Summertime During a Pandemic

August 17, 2020August 16, 2020 / Melissa (I Crashed the Web) / 1 Comment

Another month has gone by and we’re another month in a pandemic. It’s strange, really, sometimes it feels like life is normal and we’re just having our own normal summer … albeit in masks. But then other days, my anxiety catches up with me and I don’t know how much longer we’ll be able to keep things up.

Anyway, we’ve had a pretty good past few weeks. Besides all the running I’ve been doing in the mornings (I reached 100+ days of my running streak!), we’ve been keeping busy outside as much as possible while the weather is still nice. Here’s what we’ve been up to:

Using Grandma and Grandpa’s kiddie pool! It’s been great to go over there and spend time outside.

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Celebrating FW

June 25, 2018June 25, 2018 / Melissa (I Crashed the Web) / 3 Comments

Wow, what a fun-filled jam-packed weekend. We packed so many activities into two days! Why? Because FW turned TWO on Saturday. So, we made sure to do as much fun things we could to celebrate him. It was great to make him feel special, especially since he now has a 1-month-old sister and he has to share the attention with!

Saturday morning we started the day with his favorite – pancakes!

They even brought out in muffin with a candle on it to blow out and sang Happy Birthday. He loved it!

After breakfast, we headed to the zoo. FW gets a membership from one of his uncles for his birthday and it’s such a perfect gift!

Francis LOVES animals, especially giraffes and elephants. So, the zoo was pretty much his ideal birthday location.

We even checked out the new Asian Highland’s exhibit.

We were there for several hours, and I discovered that they even have a nursing room for moms! It has two rockers, a privacy partition, children’s books and more. Yes, we may have spent some time in there.

At night, we all headed to the Indians game. FW seemed more interested in the mascot and music than the game. He did love “the baseball song” of course.

My parents also came in town to celebrate the birthday! They got in Saturday night, and we started off Sunday with a walk to breakfast.

That afternoon, we had people over to celebrate FW. B grilled, and my mom and I helped with the sides.

B’s mom made a great birthday cake – it was a bear with a soccer ball! FW loved it.

I know I had a good time – and I hope FW did, too. I can’t my little buddy is already 2 years old!

Some questions for you:

Do you like zoos?
What is your favorite kind of cake?

I’m linking up with the weekly wraps!

A WINdians Weekend With the Grandparents

October 8, 2017 / Melissa (I Crashed the Web) / 2 Comments

This weekend FLEW by. I seriously feel like I blinked and it was over. Maybe because we had just too much fun?

Our weekend started with an AMAZING Indians game. They are in the playoffs again and B and I had tickets to game 2 of the ALDS vs. the Yankees. Yes, I’m from NY but I’m cheering for the Indians all the way! (don’t worry – I grew up in a Mets and SF Giants household) The game was a good one – it went into 13 innings but we came home with a win!! Now onto game 3 (which they’re playing now … eep!)

Saturday morning I took a short stroller jog with FW. It was a run/walk and we ended up at some lakes again. I enjoy this view 🙂

Then, it was time to head to Celia’s for her birthday party! I can’t believe this girl is two already.

That afternoon my parents came into town! We grabbed pizza in Little Italy after they got into town for dinner.

Another highlight from the weekend? FW transitioned into a big(ger) kid car seat! I cannot believe he’s pretty much officially a toddler. Or almost.

The weekend also included some delicious brunch (avocado toast for me!) at Luna.

And, we headed to the Zoo to watch the animals.

FW was way more into the elephants and the other animals this time!

He was also adamant about walking around on his own. Which means things took a lot longer to get to 🙂

We ended up Sunday with a baseball-themed dinner and a little game watching. Go Tribe!

Questions for you:

Are you watching baseball right now?
Do you like zoos?

I’m linking up with the weekly wraps!

A wonderful Cleveland holiday

December 9, 2012December 10, 2012 / Melissa (I Crashed the Web) / Leave a comment

I love the holidays. The lights everywhere. The baked goods. The cookies. The music. The Christmas Ale. The overall warmth and jolliness that everyone seems to espouse (especially after a few cookies and Christmas Ale!). And even though it’s not even the middle of December yet, I’m already in full blown holiday spirit!

Cleveland public square at night - all lit up

Cleveland during the holiday times is great. Public Square is lit up and there’s so much going on! In addition to a few holiday parties (not mentioned below), here’s how I’ve been celebrating – with 15 days left until Christmas!

Baking … and more baking!

Yes, as if I need an excuse for baking … but so far this year I’ve made Oatmeal Scotchies, Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Cookies and Cherry Almond Chocolate Kisses. When I get back to NY, I’ll likely make some more – probably some lemon bars, thumbprint jam cookies, peanut blossoms, Tuxedo Cookies, and much much more.

Some of the holiday cookies we baked for our office potluck/cookie exchange party

Some of the holiday cookies baked for our office potluck/cookie exchange party

Rocking it at the Cleveland Rocks! Awards

Each year, before the holidays, the Cleveland PRSA Chapter celebrates the best in the year’s programs and invites local PR pros to celebrate as well. This year, projects I worked on won several awards, including Best in Show! Plus, the Silent Auction I helped coordinate garnered a record number of funds to support the chapter’s scholarship fund. It was a great night and definitely wonderful to celebrate with my other coworkers and friends in the business.

Coworkers Goofing Off At Our Photo Booth at the Awards

Best In Show winners with our award – a guitar!

Enjoying the Cleveland Orchestra’s Holiday Performance

Each year, the Cleveland Orchestra puts on a performance for St. Ignatius as a fundraiser for student scholarships during the holidays – and it’s amazing! They play holiday concerts during the entire holiday season for the public, but I love the Ignatius concert tradition. We get dinner in Little Italy with B’s entire family (parents, siblings, aunt, uncles, grandma, cousin, etc.), then enjoy a performance in Severance Hall by the Cleveland Orchestra. It’s a great way to get in the holiday spirit – and I love it!

third row at the Cleveland Orchestra!

Watching A Christmas Carol at Playhouse Square

This weekend, B and I got tickets (THANKS CHRIS!) to see A Christmas Carol, put on by Great Lakes Theater. We made the evening into a date, and got drinks with his brother and parents before, saw the show, and then enjoyed dinner at Cowell & Hubbard. It was a great way to spend a wintry evening – the show was great (although it made me really want to watch A Muppet Christmas Carol) and dinner was awesome. We enjoyed some beef ceviche, escargot, fois gras donuts and seafood dumplings — all food that I don’t normally order.

Escargot, beef ceviche, seafood dumplings and fois gras doughnuts @ Cowell & Hubbard

Giving Back with Caring Cubs

This weekend, B and I took ourniece and nephew to the zoo! Not only were we there to see some of the animals, but we were there for a Caring Cubs event. Caring Cubs is an organization I became introduced to through Bridge Builders- they hold monthly events for young children, ages 2 to 7, designed to teach various lessons of social responsibility. We took Oliver and Sofia to the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, brought some new and gently used toys that were in turn donated to the Department of Child and Family Services, and then got to enjoy an animal show plus tour of the zoo afterwords. We finished up the afternoon in Little Italy, enjoying some pizza and dessert at some of our favorites – Mama Santas and Presti’s.