Going Local
With our 1 year anniversary of our return to Northeast Ohio looming on the horizon, I realize that me and Andrew haven’t really explored much. What with the farmhouse, work, the wedding, and traveling it seems that time just slipped away and now a year into this venture we are still as new to this place as we were the day we arrived in the U-Haul. On one hand it’s nice to feel like there are so many things yet to discover, but on the other hand it makes me feel like I really need to get out more.
The last time I lived in Ohio was the spring of ’99 and I wasn’t even 19 years old. I didn’t get out much then either. Or I did, but was too wrapped up in high school drama to realize that there is some really cool shit happening here. So what’s an Ohioan transplanted to New York transplanted back to Ohio to do? Google it, of course!
I’ve found some really interesting sites that have piqued my curiosity (even more) about my immediate surroundings. The first place to tackle, Cleveland. Being from Northeast Ohio you would think that I would have explored more of Cleveland, but to be honest, I know nothing about Cleveland. Luckily, Clevelanders are a very proud-to-be-from-here sort (as most Ohioans are) and there are a lot of great resources for finding out what’s going on around town.
1. Really Bad Cleveland Accent – I found this blog before we even moved and what drew me to the site was that I was going through what the author, Christine Borne, had relatively recently gone through: The big move from New York back to Ohio. Her writing made me excited to start discovering all that NE Ohio had to offer.
2. i heart {♥} Cleveland – This was one of the first blogs that I found after we had already moved. I was drawn to the simple and clean look of the site. Also the events that the author was posting about were things that I actually wanted to do, mainly arts/culture/design based. (In the back of my mind I though “this person must be a designer” haha) AND I recently discovered that the writer is a local Cleveland graphic designer whose work I really admire! Bonus points.
3. design*sponge: Cleveland Design Guide – This was the real clincher for me because I love design*sponge and have been following it for years now. I really admire Grace Bonney, the creator of design*sponge, and was esctatic when I found out she was doing a design guide for Cleveland. The guide is broken down into sections with shopping and restaurants.
4. Cleveland Foodie – I would never consider myself a foodie, but I do love food and I do love a good restaurant which isn’t hard to come by in NYC. Living in Carroll Gardens, there were at least 5 great restaurants within a 10 min. walk from our front stoop. Here in Medina, not so much. But I hear Cleveland is kicking ass in the food department.
5. Slow Food Northern Ohio – Another great thing about moving to Ohio is there is a lot of green grass. We actually have a yard. A substantial yard. And one of mine and Andrew’s dreams is to have a garden and live/eat closer to home. We have shared a quarter cow and half a pig with my parents from a local farmer and it’s more than enough to last us for awhile. Andrew swears that the ground beef is the best he’s ever tasted. My recent completion of The Omnivore’s Dilemma has really fanned the fire and this site has opened up even more resources.
I can’t wait to get started!
–c.
Tags: Country Living
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