wedded bliss

Restaurant Week Review, Part 1

1 Comment

As you know M has been at her grandparents house all week so Mark and I embarked on our own little restaurant week, visiting a new establishment every night.  With your help we narrowed down our selections to Lolita, Sarava, Crop, Ponte Vecchio and Greenhouse Tavern. We were so excited to have something to look forward to each night because while we truly enjoyed our kid-free week, the house was way too quiet in the evenings.

Sunday night was to be our first trip to Michael Symon’s famed Lolita.  But the hostess refused to seat us so we sought out Tremont Tap House instead. (And for all of you who have asked, despite a call and email to the restaurant, no one from Lolita has contacted us in response.) The Tap House was pretty empty on Sunday night but that didn’t stop us from enjoying some great food and beer.  We started with the Calamari with hot cherry peppers which were delicious.  I didn’t even know a thing like hot cherry peppers existed but I am so happy to know about them now. The calamari were crispy on the outside with a great bite to the inside. The cherry peppers add that sweet/savory mix that pairs so nicely with calamari. We devoured the dish in just a few minutes.

Next we both ordered burgers – the Blue for me and the Joshua for Mark. We both laughed when they came out on tin plates because it reminded us of our favorite beer and burger place in Toledo – Nick & Jimmy’s – who served their food on the same plates.  The resemblance didn’t stop at the plates because the burgers themselves reminded us of the fantastic ones at N&J’s – big, juicy and tasty.  We both polished off our burgers and fries and were quite happy that the Lolita incident had led us to Tremont Tap House.

Monday night took us just up the road to Saravá.  It’s a place we’ve been talking about trying every since we moved here almost 2 years ago.  We were there quite early – around 5:30 and were seated at a booth in the bar area.  We loved the ambiance of this place and our seats overlooking Shaker Square were perfect. We started with the Garlic-Parsley Shrimp which were perfectly cooked and mildly flavored. I moved on to the Shrimp Bainna which was a dish of more perfectly cooked shrimp and a sweet yet spicy coconut milk sauce.  I loved the sauce so much I even ate all the vegetables in the dish, and I’m not a fan of veggies.  Mark had the Oy Vey! Pizza with kosher hard salami and crushed red pepper. I’m not a big fan of meat on pizza but my bites were very well balanced and the crust was crisp and airy.  We both got dessert – I opted for the Coconut Butter Cake which was every bit as good as you would imagine.  Mark had the Brazilian Carmel Custard which was reminiscent of flan and very tasty.  With a nice children’s menu I think Saravá will become a regular spot for us.

Tuesday night had us at Crop Bistro in W. 6th Street.  I recently had a delicious lunch at Crop and was excited to go back for their dinner menu. First things first – we were seated along the long wall with banquette seating on one side of the table and chairs on the other. I get that the chef has gone for a NYC feel with the tables squeezed close together but I didn’t appreciate the fact that I could have easily reached my fork over and taken a bite of our neighbor’s meal.  We were so close that it was hard to concentrate on our own conversation and not listen to theirs.  The restaurant was only about a third full so I saw no reason for us to be sitting so close to another party – this is Cleveland, not New York, give us a little breathing room.

Anyway, I had heard great things about Crop’s Seared Hudson Valley Foie Gras so I ordered that.  I was velvety smooth and delicious, however I think I ate too much because I wasn’t feeling well later in the evening. I had the entree of Ribs in a Cherry Sauce and Mark got the Chicken Fried Chicken with Ohio Maple Waffles.  Both were plated beautifully but I was a bit surprised at how few ribs I got for $28 – just 4 bones.  While the ribs were nicely cooked – tender and flavorful they were lost under the thick coating of overly sweet sauce, I found that by scraping off most the the sauce I was able the enjoy the meat much more.  The sides of slaw and cheddar sweet potatoes were very good.  Mark’s chicken was perfectly tender and juicy but lacked a bit in the seasoning.  The dish was drizzled with a maple sauce which was very sweet and lacked a savory counterpoint.  Crop was the most expensive meal of the week and we were both a bit underwhelmed.  We do want to try it again, but it may not be for awhile.

Still to come… discovering Ponte Vecchio and an amazing experince at Greenhouse Tavern

Perfect Pancakes

Leave a comment

Not long after M began eating table food we established the tradition of Sunday Pancakes in our house.  After some trial and error we realized that I was the chief pancake maker in the house so every Sunday I played around with the routine. It started innocently enough with Bisquick and some Log Cabin but it has now evolved, in true food snob fashion, to pancakes from scratch and local maple syrup.  The first revelation was when I purchased a cast-iron 2-burner griddle which made flipping and heat control much easier.  Plus I could make 4 cakes at a time, thus getting breakfast on the table in less then an hour.

Then I started looking around for the best pancake recipe I could find.  It didn’t take long for me to figure out that Alton Brown’s was the best. Truthfully pancakes from scratch are not that hard and I’m guessing you have what you need in your pantry already. AB’s recipe tells you how to mix enough dry ingredients for 3 batches so you can use it like instant mix but it’s so easy I just make what I need each week.  His instructions were a new concept to me – you whisk the yellow (melted butter + egg yolks) and the white (buttermilk + egg whites) separately before mixing together and adding to the dry stuff.  This produces a very thick batter which looked all wrong the first time I made it, but it produces thick, fluffy pancakes!

I do have a few tweaks that I’ve learned along the way to make the pancakes even better:

  1. Get good, full-fat buttermilk. You want thick, creamy buttermilk not the watery stuff you find in many mega-marts.  We get ours at the Farmer’s Market but have also found that Trader Joe’s has a good one.
  2. I add in a tsp of vanilla to the liquids before adding the mix to the dry.
  3. Whip the egg whites to almost soft-peak before adding the buttermilk for extremely light and airy pancakes.  Make sure to gently fold everything together after whipping the egg whites.

Mark likes to top his with peanut butter and I prefer local maple syrup that we pick up at the Farmer’s Market.  We both use plain, old Trader Joe’s butter but I suspect that I may soon go the way of Jonniker and Metalia and seek out some cultured butter to try.  As for M, she rarely eats more then 2 bites but I am counting on her to start liking pancakes someday.

Weekend Road Trip

Leave a comment

Last Friday as I was sitting at work I had the overwhelming feeling that we needed to get out of town.  Mark is working on the never-ending freelance project, the weather has been rainy and cool and we are still several weeks away from our “official” summer vacation. I had enough Marriott Rewards Points burning a hole in my pocket for a couple of nights stay so I started trying to figure out where we could go.  I wanted someplace only 2-3 hours away, a location that would be new(ish) to all of us and a place that was very kid friendly.  So after looking at the map and Marriott locations, I booked 2 nights in Pittsburgh. I have only been there once – for about 2 hours, and Mark hasn’t been there since before we met. I DM’d Kyle Roth on Twitter, a former Pburg resident and huge Steelers fan (brave man, living in Cleveland), for some ideas and within about 15 minutes I had a list of activities and recommended restaurants.  I love Twitter!

As soon as we a got home we threw together suitcases and hit the road. We were staying in the Shadyside neighborhood and arrived around 7:30. Despite all the great restaurants in the area and suggestions from friends on Twitter we ended up at Max & Erma’s.  I normally loathe chains, especially when traveling, but sometimes when it’s late, your kid is hungry and you are in a strange place  they are they easiest choice.  I will say that we briefly checked out a couple of other places which were either too busy (a wait for seating) or too fancy to take the girl before settling on M&E. After dinner we checked into our hotel where I had booked a king + sofa bed since it was the only thing available on-line.  I asked if they had any 2-bed rooms available and the desk clerk typed furiously on two different computers for a bit and finally said “I don’t have any 2-queen rooms, but why don’t I put you in a king suite? That way you can have your own room and your daughter can have the sofa bed in the living room.” SCORE!  The room was huge – kitchen/bar area, king bedroom and a living room.  I am so spoiled – this is really the ONLY way to travel with a kid for more then one night.

Saturday morning we got up, ate breakfast out of the food we brought and headed over to the Pittsburgh Children’s Museum to be there when it opened.  It is such a fun place!  I loved the Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood area …they have an actual sweater and pair of his shoes!  The whole place was great – especially the studio art area and the waterworks play area.  Mark and I were in awe of the fantastic re-use of the old buildings. We spent about 3 hours playing before we headed back to the hotel for a nap.  In the afternoon we headed over to The Strip area and strolled around. It is full of ethnic markets, knick-knacks shops, more ugly Steelers crap then you can imagine and lots of characters.  Unfortunately we got there just before most of the stores were closing.  Next trip we will go down on a Saturday morning to enjoy the markets. We checked out Kaya and while it looked very good, was not what we were in the mood for. So we headed back to Shadyside and went to Harris Grill (which was the one with the wait the night before); it’s been around since 1927 so we figured they were doing something right. They have an awesome patio and a menu filled with pub food – sandwiches and appetizers – exactly what we were after. The menu is very funny to peruse and Mark and I both got sandwiches with sides of mac & cheese.  Very good, hearty food and you gotta love a place that has “bacon night” when baskets of crispy bacon are free at the bar. They also had a great beer and cocktail list.  We were there early, but it had started to fill up when we left.
PCM_shadow
PCM_climb

Today we got up and arrived at Pamela’s Restaurant right as it opened and it was already just about full.  I had the flapjacks and they were everything they are said to be. Yum!  I can see why they have devoted fans of those pancakes. By the time we left there was a line about 4 tables deep. We went back to the hotel, packed up and had plans to spend a good chunck of the day at the Duquesne Incline and downtown followed by lunch at either the Original Hot Dog Shop (aka The Dirty O) or Primanti Brothers (which is very much like what we can get at Panini’s in Cleveland) before heading home. But we packed up our car in a downpour and the skies were grey and rainy in all directions.  We decided to still do the incline (which M loved; the industriousness of the people who came up with that thing is amazing) and then since it was still rainy and grey we headed home.  Of course about 10 miles out of town the skies cleared and the sun came out.
Incline_View
Incline_Ride

All in all it was a great trip – lots to see and do, beautiful vistas and great food.  It’s a very easy drive and we will be going back soon, maybe for just a day trip. The only two negatives I can think of is 1) parking sucks everywhere and 2) you can’t go a block without seeing fugly Steelers junk for sale.

Of course on the way home we stopped at the new(ish) Sonic in Streetsboro and managed to spill not one, but TWO Diet Cokes all over the inside of my car. So getting home early allowed me time to scrub, wash and vacuum it all out. Welcome home!

Pottery and Willow and Leather, Oh My!

1 Comment

Nine years ago today I married my match. It is said that 9 is the number of patience, of harmony. It is the reward of tests, the expression of perfection. It is associated with the complex, immortality and eternity. Three are also nine levels in Dante’s hell, heh.

We’ve been through a lot together – houses, jobs, moves, family. He knows when to tread lightly given my mood and I know when I need to scoop up our girl and give him some space.  We are as comfortable as old friends, but can be as giddy as a new couple. He can make me laugh without saying a single word and I can hardly remember a time when he wasn’t the first I rushed to when I had some bit of news.

If you had told me 10 years ago that in 2009 I would be celebrating my 9th anniversary I would have told you that you were crazy. But here we are, 9 years later and I wouldn’t change a thing.

Wedding

Summer Days Driftin’ Away

1 Comment

I love this town in the summer. There is so much to do and never a shortage of family-friendly activities, especially in the summer. After being cooped up all winter every weekend (any many weeknights) we are hopping in the car and heading off to some festival, market or parade. M loves going to the Farmer’s Market on Saturday mornings:

market

There are free concerts and street fairs, parades and pools. I know it’s like this just about everywhere in the summer, but we are really enjoying the diversity of activites, exploring the surrounding the communities and getting out of the hot, messy house for some free/cheap entertainment. Being on Twitter just adds to the fun becuase I learn about all kinds of great events from other Clevelanders. Just in the last couple of weeks we went to Parade the Circle:

parade

Coventry Street Fair (where we met Kyle and Erica Roth & kids):

coventry

Shaker Summer Solstice Festival  and the Cleveland Zoo:

zoo

Tonight I think we are going to hit our first Wade Oval Wednesday.  On tap for upcoming weeks are Gourmets/Cocktails in the Garden, checking out some of the beaches, hitting the Burning River Fest, Feast of the Assumption, and M’s first trip to Cedar Point. I’m sure there will also be lots of exploring in parks and swimming in the wading pool along the way.

swim

The living really is easy because I would much rather spend my time in the sun playing with my girl then inside cooking, cleaning & doing laundry. The house is a wreck, but it doesn’t matter because we are never inside.  Mark grills out almost every night on our awesome new grill (a gift from mom & dad).  So come on over and enjoy the Cleveland summer with us – just don’t be offended if we don’t invite you in.

This Old House

1 Comment

I love old houses. I adore the charm, the craftsmanship and the history. Our first house – in Toledo’s amazing Old West End neighborhood* – was a 1912 bungalow and it was love at first sight (tiny kitchen and all). We didn’t do much to that house other then some paint and a few new plumbing fixtures. Our current home in Shaker Heights is a much larger colonial which needs some cosmetic and mechanical work.  Of course when you prefer old houses you usually give up some conveniences like central A/C and, in the case of both our houses, a dishwasher (but we cut out a cabinet a few months ago and put one in and for the first time in 7 years didn’t have to hand-wash our dishes).

What I’m saying is for us old houses fit best even with the trade-offs.  Because in a newer house you don’t always get the moulding, the solid wood doors, the built-ins or the glass doorknobs over brass plates and locks with keys. But a few nights ago we realized why the modernization of the lock was such a good thing.  If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook you probably saw my update about M locking herself inside our bedroom and the lengths we had to go through to get her out.  All the bedroom doors in our house have old-fashioned keyholes and skeleton keys.  We hardly ever use them and the keys mostly reside on the top of the door frame.  Apparently the key was in the lock on the inside of our bedroom door because M somehow managed to not only slam the door shut but turn the key.

My first reaction was to laugh – I couldn’t help but think that we had joined the ranks of the millions of parents who have some dramatic story about their kid locking themselves in something – a room, a car, a garage, etc.  Mark didn’t have the same outlook and got mad at me for laughing.  We tried to get M to turn the key but she didn’t quite comprehend the request.  We tried using a key from the hallway, but with the key in the lock from the other side we couldn’t get it in. We took the doorknob apart but discovered the lock was a separate mechanism and we still couldn’t unlock the door.  I still was laughing at this point – much to my husbands dismay – because I figured we could go in through the window since we never remember to lock them. The thing about old wood windows is that they are usually pretty lose in the frame making it easy to open from the outside if they are unlocked – not so great for the heating bill, but perfect for breaking and entering. Then M hurt her finger as she was trying to turn the inside key and started to cry.  I stopped laughing and barked at Mark to go get the ladder and go through the window.

I told M to get down to the floor so I could see her under the door and she was so pathetic – “mama, come closer to me! Kiss my boo-boo!”.  Then I could hear Mark trying to open the side window without any luck.  The noise scared M and I felt awful that I couldn’t comfort her.  Mark moved around to the front window and managed to get it open and as I watched through the keyhole M went over to see what he was doing.  When he climbed in and opened the door I said “M, daddy saved you!” and she said “Daddy, you my Prince Eric!” (Little Mermaid reference).  M was none worse for the wear, I was laughing about it again and Mark was mad at me again for laughing.

You gotta love old houses with their old locks and loose windows.

——–

On a related note, we are starting to get estimates to replace/upgrade the 90-year-old electrical system and replace the original boiler.  Hold me.


*Seriously – the OWE is like a magical place: porch parties, close knit neighbors, super-low taxes and amazing houses.  It had it’s downfalls (piss-poor school system and crime) but man I miss the old ‘hood.  Good thing we are going back to visit during the OWE Festival this weekend.

Wednesday Tacos

1 Comment

A few years ago I started randomly receiving a “lady’s magazine” in the mail (Ladies Home Journal, Woman’s Day or some such nonsense).  I never ordered or paid for this subscription and yet I got it every month for at least a year.  Whatever magazine it was, it was pretty much geared to the 30-40 something housewife so I was NOT the target audience.  The only thing I ever looked at before pitching the whole thing was a feature called 1-2-3 Recipe. Each month they had some crazy concoction made of only 3 ingredients and there were some interesting things featured.  But one of those recipes makes a near-weekly appearance on our table. I’m pretty sure I found this before M was born and she loves it now.  Both Mark and I have made it for work potluck lunches and we are always asked for the recipe.  I love how easy it is and how flexible it can be.  Here it is: our go-to meal in less then 20 minutes.

1-2-3 Taco’s (as written, as close as I can remember)
1 lb ground beef
1 package Knorr/Lipton “Fiesta Sides” Taco Rice
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

Brown the beef in a saucepan and drain the fat.  Add the rice & 2 cups water, stir and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 7 minutes.  Add in beans and heat through.  Serve as filling in taco shells top with your favorite  accrutements. (They cheat a bit with the 3 ingredient list since they tell you to serve in a taco shell which should totally be counted as ingredient #4).

Now here are my riffs on the theme:

  • Use any protein you want – we’ve done beef, turkey, chicken, buffalo and even meatless protein crumbles.
  • If you don’t want to add the Knorr stuff – use minute rice and your own blend of taco seasonings – just follow the package directions for amount of water and cooking time.
  • Or use precooked rice (leftovers work great) + taco seasoning for an even faster meal.
  • Add 2 or more cans of black beans to stretch the recipe for a crowd.
  • Add in veggies – we almost always add 1/2 bag of frozen corn and diced tomatoes.  When they are in season we add 2-3 diced red or yellow bell peppers, too. Maybe some cilantro if we have it around.
  • Make sure to add extra spice if adding a bunch of extras or it will be bland
  • Serve in shells or tortillas, over greens for a taco salad or just scoop some into a bowl and top with some crushed tortilla chips.
  • To take it to a potluck, cook it the night before and then transfer to the crock to reheat.  Take sour cream, salsa, & cheese so people can assemble their own.

We are NEVER with out the ingredients for this dish – I buy Trader Joe’s canned black beans in sixes.  It takes about 15-20 minutes and all three of us like it.  It can be pretty healthy if you use ground turkey or chicken breast, add in veggies and are careful with your toppings. This easily feeds all of us for 2 dinners and gives Mark and I 3-4 lunches – more if we add in extra beans and veggies. It’s cheap, too… under $10 for 8-10 servings.

Try this out for your family and let me know if they liked it – and share your own riffs on the recipe!

Playing Tourist

1 Comment

This past weekend my parents came up to watch M while Mark and I played tourists in our own town. We shacked up at the Beachwood Fairfield thanks again to those wondrous Marriott Rewards – the place was clean and nice enough but absolutely overrun with feral kids there to slide down the newly installed waterslide.  I don’t think we will ever use this place for a quick get-away again; it’d be more likely that we opt for one of the Marriott properties downtown.

Saturday afternoon we finally saw Slumdog Millionaire at the Cedar Lee Theater.  It was good movie but I’m not sure I saw what all the Oscar fuss was about.  We had considered going to the Film Festival, but decided not to since we were only in the game for one movie and 1) couldn’t decide which one to see and 2) didn’t want to pay for parking + the movie.  Next year we need to plan better so we can take in 2-3 films during the CIFF. 

Our plans took us down to Tremont to hit Lolita’s happy hour.  However, even at 5:30 the place was jam-packed and the snotty hostess told us nothing was available for the next 4 hours.  We wandered down the street towards the sign for 806, not knowing what it was.  What a great find!  It’s a darling martini bar that was in the midst of their happy hour – $3 for select cocktails and $2 for wine/beer plus free bar snacks.  We hung out there for over an hour with me drinking waaay too many mojitos.  We chatted with the owner and bartender explored the cute space.  They have a fantastic patio and will start serving food in a few short weeks – each week featuring a different local chef.  We spent mere pennies there and had a great time.  I’m kind of happy that Lolita kicked us to the curb (but I still really, really want to go there)!

Since we didn’t want to spend the kind of money that the menus at Lago, Parallax and Fahrenheit demand, and since we still had a gift card to Bar Cento – we headed down to Ohio City and snagged seats at the bar as the place filled up.  Happy with our frites and sunnyside pizza we headed back to the hotel for dessert (get your mind out of the gutter – we had picked up some cupcakes from A Cookie & A Cupcake while in Tremont).  We slept in until 9 and then lounged around for the rest of the morning, watching CBS Sunday Morning undisturbed.

We came home to a very excited and very worn-out little girl who adored having her grandparents all to herself for 24 hours.  The only downfall of the weekend is that my mom told her about our upcoming trip to the beach and now that’s all she can talk about.  It’s 2 weeks away and she’s asked “we go to the beach now, mama?” 5 times since grandma and grandpa left. 

Two short weeks to vacation, but there is a massive hurdle between now and then: Mark’s 4-day business trip.  I’ve NEVER EVER had to play the part of solo-parent for overnight, let alone 3 nights.  I’m a bit nervous (and very, very spoiled).

Recession Weekend

4 Comments

Like most families, we are trying to watch our budget very closely these days while still enjoying some of our favorite activites.  This past weekend we hit the motherload and enjoyed some great activities on the cheap.

Friday night we tried BRAVO! in Eton for dinner care of a gift certificate I won from the MIT Mommy blog in the Plain Dealer.  We usually choose local, independent restaurants over chains so had never tried BRAVO! before. Since we were on someone else’s dime we went all out starting with the calamari which were crisp and light – we even got M to try it – and ending with the yummy dessert trio.  Dinner was very good, my scallops were a touch overdone but overall it was a satisfying meal.  It was a much more posh place then we usually take M but they were very child-friendly with crayons, a patient wait staff and nice kids menu.  I could see us trying it again for a weekend lunch from their pizza oven.  Dinner out (a favorite weekly ritual): about $15 after tax and tip.

Saturday we had planned to attend the Rock-n-Tot/Synergy but the event was cancelled due to low ticket sales – a huge bummer as we had so much fun at the last one.  I can only hope that Naomi tries once more to get these events off the ground as I think they are a great time.  I managed to fill the day by checking out a new(ish) salon and getting a “saucy” new cut.  I love my cut, like the salon and really liked that I had a big fat coupon for it from my employers discount site.  And, I love that it was in my ‘hood – support local! The returned money on the event tickets just about paid for my discounted cut.  Bonus!

She bangs!

Luckily for Saturday night we got a last-minute offer of comped tickets to see the Cavs play the Heat and were off scrambling to find a sitter.  My boss has a teenaged daughter, E, who is trying to get into the babysitting game and since our regular sitters were MIA we took her up on the offer of having M come to their house for the evening (that way if something happened with E, my boss would be there to pick up the slack).  The downside is they live way the hell on the far westside of town.  The upside is that since E is young and didn’t come to our house, she charged a heck of a lot less then what we normally pay.  M had a FANTASTIC time and Mark and I got to snuggle in the seats see the Cavs trounce the Heat for free.  Cost: about $30 in babysitting fees + a few bucks spent on concessions & parking at the game.

Cavs Pregame

All in all it was a terrific weekend, relatively cheap.  Normally we would never have a date night and a fancy dinner night in the same weekend, but due to some luck we were able to enjoy what Cleveland has to offer at a bargain.

All that I have, All that I am*

1 Comment

It started on Facebook, then Dooce did it and now it’s the thing to do.  Since I can’t gather my thoughts enough to write a real post, here are some random facts about me and Mark G. Davis.

What are your middle names?
Allison and Glynn

How long have you been together?
We met and started dating in the fall of 1998, so about 10 ½ years.  The first time I met him I thought he was an asshole (to be fair he was very drunk).  We got married in July of 2000.

How long did you know each other before you started dating?
About 2 weeks after the meeting noted above, our paths crossed again and that’s all she wrote.  We’ve been together ever since.

Who asked whom out?
I was in college and he worked with a friend so we did a lot of “hanging out” with our mutual friends before we had a proper date.  But I was the one to kiss him first.

How old are each of you?
I am 31 and Mark is OLD almost 37.

Whose siblings do you see the most?
Mine

Which situation is the hardest on you as a couple?
I think parenthood is both the hardest and the most gratifying at the same time.  It’s just so, so hard to carve out time for us and our interests as a couple that don’t revolve around a toddler.  That and finances…that’s a close second.

Did you go to the same school?
Nope – we actually went to rival schools.  I went to BGSU and he to the University of Toledo.

Are you from the same home town?
Amazingly, yes although we didn’t meet until we both moved away.  We are both from Mansfield but went to different school systems (and with the age difference, it’s not surprising we never met while we lived there).  I moved to Lima the summer before my freshman year in high school and by that time Mark was in the Army then on to live in Toledo. But its fun to compare memories from our old childhood haunts.

Who is smarter?
My automatic answer is that I am because I am a fount of useless knowledge (and since Google was invented I can be a royal pain in the ass when it comes to trivial things).  But, I think we are actually pretty evenly matched and with our different interests and affinities we each teach each other a lot.

Who is the most sensitive?
Mark. 

Where do you eat out most as a couple?
This is really hard because we are still exploring all the fantastic places to eat in Cleveland so we don’t often make return trips to a single place. But I’d have to say we’ve been to Bar Cento the most in the last year.

Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple?
Salt Spring Island, BC where we went when I graduated college, returned the following year to get married and then visited again on our 5th anniversary. It’s almost time for another visit.

Who has the craziest exes?
Mark, but there hasn’t been any ex-drama since right after we started dating.

Who has the worst temper?
We both are pretty bad, but while I am quick to flare and then pretty quick to cool-off Mark will get angry and smolder for a long time. 

Who does the cooking?
We are pretty equal on the cooking front although our repertoire is pretty limited to heat-up-and-eat meals from Trader Joe’s and a choice few simple recipes.  However, I am the Sunday Morning Pancake Queen.   

Who is the neat-freak?
We are both pretty much anti-neat-freak which can be a bad thing.  We do an okay job at keeping the general filth to a livable level but neither one of us particularly cares.  Once in a while one of us will go on a de-clutter and scrub phase, but it’s pretty rare.

Who is more stubborn?
Me.  I am always right so you just better live with it.  And it’s really hard for me to agree to disagree because if you don’t agree with me you are WRONG and I will continue to try to convince you of my superiority.  Yeah, I’m fun at parties.

That said, Mark is pretty darn stubborn, too. And our child?- just watch out world.

Who hogs the bed?
Mark, but mostly because he likes to cuddle while I am of the notion of you get 10 minutes to cuddle then get the heck away from me.  I can’t sleep unless I have my space. Remember the scene in Dirty Dancing “This is my dance space. This is your dance space. I don’t go into yours, you don’t go into mine.”?  That’s me in a bed.

Who wakes up earlier?
Mark.  I would sleep until 10 every damn day if allowed.

Where was your first date?
The sad thing is neither one of us can remember what we did for our first date.  We think maybe we went to $1 draft/$0.10 wings night at Fricker’s.  What we do remember is that I fell flat on my fact upon walking out the door.

Who is more jealous?
Depends on the situation, but we’ve both had our share of jealousy.

How long did it take to get serious?
About 2 seconds.  Pretty much after our second meeting we were together all the time.  We moved in together a year later (after me practically living at his place for a year) and got married a year after that.

Who eats more?
I think we are pretty equal on this front.

Who does the laundry?
Me.  Mark does it once in awhile but I have RULES about the laundry that need to be followed (see stubborn question above) and get annoyed when they are not.

Who’s better with the computer?
Have you met Mark?  It’s him, definitely

Who drives when you are together?
Pretty much always Mark. Although he won’t admit it out loud he isn’t a big fan of my driving.  Plus, I like to sleep in the car so if we are on the road for more then and hour I prefer for him to drive.

Now it’s your turn…answer a few of these in the comments or post your own and leave the link in comments.  Come on, you know you want to.  All the cool kids are doing it!

*”All that I have, All that I am” were part of our wedding vows and I started giggling when Mark said them because we were so broke at the time.  Mark was crying a bit during the ceremony so me laughing made me look like a total ass…something he will never let me forget.