Vienna of the Rust Belt

I've written before about my love for my old town, Cleveland. I went back for a visit last weekend and I have to confess, I was a little nervous. My last year in Cleveland was fantastic and how well do memories ever stand up to reality? Happily in this case they stand up just fine.

Let's go on a tour of Cleveland!

Being woken up with coffee and breads from On the Rise Breads is the best way to begin. 

Then lunch at Noodlecat where the ramen is infused with bacon! At least it tastes that way!

I occasionally worked for Danielle DeBoe at her shop in Ohio City, Room Service. I was eager to visit her new shop on East 4th Street- Dredgers Union. What an amazing retail space- I wanted to buy everything there. I found an awesome decanter for a bridal shower I was attending the next day. 

Our energy was flagging, so it was time to have tea at Lilly Handmade Chocolates in the artsy Tremont neighborhood. 

We opted for rose-chocolate dessert tea and a lavender chocolate. 

I highly recommend that if you travel to Cleveland you get invited to my friends Marc and Samanthas house for dinner (really let me know if you are going- they might have you over). Some of my favorite meals in Cleveland have been eaten at their house- the most memorable being their black-tie New Years Eve dinner.

action shoot

Manhattan

If you are lucky enough to visit Cleveland in the summer, go to Wendy Park, have a picnic, walk to the old Coast Guard station, and finish up with a beer (or two) at Cropicana, my new favorite spot in Cleveland. What a blissful day. 

snacks and cider

Friendly Vinny the dog

Coast Guard Station

such a perfect day

a matte black mercedes in the parking lot

Cropicana!

the band was playing classic rock covers- it was perfect. 

So, on to newish (I haven't been there) restaurant Club Isabella. Interesting clientele, pretty lights, great food and wine. I had hangar steak and french fries and tried cuttlefish and frogs legs for the first time.

steak + french fries= the very best

Go to brunch at Fire if you possibly can- fantastically spicy Bloody Marys.

You can see my old building reflected in the window

Lastly, a visit to scenic Chagrin Falls, which looks just like Stars Hollow and to eat ice cream at the famous Jenis Ice Cream. So delicious. I have such a weakness for ice cream.

a sweet good-bye to Cleveland

Thanks for coming on a tour of Cleveland with me! I love my new home, Kansas City- but a part of my heart will always be in Cleveland.

Sweet Visit

My parents came for a visit last week and I had to do some serious considering about what to show them, where to take them, what to feed them (in my family this is always the largest concern). I forgot to take many pictures but I tried to hit all the important Kansas City spots...

According to an informal poll, Oklahoma Joe's is the best in Kansas City for barbecue, followed by Arthur Bryant's. Arthur Bryant's serves their pulled pork with a pile of Wonder Bread AND they have sweet tea- I went to college in the deep South and I have a fondness for sweet tea. However, Oklahoma Joe's is in an actual gas station and their ribs are not to be believed.

 There is no table service at Oklahoma Joe's. You are left to contemplate the menu while standing in a line that sometimes reaches out to the sidewalk. 

I opted for a slab of ribs, a pile of pulled pork, and Texas toast (made from Wonder Bread). Delicious. 

Another big food hit was Genessee Royale. It's in one of my favorite neighborhoods, the West Bottoms which deserves it's very own post (and will get one soon, since I did some poking around there last week). Genessee Royale is my favorite place for Saturday brunch (Sundays are for Record Bar) and they are home to fried chicken on a biscuit with gravy, my favorite ginger beer, and according to my mother, the best coconut cream pie. 

Matt and I also had my parents over for dinner. This was a first for me, and since my mother is an amazing cook, it was a little stressful. In the end, I went with grilled pork since I've made it before and it's extremely undemanding:

GRILLED PORK

Get some pork tenderloin, preferably organic. To be honest this pork was from Costco and it was still great. Put the pork in a dish, pour olive oil over it along with a fistful of herbs, salt and pepper, and minced garlic. Marinate for at least 3 hours. Preheat your grill (we use charcoal) and grill for about 13 minutes on each side. 

I also like to quarter small potatoes, drizzle them in olive oil and herbs, wrap them in tinfoil and grill them with the pork. In order for for them to be done on time, you have to put them on the grill as soon as the charcoal is lit. 

Since my parents mostly don't drink, I made them limeade- their favorite. I used a Mark Bittman recipe for salty limeade. Next time I would add a tiny bit of cayenne pepper and perhaps vodka. 

Note: It takes a long time to manually squeeze this many limes. 

And this is all the juice you end up with! It was worth the effort, though. I made strawberry shortcake for dessert and we had some friends over so my parents could meet them- all in all a lovely time. 

My parents just HAPPENED to come when the Yankees were in town- my dad is a huge fan. So we went to my first Kansas City baseball game and the Yankees won, naturally....

Some other highlights that I don't have photos of- a bike ride with my father, a trip to the amazingly old- fashioned department store, Halls, and on the last night dinner at a sweet French bistro.

Kansas City International Airport Proposal

This was sweet and took place at the Kansas City Airport (MCI in case you'd like to come for a visit.)

Meditation- House Tour

 Matt and I found our apartment in a very unique way-- since neither of us could make it to Kansas City to look at apartments before his posting began, we had to search online and rent sight unseen. Matt found ours using Google Street View- sitting in his office in Afghanistan he "walked" down streets in the neighborhood we wanted to live in, Googling addresses of buildings he thought looked interesting until he found ours. The real estate agent thought we were nuts, but looking at the pictures of our new home, I knew it was our place. The first time I walked in, I knew I was right.

Moving in together can be a tricky process- the two of you have too much stuff, or ugly stuff, or not enough stuff. We didn't have enough stuff- the furniture I did have had been destroyed by my cat or was just old and Matt sold all his furniture before he deployed. So we bought basic pieces from West Elm, Crate and Barrel, and CB2 and filled in with objects we already had or that we've found together.

I love the result of all the thought we've put into our space. I think it's really the perfect mix of both our personalities. Best of all, when I walk in the door there is that "aaaahhhh" feeling-- this is home, this is my nest.

The apartment has two lofts, and we've designated this the "guest loft". The CB2 daybed folds out into a queen-sized bed for when friends visit. The desk was on sale at West Elm and the chair is one of my favorite things - a maybe-real Eames wire chair I found at a vintage store in Cleveland.

Another view of the guest loft- The chair is from my Papa Seymours house in Forest Hills, Queens. I've been carting it around with me for 10 years. My gold pig (a Christmas present from my sister) resides under the chair.

Matt and I bought these little silkscreens (mounted on reclaimed wood) in Kennebunkport.

Looking down at the kitchen from the guest loft. The other flight of stairs goes up to the "library". The curtain next to the stairs is the entrance to my bedroom. This is my favorite kitchen I've ever had- the only thing I wish I could change would be a gas stove instead of a cook top.

another view of the kitchen

Matt traded his camera for this 200 year-old rifle in Afghanistan. I like to think the little pitcher next to it holds a genie, but more likely it was used for oil.

The view from the kitchen into the living room. Since Matt and I both love music, we've collected all our concert posters into this room. It makes it very cozy.

More posters (from L-R Royal Trux, Battles, and Passion Pit (which my friend got for me when they played at House of Blues in Cleveland). The chair is from my sisters old apartment in Brooklyn. We found it together at the Housing Works thrift shop in Manhattan and it's vintage Heywood-Wakefield.

Looking from the living room into the kitchen- we use my moms old steamer trunk (from when she went to summer camp in the Berkshires) as a coffee table. You can still see my Nana Harriet's handwriting on the shipping label!

This is the bar cart for parties. It's a vintage typewriter table we found at Thistle, a pop-up furniture shop in my neighborhood.

The bedroom is a work in progress and I will photograph it when it's finished. We did just buy matching owl lamps (from West Elm) so it's definitely going to have a sort of woodland-y feeling.

These Inuit drawings were bought at a Native American craft show by the trends group where I work. I got them for free! and they will go up in the bedroom.

Roberts favorite lounging spot under the stairs, going up to the "library" loft. 

The second loft is dominated by a portrait of "The American Lion" Andrew Jackson. This was in Matt's DC apartment and it's one of my favorite things of his.

The rest of the loft. The coffee table and love seat were in my Cleveland apartment and the love seat is Roberts "cat nest". He perches on the back and keeps an eye on all the comings and goings. I have coffee up here most mornings and Robert usually joins me.

So that's my home so far. I will update this when I finish the bedroom- I just got the first real bed of my adult life, so I'm very excited to work on that room. Thanks for coming along on my house tour!

Lovely Summer

Having a routine sometimes causes one to fall in a rut. Having a routine can also make life feel cozy and familiar. My summer Sunday in Kansas City falls into the latter category.

Steps to a lovely (summer) Sunday:


1. $5 community yoga class
2. Brunch (Bloody Mary or no? Depends of what sort of Saturday night was had)
3. Light wandering around (shops, events, museums- doesn't matter)
4. Grilling


Grilling is the best on a Sunday because there is minimal cleanup AND leftovers so there's no worry about Monday dinner. We hosted some friends last Sunday and it was a perfect start to the week (or end of the previous)

pretty potatoes

Buttermilk marinated chicken (recipes are at the end of the post)

My favorite bottle opener and new favorite beer (Goose Island Matilda)

Tiki torches are de rigueur in buggy Kansas City

a simple fruit dessert

I wonder how deeply into the winter it's possible to grill? Friends in Cleveland (and my father) grill while it's snowing. Maybe I'll do that and add a fire pit for s'mores?


Here's what I made:


Potato Salad with radishes and scallions (via The Kitchn)
Elote (via Food.com)
Grilled Buttermilk Chicken (via Real Simple)
Melon with chile-lime syrup (via The Kitchn)