Lounge & Dream of D90's

So.... the snow melted super fast yesterday and today, leaving very little for snowman-making. I give credit to the wild weather patterns of the midwest for that rapid delivery and take-back of the snow. I'm wondering if I will indeed see a slope this year, or if the boards in my garage will just lay dormant for the season.

Anyway, in spite of the lack of snow, today was one of those lazy hazy Sundays that I love. I started off with a visit to a new church; I'm putting out some feelers to see if there's another little outlet into which I can plug myself. I had a great time, and while it was a little on the "big scale" side for my liking, there's a good chance I'll be back to visit. I'll keep ya posted.

Once that was said and done, Rob came by and kept me company while I was doing nothing more but daydreaming.. haha..

Speaking of, I got the D90 out and decided that one of my next endeavors is to save up and do some investing in expanding my arsenal of D90 artillery.

dreaming.... of d90 ;) 

Ah.... and now it's time to wake this buster up so we can grab some grub and call it a day. I still can't believe this year is almost over. Seems like it flew right on by, but I'm not complaining that it's over. Haha.

waaaaaaake uuuuup :p

Back to the work week tomorrow... here we go!  

xo | cmd

IL >> IN ... IN >> IL

I did a lot of driving today. It's only 3:30 PM and I've already been to the edge of Kentucky and back.


at least it was beautiful.

It was beautiful outside today; the snow fell pretty heavy last night - early on but not long enough to hinder any of the road cleaning crews. By the time I got on the road with Sydni this morning to meet up with Joe in Indiana, the trees were still covered but the roads were perfectly clear. I couldn't have asked for better driving conditions.

It's safe to say that I don't wanna get back in my car for a little while.
I'm vegging right now...... (:

Happy Saturday. Go enjoy the snow!

xo | cmd

Birthday Birthday Birthdays! (:

I feel so old.

My little cousin Mark turned 21 today. Let me be very clear when I say that I very distinctly remember changing this kid's diapers. I'm sure he appreciates me divulging that information, but whatever. He's all grown up now and I feel like a dinosaur knowing he's a big kid. Haha. Love you little cousin... HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

cousins! hbd, mark!!

And I wouldn't dare forget to wish a VERY happy birthday to one of my oldest childhood friends, Krystal!!

friends since elem. | hbd krys!!

Oh, birthdays. Love love love 'em.

Happy birthday to ALL the 12/28 babies!!

xo | cmd

Winter Halo & a Functioning Furnace!



motor capacitor

If for no other reason than that he's insanely handy, today cannot go without saying a mega thanks to Rob for fixing my furnace. And here I thought I'd have to call someone. Haha. 

I've been procrastinating [duh] putting any service time into meddling with the frigid temperature in my house. Now that it's getting colder outside though, I don't need to run the risk of dealing instead with frozen pipes and all that unecessary jazz.

Soooo.... after a couple of sessions in the basement examining the furnace, a little internet research and the advice from someone he knows, Rob got into the furnace and fixed the daggone thing with a $7 piece no bigger than my hand.

My house... is warm.
And by warm, I mean it's getting there. We're still sittin at 67 and rising, but that sure beats the 59 we were at before all of this.



literally an hour after it came out of the oven .. lol...



Oh, and if you're wondering how to pay for such excellent customer service?

Easy. Make the repair guy gorilla bread to take with him to work. (:



OH... And to top it off - tonight was a winter halo night. I'd never actually seen one of these in person, but I stepped out on the back porch after hearing about "moon rings," expecting to see some sort of tiny irredescent glow around the moon...

... Nope. Sucker was huge! It was beautiful. A little intimidating thinking of the magnitude of it all: it was completely silent with that enormous, perfectly circular ring just sitting in the sky. Folklore has it that it's indicative of approaching storms - bad ones - for the immediate future. We'll see if that holds to it. Either way, it was gorgeous.


winter halo 2012 | gorgeous

Almost Friday... Almost Friday...

xo | cmd

Aw, I Got the Dundie!



dundie & mr. rat .. welcome to our office ;)



A week or so back, Marc decided to institute a small reward/punishment system for us as we went about our daily business. This stemmed from some issues we had with documentation and some other small flukes, but either way, his solution was this:

For screw ups, you get Mr. Rat. He's an obnoxious, rubbery thing that serves as an eyesore on your desk.
For good works, you get..... A Dundie?? Hahaha. It's not an exact replica, but it's close enough, and that's what we collectively decided to coin it.

So when I rolled into work today, I had the dundie on my desk. (: Apparently I earned it for working from home on Monday. I thought that was pretty sweet of them, yeah?

Well.. the sweeter part of the day came after work, when I snagged Sydni from Dawne's and rendezvoused with Ali at the mall. She hadn't had the chance to meet Syd yet, so the three of us did dinner and some shopping. That's always interesting with a hyper toddler in tow, but we made it work.

Dawne is keeping Sydni overnight; Apparently Luke & Olivia are there and they begged for a slumber party, so I agreed. I took advantage of the unexpected breath to join Rob & Co. for a quick stop at Bindy's in Granite before calling it an early night [yeah, I'm an old fogie these days and I... am... cool... with that. haha].

Short week, yay!

xo | cmd

Christmas Was INDEED Merry

Hey there, friends & family......

!!!!!!!!!merry christmas!!!!!!!!!

Santa spoiled my kid this year. What else is new. Haha. We managed to make it through the morning without much fuss, and let me tell you, Syd made out like a bandit in an empty bank....

backseat roadtripper... passed out.... like this (:

We are.... home. And by home, this time I mean back in Illinois. I wasn't thrilled that I had to drive 8+hours on Christmas day, but it was totally worth it. We got to do some Christmas stuff [aka Santa stuff] early this morning for Sydni before we hit the road, and fortunately the drive went off without a hitch - no traffic or weather issues = awesome. 

farewell.... for now (:

I received something like four or five weather alerts to my phone as I was heading back, cautioning me of impending white death, aka a blizzard of some sort. I have a couple of friends who will be travelling in the next couple of days, so I'm saying prayers now for safe travel & arrival. Winter is fashionably late, but that seems just about customary for the midwest anyway (:

Anyway, Sydni and I made it back safely, got unloaded and are settling in. That being as it is, this house still has some sort of grinch bug, because the entire thing was chilled to a nice 59 degrees when we got here. Rob was thoughtful enough to offer up two space heaters to keep us from freezing tonight [for which I owe him major major kudos]. While he was at it, he did some diagnostics on the furnace itself and concluded with a bunch of jargon I didn't really understand, but grasped enough to pass along to the landlords and the HVAC repair folk whenever I call them tomorrow. He's still scouring the internet doing research on it as we speak. I'll take more notes when he's done. Haha...

I love having handyman friends. It's refreshing.
It'll be even better when my house doesn't feel like my refrigerator (: ... just a sidenote.

It was a bit of an up-and-down weekend, certainly with more ups than downs, but when it was all said and done, I couldn't have imagined it any other way and I'm beyond grateful for every bit of it.

This is one happy girl.
Merry Christmas, blogbots :) :)

xo | cmd

Christmas Eve, 2012.

I don't know why, but this made me smile today: 

laughed at this.. made me smile.

All I really have to say about today is that....

1. It's Christmas Eve. For that, I am thankful. I am home, visiting with my family in Ohio. It's long overdue.
2. My family, specifically my mother and father, have demonstrated to me in just the last 2 hours that they are not just behind me, but beside me in this life and whatever I may be facing. We've not always been eye to eye, but when it's all said and done, they are there for me, unconditionally. Tonight I was reminded of this perhaps more dramatically than ever before, and at a time that could not have been better. ♥
3. Christmas is no time for drama.
4. I have a daughter for whom I would give my last breath, my last penny, and my last string of dignity. I did the latter tonight, and I don't regret any bit of it. It's amazing what you can do when you don't have a choice.
5. Regardless of the strife or strain that may cross my path, I am blessed. I have a family who loves me. I have a daughter who adores me. I have friends who support me. I have close friends who get me, and I have goals towards which I inch closer because of my own efforts, daily.

No complaints here. (:

Merry [Almost] Christmas!

xo | cmd

Family Christmas, Take 2

First things first: Saw one of my favorite hometown friends from waaaaay back, for the first time in a few years. The last time we saw each other was over another Christmas break, probably 2006 or 2007? He lives in California now and only visits periodically; this was long overdue and the stories were even funnier now looking back. Gut busters. Love you, friend... and so proud of all the big things you're doing out in L.A.! [Had to add this one for old time's sake, too .. haha.. don't hate me Sheff.]

circa 2003 | circa 2012
so good to see you, clark!

Once Sheff & I said our goodbyes for what'll probably be the next 6 years, I headed back to the lodge to get ready for my sister and her family coming over.

Here's the gist of how that went. Enjoy!


hi, sister!

newphew jonathan & dad having a jam session...
.... while we watch sound of music in the background. typical (:

my mom. love her.
.. in case you wondered where i get my quirks ;)

sweet girls! my great-niece emmie & monster... aka, sydni ;)

musical kids! [we start 'em early!]

mom. corin. heidi. | love... my...family.

I love my family.
Go & love yours, this Christmas.

xo | cmd

And I am HOME for Christmas (:

I MADE IT!!!!!

this is my vacation. home at the one & only dren lodge for the weekend.
i'm in country heaven. parents' house = ♥

I can't even tell you how much I've missed this place. Welcome to the Dren Lodge, otherwise known as my parents' house in Mt. Vernon, also the house in which I grew up. My heart will always be dedicated to this place; Mom & Dad built it themselves when we first moved to Ohio and they're still there. [Cue Miranda Lambert song...]

So I almost lost hope in making it home for the weekend. I had every intention of leaving yesterday to start on my trek back to Ohio, but after creeping through traffic at a neutral ONE mph from my office to my house, I quickly put a nix on that. Never has it ever taken me an hour and 45 minutes to get home from work, and with the traffic moving at the pace of sap, I had lost all patience in the thought of attempting to wait that out.

That meant falling on a backup plan of going to bed early and getting up by 3am to hit the road early with hopes of being home by 1pm EST. I was gonna make it here one way or another, daggonit.

Sooooo.. I met up with Rob, Mike & Kelly for dinner, before calling it an early night. Setting the alarm for 2am was painful in and of itself, but actually getting up when it went off was another story. At least I made it to the gas station for coffee and out on the road without too much fuss... and that was that.

Fast forward five hours to Cincinnati, when I stopped in at Joe's to grab Sydni, and then another 2.5 and I fiiiinally made it!!!

Just in time, too... My cousins rolled in the driveway shortly after we did, and we proceeded to spend the evening with them. As a note, the younger of the two turns 21 in a few days... and that ... makes me feel pretty freakin' ancient. Thanks a lot, Markie. Hahaha.

Here's how that went: 



top: christmas 2007 | bottom: christmas 2012
look at those boys! lol... love them (:

cousins + mom & dad + syd!

I love my family. This was night one of two that I'll have with different parts of my family, and I can't wait. (:

Speaking of being home, I just got back from the new BDubbs in Mt. Vernon [that's another story: I come from a small town and they are just now getting one of these... you would've thought we adopted the Statue of Liberty for as much fuss as they've made over it.. haha]. I got a message from Dusty earlier asking if I was available for a few minutes to catch up, and we opted for Bdubbs.

I was instantly reminded of what it means to be raised in a small town, leave, and then come back. Basically, every fifth person, on average, is someone you know, had a class with, lived by, dated, or avoided at one point growing up. Haha.  

hey, dusty! (:
neighbors since first grade, still an awesome friend!

krystal!
friends since elementary school... and yeah we've been through it ;)
top L-R: 2003. 2007 | bottom L-R: 2009. 2012!

Of the handful of people with whom I coincidentally reunited tonight, I was definitely pleased to run into one specifically - Krystal! We've known each other since fifth grade and I still love her to pieces. I shouldn't be surprised. Familiar faces have a way of aligning themselves at the same time in the same place when that place is so condensed :)

That being said, it's an early day tomorrow... time to get munchkin to bed.

I'm out (:

xo | cmd

Express Christmas [Because the World DIDN'T END]

Holy smokes, ya'll. It's FRIDAY!

First things first: WELCOME back to the daily Friday grind, especially to all of you who had planned on the world coming to a close sometime earlier today. I really hope none of you are disappointed, especially if you've shelled out wallet weight on Christmas gifts this year or have plans for New Years ;). 

..... things that didn't happen today....

Funny story to get this rolling. Okay, well it's not so much funny as it is just plain weird. It's not really even a story, really, but it's still bizarre: Basically, it was an early night last night, only to awake at 3am to not one, but every single smoke detector in my house on high alert. It was synchronized in that they all started at the same time, but definitely not on the same pulse. For all I could tell, it was one steady blare on surround sound for about five minutes before it... just.... stopped. Weirdest thing ever. We're on a love/hate relationship, my house and me. Between the thermostat tantrums and the smoke detectors party rockin' at random hours of the night, I'm not sold that there isn't some sort of maniacal scheme brewing...... I even mentioned to my friend Rob that I thought this was indication of the world ending.... I don't think I sold him on it. Oh well.

ANYWAY,

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!
[early!!]

it's a good day for christmas sweaters, peroni & breakfast! (:

By that, I mean that today was my office Christmas party. Everyone in my office has a track record of excellence in the arena of potlucks. I work with all women and a man who used to run a restaurant, so it's pretty fail-proof that we'd be eating well. Oh, and we may have added some additional spirit to the party. Haha.

merry christmas! | with ♥, express

So yeah.... we made with it gettin' busy on some food, but the best part by far [as is customary with Christmas these days] was not only a blast, but hilarious all together. [I'll get some of those pics up soon, too].

Here's just a preview of how thoughtful these people are:



secret santa gift + mini christmas bonus + express columbia fleece?
.... we're loved.

yep. love it. & love her.
merry christmas!

My addiction to popcorn may have finally been satisfied on a whole new level; Diana had me as her secret santa draw, and because everyone here is fully aware of my obsession with popcorn, I got this little guy, all wrapped up and ready to go. Plus, we each got part of our Christmas bonus in cash form, and a suuuuper comfy Columbia logo'd fleece. We were as surprised as we were grateful. It's been a crazy year here, but we're sticking it out and enjoying ourselves.

Tonight I'll drive back to Ohio for the weekend; I can't wait to see my family and a few long lost faces before I get back.

Wish me luck......

&& very MERRY [early] Christmas to all of you, my dear friends & blogbots!

xo | cmd

Blendable People [Art Post!]

I wanted to share. I found these on Flipboard. You can thank Rob for my obsession with Flipboard, too, while we're at it.

I want... to do this....



[dunno why the orange one got cropped :/ ... but you get the basic idea]



I just thought some of you may appreciate these as much as I did. I need to find a cool, colorful building and make myself a part of it (:

Stay tuned... and never say never ;)

xo | cmd

Disconnected Thoughts of Gratitude (:

Well , I just have to say... Christmas shopping........ gives me anxiety. Am I the only one?

Call me crazy, but there's just something about shopping all together that rubs me the wrong way. There are days that I wish I had more feminine tendencies [i.e., shopping, the urge to get manicures, reading Cosmo... or whatever it is that contains all that useless celebrity news, etc...]. I do enjoy a wide range of retail goods, don't get me wrong, but the process involved with acquiring them often just drives me crazier than I think it's worth. The good news? I'm just about finished completely with my Christmas shopping list, and that... is that. #endrant.

I'm home now.. vegging out to the newest Mumford & Sons album [Babel]. I highly recommend.

Speaking of music...... [thank you]


I saw this today and got a little weak.. I love this song and I so appreciated it as a dedication [I think?]. Nice little surpsie for the day (:

It's been a crazy hectic week, but completely worth every bit of hassle and fuss. According to the Mayans, the world is scheduled to end this Friday, so perhaps that's part of the reason everything seems so jumbled. Laney may have thwarted my half-hearted hopes of being swooped off the planet by reminding me that she's 100% Mayan and that her ancestors had other reasons for not finishing their calendar. THANKS A LOT, LANEY. Haha. I'm begging to differ, seeing as how the thermostat in my house is still being cantankerous in spite of Rob's efforts to fix it. It could just be that the house itself has it out for me, or it coouuuuld be that I'll wake up tomorrow to a swarm of zombies milling around on my front lawn. We'll see.

oh. my. catie. | january2013: stl!!

Welp, whatever the case may be, I still feel so indebted for all of it and for the little things that make it worthwhile. To top it off, Catie is coming to see me in January! I'm not sure STL is prepared for us. We're something of a uniquely inappropriate combination. Hahaha. Life is good.

How's that for pre-Christmas gratitude?

Happy Midweek, blogbots. (:

xo | cmd

Pitch Perfect [is OURS!]

Here's another one of those posts that's more silly than substance.

No.. Ya know what? This is my blog, so I can say whatever I want! Haha. [Envision me as a toddler, hands on hips with my nose in the air..... just kidding.]

Seriously though.

Ali and I have been discreetly counting down the days to the DVD release of Pitch Perfect. Call us nerds, but every once in a while, looking forward to something small is kind of fun. Especially when you go together on your lunch break and both buy the stinkin' thing.

And especially more.......... when you go watch it together after work over some pad thai and magners. Oh, and a Christmas tree on the side. Definitely cannot complain. Haha.

It's a weeknight, so I'm home now.. I can't say today was a bad day, no certainly was not! It's nice to have one of those plugged into the middle of what I can tell is going to be a very eventful week.

See you in the morning, world!

xo | cmd

Monday Art Post: Japanese Body Art

ART POST! 

ah!

So, Ali sent me this email today [I have no idea where she found it]. As we all know by now, I love funky and unconventional art, especially stuff that not just anyone could pull off. 

I'm not gonna talk a whole lot for this entry; this stuff is pretty flippin' cool on its own. 

Enjoy! 

Pretty amazing, right?? 

Well, I thought so. I couldn't even begin to do something that detailed. Haha. 

Happy Monday! 

xo | cmd

Remember, Life is Beautiful

What an incredible day this has been.


best friend. scottsdale arizona. rooftop @ izzy's.

I mean, thoroughly incredible.
I am in Phoenix, awaiting the arrival of a plane that will deliver me back to the midwest, just reflecting on the past four days. I'm in a state of raw gratitude.

Scottsdale has been my little bunker for the past couple of days; I've been on a mini vacation here with my best friend, Kalyn. It seems like I blinked and Thursday night turned into Sunday evening, but it was entirely worth it and I'm already looking forward to my next trip out.

peroni & fire. hi, sunday (:

Today started off with a trip in to Mojo [& a breakfast burrito, deeee-lish], then off to do some Christmas shopping for Kalyn's list before we headed back to Grayhawk to rendezvous with KP's friend and coworker, Jennette. She's probably the prettiest real-life human being I think I've ever seen. Sidenote. Haha.

Keifer works across the street from Grayhawk at Isabella's Kitchen (Izzy's), so we parked ourselves there for some Peroni, some food, and some live music by Ryan & Madison. This girl was only 12 years old, but I can tell she's got a future brewing. She's talented!

Of course, there was a fire pit and a random girl insistent on being a camera woman. Couple that with peroni refills and you've got a couple of best friends as happy as could be on a day that couldn't have been any more relaxing.  

cori. kalyn. jennette | izzy's - scottsdale, az

SO much so that we found ourselves doing back handsprings and triple planks in the middle of the golfcourse. Yeah, it was that good. Hahaha. Jennette joined in, too, at one point. There's not much bad to be said about a Sunday afternoon spent lounging by a firepit with good friends, live music, and spirited brew.

attempt #1 @ triple planking = unsuccessful.

ok. double plank then. we'll compromise.

These are the things that entertain us. In front of mountains, live music, and Christmas lighted wicker reindeer, there was us, doing this. We finally had a breakthrough:


attempt #3 : success!

Ahhhhhhhhhh. What. A. GREAT... trip this was.


I'll be home in a matter of hours.. we'll see if Rob can get that crazy diesel up to the parking garage at the airport in time to pick me up... otherwise it's gonna be a looooong walk home. Haha. So long, for now, Arizona. I'll be back in January some time for another visit, and I'll be sure to bring some extra company with me (:

LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL.

xo | cmd