Because we've grown so close over the years, I have no problem in admitting to you, Blogging Ohio, that this will be the first time in almost nine years that I've been single on Valentine's Day. Quite honestly, I'm a-ok with it. I think I'm going to buy myself a plant, maybe one of those tiny rose bushes, and buy myself a burrito. Maybe I'll make some guacamole - anyway, it'll be a decent time, without all the trappings and over-expense of the couple's version of Valentine's Day.

But! If you are a hopeless romantic, or you happen to be dating someone, and you want to go out, now is the time to start planning! It's only a little more than two weeks, and this is something that you really need to be on time with. I remember one time, my significant other and I had completely not prepared for Valentine's Day, so we went out to a hole in the wall Mexican restaurant, and strawberry daiquiris in honor of the day. But, really, you should plan better than I do. So I will be giving you several suggestions for three kinds of Valentine's Day restaurants in Cleveland.

The traditional, fancy route: If you would ask me what defines a fancy meal for me, it usually involves Italian food. So, I will first suggest Maggiano's Little Italy in Beachwood, OH. Very tasty, very classy. Also, there's a high quotient of delicious food that doesn't necessarily involve pasta, which means you won't feel too heavy! So, for a new review, let's talk about Parker's New American Bistro, in Ohio City. Their menu varies from season to season, as well as what's available from various local farmers and growers - that just sounds so tasty to me. Their menu does seem slightly vaguely French, with American touches, so very classy. Perfect for impressing a young lady with your taste.

The non-traditional, quirky route: Who wants to go someplace normal? Not me. I'd like to pretend that a young man could impress me far more by taking me someplace out of the ordinary with great good. Like Max's Deli and Johnny Mango! Holy cow, I love both of those restaurants, especially Max's Deli, and especially the dessert menu. They have crazy good cheesecake. And their corned beef! Something different, baby, just like Johnny Mango. Johnny Mango's worldly, international-themed menu is so tasty! Jamaican jerk chicken, burritos, mojitos and sangria! Mmmm. The food is so good, and the restaurant is different - you'll seem so bohemian and different!

The oh-damn-we-forget-hurry-take-me-somewhere-vaguely-decent route: I have done this several Valentine's Day, as well as on many other special occasions. The evening starts like this: "Oh! Shoot! We have to go someplace nice! Um, quick, let's go here!" For those occasions in Cleveland, may I suggest Sullivan's Irish Pub or Great Lakes Brewing Company. Both are so tasty! Sullivan's has such awesome Irish-inspired food - anything with Irish cheddar is phenomenal. And the Great Lakes Brewing Company is such classic restaurant food - steaks, hamburgers, good beer, salmon. In fact, Great Lakes is a great Valentine's Day dinner for a guy! There you go, ladies!

Buying chocolate, flowers, or those little message heart candies are fine if there's no time to plan ahead for Valentine's Day, but consider some other options. If you use your senses to lead the way, you might come up with some interesting ways to celebrate love. Or a deep like. Or an "I kind of like you." Here are some starting places:

Sense of smell- With Ohio's botanical gardens' conservatories creating a haven against the freshly arrived winter's chill, head to one of them. Breathe in the fragrances of the jungles, orchid gardens and mountainous regions of the world. So, what if you can't go to a tropical island with your honey this year? At Krohn Conservatory, Franklin Park Conservatory, and Cleveland Botanical Garden you can pretend.

If eating is a way to your loved one's heart, head to a cooking school where you can spend time together--plus taste your efforts. Dorothy Lane Market Cooking School in Dayton has wonderful options. Many restaurants, like Handkes in Columbus also have classes. Here is a Shaw Guides website with links to several of them.

If the sense of sound is your fancy, head to a symphony concert. You can engage your sense of sight as well since many of Ohio's symphonies perform in the most beautiful buildings in the state. In February, the Columbus Symphony Orchestra, the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, the Akron Symphony , The Youngstown Symphony and the Toledo Symphony have concerts.

For the soothing sense of touch, get a couple's massage. The Marengo Institute, a mind body spa that originated in California but now has Cleveland and Columbus locations, has a Couples Delight Package.

Another option for the sense of sight is an art museum. Here is the botanical garden and art museums page of Ohio Travelers.com to find one you may not have thought of before.

I'm a little behind on this assignment. I blame my terrible cold and the fact that I may have broken a bone in my foot - more on that exciting news tomorrow! But since the end of the year has come and gone, I want to join the ranks of my fellow bloggers and talk about what I think were some of my better posts from 2006.

Most recently, my review of the Bazaar Bizarre craft fair. Start saving up for the December 2007 version! In October, I talked about two things that I thought were pretty interesting, and completely unrelated: Toni Morrison and her anniversary of getting the Novel Prize, and being filmed in November on Election Day. I really like to review restaurants, local fairs of any kind and books. So, in a quick sampling, my review of Sullivan's restaurant in Lakewood, Ohio; a review of my annual pilgrimage to the St. Rocco's Festival; and a review of Cleveland native Les Roberts' memoir, We'll Always Have Cleveland! Obviously, I love Ohio - you may have gathered that piece of information from my working for a website wholly devoted to Ohio! But I like when our great Buckeye state makes it into the news in weird ways: like when I found an mention of our major cities in Forbes' discussion of best cities for singles. I really have become involved in the wholly stand-up comic scene here in Cleveland, for which you may totally blame my dear good friend, Sidekick Girl! But I like helping her and her fellow comics out with a little bit of free publicity, like when I reviewed the first Rockstar Comedy event.

I also love getting to take pictures for you, Blogging Ohio! Enjoy an old Ohiopic of the Day! Let's go to '07!

• The border of Kansas and Nebraska-- remember the pre-Civil War Kansas-Nebraska act re slave vs. free states?
• Boulder, Co. -- Got time for a cold Coors?
• Great Salt Lake Desert
• Halfway between San Francisco and the Oregon border
• The Pacific Ocean
• Akita, Japan -- site of Japan's most important oil fields
• Hamhung, North Korea -- second largest city in the country
• Beijing, China --site of the 2008 Olympics
• Desert of Inner Mongolia
• Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan
• The Caspian Sea
• Azerbaijan
• Armenia's Capital, Yerevan
• Ankara, Turkey's capital and second largest city
• The Mediterranean Sea
• Mount Olympus, Greece -- home office of Greek mythology's upper management
• Albania
• The heel and foot of the Italian boot
• The island of Sardinia -- home of the unique musical form Canto a Tenores
• Toledo, Spain
• Coimbra, Portugal
• The Atlantic Ocean
• Philadelphia, PA

Having only been a blogger since the beginning of October, one would think it wouldn't be all that hard to pick my favorites. It's not as easy as one might think, particularly since there is so much interesting stuff going on in this state. Here are a sampling of the ones I think capture a bit about Ohio and my life in it. Hopefully, some will trigger off a few memories about what makes Ohio special to you. Consider those day to day activities you are hopefully able to do with the people you love and enjoy. Oh, and thanks Tom for the great graphic. I snagged this from his Top Tom favorites. Clever guy. And since Tom did his Top 11, I didn't stop with 10 either.

Skating downtown Columbus, an experience not to miss A time I might have missed if I had done the sensible thing and stayed home to clean house. Unfortunately, the rink will be down after the 1st.

The 12 Days of Ohio Christmas: Eight Ohio Presidents A nifty find for the game alone.

Ohiopic: A train and music box combined. Sweet! One of my favorite places in Ohio and a tribute to a guy whose creativity is worth a 2nd tribute--plus his company was kind enough to let me use the photo.

Ohiovid: Famous light display in Mason has moved and it's bigger. This one makes me smile everytime and I am amazed that when I came across this video, I remembered the commercial, and it was from Ohio.

Surf's Up on Lake Erie and It's Swell I loved reading the New York Times article connected to this one. I laughed out loud.

Charlene Fix: Talent and tenacity, a perfect mix A person whose work I love to plug. Buy the book. Give it as present. Buy copies for yourself.

Hope Springs Road Trip- Part III (Parts I, II and III are about the same trip with different perspectives. It is possible that a simple Ohio excursion can turn into an adventure. Hope Springs is the perfect place for renewal besides.)

St Rte 23: Road Trip Part II (see above. Parts I, II and III are not necessarily in chronological order.)

Thanksgiving: A Cicada Story - This one warms my heart, if you ignore the fact that cicadas have foliage damage potential. Such is the beauty and terror of life.

Road trip- SR 23 South and 32 W- Part I

Piercology and Bonding Moments - A bit of family history

Back when I was the Calendar of Events editor for Ohio Magazine there was one event that stuck with me-The Walleye Drop. At least that's what I remember it being called. See, in Port Clinton, OH where the term bitter cold was probably invented, townspeople gather together for Walleye Madness on New Year's Eve. This year is the 12th time Wylie brings in the new year. Since Port Clinton is the "Walleye Capital of the World," why not?

Folks join in festive fun such as singing "Hang on Wylie" and dancing the "Wallerina" until the midnight countdown. This is when they drop Wylie the Walleye and fireworks go off. There's also food and performing groups. Everything takes place downtown. The Walleye Madness website has lodging information as well.

About Wylie. He's a 20-foot, 600-lbs.f ish made from fiberglass. The original one was made from paper mache. You can imagine how well that one lasted from one New Year's celebration to the next.

You've noticed that needles fall off your Christmas tree whenever someone comes near it. Yep, time to take down that tree and put the ornaments and lights back in their boxes until next December.

The ornaments and lights might be done for the season, but the tree is not. According to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, don't send your tree to a landfill but consider one of these ideas:

o. Submerge your tree in a farm pond, if you happen to have one. Fish and pond life will live in it. Tie a cement block to it to get the tree to stay under water.

o. You can also put your tree in a corner of your yard to provide shelter for wildlife.

o. Or take your tree to a tree recycling place

o. Or chip it up yourself to make mulch and compost material.

o. Yard waste pick-up programs will also pick up Christmas trees and they will be composted. If your tree is over eight feet, cut it in half.

Before you dump your tree somewhere, make sure it's okay so you don't get nailed for littering.

Also, take off any tinsel and ornaments.

The Earth Day 911 website has some of the tree recycling centers in Ohio listed. You type in your zipcode. The ODNR website also has links to county tree recyling programs. Look for your county and click on it.

As I was driving home from what turned out to be a full 32 hours of holiday entertainment and et cetera (I love my big, unwieldy, on-the-opposite-ends-of-town family!), I was listening to the last few hours of WDOK 102.1's nonstop holiday music. It was pretty good, and they have quite a lot of different songs that run the musical genre gamut, and so I was not very surprised to hear a song that I'd not heard before. I was a little surprised that it was an original Christmas song, as opposed to an artist's cover of an older song. An original song! So I listened a little harder, and as I listened I realized that it was about having a Christmas in Cleveland! I was puzzled. I was intrigued. I listened. And subsequently learned that "Have a Merry Cleveland Christmas" was penned and sang by Alan Douglas, and actually has been included in an album called Mistletoe Melodies: Holiday Songs of Cleveland Artists (available through Little Fish Records)! Worth a listen, especially for lyrics that talk about how nice it is to celebrate Christmas in Public Square. So true. Of course, Public Square looks a little more like it does in the picture than it does in the song, all covered in snow, but maybe someday soon!

So sad, and yet so true. The twelve days of Ohio are over. In case you missed them, here they are again!

On the first day of Ohio, the bloggers gave to me: a state bird (by Jamie)!
On the second day of Ohio, the bloggers gave to me: a Twinsburg festival (by Tom)!
On the third day of Ohio, the bloggers gave to me: sports museums (by Katherine)!
On the fourth day of Ohio, the bloggers gave to me: women astronauts (by Jamie)!
On the fifth day of Ohio, the bloggers gave to me: great actors (by Tom)!
On the sixth day of Ohio, the bloggers gave to me: art museums (by Jeffrey)!
On the seventh day of Ohio, the bloggers gave to me: baseball World Series Championships (by Tom)!
On the eighth day of Ohio, the bloggers gave to me: presidents (by Jamie)!
On the ninth day of Ohio, the bloggers gave to me: doubled cities (by Katherine)!
On the tenth day of Ohio, the bloggers gave to me: famous Ohioans (by Jeffrey)!
On the eleventh day of Ohio, the bloggers gave to me: Native American tribes of Ohio (by Tom)!
On the twelfth day of Ohio, the bloggers gave to me: trivial Ohio facts (by Jeffrey)!

A friend of mine who I work with told me that one of his best Christmases was when he went to a Chinese restaurant while everyone in his family was out of town. Perhaps you remember the scene in the movie A Christmas Story when Ralphie's family went out for a Chinese dinner because the dog took off with the Christmas turkey. In case you're interested in Chinese food this Christmas, here are some places to consider. I'd call though to make sure they're open. You never know, the owners may be staying home making turkey.

These are places I've eaten and recommend.

For fancier:

Try Pearl of the Orient. There are two locations. One is in Rocky River and the other is in Shaker Heights. There is no MSG in the food and they serve brown rice if you want. I've eaten at the on in Rocky River at least 3 times.

For great food, but not so fancy.

Fortune Chinese Restaurant on Olentangy River Rd near Ackerman in Columbus. Quite good. Not as fancy as Pearl of the Orient, but great food.

For eat until you pop.

Our favorite is China Buffet in Columbus. Hey, there's nothing like a buffet when you have a four year-old. This was my daughter's pick for her birthday dinner outing with friends.

I did find this link to Chinese restaurants in Ohio. The names, addresses and phone numbers are listed.

This video which was a OH 10 New Media Center Report on December 13 of this year captures it all. Warmth, love, good cheer and fireworks. Merry Christmas. Grab a cup of hot chocolate and enjoy. I hope your town, whereever you are feels like this one and Santa comes down your chimney or through your front door.

Hey, everyone knows about the Wright brothers. What about some famous people who were born in Ohio, but found their fame elsewhere? You might not even know they were buckeyes.

You've heard of Zanesville, right? You've probably heard of Zane Grey, too. Ever made the connection? Zane Grey wasn't only born in Zanesville, his family started it. For a writer of westerns, he started pretty far east.

How many of you knew Steven Spielberg was born in Cincinnati? A lot of well known people came from there. Take Ted Turner, he was from Cincinnati, too.

It helps to have a sense of humor, especially when dealing with Ohio politics. Erma Bombeck, who was born in Dayton certainly did. So did my favorite on the list, the great humorist and cartoonist James Thurber. That's his picture at the top. He came from Columbus and told some good stories about the place. While we're on the subject of humor, Ambrose Bierce was from Meigs County. He could tell a funny tale or two when he wasn't in a darker mood.

Did you know Clarence Darrow was born at Kinsman, in Trumbull County. His law practice got started in northeast Ohio, before he moved west. Then there's Norman Vincent Peale, who preached the power of positive thinking.

Next we have someone whose face might not be familiar, but you'd probably know her voice. Nancy Cartwright, from Kettering provided the voice of Bart Simpson. Don't have a cow if you didn't know.

Finally, a woman was born in Licking County, or Athens County, the sources differ, back in 1838. She went on to lead an eventful life and was the first woman to be nominated for president. Her name? Victoria Claflin Woodhull.

It's odd. I can't believe how hard it was to cut this list down to only ten people. The only easy part was leaving out presidents,astronauts, and actors. They were covered in other posts. Ten? I could have listed a hundred and still had more. If you'd asked me years ago, back when I lived in Pennsylvania, about famous people from Ohio, I'd have thought of a few presidents, the Wright brothers,and Thurber. I had no idea how many famous people were born here. I do now, and I'll post on some of them from time to time.

I think when I was looking for an inflatable Santa image I came across a shop near Kings Island that looks like a destination store, and you only have until the end of the year to get there before it closes until April. The Kings Mill Christmas Shop has been featured in the Toledo Blade, The Cincinnati Enquirer and Michigan Living to name a few publications. From the photographs on their website, it looks like one of those totally sensory rich places that are fun to browse around. If you're looking for specialty Christmas items, I'd head here. It seems they have ornaments to fit any theme. The merchandise also includes 150 different kinds of Santas and snowmen. I don't know if they have any inflatable stuff though.

Finding this shop got me wondering about others.Here is another shop I came across. This one is in Hocking Hills, and it is also only open every day until the end of the year and won't open again during weekdays until the spring. The Christmas Treasures Gift Shop is in Logan, OH. Besides Christmas related stuff, this one has all kinds of goodies, some Ohio-themed and some not.

For a mega Christmas shop experience, head towards 'Tis the Season Christmas Shoppe near Berlin, OH. This one is open all year around and is considered the biggest one in the state. There are 200 decorated trees, for starters. I can't imagine it's possible to walk into the store and then leave without buying something. The website has a video as well to get you in that shopping mood beforehand.