Taylor Swift by Candlelight & Other Adventures (CLE Weekends, Pt. 4)

  
We'd been so busy moving into our own house that I hadn't been to my mom's for a few months! On Thursday, I headed to Cuyahoga Falls to hang out with Joyce for a bit so we could watch Station 19 & Grey's Anatomy together, & I stayed through Saturday morning, working from her place. 

We were also blessed, finally, with some warm weather. It was over 70 degrees on Saturday, which felt downright tropical after all the snow we've had this year. I never think I suffer from seasonal affective disorder until the sun finally comes out & it feels like a mental fog has been lifted. 

Here's what the weekend held, aside from bad TV & a break from winter weather.

Dinner & dessert in Little Italy

Before a show in University Circle, we wanted to get dinner someplace fun. OpenTable led me to La Dolce Vita, a cozy Italian restaurant with eclectic vintage vibes & great food. I had wedding soup & to-die-for cacio e pepe; my mom got scallops with butternut squash risotto, & we both had an Aperol spritz & a mini cannoli. 

Afterward, we grabbed to-go desserts from Presti's — Italian cheesecake for her & a Chinese almond cookie for me. We ate them the next morning for breakfast! 

A string quartet playing Taylor Swift 

On a whim, I recently bought tickets to "Candlelight: A Tribute to Taylor Swift," featuring a string quartet playing some of the pop star's most popular songs by (faux) candlelight. It was my first time at the Maltz Performing Arts Center, a gorgeous synagogue turned intimate show venue.

It was the perfect spot for this strange, joyful, singalong show in the dark. To be honest, I could've done without the singing from other attendees, but overall, it was a very cool event. I'd love to attend some of the other candlelight concerts in the series, like Queen & Abba.

Checking out my local library

No pun intended, but I'll leave that there. After I got back to Cleveland on Saturday, I headed over to the Lakewood Public Library to renew my long-expired library card & check out a few books. This library isn't park of the Cleveland Public Library system, & I want to maintain cards at both.

My mom used to be a librarian, & I grew up in libraries with her, so being in a library again felt like coming home. I hadn't been since before the pandemic, & it was really a joy. I picked up & am currently reading Megan Rapinoe's memoir.

Kibbitizing with Cleveland's newest Jews

If there are two things I love, they're Cleveland & Judaism. So I was thrilled when my friend, Rabbi Chase Foster of jHub, asked me to speak briefly at an event called "Newish & Jewish" for Jewish young adults ages 21 to 45 who are new(ish) to the Cleveland area. It was a nice, sunny day, & I loved getting to meet some members of the Tribe & talk up my favorite city. I hadn't realized how much I'd missed stuff like this!

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How was your weekend? I'm writing this from Louisville, KY, where I'm meeting up with a friend & seeing a very special concert. Can't wait to tell you more in an upcoming post!