August 17th, 2008 | permalink

Taste of Cleveland?

So the 13th annual Taste of Cleveland is coming up (August 29 - September 1) at the Time Warner Cable Amphitheater at Tower City and there was an ad in the Plain Dealer that caught Erika’s eye. Among the food selection is White Castle, Claddagh Irish Pub, Dave & Buster’s and Chili’s. I understand that the event probably needs some chain restaurants for sponsorship, but come on, there are 2 Chili’s within 25 miles of the city and neither is within 10 miles. Don’t get me wrong, we go to chain restaurants too. Having two kids under the age of 5 we are pretty much resigned to having to go to TGI McFunster’s every now and again. But this is supposed to be the Taste of CLEVELAND?

A few of the places I would be interested in sampling from include The Willoughby Brewing Company; brewing? yes please, Hot Sauce Williams; if Anthony Bourdain can go here why shouldn’t I, Crepes De Luxe; because street crepes are so good, Battiste and Dupree Cajun Grill; I have always been curious to try this place.

Hopefully there is a good turnout and the confusion that we had about all of the chain’s being promoted is just for sponsorship purposes. But is this truly a Taste of Cleveland? I do not think so.

August 17th, 2008 | permalink

South Euclid Perfect 10-miler

It was a perfect day for the South Euclid Perfect 10-Miler. Erika did a great job, finishing 5th in her age group (Female Age Group: 25 - 29). Her time was 1:21:52 with a pace of 8:12. Erika’s blood glucose was high, around 250 the whole race, but she did great. Kade and Liv were excited to run in their first race.

The kids and I drove up to the corner of Belvoir and Sheffield to see both mile 5 and 7 before driving to Korb Field for the finish. The kids were well behaved and cheered the runners on, very loudly at times, but most of the runners approved and gave their thanks. They also practiced for their race, running up and down the sidewalk. I think Kade was trying to race the participants as he would wait for one to come up on the side and then run trying to beat them to me.

When mama came through, the kids yelled louder and waved wildly.

We made it to the finish to see Erika cross the line.

Then, the kids participated in the Fun Run, a 50 yard dash. Kade acted like he was an old pro and took off running fast through the finish. Liv did not like the fact that mama was trying to help her and started crying about halfway through. They both did great for their first race and all came home with medals. I don’t know if Kade will take his medal off. He wanted to keep running and told us that he is going to run in every race from now on. I think having the kids there and participating with her made Erika happy to pass on something that she enjoys so much.

More photos.

August 16th, 2008 | permalink

It’s in their blood

Tomorrow is the South Euclid Perfect 10-miler and of course Erika will be running in it. The race starts at 7:30 am and we will try to catch sight of Erika at mile 5/7 on Belvoir Road and then see her finish.

This year, the kids are going to participate in the Kid’s Fun Run too which takes place at 9:00 am on the football field at Korb Field, Brush High School’s stadium. The kids are excited and it is fun to see them get involved in a sport that mama loves so much. This could be the start of their running careers too.

August 16th, 2008 | permalink

Paint Job

House, before and after.

Garage, before and after.

I spent the day starting a project that is long overdue, painting the dormer on our house and garage. I was inspired after realizing Liv’s birthday party is here next weekend and there will be a lot of family and friends in attendance. Plus, I could not stand to look at the chipping paint anymore. We are planning on getting it all sided soon, but this is a quick fix that will make the house look a lot better.

The ladder that I have does not reach high enough to get the trim at the top of the house, so Erika called up Lewis and Emmy to ask if they had a taller ladder. Fortunately they did. The brought it over along with some picnic tables for us to borrow of the big party. It is nice to have friends so close and willing to lend a hand. We sat out back and visited with them a while as the kids played(?).

After they left, I finished off the trim on the house and then the dormer on the garage. There is plenty more work that could be done and I will try to get more done before the party, but I am happy to have the ugliest part done.

August 9th, 2008 | permalink

Football Season

Thursday night started a special time of year. Football season. Although it was the Browns, I was still happy to see football season begin. Last night the Steelers opened preseason with a game at Heinz Field against the Philadelphia Eagles. It is every new season of Steeler football that makes me miss Pittsburgh the most.

To celebrate this sacred time, Erika made Guinness soaked brats with sautéed onions and peppers. Yum. Season opener might call for some pierogies and Iron City Beer (Cleveland has the upper hand in local beer).

The biggest football weekend that I am looking forward to just happens to be my birthday weekend. On Saturday, September 13 THE Ohio State University travels to Los Angeles to take on USC at 8:00 pm. Then on Sunday night the 14th (my birthday) the Steelers come here to Cleveland to take on the Browns on Sunday Night Football. I think I better put in for a vacation day on the 15th.

Last year, Erika and I were lucky enough to go to the Steelers v. Browns game thanks to her mother getting us tickets. We went to the game with her father and my father who are both Browns fans. We went down to tailgate in the Muni Lot with a lot of their friends from Sandusky. There were not many Steeler fans to be found. Despite the numbers, we wore our Steeler colors and everyone was pretty well behaved. We did happen to see Browns fans fighting eachother, but nothing between the opposing fans. This year, with the expectations on the Browns and with the game being on Sunday Night, I don’t think the reception would be as cordial.

Here’s to the new season of football. If anyone wants to talk trash throughout the season, you can find me at fanchatter.

August 5th, 2008 | permalink

Scarred

So here is a shot of my iPhone after its fall in the middle of Saul Williams’ performance at Lollapalooza. It was a mess. The third day of lolla and I was without my iPhone due to the constant restart loop it was on caused by the power button being crushed up in it. I shook it off after a short grumpy stint and enjoyed the rest of the day. After we got back to Brittany and Marc’s apartment I surgically repaired it with an xacto knife. It is still pretty ugly, but it works, and it has a story.

August 4th, 2008 | permalink

Psychobaby

Vote for Liv as psychobaby of the month on the psychobaby blog. (Vote on the right side column of their blog)

Psychobaby is a boutique children’s clothing store in the Bucktown neighborhood in Chicago. We have purchased some items there in our travels. They have some really cool things there. Erika submitted some pictures of Liv wearing the clothes that she bought and she is now on the site.

August 4th, 2008 | permalink

Dinner at Avec

A huge thank you goes out to Chef and Chef’s Widow for getting us in at Avec. When we were at Bar Cento last week, we mentioned to them that we were going to Chicago and we were going to try to get into Avec for dinner on Thursday night. It just so happened that Sunday, Chef Koren Grieveson was at Bar Cento for the SOS after party. Chef’s Widow came through with getting us in… I was sooo stoked.

When we first got to Chicago, Brittany and Marc were still at work. We stopped to pick up some wine for the weekend’s festivities at Sam’s Wines and Spirits right by their apartment. Turns out they also have a wine bar inside where you can purchase anything inside and drink it at the bar with no corkage fee. Nice. So we sat there and waited as first Marc and then Britt showed up. We had a little bit of wine and then took our bags up to their place to prepare for our night out before Lollapalooza.

We took the train up to Randolph where we made our first stop, Sepia. Sepia is a very nice restaurant that Erika and Britt ate at last year. We ordered drinks and also a table share version of the scallops with pork belly.

Then, it was off to Avec. I was sort of nervous walking in and asking for Koren. But she was very accommodating and got us seated very quickly. She personally brought out some of our dishes and threw in some extra dishes that were new to the menu.

The interior of the restaurant was very nice. Clean lines, wood, with a narrow dining room/bar that shoots back to an open kitchen. The staff took care of us well and functioned seamlessly bringing out plate after plate.

We tried many of the dishes on the menu. Here is the list:

chorizo-stuffed madjool dates with smoked bacon and piquillo pepper-tomato sauce
This dish was excellent. I think Erika wanted another dish of them to come out.

avec antipasto-spiced marinated market vegetables olive oil marinated roasted potatoes, broccoli stalks and crispy bacon
Not your typical antipasto. Delicious veggies and bacon.

housemade country terrine pork, sweetbreads, cherries and pistachios with cherry mustard and pickled quail egg
Of course, anything with an egg in the description usually gets my attention, so we had to order this.

“la quercia” prosciutto with market peaches, lemon and marinated manchego
The prosciutto was amazing.

house cured salmon with housemade pumpernickle, housemade butter and radishes
Koren sent this out for us to try. Yum. The salmon with the radishes and butter was just delicious.

crispy pork shoulder with smoked cherry tomatoes, summer squash, fennel and brown butter
The crispiness of the pork made this dish.

berry and fennel lemon sorbet
The fennel made for a very interesting sorbet. It was a clean finish to the meal.

The entire dinner was excellent and I am so happy that we were able to experience Avec. It was the perfect kick-off to our Chicago weekend.

August 4th, 2008 | permalink

Lollapalooza day three

We started off our third and final day at Lollapalooza with Black Kids at the Citi stage. We got up really close since this was the first must see act for us on the day.

Saul Williams came out to play after the Black Kids. This was worst part of lolla for me. Not because of Saul, but because I dropped my iPhone during his performance which caused some massive damage to the top of the phone, namely crushing the power button. More on this later.

After grabbing some food and drowning my sorrows of the iPhone drop, we went to listen to some Gnarls Barkley. They sounded great and the At&t stage area was filling up with people as Kanye West would be playing there as the headliner.

One of the bands that I was definitely going to see was The National. Marc and I walked up to the north side to see the show at the Playstation stage. We were actually on the bigscreen as we waited.

After The National, Nine Inch Nails took to the Bud Light stage. It was a great setting with the city in the backdrop and Trent Reznor singing Closer.

We watched NIN for a while before heading to the south side to meet up with the girls and watch Kanye West bring down the house. His performance was excellent even though it was filled with his usual arrogance.

It was a great finale to a great musical festival. I can’t believe how many great shows that we were able to see. Thanks to Britt and Marc for providing a place for us to stay and hanging out with us all weekend. We had an amazing time but it went by too fast. Also, thanks to our parents who took turns with the kids so that we could have such a great getaway.

August 3rd, 2008 | permalink

Lollapalooza day two

Day two at Lollapalooza was filled with great acts. We started our day with the Ting Tings. That set the tone for the day.

We sat in the shade and grabbed some food before the next “must see” show.

MGMT won my virtual coin flip over Devotchka and we waited for about an hour so that we could be close enough for Erika to feel the electric eel. I don’t think she was disappointed.

After MGMT we walked over to listen to Brand New and Lupe Fiasco. We settled into a comfort zone by the At&t stage until the Toadies took the MySpace stage.

The Toadies were definitely the high point of my day. They played a lot of their tunes from Rubberneck and ended the set with Tyler. Just awesome.

As soon as the Toadies finished, the sirens were sounding off signaling the start of Rage Against the Machine taking the At&t stage directly behind us. There were a lot of people down there so we just turned around and enjoyed the show from where we were.

Day two rocked. Can’t wait for the Black Kids and The National today. More photos on Marc’s flickr and mine.