City Fleaaaaa!

I woke up with an especially ambitious spirit this morning, and took off on a run to begin the day. 

Yes, I did that on purpose, and No, I'm not ill. In fact, Rob even jumped in on the last lap, much to my pleasant surprise. Thanks for supporting my crazy ideas of morning fitness, love ♥. 

it's a happy day to feel happy :D

We cleaned up a bit [& by that, I mean changing clothes; don't pretend like I took a shower.. that's silly] & headed downtown to meet up with Becky at CityFlea513. I love this time of the year for this specific reason, and although I don't attend every weekend of Flea, I do love drinking it in yearly. 

photo cred: insta@mrs_falhaber

photo cred: insta@thecityflea

& quite possibly my favorite shot that I've seen so far [as my phone was buried in the bottom of my cotopaxi this entire trip >:(... ]

photo cred: insta@timeandagainshop

The best part of CF513, besides all the crazy cool and crafty vendors, was running into Lauren & Sara, two sisters who I still hold dear after nearly 14+ years since our silly college days. They now run Mixie Studios, and have the most adorable collection of unique goodies for you, so if you plan on CFlea513'ing at any point this summer, make sure you go see them.. and BUY SOMETHING! 

sara [lauren not pictured :( ] 

For the sake of throwbacks, a bonus: 

haha.. oh boy. circa.. 2007. 

Fortunately, La & Sa still look pretty much the same.. beautiful as ever, and even more fortunately, I finally figured out what eyebrows were and that they should be left on your face. Sheesh. 

Anywho, it was a beautiful day to be out and about, and although Rob & I had every intention of the additional jazz festival in the evening, we both awoke from "short naps" about 4 hours after sitting down on separate sides of the room, and by that point well.. 

Happy Saturday, blogbots. I hope you're able to get out there and enjoy it! 

xo | cmd

ALI's HERE!

It was too late last night when Ali arrived to do mich of anythddng other than a quick catch up before bed. Knowing we wanted to take full advantage of today made it that much easier to find sleep wirhout delay.

Today = bright and early start in the house, complete with homemade breakfast, compliments of Ali and me! We pulled out all the stops and produced a full spread, including pancakes, waffles, scrambled eggs, turkey bacon and toast. I mean, we had a full day of fun planned out!

First stop: The 513 City Flea! One of my favorite Washington Park events to frequent at least once or twice each season, even if I walk away with nothing but the receipt for a Street Pop long-ago devoured. 

gosh you're pretty, washington park... 

The Summer City Fleas mean that the splash pad is in full operation, and if we're being honest, it was only because our parents taught us manners that prevented every adult in the park from joining their kids running through the course of water jets.

summer splash pad!

i mean.. she's thinking what we were all thinking today #95degrees

Ali and I managed to drag her out of the fun for a twenty-second selfie opportunity, a decision that was apparently eqivalent to asking for her to walk a lap around the planet [huffy puffy!].

the girls! 1st take, nailed it! 

We trekked over to Findlay Market for lunch, which afforded each of us the vendor to satisfy our cravings. Becky's newest initiative, Dirt: Modern Market, is in its soft opening stages, but we were able to check it out. Ali bought some custom jams, while Sydni had her own photo shoot outside.

my little mini market girl 

celebrating dirt! 

After Findlay, we headed home to drop Rob and Sydni, then continued on to REI, in search of Ali's first pair of Chaco's! It would've been a straight shot, but I took a scenic route and Coffee Emporium got in the way, like it does for me on many occasions.

We eventually made it to REI. It wasn't as fruitful as we'd hoped, but long story short, she's all set and Chaco'd up for a good while. 

We did so well on our venturing this afternoon that there was next to no rushing when we arrived back at the house to get Rob & Syd. We set off to the movie theater, where the Minions  3D experience awaited us.

minions 3D! 

We did a post-movie dinner at Logans nearby, and finally circled back tothe homefront to wind down.

Tomorrow it's church with Ali before she heads home, and then back to a brief bit of the reality that is the to-do list around here. 

What a beautiful day! Seeee you tomorrow!

xo | cmd

City Flea & Cincinnati Meanderings

Rob and Dillon resolved early on to head out to the river. I voted to go my own way for the early morning, and took advantage of the semi-dreary day to check out this year's showing of The 513 City Flea. I made it down to Washington Park just as a downpour had made its way out, and was greeted by puddles, a drizzling remnant of the storm and handfuls of Cincinnati-enthusiasts who didn't seem to mind the sloshy condition.

Sunny or not, it was wonderful!

rain or shine! 

Becky rendezvoused with me a short time later, and after another few rounds of the City Flea vendors.

peruvian mochilas and kombucha

scavengers! 

It wasn't long before we took off northbound for REI, where Rob and Dillon met up with us. As it turned out, they'd not even made it off the boat ramp as the rain set in. They U-turned back to the house before joining us. The REI sales is still happening; Rob bought his hammock today!

uh oh... the hammock epidemic continues! 

and some yoga... ;) 

We parted ways with Becky and headed down to Findlay Market, where we grabbed Eli's and showed Dillon around the market grounds. There was a pitstop as well at Rhinegeist, where to our surprise, there was some major renovation well underway!

i'm sorry... say whaaaaaaaat?! 

I can't wait to see this when it's finished.

After Rhinegeist, we made our way back home, where the split decision was made to give the river a second chance. We dropped in and took off towards Ludlow. One of Rob's bosses and his fiance joined us for a couple hours, and then it was back up the river to the ramp.

The skies may not have afforded us the sunshine we were hoping, but it was still a beautiful night to be on the water!

beautiful! 

dillon & rob

We pulled off the river just as the rain started to threaten its return for the night, dried the boat off and made the trip back to the house. The boys wanted to venture back out to OTR, for the usual touring that occurs whenever we have visitors. I opted out of that excursion, and set myself up for a night of absolutely nothing on the couch - which I have to say I have thoroughly enjoyed ;).

The boys will be back sometime in the early hours, but with any luck, I'll be out cold by that time.

Happy Saturday, folks!

xo | cmd

Chacos | City Flea | World Cup | Farm Fresh

Bro, I am TIRED today.
It could be the fact that I stayed up with Nader and Keith well past my usual bedtime, and woke up this morning on my body's workweek alarm setting. Meh.

To combat my grogginess, I opted to do something outside the box.
I'm here to say that, after nearly five years of belligerance, I broke down and replaced my old Chaco's with a brand-spankin' new pair. Thank you, RRT in Milford!

newbies!

They are fantastic! My first order of business post-purchase was a mini hike down by the Little Miami. It was a perfect morning for it all, and despite being tired, I was quickly rejuvenated by my little jaunt.

pretty little morning :)

nature selfie!

It wasn't long before Becky and Mike called; they were heading from Findlay Market over to the 513 City Flea, so of course I joined.

513 city flea, washington park | cincinnati, oh

Our friends at Fab Ferments were of course there, so it was an easy choice to pick up some kombucha along the merchant route.

fab ferments kombucha = deeeeelish.

And on the opposite end of a body cleanse, some grilled cheese from C'est Cheese:

yum!

And on our way out, Becky and I made a stop off at one of the vendors, where I picked up this cute little number:

wooden hair accessories - love!

yay, city flea! :D

After City Flea, it was time for some World Cup Coverage; for that, it was Hap's Pub in Hyde Park. The World Cup is just beginning, so it'll be interesting to see where our good old boys from the U.S. land, and how they play, since Landon Donovan obviously won't be making an on-field appearance this time. GOOD LUCK!

standing room only!

Our last stop of the day was out to Becky's parents on the western side of Cincinnati. It was egg-collecting time, and there were plenty for the taking. Thanks, chickies!

straight from the chicken!

There's nothin quite like farm fresh eggs.

Anyway, it's definitely been an extended day, and I'm ready to do all of nothing else tonight. I'm pretty excited for that (:

xo | cmd



WOrld Cup @ Hap's. 
Home. Relaxed. Did NOTHING rest of night.

OWL You Need Is Love ;)

Two things.

1. I have amazing people in my life, both new and old.

2. I'm pretty sure I'll never stop loving owls, even once the world-wide trend that they are now, has expired. I've always loved them, I love them now, and those amazing people I just mentioned, make sure that I keep getting my fixes, where they're needed (:

That being said, and ironically enough as it is, these are two things I got from two girls with whom I've worked. Both of them are [or were] Express FOC's, for different offices, but equally awesome in their own separate ways.

This is a shot from Ali:


i might attempt to own this. maybe. haha.

&& this, is from Elisa, my new FOC here in Cincinnati, who in just a few short weeks has noticed my affinity for the little hooty creatures [yes, I almost said hooters, and then remembered that 90% of the population would misinterpret that.... ].


owl magnets. italian marble camera coaster. kitty cat bandaid/tape!
so sweet!! thanks, elisa!!

She's pretty sweet. How thoughtful! I love it; the magnets are now up on my board here and the coaster will get its fair share of use, too.

DRUMROLLLLLLLLLLLLLL... for the BEST part of today:


minime!!

Tonight was our first night together in my new place. I can't even begin to tell you the gratifying feeling I had curled up on the couch at the end of the day with her. It felt exactly how it did when things weren't crazy, when we were like this every single day. It felt as though we hadn't skipped a beat, and I can't imagine having a Monday end any other way. This little girl, the reason I do what I do, just finished the sequence of things that I've needed to feel like I'm "home."
Owl You Need Is Love.
.. sure, you need some other stuff in there, too.. but let's face it, that's where it's really at.

My job. My house. My family. My boyfriend. My faith. My daughter.
I'm set (:

xo | cmd

513 City Flea | Findlay Market | Camping



 PRIORITY #1: BREAKFAST!

eggggggggcellent ;)

Ya'll should already know exactly what I made for breakfast this morning. If you don't, well... it's Saturday, and Rob's here, so as tradition is starting to have it, it was the usual slow-scrambled eggs, potatoes and fruit. I realized this is the first real meal I've cooked from scratch in the new place, too. Nothing like great company and homecooked food to start the day.

With breakfast down, we were off towards Market & City Flea.

First stop: Market! We swung by to say hello to Mike & Becky, who were "working," haha. No, I'm kidding. They really do work, hard, too might I add, but they have a blast doing it, and I think that's awesome.

While we were waiting, we managed to, after a few discarded captures, get one of my favorite pictures from the entire weekend...

i'm in love.... with this man.

I absolutely adore that picture, so much so that it's now going on the permanent side roll to the right. Haha. Just sayin. I'm one lucky girl.

Anyway....
Becky was able to break away for a little while and get some vendor prospecting in with us down the road at the 513 City Flea in Washington Park. It was so stinkin' hot outside and the crowd was enormous, so we didn't stay too long, but it was a blast and I'm glad we went! 

513 city flea | washington park | cinci, oh

One reason I really wanted to go after Elisa reminded me about this yesterday:

sara & lauren : sister team of mixiestudio

dpsa 2006 | lauren. sara. corin

Sara & Lauren! It's been a liiiiitle while since I last saw either of these pretty gals, since I've been away for so long.. but long story short: they now have an adorable operation, Mixie Studio. You should check it out if you have some time. It's so. stinkin'. cute. (:

And for the sake of throwbacks to the babydays of DPSA ... haha.. I had to toss that one in there, for the sake of hilarity and how much we've grown since then.

Oh, and Becky bought some Italian marble coasters [*note to self, purchase some of these in July at the next 513!]

I took Rob to Eli's, since I'd promised a trip there. The place as usual was packed, but worth it, and I'm glad we were able to make it out.

We headed back to the house to mellow for a little while.. It's camping time now; we've just finished up pitching tents and looks like we're in for a fun night. I love my friends.

first camping trip together (:

Life is good.

xo | cmd