#21.3 bueller..bueller

I couldn't help but think of my adventure to the art museum was a bit like Ferris Bueller's day off. There was playing hooky from studying and delicious local ethnic food. Sadly there wasn't a parade with awesome 80's dancing or skinny dipping in a neighbors pool. But I did look at priceless works of art and the new architecture of the museum is pretty similar to Cameron's' garage.

hmm both exquisite examples of artwork, but I'd take the Ferrari

Cleveland is well known for it's art museum and for the past 12 years has totally renovated the building. Well January 2014 it is officially completed and I will say it is as beautiful as the precious works of art it holds.

New atrium area

As you walk in the front doors it's the same dark and heavy stone entrance but keep going about 500 ft and the main atrium is the complete opposite. It's so bright and airy it took my breath away for a moment from the shear size and design.

mixing of the old and new

My favorite parts are the glass wings on either side of the building. I feel like I'm floating and I love seeing the statues blend in so well with the city in the background.There are a lot of the same favorite areas, but added some great elements for kids, interactive and technological enhancements and new organization of collections.

Asian wing

the kids area....reading & exploration 

armor court

interactive exhibit wall...you can create a tour and load on to your ipad

Walking through the medieval and ancient rooms I was thrilled to find that the cases are so well done they almost look like there is no glass in them.

I love a good art museum and can spend hours getting lost in works or ancient civilizations past. I like to use the artwork as a mini snapshot into past lives. As is Ferris' famous words: Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in while, you could miss it. I enjoy taking a break from the real world and reflecting on the beauty.

 Cleveland has a wonderful collection and along with the Met and Minneapolis' is one of my all time favorite art museums to come back to over and over! It is always free and has ample parking both on the street and garage. Wednesdays and Fridays it's open till 9 and the first Friday of the month there are MIX events. Usually DJ and other fun events in the atrium. Check out the homepage here.

#14 Opera glasses not necessary

Opera gets a bad wrap. The super soprano parts can be rough, but it really has a lot going for it. The costumes are amazing, it's filled with witty wording(yes some loses its eloquence in translation) and classic songs and story lines. You can't deny the talent a singer must possess to project and hold any of those notes. I've only seen one opera in my life in Louisville and it was final dress rehearsal and an English piece so not really the whole "opera" experience. I was curious to see if I really would like this art form and thought it'd be a great experience this year. I was not disappointed!

Bohemian National Hall Stage

I didn't want to go to a light opera (which seems to be popular) I wanted the whole shebang but to my dismay Cleveland does not have a regular opera company. I figured with the 2nd largest theater district, world class orchestra an opera company would be a no brainer. Guess not.

Off to find alternative methods to complete this task...

I rarely go to the movies and I do remember somewhere in the foggy depths of my brain an add during the previews to watch opera met at theater. I gathered my trusty Google search and found fathom events You can watch different operas through out the season from the Met. There are trailers, guides and previews for each show. They show in theaters all over the nation and you get nice comfy seat and no need to be so far away that the singers look like ants!

if you are going to the opera you better look the part!
Score got to re wear a bridesmaids dress

The shows are always on Wednesday nights with Saturday encore performances and each month there is a different showing. There are subtitles and you can get synopsis of opera on line. Tickets are just as much as a movie ticket. I know it's not the same as seeing it live but what a bargain. April 5th & 9th Pucinni La Boheme is playing! Check out more info at the Met's Live in HD homepage

I was just about to go to one of the fathom shows when I found randomly a group called Opera Circle. They perform a few times a year and lucky enough they were performing: La Traviata great Italian classic. (Moulin Rouge is pretty much based off of it)  Brindisi "the drinking song" is one of more well known songs from this opera..I've been humming it non stop since going. 

It was held at the Bohemian National Hall off East 55th and this is one of those old gorgeous buildings from the 1800's. It was a treat to explore during intermission and look at all the photos and native Czech outfits. The Cleveland Women's Orchestra accompanied the performers and they were just as amazing artists as the singers. The opera was a blast and I can't wait to go again! 

view from the balcony

#3.15 Springtime Vegetable Soup with Pesto

This is one of my favorite anytime soups. It has amazing flavor, filled with lots of yummy fresh veggies, and the leftovers (if ever any) hold up well. After a winter of heavy soups I like to add this lighter one to the rotation this time of year. Added bonus it's weight watcher friendly (5 pp) and very filling! 

Springtime Vegetable Soup with Pesto

prep time: 15 min           Cook time: 25 min         severing size: 8

Ingredients

1 tsp extra virgin oil oil

4 med leeks ( or green onions) diced white and light green parts

1 cup celery diced

1 cup carrots diced

1 cup zucchini diced

1 cup green peas (frozen or fresh)

1 tsp salt 

1 tsp garlic minced

64  oz canned chicken broth

19 oz canned cannelini beans drained and rinsed 

14 1/2 oz canned diced tomatoes drained (I like the basil & herbs but totally up to you)

4 tsp pesto sauce (you can add more to taste)

Instructions:

1) Dice all your vegetables then heat oil in large soup pot over medium heat. Add leeks, celery, carrots and salt. Cook for about 10 minutes stirring frequently until vegetables begin to soften

be sure to drain & rinse beans

2) stir minced garlic into pot and cook for 1 minute

3) add broth and increase heat to high to bring to a boil. 

4) After boiling is reached stir in diced zucchini, peas, beans and tomatoes. Cook for about 10 minutes allowing flavors to blend.

5) Serve soup by swirling 1/2 tsp pesto into top of each serving.  If you are serving this at a later time add pesto prior to eating rather than before storing it. Believe it or not adding the pesto at the end makes a huge difference in taste!

Yields 1 1/4 cups of soup per serving

adapted from weightwatchers recipe meeting guide spring 2012

You can make your own pesto recipe with fresh basil and freeze it in an ice cube tray for use later up to 3 months. A good simple recipe I like is from Food Network. 

Word of warning watch where you are getting your pine nuts. Stay away from any Chinese products as there have been instances of reactions to a different species of pine nuts that can give you "pine mouth" a horrible bitter metallic taste with no matter what you eat/drink that can last for days to weeks. This happened to me a couple summers ago it was terrible. Expired nuts can also cause this reaction so check those dates! 

#13 camp out...er in?

Let me attempt to justify this bit of craziness with it could have been the combination of being alone house sitting for a week, every friend unavailable to go out when I actually had a weekend night free, or being stuck inside from yet another snowstorm that this list item took the shape it did.

 I have been reviewing my list and saw there is quite a bit left to do including: #13 sleep under the stars.  My original intention was to go camping and well with only 3 months to finish and the never ending winter I wasn't going to take any chances and took some liberty to creatively fulfill this item.

a skylight with a open view to the sky

There was a perfectly good skylight, stars above + me sleeping below=close enough. Plopping down a sleeping bag in the middle of the living room would be too boring so I decided to go all out and have a indoor camp out. I put up a tent, made a fire, unplugged the electronics, and made some yummy snacks.

I love how tents go from this:                             to this:

in just a short amount of time.  I'm usually really good at putting up a tent by myself but I must have been rusty because this one took a few tries to get it right. There is always an extra pole or two in case you loose one right?

Now no camping trip is complete without a campfire. But I probably wouldn't win the best house sitter title if there was a fire pit ring burnt into the carpet. Instead I used a flameless candle and rolled up bits of paper bag to simulate my fire...volia and with half the mess to clean up in the morning!

fire pit...worked pretty well too

Dinner was grilled hot dogs and I made s'mores for a dessert treat. While I could have easily made them in the oven, I was missing that hint of burnt carbon so opted for the candle approach. It worked a lot better than I thought. Just be sure to skip the scented candle s'more a-la tropical paradise smell isn't all that appealing to the tastebuds.

sir can I have s'more please?

It was nice to unplugged from all electronics for the evening and I was able to look up through tent and see a couple stars before the next winter storm rolled in.

good morning...ugh more snow! 

Best sleep ever in a tent I will say...if only every camp site could be free of rocks and roots, but I guess that would be taking away a key part of camping.

This idea could be easily adapted for a really cute date night or even kids slumber party or like me when you've just had enough of the cold weather. If you don't have a sky light just improvise and hang up some twinkle lights you'll get the same effect

yep pretty much had to "rough it"

Other great camping things to not forget: flash lights and scary stories to share

You know come to think of it it's not the first time I've camped in the living room...east 18th ladies I believe we had one up for a while there around my 21st birthday. haha

On to more adventures.....

Science behind...snowflakes

As I was driving in to school the snowflakes were perfectly landing on the window so I could see each one's unique shape. It was so cool to see all the different designs. It got me thinking that maybe it's time for a little science behind how snowflakes get their shape. It's a lot more complicated than you think! Actually it's pretty amazing that all these variables came together to form all that white stuff we've had this season.

How do snowflakes form? 

Snowflakes start out simply enough, they are just bits of water vapor in the air. High up in the atmosphere where is very cold that water vapor condenses into liquid and you'll get clouds. In snow forming clouds they are cooled below freezing point (about 14 F) and those liquid drops freeze. As time goes by more water vapor condenses on it's surface the snow flake grows. When it reaches a point that it's too heavy it will fall as precipitation. So that's the easy part..now depending on things like temperature, humidity, and atmospheric pressure will determine the shape and complexity.

 I could totally nerd out on you because there is a lot of math and molecular/structural engineering if you want to get down to the nitty-gritty of it but I won't and try to keep it simple. If you do want more of that kind information there is a ton of resources out there and  people are even obsessed with researching it so! Let me know and I'll point you in the direction. 

 When water turns to ice those molecules stack to create crystalline lattice (see previous post about ice). Ice has a hexagonal symmetry and this basic shape will determine the overall symmetry of the snowflake and why there is usually 6 arms to a snowflake. The growth of crystals is split between balance of facets and branches. Check out this 2 minute video to watch the stunning growth of snow crystals.

Facets are simple flat surfaces with sharp edges. This is from very slow growth of the crystal and gives you the prisms and plates. Branching makes the more complex structures we tend to think of as a snow flake.  Branches start as a small bump of growth that sticks out further on the crystal. Since that is what the vapor will come in contact with first more will grow off of that area quickly. As more grows the flake becomes more complex.  If snow crystals are formed below atmospheric pressure there will be less branches, higher pressure means more branches. As snowflake moves it is in differing temperatures and pressures so the growth of arms can be different that other flakes making it unique.

Temperature and humidity will also strongly influence the growth of snowflake between faceting and branching. This means that snow crystals can be very diverse. Have you ever heard that it's too cold to snow? Well really it's about the humidity usually when it is very cold it has already snowed and air is dry. There isn't more water vapor  to make new snow. So far this season I've seen the big fluffy flakes, the tiny diamond like grainy ones, wet sloppy, needles, unique branching, and and a white out all these are due to the climate.  

Are two snow flakes really alike? 

Since there are so many variables that go into play in creating a snowflake statistically it is highly unlikely that two complex snowflake structures are exactly alike... but really who is going to collect and check every snow flake that is ever fallen? Not it! To get a more in depth answer check out this page  There also is a wealth of more than you ever wanted to know about snowflakes at that site. 

What are some fun activities I can do about snow?

There are lots of cute activities that range from craft to science experiments on the internet. Here are just a few I like that can be adapted to any situation

1) snowflake scavenger hunt Printable PDF of the different shapes. Take it outside and see what you can find!

2) 15 great activities that are snow and ice related you can do at home or at school with kids from inspiration laboratories

3) This is one of the those cool kitchen chemistry "magic trick" experiments you can wow kids or adults called hot ice. 


4) Go back to basics and enjoy sledding or snowman building


With storm system after storm system I feel like I'm living out part of the Seven Brides for Seven Brothers movie: the June Bride Song sequence...sigh such a great movie. 

Don't worry the first day of spring is around the corner....well at least that's what the calendar says!


Here is one more really neat video from BBC about snowflakes sorry I think this is just too cool!