Whew! It was a whirlwind weekend in the CLE! I’m just going to jump right in. Friday night, Matthew and I attended International Partners in Mission’s Namaste benefit. Namaste raised money for IPM’s projects both abroad and at home, mainly focused on empowering and assisting women and children.

The event was held at the Ariel International Center, which is a beautiful location with sweeping views of the Cleveland skyline and Lake Erie. We were treated to a gorgeous sunset that evening, too.

Clark Pope Catering, who creates many of my Fresh Fork bag favorites, provided the food for the evening. The food represented the different areas of the world where IPM has missions and projects, with everything from West African peanut stew to Native American fried bread to smoked pork and roasted yams. Everything was delicious and culturally on-the-mark.

With a room filled with global music and people committed to helping a wonderful organization, Namaste made for a great evening!

To find out how you can help IPM’s mission efforts, click here.

I ended my Friday and started my Saturday with Namaste, as I grabbed a class at Harmony Yoga to help center me for a busy day ahead. Saturday was full of pre-wedding events for my friend Chrissy’s wedding in June. I am honored to be one of Chrissy’s bridesmaids. The day started with her bridal shower, held at the Middleburg Heights Rec Center.

It was a lovely ladies afternoon celebrating the happy couple and stocking up their home with lots of great presents.

Saturday evening was Chrissy’s bachelorette party. Part of my bridesmaid duties involved planning the party and I wanted to incorporate a little bit of all the great things downtown Cleveland has to offer. We started with dinner at Hodge’s.

We even had a party crasher while we were there! Note Alicia‘s smiling face in the picture above.

Everyone loved their meals! A popular choice at our table was the shrimp and grits. I loved every bite of this entree, particularly the spicy tomato and banana pepper ragu.

Hodge’s kicked off the night on the right foot: delicious cocktails and food, in a fun, relaxed, and a little saucy atmosphere. Big ups to our server, Mark R., for being absolutely spot-on with the service!

From there, we headed to the new Society Lounge for a classy craft cocktail or two.

Society oozes sexiness and sophistication and is a wonderful addition to East 4^th Street. I recommend the Moscow Mule: made with ginger puree and soda, rather than ginger beer, it is hands-down the best I’ve had in town!

The cocktails were flowing and the live music was perfect: I could have sworn Michael Buble was singing! We were so enamored with Society that our plans to go elsewhere faded as we sipped our drinks and snuggled in the cozy booth.

It was a really fun night and I hope Chrissy had a blast!

Sunday morning, I needed a little detox at Nishkama Yoga with one of my favorite yoga buddies (and bachelorette party crasher), Alicia. The rest of the day was spent recuperating from all of the above.

How was your weekend, CLE? Where’s your favorite Cleveland spot for a bachelor/bachelorette party?

***Disclosure: I was asked by International Partners in Mission to help promote Namaste. In exchange, I received 2 general admission tickets for myself and 2 general admission tickets to give away. As always, all opinions are 100% my own.***