family

Weekend Recap – A Christmas Story Run

| The Bee Life

This past weekend was full of festive activities to kickoff the first weekend of December!  Our Saturday started with a trip downtown with the extended family for the A Christmas Story Run 5k/10k.  With it’s sixth year in, this has always been on our wish list of races to-do, but never seems to workout, we finally signed up so we could partake in the little tradition that our extended family has been doing the last few years!
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With following along with the tradition came evil elf hats from the movie and walking the length of the 5k… which for B and I wasn’t ideal, but we wanted to partake in the all the fun and experience!  On top of walking that meant, stopping to take pictures at the mile markers, Cleveland sign and seeing everyone’s costumes!  We finally made it to the house, which by the time we’d gotten there from walking, it was madness in the little A Christmas Story village in Tremont.  So we shuffled past the house with the crowd. B and I ended up getting our run in, while the rest of the family waited for a bus to get back downtown – we decided to run back to complete the circle and get our actual 5k run in!

After taking some photos in  picturesque downtown CLE – we did a little shopping before stopping at our go-to post race spot, Brewnuts for A Christmas Story themed donuts to go and then grabbed brunch at XYZ Tavern in Gordon Square!  It was a fun little adventure with the family, while feeling a little silly in our hats (because they had to be worn everywhere) – but it was all in good fun and a great way to kickoff the holiday season.

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Wednesday Reminders – Grateful

| The Bee Life

On the eve of Thanksgiving, it’s time to take a moment before all the crazy starts tomorrow and really reflect and remember what we’re truly grateful for.  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I’m grateful for the wonderful people in my life.  My family, my friends, our neighbors and my coworkers — we are lucky to have so many thoughtful and caring people in our lives that we can call family.

We have been blessed with such a wonderful life and that in part has been because of the fabulous people in our lives and the opportunities they’ve provided for us to get to where we are today.  I hope you all have a blessed, happy and stress free Thanksgiving and remember to squeeze your friends and family a little tighter this year!

xox.

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Weekend Recap – Fall Fever

| The Bee Life

We had the perfect fall filled weekend with friends and family.  We went off the grid for a couple days into the middle of nowhere, like the places when you’re driving and you see amish buggy signs, fields of cows and just beautiful fall foliage flanking the roads.

Venturing to the middle of nowhere is a yearly tradition that B and I have been doing for five years… finding our way back to Southern Tier Brewery in Lakewood, NY.  We especially try and go in the late summer months/fall so that we can get a taste of their delicious seasonal beers – Pumking and Warlock.  We love the spot and always enjoy each other’s company catching up, laughing and making plans for the future.

The rest of the weekend was the perfect mix of rest and relaxation with a taste of catching up with family and friends.  Saturday we went to a local brewery called Rohrbach Brewing Company to grab some lunch and taste a few beers with K + T.  From lunch we headed to this beyond adorable little farm that had monstrous pumpkins, gorgeous gourds, colorful mums, and lots and lots of beautiful colors.  It was like a dream and this perfect little spot was run by a husband and wife, they had their trophy pumpkins on display for people to admire – they had to be close to 50 pounds or more. Although, I did a pretty great job of racking up our own batch of pumpkins – we weighed out at 70 pounds worth of pumpkins and gourds! Whoops!

It was great catching up with friends and family, getting in some much needed fall activities, sipping some delicious beers, and being able to sleep in a few days too!  October is one of my most favorite months and this long weekend full of all things that make it perfect was exactly why.  What do you love about the fall?

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Ten Things – 2018

| The Bee Life

Three years ago I shared ten things to help my readers get to know a little more about me – it was funny reading it back and looking at how I would answer now. So I thought it was time for an update and another little intro to any new bee readers. So please enjoy these ten things about me, oh and I’ve included my 2015 answers just for fun!
Meet the Bee
1. If money was no object, what’s something you’d buy right now.
2015: My own personal gym.
2018: A vacation or four… maybe a sports car.

2. Spring vs. Fall?
2015: Fall – clam bakes, sweaters, pumpkins, coffee, jeans, scarfs, cool runs… shall I continue?
2018: Still fall. ❤

3. What’s on your nightstand?
2015: Pictures of me and B and my glasses.
2018: Lamp, ring holder, small vase with flowers, coaster & water glass

4. What’s your favorite room in your house?
2015: Our sunroom!
2018: Although our sunroom is still a gem, my new favorite room is our master suite (it was not finished in 2015!) … and our basement makeover (reveal coming soon!)

5. If you could have lunch with anyone in the world, who would it be?
2015: Too many choices…. it’s a toss up between Derek Jeter and Katy Perry
2018: This one is tough, maybe some Bravo reality stars? RHOBH or Vanderpump!

6. Name one thing on your bucket list.
2015: Sky dive with B
2018: Travel to Europe

7. What’s the best vacation you’ve taken?
2015: Jackson Hole w/ B and my parents! The company makes all the difference.
2018: Our honeymoon to Palm Desert was a pretty great vacation

8. Congratulations, you just won an all expenses paid trip to…
2015: Ireland & Germany
2018: Lake Como & Greece

9. Backyard BBQ or Formal Dinner?
2015: Formal dinner – I love getting dressed up, and sitting around the table sharing stories, good laughs and a bottle of wine.
2018: Same! But I do love a good meal out on the patio on a summer night.

10. What advice would you give your teen self?
2015: There is a much bigger world out there; explore it as much as possible, and even if you break away – there is still a bigger world beyond that.
2018: Don’t let silly people affect you to the point of insecurities or anxiety – they do not define you, and there is a world of people out there that won’t tear you down.

Some of these were tough to answer again! But it’s fun to reflect on these ten things, as life and the world seems to move too fast.  Have a question you want me to answer? Leave a comment below!

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Bee’s 2018 Summer Highlights

| The Bee Life

I make the joke, that now that I’m a full-time working adult, the summer never ends for me! I don’t have to go back to school or dread the return of something after a long break – I can keep summering all through August, September and even October if the weather permits.  But being October 1st, I felt no better way than to welcome fall by highlighting some of our Summer fun!
Summer 2018 Highlights - the bee life

  1. Asheville Trip – We kicked off our summer with a trip to a new city and had a fun time sipping our way through the city with our good friends and our pups! We’ve already talked about a returning trip with more family and friends to check our this trendy city.
  2. Our Front Landscape – This is totally a boring #adulting one, but we’ve had this on our house to-do list for FOUR YEARS! It was so accomplishing to finally check this off the list and our house looks even cuter than it did before. Yay, us!
  3. Morning Runs – It’s easier to get up and run in the mornings when you have a running buddy! Thanks to my running buddy, Kayla – we made early morning runs a thing and as a bonus got to enjoy the beautiful sunrise.  I really enjoyed the morning quite time and checking off my workout before getting to the office.
  4. Pool Days with Our Niece – We were lucky enough to spend a few times with our niece in the pool! She’s a ball of energy and her personality is so fun as she gets older, with her little arm swimmies she is quickly becoming a fish.
  5. Finished a Half Marathon – It’s always an accomplishment when we finish a race!  And an added bonus, when we can try a new race out, which we did running the Hofbrauhaus Half– running is something B and I have always enjoyed doing together so I like that we make it a priority to do a few runs every year.
  6. Catching up with Friends – We definitely made it a point to spend nights, weekends or mornings catching up with friends.  The summers are always busy and then the winters always seem to be busy with the holidays – so we always make it a priority, even if we’re scheduling 3-months in advance.  I even had a girls sleepover, which I haven’t done in years!!

Compared to last summer, this one was definitely tame – between all the weddings we had, all the trips, and all of our wedding festivities we had last year, this year was a different kind of busy and nice switch up!  But I imagine we will be planning a few more trips for next year before we know it!

What was your summer highlight? Comment below!!

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Weekend Recap – City Love

| The Bee Life

This past weekend has been NON-STOP! It was a blast and it was centered around family and all of the things we love about this city.  The weekend started on Thursday night for us at a fundraiser wine tasting for the nonprofit I’m on the board of, JDBCF.  It was a fun evening, and it was hosted at a fun cozy spot in the Gordon Square area called Toast.

My cousins were in town for the weekend, so I was giving them the cities best picks for yummy eats and places to see while the explored the city Thursday and Friday.  We finally got to connect with them for dinner at our go-to summer spot; Collision Bend, Friday night.  Collision Bend has a great menu and perfect views and it’s always a great spot to show-off our city.  Saturday morning we started the day with our fitness class, then headed to the parks to rent some kayaks! Another fun way to see parts of our city and do something a little off the beaten path when visitors are in town.  B and I try and kayak at least once a year, so it was fun to get out with the family.

Saturday afternoon we switched gears and families and celebrated our nieces 3rd birthday – it was Moana themed, which now makes me slightly curious about the movie to see what all the fuss is about (unfortunately I can only post photos of the delicious sweets due to political reasons)! We ended the evening back home with some patio drinks and laughs with family story time. Sunday morning we took my cousins down to another park and showed them the endless city and lake views and the Solstice Steps.  Just another part of our city that we often take for granted and might get overlooked by visitors as well.  We then #brunched at the aunts house they made a few casseroles, including a french toast one that we’d never had before – and it was Ah-ma-zing!  I’m definitely going to be sharing the recipe in a future post!

It was a jammed packed weekend and it was great spending some extra time with our cousins that we usually see in small doses! Plus we got to do a few of our favorite things in our city. ❤

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Weekend Recap – Simple Fun

| The Bee Life

Sometimes the best weekends are the simplest weekends and consist of great friends and family and that was exactly our weekend!  With a road trip home to visit the fam we were automatically in for a good one.

Friday night we kicked off the weekend with a long overdue visit to see my forever bestie Kates and her hubs Travis.  We kept it simple with local pizza, salad and chicken wings… oh and bubbles, of course.  There was plenty of catching up to do with lots of belly laughs, it was a much needed visit. We also got to meet their newest addition to the family, their 6-month old puppy, Oscar, he’s a ball of energy and so darn cute.
Weekend Recap - 6.17 the bee life
Saturday we helped my parents out with some things around the house – my dad has been recovering from ACL surgery so he hasn’t been able to do everything he is used to doing!  We then went out for a later lunch and enjoyed the beautiful day along one of the finger lakes – the scenery and company was great but the food and beverages (sadly) were mediocre, but it was still nice to try someplace new while soaking up the sunshine.  From there we just enjoyed each other’s company catching up at the house and having a cookout!  Sunday of course consisted of a Father’s Day brunch, bloody’s and a few other things around the house with the rents before we hit the road.

These weekends always seem to fly by, and there never seems like enough time to catch up with everyone but it’s also that much more special for us to soak it all in and enjoy our time with everyone!

Weekend Recap – Rock & Mom

| The Bee Life

This past weekend was a fun one! With an impromptu visit from my parents, we quickly had plans for a busy weekend ahead of us.

Our activities were perfect for a cold and rainy weekend, as we headed to a grand estate sale (more to come in an upcoming post) and from there visited the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.  Although B and I have been to the Rock Hall a handful of times, it was the first for the group we went with, the collection of memorabilia items is incredible and covers a full range of musical influencers with something truly for everyone.  Not to mention the building is a super fun space to visit in and of itself.
Weekend Recap - the bee life
We dined along the river at Collision Bend Brewery, voted best Brewpub in America, and enjoyed everything from their incredible brussel sprouts, sauerkraut balls, their Collision Bend popcorn, buffalo tofu, and burger.  The table ordered a handful of their different beers that received rave reviews from everyone. Although the food and drinks are always on point, one of my favorite parts of Collision Bend are the views and atmosphere, it’s really a complete package.

Sunday we went to church and then had a delicious brunch at my aunts house to celebrate Mother’s Day. With another impressive spread, we were eating well with good company and ready to take a nap!  With a jammed packed weekend full of fun, delicious food and great company we were exhausted by the time everyone left, but had a great time.

Weekend Recap – Easter 2018

| The Bee Life

Happy April! So glad to see a month that really makes you think spring – growing up March was always a bit of snow and a bit of sunshine, to be expected. But our Easter weekend was jammed back, yet so much fun.  With a much over-due trip to my parents, we headed in Friday to take advantage of as much of the weekend as we could!
Weekend Recap - Easter 2018 - the bee life
With a weekend full of delicious eats, like a NY fish fry, gourmet donuts with fried chicken, hometown pizza, bubbles with a side of friends and family it was all of my favorite things.  We caught up with K+T, Saturday morning and ventured to a hipster hot-spot called Boxcar and indulged on the finer things in life; donuts, coffee and fried chicken, among other things. It was so good and the perfect spot to relax, chat and people watch. We haven’t seen them since the wedding so it was great catching up with them and getting in person hugs!

Easter celebrations with the family consisted of some of the extended family coming over for some yummy pizza, laughs and spirits on Saturday – I always love that we can make time to see more of the family when we come into town, sometimes it goes too long! Church was super early Sunday morning, but worth it being followed up with some bloody mary’s, Mom’s homemade waffles and fully belly’s.

We ended our night with a super fancy Easter dinner… a bottomless bucket of popcorn at the Cavs game – yup we’re crazy, but they pulled out a good win.  It was an exhausting weekend, but so much fun and so great seeing everyone!

How did you spend your Easter?