Wedding Weekend Recap!

 



A few weeks ago, I flew to DC with my college gal pals to celebrate my gf's bachelorette party. This weekend, the long awaited day finally came and we celebrated Steph & Joey's wedding! It was so lovely--in every aspect!

Here comes the bride!

I've never encountered such a calm, collected (and beautiful!) bride--must be all that event planning experience :) From the church, flowers, dress, accessories, reception, venue, to live band, everything was on point! No detail went unnoticed during the memorable day and evening!

 

 

Swept her right off her feet!! :)

Photo source via Facebook

 

 

Congratulations Mr & Mrs!

Gorgeous flower arrangements!!

After the ceremony, we headed over to the Intercontinental Hotel for an awesome & first class reception. We had such a fun time as we celebrated our first college gal pal getting hitched to a great guy!!!


The happy couple's first dance

Love this cake-cutting photo



Congrats, Steph!

Rockin the poof and curls

JCU girls!



Old habits die hard...get weird :)

Reeling that great catch in..
haha gotta love those dance moves!

 

What an awesome wedding!!!! Dancing, toasting, laughing, celebrating, catching up with college friends, delicious food and sweets, and witnessing a major milestone for a longtime friend! I hope my future wedding is enjoyable as theirs was!

Congratulations to Steph and Joey...wishing you love birds a wonderful life and journey ahead as you start this new chapter in your lives. And thank you for including me in your special day! XOXO...keep JAMmin :)

Whirlwind Winter Weekend in CLE!

Wow, definitely will check off this weekend as a win in my book! I kicked off the whirlwind of weekend events and good times on Friday by hitting Happy Dog for Polka Happy Hour with DJ Kishka (Cleveland's premier polka-playing DJ, yes, you read that correctly).

DJ Kishka getting in the polka jams at Happy Dog!
All Clevelanders must experience this event at least once!

 Not only is Happy Dog a great place to blow off some steam after a long work week and take in Cleveland's finest loaded hot dogs & tater tots, but add a legendary Cleveland DJ heckling the crowd, dressed in costume, and rocking some traditional polka jams, and you have yourself a winning way to start off your weekend!

Egg-cellent idea! #GoodLifeDecisions
Post hot dog, hoovering down some bacon and egg tater tots!

After polka-ing my way through Happy Hour at Happy Dog, I headed over to CSU to see my homeboy, J. Buckner screen his short film that I got to watch him create! Soooo cool to see the final product on the big screen! A wonderfully talented and passionate group of actors and filmmakers showcased their work to a crowded auditorium of film-lovers, artists, and CLE Believers. The Indie CLE event presented 6 excellent, quality, and locally made short films by CLE's young movers & shakers. Read my original recap of filming "The Samaritans" here.

Photo courtesy of J. Buckner on Facebook

Zach Shildwatchter, Executive Producer. and  J. Buckner, Director. of "The Samaritans"
post-screening doing a Q&A with the audience

Congrats on all the hard work...Bravo!

Watch "The Samaritans" and follow J. Buckner's other awesome short film projects at www.thestudioonmars.com. His team is cranking out quality short films, winning awards, and making a name in Cleveland and beyond for young budding filmmakers, actors, and artists...pyaaaaw! Good stuff!

On Saturday, I started my day seeking out some design inspiration. I am beginning a refurnishing project and super jazzed about it. I scored some really cool knobs for my dresser and some matte black paint to refinish it. My mom and I ventured out to the antique shops on Lorain Ave. to get some other crafty ideas. The antique stores stretch down Lorain Ave. on Cleveland's west side from about W.80th to W. 65th. There are so many hidden gems you can find there. My favorite place is an incredible store called Reincarnation Vintage Design. Their displays are gorgeous and so cleverly repurposed. If you dig hunting antiques and thrifty finds, or need some beautiful ideas on how to give new life to old furniture, you definitely must check out the antique shops on Lorain, including Reincarnation Vintage Design.

Photo source: RVD Facebook page
to see their latest shipments and pieces be sure to "like" their Facebook page...or stop in!

"Thrift Shop" by Macklemore
Dude, you have GOT to watch this music video....

After my day of antique hunting and scoping out the second-hand stores in CLE, it only felt fitting to JAM to this hilariously awesome song, "Thrift Shop"  by Macklemore while out downtown on Saturday night. Wooowweee--busting out the dance moves. What a winning night! First time I've stayed up to see the sunrise, probably since my college days. Goooood times! :) I capped off the weekend with brunch at Grumpy's Cafe  in Tremont and got brunched in the face with some seriously tasty eggs benedict and cajun home fries. Despite the restaurant's namesake, I left there feeling happy, full, starry-eyed, ready for a long nap and hopeful for more adventures in CLE with good people. If I had one phrase to sum up this whirlwind winter weekend in CLE, what would it be? Good life decisions :) Keep JAMmin!

Burrito Bowling Blast

Yes, I never thought I'd find myself experiencing the combo of burritos and bowling--but stranger things have happened. That's the cool thing about our great city, you are always (re)discovering things to do, places to see, food to eat, and fun times to have. This past weekend my bff, Catie, asked me to go bowling. I wrinkled my nose at the idea at first, but she convinced me it would be a blast. Of course, she was right! And by the end, I finally got my lucky strike!!

Source

Pre-bowling blast we hit up a newly opened taco joint in Lakewood called Taco Tonto's. The original was near Catie's alma mater of Kent State, and when a second opened in Lakewood, she was PUMPED. She recommended the sweet potato burrito. I know, crazy, right? But DELICIOUS!

A fully loaded and toasted burrito stuffed with sweet potato, black beans, cheese, onion and lettuce-YUM!

The food was great--but the service process um interesting.  As the dinner rush hit, we tried to order drinks at the bar and instead had to go stand in a long line of hungry, hungry people to order a drink. Hmmmm....You couldn't order a round of drinks either, each person had to wait in line, show their ID, and go back to the table one at a time. Feels like there coooould be an easier process for this--but maybe that's just how they operate. I'd recommend going there on an off-night during off-hours to really get to enjoy it. But you'll definitely enjoy the food there anytime!

 

After burrito blowout, we were ready to bowl some balls at Mahall's. I hadn't been there since I was probably about 8 for a birthday party, and wow it's different! It recently changed owners earlier this year & updated to more of its glory day style. Read the story from Freshwater Cleveland here.

Too Cool Bowling Pinsetter Light Fixture
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Major bowling bonus cool points? Not only did they have two floors of bowling, but also a performance hall upstairs with AWESOME live music, and a live DJ spinning jams downstairs, coupled with a rustic hipster bar and pitchers of Goose Island with mason jar glasses (yes I have an affinity for mason jars)!!! The vibe was right and I was ready to rumble down the alley as all my pins and arrows were aligned!

Admit it!
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Turns out, bowling maaaay not be my strong suit, but I had so much fun that I consider that a win!

Be silly. Get awkward. Embrace it. Dance. Bowl. Have fun. Get happy!!!

I think I need to watch The Big Lebowski after my recent bowling adventure
The Dude Abides

If you haven't checked out Mahall's recently--seriously, get a group together and go! I promise it won't disappoint!!!

Surround Yourself Only With Those Who Lift You Higher

Aint that the truth? Sometimes we forget the awesome people in our life who really do lift us up, and focus too much on helping those who are bringing us down!


Put those hands up! Higher and hiiiigher!

Well I am so happy to say I had a VERY uplifting weekend in CLE. Friday I took a happy walk up to Happy Hour at the Buckeye Beer Engine (scoff--my very first time there--see what I mean about overlooking what's right in front of you!) And I met these AMAZING friends for dinner and drinks:

Gina, Justin, me, Sara & Ryan

 

Tuscan Burger: Applewood smoked bacon, rosemary goat cheese, roasted red peppers and caramelized balsamic onions.
Stopppp it!

After dinner, we headed back to Gina and Justin's home and had the most epic awesome dance party I've ever had the chance to participate in. It started with a few Buckeye Growlers to go--then playing Just Dance...

 

Clearly I was getting waaaaaay into my dance moves! Win!

 

The night got pretty silly/wonderful, and ended with a 1 AM hour long dance party finale complete with multiple strobe lights, a smoke machine, bumping bass and some serious sore legs the next day. Best. Night. EVER!

 On Saturday, I headed to brunch at this hidden gem in Tremont, Fat Cats (or as Jeff likes to call it, "The Tubby Kitty"). We sat outside and enjoyed the gorgeous first official day of FALL!

Zucchini and Chorizo Omelet-so tasssssty!
 

And obviously, when a girl needs a fool-proof pick me up....we headed over to the glorious heavenly place known as Lilly's Chocolates for dessert. Take note gentleman: a woman will NEVER turn down handmade chocolates from Lilly's

Meet the chocolates here

T.A. really pumped about her first Lilly's purchase and experience :)

How could this bubbly friend, adorable decor and smell of fresh chocolate NOT get you higher!?

 

 

Later in the evening I headed to my friend's birthday party (Tremont-loving Saturday!!)

Albin Sisters and me

Well played photo-bombing, sir.



Look who I found meow! :)

Celebrating the end of the night with the birthday girl and a giant pizza from Edison's!




Such a fantastic weekend. Definitely need to rest up after all that action, eating, dancing, and festivities! What did I learn about myself and CLE this weekend?