December FLEW by

December 21, 2015December 20, 2015 / Melissa (I Crashed the Web) / 5 Comments

Whew. I don’t know about you, but the past few weeks have been a whirlwind. Between holiday parties, cookie exchanges, dinners with friends, baking, and more – the past month has flown by. And I’ve loved every minute! We’ve had such a great December – here are some of the highlights from this past weekend, week and month:

lights in playhouse square

Running with Nicole! Me and my running bff finally got back outside and enjoyed a few runs the past few weeks. Some were incredibly warm and I wore shorts! Others were more seasonable. But it was great to get out there again after a few too many indoor treadmill runs and enjoy the morning and sunrise. And stop and take pictures of the Terminal Tower all lit up for the holidays!

running-tower city

Going to a Browns game for Monday Night Football! On one of the seasonably warm days, B and I snagged suite seats to a Browns game thanks to his work. The game wasn’t that great – we ended up losing at the last second and it ended after midnight. BUT, it was still fun to enjoy live Monday Night Football and inside the warmth of a suite.

browns suite

Going to the Cavs game. And having suite seats (yes, again). Through B’s work, we were able to enjoy a Cavs game. I prefer basketball to football (inside, faster paced, better fans, shorter games…) and had a great time. Even the food was good! Seriously – look at that grilled cheese. At a game!

cavs game

cavs game food

Celebrating the holidays with coworkers. Our office holiday party was at a fun restaurant/bar this year, Happy Dog, that features hot dogs and tater tots with tons of toppings. And arcade games. t was fun to celebrate the season (and a great year!) with my coworkers. Their hot dogs are really good – especially their vegan dog, which tastes more like an Italian sausage. I had a really good vegan dog with a garlic sauce, mozzarella, bacon, onions and mushrooms. Plus some tots!

office holiday party

happydog

Ringing in the holiday season with other BC grads. B and I are in charge of our alumni association and planned this year’s holiday party. We were excited to go to a new place – Bold Food & Drink on the East Bank of the Flats – and had a great turnout. I love meeting new BC grads living in Cleveland – they’re here, but not so easy to find!

bc holiday party

Enjoying the final Ladies Craft Beer Society of 2015. This year, we opted to do a holiday dinner to celebrate a great Ladies Craft Beer Society and wish good luck to the three ladies in our group who are pregnant. One of them – Reanna – is due any week (!!) so it was great to see her and the other girls and enjoy a night out. And do a final craft for the year 🙂

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Dining out with the Carney ladies. Each year, my sisters-in-law and I opt to celebrate the holidays with an experience as opposed to gifts – this year the holidays snuck up on us and we only had time to plan a dinner. Still, it was a great night for wine and pizza and fries (dinner of champions!) at Bar Cento and to catch up before the craziness of the holidays sits in.

girls night dinner

We did quite a few other things this month – going to see the Cleveland Orchestra, out to dinner in Uptown, grabbing drinks with friends, seeing the From Monet to Matisse exhibit at the Cleveland Art Museum and more .. it has really been a great month! I can’t believe December is nearly over and we’re already talking about 2016. Which undoubtedly will be a great year 🙂

holiday flowers

Some questions for you:

What are you most looking forward to about the rest of December?
Have you ever been to a Monday Night Football game?

Linking up today with Erin for my weekend snapshot post, Katie for MIMM and of course, the weekly wraps.

Two football wins + two scary movies

November 3, 2014November 3, 2014 / Melissa (I Crashed the Web) / Leave a comment

This was the first weekend that B and I were in town without any commitments/events/trips/weddings/etc. since August, so I was pretty excited when Friday came. What would the weekend hold? Relaxing? Going out? Running? (I know – sounds like every other weekend)

Friday night was Halloween! B and I were still pretty tired from a late night Thursday watching the Cavs home opener, so we decided to stay in and make dinner and watch Halloween movies. I can’t remember a Halloween where we did this and I must admit – it was a lot of fun! We’ve dressed up a lot throughout the years and not having to find a costume and instead just eating candy on the couch (as well as an amazing meal) while watching SCREAM was awesome. (Yes, likely another sign I’m getting old … I’m super happy watching movies and eating candy on Friday nights)

OK so this is from Thursday. The scene outside the Q before the home opener.

Slow braised pork and veggies. It tastes SO much better than this photo.

Saturday B and I had planned to get in one last decent run before our half marathon this weekend (eek!) but we woke up to 30ish degree temps, super speedy winds and pouring rain. So I decided to just hang out on the elliptical and lift weights. We decided to just take advantage of the gloomy weather and spend nearly the entire day inside – watching college football (BC WON!!) and more scary movies (including the Purge!), drinking pumpkin beers and spiked cider, and eating some more candy corn.

The Purge preview. I don’t mind a good scary movie with a plot – and this is it 🙂

We did, however, make it out for the evening – we decided to get a few drinks at Parnells and enjoy inner at Noodlecat. I discovered one of my new favorite beers – Southern Tier Warlock! It’s got sweetness and spice like a holiday or pumpkin beer but dark. Yum!

New favorite! So happy Parnells has it.

Favorite salad at Noodlecat and delicious steam buns!

Sunday we woke up somewhat early thanks to Daylight Saving (yay!) so B and I had time for an 8+ mile run before our fun day began – B had scored us two tickets to the Browns game and we had club seats. It was not only a great day for a game (a little chilly but beautiful and sunny out) – but the Browns won! A great way to cap off our weekend.

b and me game

How was your weekend?

Did you dress up for Halloween?

Have you ever seen the Purge?

What’s your favorite scary movie?

Candy corn – yay or nay?

B is for B’s Birthday!

September 15, 2014September 14, 2014 / Melissa (I Crashed the Web) / 4 Comments

This weekend was a fun-filled, pre-planned celebratory weekend for B! Why? Because B had a milestone birthday. I’m not going to say how old … but I’m sure you can figure it out 🙂

Anyway, we started off the celebrations somewhat early – Thursday night, I planned a night to Hilarities to see one of B and my’s favorite podcast stars – Pete Correale. I also invited some of B’s friends AND family to join us in the celebration! We had people over before the show for drinks, sliders and pulled pork (thanks to B’s mom!), and some snacks I prepared like buffalo chicken dip, hummus, chocolate cupcakes, chocolate chip cookies and buckeye brownies (recipe is coming soon!).

After the show, we got a chance to say hi to Pete and even get a picture – he was such a nice guy and none of B’s friends were familiar with him but I’m sure they’re fans now; he put on a great show!

Friday night I let B decide how he wanted to spend the evening and what he wanted for dinner – so of course, we ended up at Parnells for drinks and then Superior Pho! After dinner we walked around and caught some of the outdoor movie playing downtown – a Cleveland classic, Draft Day. And of course we enjoyed some leftover cupcakes for dessert.

superior pho

outdoor movie night!

Saturday was another awesome day where I basically told B that we could do whatever he wanted. Because he’s the best, the day started with him making me breakfast and cleaning the apartment while I worked out (I know – he cleaned our apartment while I got to work out … he knows the way to make me happy). After that, we picked up our CSA and then headed to the Cleveland Flea! I love the Flea and it was a cool fall-like day – perfect for walking around and grabbing a few drinks.

B @ the Flea

Then, B chose to hit the driving range. We each hit a bucket of balls – and I didn’t do that bad.

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After the driving range, we went out to the lake. It had started to get cloudy – and windy – and it was fun to see the water so rough. Hard to believe last year on this same day we were on the beach in LA!

For dinner, B decided he was craving buffalo chicken wings. Wings and beer – not too bad for a birthday I suppose. And then after dinner, it was time for the next part of our plans – another comedy show! Jim Jefferies, another comedian I was introduced to from a podcast, was in town after canceling his show in June and playing in one of the local theaters. He was awesome – he put on a nearly TWO HOUR performance and it was so much fun to see him in real life after listening to his cast and watching him on TV (he used to have a show, Legit).

Buff chick salad AND a PUMPKING (aka my favorite fall brew)

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Sunday was another great day – it included watching the Browns WIN their home opener (probably because B was wearing his birthday gift – the Brian Hoyer jersey), some meal prep for the week and a 5 miler with B. Not a bad way to end a birthday weekend – hopefully B agreed!

Some questions for you:

Do you watch Sunday football? Who do you root for? Sometimes – I didn’t grow up watching football but if it’s on and I can multi-task (a.k.a. I don’t have to ONLY watch it) I’ll root for the Browns.
Meal prepping – do you do it? Yes, if I get a chance to, I love working with my Fresh Fork finds and preparing lunches in advance. It makes my week so much better and there’s something so relaxing about preparing food. I find it therapeutic!
Any favorite comics? Do you like podcasts? Which do you listen to? I like to listen while working out, especially if I’m indoors – I go for the Pete & Sebastian show or Stuff You Should Know.
What would your birthday meal of choice be?

I Love Fall Weekends

October 16, 2012October 16, 2012 / Melissa (I Crashed the Web) / Leave a comment

“I love fall. Except for that nagging feeling that winter is coming and then it’s going to suck when it snows and is cold.” ~ anonymous

Fall leaves outside of Cleveland

It’s already mid-October and I’ve been lacking in a fall weekend update post. Why? It’s not because I have nothing to update – it’s because instead of taking the time to post, I’ve instead been having fun and enjoying the beautiful fall in Cleveland (and New York and Columbus). There’s just so much going on and the weeks and days seem to go by faster and faster! So here are some highlights from the past few weekends (in no order):

Wedding Shower

B’s cousin is getting married next month (YAY!) so we went down to Columbus one weekend to celebrate their upcoming nuptials. Festivities spending time with B’s family, lots of Italian food (of course), and a bridal shower with funfetti cupcakes (the bride’s favorite), sangria (why not?) and so many cute Snoopy (the bride’s other favorite) decorations!

The beautiful bride-to-be (middle), her sister and me
I totally stole this photo from the bride’s friend and photographer: http://www.facebook.com/Ave23Photography

Guess the bride’s favorite cartoon?

My Parents Visit

My parents visited! Instead of a gorgeous fall weekend where we went apple picking, walked to the West Side Market and took part in the 100 year anniversary festivities (which I had planned), it rained and rained and rained. So we saw a movie (Looper!), tried some classic Cleveland cuisine (Hecks burgers and Noodlecat!) and enjoyed each others’ company, mostly indoors (and may have caught a SATC marathon … sorry B!).

When it finally stopped raining, we found a rainbow!

The Weekend Where We Go to NYC

When B and I heard that my grandma was in the hospital unexpectedly, we made an impromptu weekend trip to NYC to visit her and my family. A quick trip (about 24 hours) that involved waking up at 3:15 a.m. to catch a 5:30 a.m. flight from Akron, we got to not only visit my grandma, but got to see each of my uncles, enjoyed lunch with my brother, dinner with my parents, aunt, uncle and cousin – and a movie (Perks of Being a Wallflower = amazing)!

Visiting my grandma

I got to catch lunch with my brother!

And the weekend where I tailgate and go to a Browns Game

My coworker Samantha has been trying to get me to go to a Browns game with her for forever. We were SUPER close two weeks ago, but just as we were about to buy some tickets, it started pouring and hailing out – so I decided to head home from our tailgate and take a 4 hour nap, as opposed to watching the Browns lose. This weekend, though, Samantha tricked me. She had me buy the tickets ahead of time – how could I back out?

The game and pre-game festivities were great! We checked out the new bar, Winks, and caught a Browns win – the first of the season! Who knows – maybe I’m good luck?