The awesome Allison over at Confessions of a CLE Habitant g-chatted me late last week and informed me of some spectacular news... She had an extra ticket for Jump Back Ball! I had all intents to buy tickets and the day I tried to purchase my tickets, they SOLD OUT. I've never been to this party before. And I use the word party because from all accounts... IT. IS. A. PARTY.
So now I'm in insanity mode of pulling together a fun, flexible (uh, because I'm going to be dancing like J.Lo when she was a fly girl) and fabulous dress in T-MINUS 5 days.
Thank goodness for girlfriends! I've had a few open closet offers and will be power shopping tonight.
Here's what I've pulled together so far.
My goal is to find a fascinator to pull together an Alice in Wonderland character. JBB has a list of costume ideas and I am all-kinds-of about this!
Anywhere in the Midwest, once we’ve dug ourselves out from snow, ice and wind, we embrace summer with verve. The Summer Solstice Celebration at the Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) embodies the passion for warm months, celebrating - you guessed it, the summer solstice, otherwise known as the first day of summer - while beautifully intertwining the fine art and culture of Cleveland.
The Summer Solstice Party celebrates the longest day of the year (easy to remember for next year! Mark your calendar now, trust me.) Thousands of guests from across the world descend upon the CMA and kick off the summer season with a night-long affair of art, live music, food and cocktails. Party guests toast a welcome to summer as the clock ticks to midnight and continue merrymaking well into after-hours. The event literally takes over the entire Cleveland Museum of Art including galleries, the front lawn and everywhere in between. On June 26 this year, I attended my first Cleveland Museum of Art Summer Solstice Celebration. It surpassed my expectations, set high by the passionate stories spun by friends.
What To Expect?
Gate Times (or as I call it, Levels of Fun)
GATE TIME #1: Eventide 6pm to 2am General admission = $175 CMA members = $125 Includes Mediterranean style hors d'oeuvers and open bar. Audience: Refined, distinguished. Guests feel that they're truly part of a benefit for the Cleveland Museum.
GATE TIME #2:Twilight7:30 to 2am General admission = $60 per person CMA members = $40 Includes Latin American style hors d'oeuvers and cash bar. Audience: Younger guests mingle with earlier crowd.
GATE TIME #3Solstice, 10pm to 2am Advance = $15 per person Limited availability $20 tickets at the door (Never seen any available at the door. It sells out every year.)
Includes snacks and cash bar. Audience: Look - it starts at 10pm. You can do the math.
Music and Piazza Party
Photo courtesy of CMA website.
Some would consider the music and outdoor celebration the epicenter of Summer Solstice Celebration. Galleries are open but the "celebration" is arguably outside. A full-scale stage, complete with intricate concert style lighting and a top-notch sound-system, is constructed at the ceremonial entrance of the Museum.
Courtesy of CMA website.
There are marble stairs and veranda, providing a perch perfect for people watching. The enormous patio accommodates the crowd that gathers in front of the pop-up stage. The space is transformed into a pop-up concert venue and the musicians that perform embrace the nature of experience.
Music: The best performance was Mucca Puzza. An attempt to summarize their music (if the photos don't visualize it for you): A very cool, hipster circus marching band.
A full line-up of the world-class musicians is profiled over at my friend’s blog, Cleveland’s A Plum.
Performers took to lighted and raised platforms throughout the audience.
Here's a video of a performance of Mucca Pazza in NYC. Get a taste of their awesomeness.
Gallery Tours If you know me, you know I love to travel. I’m ashamed to say I’ve not yet gotten my passport. The Museum gives anyone the chance to travel the world through art. Cross the globe through the museum’s new galleries of Greek, Roman, Egyptian, Byzantine, medieval and African art.
There was even a movie called....wait for it... "The Bucket List" starring Jack-friggin-Nicholson and Morgan-friggin-Freeman!
In the movie, the two guys conquer all types of crazy adventures like drive a race car, skydive, and ride a motorcycle on the Great Wall of China.
It does make you consider your own mortality; I decided to write my own bucket list.
My list has 25 "to-dos".
Here are a few:
- Travel to Italy at least once
- Bungee-jump or sky-dive - Ride in a helicopter - See anNBA game at every NBA Arena in the US. - See at least 1/2 of the Seven Wonders of the World. (For the math majors, that means I'd somehow need to see a half on a wonder...get back to me if you figure that out, please?)
In April 2011, I had the privilege of checking off TWO bucket list items when I traveled to New York City with the Cleveland Cavaliers for a business trip.
Bucket List: See an NBA game at Madison Square Garden.
CHECK: April 3rd Cleveland Cavaliers vs. New York Knicks
Knicks beat the Cavs, Knicks clinch a playoff spot
MSG "Transformation Center".
The Garden is closing this summer to begin a $55M transformation.
Do this behind the scenes tour of the Transformation Center to get a sneak peek of the "After" vision for 2012!
Cavs and Knicks warm up.
Bucket List: Ride in a helicopter.
CHECK: Tour of Manhattan via Manhattan HeliNY, departing from Pier 6 on the southern tip of the island.
Our pilot flew a helicopter for the NYC Police on 9-11. He was a fantastic tour guide, dipping the helicopter on its side shortly after he requested everyone to yell "MAMA!" Appropriate. I'll always think of our pilot and his sharing of the 9-11 experience firsthand.
G-I-D-D-Y.
Priceless.
"Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!!"
Central Park (taken leaning over Joe, the guy on my right, allowing me to snap this photo. Thanks, Joe!)
Needless to say, the experiences were breathtaking.
I snapped photos as much as I could to share the experience. After about half-way through the helicopter tour, I put my camera down and just savored the moments.
When I picked my camera back up, it was just in time to learn that the Titanic (yes, THAT Titanic) was scheduled to dock in NYC. When it never arrived, the dock was left open in memoriam.
Sidebar: I avoided pics of my food this trip. Honestly, I love food more than I love taking photos. And by "taking photos", I mean snapping a few quick pics with my Droid. Check foodspotting! I hate those a*holes who whip out a Canon Powershot with a handheld stage light mid-meal. I try to be discreet and snap a pic only when I feel something's worth remembering and sharing. I won't ruin others meals. Oh, PS to those camera douches: just eat the food and enjoy it!
I'll post travel and food tips from this trip in a separate post.
Back to the moral of this post: What's on YOUR bucket list?
Have you checked off anything off your list?
If so, how did you feel when it was completed? If not, what's stopping you?
I've always said growing up in Cleveland makes you a bit more scrappy than the average American - resilient, if you will. Personally, I can attest 65% of my scrappiness stems directly from surviving a multitude of Cleveland winters. That alongside my Catholic school education.
Forbes Magazine ranked Cleveland as Worst Winter in America, amongst the other dubious "worst city" titles that 'rag has bestowed upon us in their "rankings." This worst winter title, however, is one I may agree with Forbes.
Yes, Cleveland winter is rough.
"Cleveland snow" by smalltower
Great stuff. Here's his Etsy shop.
Thermal-clothes piercing wind, lake effect snow and a general lack of sunshine forces us to seek refuge and comfort in the simple things in life. In the end, it makes us all a little tougher and wiser. Genuinely, who has cat litter, a shovel, emergency blankets and power bars in their trunk as a standard by age 24? Any Clevelander will have the aforementioned, plus new tunes to jam out during the 3-hour "I'm going to leave early to beat the traffic" pre-storm traffic jam. (Or those like me, who have all of the above in their vehicle and still scrape ice off the car in 6" stilettos.)
Even the grittiest Clevelander and Midwesterner gets to that point by late February...near-desperation with a pang of terror each time you hear a snow truck drop its plow. When the forecast mentions another snowstorm after three months of frigid fights with Mother Nature, you cling to sanity and briefly consider how quickly you could cash in your car / house / 401K / children for a one-way ticket to Turks and Caicos.
Yes, Jim, we all agree.
Thus, I've begun an annual "I want to go to there" trip in late February and early March. Destination: Anywhere with temperatures at or above 60 degrees, plus an above average chance for sunshine. I highly recommend you consider a "I want to go to there" trip if you live in a state in which the weather constitutes little to no sunshine for over 90 consecutive days. Consider it a mental health necessity.
If your budget won't allow travel, consider an overnight stay to Kalahari (America's largest indoor water park) or a spa trip that specializes in sun lamps and a heated pool. Shoot, if you have to, Jersey Shore-it one day: hit a tanning bed for 10 minutes just to get some UV rays. (I do not condone tanning beds or Jersey Shore.)
This years' "I want to go to there" trip brought me to California. Despite a blizzard and cancelled flight out of Cleveland, along with snow in San Francisco (first time in 37 years, hurrah!) I made it to the West Coast and back. Visit with friends, laughs, lots of food and - God Bless the USA - sunshine.
Without further ado, I present the "I want to go to there" photo journey. Turn off the lights, view in full-screen (click "show info" at the top right for locations, albeit my goofy commentary) and here's to some sunshine reaching out to you.
So what if I'm a pop-culture addict. I like TV, music and *occasional* gossip magazines
(um, I have about 13 subscriptions).
This DOES NOT make me superficial!
I have many other interests.
Like....
Eating.
Breathing.
Sleeping.
I kid.
So - when I heard the Lady Gaga was blessing CLEVELAND with her presencein July at the Q - I literally squealed. Then cured cancer.
See - I have other interests.
Dude - the girl is FIERCE.
An On the Record special on FUSE TV made me respect her even more. (seriously, watch it. She's a smart-ass cookie, and we know I love smart chicks who aren't afraid to rep).
Living Legend.
Surpassed Madonna at 23-years of age. Epic performer. Artist in EVERY sense of the word.
Then I hear those words not often uttered in CLEVELAND for any concert:
"SOLD OUT"
Luckily, I have a few "connections" and was able to find 2 tickets!
FOR. ONLY.
ONE-HUNDRED-NINETY-EIGHT DOLLARS. AMERICAN DOLLARS.
So I sucked up my pride and bought them.
Am I crazy?
Have you ever bought concert tickets and not care HOW MUCH they were?
Most imporant....ARE YOU GOING TO SEE GAGA baby???!!
