Memorial Day weekend in Cleveland

Since I was in Cleveland for the Mount St. Vincent Open House, I decided to stay for a few extra days and enjoy Memorial Day at home for the first time in many years. As usual, I had a great time in Cleveland: I spent a day bouncing around town with my Mom for her birthday, I went to an awesome Indians game (they won of course), and I was in the University Heights Memorial Day parade! My Aunt and Uncle own a great Irish pub in University Heights - O'Rielly's - and I highly recommend you stop in for a pint if you're ever in the neighborhood. Every year, they rent a trolley and are in the Memorial Day parade. As I mentioned before, it's been a lot of years since I've been home to participate in the parade with them, so I was really excited to be part of it again this year. 

During our day around town, my Mom and I grabbed lunch at Fat Cats in Tremont and then admired the city skyline. 

After lunch, we went to the Cleveland Aquarium and made some new friends. 

There's my Mom, the birthday girl. Isn't she cute?

Here we are in the trolley cruising through the parade! That's my Aunt Bridget in front of me. 

The kids were prepared and ready to catch candy.

The bagpipers are always the best part of the parade.

 How sweet.

One awesomely patriotic home!

My Best Friend is Prego

My best friend, Nikki, is pregnant and needless to say, I'm pretty excited about it. A couple weekends ago, I went home to Cleveland for a few reasons - one of which was to photography Nikki, upon her request. Even though I've never taken photos of this nature and Nikki has never posed for such photos before, we were both pleased with the results. We worked with the available light in her house and I created a makeshift "studio" environment in her basement (a.k.a. attached a 60-watt bulb to a pole and prayed it created the shadowing effects I wanted). Let me know what you think of the images. (And yes, I got Nikki's approval before publishing these photos on the worldwide web, for my 10s of followers to see.)

Nikki and her husband, John.

Around Cleveland, Part II

My ode to Cleveland continues today. There's always something new to discover in my hometown (and anywhere, for that matter) so I make it a point to explore somewhere I've never been every time I return home. Expect to see more Cleveland photos in the future...and in the meantime I hope you enjoy these!

Tremont. And this photo was taken from the porch of "A Christmas Story" house (go there!).

The Holden Arboretum

The Q - home of the Cavs 

Wendy Park at Whiskey Island 

Edgewater Park

 The Cleveland Museum of Art

View from my childhood bedroom.

Around Cleveland, Part I

Well, it's about damn time I post some photos of my hometown! While Cleveland tends to get a bad rap, it's a great town and I'm extremely proud of my roots. I encourage you to jam the track above while you check out the images. I've divided the photos into two posts so stay tuned for more tomorrow. Viva Cleveland!

 View from west side of the Cuyahoga River.

View from the infamous Cleveland Browns' Dawg Pound. Go Browns!

Squire's Castle in the Cleveland Metroparks.

 Outside of Squire's Castle. 

Gates Mills Bridge is strictly for walkers.

Chagrin Falls

 The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Ohio City