Experience It: Exhibition on Screen

Back in college, I took a class in European Art History. It was my senior year (yes, I saved freshman classes for senior year because, senioritis), and the class was right after lunch, in a dark auditorium, and from what I remember, the professor spoke in a very soothing monotone--- needless to say I fell asleep a lot, and don't remember much of it all! It is my greatest regret about college.

Luckily, we have incredible resources right here in Cleveland like the Cleveland Museum of Art, so I've been able to catch up, at least in part. And then there's opportunities like this--- on April 14th, Fathom Events and Arts Alliance is presenting the Exhibition OnScreen Series with a feature on Vincent Van Gogh.  What is this series exactly? Well, funny you should ask!

Art lovers take heed: you have the opportunity to experience EXHIBITION ON SCREEN’s showing of VINCENT VAN GOGH!

Enter here for the chance to win Cinemark Valley View or Carmike Solon theatre tickets valid April 14 at 7PM - http://tinyurl.com/CLEGOGHShop

Enjoy complete and unprecedented access to the treasures of Amsterdam’s Van Gogh Museum in a special re-showing of the gallery’s collection in celebration of the 125th anniversary of Van Gogh’s death. Experience the wonder of seeing these masterpieces on the big screen while specially invited guests, including world-renowned curators and historians, offer their interpretations and explanations of his work. With exclusive new research revealing incredible recent discoveries, the Van Gogh Museum has helped craft a cinema experience like no other. 

If you're an art lover like me, or are even vaguely interested in art, you should enter to win tickets to this event, and then go check out the Van Gogh's at the Cleveland Museum of Art! Contest ends at 11:50 pm on Tuesday, April 7th!  Good luck! 

Weigh In and Brunching at Cleveland Museum of Art

So when I first posted my weight loss strategies, little did I know that dry January would be the hardest of all. Not surprising I guess, when one is invited to a FABULOUS Blogger Brunch at Provenance at the Cleveland Museum of Art, and such brunch features a heaping table of french pastries and lump crab quiche. Did I mention mimosas?

Lump Crab quiche

Brunch temptations not withstanding, this week I weighed in at 148.6 lbs, finally past the 150 lb barrier!!

Getting back to the brunch: a bunch of my friends (who also happen to be fellow bloggers) were invited to a spend a lovely afternoon at the Cleveland Museum of Art-- brunch was followed by a screening of Mademoiselle C, the oh-so-chic documentary featuring Carine Roitfeld and her foray into publishing her very own CR Fashion Book. 

If you're not familiar with Ms. Roitfeld, she is the former editor-in-chief of Vogue Paris, known for her oh-so-casually-perfect-smoky-eye, and unique "burgeois-slut" styling (P.S. I called dibs on using burgeois slut in my recap). Its a fascinating documentary-- a behind the scenes look at what it means to be one of the most respected women in fashion, similar to The September Issue, but different, because, well, Anna Wintour and Carine Roitfeld are very unique people! 

You can watch the first 5 minutes here….

 Documentary insights aside, it was also the first time I had watched a movie at the Cleveland Museum of Art; in fact, until yesterday, I had no idea that the Museum offers regular screenings of some very unique films! You may view the schedule of upcoming films here.  Spring is still a little while away, and an afternoon at the Museum really is the perfect prescription to the winter blues!! Hope I see you there!!!

Weekly Weigh In and a SUPER fun weekend

Moment of Truth:
11/11/13: 153 lbs
11/18/13: 152.8 lbs

I know, this is not very exciting, but considering HOW MANY times I ate out last week, I am VERY excited by this. This was my eating out schedule: Tuesday lunch, Tuesday dinner, Wednesday lunch, Thursday dinner, Friday lunch, Friday dinner, Saturday lunch, Saturday dinner, Sunday lunch. And while I made somewhat smart choices, I'm convinced that there is so much salt in restaurant food than the amount I put in my own cooking. How do I know this? My fingers would swell up like fat sausages!!! Hey, a loss is a loss, and while I strive for more, this week, I'll take it.

Friday night, Nick and I went to see Capital Cities and Fitz & The Tantrums at the House of Blues. What an awesome show. Fitz & The Tantrums were absolutely electric-- they had the crowd on their feet dancing and singing!!

In fact, the crowd was so into the show that it was really difficult to get any pictures-- this was the only one I managed to get- the rare quiet moment (ballad) in the show!

Saturday, Nick and I decided to head over to University Circle, and started off our afternoon with a stop at the Cleveland Museum of Art for some lunch. I have to be honest: I absolutely LURVE sitting in that atrium grabbing a bite to eat. It reminds me so much of being in Europe that its honestly a little escape from reality.

Beautiful even on a grey day. Nick staring into the mouth of a dragon. 

After lunch, we headed over to the Museum of Contemporary Art to check out ARTScape. 

I had originally planned to just buy Christmas presents, and while I did that, I also found a piece for me.  You'll have that :)

Saturday night was dinner at the newly opened outpost of Red, The Steakhouse in downtown Cleveland. The space was really nice: dark wood and red lacquered walls, an the food was INCREDIBLE!!

I ordered the tuna steak (top right), simply seared; it was SO SO SO good. Nick ordered the ribeye, and then we finished up with a gigantic creme brûlée (the crust was slightly thicker than normal, and really gave it a nice crunch and caramelized taste).

And now, you have a glimpse of why I only lost 0.2 lbs this week. LOL.

Either way, it was a great week. This week should be better; I'm only scheduled to eat out Monday dinner and Tuesday lunch…. for now.

Happy week all!!

An Hour In... Ohio City

This past weekend, N and I had an our to kill, and so we decided to spend it in a part of Ohio City that I really haven't taken the time to explore yet. If you haven't checked it out yet, West 29th between Church and Detroit is an absolutely charming little party of Ohio City. 

Our first stop was Urban Orchid, a delightful floral boutique. To be honest, this is not the first time I've been here, but what I love most about this boutique is that you can give them a budget and an occasion, and they will create an absolutely stunning one-of-a-kind boutique that is GUARANTEED to put a smile on the recipient's face! AND, I always learn something new there, like...

Ornamental Kale-- I didn't know that was a thing!

Beautiful pink roses!

In addition to flowers, they also carry small gift items like vases and jewelry, and of course, adorable Cleveland themed merchandise!

We then walked around the corner to Rising Star Coffee Roasters, but not before I stopped to take a picture of this camper...

For someone who really doesn't care for camping, I am REALLY enamored with campers! I blame Charity.

2 Vietnamese iced coffee to go, please!!! 

I love this bench at Rising Star

A few steps across the streets, and we were at Cleveland Museum of Art's newest outpost, Transformer Station! Incidentally, Transformer Station is hosting Ohio City Stages every Wednesday in July, which is an awesome street fest with live performances! 

I absolutely LUUURVEE the industrial details in the space! There are usually 4 different exhibits each year, and like the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Transformer Station uses technology to help guide patrons through the exhibits (hint: take a mobile device with you!)

Another quick stop to check out the newest pet store: Kutya Rev.

Seriously, how adorable is this?!

I am also really excited that Harness Cycle will be opening at the corner later this year!! I can totally picture myself sweating it out and then heading over across the street to get some post-workout 

coffee!!! 

So, if you haven't explored this little part of Ohio City before, I strongly encourage you to do so! It is a really lovely way to spend a few hours! 

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!

Exploring the city: MOCA Cleveland

On Friday night, I finally made it to MOCA's new home with N, Danielle and Wes. I have to say, I'm very impressed with the space- the museum finally has a contemporary home, in keeping with its name!!

 The MOCA store; even the bathroom is cool

In general, I LURVE contemporary art museums, and most of all, I LUUURRRVVVEEEE contemporary art museum stores, and MOCA Cleveland's store is no exception. So if you're having a hard time finding a gift for that difficult-to-buy-for person in your life, I highly recommend visiting the museum store. N and I picked up and awesome set of candlesticks for our home, and I can't wait to get the right tapers for their inaugural use Christmas Day!!

Of course, we took some time to visit the art, here are pics of my two favorites!

Don't forget, a membership to MOCA is always a GREAT gift for the design enthusiast in your life too!!!

Happening this weekend: Art Fur Animals

So Monday, I made the big mistake of trying to watch an HBO Documentary on dogs. Less than 5 minutes in, and I was a sobbing mess- massive tears. I mean, I'm not even emotional in my REAL life. 10 minutes in I had to change the channel, because I was distraught, and poor Otto was getting really freaked out. This is no surprise to anyone, but I'm a complete sucker for dogs, particularly rescue dogs.

This Friday (June 22nd) from 7-10 pm, smARTspace at 78th Street Studios is hosting the 2012 Art Fur Animals Benefit and Auction. The event benefits Friends of the Cleveland Kennel, which helps take care of and place the 100s of dogs that arrive per month at the Cleveland Kennel. Without Friends, those poor animals would probably end up euthanized. Its a very sad and sobering reality that these volunteers deal with on a daily basis, but they continue to work diligently to find these animals a home wherever possible.

The event features some really awesome art thats available for auction, and of course raffle prizes. There's also complimentary beer and wine. Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 day of the event. If you're interested in buying a ticket, you can do so here. N and I will be there supporting this incredible organization, and we hope to see you there too!!

Source: coolcleveland.com via cleshopaholic on Pinterest

Art and Puppies: The Crocker Bark Festival

This weekend, I will be out at Crocker Park, supporting a cause very near to my heart: shelter dog adoption! Specifically, N and I will be chaperoning a pup each for Secondhand Mutts at the Crocker Bark Rescue and Adoption Event!

This is quite the unique event, pairing Art and Dog Rescue, and will feature over 130 artists and over 10 animal rescues!! The Art will feature jewelry, ceramics, photography, painting, leather and more, and the rescues will include G.R.I.N, Love a Stray, Fido's Companion, Rowdy to the Rescue, North Coast Greyhound Connection, Wiggle Butts Bully Rescue, Erie Shores, Cleveland APL, Friendship APL and of course, Secondhand Mutts!!!

The Secondhand Mutts booth will be located right in front of the Apple Store/DSW, so you always say hello to some pups, maybe even fall in LLLUUURRRVVEEE with one of them, buy some shoes, maybe an iPad... you know....  Anyway, the event runs from 10:00 am - 6:00 pm both Saturday and Sunday; N and I will be chaperoning our pups from 10:00am- noon on Saturday!! Hope to see you there!!

Celebrate your 'hood

This past Friday, N and I stopped by Room Service for the launch of "The District" series of art by Arterx.  The series celebrates the unique Cleveland neighborhoods, however, for all my De-Sho (thanks seanski)/Gordon Square-dwellers, I will warn you that it is not one of the featured neighborhoods, but please don't shoot the messenger.

N and I picked up the black and white poster of the Guardians, since (a) we love the Guardians, and (b), N has one of them tattooed on his forearm. We're planning to have the walls of our dining room filled with unique posters! I can't wait to show you pictures of the finished product (when I eventually get around to it). Anyway, these posters are great gifts for a long time CLE resident, a new CLE resident, a former CLE resident, or someone who just plain loves CLE!!

Will you be Jumping Back?

I LOVE the arts. Music, design, art, architecture... I love it all! I especially love the theatre scene: for a relatively small city, we have a really vibrant theatre scene, and one the caters to every budget. I try to make it to 2-3 shows a year, and its usually with my best friend Jess, since N doesn't always want to go, especially if its a girly musical. I really LOVE Playhouse Square's Broadway Series (which incidentally makes a GREAT gift for someone who enjoys theatre or live performances). Over the past few years I've been to see Wicked, Legally Blonde (so fun!), In the Heights, Bombay Dreams and Chicago. In a few weeks Jess and I are going to see The Santaland Diaries and in March, N and I are going to see Stomp.

In addition to hosting some fabulous performances, Playhouse Square also hosts one of the best parties in Cleveland: Jump Back Ball. I haven't been before, but having looked at pictures from earlier this year, I decided that 2011 is definitely going to be the year for N and I to attend. So, last night, we attended the Jump Back Ball Kickoff Party at Zinc Bistro where we placed our ticket orders for the 20th annual Jump Back Ball, which will be held on February 26th, 2011.

Here's why I want to go:
1. Its a FANTASTIC PARTY that ALWAYS sells out. (Don't believe me? 950 people attended last year)
2. Its a great reason to kick-start a healthy eating and work-out plan at the beginning of the year.
3. Not that you need one, but its a FABULOUS, and totally justifiable reason to buy a new outfit, especially if you achieve (2) above.
4. Its going to be cold and snowy. What a great reason to get out of the house!!!
5. There will be lots of super fun people including some Cleveland bloggers (the plum, Allison, and Seanski, to name a few.)

So, if you want to attend, the good news is that tickets officially go on sale November 17th at 11:00 am. Act fast and order your tickets, and I hope to see you there!!