Oh Hi!

Hi all- first I just want to say thank you for such kind and loving words regarding my last post ❤️.

I hope everyone is doing well. I have been so eager to write this post. Our to-do list is dwindling, nursery is ready, air ducts have been cleaned, the house is deep cleaned and carpet cleaning is done. I had my last shift at work which was very bittersweet. We’re ready and eager to meet this little guy!! Ok let’s jump in!

January 12th DJ and I went to L’Albatros in Cleveland for my birthday while Quinn spent the evening with Gigi and Grandpa. This restaurant was DJ’s suggestion! He has been on a streak of finding the best gems lately.

This elegant and quaint French restaurant is tucked away in a corner of Case Western University’s campus. The building itself is actually an old carriage house.

One unique offering they have is the “assiette de fromages”, an assortment of cheeses. I stayed away because I wanted to be safe while pregnant, but we will be back to try as many as possible! DJ tried three different kinds and finally admitted how good they were when I pried it out of him (he didn’t want to brag since I was abstaining hah!). Also the fig jam and other accompaniments they serve it with were excellent. It transported me back to our cheese tasting in Austin at Antonelli’s!

Another appetizer we tried was the French toast. I expected it to be more like a crisp toasted bread, but it was actually French toast! It was savory with ragout of wild mushrooms and a balsamic glaze. The flavors went together beautifully!

Now, the main meal I ordered was one of my favorite meals of late. When they set it in front of me I figured I’d barely make a dent seeing the size. But I just about polished it off. So what was this dish?! Let me present you the duck confit with crispy duck leg, sweet potato puree and braised cabbage. This is a dish I will not forget!

DJ ordered the hanger steak and fries with bearnaise sauce.

While waiting for our food and enjoying the romantic moodiness of the restaurant, DJ asked if we had ever been to a French restaurant before. I remembered we had been to one in San Francisco. I couldn’t remember the name, so to the blog I went! I found the post where we visited Cafe Claude. It made us laugh that DJ ordered the same thing at L’Albatros he had ordered there!

After our fantastic meal we were so full but still had room in our dessert stomach. We stopped by the Handel’s near our house for some ice cream.

It was such a wonderful evening!

January 13th was my official birthday. 31 years! I am no longer 30, I am in my 30s. It was a really great, low key day. I soaked up a day with Quinnie, and everyone made me feel so loved 🥹. We ordered pizza from Decheco’s Pizzeria & it was fantastic! Maybe our new favorite pizza spot! The charred hot honey pizza and pineapple were where it’s at. And I was absolutely spoiled with the best birthday treats from friends and family!

Random- I have been craving carbonation a lot lately- but don’t really want to drink soda. I found this Sparkling Rainwater (yes actual Rainwater), and it gave me my fix!

Oh and I have got to RAVE about this birthday gift of Caraway food storage containers!!! I am OBSESSED!

January 15th we had a quick errand to run at the mall and naturally we stopped by the play place for a bit. I was hungry before we left around three and knew Quinn could use a snack too.

We stopped at a sushi place and ordered veggie rolls. They were delicious, but don’t let this picture fool you- this girlie spit her first bite all over the table.

We had to stop in the photo booth, as we do. I’m not sure if it’s sophomoric of me to love these things, but I treasure my little collection of photo strips with my Quinnie girl. I let Quinn choose the themes and this is what we landed on 😄.

A bump pic! I don’t remember exactly how far along I was. 32 weeks if my math is right?

That evening I started my postpartum meal prep! Coming up in the following posts will be a lot of large, nutrient packed meals made in the crockpot. First, I made a beef enchilada casserole. So good!

Moose being able to play at Marie and Jorge’s this winter has been such a great thing. It still gets him some exercise when we can’t walk him and he loves the socialization with other dogs. Don’t know what we would do without them!!

January 17th I made Quinn one of her favorite breakfast options- banana spinach pancake “pizza” .

We actually did a breakfast for dinner situation!

Had to share this adorable picture of Moose snuggling with one of Quinn’s stuffed animals 🥹.

January 18th I started the day with a Nervous Dog au lait with oatmeal, yogurt and peanut butter, my go to lately.

That afternoon I packed up for our baby moon and Clair, Lainey (Clair’s sister) and Layla (Clair’s daughter) arrived that afternoon to have a girls’ weekend with Quinnie!

Quinn had zero issue saying goodbye to us and was so happy to be with them.

DJ and I headed to Cleveland, where we did a little babymoon staycation. First up- Cordelia! Halston and Kevin got us a giftcard here for Christmas and we were so eager to use it. We have heard nothing but rave reviews about this place.

It’s located on the classic East 4th street in downtown. This street is happening!! It’s been a while since I’ve been here, and it was fun to see the new stores and restaurants illuminating the alleyway.

Decisions decisions!!! It was so hard for me to decide. The pregnancy restrictions actually helped a lot in the case , otherwise I really wouldn’t have been able to make up my mind!

We started with a trio of party snacks. We opted for carrot muhamarra with hazelnut dukkah, thaxton’s garlic with honey and sumac, and pimento cheese with smoked chili. Goodness it was all fantastic. I think DJ’s favorite of the three was the pimiento cheese and mine was the carrot muhamarra. I have no idea what half these words mean but I know they translate into insane deliciousness.

We enjoyed our appetizer while taking in the cozy, bustling establishment. It has a great vibe. It’s refined, yet inviting. Warm and cozy, while casually elegant. We loved it!

Next up, we tried the “bone in Brussels” with Harissa, salted almond charoset, genmai and mint. The “bone” is the stalk of the Brussels. This was very yummy!

Now the star of the show- the “burger box” with smoked cheddar, pickle, onion and Cordelia’s sauce. This was tremendous. One of my favorite burgers ever! (Although I still think often about the one from Heck’s!).

First baby moon meal was a major success! Thank you, Hal and Kevin!

Quinn was busy making pizzas and we were so far out of her mind haha.

We went back to the hotel after- we stayed at the Hilton Cleveland Downtown, which has become our go-to place when needing or recommending a hotel in Cleveland. Last time I was here was for my 30th birthday!

We had a great view of the Browns stadium!

Given how cold it was, all that sounded good to us was Door dashing dessert and watching a movie. DJ humored me with watching Wicked, which I’d been dying to see.

We had seen it on Broadway together, so it was fun to watch the movie together too. We loaded up on some serious desserts- an outrageously good cookie and Afters ice cream. We were in dessert heaven!!!

Yes, we are watching on Quinn’s iPad 🤣.

Unfortunately I realized I had forgotten my thyroid meds again. I figured one missed dose would probably be ok, but DJ insisted on going back to get them for me. He knew I would be likely secretly spiraling over it. So he drove about 40 mins back home, got the meds and returned, acting like it was no big deal. He is just the best. I did feel bad it cut into our time together, but we were able to finish the movie the next evening when Quinn fell asleep.

The next morning I snuck in an early morning workout. I always have the best workouts when traveling, I’m not sure why! Throughout my pregnancy, I have tried to get in about 3-4 miles a day in some type of walk/run combo. The walking has mostly taken over at this point, but just feels good to move!

I received an adorable pic of these two cuties first thing in the morning!

And Mr. Moose had a play date at Marie and Jorge’s that day. They sent this picture of a spiffy Mr. Moose!

I had a hankerin’ for coffee shop coffee, so we stopped by Rising Star Coffee Roasters on our way to brunch (we knew there’d be a wait, so this would help tide us over!).

This coffee was SO good!

Brunch time! We went to Juneberry Table, one of the most highly rated brunch spots in Cleveland.

I was absolutely famished by the time we got seated (I think we had a 40 min wait), and I was ready to chow down. We hung out in the car and chatted during the wait which was still so enjoyable.

We started with the Cheddar and Chive biscuit with sorghum butter and jam. This may have been my favorite thing here!!!

Then I also tried their parfait because it sounded refreshing, and it was!

I also got the Ohio Spelt Pancakes with sorghum butter, Ohio apples and cinnamon and syrup. There are not words!!!!

DJ ordered the Gravy and biscuit with local mushroom gravy, spinach, soft scrambled eggs and sausage crumbles. This was super delicious too.

It was definitely worth the wait and the hype!

We had considered going to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame before heading home, but the roads were starting to get hairy. We headed home instead eager to see our girl.

She was not ready to be done playing with them when she saw us 😂. She clearly had an amazing time. They also made this sweet Valentine craft with her for us 🥹.

That was a very special weekend we will treasure!

Part 3 January coming atchya next, that is – unless it’s a birth announcement haha. I’m 37 weeks!

🩵,

Mackenzie

Hey hey! How is your week going?

I’m stoked to share about my 30th birthday girls’ weekend in Cleveland today! DJ soaked up some quality time with Quinnie while I met up with my some of my closest friends downtown. Before I left, DJ gifted me these super fun 90s games to take with me! Also, Quinn and I have been having fun with the Lisa Frank stickers…. and where did he find a Tamagotchi?! 🤩

We started the evening of January 13th by meeting at Heck’s in Ohio City. A couple reasons I chose this spot- first, I have been craving burgers like nobody’s business, and they are known to have good ones. Second, the Browns were playing, and they have TVs.

Excuse the cheese for a moment, but it was so special being surrounded by my friends that have been by my side for decades. Halston was even able to fly in for the weekend which meant the world!! Unfortunately, Clair was sick, but we planned a makeup party a couple weekends later since her birthday was late January 🥳.

Ok back to Heck’s! We started with the truffle pierogies, and they did not disappoint!

We also had rosemary-garlic fries with garlic aioli. Yum!

And heck, while we were at it- we tried lobster croquettes! So. Good.

I was Hungry, with a capital H, so I also ordered the orange and beet salad- wow, that citrusy combo with the goat cheese was *chef’s kiss*.

And the main event- I ordered their BrieBerry burger with Brie cheese, bacon and a blueberry-ancho sauce. It was easily one of the best burgers I’ve ever had and definitely satisfied my craving.

Here’s a peak at the inside of the restaurant. When we left it had totally filled up.

We stayed at the Hilton on Lakeside Avenue East. We knew this was a great spot to stay since Melissa had her wedding accommodations here!

They ribbed me a bit about the size of my luggage for one night. I always say you have to have ✨options✨.

After we got unloaded for the night, we headed up to the hotel’s rooftop bar, Bar 32, to sip drinks, chat and view the gorgeous skyline.

There was live music playing, and it was such a fun vibe.

After about an hour, we headed back to the room and got ready for the evening. Also this is another reason why I had so luggage- have to have snacks!!

We then hit the night life! First stop- Lost Social in Cleveland. Melissa had an in for us here, so we were able to get a table and bottle of champagne on the house. (Thank you, thank you again, Melissa!).

This place was incredible. We had so much fun. My biggest concern going out on the town was feeling, well… thirty, lol. But the crowd here felt our age and the music was geared toward us millennials.

We sipped, we danced, we laughed. It was a blast.

We then went upstairs to check out the Barley House. It was definitely a more casual feel but also soo much fun.

Lastly, we walked across town (in what felt like sub zero temps-brrrr) to Good Night John Boy– ok now that’s when I felt too old. It was definitely overflowing with young 20-somethings. We took that as our cue to go back to the hotel. We ordered some delicious pizza, dug into the snacks and played the 90s themed Cards Against Humanity DJ gifted me along with Telestrations After Dark. Not sure I’ve ever laughed so hard. I could barely breathe.

The next day (aka a few hours later), we took in the beautiful view from the hotel before heading to brunch.

We had brunch at Jaja on January 14th. No, actually… We did not just have brunch at Jaja- we relished, enjoyed and savored brunch at Jaja.

This place was spectacular. A MUST try. Cleveland has come such a long way in its food scene from when we lived here over a decade ago. I’ve been so impressed! When you arrive, you check in on the first floor and then hostess calls up to the second floor to alert the staff you’ve arrived. Then you take an elevator up- it all feels like you are getting into some secret club.

There was no detail unattended to. The velvet chair, the foliage and the extremely kind and attentive staff… it was a brunch I won’t forget!

Oh and I can’t forget to share how they serve the cappuccinos! How cute are the little sugar cubes.

The brunch a buffet style, but there are still a few items you can order from the menu too.

This brunch had pretty much everything you could want.

I mean where else have you seen a brunch buffet with chicken wings on a waffle?! There was even a meat carving station.

The pork belly Benedict may have been my favorite. Although the first time I was at the buffet the egg slipped off my plate into the large serving dish of cocktail sauce 🫠. I let the staff know right away and they were so sweet about it. Another year older but still clumsy as ever!

Here’s the fun bar area too. They serve dinner as well!

I am so so grateful for that weekend and my amazing friends!!! My heart was beyond full.

I couldn’t wait to get back to DJ, Quinn and Moose to finish celebrating my bday weekend with them. That was the longest I’d been away from Quinn, so I was dying to have her back in my arms 💕💕.

Thanks for reading!

<3,

Mackenzie