Jammin' June: A Jam-Packed Month of Fun in Northeast Ohio

I was so lucky to have such a full month of fun and adventure in Cleveland and Northeast Ohio this month! Not all months are full of this many activities, and I've been blessed to have had so many collaborations, blogger events, and so many great opportunities! July tends to be a quiet one for me, but things always happen, so I'm excited to see what the next month has in store!

BLOGGER EVENT WITH FETCH & CO AT SHOP THE TRADER IN LAKEWOOD

I was so lucky to have been invited to a Blogger Brunch with a local boutique, Fetch & Co. It is a boutique that often pops up in the Shop the Trader storefront, where the blogger brunch was located. It is such a unique idea--they will rent out Shop the Trader to local businesses to "pop up" in downtown Lakewood to sell their products or host an event, like a wine networking event. It is definitely a great place to consider for another type of blogger event!

We had a fabulous brunch with fresh greens, quiche (always a favorite of mine), and super tasty scones from another small business, Annie's Signature Sweets.

Awesome Clothing Collection at Fetch & Co

After brunching, I was able to browse their awesome selection of clothes and ended up getting THREE awesome items! I have been on the lookout for some great fitting, trendy shorts. I always struggle with shorts. Although they may "fit," they don't always look right. They will often pull in the inseam or in the seat for me, and I hate if the side pockets end up looking baggy or sticking out. I also do not like too long of shorts, but I also hate super short shorts too (sorry girls--they don't look great most times). I picked up a denim pair and an olive green linen pair. I have worn the linen pair (see the photo below) but have not had a chance to try out the denim pair! I have worn the same denim jacket for YEARS (I keep stuff way too long) and loved how the denim jacket below looks on a dress.

How cute are these shorts?!  They fit perfectly. — How cute are these shorts?! They fit perfectly.

Super cute cropped, distressed denim jacket

Fetch & Co is definitely a local boutique that you need to check out. Even if you are not local, search for ShopFetch&Co on Instagram and Facebook to shop online. To see how you can save on your purchase, check out my early June blog post here.

THE MACARON TEA ROOM

High Tea--Everything was delicious.  I loved the cucumber sandwich, the scone with jam, and the amazing desserts. — High Tea--Everything was delicious. I loved the cucumber sandwich, the scone with jam, and the amazing desserts.

On a recent day off of work in June, my mom suggested that we go to lunch and that we try The Macaron Tea Room which recently opened this spring in Broadview Heights, Ohio, which is super close to my home! I saw their Instagram page and knew I wanted to go soon. So I was so excited when my mom suggested it!

I was not sure what to expect, as I have been to only one other tea room in our area before. It was super cute yet not super frilly. Although this was definitely feminine, it was ultra modern with finishes, furniture, and decor I think we would all love in our own home. The ambience was absolutely beautiful.

Everything was served with beautiful chintz china--which my mom and I love, since my mom collects chintz. We both ended up doing the "high tea," which is the ultimate sampling of the best The Macaron Tea Room has to offer. We got the tri-stand full of food (above) with a pot of tea each. There are many other options, including the Afternoon Tea, which is a slightly smaller version of the High Tea, as well as single order options, if you especially like a sandwich or other delicacy.

I'm so glad we ended up getting the high tea. It was great to sample everything, but it was so hard trying to eat it all! We had a variety of tea sandwiches, including a cucumber sandwich, chicken salad, salmon mousse, and egg salad. The chicken salad was so good, the salmon mousse was definitely a delicacy, but I absolutely loved the cucumber sandwich. The scone which was served with clotted cream and jam was absolutely wonderful. Everything was baked perfectly. I also loved the raspberry meringue spongecake along with the petit four. And of course, the macarons were baked perfectly.

After we were done, we picked up some macarons to go. They were awesome. Everything at The Macaron Tea Room was done with such attention to detail. Everything was served beautifully yet nothing was too stuffy. I would highly recommend for any lunch date or mom-daughter time. They are planning to open a party room, and I would definitely pick this place for a wedding or baby shower.

They have been gaining quick popularity in the local area, as they have been featured in local publications and on local news channels--and they definitely live up to the hype. Please check out this fabulous local place--you won't regret it! Checkout their website here.

MY MOM'S BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION: WASABI AND MITCHELL'S ICE CREAM

It was my mom's birthday on Friday, June 15th, and we celebrated with my entire family. My mom wanted to go to Wasabi, which is a Northeast Ohio restaurant with four locations in Independence (where we went), Beachwood, Akron, and Canton. After dinner, we went back to my house for cake and ice cream.

My Normal Order at Wasabi--Filet Mignon Hibachi with Fried Rice

Wasabi is like a traditional Japanese Steakhouse where you can sit at a normal hibachi or you can sit in traditional dining if you would like. Although my family likes hibachi, we decided to do the traditional restaurant seating. You can order off the hibachi menu, order other entrees, or just do sushi. In addition to the hibachi and traditional seating, there is also a sushi bar. I wish I would have taken a few more photos, as I really like the interior of Wasabi--it is very modern! I'm not always good at photos when I am with family or friends.

My go-to is the hibachi filet mignon dinner. It is soooo good. They cook the filet mignon to perfection, and the fried rice you just want to keep on eating. If you want to book Wasabi or look at their menu, here is the link to their website: Wasabi.

As I mentioned, we went to my house after for cake and ice cream. We ordered our cake from Michael Angelo's bakery, one of my favorite bakeries, which I featured in my May Cleveland recap. My dad suggested that we pick up Mitchell's Ice Cream to go along with the cake. Mitchell's is a local ice cream company that serves some of the best ice cream that I have ever had. They own several shops around the Greater Cleveland area where you can order your ice cream on the spot. They also package it for taking home, and it is just as tasty as what you get in store.

Mitchell's uses a variety of local growers and farmers and do import some of their other high-quality ingredients. They are focused on being sustainable and ensuring what goes in their ice cream is good for their consumers.

When we bought the ice cream, you had the option to purchase one of these super cute cooler bags to carry the ice cream in, so of course we did that! All flavors were delicious, but I'll admit my favorites this time were the Toasted Pistachio and Bing Chocolate Cherry Chunk. Pistachio is topping my list of favorites lately.

If you are a local Clevelander or are ever visiting, be sure to check out Mitchell's and visit their webpage here.

FATHER'S DAY DELICIOUSNESS

For Father's Day, we did not go anywhere special, but my mom put together an awesome spread for my dad, per his request. I loved my mom's super easy cheese dips appetizer (pictured above) so much, we collaborated on a separate blog post featuring these tasty treats. Check it out!

My mom put together a delicious steak dinner (red meat is my favorite, if you can't tell) with baked potatoes and green beans. Secret--These green beans are the frozen green beans from Trader Joe's! Although I'm eating my green beans from my garden right now, I will definitely be purchasing some of these when I want green beans when they are no longer ready to be picked directly from my garden!. They taste fresh and were sooooo good.

COLLABORATIONS

I've continued to be blessed with having a consistent flow of collaborations, which I'm always excited about, considering I'm a smaller (yet growing!) blogger. In addition to the fabulous blogger brunch with Fetch & Co, I was able to work with Julia Gasser on trying out and reviewing Young Living's fabulous lipstick. Check it all out here.

PERSONAL UPDATE

So, this may not be super exciting, but it was definitely super exciting to me--I got new central air conditioning! My house had A/C, but it came with a super old unit. I swear, it had to be older than me (and I'm 33)! It lasted for nearly three years. It had some issues early on in the season last summer but hung on until late May when we had a 90+ degree heat wave during Memorial Day weekend. The unit just went kaput. We were able to boost it, but that lasted only about two days. So it was time for a new unit. I had to live without A/C for a couple weeks, which I am not used to. Thankfully, the heat wave passed, and we had some much cooler June weather after that where it was in the 50s at night with 70s during the day. Perfect temps where I would not even have to run the air.

I have to give all the thanks to my dad, who definitely took care of me during all of this. Although my dad is a contractor for construction in greater Cleveland, he is able to do HVAC but got out of that long ago. But he got into it again, just for me! Without his assistance, I would have to had to pay for installation! I also got a great deal on a unit. In the meantime, my dad also put a window air in my bedroom so I could sleep well if it got super hot. Although it was an unexpected expense, it was an investment in my home and also more efficient than what I had! So thanks dad!

If you watch my Instastories or follow me on Instagram, you know I'm totally into my yard and garden right now! Things are growing well and are beginning to take over! I look forward to more future posts about my garden adventures and plan to write more posts about them too! In addition to gardening posts, I have some posts planned outlining my favorite garden recipes, as well as some of my favorite current recipes I have tried.

Stay tuned! They are coming! How was your June?! I'd love to hear more in the comments below!