Author: kakakakaty

Whoorl me, Moosh!

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How perfect that I just start reading Moosh In Indy with this very funny post that won her some serious moola!  Now, she has partnered with the lovely and talented Whoorl to make the world a better place with pretty hair.  I’ve been reading Whoorl for awhile (and of course am now reading Hair Thursday as well) and I know need some serious help but she’s got like a billion people in waiting…what’s a girl to do?  How about post my entire hair history for the world to see in hopes of winning a fabulous, Whoorl-selected and Moosh-funded hair make-over?  Here goes…

I have THICK, straight hair.  It is so thick and unruly my mom kept it short so I rocked the Dorothoy Hamill cut from about birth to 7th or 8th grade when I started caring about my hair.

During that time my mom sometimes experimented with perms – home perms (how I loathed you, Toni!) and in my thick, curl-resistant hair they lasted about a month.  I can’t even tell you how many times I sat in a kitchen chair while my mom tightly rolled all my massive amounts of hair on dozens of rollers so I could sit with stinky chemicals on hair and my head rapped in a plastic bag.  It’s amazing I have any hair left after the punishment I put it through.

gotta love the mullet

In middle school I thought a “professional perm” would last longer so I saved my babysitting money for months to get a salon perm and I thought I looked RAD.  Let’s not talk about the chemical burns I got on my forehead and scalp – they were healed by time I posed for this:

Then the 1990’s and high school came a long and as a two-sport athlete hair just got in the way.  I hated styling it since it never held (my curing iron was covered in purple Aussie hairspray residue) and it was so thick I was always hot.  My thick, heavy hair laughed at ponytail holders and broke free most days.  So, I ended up with basically a Dorthoy Hamill cut again, but this time with an at-home-dye-job:

note how the eyebrows don’t even remotely match the hair

College came and I was every color in the book:  I tried black with a bleached streak in the front which looked like a skunk when pulled back into the almost daily ponytail.  It was super-short, shoulder length, middle of the back long; bobs, straight cuts, bangs, no bangs.  From kool-aid dye jobs and manic-panic to double process salon coloring, basically I tried it all:

The belt, the bangs, the blond, Oh my!

hungover and home for Easter – could my eyes look any glassier?

Ahh, keg parties – how I don’t miss you!

here I am posing with my Grandpa the Senator (on the right) and the State Auditor, I have a turtleneck on because I had HICKEYS all over my neck – I was mortified!

Again with the dark eyebrows and light hair – how did I not notice this?

I remember thinking I was sooo cute when this was taken

me and my wonderful hubby in Vancouver on what would be the trip when we got engaged – just days after college graduation (circa 1999)

one year later on our wedding day

After college I went through some crazy hair – a lot o f very bad, very short cuts.  Then I would start to grow it out and get sick of it and cut it off again.

I grew the back out to the flippy style that was popular in about 2001-02

ugh! bad, bad hair!

Once again on the long road to a grow-out (2005)

I usually come back to a bob of some sort.  Lengths vary, but I haven’t had bangs in years, I kind of want them but haven’t yet make that leap.  What I do know is that my hair takes close to an hour to dry with a hairdryer, so I try to wash it at night; this usually backfires as I try to sleep in the next morning and leave precious little time to do any styling.  It doesn’t hold a curl so I don’t even try anymore.  I spent nearly an hour executing the perfect Whoorl Curl only to have it fall straight within 2 hours – sob!!!  The times I really make an effort are in the weeks post-cut when I’m excited about my new ‘do – I’ll even straight iron in the mornings!

These are before and after pictures from last summer when I had 10 inches lopped off for Locks of Love.  I loved the shorter cut and it’s about as close to a good hair day I’ve had in the recent past, but it’s still the same old cut I always return to.  I also really like my hair in this family picture from last summer, pre-haircut, but it hardly ever looked that that.  I remember spending about 1 1/2 hours getting it to that look.

(family photo by the awesomely talented Ron Cowie)

This is me on a typical day…right now it’s just below my shoulders, air dried with very little styling.  Usually by noon it’s in a low ponytail because I can’t stand it on my neck.  I keep a pack of super-duty XL ponytail holders in my desk for this purpose:

Help me!!

Long weekend “staycation”

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I hate that word – “staycation”, but with new jobs and a lack of vacation time we aren’t going anywhere this summer.  With the long weekend we had a great time hanging around our house and hitting a couple of local attractions.  

On Friday we went to a picnic at my boss’s house (she’s a good friend, too).  Saturday we hit this really cool free tour of the Veterans Memorial Bridge and Subway and the awesome Westside Market.  On Sunday we headed east to Chagrin Falls for lunch and sites in this quaint little town.  In between we hung out in the back yard with Maggie’s new climber and wading pool – we didn’t neglect the “family nap” either. 

We had a great time!

 

Problem Solved

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Last night we saw The Cure in concert.  Awesome show, awesome songs, entertaining crowd.  3 solid hours of music with no breaks.  Two encores (sadly we missed the second in order to get home to the babysitter on time).  It was a fantastic performance. I would see them anytime they came back to Cleveland.  Well, maybe not on a work night…I am so damn tired today.  Honestly, their core fan group has to average between ages 35-40 so you think they could start their weekday shows a bit earlier!

Almost equally entertaining as the stage show was the diverse crowd.  Young Goths, old Goths, parents with their teenage kids, 30-somethings with polo shirts and khakis and the weird 60-something in front of us who I’m guessing was tripping on something. 

We solved our ‘where to go?’ dilemma by dining at Bar Cento last night as we decided to skip the opening act in favor of dinner.  We shared three dishes – sunnyside pizza, braised short-rip appetizer and an order of the divine pommes frites.  Mark had a glass of their newly tapped Christmas Ale and I had a glass of their house white.  We were more than satisfied.  The short-rib was wonderfully tender and flavorful, the pizza was an intriguing combination of flavors and textures (Mark wasn’t a fan as it was “too breakfasty”) and the fries – well the fries I could eat every day! 

It was a perfect date night and apparently one that is popular among the cool kids in town.

Grandma arrives in a few hours and then it’s a couple of days of dinners out and wall-paper scraping!

Blog? What Blog?

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Well hello there – has it really been that long?  What, you want content?  Stop pressuring me!! 

There are no real reasons as to why I haven’t posted here in so long – just the beauty of summer and daylight savings time mixed with the busyness of life. Life has been extremely busy lately – just living has taken up a ton of time.  Between toddler wrangling, social lives and us both trying to exercise a lot more there isn’t much time for anything else. 

………….

One of the things that is a constant source of discussion around here is how much there is to do in Cleveland!  We are trying to experience our new town to its fullest this summer but wrapping your head around it can make you very tired.  Add to that the seemingly endless list of Cleveland restaurants gaining national media attention and our desire to try them all and things can get a bit out of hand. We’ve managed to get to a ball game already, and had dinner at a couple of great restaurants.  However, affording a babysitter along with a dinner bill can make these things out of reach.  

But this is shaping up to be a very fun week ‘round these parts.  M’s grandma has been dying to get her hands on her since she was born.  But, since M had no desire for nourishment that didn’t come straight from the source, this nursing mama was tethered to her side for well over a year.  She’s been weaned for several months but grandma (who is a teacher) didn’t have the time, not to mention energy to take our knee-biter off our hands.  That is until the beauty of summer break for teachers – now my mother has nothing to do but dote on our little angel.  Not really, but she is making the 3 hour trek here on Thursday and taking M home with her until Sunday afternoon.  Whoo-hoo!  Two and a half days of sleeping in and livin’ the pantless life!  

In reality we are in dire need of some time to work on the house.  We are stripping the wallpaper off every stinkin’ wall of the first floor and that’s the kind of task that goes much faster with two adults and no toddlers.  But things will not be all work and no play in the household – we do plan to go out for dinner each night, and maybe catch a lunch or 2, too.

As soon as my mom confirmed the dates I called Lola and snagged reservations for Saturday night.  I am beyond excited.  To add to the excitement I caught an Iron Chef America with Lola’s Michael Symon last night (our almost-neighbor Ruhlman was a judge – Cleveland represents!) and I now am positively vibrating with the anticipation of dining there. 

That left Friday up in the air and leads us to our dilemma…do we try something totally new (the Flying Fig) or go back to Bar Cento for a full dinner?  We know that we will love Chef Sawyer’s full menu and he even commented on my post about our first visit so how could I not go back?  But, the sheer number of places to try on our list is so overwhelming that it’s hard not to use the free babysitting to check out a new spot. So it will all come down to reservations – if the Fig can’t accommodate then we will happily check out Sawyer’s dinner fare.

Either way it will be a great weekend and I can’t wait.  But before we even get to that we have one more fun, kid-free activity planed.  On Wednesday night we are going to the Cure concert downtown.  Again, this is something we are both hugely excited for.  I’ve got my black eyeliner all ready to go.  

Ah… it’s like the revisiting the heady, reckless spending, late night days of pre-parenthood. I have a feeling I will be exhausted when it’s all over!

Dinner and a Movie

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Last night Mark and I had a rare date night, made even rarer by the fact that it was a week night.  Being new to the area and still being new-ish parents we don’t have a long list of possible babysitters.  So, we tend to find one or two daycare teachers that M adores and ask them to come baby-sit.  Since these young women already know M, tend to have a degree in early childhood, are CPR and first aid trained and can drive we also insist on paying them quite well.  Even if we do find neighborhood kids who can baby-sit I will still pay them at least minimum wage.  By doing this it seems to assure that their schedules are always clear when we ask them to sit….amazing how that happens!

Since the sitter is a significant cost, we don’t go out too often.  However, last night we had the opportunity to screen a soon-to-be-released here indy movie for free at a local independent theater, the Cedar Lee. We both love this place because it’s close to home, it’s a small, old theater and best of all – they serve beer and wine.  We settled into the crowded theater in the front row as they were the only seats left; I guess a neck-crick is a small price for a free movie!

The movie was The Fall directed by Tarsem Singh who did R.E.M.’s “Losing My Religion” video. Apparently it was shot in over 20 countries including South Africa and India over the course of 4 years and the result is breathtaking.  The movie is visually amazing and the costume design is phenomenal.  The plot was well done and wove reality with fantasy, humor and dark sadness with skill.  We both really enjoyed the film and especially the little girl who plays one of the lead roles, Catinca Untaru who was incredibly natural in her role and a welcome break from saccharine-sweet norm of child actors.  The film was too violent and dark for children, which is a bit sad as it could be a wonderful fantasy movie for them.  Overall we thought the movie was fantastic but were disappointed that we couldn’t drink in the cinematography from better seats.

Afterwords, we strolled over to one of our favorite pizza joints, Dewey’s Pizza, to pick up a calzone to take home.  We ordered and waited at the bar, chatting about the movie and the stores in the area. After a few minutes the manager came up and told us the kitchen had burned our dinner to a crisp and asked us if we wanted a drink on the house while they made another.  Mark got a local brew and I passed; we were in no hurry and this was a nice gesture.  Then the manager, still apologizing, gave us a gift certificate for $15 off our next visit.  All this for a burnt $8 calzone!  We were very impressed, and as it is one of our favorite places we know we’ll be using that coupon.  We got home just in time for Top Chef and enjoyed our late-night dinner. 

A wonderful night of drinks, a movie and dinner all for about $5 (not including paying the sitter)!

3 Months to 3-Day

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See that shiny pink box over there to the right?  The one that says I’m walking 60 freaking miles over 3 days …in August?  As in 3 short months from now? Yea, so that.  I haven’t really been training for it and it just kind of hit me recently that I’M WALKING 60 MILES and maybe I better prepare for it so I don’t die.  Luckily my employer, who has all sorts of fitness classes and incentives for our main office employees, finally realized that they banished about 2,000 people to a suburban “administrative campus” and that maybe we would like some low-cost classes too, please.  So starting June 2 I will be taking classes 4 days a week right after work here in my building.  Pilates and cardio, to be exact.  Of course I also need to get some outdoor walking in to prepare for this endeavor so I plan to hit the road at least 3 times a week after M goes to bed.  I should be able to get in about 1 – 1 ½ hours in before it gets dark.  Plus, I’ve signed up for a 13-mile training walk on June 28, so that will give me a gauge to see how I’m doing (and if I will survive).

The other component to this is the fundraising. I’ve been a professional fundraiser for 9 years now so this should be cake, right?  I know all the rules of the game and the tricks and tips and could give someone else advice and help any day of the week.  But the funny thing about us fundraisers is that it’s really, really easy to ask for money for some greater cause but when it comes to raising funds for ourselves it’s not so easy.  Not that this money is for ME, mind you, but I am asking people to support a journey that I am taking and that is significantly harder to do. I sent out some of my first asks last week and got some very generous responses.  I’m buoyed but the quick return and the support I’ve received this far but I still have a very long way to go. I can’t believe some people do several of these walks each year. 

If you want to help please click on that box and donate, as everyone says – each dollar counts and it is (of course) tax-deductible. If you know me IRL ask me to go on a walk with you or check in to see how my training is going, accountability is a big thing for me.  Or, just send some support (and maybe a casserole) towards my sweet hubby who is about to become a walking widower.

Holy crap – 3 months…wish me luck!

I Just Don’t Get It

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Sometimes the blog world baffles me.  Anyone who blogs, especially about their life and their kids, needs to understand that by putting something “out there” you are inviting the world to comment on it.  In the mommy-blogging world people can get downright bitchy, especially if you happen to post a different viewpoint.  Now, I’m not talking about the trolls that start bashing every little thing (like on ParentDish – gees that can be a wicked place)…I’m talking about mostly joyful places when you comment in a nice way but then get bashed by other commenters for having a differing view.  

Case in point – I commented on Amalah’s recent post about having an awful time with an over-stimulated toddler at an overly-expensive Thomas the Train event.  In the past Amalah has also written about dumping a ton of money on every Thomas the Train playset know to man even though her son never really plays with them. So, after reading about 25 comments from others recalling having the same miserable time at similar TV-show-themed events with cranky and overloaded kids my comment was this: “Sorry, I just don’t get outlaying that much cash for a 2 year old to see a train. Just like I don’t get paying tons of cash to get tix to a Hanna Montana concert for your 5 year old. Does any kid or parent actually enjoy this stuff?  Noah would have had the same enjoyment in the Thomas section of Toys R Us and you could have saved $$. Does make a good blog post, though.” 

And I get return comments like this from commenter Sarey: “Wow, ikate has forgotten how to play. why would you go to a concert or a play or any experience that isn’t in front of a tv?”  I guess what Sarey doesn’t know is that Thomas is a TV SHOW(!) and what I am suggesting, especially for the two-year old set, is why do they watch so much TV that they get so obsessed with a character?  And why do parents feel the need to outlay that kind of cash for a kid who would know no different from going to see a (free) train yard..or even a commuter train?  Why does a great experience for a child have to involve some marketed character? My guess is that any child obsessed with trains would be flipping out and “screaming and squealing with total kid joy” (which is why Amalah said she did it and would do it again).  Commenter Cagey hit the nail on the head with “We have two major rail lines running through our town and we go to watch the trains running by about every other day. My kid still goes spastic every single time we see a train coming through..” but then still managed to slam me by the end of her comment.  

And, of course  you wouldn’t get this from my short comment, but the reason I included the Hannah Montana part is because right after we moved to Cleveland she was performing here and there was a photo of a father with his 3-year old at the concert.  He “just had to get her the tickets” when he found out she was performing here…sounds to me like dad was the one who wanted to see HM perform, because I seriously doubt a 3-year old would know the concert schedule.  

I guess what I’m getting at are two points:  One being that I don’t get the backlash from other commenters on a blog when you post a dissenting viewpoint.  I’ve been reading Amalah for over two years now and in the last year or so her commenters treat her like a goddess who cannot be disagreed with so I hardly ever comment there – even if I agree or liked a post.  Sites like Ask Moxie are blissfully bitch free so I know it can be done, but it’s pretty rare.

Second is that I just don’t get the consumerism we heap onto our little ones.  It’s one thing to visit American Girl for a tea party when a 7-8 year old has been reading the books for a year or two and will remember the special day; or to see HM with a school-age child who knows every word to her songs.  It’s another thing altogether to spend an entire day with a tantruming, screaming 2-year old because you get 2 minutes of joy from the nearly $70 you just shelled out for the experience.  There is so much lost in that exchange – it has become all about the parent being the “Best Parent in the World” and nothing about exploring a child’s wonder.

I Heart TAL

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Is that that show by those hipster know-it-alls who talk about how fascinating ordinary people are?*
Yes, it is! 

I’m a huge fan of This American Life.  I love the show more than anything else when it comes to entertainment media.  I don’t often hear it on the radio since my new local NPR station doesn’t carry it (what the hell?) but do listen to the weekly shows via the podcast.  If you aren’t familiar with TAL and its host/creator, Ira Glass, it’s a really hard thing to describe.  The show tells unusual stories in unique ways…slice of life, fictional stories that are always so, so interesting. They can be touching, thoughtful, funny, and surprising; but they are always mesmerizing.  Each show has a bit of a theme running through it…in fact, the way Ira introduces each show is “of course each week we choose a theme, and bring you a variety of stories on that theme..” He has a great skill in weaving the stories and interviews with fantastic music and pacing them with a perfect cadence.  The show is simple, beautiful and transcendent storytelling and is next to impossible to explain.  So just go listen to an episode or two…I’ll wait. 

Last year, TAL did a TV show for Showtime and I wondered for weeks how in the world they could translate the unique quality of a radio show to a visual media without losing what makes the show so special.  We got Showtime precisely so we could watch and somehow they pulled it off – what was on the screen was a perfect interpretation of the show we knew and loved.  Balanced, simple, beautiful storytelling now paired with stunning visuals allowed the success of the radio show to shine in a new format.  (BTW – TAL season 2 starts Sunday…get those TiVos set!).  Showtime must like it because TAL now has a contract for 30 shows.

Last night, based on the success of the radio show (1.7 million listeners each week and it’s always listed as one of the top weekly podcasts on the net) and the TV show, Ira and crew did something no other radio show has ever done – they did a live broadcast of its show to theaters across the country.  Of course, we attended at a nearby theater to see Ira on stage in NYC before a live audience talking about the radio and TV shows while playing clips and outtakes from the new TV season.  I was so excited all day yesterday and when I tried to explain it to co-workers I would get really strange looks.  It’s hard to believe that some people have never even heard of the show!

Anyway, we arrived and were pleasantly surprised to see about 60 or so other TAL dorks who shelled out the $20 per ticket.  As we settled in with our dinner of popcorn and soda the “pre-show puzzles” (a hang-man like game to fill the screen before the broadcast started) were up but audio from the usual pre-movie commercials and previews was playing.  Then, right at 8 PM Ira appears on the screen and there was no audio!  We missed the first 7 minutes of audio as the idiots at Regal Cinemas got their act together and fixed it.  It was a strange thing to see Ira on the screen talking into his mic but hear the audio of movie previews.  I was livid that we paid $40 to see this and Regal Cinemas failed so miserably.  However, once the problem was fixed Mark and I were quickly caught up in the show.  Ira seemed totally relaxed, the entire crew did a fantastic job with the live broadcast and we laughed and “oohed” fo the next two hours.  It was a terrific night out and I’m so glad I got to see it.  I can’t wait for the new TV season to start, but in the meantime I will get my fix with one of the over 300 radio shows that are already done.

*Bonus points you know what TV show this is from.

The One Where I Ramble On & On About Cleveland Restaurants

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Alternate Title: How Many Links Can I Put In One Post?

This past weekend my parents offered to come up for the weekend to baby-sit so Mark and I could go out for his birthday. They got here Saturday afternoon and helped us clean up our garage (AKA the dumping grounds for all the wallpaper, carpet, etc. we have pulled out of the house) and organize our garden tools. It was great to be able to get that done and now we have room to get to things like the lawn mower, ladders and all the things that become vitally important when spring hits. Now we just have to hire a junk company to come pick up all the nicely rolled carpet and bags and bags of debris.

In planning for the weekend we started asking around for some restaurant ideas. Mark and I love eating out and have a healthy disdain for chains; we like to eat local and support the culinary community. In Toledo, this was a pretty easy task – there were several wonderful locally owned joints that served great food. In the 9 or so years we lived there we had discovered several favorites. Now that we are in Cleveland, choosing just one place is a herculean task! The more we looked the longer our list of possibilities got. We both knew that there were plenty of independent restaurants, but had no idea the caliber of the Cleveland culinary scene. (Yes, I read Michael Ruhlman, and I know that Tony Bourdain has brought No Reservations here, but somehow that never really sunk in.)

Of course, the first place that came up is the newly famous Lola. Chef Michael Symon has recently been making a big name for himself on the Food Network by winning the Next Iron Chef contest. And he recently announced that he will be taking over the FN show Dinner Impossible along with opening a new restaurant in Detroit’s newly renovated Book Cadillac building. However we decided that we weren’t up for the fancy-pants “see and be seen” atmosphere of Lola or its sister Lolita.

During our digging we came across several very favorable descriptions of the food of Jonathon Sawyer, a Cleveland native who was recently nominated for the prestigious Rising Star Chef Award from the James Beard Foundation. His Bar Cento has made several of the “best of” lists and the food sounded simple and down to earth. He’s a big believer in using locally-sourced and organic ingredients and it shows on his menus. He is also in the process of opening The Greenhouse Tavern, the first Green restaurant in Ohio and we can’t wait to check it out when it opens. Also, how cool is it that he does Cheffin’ with Kids? It’s a weekly event where kids can make their own pizzas along side Chef Sawyer at Bar Cento… we are so doing this someday soon.

However, reservations at Bar Cento were not to be had so we settled on grabbing a drink there to start our night. I had an exquisite lavender martini, made with lavender-infused Gray Goose and Mark and a local mico-brew while we sat at the bar. I couldn’t pass up a chance to order Sawyer’s legendary Pomme Frites with Belgium mayonnaise. These duck-fat-fried fries have been described as “breathtaking” and we totally agreed. Served in a paper cone with a trio of flavored mayonnaise, they were a fantastic taste of Sawyer’s reputation for using a few simple ingredients and letting the quality of the food shine. Bar Cento will defiantly be on our short list for a return trip and a proper meal.

As our reservation time approached, we headed through the cute area of Ohio City to our chosen dinner destination, Momocho. This is a cozy little place that was recommended for its fun menu, casual atmosphere and fun people-watching. If we were childless and moving to Cleveland, this would have been the neighborhood for us. Much like our old ‘hood in Toledo this Historic area is a great mix of people, architecture and that old school neighborhood feel – the kind of place where everyone is strolling about in the evening and visiting with neighbors. Unlike Toledo’s Old West End, Ohio City has a vibrate restaurant, bar and retail scene and Momocho is part of it.

Known for their guacamole, they have an impressive array of 6 different kinds and you can even get a sampler of 3 different kinds. Mark hates all things avocado but I had to try one, so I ordered the blue crab, corn and chile chipotle guac and it was heavenly. Amazingly Mark decided to have a taste and “he likes it! Hey, Marky!” We both enjoyed it immensely and Mark conceded that maybe he’s just never had properly made guac before. Their guac and salsas are served with freshly made corn chips which were warm and crunchy but a bit too salty.

We had also heard that they make a mean margarita at Momocho and Mark opted for the sampler of margs. He got a trio of mango, pomegranate and blood orange while I just ordered a traditional one. The “samples” are not samples – the are more like tumblers and one sampler order equals 1 ½ or 2 regular drinks. All of them were fantastic and made with fresh fruit. I’d love to try their sangria on a return trip. They have a darling outdoor seating area but it was too chilly on Saturday to use it, it would be a great place for a lingering summer meal with friends.

For dinner we both had their signature taquitos. I opted for the slow roasted duck with pomegranate ancho barbacoa while Mark had the carnitas with honey-chipotle mojo. Everything was fabulous – the meats were slow roasted, tender and flavorful. The sauces were a perfect complement to the spices. By the time we finished about half our food we were both overly full.

As we made our way back to our car we decided that we need to start a date-night at least once a month to discover all the great things our new hometown has to offer – from the ethnic fare to the gastopubs, I think we have a lot of ground to cover.