Another fabulous Playhouse Square Party

If you read my blog last week, then you know that I was SUPER excited to attend the Lexus Dark Ride Event at Playhouse Square this past Saturday. It was everything I expected and more!! Jessi, clefoodgoddess and I walked in and were immediately ushered onto a red carpet for pictures. That set the tone for the rest of the night, and keeping with that theme, I have to warn you that this is a picture-heavy post!

Above and below: The scene that greeted us as we walked in. There were two platforms with dancers performing interpretive dance while a DJ played in the background. 

Above: with contest winner Hungry in Cleveland 

Above: my fellow fabulous Cleveland bloggers that hosted giveaways on their blogs: Allison, Alexa, and Alana. I felt left out not having my name start with the letter "A". : )

Below: The Absolut Wild Tea Ice Sculpture. They had this peach cocktail that tasted exactly like peach iced tea!

Above: The whole reason we were there; the Lexus CT 200h. And Below, me in the car. It smelled like glorious "new car" and had a really comfortable drivers seat. That was pretty much the extent of my car-exploration; I was ready for some MUSIC!!

With the always fabulous JV

And, the Talent, Dev (who was so fun!!!). I will be downloading her music ....

 ...and Jay Sean 

Not to be outdone, Seanski decided to get in on the act...

And so the night ended with me hobbling on my excruciatingly painful feet, which I continue to nurse back to normalcy today. The night was SOOOOOO worth the pain. I CAN'T WAIT for next year's event!!

Jump Back Ball 20

This past Saturday, N, Jess, Dave and I attended our very first Jump Back Ball at Playhouse Square, along with oh, 950+ other people! First of all, I have NO IDEA why I waited SO LONG to attend this spectacular event. I had such a ridiculously great time, I don't even know where to begin! We arrived about 7:45 pm and made our way to one of the many, many, well-stocked bars. Gin was my drink of choice, and turns out, it was a horrible choice, but hindsight's 20-20, and since I'm all better now, it doesn't matter anymore : ).  Playhouse Square was absolutely transformed. It was so beautiful!! There were tons of fabulous Clevelanders, including some of my favorite bloggers: alexa, seanski, allison, and alicia, just to name a few. We danced, and mingled, and had an all-around fabulous time!!! And now, some pictures:

I can't wait for next year's event!!!

Turning 30 for the first time

So Saturday night, I celebrated my 30th birthday by having a few people get together (I think it ended up being about 50 guests) at the Bier Markt. I ended up drinking Prosecco all night (classing it up at 30, no shots for me! hahahaha), and we ordered some pomme frites and pizza's as late night snacks.  A HUGE thank you to everyone that came to help me celebrate, including Brandon, who surprised me from Columbus!!!!

I also had a chance to use my new birthday present (thank you N), the HD Flip camera!!

Unfortunately, my video skills have a lot to be desired at this point, so I will spare you one very shaky video!!!

I may need stretchy pants

I have to say, if this weekend was any indication of what my 30s are going to be like, then maybe turning 30 isn't going to be so bad after all : ) Thank you so much to all of you who helped me celebrate! I had a FABULOUS time!

So, before I get started, I'm going to give you a little preview of posts for this week; they're pretty much all going to be related to the weekend. This one is going to be reviews of restaurants I visited this weekend; there's going to be one post dedicated to the AMAZING Ingenuity Fest Speakeasy; one with pictures from my birthday party; and probably a few others thrown in. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoyed experiencing all these events and writing about my weekend!!

So here goes:
Friday (my last day in my 20s), I decided to take a half-day at work. Jess and I have a birthday tradition, where if our birthdays fall on a weekday, we go out to lunch and break with our normal routine and get dessert. This year, we went to Crop. I have a confession to make: I've worked downtown for almost 5 years now, and this is the first time I've been to Crop. I've been missing out big time!!!! I had such a great time there; I can't wait to go back. The decor was so cozy; I think it had to do with the dark wood and awesome lighting, but I have a feeling this is going to be an amazing place to visit in the winter while the snow comes down outside. 

I ordered the Salmon BLT while Jess got the Willie Bird Smoked Turkey. My sandwhich was perfectly cooked and absolutely delicious.

For dessert, we split Some Like it Hot, which is Flourless Chocolate Cake, with Jalapeno icecream. OHMYGOD; Best.Dessert.Ever. Its hot, cold, sweet, spicy amazing deliciousness.

After our delicious lunch, I indulged in an afternoon of pampering at Zen Metro Spa. For Valentine's Day this year, N got me a gift certificate to Zen, but I ended up putting in a spot so safe that I couldn't find it. Anyway, as luck would have it, I ended up finding it earlier in the week when I switched purses. I had an hour-long massage appointment with Mandy, who is absolutely awesome at her job. After a manicure with Meghan, I left relaxed and happy.

On my nails: Zoya Demi; a really pretty purple. Incidentally, turns out I have sausage fingers that don't photograph very well.

Friday night, N and I went to our FAVORITE Cleveland Restaurant, Fahrenheit.  I can't say enough good things about this place; I've NEVER had a disappointing meal there, ever. I started with Peach Sangria while N had a cucumber martini. Our appetizer was the potato nachos, which we also had at the Taste of Tremont last Sunday! N ordered the Lobster Mac and Cheese (DIVINE!) and I ordered the Tuna with Indonesian Rice (soooo yummy). Am I gushing enough?!

Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures at Fahrenheit; but you should DEFINITELY go there the next time you're looking for a restaurant in Tremont!!!