Weddings!

So today, I joined millions of people in waking up at a crazy hour to watch the Royal Wedding. I had so much fun tweeting and facebook chatting with friends and blends who were also up doing the same thing! Can we spend a moment to talk about the dress? OMG STUNNING! The lace, the sleeves, the gorgeous veil, the tiara....

She looked so breathtakingly beautiful and regal; it makes me want to get married (again!).

Tomorrow, I will be at the wedding of Clefoodgoddess and Richness, and unlike today, I won't be live-tweeting the event, although I will have pictures next week! Congratulations to my very close friends, Clefoodgoddess and Richness; may your lives together be filled with love and happiness and endless special moments!!

Lady Gaga in Cleveland - Part Deux

If you follow me on twitter (and if you don't, you should. I'm @cleshopaholic), then you know that I was at the Lady Gaga concert last night; my second one!!! And since this WAS my second one, I decided to step it up a notch, costume-wise. Alas, my lack of craft skills meant that although I had intentionally planned to make a Meat Dress, I ended up with a Meat Skirt.

Last night, I also received my favorite text of all time, courtesy the fabulous JV, who unfortunately was unable to attend. Here goes " Spotted: T, M, S and Little J on East 4th flaunting their best Poker Face. Sources say we will find M Starstruck and T will Dance in the Dark with Alejandro. S will likely be trapped in a Love Game with those Paparazzi. And Little J? Well, we all know she likes it rough because baby she was Born This Way. Paws up, Little Monsters. XOXO"

Seriously, how awesome is she?!?!?! So here's the rundown. Gaga was an hour and a half late, but its ok, because like always, she PUT ON A SHOW! And here's the part you've been waiting for: PICTURES!!

And there's the meat skirt....

Gaga takes the bus!

Lychee-tini

Disco-stick!

And the costumes...

AND GAGA!!!

Another fabulous concert; the first one of many I will attend this year!!!

Product Testing: John Frieda Frizz Ease 3 Day Straight

So while I was in Chicago, I found out that my friend Aneesha has been doing the Brazilian hair straightening. Her hair looks AMAZING!!! She has naturally super curly hair, and now its straight (with a slight wave when she dries it but doesn't flat iron), glossy and so bouncy! Needless to say, its got me SERIOUSLY contemplating the same thing myself. I don't need it as much in the fall/winter, but the spring/summer humidity gives me some interesting hair days to say the least!!

Anyway, in the mean time, I've been testing the Frizz-Ease 3-day Straight (available at drugstores).

The claim: Transforms curly, frizzy hair into a straight, smooth style that lasts up to 3 days (or until your next shampoo).
The process: Spray 7-15 times into wet or damp hair. Comb through to spread evenly. Blow dry straight, and flat iron for best results. 


So, I tested this twice. Once over my rainy Chicago weekend, and then when I got back to rainy Cleveland. The first time, I sprayed about 15 times, which ended up feeling like 5 sprays too many. My hair felt very tacky (but didn't look greasy), and I think it might have been just too much product. BUT, it held its straightness really really well, through a Chi-town downpour (I was under an umbrella), so in retrospect, maybe it was the right amount. The second time I tried it, I sprayed only about 10 times, and while it didn't feel as heavy on my hair, it did start to wave a little when I walked the dogs (it had stopped raining, but you could definitely feel the moisture in the air). 


Conclusion: It works. You should try it a couple of times to figure out how much product is right for your hair. You may also need to re-straighten if your bangs get damp, or if you sweat around your face, but it stays pretty smooth, even in the midst of some crazy Midwest rain!! If you're not quite willing to go all the way with the Brazilian treatment, or if you like changing up your hair, I recommend trying this product!!!

Happy Hour to benefit Secondhand Mutts

Happy hump day!!! If you're like me, you're already making plans for Friday, especially if you're one of the lucky ones that has this Friday off!! If you're looking for something fun to do, come join me at a Happy Hour  to benefit Secondhand Mutts, hosted at Kenilworth Tavern in Lakewood.

I had never been to the Kenilworth until last week, and I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised!! Its a townie bar, SMACK IN THE MIDDLE OF LAKEWOOD!! You know the kind of bar I'm talking about: you may have had one in your college town, or even your own home town (not my home town tho; no townie bars in Mumbai);  they're a little rough around the edges visually, but have a great jukebox, fun people, cheap drinks, huge food portions, and are SO MUCH FUN!! Kenilworth has been kind enough to set aside their side room for us, and it has a pool table, darts, Golden Tee, and old school bowling (like the one at ABC The Tavern).  Their happy hour drink specials are ridiculous: $1.75 well drinks, $1.75 domestic beer, discounts on imports and other drink specials. I literally had to ask twice when they told me my beer was $1.75!!!! Except for PBR, I can't remember the last time I payed under $2 for a beer!!!

So if you're not up to anything else, come join me at Happy Hour this Friday!! The festivities begin at 5:30, although I will be participating in Spin for Strays until 6:30, so I will be there after I'm done riding!! Hope to see you soon!!

The Best Baby Shower. Ever.

Bad Blogger!!! I'm figuratively slapping myself on the wrist for leaving you for so long. On the plus side, I've been doing a lot and shopping a lot, so I have plenty of material for the next few weeks!!

This past weekend, I was in Chicago visiting some of my friends (T, CJ, and Aneesha) from my very first "grown-up" job. We were fresh out of college, in the real world, making a ridiculously small salary, and for the life of me, I can't figure out how we managed to pay rent, have fun, and eat!! Anyway, we're all grown up now, and one of our very own, the very fabulous CJ, is expecting a baby in June!! Seriously, CJ is THE cutest preggers person I know (not counting Victoria Beckham)! If you look at her from behind, you can't tell she's preggers. You also can't tell she's preggers if she's sitting at a table, and it covers her belly. Its ridiculous. I don't think I want kids, but if I do, I only want them if I can look like her when preggers.

CJ is definitely the type of person that wants a non-traditional baby shower, so T planned an afternoon at the spa, filled with mimosas (not for the mommy-to-be obvi; she stuck to sparkling grape juice).  Off we went, 10 women at Reina Spa, getting pampered with mani's and pedi's. Here's what I love about Chicago: you can get a mani and pedi for $40!!!! Come on Cleveland, get it together!! I hate that the pedi itself costs $40!!! Maintenance in Cleveland gets really pricey!!! Amidst lots of laughter and catching up, I got myself a manicure with that new(ish) shatter/crackle polish, that I really really love!!  About 4 hours later, we were ready for some food, and headed to dinner at Club Lucky. More wine and some delicious food followed, and we called it a night.

Seriously, such a FUN baby shower!!!! Its funny, none of my Chi-town girl friends, myself included, make much effort to keep in touch; We'll email every now and then, but by and large, we're pretty bad at it. And then I make my annual visit to Chicago, and its like nothing every changed. The distance and lack of contact is nothing; its like we never missed a beat!! Do you have friends like that? I really hope you do. Everyone deserves that sort of effortless, drama-free, endlessly fulfilling friendship!!

A Blogaversary (and contest!)

Hello!!! I'm so sorry I missed all of last week! Work got really really crazy, and unfortunately, it took away from my blogging time! But I'm back now!! And I have some fun news!! A year ago, this week, I posted my very first post. So, in honor of my Blogaversary, its celebration time, and YOU (yes YOU!!) have a chance to join the celebration with me!!!

But, before I get to that, I want to let you know of a few changes on the blog. Starting next week, I'm going to start a weekly Looks I Luuuuurve feature, where I will feature regular people (mostly Clevelanders, obviously, but I will try and feature looks from other places when I travel) dressed for their normal lives, in looks I love! So if I walk up to you with a camera, will you please please let me take your picture??

One of my places to pick up fun, trendy, inexpensive looks is Forever 21. Which, conveniently brings me back to my Blogaversary celebration. On April 9th, a brand spankin new Forever 21 is celebrating is grande opening at Beachwood Place. And to celebrate, the kind folks at Beachwood Place are sponsoring a contest where one fabulous reader will win a $50 gift certificate to Forever 21!!!!

Contest Rules:

You must be able to pick up your gift card at Beachwood Place Guest Services on Saturday April 9th, or Sunday April 10th. Here's how you enter!

1. Follow @BeachwoodPlace and @cleshopaholic on Twitter, and tweet the following message (each tweet gets you 1 entry, so tweet early and often):

I entered @cleshopaholic's giveaway for $50 gift card to the new F21 opening @BeachwoodPlace 4/9 Enter here: http://bit.ly/hL8Zo2

2. For an additional entry, go to Forever 21 and leave a comment with a link to the F21 Look that YOU Luuuuurve (and your name and email).

Good Luck!!! Contest ends at 5 pm on 4/7 and I will announce the winner on my Blogaversary 4/8! I hope to see you in your fabulous Forever 21 outfit so I can take your picture and post in on my Looks I Luuuuurve feature!!!!