Bitches @ Mitch's

If you're looking for something fun to do with your pups this weekend, you're in luck. I have just the event for you!!

What: Bitch's @ Mitch's
Where: Shops of Old River on Old Detroit Road in Rocky River
Why: to benefit the Cleveland APL. And shop. Of course!!
When: Saturday, October 2nd, from 11:00am- 4:00pm

The main event will be hosted at Mitchell Sotka's for the Fourth Year in a row, and will feature a host of local designers selling their creations, with a portion of the proceeds benefiting the APL. While you're there, you should also consider visiting Pzazz for some super cute finds, especially those of the jewelry variety!!

Ingenuity Fest 2010

This past weekend, I went to one of the MOST FUN EVENTS in Cleveland; Ingenuity Fest held under the Detroit-Superior Bridge (easily the BEST SPOT in Cleveland). Music, Art, Design, lots of fun and interesting people, and one giant man-made waterfall combined for a great evening and fantastic weekend!

 If you missed this year's event, you should really really try and make it over to Ingenuity Fest next year!! If you did make it, what did you think? Better than prior years? What would you change? (personally, I would have pointed the lights up toward the ceiling; the lights pointing toward me were almost dizzying at points).

Picking a winner with Clair

As promised, there's a winner for the animal-print bracelet from last week. A step-by-step guide to picking a winner with St. Clair

Step 1: the contestants

Step 2: in the seletion vessel

Step 3 (the beautiful judge):

Step 4: The pick

Step 5: the reveal.....

dun dun dun dun......

Congratulations T!!! You're the big winner of this blog's FIRST EVER CONTEST!!!

Raining cats and dogs

If you live in NorthEast Ohio, this is not news to you: it rains a lot in Cleveland. Probably not as much as say, Seattle, but its still a decent amount. More often than not, the rain is accompanied by crazy wind, which renders any umbrella practically useless, particulary if you're walking through downtown Cleveland. I learned this valuable lesson very early on in my Cleveland experience, and have given up on the whole "umbrella thing" except to the extent that I use it to cover my head.

Instead, I use a trench coat. Its an invaluable piece of a woman's (or for that matter, a man's) wardrobe, and I think everyone should have one. My current trench is a classic tan Michael Kors that I bought a couple of years ago at Marshalls, but lately, I've found myself enamored with this beauty:

Burberry Brit Double Breasted Trench $795

I've never spent $800 on a single item of clothing, but considering that (a) it rains a lot (b) I would have this forever, and (c) it will NEVER go out of style, I'm thinking that the cost per wear on this will in fact be very very low (like your favorite pair of jeans), and this might just be a worthwhile long term investment. Kinda like diamonds.

Burberry Classic Trench for men $750

What do you think? What's the most expensive piece of clothing you've ever bought, and was it worth the "investment"?

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Don't forget to comment on this post for an automatic entry to my first ever giveaway, which just so happens to be a animal print bracelet, that would look absolutely lovely with a trench coat, particularly if you are a woman.

Make like a kitty and puuuurrrrrrrrrr

Ok, if you're a cat lover, I lured you here under false pretences. For that I apologize. This post has nothing to do with kittehs. BUT does have to do with animals!! Mainly, the fact the animal prints are really big this fall. There's a few ways to wear this trend, and there's really not a wrong way, UNLESS you wear it head to toe. 

So, if you're feeling fiesty, you could rock an animal print dress, like this one:

Diane von Furstenberg $345, nordstrom

If a dress is a little too "wild" for you, you could also go the shoe route

Steve Madden Crissy $110, zappos

OR, if you would rather go a little more discreet, you could just enter MY FIRST EVER GIVEAWAY, where I will be giving away this SUPER CUTE animal print bracelet.

How to: all you need to do is leave a comment on this post (with your contact info, if I don't have it already), and a winner will be randomly picked on Sunday! Good Luck!!

Fabulously Furry

Remember when I told you about the faux fur I wanted to get this fall? On my little shopping excursion on Sunday, I finally found it!! And not at the place you're guessing. Actually, it wasn't at the place I was guessing either, but I'm so glad I found it, and even happier about the fantastic price!

$30 at Bakers Shoes!

I can't wait to wear this!!!

A party-filled weekend with NO PICTURES!

Wow! What a weekend its been!!

Friday, N and I picked the pups up from daycare and walked over to the Clifton Martini and Wine Bar for some drinks and some delicious clam chowder.  Seriously, if you like clam chowder, theirs is really good; perfectly clammy and very much homemade. Later that evening, we were over to Lara's supercute new Ohio City apartment. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures from the evening, but take my word for it; it's a lovely apartment and we had a fun time!

Saturday morning, bright and early, I had an appointment with the fabulous Anna Goldstein at Dino Palmieri. I've had highlights for a few months, and it was time for a change. Well, its a pretty big change compared to what I had, but again, I don't have any pictures (wow, I've been really bad with pictures lately!). While at Beachwood, I indulged in a little light shopping (you'll see the results through the week), and headed home to hang out with the pups and N before the highlight of the weekend, The Second Annual White Party.

When I read the plum's White Party post from last year, I was incredibly impressed by Matt and Sean's commitment to fabulousness. This year, I was fortunate to attend in person, and let me just say that no pictures or blog posts can do this party justice. As is apparently the trend this week, I have no pictures, BUT, I do have video.



I only recorded snippets on the dance floor (I was trying to get Sean in a dance-off) but I wish I'd taken my camera to share more of the festivities with you. Sean and Matt are wonderful hosts, and I can't wait for next year's event!!

Browns Sunday saw N & I in the muni lot with a large group of friends tailgating bright and early at 7:00 am. Contrary to prior reports, the Muni Lot opened way before 7 am; Browns fans will not be denied their tailgate. We took the puppies with us, and I think if they had a choice, they'd tailgate EVERY DAY!! They got tons of treat and lots of love, even from strangers!

Good times were had by all! I can't wait for this weekend. I have a very special visitor flying in from Chi-town, and I'm taking her on a SUPER FUN tour of Cleveland, which will include Ingenuity Fest, a W 25th bar crawl, and Sunday Funday!!

Flamenco Scarves

One of my favorite things about fall is that its the start of scarf season!! I love scarves! Not as much as I like handbags and shoes, but they're definitely a close third. I own a lot of brightly colored scarves, but in keeping with this fall's theme of neutrals, I have my eye on this gorgeous gold flamenco scarf:

Flamenco scarf $17 (plus shipping) on etsy

What accessories will you be adding to your fall wardrobe this year?

For the love of dogs (and cats, if you're a cat-person)

So, I don't know if you know this, but even in this crappy economy, the petcare industry actually experienced some growth. This is not at all shocking to me; I know my dogs are certainly quite spoiled with toys and treats. Sometimes, there are so many toys strewn all over that it looks like we have a child in the house. I guess we sorta do: we have two furry children. Turns out, Crate and Barrel has decided that it too would like a piece of the "pet" pie.

Some of their stuff is really quite cute!! Here's some of their dog stuff, but there's cat stuff too at the link above:

 Collar $15

Treat jar $20

Dog mat $3. I definitely need to get this to put under the water bowl.

So, if you're in the market for some new pet accessories, take a look at Crate and Barrel!!

A Sublime Friday?

So, last week, N won tickets to see Sublime (the new Sublime, I guess) this past Friday, courtesy cleveland.com. I'm not a huge Sublime fan, but I do enjoy their music, and so I went. The opening act was really fun, and then Sublime came on. And they were pretty good too, obviously not the same, but pretty good nonetheless. About a third of the way through the concert, wierd things started to happen. Now, I could recap, but I think my tweets (@cleshopaholic) say it all:

Omg, just saw a guy wearing bedazzled jeans. I don't even know what to say.

7:37 PM Sep 10th via Twitter for iPhone
 
I didn't notice before, but bedazzled jeans guy is also wearing a bedazzled shirt. He's here with his gf, who's shockingly not sparkly.

7:50 PM Sep 10th via Twitter for iPhone

GROSSSSS!!! some kid just barfed his brains out. Handle your sh** kid!!!!

8:46 PM Sep 10th via Twitter for iPhone

(The kid then tried to convince the staff that it was in fact NOT him that barfed, and was then promptly escorted out. At this point, N and I decided to move away from the crowd; there were a lot of people that were starting to turn interesting shades of green. So we moved over to the side, by the water, and then...)

Aaaand someone just got busted for underage drinking and another one is getting handcuffed!! WTF where am I?!?! I am too old for this.

8:49 PM Sep 10th via Twitter for iPhone

Omg handcuffed kid has like 10 fake Ids. I think one of the undercover cops actually applauded. #definitelytoooldforthis

8:55 PM Sep 10th via Twitter for iPhone

How's that for an interesting Friday night?!?!

Strange and NOT wonderful

Ummmmm, weird things have been happening to me since I turned 30. First, I put on 10 lbs, seemingly overnight. Then my body mysteriously lost it's ability to retain moisture, and yesterday just flat out freaked me out. I found myself in the candle aisle at Target, staring at the candles, and sniffing all the fall scented ones. Next thing I knew 20 minutes had gone by and I was still there!!! Who is this person?!?!?!?! What is happening to me?!?!? Shudder.

Product Review: Garnier Blow Dry Perfector

Confession: my hair is naturally wavy. You wouldn't always know it, because I straighten my hair almost every day (except for when Mother Nature refuses to cooperate, and then I just give in to the curls). Anyway, I'm always on the hunt for products that will cut my hair-drying time. And then, two weeks ago, as I watched Project Runway, I saw it. A commercial for Garnier's Blow Dry Perfector Kit!

The claim:
Tames Frizz
Keeps hair smooth and shiny
Provides easier, faster blow dries
Lasts 7 shampoos

So the big question is: does it work?? And I'm happy to say, YES!!! The impact did fade out by shampoo 7, but for the first 6, it absolutely worked (on my hair, anyway. You may not have the same results, depending on your hair texture and condition)! My color and heat treated hair was less frizzy, was definitely more shiny, and my blow-dry time was cut by a whole 5 minutes!! (5 minutes may not seem like much, but in the morning, every extra minute of sleep counts!)

Pros:
You can do this at home for around $12
There was enough product left over for one more treatment (my hair is medium length)
Your hair will feel super soft and silky when you're done

Cons:
It smells. REALLY REALLY BAD. It smells like the old school Nair, a sorta chemically burning smell.
It will take you at least an hour to go through the whole process (maybe longer depending on how long it takes you to style your hair). You have to wash your hair (but not condition), put in the smelly serum and leave it on for 20 minutes, then wash your hair again, put in the pleasant smelling liquid, and then style, including running a flat iron through your hair.  All in all, easily close to an hour, so don't do this if you're in a hurry.

So there you have it. Will I use it again? Yes! If you try it out, let me know what you think!!

Pineapple (express?)

So, this weekend, I bought something a little ridiculous, but something that I absolutely LURVE. A bought a pineapple slicer. I LUUUURVE pineapple, but I absolutely hate cutting them up; the stupid eyes never quite come off, and then there's a giant mess all over my kitchen. That said, buying a pre-cut pineapple is a complete rip off!! Its usually at least double the price of an unsliced pineapple, and completely unnecessary, especially if you have this handy little gadget!!!

 

Looks magical, doesn't it?!? Its available at Williams Sonoma, and is currently on sale for $19.95!!!

Needless to say, I'm going to be eating a LOT of pineapple for the rest of the year!!!

Planning for the weekend

So, I know its only Tuesday, but its never too early to start planning for the weekend. This is going to be another really busy weekend in Cleveland!! I know there's going to be things that I'm missing, but here's what I'm going to be doing this weekend:

Friday night is yet another installment of Tremont's monthly Art Walk. I've talked about this before, but if you're looking for some truly unique pieces of jewelry or accessories, or home furnishings, you should really spend the evening in Tremont. The abundance of boutiques and restaurants and bars makes for a really fun night, I promise.

Saturday morning, Jessi and I are participating in the Race for the Cure. We were supposed to run it, but ahem, we forgot to train, so I'm not sure if we're going to walk or run. I haven't run since May, but its only 5k, and I'm half tempted to just wing it. Its going to be a game-time decision, so I'll let you know what I end up doing.

Saturday is also the 2010 Sparx City Hop. I've never participated in the City Hop before, but I plan to change that this year. I really want to go to Asia Town and maybe even do some day drinking in Ohio City.

Sunday also brings the Berea Arts Fest to town, but I will miss that event, because Sunday is also the first day of Browns football. Obviously, I will be cheering on #73 Joe Thomas as I always do. GO BROWNS!!! And that's all I'm going to say about that.

A great Labor Day Weekend

Happy beginning of Fall, everyone!! I hope you had a great weekend, I know I did!!! Friday night, N and I scooted down to Reddstone to get some dinner. Wait, did I forget to tell you that we got a scooter?!??! We DID!!! N found this beauty on Craigslist, and with only 200 miles on it, it was a steal!! 

N and I ordered some lobster bisque (delicious), and the Lombardo with pancetta, which was very garlicy but good.  

The Lombardo with Pancetta

Saturday, I took the puppies for a long walk in the Metroparks with clefoodgoddess, in an attempt to get them nice and tired so N and I could go enjoy Oktoberfest later than evening. Oktoberfest was SO much fun!!! I ate some yummy strudel, and N participated in a beer tasting.

It was my first time at Oktoberfest, and I was pleasantly surprised by the number of people at the event. There were little weiner dogs everywhere (we missed the weiner dog races), and they seemed to be having a great time with their owners. There was also a fun little Jaegermeister stand that hosted a dance performance every hour, my favorite of which was a choreographed performance to Bad Romance by Lady Gaga, where the Jaegermeister girls danced around a giant inflated bottle of Jaeger.

After a performace by The Spazmatics, it was time to get some kettle corn and go home.

Sunday was a busy BBQ-filled day. The first was hosted by Pedal Republik of Cleveland at the bike polo fields, oh-so-conveniently located across the freeway from the Air Show. N and I scooted down (I seriously love that scooter!)  to enjoy the festivities. To be honest, I have mixed feelings about the Air Show; on one hand its really pretty incredible, on the other hand, I think its such a giant waste of fuel and money! In any case, I did enjoy laying out in the sun, enjoying a few glasses of Mon Ami Haut Sauterne. Later that evening, we headed over to a neighborhood BBQ, where I showed off my baking skills with some Betty Crocker brownies. While we were over at the second BBQ, we decided to leave Clair uncrated, since we were going to literally be three doors down. That was a bad idea. We came home to this:

Apparently, Clair did not approve of the issue of Lucky Magazine that featured Jessica Simpson on the cover.

Monday was essentially a lazy day. In honor of Labor Day, I pretty much did nothing, at least for the first half of the day. The afternoon included another walk in the Metroparks (Rocky River Reservation this time), as well as a little swim in the stream. I know boxers aren't supposed to like water, but Otto LOVED splashing around!!

Even though the long weekend is now over, just remember that even though you have to go back to work tomorrow morning, its a short work week!!!

Real Fans don't wear Pink Jerseys

Yeah, you read that right. I'm going on the record as saying it. And I'll say it again. Real fans don't wear pink jerseys.

The way I see it, if you're a sports fan, your options at a sporting event are:
(1) Wear your team jersey in your team colors
(2) Wear your team colors but not necessarily a jersey
(3) Wear something that has nothing do with your team colors (but make sure you're not wearing colors of the opposing team either)

BUT the PINK JERSEY?!?! Its a total cop out.

A few years ago, the people that make NFL merchandise finally realized that in fact, there ARE female fans, that would VERY MUCH like to wear team merchandise, and ideally, not in a men's XL. Their first shot was coming up with pink jerseys. FAIL! (some of us went out and bought kids jerseys, and those worked fine).
Luckily, they have redeemed themselves, and launched a whole collection of women's clothing, including jerseys, and they're NOT just pink !!

$80, nflshop.com

hoodie, $80 nflshop.com

Ladies, if you're one of those people with the dreaded pink jersey, please, please, please go out and buy a normal one. (If you don't want to pay full price, you can find last year's merchandise at Marshalls at deep discount). And even you're plus size, you don't need to buy a men's jersey; nflshop.com has plus sizes too.

Enjoy football season!!

(almost) Q4 gym resolutions!

SO, I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but our (relatively) new home has a gym in the basement. When N and I looked at the house, we were really excited about it, but having no gym equipment, it became a room to store sports equipment and Clair's crate. All that changed yesterday. We got new gym equipment. Well, not exactly new, but new to us!!

Ever since I started spinning in May, I've been obsessed with getting my very own bike at home. I could've gone the infomercial route, but
(a) I didn't want to pay $599.99
(b) I don't really want the DVD's
(c) I REALLY don't like assembling stuff

Instead, I decided to wait it out until one was available at Play it Again Sports. And finally, after months of waiting, Monday was my lucky day. My new bike:
(a) Is half the price of retail
(b) Came fully assembled
(c) Was delivered all the way downstairs in our gym!!!

I did one quick ride last night, and its everything I thought it would be!!! Yay for (almost) fourth quarter exercise resolutions!!!