My week started by spending an evening with a bunch of really witty and engaging  Cleveland bloggers by way of a shopping spree at NEXT in Beachwood Place (I didn’t shop, sigh. Instead, I played the part of social media maven and organized this soiree. I sometimes do some PR/social media freelancing for friends, etc). They had fun shopping; I had fun catching up with some old friends and meeting a few new ones, too.

The next night, I went to bed a very happy woman followed by a fabulous dinner on E 4th courtesy of  The Greenhouse Tavern and Lola. My company is hiring for several positions (at one point we had 15 open spots; not sure where we currently stand). The one candidate we are really interested in is a fellow foodie. A very serious foodie at that. He and his family would be moving to Cleveland from Denver so he wanted to get a sense of the food community here. I can appreciate this.  It’s a tough job, but I mustered up the energy, along with Jamie (we work together for those that don’t know) and ate our way through a Wednesday night. We had apps at GHT and finished the meal at Lola. Highlights include the beef tartare at The Greenhouse (I could eat this daily; and our guest commented that it’s some of the best tartare he’s had), plus the beet and pear salad at Lola for me (such a simple dish but perhaps giving the beets at Lolita – my current favorite – a run for its money). Our guest enjoyed the braised Berkshire “bacon” and scallops and was quite impressed – especially with the belly. The table also enjoyed crispy bone marrow with six accompaniments courtesy of the kitchen (cilantro salsa and lemon my favorite).

The best part about this night (aside from the obvious) — the city was packed. It was a snowy Wednesday evening and all the restaurants were filled with  people out and about enjoying a great February night in Cleveland.

The following day, Cleveland Foodie won a bronze for its new logo at the annual ADDY awards (advertising industry thing). Jamie designed it for me last year. To me, it won  gold. The new ad is currently on our Facebook page)

Yesterday morning, we spent the day being inspired and moved via TEDxCLE at the Capitol Theater. We listened to a group of interesting, passionate and smart individuals share their vision and what specifically they are doing to affect positive change on our city.  It was the first independently organized TED event for Cleveland and I hope it’s the first of many. The organizers, Hallie and Eric, should be very proud of themselves. They did an amazing job and I’m beyond happy that I was in the audience – and will be each year they hold this.

Every discussion was enlightening, but for me, stand outs include: Terry Schwartz of Kent State and Pop Up City sharing ideas on how to fix broken cities; Aaron LeMieux of Tremont Electric discussing alternative energy and his personal energy generator (seriously – we’d buy stock right now if he was selling);  Michael Ruhlman talking about how people need to get back in the kitchen and cook and what type of positive impact this has on all of us; our friend Danielle DeBoe on how her passion led her to Room Service and how she is connecting with her community; and finally Patrick Perotti, a Cleveland lawyer that had many of us choking up over his stories of how he’s helping children keep their fight alive – specifically via class action lawsuits and how we all can help by simply signing this petition.

Images courtesy of  Kyle Roth. Check out all his images from the event via his Flickr page. And visit the  TEDxCLE site in a few days where all the videos from the day will be made available.

And my week isn’t over yet!  So Forbes, while  I have several suggestions as to what exactly you can do with your article and silly little title, you are entitled to your opinion (even if it’s not based fully in facts). And so am I. I am proud to call Cleveland home. I choose to live here. Just one question for you though. Why even bother to write this kind of article in  the first place, regardless of who’s in the top 5? I just don’t see the point. Instead of focusing on the negativity, why not spotlight all the positive changes taking place everyday in all types of cities?