That's a WRAP

Ya know, for a short week, this one was pretty stuffed!

Today was Dave's last day as active franchise owner for my office. It's a bittersweet thing to recognize, given the near two years of ebb-and-flow progression and digression that has led us to this point. My heart is happy to see him step into full retirement, and to know that our business will no longer serve as an added distraction to the things he hopes to accomplish from here on out. I do have some admitted sadness to see him go; there are so many things about Dave that we have come to love, and he has certainly been a part of our small office family. 

Dave, we wish you the best in your next ventures. Thank you for all that you've given us through your LLC and of course, for lunch today! What an excellent way to celebrate YOU! 

elisa with the mexican guac
cori with the thai chicken
..... typical 

It seemed as though our final farewell was far less ceremonial than we'd originally envisioned, but the time came and went, and that was that. It was a typical Friday on all other cylinders, with the weekend finally in our hands. 

pop... pop.. pop pop pop popppp....

Dinner plans took a spontaneous turn, and we found ourselves with bellies full at Los Cazadores. We enjoyed our casual family dinner date before heading back here to enjoy an otherwise uneventful night with each other :).

Here's to the weekend! 

xo | cmd

Visitors & TeePees & MOVIES!

Happy Friday, ya'll!

Today was a gorgeous day: The sun was out, people seemed happy and we all knew we were within earshot of the weekend all day. On top of that, I had the pleasure of trying out Cheapside Cafe for the first time with Elisa on lunch!

Carri took the day off; her daughter & daughter's boyfriend drove in for a visit, so Elisa and I made the best of Friday by making sure to highlight the best part of it: Friday lunch!

Back at the office, Carri and her clan stopped by; her daughter Katelyn's boyfriend happens to be Nick Gaines, one of the pro-am SX riders we saw in Indy. He'd ended up with a broken arm during that race, and spent his short visit in our office eyeing the auto parts store in our parking lot, in hopes that he could find some device to remove his cast that day.

The sun stayed out all day, paving a clear path for continued positivity as the work day and week came to a close. The good times would continue after work, too! We'd promised Sydni a date night at the movies, with a specific flick in mind: HOME!

adorable movie!! 

Guys. I've come to the realization that basically all of the movies I want to see... are animated. This one was awesome. If you think Jim Parsons is funny on The Big Bang Theory, wait until you see his voice and Sheldon-esque mannerisms embodied in a cute little purple alien.. haha.

We loved it.

And now we're home, it's late, and bedtime is beckoning! TGIF!
G'Nite, blogbots :)

xo | cmd

The "Last Lunch" [For NOW, That Is...]

Just.. in.. case you've found yourself here, on my blog for the first time, I'll catch you up to speed in just a few words:

I'm leaving TOMORROW for a week-long missions trip. To Panama. 

It's only one week, yes, but this is far from a little venture. There is a lot ahead of us over the next seven days, and while I'm excited, I'm still human, and have struggled on and off for the past couple of weeks with the anticipation, inklings of worry and doubt that I've deliberately had to focus to dismiss. Not suppress, but completely dismiss. With what we'll be doing, there is no room for the human hesitations to cloud the beautiful work that is in store. 

Today was a fair wrap-up to a week that's been rightfully challenging. There is more truth than imaginable that when we intentionally set out to pursue a course of sharing Christ with the world, the opposing forces retaliate in full force to try and derail us. To demotivate and discourage. To cripple, tarnish and destroy our work, and to strip us of our resolve. It has never been more clearly evident of that happening than the past two weeks. 

That being said, I am here after a day of winding down and last-minute preparation for my team at work, and at home, too. During the day, Elisa, Carri and I finally made it over to Elisa's stomping grounds for our traditional Friday lunch - J. Alexander's! A veggie burger with some orzo & rice certainly isn't a bad "last lunch" before a week of Cliff Bars and free-range mountain fare. :) 

yummmm! 

^ Nom nom nom NOM. Elisa, I really don't know how you work there and don't weigh 500 pounds. Honestly. Haha. :) 

I met my parents and Sydni back on the homefront, where Mom [sidenote: if you know my mom, you know she comes bearing food like.... everywhere. I mean... yeah, everywhere] had dinner plans in the works. We went through the usual formalities of our visits: Pictures, catching up on the past several weeks in which we haven't seen each other, and sharing the most recent news from both sides. I so under-express how much I truly appreciate my parents, and how I hope to model them more and more as I continue to mature into my own life. Syd is headed to spend her Spring Break next week with them; I'm jealous of that time, but know they'll both have a blast! 

So her I am: On my couch in a silent house. Rob's taken off with the pups to see his family and friends for a couple days; my parents and Sydni left a few hours ago and I've circled out and back to finish the last two errands on the list. 

If you came here, and you're reading this sometime while I'm away in Panama, please take a quick moment to pray for my team. Please pray that we'll be kept safe in our travels throughout the week, that our stomachs will agree with the sudden change in diets ;) and that the creatures and critters of the mountains understand we're there as friends.. haha. All of those things would be great, but more and most importantly, please pray that our audience is not only open ears, but open minds and receptive hearts. Please pray that we are able to contribute in tangible ways to the furthering of their church community, already in the making well before any of us committed to this trip. 

Please pray for us. In all arenas of this next week: physically, emotionally and of course spiritually. I know that I can confidently speak on behalf of myself and my entire team when I say that the amount of support we've received is overwhelming. Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU all for the love, donations and prayer you've sent our way over the past several weeks. 

Rob & Sydni, this week will fly by & I'll see you both soon. My energy is devoted to this trip, but you are both my home and I already look forward to coming home to you two. ♥

This girl... is out. 

See ya in a week, tech world :).

Love, Honor & BLESSINGS!

xo | cmd

Glass Is BACK!

We forgot to pick these up over the weekend, so on a short break today I ran down to Brazee Street Studios and picked up THESE!

I love them! I'm not entirely sure what purpose mine is going to serve, but it's still pretty, and I think it's pretty cool how this is done. Regardless of where these little projects end up, I am sure that we'll have plenty of future arts & crafts expeditions!

In other notes, I found this on my TimeHop today, and really, it was just too good not to share. I can't believe it's already been 1 year! Mare, I miss & love you, friend.. and I'll see you SOON! 

Have a beautiful week, blogbots!

xo | cmd

Grown-Up Calamity Days? Nope. :/

Guess who got all dressed up today, and then had nowhere to go?

rub it in.. just ruuuub it in, kiddo.. haha

It was a cold one today. When it's this cold, the kiddos don't go to school. I'm know I'm not the only one who remembers this happening in my childhood just about ... NEVER.

Guess who got to spend a large part of her afternoon traipsing through the remnants of this beautiful weather? [Although said she didn't actually mind it.... ]

i love my job! ♥  

With the snow overflowing out of my wheel wells [& just about everywhere else in the city], I voted for a change of pace for the evening; instead of bundling up, I went a few layers lighter for a quick circuit at the gym with Rob beforewe decided on dinner. The snow had set in heavy by the time we wrapped up at the gym, so at the last minute it was decided that we'd stop somewhere on the way home:

nom nom nom

Phew.
It's still snowing! I imagine this will be fun in the morning, so I'm calling it a night for now.. Be SAFE out there, blogbots!!

xo | cmd

Glass & Games

I'm in group-creativity heaven.. haha.

So a month or so back, I'd coordinated with Elisa to have a surprise outing for Carri's birthday; that was this past Thursday. Likewise, I did the same with Carri to plan out a little something for Elisa's birthday, and that was today!

* Sidenote, I am a terrible surprise-keeper. I cannot express how happy I am to not have to constantly monitor what I say between the two of them; keeping ONE secret hushed is a struggle for me.. don't ask me how I managed to keep TWO buttoned up for nearly a month now... haha.

I met Carri at our office, where we were originally going to meet Elisa... plans took a turn when Elisa called saying she'd lost track of time at her apartment [the poor thing was under the weather today and also trying to move out of her apartment this weekend..]. We traveled there to get her, which nearly didn't happen amidst the chaos & stress she had in a move-out deadline. We eventually coerced her into coming with us, and were all grateful that it worked out that way.

Off to Brazee Street Studios we went! For anyone who didn't know about this place - myself included before 4 weeks ago - it's a glass studio that offers material and finished product sale, classes and private events! It's tucked into a little corner on a side street in Oakley, which was clearly off my radar, but is very clearly there now.

We'll be able to pick these projects up next Saturday, once they're double-fired, cooled & whatever else happens to them between now and then. Stay tuned & I'll have the finished products up.. eventually. Hah :)

Glass plate making is taxing work [ok, well...] so afterwards it was a no-brainer that lunch was a priority. We decided to stay close, and settled on Blue Elephant for some Thai food. With our bellies full, we made one final stop at Coffee Emporium.

They day show ended with dropping Elisa back at her house and then stopping at the office to bid adieu to Carri until Monday. I headed back home to catch up with Rob. We lounged around for a bit before a last minute decision to head out to Jessica's for a few hours of winding-down time. I can't imagine if we'd tried to actually go and do anything tonight.

game night with these guys! 

Man, I'm getting old ;)
Oh well..

xo | cmd 

Open House & Painting!

So yesterday, I was too caught up in sharing my excitement over Kalyn's birthday to touch on the fact that Carri and I left the office around 2 am today, after an all-nighter preparing for our office open house. Yeah... that was today.

I have to extend a huge note of gratitude to Rob, for coming along as well to assist in the late-night set-up of our space for today. Between hanging streamer's from the ceiling, posting all necessary signage, cleaning the cabinets and ensuring that all the necessary amenities were in their rightful places, it was an effort we had underestimated, and therefore were left at the last minute to accomplish. 

So to say that Carri and I were dragging a bit today was pretty fair. I think we did pretty good up until the early afternoon, when the flow of traffic finally started to slow down, and the day showed signs of ending. There was a lag period of a couple hours between the meat of today and its end, but that wasn't all there would be to it. 

cori. carri. elisa. 

 

Whew! MANY thanks to all who attended today's open house and proved our hard work's worth! It was a huge undertaking, but it was a success in the books and we all had a great time. Thanks again!

A while back, Elisa and I had arranged a surprise for Carri's birthday. We weren't initially certain what to do, but an ad on Groupon caught my eye one day for a Paint Night, and there really wasn't a second thought to it. We signed up for it, and scheduled it for tonight [originally, our open house was scheduled for yesterday, but schedules have a way of challenging us, amiright?]

So we closed up our office and made our way just up the road to Rookwood, where the class was set up in the back room of the Rookwood Pub. 

Ummm... WHY haven't I done this with friends before?! I am no artist, at least not visually the way my mom, sister & several friends are [no, I am much more successful at expression via literary & needle-based crafts.. haha]. It didn't matter, because the class was purposed as a relaxing outlet, with plenty of room for individual interpretation. Love, love, love. 

Well, that being said, the day is actually over [entirely] now, and there is a bed calling my name.

It's more my body screaming to go to the bed, than the bed calling me, but either way, that'll do for tonight. Thank Heavens tomorrow is Friday!! 

xo | cmd

Happy Birthday, Elisa!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ELISA!!!!

[borrowed fb photo, mandy paige photography] 

Happy, HAPPY Birthday to my fabulous co-worker! [I freakin' love birthdays..]

In true my-Express-office fashion, Carri and I collaborated our efforts to celebrate Elisa today:

our little birthday spread!  

A few things about Elisa that I've learned in our two years now working together:
1. She loves cats [yay!]
2. She loves yoga [double yay!]
3. She loves coffee [need I continue, really?]
4. She loves local shopping AND eating as much as I do [& emphasis on eating, because yes.]
5. She loves artsy fartsy things, too [quintuple yyyyay!]

So all of those things [& then some] being said, we did what we could to offset the fact that she had to spend her actual birthday mostly at work. :)

First things first, her cards:

Mine:

meow!

Carri's:

namaste... 

Next on the list back when we were planning: CAT THINGS! Better than that, EDIBLE Cat Things:

^^ Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU again to Allie @ Tu-Tu Sweet for creating exactly what I envisioned for these fun little guys! They [as they always are with Allie] were PERFECT PURRRFECT!

Cats. Yoga. CHECK. 

To knock out the Coffee AND Local Shopping part, I went with this:

french press + local shopping = win!
coffee emporium | cincinnati, oh

Yiiieee!!! ♥

What else did I say she liked? Oh, yeahyeah - artsy fartsy things! Carri knocked this one out of the park with her gift:

is a-w-e-s-o-m-e!

I weighed in with what I could on the note of artsy fartsy things, because also [not on the above-mentioned list] I know she also shares my affinity for quirky socks. So artsy deco on socks is pretty much a given.

cozy toes!!! 

The birthday girl herself!!

haha yeahhh! 

Overall, I think we did pretty good ;)

happy birthdayyyyyyy!!! meow!

Happy, HAPPY birthday to one of my favorite working girls [+ extra birthday shout-out to her real life twin brother, Eric!], a kindred spirit in many ways and an all around amazingly down-to-earth person. Cheers to you for the next year & everything in it!

"work yoga twins" 

OH, and there's a follow up to this that will be taking place next weekend.. so stay tuned for that :)

YAY, BIRTHDAYS!!!! 

xo | cmd

Happy Birthday, Jessica! | Pre-Valentines Valentine

Ya'll know me; I LOVE birthdays.

We're heading south to Red River Gorge tomorrow to celebrate this gal's 30th, but today is her actual birthday, and I hope it was phenomenal! She's one of my "newer" friends [thanks, Cassie & Shayne!], and I'm so grateful we connected.. because she's a flippin' blast.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JESSICA!!! 

jessica! happy birthday!!

At work, we had our own mini version of Galentine's Day: Elisa, Carri and I ventured out of the office for lunch and found ourselves at Wild Ginger. We tagged this as Elisa's early birthday lunch as well, and that was that!

sushi lunch with the ladies - early birthday lunch for elisa! ;) 

Back at the office, I rounded out the week by completing a project that's been on my plate for... since we opened, pretty much. It's amazing how difficult climbing up and down a ladder can be when you're wearing heeled boots. I made it through with no crashes, but I absolutely do not recommend this.

workers comp in the making ;)
[jk. jk. JK.] 

So TGIF! With Valentine's Day approaching tomorrow, Rob & I were planning to celebrate everything tomorrow when we are in the Gorge for Jessica's birthday. What I didn't expect to see when I returned home was this!

he knows i'm not a flower kinda girl...
... unless i can eat them. he's a keeper!! 

We also opted to head out for dinner, and settled on Buca Di Beppo. It was a spur-of-the-moment decision, like many of our choices are, but the food was delicious and for his first time being there, he really enjoyed it.

garlic bread... just the tip of the iceberg..... nom nom nom!

Happy birthday again to you, Jessica.. and happy early Valentine's to the rest of you!

TGIF!

xo | cmd

Pre-Birthday Birthday : Yay, Carri!!

Well, her birthday isn't until tomorrow, but that obviously meant we had to celebrate it TODAY! 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CARRI!!! 

yayyy!! 

If you know me, then you know I love birthdays. I love other people's birthdays more than my own, which is weird.

happy birthday, girl! 

For lunch, we voted for Carri to take her down to the OTR food staple, Taste of Belgium. If you know anything about me, you know that that is one of my favorite places in this city. If you don't know me, well... you should look into visiting Taste of Belgium the next time you find yourself in Cincinnati [& I think now in Columbus, too??]. It's... amazing.

chicken + waffles = on. point. 

Perfect experience, as usual, and made even more fun by the fact that Carri had never been before today. She hasn't explored much of the OTR scene at all; we decided over our three plates of C&W today that for Elisa's birthday, we would do The Eagle, just down the street. We'll see if that holds true, but knowing us and our shared affinity for food, it will ;)

A couple of Carri's friends are in a band: Eclipse The Movement. She invited us all down to the newly-renovated Woodward Theater [YOU GUYS. I don't know if I'm the only one that preferred the center staircase of the old theater, but eh. The renovation is still gorgeous..].

woodward theater | cincinnati, oh

We at first hadn't made any concrete plans to oblige, but ended up deciding it would be the perfect follow-up to dinner at yes.. The Eagle [I'm a fatty.. dontcha dare judge..]. Rob & I wrapped up eating with just enough time to jog through the chilly air to The Woodward and join Carri, Elisa & her roommate and a fun crowd of others to watch a few bands play.


Definitely a fun little outing.. :)  

my date.. he's kinda cool ;) 

Happy [1 day early] Birthday, Carri!

Thanks again for the invite out tonight, & make it a great day tomorrow!!

xo | cmd 

Friday FUN :)

I spent some money today.... but I think it's justified, right?

it's... warm! 

I've needed a new coat for a while now, and it didn't hurt that they were all on sale. Because, let's face it.. Full-priced retail & I have never really been friends. ;)

Oh, and I picked up one of these as an early bday treat for Elisa:

happy early birthday, elisa!! :) 

Rob and I took advantage of it being Friday night, and went to see this:

two thumbs up! 

^^ Oh, and let's all talk about how REBEL WILSON is in this?! She.. is.. always.. hilarious. #DateNightSuccess!

No complaints here! AND...

♥

^ Right you ARE, little dog! TGIF!

xo | cmd