The first rule of blog club is…there is no blog club.
The second rule of blog club is...if another blogger invites you to a blogger shopping spree, you immediately say yes, change all your plans, get your hair did, and make sure your Chef is NOT going to be in the kitchen that night.
The third rule of blog club is…there is no blog club.
{sorry about the cheese, my brain is still in Key Largo}
NEXT in Beachwood mall
My girl, MV or Cleverland Foodie as most interweb peoples know here invited me to the afore mentioned shopping spree. It would take place at NEXT, a local clothing store with locations all over the CLE. In fact I had recently been in the NEXT store near my house over the holidays hoping to find my Chef a winter coat. I had no luck and the Chef has been freezing since November. 
Ok, back to me.
I arrived at the NEXT store in Beachwood and was immediately drawn to all the beautiful sneakers. I don’t wear sneakers however I do appreciate them. I dig the style that it takes to pull off a nice pair of kicks.
A rainbow of kicks
I was pleased when I arrived because I saw a bunch of familiar faces. The female blogging community in CLE is small but it sure rocks. These women whose lives I read about daily are even sweeter in person. And who doesn’t like to shop with a bunch of cool chica’s?
Baddest B*tches of Blogging
Cleveland’s A Plum, Classy Chaos, My Managed Chaos, I Heart Cleveland, Confessions of a Cohabitant, Cleveland Foodie, & Yours Truly
I was handed a glass of bubbly and a $200 gift card, it was time to get my shop on.
NEXT is a store that many have called urban, I myself saw it as more of a nightlife chic. The racks were filled with mini dresses, sparkles, sweaters, leather jackets, shiny accessories, and brightly colored watches. I dug. I perused. At first I was overwhelmed by the length and size (very short & very small) of most of the dresses, however once I got into the swing of the store I easily found my style.
Which one did I take home?
After trying on what felt like one hundred and one articles of clothing I finally found some greats:
I walked out NEXT with a bag full of affordable and stylin’ clothes including:
a pair of Premonition jeans (seen above)
a super cute Skull Tee (seen above)
a sparkly sleeveless (seen way above)
a crazy black sweater** that can be worn as a tunic, a halter sweater, and a a regular old cardigan
I had a fantastic time meeting everyone at NEXT as well as shopping at their fine establishment. And that’s not just because I got free threads. I dig the store. I happen to know that I will be going back very soon to buy a certain pair of Grecian cutout boots that I should have bought at the blogger shopping spree. Good thing the store is 5 minutes away from my casa. (smile)
If you are in the CLE and you are #happyinCLE then you should check out NEXT the next time your shoppity shopping. It’s cool, affordable, and is swimming in style.
**the black sweater mentioned above saved my life at The South Beach Food and Wine Festival. You see I wore it on the plane as a coat thinking that I wouldn’t need any tyoe of coat in the FLA. Apparently I missed the fact that this winter has been awful all over the country and not just here in Snowhio. So when the temps reached the 30’s at night in Miami, I was so happy that I had my interchangeable funky sweater. It was able to hid the fact that I generally wore the same outfit for 4 days straight! Go NEXT!
***I was given a $200 gift card from NEXT for this transparent and honest review, yo.
****If you are interested in knowing more about NEXT check them out on the Twit or their blog. xoxo bitches.
It’s no secret that I am not a fan of laundry. The Chef & I have battled out over laundry more times that I care to admit. We have different styles. He likes to do it all at once. Me…not so much. I like to take my time with it. Sort the colors, wash a couple loads, and eventually fold.
We differ an our laundry styles most all of the time. Except when we are sick. The month of January will forever go down in our history as the month our entire family was sick. First Biggie Smalls came down with a double ear infection. Then the Chef & I got matching sinus infection, and finally the poor boy came down with the sickness and a cough that could take over Manhattan. When the sickness took over we literally gave up on everything, including laundry. The mound of sickness covered clothing just kep growing and growing and growing…
1 week of window wash
When Heinen’s contacted me to review the new Method laundry detergent I couldn’t say no. It was a sign. A sign to get my sick ass in gear and attack what was taking over the deep dark dungeon I like to call our laundry den.
Look at me! I love laundry!
When the FedEx truck came to our house I was literally knee deep in puke covered duvet (see above). For serious. The boy’s cough was so bad that it was causing him to vomit. Ahhh the joys of motherhood. I cleaned up the poor boy and took my duvet and my Method down to the den. Time to take action.
Since then I have used the Method detergent everyday. It has been almost 3 weeks and I can honestly say I have become a huge fan. First things first, the size of the bottle. Fifty loads in this tiny bottle works for me. I love compact and I love high efficient. This is the best of both. Second, the pump is silly easy. I have a standup washer so the drawer I have to fill with detergent is as tall as I am. Lugging a ginormous detergent bottle has always caused all sorts of spillage problems for me. The Method pump eliminates all spillage. 4 pumps in and I’m done(that’s what she said) . Last but certainly not least, the detergent smells good and continues to smell good after my clothes come out of the dryer. The majority of natural detergents I have used in the past do not keep my clothes smelling mmmm good. This is a big one for me. I like fresh smelling clothes. Method detergent gives me that.
In conclusion I am a fan. You should be too.
Now all I need is someone from Method to come to my house and fold all of this laundry I just did…
Feeling lucky? Enter to win an awesome Method gift basket filled with these goodies:
Just leave me a comment telling me what your absolute favorite cleaning product is. I will pick a winner using the randomizer (aka the boy) next Friday at noon. Happy weekend y’all.
Heinen’s supplied the product & giveaway basket for this honest review.
I have been sick for what seems like ONE HUNDRED years. It’s nothing crazy like that pig flu but it still sucks bad.
Basically I have a glorified head cold that never goes away. I think it does…then the sniffling and the watery eyes make their return. On top of that, I have developed this cough that only comes at night. It keeps me up. All night. Long.
The Chef left 3 days ago and I think I have slept for about 5 hours. Last night I lost my mind. The kids haven’t been sleeping well and I am, frankly, a hot hot mess. I just kept coughing and coughing and coughing. I had to do something so I went on my brand new computer (thanks chef!) and searched for tips on how to make a night cough disappear. As I googled my brains out I kept coming up on this site that swore putting Vick’s VapoRub on your feet would make the cough disappear therefore allowing sleep. Having tried everything (besides going to the doctor) I gave it a chance. I slathered Vick’s all over my feet (tweeting while doing so), put socks on, and closed my eyes.
I woke up 8 hours later to a grumpy 4 year old and a naked singing toddler. Thank you Vicks VapoRub. Thank you.
I am in mad love with all of your comments. You really love coffee.
I had a fantastic time reading your words. Here are my five fave’s:
- Angie said: CW, you totally have to keep me in condsideration for this. I am a Starbucks junkie. If I win, I will call her Coffee chickie. We will bond and I will become legendary for my coffee chickie at the family functions ( YES I WILL TAKE HER TO THE FAMILY PARTIES!! ). I too have a Chef Hubby who will not let me play with kitchen gadgets. Coffee is a pickme up- it’s a universal bonding agent that helps reconnect me with my Chef on our worst days. It helps me find common ground with my friends after I have blown them off for the upteenth time. It’s a peace offering for my mother when she has watched my 3 very active children all day. It’s yet another thing that I have in common with you! And If I have to go any buy my own…. welll…
I guess.( PICK ME!!!!! )
- From Melinda: I started drinking coffee when I was 8. No kidding. My mother and grandmother told me it would stunt my growth. My grandfather encouraged me to put in lots of cream – and sugar. Drinking coffee is about my memories of him: our visits to the coffee shop for a donut, eating my grandmother’s pie after dinner, warming-up on the fishing boat at 5am. It was our ‘treat’ together. I thought I was being subtle and covert about drinking it. But, no. Four years later, after he’d died, my grandmother gave me one of his coffee mugs, which my husband now uses. I love that. Sappy, yes – but drinking coffee connects people, even people who’ve never met. And it still makes me feel like a little girl in a grown-up world.
- YC feels strongly about the coffee: The Scenario: You’ve eaten a fine meal at a locally owned restaurant. You put your arms on the table, relax your posture a bit as you sink back into your chair. You sigh. The buzz of the restaurant is winding down…a low hum that signals the end of the service and as you look around, people are smiling and laughing and languidly swirling the last of their dinner wines, rapt in inebriated conversation. You spy a white porcelain cup on a petite saucer across the room. Of course. The perfect end to the meal! You look around for your server, eager to place an order for a steaming cup of shade grown satisfaction. Its intoxicating aroma pearls into your nose like gossamer ribbons. That first sip that is like inhaling a tempered bonfire…the flavors that sweetly spread across your tongue and mingle with your dulled senses. You breathe in. You exhale through your nose and you smell it.
Coffee.
The PC after dinner Marlboro.
- Crystal says: What is not to love about coffee!
The smell of a fresh pot bring people from miles around.
When it’s hot, it’s warm and cozy. Great for conversations with friends.
When it’s cold it’s refreshing and fun – summer in a glass!
Short and dark espresso takes me back to Italy every time.
Cappuccino with its frothy top tickling your nose.
Latte – with lots of hot milk is a meal replacement in a pinch.
I think I’m going to go get a cup now…
- Scott Martin loves the togetherness of the bean: my favorite thing about coffee is.. being a cook i dont get to see my wife as much as i would like so every saturday morning we walk our dog to the farmers market to pick up somethign for breakfast, then sit on the back porch and drink our coffee and actually get to talk about how our week was!, alittle bit of calm in my crazy day! so my favorite thing about coffee is it gives me time to enjoy the company of my wife on a busy day!
It was very very difficult to pick a winner. So I didn’t. I made the Chef chose from my top 5 and he picked YC! Congrats darling. Email me your address and color choice (not sure this will happen but just in case) and I will have Nescafe send you a machine asap.
Thank you to Nescafe and DolceGusto US for giving me the oppurtunity to review such a kewl machine. xoxo
