About Cleveland's Downtown Cleveland

Today is Day 2 of Women of Faith Over The Top Event in Cleveland, Ohio

 

One of the featured speakers today is Mary Beth and Steven Curtis Chapman. I have not personally heard them speak live, I understand it is very moving and an incredible story of forgiveness, healing and bonds of a close family.

 

Thank God, I have my three children near me and healthy, I can't begin to imagine the loss of a child!

 

 Yesterday, someone spoke up who had lost her son and she just did not want to go on anymore. Of course we all prayed for her, I hope this story of strength and hope through grief will help all the mom's who may not want to go on anymore.

 

I pray for my friends and everyone who has lost a child.  May God Bless you and keep you in His loving arms.

I attended my first ever Women of Faith event -

Over the Top in Cleveland Ohio at the Quicken Loan Arena

I was invited to attend the two day event by a girlfriend of mine who is a group leader for the event. I had no idea what I was committing to other than I wanted to go to support my friend, I really thought this was something her church was putting on. Then she told me it was downtown, so I thought oh, they must have a really great turnout. Little did I know this is a really big event with 29 stops in different cities.

After attending today, the best way I can describe it is as a spiritual growth and healing conference for women. The day started today at 9:00 am and was still going strong when I left at 9:00 pm. Tomorrow starts at 9:00 am as well and promises to be as great as today.

Today's guest speakers were Patsy Clairmont and Andy Andrews. I was especially excited to see Andy Andrews as he is the author of one of my favorite books, The Traveler's Gift.

Patsy Clairmont is a little spitfire who delivered a great message about wisdom.

She is captivating and funny! She had me laughing and crying at the same time!

Andy Andrews is a wonderful storyteller weaving wonderful life lessons that left the audience wanting more.

He talked a lot about forigiveness and the importance of forgiving for yourself.

This has been a great experience. I am looking forward to tomorrow!

Dinner with Friends at Zinc Bistro Bar Bakery Saturday night was a blast!

 

 

My good friend, Karen Paganini, is one of the owners of the new Zinc Bistro Bar Bakery in Downtown Cleveland.

 

 

Karen with her husband John.

Too cute! 

 

 

 

Newlyweds

                                                     

 

 

668 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland Ohio

216)  583 - 9462

 

 

 

Zinc's is a new restaurant in Downtown Cleveland with a French theme.

 The Cafes of Paris have traditionally been called "Zincs", the name coming from the pewter bar counters which became a trademark of these places. 

 Zinc Bistro Bar Bakery is filled with charm, character & warmth and the people make you feel very welcome. 

 

We started off with drinks at the bar, I had one of their specialty drinks and while enjoying the moment noticed hard boiled eggs in a really cool holder.  The bartender told me that they are found in Paris Zinc's, they're like nuts to us.  Too cool!

And I have a favorite new drink -  Dark and Stormy.  YUMMY!!!!  Ginger Beer with Dark Rum.

Dinner was fantastic!  We started with a huge tiered platter of oysters and chilled shrimp and crab, Heirloom tomatoes (and learned they are named heirloom because they are the original), and Steamer clams.  Dinner was Hen and Lobster - an unusual combination that was delicious!  And oh my gosh!  The desserts are to die for!

Yep!  I made room for it!

 

And while the dinner and ambiance were wonderful, the time spent with dear friends is priceless as always!

I am thankful to have such great friends and am grateful for the memory made.

 

 

 

Love you guys!

 

 

 

 

Give Zinc Bistro Bar Bakery a try, I bet you'll love it too.  And share it with your friends.  If it is a warm evening, they have a great plaza with an outside bar and dining.  Parking is easy too.

 If you're in the Cleveland area, support them and help make it a hit!

Best of luck to the Zinc Bistro Bar Bakery crew!

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My son is a huge Cleveland Indians fan. Poor kid, the Cleveland Indians are in the cellar as usual and they lose most games.

So...my dilemma is: How can we go see them, have a good time, some great seats, without paying full retail price on everything? Knowing that there is an 80% chance they are going to lose. Nothing worse than paying top dollar and listen to him all the way home dejected about getting hammered into the ground.

It's actually quite simple and I'm sure budget-conscious consumers may already know this:

1. Go to StubHub.com the day of the game and find the seats you want. There are tickets already owned by sellers that are willing to sell them, sometimes at a steep discount, especially as you get closer to game time. Game time was 7:05pm. I bought great seats on the first base, lower-level side at 5:30pm for 70% off retail prices. We were in the car by 6:10 and sitting in our seats at 6:45pm, plenty of time before the game. Granted, this is not the most reliable or surefire way to go about it, but since the Indians are in the cellar and demand isn't that great, you don't have to worry about them selling out.
   
2. Park 2-3 blocks away and save an extra $5-10 in parking. Not only that, but surface lots are much quicker to get out of than sitting on the 5th level of a huge parking garage where you inch along for 30 minutes just to get out of the garage.
   
3. Eat dinner and lots of liquids before you go -- eliminates the whole $7.50 hot dog thing and actually saves money for a treat or two without doing the full shebang.

So...we had a fabulous time (until we lost), but my son got to throw a pitch to see if he could hit 40mph (almost), and had some chocolate ice cream, so all in all, it was a fun night out. Even if they lose, it's fun to be downtown on a warm, balmy night, with the Terminal Tower glowing eerily in the background, and chatting about all things baseball.

Enjoy!

P.S. Hotdog got knocked down in the race, he was not very happy!

My wife, son and I were traveling down the interstate towards downtown
Cleveland, Ohio last night to go watch the Cleveland Indians get pounded
er...squeak a win out against the Oakland Athletics and then watch the
fireworks in downtown Cleveland at Progressive field after the game and on our way there, we kept noticing these banners hanging on the overpasses and I said: