A BRONZE FRIYAY!

TGIF!

Today I walked into my office and was greeted by all of this, because my office collectively hit a new milestone of Bronze Circle. In my world (Express), that's a big deal, and is indicative of a team that puts in the dirty work. I am surrounded by some incredibly talented people, and we are blessed to have leaders who will go the distance just to say thank you.

happy friday!

And yes, we did. 

fruit and fizzy.. 

Really not a bad way to end the week, at all! I'm so proud to be a part of my team, and thankful every day lately that I'm back in a place where I can fully function, with a team that is right there with me. 

TGIF, ya'll. It's time for me to rest up; tomorrow is going to be a long day ;) 

xo | cms

Plugging In

First, I wanted to start off the day with some color:

hello! (:

I don't often go for the bright pops of color quite like this, but I thought it was fun, and coupled with the chair in my office, I couldn't resist. Spring is here and I was definitely feelin' it today.

I have been on a very gradual transition back into Cincinnati. In the past three weeks that I've been back, I've already had two mini trips back to Illinois, and have been making myself sparse around here, for the immediate time being.

Today I checked two more things off my Return to the 'Nati checklist: link up with a gym and decide how I want to continue with my banking. Well, for the sake of being a 'Nati-an, I'm going to stay local:


fitworks & wright-patt credit union | norwood, oh

Yeah, I took the plunge. I've been wanting to get back into some circuit training for a couple of months now, but with everything that's been going on, I never had time. Then I remembered that I have to make time if I want to see any sort of result [duh], so there ya have it. I'm invested. Haha. Tomorrow I'll jump in with a personal trainer and see just how out of shape I really am these days.

Back in Northside, I paused to take pictures of some of the simple, quirky beauty its residents have to offer. I don't necessarily consider myself a truly ecclectic person, but I always enjoy the manifestation of the more expressive faculties. 

pretty little northside (:

Fun. It may seem tacky to some people, but while I don' tknow that I'd paint a garden onto my car, it's fun to see random things like this speckling the neighborhoods across Northside.

Tonight I found myself back in the company of two of my favorite friends from Cincinnati. It's been a long time since I spent any time with them, but on a random fluke I found myself sitting through the last half of the Pacers-Heat game and half of an AnimalPlanet Mermaid documentary with Lu & Kyle [aka Goldy & Chester]. Lu's adorable girlfriend Ashley and Kyle's brother Chad were there, too. I've missed them, and it didn't hurt my mood to see some old familiar faces.


ky. lu. cori | circa2007

[Has it really been that long?! :( ]
Funny. The edge of transitioning back is starting to wear down some; I will finally move into my new digs effective this weekend, so once that's completed, I'm hoping to wake up feeling a little more "here" than I do now. I've got a great job, great friends who've supported me [literally supported me] through the process, a boyfriend who still puts up with me two states away [love. him.], and of course, the center of my world: the 3-year-old who certainly knows more about US currency than I did when I was 3... ;) ["Look! Waaaashington!!"] Haha.

I'm back in Northside and ready to put Monday to rest. I can't help but feel that slight emptiness that you get when you know you're missing someone but have no choice to power through it. He knows, though, and I know that it'll be okay. I'm just being a baby about it. Becky gets back tomorrow, so I'll have to catch up with her and see how the big Apple treated her on her first trip.

Random idea: Say something nice to a stranger tomorrow, and mean it. (:

G'Nite, friends.

xo | cmd

Buchanan's Mudfest 2013

Today = Buchanan's Mudfest 2013

This one's gonna be better in pictures, than in words. It's been really rainy lately, so there was definitely no shortage of mud for today's mudfest. Hello friends... hello, Buchanan MO.

welcome! :)

a little bit of everyone showed up (:

aww.. couples.. haha

these girls... too much fun...
chelsey. cori. halley. ashley

trucks & people... eh - mud's mud!
.. if you're not dirty... you're doing it wrong!

:)

the aftermath.....

Good news: we only got stuck once.
Bad news: that one time ended being a mud fender bender, and now Rob needs a new fender. Or at least some repair. :( It's a pretty big bummer, but other than that... we managed to escape relatively unscathed, compared to some of the others we saw [one truck flipped over... another broke a ball joint and lost a tire all together... yeesh... ]

We're back now. Rob's not feeling well so he's already passed out... and I... I am hungry? Go figure.

I just took the best shower of my life.... haha.. and now I'm gonna hunt down some food and take a nap.

See ya'll laaater :)

xo | cmd

HAPPY BIIIIIIIRTHDAY ALI!!!!

*SQUEAL!*
It's Ali's birthday.... sooooo....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love love love love... her!

Here's how today at work went, in between actual work: Decorations, cake & our office staff all hanging out together. Oh, and I invited Jay to come up and be a surprise guest. (: 

decorations? duh. turtles, everywhere!!

I have to give major kudos to Andi, who has not only fulfilled the much-needed role of competent staffing consultant for the office, but also brings the talent of cake baking. She's pretty stinkin' amazing, and when we approached her for a second office birthday cake in the form of a turtle, this is what she brought today. And yes, it was even more delicious than it was cute. Belieeeeve it!

andi's creation: another amazing cake!

surprise guest! well, not really a guest so much as that one neighborhood
kid who just randomly shows up at your house to eat all your food and watch
your tv..... lol... hi jay! :p

This may be the first time I've gotten a picture of the entire office, too - at least the most current crew ;) I've gotta say, we're a pretty decent lookin' bunch! I love this work family of mine, and I'm excited to see it growing even though I'll be parting ways here soon. They will always have a special place in my heart and I'll miss them more than you'll ever know..... 

kyle. matt. linda. ali. cori. andi. diana. marc | 2013
express employment professionals | edwardsville/glen carbon il

celebrating my best friend & beautiful coworker.
happy birthday, ali. ♥

Oh, the JOYS of Express office birthdays. I've already promised myself back here for the summer and fall birthdays when they come around; I love this team & I will miss them. It didn't hurt to round out my employed-here birthday participation with that of my best friend.... & that was only the start of the birthday fun (:

We continued the birthday bash after work, with our first stop for sushi at Se7en in Belleville. Duh. I rendezvoused with Ali, Ashley & Scott, Tim and DeShawn, soon followed by Jay & Cindy, and finally Rob. It was a feat, but we somehow managed to go through not one, but TWO boats of sushi, drinks AND mochi. Hey. If you're gonna go, go big. :p What's that, another photo montage, you say? Well, I never thought you'd ask! ...... aaaaaaaand..... GO:

sushi boat... the first of two ... haha

The server thought it'd be wise to let us split the bill.
.... ummmm, sure?

easy, right? : / 

Dinner aside, we tailed over to The Edge in Belleville, with just enough time to catch the last round of laser tag. We pretty much closed the place. Ali, aka "TANK" came out on top, with the rest of us trailing behind. Let the record stand that I definitely did beat Rob. That probably won't ever happen again, so yeah... ;)

love. him. a lot.
...& uhh, check out the photobomb.. haha 

And of course, a semi-socially unawkward group shot.. so rare, I tell you (:

rob. cori. tim. ali. deshawn. jay. cindy

MARIANNE: We missed you, you poor surgery-stricken butterlover. We will have some GOOD fun once your nose is healed up and you're ready to smile again (: Hope you feel better SOOOON!!!

poor marianne. we missed [& love!] youuuu!!

LOVE YOU, ALI. HAPPY, HAAAAAAAAAAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

dear friend, happy birthday  ♥

xo | cmd

Owing Some Odes. Chyeah.

Good Tuesday evening, blogbots :)

Wellll... today was the first work day of a now four-day week, thanks to the holiday. I took a deep breath before walking in the door this morning, and good thing, since it was over in a blinding flash of call-offs, fires to be extinguished, and of course the ever-looming task of weekly payroll. Sidenote: Shortened work weeks are good for many things; payroll is not one of those.

Anywho - towards the end of the day, Joe texted me to see if I'd be up for dinner with our pastor and his wife. Duh. Since we're officially "staff" now, I suppose it would've been rude to decline..... Hah....

JOKE! I was super excited - One, it's our pastor and his wife. The two of them are among the coolest of the cool people we know, and in the realm of admirable humanoids, they are at the top of a very sparse list. Two, whether or not we're dining at their house or out somewhere, they always know how to pick cuisine. As we're still quite the novice pair at navigating around the local dining scene, it's always helpful when the places recommended by other people turn out to be awesome.


pretty lil' macro compliment of google...
[because i know some of you would
call me out on the bacon.. haha]

 Word to the residents of, in, and around Fairview Heights: Olga's Kitchen is a gem. I found it quite endearing based solely on face value because my maternal grandmother's name was Olga. [Remember, I'm adopted, erego only Italian by purchase order ;) ........... some of you will get that later] So we rendezvoused with the Woods at St. Clair Square and quickly found ourselves taking quite the liking to this place. It was one of those clear face-palm moments because I've passed by the place surely a handful of times while at the mall, but never had a reason to stop.

Yeahhhh.. so once we had our fill of snackers and Olga's [menu item.. I'm tellin' you, just get there], we went on mall-walker mode and did some light traversing back and forth across the grounds before we did two trips up/down the glass elevator for Syd, egged on especially by Pastor Ron & Debbie [so clearly grandparents ;)]. All in all a great night, impromptu as it was!

Oh, and speaking of Pastor Ron - we are prolific followers of each others' blogs, and tonight he shared with me the journey of one of his former youth group-ers, a gal just a couple years younger than me, who is in the midst of a repeated bout with cancer. [[While I don't have cancer, I've seen the havoc it can rain on any one person and their families. After heading up the Towerview team for the 2012 Relay for Life, I've gained a deep, earnest appreciation for the ongoing effort of the American Cancer Society, and moreso for the courage behind every individual person who has had to stare cancer in the face. MAJOR kudos doesn't even begin to describe the level of admiration I have for the conquerers :) ]] Soooo.. this girl, from what Pastor Ron told me, recently started a blog, and since that seems to be a thread that we both understand, he recommended I check it out. He seemed to think her candor and style of scribing were similiar to mine, too, which naturally peaked my interest.



remember this? :) | relay for life belleville 2012
the towerview fundraising tire

 So I checked it out.
And I loved it.
Blunt. Honest. Funny.
Don't believe me? -- Check it out for yourself :)
I'll be following these chronicles, for sure.

So...

Today turned out to have some unexpected turns:
Thank you to Pastor Ron & Debbie for the dinner invite, excellent company, and new reading material! ;)

Thanks to Olga's Kitchen for being so fabulously delicious... I'm on to you now..
Thanks to Ashley Brown, the girl with cancer who has decided to laugh in its face rather than succumb to it. I think that's the absolute spirit with which we should approach anything threatening to overcome. That, and pray, of course. :) Fresh perspective? Check.

Over and out, folks.

xo | cmd