Pretty straight to the point.

It's been a list I've been building and dreaming of items to add to my wardrobe since the summer time. Just a handy list of shoes, clothes and purses I add to my Pinterest page or something I read about that I must have. Or dream about buying one day.

And on this iPhone list includes.....

Tory Burch flats

Louis Vuitton Neverfull

Tory Burch clutch

Alexander McQueen scarf

Marc Jacobs rose gold watch
J Brand skinny jeans
Laptop bag

Because I don't have an unlimited bank account and as my dad says, "Money doesn't grow on trees," I can't pick up everything on my wish list at once but I love having a list to work toward. To reward and treat myself. Treat yo self!

Off my list, I chose a nice piece of jewelry to rock on my wrist alone or with a group of other bracelets depending on my mood. Accessories are key my blog friends. Absolutely key to any outfit.

I can tell time now!

Happy 29th birthday to me!

onto the next

2012-01-16T07:30:00.000-05:00

My weekend kicked off on Thursday night this week with a birthday dinner to celebrate three birthdays because each of my two friends and I turned 29 within the last two months - November, December and now mine in January.

The girls and I hit up Ginko, sipped on complimentary champagne because they overheard me explaining the most lame ticket I've ever been given in my entire driving career minutes before I got there and tasted some of their delicious rolls (thumbs up to the Ginko and Royal crab rolls and spicy scallop chips).

Sushi and drinks! Yes please!

Earlier in the week, I received a text from my friend Carrie asking if I wanted to go see Last Call Cleveland - you know, the group behind some of our the hilarious Cleveland videos. We laughed our asses off for two hours then grabbed a few drinks to round out a busy work week for all four of us.

Saturday night one hundred of Sean's closest friends headed down to the Harbor Inn for Sean's Yacht Club Party (26 + 4). If you follow this boy on FourSquare, you know he was doing something new every night working up until this 30th bday party. Everyone showed up in their nautical best consisting of popped collar polos, striped shirts, top siders and even the occasional shark costume.


Party people!

Lisa, Kelly, Alexa, me and Janet

birthday boy, a dancing machine

Sunday brought an early morning filled with cleaning up all 800 square feet of my apartment, catching up on my DVR and knocking some work out of the way. After all that was complete, I headed to the east side for a few hours to my very good friends' house to meet their baby girl who was born on Friday the 13th. (This girl knows how to make an entrance already after arriving 5 days late.)

Although I was kept up-to-date via Facebook and pictures from my friend (the new mom!), I couldn't wait to get over and meet this adorable baby who it felt like took forever to come into this world. I'm now to the point where the majority of my friends are married and we are onto babies. (Sounds so adult, right?)

It's so surreal to see my friends have babies, especially after you've been talking about the unnamed baby girl for months! Well, the wait is over and baby Brooklyn is finally here. She is healthy at 7 pounds, some ounces and all sorts of adorableness.

Baby Brooklyn, making her blog debut!

After successfully holding a very cute infant without being too weirded out by it (they scare me!), I joined a lovely group of ladies to judge, critique and ultimately determine that every celebrity should've asked us what they should've worn at the Golden Globes at Charity's house.

champagne, sugar free jello and wine

group shot checking phones and Twitter

Two things -

1) All the ladies apparently had two color choices - Nude or Navy.

2) All the men apparently wanted to go with the "glow look" and were all specially spray tanned today.

While this weekend has come to a close, this week kicks off my birthday week with me officially turning 29 on Wednesday!!!! I'm super pumped, love celebrating birthdays and may or may not take a whole week to celebrate my birth with friends and end the week with a party on Saturday night.

where you should be on February 25

2012-01-11T10:50:00.000-05:00

Where will you be on February 25th?

Do you know?

Do you want plans?

I will be with 800+ other people dancing the night away, sipping martinis out of ice luges and hanging out at the 21st annual Jump Back Ball. The party consists of two amazing bands, Tricky Dick and the Cover Ups (late night band) and RadioActive (main stage), who played the event last year.

So much fun.

There's also delicious food and open bar which is included in your ticket price, and the VIP food will be catered by AMP 150 again this year. All this fun can be yours for either VIP tickets for $200 or general admission at $170 each. (That's my best Price is Right impersonation!) The money raised from this event goes to PlayHouseSquare's not-for-profit mission and raised $140,000 last year.

Last year, I was chosen as one of the JBB bloggers where I shared about the event and kicked myself for not going sooner to this party that I heard all my downtown friends talk about.

Typically overheard from my friends:

"You'vvvvvvvvvveeee never been?"

"How is thissssss even possible?"

After attending last year and inviting a group of new attendees, that same group purchased tickets again for this year and we've already started to plan our outfits as to what we will wear. (Fascinator anyone?)

My friend Katie found her dress last year at Nordstrom's and realized she needed to pick that up for this year's party upon seeing a girl wear it at the event and she looked hot. The theme is Through the Looking Glass and some people do get dressed up in theme, which is totally awesome by the way, so I hope someone comes dressed as the Queen of Hearts or the Mad Hatter or even Alice for that matter.

So last year, I posted a few dresses as possible options and I'm leaning toward officially doing Rent the Runway for reals this year.

Black Tibi Black Mini Dress

Gold Glimmer Herve Leger

Navy Yigal Azrouel with chain shoulder detail

Nicole Miller from the front

From the back

While I have over a month to find a dress, I guarantee you that I will be scrambling last minute to find something to wear out of my friends' closets as the date comes closer.

And, if you are interested in coming, I suggest you purchase your tickets very quickly. If you are on the fence, you should come and here's a first timer's guide to answer any of your questions. The event sells out so it's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when the event sells out and you don't want to miss this either.

Disclosure: I received a free ticket in exchange for blogging about this fabulous event I was going to attend. I'm bringing a girl friend who hasn't been and is equally excited to attend her first JBB.

party rock

2012-01-09T08:00:00.000-05:00

Dear Allison of four months ago -

While you are debating on moving downtown or staying in your comfort zone on the east side, your future self is loving her downtown life and is thanking you on a daily basis for taking the leap.

You will make excuses that it's too much money.

It doesn't make sense.

Maybe you should buy a condo somewhere instead of renting.

But ultimately you take a chance. You have more parties to attend, happy hours to hit up and bars to go to then you know what to do with.

Jenn's birthday dinner at Crop on Friday

Shibani, Jen and the birthday girl in green and 28!

Your downtown friends are super cool and since you only hang out them once in awhile based on your current zipcode, you will hang out with them all the time and love and appreciate them more than you know. A bunch of cool kids indeed....

Damn Alexa for introducing me this amazing beer to replace my Lambic addiction

While you have to drive farther to work, your car will stay put in the garage most of the weekend, which causes you confusion when trying to find said car on Monday mornings because you often forget what floor you parked on.

Saturday night fun

So when you do make the move, live it up like you are 25, drink too many vodka sodas, stay out to make it to after hours and dance the whole night away because you deserve it. After all, it's about time you relax, soak in your success and how much you love the present.

Thanks,
Your future self

what didn't happen last year...

2012-01-04T22:57:00.000-05:00

It's about that time when everyone starts reflecting on the past year, making new year's resolutions or just plain breaking them after only a few days. (Sidenote - I can't believe it's 2012 and I have yet to make a resolution.)

By having this blog, I can look back over the past year and recount what I did with friends and family and where my head was at in March, May or July. That's one great thing about having a blog - you can always read through the past events whenever you want.

Looking back at my posts, I had a pretty kick ass time (yes, I said kick ass and mean it) and I wouldn't take anything back. Not a damn thing or wish anything happened differently because it was a roller coaster of a time.

I attended the Jump Back Ball for the first year with friends and realized how much I was missing by not attending sooner and a Lexus Dark Ride event at the Playhouse, where we saw Dev and Jay Sean perform a few songs. My high school friends and I met up in DC for a weekend of laughs, wine and dancing and I sang my ass off to my third Lady Gaga concert. I watched my younger brother's law school graduation (he did it!) and purchased the LV bag I've been dreaming of for four flipping years. I continued my summer of concerts with attending both Britney Spears and New Kids on the Block in the same week.

In August, I started the beginning of my summer/fall travel with heading to BlogHer for the first time to meet up with fabulous bloggers followed by attending two Indians games in the Social Suite and then celebrating two friend's birthdays to round out the month.

In September, I jetted down to Folly Beach, S.C., for a very good friend's bachelorette party for Labor Day weekend and what a weekend it was then got up bright and early to tailgate for the Browns home opener.

In mid September, I shared my most personal post in all four years of writing this blog about my break up. And, it turns out that the demise of my relationship proved pretty popular with all of you because I had a daily record of people visiting!!! I kid you not.

I took some much needed time off and came back a month later with a new design, new apartment and a refreshed perspective and a hot new style to boot.

In November, I celebrated one of my best friend's birthdays and headed south to Punta Cana with another friend to get our grooves back after experiencing ridiculous eerily similar breakups within months of each other. With the holidays approaching, I finished up most of my apartment decorating and only have a few more things to purchase until I'm onto the bedroom.

Phew.... Are you still with me?

So where will this year take me?

Up to the fabulous age of 29. 14 days and counting!

A ski trip. Check!

Jump Back Ball. Check!

Girls' weekend in DC. Third year in a row!

(And that's just the first three months.)

Dating cute boys. Well, not yet.

So, I'll let you friends play match maker. Why not, right?

the one where we partied all night long

2012-01-02T19:21:00.003-05:00

What a new years that was!

To ring in 2012, I spent two days going to parties including a Holladays party on New Year's Eve Eve and spending the night with a group of girls for New Year's Eve - one of my favorite nights out.

The fabulous Lisa and Alexa hosted their third annual New Year's Eve Eve Holla days Festival of Awesomeness (best event name ever!) and I joined 100 other peeps to drink, be merry and wear sparkles in the new Spice Kitchen and Bar.

Me and Shibani; One half of the hosts; the crowd

Dance party to Rihanna

For New Year's Eve, I hosted a group of girls at my place for apps and chocolate martinis and then we hit up W.25th and W.6th bars and drank enough champagne, vodka martinis and Coronas for five guys.

friends; Best tux of the night; Touch; me and Danielle

We were at Market for a few shoreway coolers then ran across the street to Bier Markt and Speakeasy but that place was CRAZY packed like it was a summer night on the rooftop of Velvet Dog. .

Group shot at Market

We ditched that place to head to Touch to ring in 1/1/12 and catch the end of Lady Gaga's performance (you better believe I watched it then next day hungover) then danced like it was 1998 to old school hip hop in the basement.

Like fools, we went to W.6th and met up with my brother and his friends at Liquid. He is essentially my wing man since I've moved downtown because he's either out with me and his friends or he's calling me to come over for "breakfast" when I don't even know he's down here. Guess that's what older sisters are for.....

Yep, that's him!

What turned out to be a late night turned into another lonnnnngggg day that started with a home cooked breakfast then a walk to Panini's down the street to watch the Browns with my brother and his friends, which then turned into receiving impromptu Cavs tickets (Thanks Amanda, Kristina and Kandis!) to watch them win against the Nets.

Go Browns!

For some reason, everyone was booing Kris Humphries but I still don't understand why because if they boo him, they better be booing Kim for the sham wedding that is still covering all the gossip rags.

My pseudo roommate, Danielle; go cavs!

Like so many other people, I was lucky enough to have the day off on this lovely Monday to pull my apartment back together, take down my Christmas decorations, organize my overflowing closet all while watching a Sex and the City marathon.

Have I mentioned I love living downtown? Because I do! Here we go 2012!

glitter this NYE

2011-12-29T16:50:00.000-05:00

For the past two weeks, my friends and I have been going back and forth about what to do about NYE, putting so much pressure on ourselves to have a good time. And, for those of you interested, whatever decision we made was really going to determine what I was going to wear because the location sometimes determines the outfit. (You have to coordinate appropriately of course!)

So we are going to put on our platforms and try not to fall, sparkly dresses and faux fur jackets and head out in downtown Cleveland (with or without snow mind you) with a bunch of other random people to ring in the new year.

Champagne!
Noise makers!
Sequin dresses!
Making out with random people!
Spilling champagne on the sparkling dresses!

Here's to 2011 going out with a bang!

P.S. I may be one of the few people who absolutely lovvvvvesss New Years Eve. I always have - any excuse to wear sequins, I'll take!

i'ts christmastime

2011-12-28T00:56:00.002-05:00

wellllllcome back from the holiday weekend!

As I recover from eating way too many cookies for breakfast, chocolate-covered homemade candy and drinking one too many pints of Christmas ale, I figured I'd do a recap post via photos to explain what I did for the past four days.

I'm really serious about the cookies for breakfast thing - this HAS to stop.

To kick off the Christmas festivities, my cousins and I all went out on Friday night to Lakewood, which proved to reiterate the fact that we were too old to be there.

I failed at taking photos but here's our favorite beer and Keith and Greg.

Christmas Eve was spent with my family in Amherst and ended with a late night at a local bar with a group of my high school friends. Nothing says the holidays like an impromptu bar night.

fur, family and cookies

love these ladies - katey, danielle and steph

Christmas ales all around

high school crew

Because my brother and I closed the bars down and up super early on Christmas day, we enjoyed a Christmas day lunch/dinner and after my third mimosa I made the mistake of lying down on the most comfortable couch next to mine.

most comfortable couch

I was out for another hour then joined my family later in the evening to watch Hangover 2 - nothing says Merry Christmas like some good ol' fbombs and Thai strip clubs.

Somehow....it's almost January 1. Wow has this month (and year) flown the hell by......

giving back

2011-12-21T10:12:00.000-05:00

At this time of the year, you read lots of articles about people being "secret santas" or paying off strangers' layway fees in the news.

While I was on my plane to Punta Cana, I was reading one of my many magazines and I came across a calendar of 31 ways to give back this holiday season.

As kids, my family would donate Christmas gifts at our local church and my brother and I would pick names from the tree for kids we would never meet and have even adopted families for the holiday season.

There were a few organizations that popped off the list of places to donate to like krochetkids.org to purchase crocheted hats or clothes to keep Ugandan women working and educated or faceaids.org to donate to an HIV positive pregnant woman in Rwanda to provide drugs or forthesilent.org to fight against child sex trafficking or giveanhour.org to buy a counseling session for a soldier returning from war.

Shame on me but I haven't given back enough. I am a very lucky girl and sometimes pinch myself for all the success I've had both personally and professionally. Sometimes I still can't believe I live downtown or even in this fab apartment. It's still so surreal to me.

I'm making notes on my list of things to do for 2012 and giving back is one of many things on my list. Whether that's contributing to friends who run for cancer or donating to a friend's child's school fundraiser or donating my time to a charity of my choice.

So, how are you giving back this season?

almost tis the season

2011-12-18T22:49:00.002-05:00

It's the most wonderful time of the year.......................

I just love the holidays and probably one of the few people who generally enjoy winter weather. Maybe it's because after Thanksgiving the holidays come which is quickly followed my birthday in mid-January but the snow this weekend totally put me in the holiday spirit.

But first, we celebrated my college friend's birthday in Willoughby at Billy's Martini Bar for a few cocktails and moved to Willoughby Brewing Company.

Jeweled skulls and signs are a must.

smile!

Fur Friday!

After leaving the east side, I wasn't ready to go home and swung by XYZ to meet up with some friends where I was instantly made fun of for my fur coat upon sitting down.

"Uhhhhhhhhh. Ok Real Housewives of Cleveland," said as I grabbed a chair to sit down. (This faux fur jacket was sure the talk of the night, including the boys in my elevator who said, "I've never seen Cleveland girls wear jackets like that. Ummmmm. Ok.)

Saturday consisted of running around to actually start Christmas shopping way on the east side then came back to my apartment to hang out with some fellow residents and Twitter friends who I haven't seen in awhile, where we sipped hot toddies and champagne before I headed out to meet another group of girlfriends at Market Garden then Bar Cento to make plans for NYE, which we still need to nail down but we are getting close. Or, at least I hope so because I have a sparkly gold dress that needs to be worn.

A few things to note:

1) I didn't take any photos
2) Girls are still wearing shirts as dresses with high stiletto boots.

So, I ask you, how on earth do these girls' friends NOT tell them they are wearing shirts as dresses or leggings as pants!? Anddddddd, if you are going to wear a shirt as a dress, you MUST at least wear flats to hide the fact that you are indeed not wearing pants. Am I right???

Here's to a short work week, more holiday parties and drinking and laughing with out-of-town friends and family for the next week.