Thursday, January 31, 2013

Cocktails with a side of Rock n' Roll

I'm having a MAJOR obsession with BIG rings with a slight rock-n-roll edge.


Rings




Avant garde jewelry
shopbop.com



Noir Jewelry pyramid jewelry
noirjewelry.com




I already picked up the nOir cocktail ring on sale at Gilt, and I wouldn't be surprised if I manage to collect them all by the end of the year!!

Are you into cocktail rings, or do you prefer the more delicate stacking variety? 

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Transformed by CHANEL

A few weeks ago, Suzanne invited me to join her (and Allison, Michelle, Molly and Jess) at a pampering session at Saks. Our evening began with a perfume sampling courtesy Bond No. 9. To be honest, I have mixed feelings about Bond No. 9- there are some scents that make me gag, but there are others that I'm completely obsessed with, particularly Chinatown, High Line, and Madison Square Park, but at $170+ for a small bottle, I'm going to have to be 100% sure that I absolutely LUUURVVEE the scent before I buy it.

After the sampling, we were invited to the Chanel counter to test out the Sublimage skin care system.




The skin care products are extremely luxurious, and while they did give us samples to take home, I haven't tested them out yet.  While there, they let us know of a makeup event with CHANEL National Makeup Artist Sterling Williams.

As someone who ABSOLUTELY ADORES makeovers, naturally, I signed up.

Saturday rolled around, and I walked into my CHANEL appointment looking like this (As you can tell, I have absolutely NO makeup up on).....





And walked out looking like this......



I cannot even tell you how much I LUUUUURRRVVVEEEEEEEE this look. I almost always do a smoky eye, so the bold lip was a big change for me. I felt so completely glamorous!!!

If you're curious, the products used on me were:
Vitalumiere Aqua Compact #50 --- I instantly fell in love with this product and bought it
Soleil Tan De Chanel Bronzing Powder in Desert Spice
Poudre Signee de Chanel Illuminating Powder
Joues Contraste Blush in Rose Bronze
Les 4 Ombres Quadra Eyeshadow in Spices
Stylo Yeux Eyeliner in Noir Intense
Le Volume de Chanel Mascara
and last, but certainly not least, the bold lip was achieved with Rouge Double Intesite in Ruby Lite-- obviously, as key to this look, I bought this one too.




With the man himself: Sterling Williams

I had such a FABULOUS time at my makeover which I carried into Girls Night with the Jenn's- AJP and JV!!

If you have the time, I highly recommend you take advantage of a makeover opportunity and try out a new look. Who knows, it may unlock an entirely new side of you!!! 

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Listening Now: Pompeii by Bastille

I first listened to this song last week, and although its not available for download on iTunes quite yet (it is available for preorder though, expected release 2.26.13), I'm completely OBSESSED.

Formed in 2010 in South London, Bastille was named one of BBC Radio I's 2013 Bands to Watch, and honestly, I can't wait for them to come out with a full length album!

ENJOY!!!

 

Monday, January 28, 2013

Pancakes for Pooches: The 4th Annual Pancake Barkfeast

So, if you've been following this blog for some time, then you know that from time to time, I use this as a platform to promote an organization that means a great deal to me: Secondhand Mutts. Secondhand Mutts has been around since 2006, and over the years has done many many wonderful things for neglected and ignored dogs, saving them from death row and finding them new homes. In 2012, Secondhand Mutts rescued 115 dogs, and by the end of the year, had placed 105, including two dogs that were heartworm positive- Sookie and Rollo


Sookie (look at that underbite!!!! SO CUTE!)


Rollo-- look how happy he is to be safe!!

Left untreated, heartworm is extremely dangerous and can kill dogs. If your dog is heartworm positive, the cost to treat your dog can range from between $500-$700.  In contrast, it costs $7-$10 to give your dog their monthly preventative medication. Secondhand Mutts takes in 2-4 heartworm positive dogs into their program each year, and must rely on having a committed foster home to let the dogs recover in a calm, peaceful environment. The dog must stay inactive for up to a month, and may have to have a second treatment after that! I don't know about you, but there's no way that my dogs could be inactive for that long, so I'm religious about giving them their heartworm preventative year-round (I don't take winters off even though there are no mosquitos. With the abnormally warm/uneven winters we've had, its just not worth the risk).

So, given the cost to treat heartworm positive dogs in their program, Secondhand Mutts hosts an annual pancake breakfast to not only treat heartworm positive dogs, but also raise awareness of heartworm and its prevention.



This year's event is at Pilgrim Church in Tremont on Saturday, Feb 2, 2013. $12 buys you buttermilk/chocolate chip pancakes, sausage, bacon, coffee and orange juice. There is also a vegetarian sausage option for those who are interested.

I hope you will consider attending and supporting this worthy cause. Please RSVP on Facebook so Secondhand Mutts can properly anticipate attendance and food buying. I will certainly be there on Saturday, and hope to see you there too!! XO

Thursday, January 24, 2013

What to Wear: Jump Back Ball 2013


Have you entered to win 2 tickets to the Home and Garden Show? If not, you may do so here. I changed the entry rules a little to accommodate those without twitter accounts. Good luck!!


We're now a little less than a month away from Jump Back Ball 22, and hopefully all of you attending have started to think about what you want to wear. You may be in the middle of a weight loss campaign, and may be waiting to actually purchase your dress, and while that is fine, I strongly recommend that you at least have SOME idea of what you might want to wear.

Will it be long or short?
Are you going with basic black or are you going with color?
Are you going to incorporate this year's board game theme: Jump Back Two Spaces?


I have a couple of outfits planned, which I will narrow down in the next few weeks. The first one is short and spring-inspired, and the second is long and inspired by a character from the board game CLUE.

I fully expect CLUE to be an inspiration for a number of people- if not as a direct inspiration, definitely in the choice of colors: red, yellow, white, green, blue and purple. I also expect to see quite a bit of black, as always. Based on what we've seen on the Awards Red Carpets this year, I would also not be surprised to see some nudes and blush tones, with perhaps even some glitter and lace!

Here are some of my favorites under $200:




JBB 22

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Home Improvement and a GIVEAWAY


N and I have lived in our house for about 3 years. In those 3 years, we have taken up ZERO home improvement projects. I suppose that's a good thing, and a testament to the fact that our home needed no work, but to be honest, I'm getting a little restless. I want to change some things around. Nothing overly complicated -- mainly cosmetic things. Change out some light fixtures, new paint, that sorta stuff.


I would love to have our attic guest room look like this:



I would also love to find an armoire and repurpose it like this for our bathroom:





Lucky for me, my home redecorating impulse is perfectly timed with The Great Big Home + Garden Show, which is being held at the Cleveland I-X Center from Feb 2 running through Feb 10th



I've never been to the show before, but I'm told that this year's event hosts over 650 exhibitors showcasing a variety of home activities like cooking, gardening, and home improvement. There are going to be a number of celebrity guests including Cleveland's very own Matt Fish, of Melt Bar and Grilled, Peter Walsh from TLC's Clean Sweep, and Matt Fox from HGTV's Room by Room, among other guests. 

There are a number of other cool features like the Idea Home and Dream basement-- all things to give you ideas on perhaps changing things around in your own homes. There's also the Product Runway show on Feb 2nd (that I've blogged about before here) and the Q104 Four-Legged Fashion Show on Feb 9th (Otto and Clair are very upset that they have not been invited to participate).


So, if all of this sounds interesting to you, you can save $4 buy purchasing tickets online here, and using the code SHOPCLE.  

In addition, you can also enter to win TWO TICKETS right here by simply tweeting about this giveaway and linking back to this post. For example: I want to win @cleshopaholic's giveaway to the Home and Garden Show  http://bit.ly/10LaZzD

Please make sure you leave a comment letting me know you tweeted and also leave your email address in the comments. You can also enter by linking back to this post on your Facebook page.

The contest will end at 5:00 pm on Sunday, January 27th, 2013 with the winner announced on January 28th.  

Good luck!!!

Disclosure: I was provided with two tickets to attend the event and two tickets to give away on my blog. As always, all opinions are 100% my own. 





Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Listening Now: The Seanski Funday playlist

If you follow Alexa's blog, then you know that last weekend, a number of us gathered to celebrate Sean's birthday with a Seanski Funday celebration.  Since Sean is fan of music, I went old school, and made him a mix tape...err CD. 

1. Sweat - Snoop Dogg vs. David Guetta
2. Sex on the Regular - Miniature Tigers
3. Safe and Sound - Capital Cities
4. Call my Name - Cheryl Cole
5. For Myself - The Saturdays
6. Female Robbery - The Neighbourhood 
7. Bad Blood - Bastille 
8. Magentic Eyes - Matrix & Futurebound
9. Spectrum - Florence & the Machine, feat. Calvin Harris
10. The Golden Age and the Silver Girl - Tyler Lyle
11. Demons - Fenech-Soler
12. Sweet Nothing - Calvin Harris feat. Florence Welch
13. Heads Will Roll - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
14. Humming Bird - Alex Clare
15. I Need Yyour Love - Calvin Harris feat. Ellie Goulding
16. Tidal Wave - Sub Focus feat. Alpines

I've listened to this playlist numerous times over the past week. In fact, I enjoy it so much that I even burned copies for my favorite instructors as pscyle! I can't wait to get my ride on!!!! 

Monday, January 21, 2013

Exploring Cleveland: The Museum of Art

When did you last visit the Cleveland Museum of Art? If your answer is "summer of 2012" or earlier, you need to change this right away!!! A lot has changed over the past six months at the Museum-- the new atrium opened, there's a new cafe and a new restaurant, new art (of course), and most impressive of all, in late December, the Museum began to offer previews of their brand new Gallery One to its members!

N and I visited over Christmas break and had an absolute blast! As members of the Museum, we had the opportunity to preview the Museum's newest offering- Gallery One, which officially opens to the public today.



Gallery One is an interactive experience, with the Museum's entire collection available on an interactive touch-screen wall. You put your museum issued iPad (available for rental) or your own iPad on the dock, and pick your favorite pieces, and the artlens app (available for download on iTunes, but be warned, it takes a while to load that much info) will tell you interesting facts about those pieces. In the future, the app will actually direct you to where your favorite pieces are located around the museum, so you could do a very targeted visit to the museum if you choose!

The artlens app has other incredible uses as well: if you hold it up to a piece of art that is artlens activated, it will point you to things you should be looking at in the piece of art. For example, N and I were looking at a painting of a ship, and the artlens app directed us to the sails, and told us about the importance of the sail as a focal point in the picture. Very very cool, especially for someone who habitually fell asleep in Art History in college (ahem!).


The Gallery One section also has some fun features for kids- they can create their own artwork and build their very own gallery!




It was also my very first time seeing the new atrium-- wow, it is really impressive! It reminds me a little of the atrium at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, but bigger. 



It was really nice to see people milling around the atrium, just enjoying the space.



N and I also checked out the new Provenance Cafe, where I was pleasantly surprised and thrilled to find they served....



The new restaurant Provenance has a really yummy looking menu, and although N and I didn't eat there, we both really liked the space. Its a safe bet that we're likely to enjoy dinner there some time in the very near future!




No visit to the museum would be complete with pictures of some of the art, and here are some of my favorite pieces: 




I want this chandelier in my house. 



Don't worry, I didn't miss the opportunity to bring a piece of the museum home with me:

my new Roy Lichtenstein calendar, which hangs in my cube at work


Like I said at the top of this post- if you haven't been to the Art Museum in the past few months, I hope you make the trip out to University Circle soon. Additionally, if you're not aware of this, in the past year, the Museum of Art launched a new affiliate program called Column & Stripe- In addition to behind-the-scenes looks at the Museum, they also host monthly social gatherings at the museum.

And finally, for those of you seeking to boost your civic involvement, Column & Stripe is seeking volunteers for positions in its various committees, so if that's something you're interested in, I urge you to visit the Column & Stripe website and contact Christina for more information on how you might go about applying for these positions!

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Listening Now: The Neighborhood

I first discovered The Neighborhood listening to their song Female Robbery on Sirius.




They released their EP I'm Sorry, in August 2012, but prior to the release of Female Robbery, they were pretty quiet- not a whole lot of press. In fact, they released the song anonymously! I'd love to give you more information about them, but other than the fact that they're from L.A., I'm honestly having a hard time finding anything!

In any case, I absolutely adore Female Robbery, and the whole EP is worth a listen!

Monday, January 14, 2013

An Evening with Diane

First off, I'd like to the announce the winner for the Bridal Bazaar event, taking place at the 78th Street Studios this weekend. *drumroll, please* As chosen by Random.org, the winner is comment #5, Crystal from Eat Drink Cleveland. Crystal, please email me at cleshopaholic@gmail.com so I may send you instructions on receiving your ticket!! 

This past Thursday, I had the privilege of attending a talk at the Cleveland Clinic, featuring the one and only, the legendary Diane Von Furstenberg. Most famous for the iconic wrap dress, DVF has been designing women's clothing since 1970.



When I first received the invite to the event, I expected DVF to mainly talk about her career, and how she made her way through the world of fashion.



Boy was I wrong.  What I came away with was a new appreciation for this incredible woman, who is so much more than just a fashion designer. A champion of the arts, DVF is also an advocate for women's empowerment. She is also incredibly warm, and charming, and so so funny!!

Some of my favorite quotes from the nights:

Do not be afraid of your own strength. Fear is not an option.

I wanted to be the woman I became. I wanted to empower myself. And now I want to empower other women. You can be the woman you want to be. 

The most important relationship in life is the one you have with yourself.



I think part of her appeal for me is her focus on independence. It reminds me of advice that my mother always gave me growing up: always be able to stand on your own two feet. I left the event feeling incredibly inspired- While I may not be about to conquer the world of fashion, I'm ready to take on my personal and professional challenges, hopefully with poise, grace, and of course, STYLE!!




Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Things I LURVE: my yoga tote

Earlier this week, I mentioned my 15-minutes a day yoga goal, which I'm averaging about 3 times a week. Not terrible, but far from goal. Besides the daily yoga, I also have a goal of making it to a yoga class at least once a week. Allison and I are big fans of Saturday morning Hot Yoga at Inner Bliss, despite the fact that I'm really lacking in flexibility and can't get into half the poses! Nonetheless, I really enjoy the studio and the sweatiness, and so I keep going.

Normally, I just roll my mat up under my arm and take it in, but then I'm also carrying my wallet, and my towel (v. sweaty) and keys, and phone, and trying not to drop anything. With this renewed commitment to yoga for 2013, I decided to bite the bullet and just buy a bag for my mat. I looked a few bags on etsy and amazon, and as you can imagine, there are many options at many price points. I also decided to look into the "gold standard" for yoga apparel and accessories, and naturally, lululemon emerged the clear winner in my hunt for a yoga tote.




At $48, its not exactly inexpensive, but hello?!?!! Look at it!!! Chevron with a bright blue--- how adorable is it?! I'm motivated to go to class just so I can carry it!!

Beyond the obvious aesthetic appeal, the bag is big enough to include an extra long, extra thick mat (which is what I have) AND yoga mat towel which is an absolute necessity (see prior sweaty comments). There is an exterior pocket and a nice-sized interior pocket (room for small wallet/credit cards and phone), and its waterproof!

A perfect yoga accessory. Now if I could only get into a handstand....

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Listening Now: Tidal Wave by Sub Focus

Yesterday, I randomly happened to discover the song Tidal Wave by Sub Focus, which was released in late 2012. I don't normally listen to the "Dance" genre per se, but I DO LUUUUUURRRVVEEEE a good beat, and this certainly fits the profile!

ENJOY!!!


Monday, January 7, 2013

2013 Wedding Bells?

Happy 2013 all!! This year is getting off to a roaring start already! Hope you are keeping up with your resolutions/intentions/goals for the year... I'm sorta 50/50 on mine. Mostly good, but my 15 minutes of yoga every day goal is just not working out.  I did 3 sessions last week, and felt great after, so I just need to remind myself of that when I want to hit snooze for an extra 15 minutes!!

N and I had a great staycation break-- we did lots of things around the city that we always want to do, but never seem to find the time for-- I'll get into our activities over the next few weeks, but rest assured, we had lots of fun playing in the snow with these two...




Surprisingly for us, this holiday season involved absolutely zero engagement announcements via our Facebook friends. This is probably the first time since 2003 that this has happened, and I'm a little taken aback to be honest! That said, there is a wonderful event coming up in Cleveland for the bride-to-be in your life!

On January 20th, Something White, A Bridal Boutique is hosting their second annual Boutique Bridal Bazaar at smARTspace at 78th st. studios. You can find out more about the event here, and the wonderful ladies at Something White are generously giving away two passes to the event to one lucky winner right here on this blog!!!

You will have three opportunities to enter:
1. Leave me a comment with your favorite fictional wedding (from a movie, TV show, etc), or tell me your favorite flavor of wedding cake (one entry)
2. Follow me (@cleshopaholic) and Something White Bridal (@SomethingWhiteB) on Twitter and leave me a comment saying you did so (one entry)
3. "Like" the Something White Bridal page on Facebook and leave me a comment saying you did so (one entry)

The winner will be announced on Monday, January 14th, so please please make sure I have your contact information!


So, if you were engaged this holiday season or anytime in 2012 (Congratulations, btw!), or know someone who was, you should definitely enter this contest-- such a fun surprise for the bride-to-be!!!