Stuff I'm lovin'... V.2

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PaperBackSwap.com

... Loving this site so far! Netflix for books... Post some of your old books, get credits for books you want to read. Send books out you post, get more credits. It's much more user friendly than anything the library has, and it has the ability to keep a ton of lists and tags; which without, my world would come caving in. I'm still holding judgement though until I see if the stuff I actually want to read is on here. (It seemed much wasn't) I did order Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia by Elizabeth Gilbert, I heard something about it on All Things Considered, and it sounded worthwhile... The site does have a suggestion feature built in similar to Amazon or Netflix to find good books fast, which is how I remembered I wanted to read The Memory Keeper's Daughter... and The Substance of Style: How the Rise of Aesthetic Value Is Remaking Commerce, Culture, Consciousness...The Audacity of Hope audio book... you get the picture. As of now, two of my books have been requested! Two more credits for me! Why is everything so much more enjoyable when I order it effortlessly from my laptop?!

Stuff I'm lovin'... V.1

Julie Stiles Eco-Humor Blog

http://juliastilesstyles.com/Styles_by_Stiles.html

Thanks for the tip Tye!

Marathon Update - Im a Marathon Relay champ!

26.2 miles this year is looking less and less likely to happen... at least all by myself. My major goal with training was to get my butt outside and in shape again... it is after all wedding/swimsuit season. But summer also means many many fun distractions. I did however reach over 100 miles training recently! (see the ticker at the bottom of my page) I'd be happy with 200 training miles this summer.

While I did get a 12 mile run in a few weeks ago, I'm quite happy with my decision do the Annual Akron Marathon Team Relay, a new event this year. Some coworkers and friends of mine will each run one of five legs, mine being the last and longest at 7.6 miles. If all goes well on 9/26 at the team relay, I'm hoping to do the Towpath 1/2 Marathon at 13.2 miles on 10/11. I'll also be participating in the 'Cleveland Corporate Challenge' 10K relay being held August 1st. (It's only a mile, but good chance to see just how fast I can run it!)

The Cleve, especially where I live, offers some outstanding places to get your miles in. Yesterday I met a friend downtown and took a Lake route around Browns Stadium, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the Science Center. I often run at Edgewater Park, right on the lake. It offers amazing breezes and views of Lake Erie and downtown. Cleveland's "Emerald Necklace" (metroparks), particularly Rocky River Reservation is great for longer runs.

(pics are the Rock Hall etc. from the GoodTime III and Edgewater Park at sunrise.)

Market Under Glass '09

While we are on the topic of local food... A few months ago I was lucky enough to attend Market Under Glass. Local restaurants from across the city take over the Galleria downtown and set up precious little samples of their best dishes and drinks. Big thanks to my fabulous friend Amanda who got me the VIP hook up from her company (and her sister who backed out last minute, leaving room for me!) All proceeds from ticket sales went to Harvest for Hunger.

I found a great sustainable catering company, Spice of Life. They had by far the best looking table, and the food was outstanding. Not only are they loyal to using regional and seasonal foods, they are committed to getting the community involved in the local farms. My favorite thing they do is Planted Landscapes, where they set up a 'traveling' restaurant at a local farm, right in the fields! It's like a beautiful outdoor wedding reception.

Other highlights (besides hanging out with the exquisite Mrs. Jess Cahoon) were the martini and wine bar in the VIP section, and of course Great Lakes Brewery was there introducing their Grassroots pale ale to the market. Until this year, the ale had only been served in the restaurant, but now it's in any local grocery store that carries GLB brews.

The only place missing at the event was The Greenhouse Tavern,

the first Green Certified restaurant in Ohio. Not only do they practice the farm to plate philosophy, wood used in the restaurant has been salvaged from an old church, and they have a rooftop garden. The spring pasta (sans pork) is outstanding. I loved the fern spirals in the dish, that were picked by hand in the woods of The Cleve. Perfecto.

Fresh, Local Food Fridays!

Locavore (someone who eats food grown or produced locally or within a certain radius such as 50, 100, or 150 miles) was the 2007 Oxford American Dictionary's word of the year. Turns out, it's pretty to be a locavore in The Cleve., which was ranked the #2 city in the country by Sustainlane for our local agriculture. It's even easier when that food is delivered to you while you work! My fabulous colleague Emily has partnered with Fresh Fork Market, a start-up that has up until now, been supplying restaurants with fresh, local produce for their menu. Now, they have expanded their services to Dealer Tire, complete with an online ordering system that opens a whole world of heirloom produce, bread, cheese and fresh pasta... all from within 75 miles of where I live... and I never have to go anywhere! Order before midnight on Wednesday through the website, and the food is delivered to work by 3 on Friday. I got my first delivery last Friday, and it looked fabulous. When I got it home, I filled my kitchen sink with cold water and rinsed all of the produce so it was ready for whatever I decided to make!

- Heriloom Black seeded simpson lettuce (great in salad)

- Organic spinach (used for quiche)

- Red bulb green onions (used for quiche #1)

- Rappini (meh, was expecting more broccolini, not all leaves)

- Organic sourdough 12 grain and seed bread (realllly good)

- Organic rustic Italian bread

- 1/4 peck of Melrose (the Ohio) apple (sweet without the grit)

- Tiny little strawberries (I've never seen cuter strawberries)

- Fresh spinach pasta (fresh pasta is totally different than dry)

- 12 pasture raised/antibiotic free eggs (outstanding)

Sunny side eggs over a fresh piece of toast, doesn't get much better than that... I also made 2 quiches with all the eggs I had.. First was OK, but the second was outstanding! Thanks to Rob's caramelizing skills, my use of a less gritty flour (this time I used a brown rice flour) and full-fat Feta (as opposed to the reduced fat I used in the first), it really turned out well... Time to get rid of that 'Domestically Disabled' mug an old friend gave me...

The Cleve 1: Norton Furniture

This is the first installment of what I'll call 'The Cleve', a quick look at what makes The Cleve, The Cleve, including some establishments that any local should know immediately. First up, Norton Furniture. This guy is a cult classic in the area, known for his super weird, low-budget commercials. Spurred by a co-worker catching a glimpse of the local legend on his way to work, a few of us decided to check out the giant multi-level store on a lunch break. The whole building belongs to the store, but we were only allowed up to the 4th floor, leaving us to speculate what craziness is going on at the top levels... If you watched the video linked above, you'll notice a bunch of random life sized figurines... those are all over the store. One of my favorites was this freaky carnivorous french fry (he's eating his own fry!) and Steve was nice enough to pose with Fry's cousin, Hot Dog. Seriously, why is this stuff all over a furniture store!

We ended up seeing the legend, Mark at the store. Steve attempted to walk by him and make eye contact. But, possibly in a motion-less contest with his life-sized buddies, he never moved from his place on the couch. Maybe he has a wax stunt double he keeps around the store. Check out this creepy empty 'break room' where Brian scouted out a crack-den looking mattress and a mini fridge with a handle of liquor on top.

I'm not even going to get into the thousands of Polaroids displayed all over the store showing god knows who... Are these documenting sales? Workers? Victims? Either way, the whole experience was totally strange. Check out some more videos below... It's got to be some of the weirdest stuff on Utube! (thanks for the photos Brian!)


Words can't describe this one..
Fry and Hot Dog make an appearance in this one!
Talking babies?

26.2 miles.....

Saturday (May 2) was my first group run for my marathon training. Yep, I have decided to train for a marathon! My friend from work Archana and I have joined NEOfit to train for our first full marathon, a whopping 26.2 miles. I did surprisingly well, despite the fact that I have been sick (hopefully NOT the swine flu) for a few days. But I managed to breeze through the 3 miles without a problem. Arch is affiliated with a group called ASHA for education, which raises money and resources for the education of tribal communities in Inida. They have parnered with NEOfit (North East Ohio Fitness) to give us access to group runs, training and education (proper hydration, shoe fitting, nutrition, etc.) to get us on our way to our first successful marathon. Check out the bottom of my blog, where I have placed a mile tracker. I should run over 200 miles while training for the marathon. I hope to run one by October. Wish me luck!!!