I stayed at work until 7,  no notes were done,  just all the little stuff that adds up…it’s amazing how much of that there is.  Chose to have a night in working a lot and going out a lot is exhausting :).  Watched the movie Charlie Bartlett…it was super sweet,  i like the kid and Robert Downing Jr.   Then a delicious dinner of sauerkraut pirogies( from the Pirogi Palace at the Westside market) and sweet potato fries!    

and then crafting!!  trying to catch up with my TAD blog :) 

I think I like the circles the best. 

Went to the Y and tried a new routine, thanks to my friend Angie suggesting it and Jim making me do it.  The workout was good, my muscles were tired after.  Then Jim and I met my friend Sara at Deegans in lakewood.  I didn’t take any pictures.  I hadn’t seen sarah in over a year.  It was good fun,  she is lovely and it was nice to travel down memory lane a little :)   We ordered the Reverend which is a beer…good stuff and there was bread pudding involved which means the night was perfect :)  

an old picture of Sara and I

Happy Valentines day.  As a Valentine’s day gift to myself i choose it as my day off for working saturday.  The day started with coloring and updating my TAD posts.  

which promoted a text to the sign guy who designed the picture, which turned into plans for pizza and crafting/game night at moms. 

then i did boring things like finally catch up this blog!   Then on to adventuring with this little one.  We had lunch at First watch in rocky river.  Jack was so excited we were going to the aquarium later he could hardly contain himself.  

randomly we ran into candace who was having pregnancy cravings so i made her join us, she didn’t like the picture i took so i didn’t post it.  It was totally random to run into her and fun to be able to hang out,  she is due feb 22,  i’m so excited!

Jack telling a story

Jessica and I took Jack to the Greater Cleveland Aquarium.  It was pleasant.  He had a blast

jack telling me about alligators

later that night i hung out with mom and my aunt, no game night however it was a pleasant evening  I was able to take the next step on a project that i had put off for months

mom and my aunt

dinner and crafting…with a drill….perfect really :)

they are paint chip samples, covered in “dimensional magic”.  they will soon be beads and jewelry.  This project has been in the works for months.  I became disappointed for a minute when they didn’t turn out exactly how i wanted and i couldn’t find my drill for the holes…then my drill wouldn’t charge…then i bought the wrong drill…however I’m finally all together and lovely things will come of it.  

I started going to the gym regularly last year.  We were going everyday now we go about 4 days a week but we are going on 3 months of constant gym attendance…i’m pretty excited.  Some nights we have dinner afterwards.  Monday we couldn’t decide where to go, i had never been to the tick-tock tavern and had heard good things.  However we didn’t fit in.  So we opted to try the wine bar on clifton.  I should of took a picture of the food,  it was amazing and lovely however I was too hungry to think about pictures.  However afterwards we created art with the empty plates…

Mondays are fun days :) 

Friday night I left work early to go to a cupcake tasting.  I got there a little early so i thought i would try something off the menu.  I couldn’t resist the devil eggs,  i didn’t realize they would be so…colorful.  They were pretty delicious. 

I was fascinated by the idea that they almost matched my shirt.

Jim mocking me….however i think the picture is awesome with the blue and yellow throughout..

then came the cupcakes.  There were 10 flavors.  Jim was deciding what flavor to get for his grandmother’s bday.  My favs were the carrot cake, the lemon raspberry and the turtle.

our awesome waiter,  tony’s girlfriend, and my friend tony at the cupcake tasting

later we went to the garden market brewery…sometimes you just need some mustard

i didn’t take any pictures, however later that night we went to Happy Dog to watch Hertzog, Tony’s band.  I’ve never heard them before, it was pretty awesome. 

The next day i made these. 

While crafting with these lovely ladies…

it was a lovely weekend!

When I was younger we would have huge family parties and my Aunt Mary would make this cookies-n-cream dish.  She would let me help.  I haven’t made this in like 5 years or more, although i give the recipe away alot.   We had a winter pot luck at work and i thought i would revive this dessert.   It was a huge success!

I signed up for thing-a-day (TAD).  It’s a one month blog where you post something you made everyday.  I tried to sign up last year however missed the deadline.  This year i was successful.  So the following was motivated by TAD.   They are plastic #6 melted, who would have thought it would make these awesome little beads!

i use to be late to work all the time and so i get these great views from the 8th floor of the parking lot. 

the westside market is one of my favorite places.  I never really need anything from there but i love to stroll around there on saturday mornings.  

hanging out with mom at the market

we met up with Jim and went to Bon Bon,  there we had chocolate waffles,  they were delicious!!!

and tea!

that night I went to my friend carrie’s and hung out with the kids.  These are some of the sweetest, funniest kids you will ever meet.  I needed to make something for TAD and the girls love when i bring crafts.  So i found this idea of making flowers with celery and acrylic paint

they turned out pretty well. 

something else i made

We have bookclub one wednesday a month.  I was going to cancel becuase i had been working late, however i couldn’t resist Clare’s food.  So i came anyway,  Clare after hearing about the last couple of weeks felt i needed this glass for my wine consumtion…

Sometimes i like to make bread, from a bread maker, it’s delicious!  This was for another mini potluck at work, angie brought salad, ron made bean soup and I brought the bread :)

wow…Jan was a busy month!  just a little more!

things that inspire me 

a throw down between new and old, small and large,  with a single person taste test the winner is…bigger is better :) 

Monday night tacos with Dad and Mike.  Patty has been making these tacos for 30 years, they are amazing and I think my favorite ever!

a design that inspires me

tuesday taco night with jim and tony at Luchitas.  it’s a cactus cup!  

trying on tony’s glasses

more of tony’s glasses

The last weekend in Jan my friend Jim and I went to Chicago.  It was lovely.  We take the mega bus, leave at 1 am on saturday arrive in Chicago at 7am.  First stop is Lou Mitchell’s. The breakfast is always delicious, and they give you free donut holes ! 

then we head over to the bean 

a bridge we cross as we wander around

jim suggested they are an artist’s rendering of tulips…i like them :)

we spend a lot of time here

we came across a cupcake place that had amazing snicker’s pie…so delicious

playing with my hipstamatic on the subway

fruit sushi from orange!

more food from Orange

We went over to Ravenwood to meet a friend,  James.  He took us to Glenn’s,  this is there version of a mimosa!

then we had delicious duck and lobster dish or something ridiculous like that,  it was the best dip i have ever had.

and finally marge’s for ice cream.  so yummy.  it seems all we do is eat in chicago. 

a

Hotdog roulette at Happy Dog with Lauren and some of her friends.  Everyone orders a hotdog for someone else and you don’t know what you are going to get,  the point is to make it good for the other person.  It was a huge success!  this was Lauren’s order for me. 

then a show at Prosperity Social Club

it’s was a snowy  night so my friends (who are not pictured) from Willouby had to head home early

the next day Jim and I went skiing,  his first time ever,  my first time in years.  We went to brandy wine,  we missed the first lesson so i showed him how to do some basic things…and then we went to a lesson,  the instructor was kind of useless.  it was good fun though :) 

I eat lunch at 11:30 there are only a couple of people in our department who do that so we decided to start having little themed pot lucks for lunch.  the first one:  chili from angie, cornbread from ron and i brought toppings..it was perfect

awesome view on the drive home one night

my awesome friend candace and her soon to be awesome baby at her shower

we went to Der Braumeister Restaurant and Deli on W130th the german restaurant where we ran into Ana, my brothers good friend.  I only have a picture of the beer glass…i loved that it had a hand on it.  however it was an awesome night of delicious food and good company!

There is this great place in cleveland called, Art House.  They promote art in urban areas.  My friend Emily shared this lovely place with me eons ago and I try to attend there classes.  They now have this series called Sippin in the Studio, it’s a night of wine and craft,  I love it.  Mom and I go. The Jan session was with Kristin who is my favorite instructor and we learned how to do mosaic tiles, it was lovely.  

it’s hard to tell but when i was driving home one night,  it literally looked like a dragon was trying to eat Cleveland, can you see it? 

i really want this blog to be the summary of my life in a year, over the years…however i’ve already missed january…lets see if i can do a ‘quick’ catch up….

beer pong at a house party  then off to 78th street studios for thier new year’s party

it was lovely fun,  naked painted men, a bathtub that saw so much action, the cutest couple ever and jim in all his glory :) 

the next day a new years day party at Cara’s the menu:  bugles and canned cheese…can’t get any classier than that….

the first snow fall in january while at THe Root a lovely coffee house, restaurant in Lakewood.  the tea i was drinking was an actual dried flower, creepy and cool all at once…

on a day off I spent the morning with this cutie-pie,  His first time ever at the market!

and i discovered the most amazing popcorn ever

i have an obsession with clouds

one sunday i went to akron to take my cousin matt to lunch,  I’m obsessed with meatballs as well, and there is this restaurant called Parasson’s that has a meatball dish,  it is so unhealthy but amazingly delicious, matt humors me and goes there :) they also have the coolest bathroom tile i’ve seen in awhile

bathroom tile

meatball heaven

matt

more clouds

brunch at the westend in lakewood…i love the mimosa!

i think i like this picture the most.