DO. THE. THING!

Well this is backdated a few hours, because well.. it just is.

ANYWAY - Look ya'll, it's a NEW year, so that means new things, for everyone! (Apparently today was a busy day; I'll get to that.)

Rewind to Christmas day, when an add popped up on Instagram from a tattoo artist in Cincinnati. That turned into me emailing from the car, and a short string of correspondence that then lead booking an appointment the next week.

Just. DO. THE. THING, right?!

ready to go do the thing! 

And so I did the thing! I emailed him three concept pictures, two of which were pulled out of the Pinterest black hole, and one was of his own work, because I needed his brand of line work and detail to be part of this.

Fast forward to now (well, last night, technically), when I walked into GUTS in Price Hill, where I'd hang out for the next five hours. Oh, and GUTS stands for Get Up Tattoo Society. GUTS :).

goodbye naked arm!

stencil on

FINISHED!

♥♥♥♥

The obvious MVP of the night here was Austin, for giving me the first large tattoo I'll have.. and for having the lightest hand I've ever experienced during a tattoo. The other MVP's were the handful of people who made themselves available to talk me out of my pre-chair nerves and hold conversation with me throughout that 5-hour session: You guys are the best.

But just before 11:30, we wrapped up work.. and Ta-Daaaaa!

phase one is done! 

The fact that I got there at 6pm was most definitely a good thing; I would've been there for 13 hours probably, if I'd been allowed, and my arm would've been wrapped entirely when I walked out. Oh well - gives me a good reason to go back!

While I was there, Britta was in Chicago getting her septum pierced!

septum!

Brandi was getting a bunch of hair cut off...

(she's pretty either way, duh!)

So naturally, I'm now mulling over piercings and drastic haircuts, in addition to the design for the next phase of my sleeve. I'm open to suggestions!

Cheers to all of us and all of you who are doing new things to start this year!

xo | cms

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

Laney's Birthday | Fearfest

There is nothing better for me than to wake up on a Friday to this:

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

^ And I just realized her pj pants read yolo. Good grief, really? *sigh.... oh well. In her case, we'll let that stand for, "you're only little once," and leave it at that. Anyway, with or without stupid phrases on her pants, this little girl made my entire day just by being there when I woke up.

And then.. I realized today is...

LANEY'S BIRTHDAY!!!!!

eeeeiiiii!!!! happy birthday, laney!!!!

I hate when I can't be around to celebrate my friends' birthdays with them.. but this gal knows I love her bunches and will absolutely make a cheers to it the next time we see each other [which, who knows when that will be.. she's in Oklahoma!] Happy, HAPPY... HAPPY birthday wishes, to you, L-Bug!! You deserve the best.. keep making those dreams a reality and being that example of how hard work PAYS OFF! So proud of this girl & can't wait to see her again soooon!

And thennnn.. after work - which let out a half hour early because my bosses are amazing - it was home for a quick change and then off to Mason for a night at King's Island's Fearfest with some of the other Express folks from the other offices.

We had a blaaaast. I am definitely glad I went.

express folk! [sorry this is grainy!]
kate. chris. deb. jess | amber. brandi. cori.

boogity boogity boooo... ;)

And last but definitely not least: Our favorite of the evening, of Chris stuck in his seat at the end of the Drop Tower.. hahaha.. Ohhhh, Chris.... (:

chris... c'mon, we're leaving!

Hahah. Many thanks to my bosses, & the Eastgate owners for toting us all around PKI for [my first adventure ever, visiting] Fearfest!

 

Tomorrow = Soccer & Great Wolf Lodge with Syd & my parents!

Can't waaaaaaaait!

 

xo | cmd

I Have Lovely Coworkers!

I remember [very clearly] the days of sitting at my desk, wondering nearly aloud how in the world I would ever survive my job on a long-term basis. It was my first real job out of college, and it was one of the most.... unique ... experiences of my life. I'll sum it up by saying simply that I learned a lot over those two years about what type of work I really loved, what I didn't love, and that the life to which I'd become accustomed to was actually not rational... or justified... or really even normal, for that matter. That was excellent news for me, considering I wasn't sure that my sanity would withstand that job for much longer than I spent there. Hah. It was an absolute God thing: the timing, the specific situation, and the introduction to the job I have now, with a company purposed to helping people, as opposed to soliticing them for money they don't have for a product they essentially don't need. It's a beautiful feeling, absolutely!!


my first express family | cinci east, 1663!
cori. deb. chris. brandi. jess | circa christmas 2010
miss you guys :)

I additionally believe that a large part of enjoying any job is built around the people with whom you interact on a daily, hourly, consistent basis. Since I started with Express, even back in Cincinnati [hi, 1663!! ♥], I realized that coworkers and bosses as a whole concept are not in fact evil deities employed to complicate my life. I no longer loathed office jobs; in fact I found myself developing a quick and genuine sense of endearment for my job, my company, my coworkers, and my bosses. Work became fluid and fruitfully productive [whaaat??], and for the first time ever, I was proud to say I worked for my company, instead of timid and robotic, like before. Haha.



yay, nancy! happy 1-yr expressaversary! here's to many more ;)

Alllll that being said, I now find myself surrounded by all women and one gentleman in an office that drives me up one wall and down the other at least once a week, but I love it. Even since I transferred in, there've been change after change, slowly but surely pushing us in a forward direction. Today in particular marked the 1-year Expressaversary for the only SC who predates my merging with this office. Congratulations, Nancy!! You definitely have an accomplishment under your belt! We celebrated with some balloons, congratulatory signs, and a gooey butter cake, compliment of Diana. Not a bad way to celebrate, that's for sure :)



shoe envy! itty bitty beauties for
a little lady with a huge heart: meagan!

 Oh, and because I work with some of the trendiest gals this side of the river, I couldn't help myself last night when I made a pitstop off at Target. My original intention was to exchange a damaged item I'd bought last week, but I must've blacked out momentarily; when I came to, I had plucked up an impassible pair of cork wedges on clearance, and another equally-adorable pair of pumps in a much smaller, much more Meagan-appropriate size. I couldn't help it; I figured that even though they were clearly too small for my collection, someone needed to own them! I'm still suffering from mild shoe envy, but hey, she sported them today once I gave them to her, and from that I'm satisfied. Hah.

My coworkers are the best. :) It's definitely gonna be a great year.

Happy mid-week to you, and all of YOUR coworkers!!

xo | cmd