Why? Ohio Blogging at the Cleveland Museum of Art!

***A bit of blogkeeping: Have you entered to win 2 tickets to one of Tri-C Jazz Fest’s concerts yet? Check it out! Remember, you can tweet daily for additional entries.***

On Wednesday night, Matthew and I met up with a bunch of bloggers and blog supporters for the Ohio Blogging Association monthly gathering, this time at one of Cleveland’s greatest treasures: the Cleveland Museum of Art.

The new atrium area is stunning! You truly feel as if you were outside. We started with dinner just past the atrium at the new Provenance Café. I had a claystone flatbread with grilled swordfish, hummus, roasted eggplant spread, and more Mediterranean goodness.

I also highly recommend the mini bottle of champagne (you’re at a museum and being cultured and classy, after all) and the dessert bars (we split pecan pie and lemon).

After dinner, we got a tour of “The Last Days of Pompeii: Decadence, Apocalypse, Resurrection” exhibit. Our tour guide, Lucy, selected all the contemporary pieces for the exhibit and was a wealth of knowledge on both the classical and contemporary art we saw.

Hostess Alicia and Tour Guide Lucy

Matthew visited Pompeii during his study abroad semester in Italy, so he brought an even more hands-on perspective to the art. The exhibit has classic paintings of imagined life in Pompeii and then the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius.

Image Source – clevelandart.org

The Last Days of Pompeii also showcases contemporary works, such as sculptures based off body casts taken of remains found at Pompeii, which were some of the most evocative pieces for me.

Image Source – clevelandart.org

The Cleveland Museum of Art is truly one of Cleveland’s greatest cultural assets and, with its new renovations and this amazing exhibit, more than worth a visit to see what’s going on there. “The Last Days of Pompeii” runs through Sunday, July 7. Tickets are $15 for adults, $13 for students and seniors, and $7 for children.

In attendance at the meet-up were bloggers from:

Am I There Yet? (and boyfriend Justin)

Call Me Trouble

Craveable Cleveland

Eat*Drink*Cleveland

Go Run Jess

Poise in Parma (and Aunt Kathy)

ROJ Running (and guest Jason)

SOS Associates (and wife Julie)

@TalknCleveland

The next Ohio Blogging Association event is in the works, so stay tuned to the OBA Facebook page for more details coming soon!

Have you seen “The Last Days of Pompeii?”

***Disclosure: The Ohio Blogging Association members and guests received complimentary tickets to “The Last Days of Pompeii” exhibit, as well as a guided tour. As always, all opinions are 100% my own.***

Why? Career Update!

***A bit of blogkeeping: Congratulations to Smitten in Cleveland (Comment #15), winner of 2 tickets to Market at the Foodbank! Please check your email and reply by the end of the day or a new winner will be chosen. If you didn’t win, you can still purchase tickets by clicking here.***

Back in July, when last we talked about this career journey (odyssey?) I’ve been on, I thought I was wrapping up a contract job in my chosen field. Turns out, I was lucky enough to be kept on for two additional project contracts, taking me all the way up to last week. This was great in terms of having steady income and a place to go every day. It was also great because, even if it wasn’t the perfect job, being able to work in the field I studied to work in was fulfilling in and of itself.

Image Source – byuhpremed.blogspot.com

Slight digression: I know I don’t share what exactly I do or where I work here. We all draw lines of what we will and will not share. I’ve tried to keep my work life and my “blog” life basically separate. I’ll talk about work in generalities, but not specifics. It’s just what works for me and is by no means a perfect science, either. And it does not mean I’m a secret agent. Or does it?

Anyway, I was working on this contract, but still hoping for more: more stability, certainly, but also more challenge. I knew what I wanted to do and I knew what I was capable of, I just needed someone to give me the chance to do it. And then it came: an interview I walked out of simultaneously confident that I did a great job and nervous because I was pretty sure I had found what I was looking for with this company.

Image Source – westchestergroupworks.com

Right before we left on our trip to Cancun, I received an offer from the company which it took me about 5 seconds to accept. Yesterday was my first day. New jobs feel like the first day of school: who am I going to sit with, will anyone like me? It was a great first day. This position is immediately challenging, but also has a lot of room for growth and new challenges in the future.

It wasn’t an easy journey, particularly because setting off on this odyssey to figure out what I wanted out of my career was self-inflicted. That’s not to say it wasn’t valuable, but to simply tie it up with a neat little bow and call it done is to ignore all the things I’ve learned about myself, what I value, what I’m worth, and what I want. And it would also ignore the people who have whole-heartedly both pushed me and supported me along the way.

With only one day under my belt, I’m not going to say I’m where I want to be, but I can say that I’m on the path there.

What do you value most about your chosen career?

Why? Ohio Blogging Association and Whole Foods!

Tuesday evening marked the third annual Ohio Blogging Association meetup at Whole Foods Market Cedar Center. This year’s theme was “Valentine’s Chocolate 3-Way” with tons of tasty morsels to try.

Whole Foods diva Lisa Sands explains the delights awaiting us.

We started with some Wedding Cuvee bubbly and then moved to chicken enchiladas with mole sauce, white rice, and a corn and black bean salad.

I’m not usually a huge fan of mole sauce, but this was delicious, with a kiss of dark chocolate. From there, we sampled Sexual Chocolate wine, a ridiculously tasty blend of Zinfandel, Syrah, and Petite Syrah. To go along with this decadent wine, we had some decadent chocolates courtesy of Sweet Designs.

Owner and chocolatier Ines Rehner told us with pride about her own special chocolate blend used for her creations. We tasted chocolate-covered strawberries, figs stuffed with truffle chocolate and dipped in dark chocolate, and varieties of chocolate bark, including pumpkin seed and sea salt, blueberry and almond, and crystallized ginger and walnut. Everything was amazing!

Needless to say, we were all very excited when Ines presented us with gift certificates for a half-pound of chocolates from her shop. Some lucky folks even won Sweet Designs chocolate to take home right away.

PIP Husband’s Valentine’s shopping is done!

There were more adult beverages to try too, including Samuel Smith Chocolate Stout and a chocolate liquor. Stuffed and on a sugar high, we left with cups of Mexican hot chocolate to brace against the cold and snow.

Much thanks to Poise in Parma for organizing this event and Whole Foods and Sweet Designs for all the tasty goodies! For a list of all the great events coming up at Whole Foods, including an Argentine wine dinner and in-store Twitter chats, click here.

It’s hard to believe we’re in the third year of Ohio Blogging Association meetups, with fun, friends, and (very often) food. I always have such a great time at these events and have made and continue to make so many wonderful friends.

In attendance on Tuesday were bloggers/tweeters from:

Always JAM in CLE

@BeautyNewzFlash (and husband)

@CharitUrbanista

Clue Into Cleveland (and husband Scott)

Cooker Girl

Eat*Drink*Cleveland

It’s a Hero (and husband Chad and baby Ari)

Lake County Visitors Bureau (and boyfriend Steve)

Lane Baldwin Photography

Life Lyn Style

Our Journey

Poise in Parma (and husband Hans and Aunt Kathy)

Rust Belt Runner

Smitten in Cleveland (and husband Chris)

Wearing Mascara

The next Ohio Blogging Association event will be on Tuesday, March 19 at 6pm. We will be getting a tour and volunteering at MedWish, giving back to our community. Hopefully you can join us for what is sure to be a rewarding experience! Click here to RSVP.

Why? GV Art and Design T-Shirt Giveaway!

***A bit of blogkeeping: Congratulations to Carly (Comment #6), randomly-selected winner of two tickets to the Great Big Home and Garden Show! Check your email and reply by the end of the day or a new winner will be chosen.

If you didn’t win, you can purchase tickets online by clicking here. Remember to use discount code WHYCLE to save $1 on your ticket. You can also enter Eat*Drink*Cleveland’s giveaway, which closes on Thursday.***

So, as I’m sure you’ve noticed, there’s been some changes to the look of Why CLE? One of those changes is the new picture greeting you on the side bar (and as my avatar on Twitter and Instagram and Facebook. Yikes, we have lots of avis, don’t we?).

The shirt is from GV Art and Design, which has a whole line of awesome Cleveland that I <3 apparel. I personally love wearing my Cleveland pride for everyone to see. Especially when I travel, I’ve found these kinds of shirts always get a response and I sometimes even meet fellow Clevelanders by wearing them.

If you want to share your Cleveland pride too, I have a great deal and a giveaway for you! You can save 10% off any item from GV Art and Design’s website by using the discount code WHYCLE. You can also enter to win your choice of one of GV’s Cleveland t-shirts right here.

Image Source – gvartwork.myshopify.com

Here’s how to enter (leave a SEPARATE comment for each entry):

1. Check out GV Art and Design’s t-shirt collection and leave a comment telling me which t-shirt you’d most like to win.

2. Follow @GVArtwork and @WhyCLE on Twitter and leave a comment letting me know you’re following.

3. Tweet the following phrase and leave a comment letting me know you tweeted: I want everyone to know that it’s Cleveland That I <3 by winning a t-shirt from @GVArtwork and @WhyCLE: http://wp.me/p1fb9r-1gL

You can tweet once per day for additional entries, just leave a separate comment each time you tweet.

The giveaway will close on Thursday, January 31 at 11:59pm and the winner will be announced here on Friday, February 1. Good luck!

***Disclosure: I was asked by GV Art and Design to help promote their Cleveland apparel line. In exchange, I received the t-shirt pictured above for myself and a to-be-determined t-shirt to give away. As always, all opinions are 100% my own. And no, I’m not a t-shirt model.***

Why? Karaoke at the Cat!

You know those nights that are just perfect? Where you’re surrounded by great people and you have a wonderful time and everything just flows? The kind of night where you look around and say: my life is pretty damn awesome? I totally had one of those nights…at karaoke, no less!

DJing, Spinderella style

When Noodlecat put out a call for hosts for their monthly Karaoke at the Cat, I immediately raised my hand and then immediately called on my three never-fail, social-media-maven friends to host with me.

With Alicia, Amanda, and Kimberly by my side, this was sure to be an amazing night! This was also the Ohio Blogging Association‘s monthly meet-up, so there were plenty of friendly faces in the audience.

We started out with a slurpalicious dinner of noodles, twice-cooked chicken wings with miso BBQ, a pickle tray, edamame, and some steam buns.

Pro-tip: the Szechuan ramen is already darn spicy. You may not need to add half a bottle of hot sauce.

After that, it was time to fire up the crowds. The hostesses kicked things off with a rendition of “Dancing Queen” sure to make Abba cringe. From there, there was a steady stream of awesome performances, from “Brick House” to “Paradise by the Dashboard Lights” to “Don’tcha” to “Say My Name.”

We even got my Mom up to karaoke to one of her favorite songs: “Sweet Caroline!” I had a blast working the mic all night and dancing and singing along like a fool with the performers.

Kudos to Matthew for snapping pics of everyone all night! And mad love to the staff of Noodlecat for letting four silly girls take over and have the time of their lives and for amazing service the entire night!

In attendance from the Ohio Blogging Association were bloggers/tweeters from:

Kasey from A Case Of…

Julie from Am I There Yet

Katie from Beer and Clothing in Cleveland

Amanda from Clue into Cleveland and husband Scott

Sarah from Cooker Girl and husband Kevin

Dave from Health Insurance Issues with Dave and Again? Really?

Josh from joshkrajnak.com

Jeanne from Life in Cleveland

Charlene from Life in the CLE

Mary from @MaryLeeS

Morgan from Morgan J.

Megan from It’s My Time To Sparkle and Shine

Alicia from Poise in Parma with cameo by her brother Drew

Julie from ROJ Running

Holly from Rust Belt Runner and husband Neil

Kimberly from SMITTEN…in cleveland

Stuart from sosAssociates

The next Ohio Blogging Association meet-up is our annual trip to Whole Foods Cedar Center. This year we will be enjoying “Valentine’s Chocolate 3 Ways” on Tuesday, February 5 at 6pm. Cost to attend is $10. Click here for more information and to RSVP.

The next Karaoke at the Cat will be on Friday, February 15 with a mystery host working the mic and happy hour prices from 9-11pm. I’m resting my voice and working on my dance moves…

***Disclosure: Alicia, Amanda, Kimberly, and I co-hosted Karaoke at the Cat and were compensated for hosting. As always, all opinions are 100% my own.***

Why? Your Reasons Why CLE!

I was originally just going to announce the winner of the blogiversary giveaway and then move on with a different post, but the reasons you left in the comments as to why you love Cleveland were so thoughtful and honest and just great that I wanted to share them in a post:

The Food

“I’m going to say that I love Cleveland’s amazing FOOD! Not just restaurants but farmer’s markets, CSA’s, Fresh Fork and of course the West Side Market that I find myself going less and less to an actual grocery store unless it’s for things like cereal and gum.”  - Eat*Drink*Cleveland

I’ve certainly expanded my palate with the fabulous restaurants, but I’ve also really learned the value of locally-grown ingredients from having access to things like the West Side Market and Fresh Fork.

The Arts

“… it’s accessible arts community – we have a variety of theatre choices without being overwhelmed, that’s also fairly affordable. Our Art Museum is free (whoo-hoo!) and places like Near West Theatre really encourage the idea of community involvement in the arts.” – Amanda

Not only do we incredible access to the arts, we have a huge base of supporters, from the large Playhouse Square Partners membership to the Jump Back Ball sell-out to the enormous participation in community-theater shows.

 Adaptability 

“I love CLE because its changed for me and with me. I studied here as a grad student, lived here as a young professional, and now am raising kids here. It fits every facet of my life!” – Bethany

When I saw Bethany’s comment, I was so happy to see someone else verbalize what I feel so deeply for Cleveland. I was born here, I was young and single here, I started my career here, I’m married and embarking on new phases of my life here. In every time, Cleveland just fits me and has something different and special to offer.

The Six-Degrees-of-Cleveland

“My favorite thing about CLE is also sometimes my least favorite…that everyone knows someone who like, lived next door to your dad’s great aunt, or went to school with your boyfriend’s cousin’s wife….but that what makes it truly feel like home!” – Katie

It’s true! You can’t go anywhere without running into someone who used to walk your neighbor’s dog. But Katie’s right, it makes it feel like home. It makes it feel like you belong. And for a boomerang especially, it helps make the coming back home a bit easier.

The People

“I love Cleveland for its people – so down-to-earth, culturally diverse and with wonderful hearts!” – Kristian

“Why I love CLE? The people for sure – it just feels like home (which it’s always been of course) but it’s something most cities don’t have.” – lifeinthecle

“Plain and simple the best thing about Cleveland is my family. It is home – always has been and always will be!” – Cleveland Chick

Yes! We can have the culture and the food and the institutions and the infrastructure and the homes, but it’s the people of Cleveland being themselves – the warm, giving, salt-of-the-earth people – that will ultimately attract new residents and retain those who already live here.

Everything

“What’s there not to love about Cleveland?! I love EVERYTHING! The food, the lake, sports, people, seasons, corporate scene, art, traditions, newness…I love it all!” - Kirsten

“I love Cleveland because there’s always something to do, a game to go to or an event. I’m so glad I’ve moved here!” -Emily

Well, everything is good too…

Now onto the winner, chosen via random.org. Congratulations to Cleveland Chick (Comment #16), winner of the Cleveland ornament! Please check your email and respond by the end of the day or a new winner will be chosen.

Thanks to all of you for entering, for your awesome reasons “Why CLE?,” and for your sweet blogiversary wishes!

Why? Ohio Blogging Holiday Party!

***A bit of blogkeeping: Have you entered to win a Cleveland ornament in my blogiversary giveaway? Check it out!***

Wednesday night was all about bloggers, food, wine, conversation, and cookies at the second-annual Ohio Blogging Association holiday party. Since I’m celebrating my blogiversary this week and feeling reflective, I’ll tell you that being part of the OBA and attending the group’s events is one of my favorite things about blogging. We have such a great, supportive community of local bloggers!

This year’s party was held at Battery Park Wine Bar. I like this spot anytime, but think they do a fantastic job with events. The wine bar has a side area that feels private from the rest of the bar and they will extend their happy hour pricing of $4 select beers and wines and discounted appetizers for an event. Matthew and I shared the fries, spinach and artichoke dip, and smoked chicken sliders, all for just $5 a piece.

We did a cookie swap again this year, which meant everyone brought 4 dozen cookies to share and then you loaded up a container with a mix of everyone’s treats. I made Kahlua Chocolate Chunk Cookies. It’s a pretty easy recipe and makes a lot of cookies, plus the cookies are delicious!

Some of Matthew’s and my favorite sweets of the evening were Kimberly‘s lemon poppyseed cookies, Lane‘s candy cane cookies, Sarah‘s espresso chocolate chip shortbread, and Julie‘s cherry limeade cookies. We all left with containers filled with treats to munch at home and hearts filled with laughter, fun, and warm holiday wishes (it’s the holidays and blogiversary week, so I’m allowed to be super cheesy).

In attendance for the merriment were bloggers from:

Am I There Yet?

Clue Into Cleveland (and husband Scott)

Cooker Girl

Eat*Drink*Cleveland

Lane Baldwin Photography (and husband Nathan)

Nidhizzle and Cleveland Socialite

Ohio Festivals and man-gi-am-OH (and adorable new baby Max)

Poise in Parma (and husband Hans and PIP Mom)

ROJ Running

Run Swanson (and wife Katie)

Smitten…in Cleveland

SOS Associates

The next Ohio Blogging Association meet-up will be on Friday, January 18 at 9pm at Noodlecat, when Poise in Parma, Clue Into Cleveland, Smitten…in Cleveland, and I co-host Karaoke at the Cat! All are welcome, not just bloggers, of course! Click here to RSVP and stay tuned to our blogs for more details.

***Disclosure: The bloggers listed above and I are co-hosting Karaoke at the Cat and splitting compensation for hosting. As always, all opinions are 100% my own.***

Why? Blogiversary!

It’s a very special day here at Why CLE! First, it’s CLEgrandpa’s 88th birthday, so cheers to him. Also, cheers to PIP Mom, as it’s her birthday as well!

But it’s also Why CLE’s second blogiversary!

Image Source – softandstiffpeaks.blogspot.com

I’m amazed at what this blog has grown into in the last two years. Over the past 378 posts, I’ve strengthened, changed, and truly found my voice, with the help of you and your 2,254 comments. But numbers only tell part of the story.

My early posts were decidedly less personal and more tour guide-ish, such as this one.

It took me five months to post a picture of myself, which I did for the first time in this post.

It took me a year to start using “Jen” instead of “CLEgal” to refer to myself, which I started in last year’s blogiversary post.

Over the last two years, I’ve shared things, not just about why I came back to Cleveland, but about my weight loss, my hard lesson in Internet safety, and even my wedding.

When I started Why CLE, the blog was going to be balanced between good and bad things about Cleveland. I soon realized that I just love this city and there is more than enough snark on the Internet, so I changed to fashioning every post into a reason why I love Cleveland, hoping that you could find the common threads in my experience to hold onto for yourself. I will always be honest with you about my experiences, but at the same time this blog will always err toward the positive.

Beyond just the changes in my writing, I’ve found my love and commitment to Cleveland strengthened, my social calendar filled, and my creative muscles flexed in ways I never could have imagined two years ago. I’ve also met some of the most amazing people, done some of the most fun things, and made some of the most wonderful friends.

Daily, I am so grateful for and humbled by those of you who read along on this journey and for the opportunities and relationships blogging has afforded me. I’m also so in debt to Matthew and my family who allow me the time and give me the support and patience when I take pictures of everything or spend hours prepping posts.

As a small token of my affection, I’d like to give away something I saw at CLE Clothing Co. that caught my eye.

It’s meant to be a Christmas ornament, although I think it could also be a year-round sun catcher. Here’s how to enter to win (leave a SEPARATE comment for each entry):

1. Leave a comment letting me know your biggest and best reason why you love CLE.

2. Tweet the following phrase: It’s @WhyCLE’s 2nd blogiversary and I want to win some CLE decor: http://wp.me/p1fb9r-19o

You can tweet once per day for additional entries, just leave a separate comment each time you tweet.

The giveaway will close on Monday, December 17 at 11:59pm and the winner will be announced on Monday, December 18. Good luck! And thank you for an awesome 2 years…I know blogs have a shelf life, but I hope to keep entertaining you for at least a little while longer.

Why? Ohio Blogging at The South Side!

On Tuesday night, I attended the meet-up of the Ohio Blogging Association. This group of bloggers and “blog supporters” meets monthly to chat about everything from Cleveland to blogging and experience great places around the city. This month’s meet-up was a dinner and lively conversation at The South Side.

Also in attendance were bloggers from:

Am I There Yet?

Blog the New Black

Clue Into Cleveland

Cooker Girl

Eat*Drink*Cleveland

Life Lyn Style

Miss WineOH

Poise in Parma (our fearless organizer, with a lot of the PIP family in tow)

Rust Belt Runner

Smitten…in Cleveland

Songs and Stories

SOS Associates

Conversation ranged from CSA’s to puppies to blogs to jobs to wine. We all shared a bit about our blogs and about upcoming events in the community. We also ate some tasty food! I had the chorizo sausage links with black bean and cheddar pierogi.

A Southwestern, slightly spicy spin on a Polish standard? Sign me up! Also, I have to give major credit to our servers who kept everything organized, did separate checks for our massive group, and generally got everything done in a timely way. I’ve been underwhelmed by the service at The South Side before, so this was a pleasant surprise.

It was another fun night of hanging out with bloggers and “blog supporters!”

The November OBA “meet-up” will be a blog swap! These are always a fun way to write a little something different and also expose your blog to new readers. You will receive a swap partner and your posts will go live on November 19. RSVP by November 11 by clicking here. And you won’t want to miss the 2nd annual holiday party and cookie swap on December 12. Click here to RSVP for that festive event!

Why? Weekends!

***A bit of blogkeeping: On Saturday, Tobey and I will be participating in the Monster Mutt Dash 5K to benefit the Berea Animal Rescue. If you’re interested in learning more or donating to Team Tobey, click here.***

Every once in awhile, you need a change of scenery. This weekend, eight friends loaded up the cars and drove east to Chautauqua, New York for a couple days of too much wine, too much food, and just the right amount of crazy fun. We stayed at the Captain Storm House Bed and Breakfast, a perfectly cute and quaint house with plenty of room for four couples.

Friday evening, we hung out around the house, made dinner, played board games, and may have had a room-to-room dance party. We were celebrating being away, being relaxed, and being with wonderful friends.

The one rule we had for the weekend was that we were “off the grid,” which meant no Tweeting, Facebook-ing, emailing, Instagram-ing. Be with the people you’re with, soak in the relaxation, live the moments as they happen rather than trying to reduce them to 140 characters. It was pretty amazing the difference that made.

On Saturday, we went to five of the wineries in the region: Mazza Vineyards, South Shore Wine Company, Quincy Cellars, Noble Winery, and Johnson Estate Winery.

While the wines were a bit hit or miss in terms of taste, every winery we went to was warm and welcoming and cost-friendly, too.

Saturday evening was much like Friday evening, with lots of food and wine and conversation. On Sunday, we checked out the cute town on Bemus Point, then grabbed a beer at Southern Tier Brewing Company.

While I thought I’d choose to have Pumking straight from the source, I went with the 2X Stout and was pleased with this tasty milk stout. We also got some beers to take home with us.

It was a fabulous weekend of relaxing, unwinding, and taking time to just enjoy each other’s company. If you ever wonder what blogging has given me (and there’s a lot), my friendships with these ladies and their husbands top my list.

Here’s to making this a yearly tradition!