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

Sunday Fun Day in ChiTown USA...

I momentarily forgot where I was again this morning when I opened my eyes, but was immediately reminded that the city awaited us on the other side of the window, 31 stories below:

sunday in the chicago atmosphere

Departure mornings are always a test of initiative, memory, checklisting, communication and the ability to play travel tetris with your luggage, pillows, etc. so you can haul it all in one trip without the bellboy's help. At least that's how it was for us this morning, trying to drag ourselves out of bed, put ourselves together to look mildly human, pack all of our things in a makeshift sense of semblence and then leave the hotel room without leaving anything... behind.

It's a miracle we remembered where the car was parked.

As challenging as the check out process can be, the drive up to Southport Ave. was the complete opposite:

blue skies cruise, a marina and miles of happy people enjoying the day! 

Speaking of happy people, I think we were ALL happy when Britta descended from her apartment a few blocks away to join us for brunch at Southport & Irving! I'd told her I'd love to see her while we were in the city, but I really didn't expect her to come dressed just like Ali.. haha. 

No seriously, I can confidently say that Britta and I hold the record for the shortest amount of time taken for two strangers to become instant friends, but Ali and Britta just came in a close 2nd. I mean the two of them practically dressed like twins, without even a chance to plan it.  

instafriends! 

french toast, ya'll..
southport & irving | chicago, il 

We ate, we laughed, and we snapchatted. Ali & Damanji are officially SC Assassins in my book; they both managed to get some fantastically troll-esque captures of me. Damanji took the liberties of drafting a side-by-side comparison, and I've gotta say, he's not wrong...

grampy troll... and cori. :0|

more snappy fun.. these are reactions to some of the questions our table
received in the span of the hour we were there.. 

After Southport, we traveled just around the riverbend! CORNER.. to GingerSnap; it's a place Ali found online and committed us to because it says Ginger, and because she is the lens behind GingerSnap Photography. So it makes sense. Right? Right.

it's like the place was made for her! 

reunited!! 

In case you missed what I said about Britta & Ali dressing up like twins, there's this nicely posed sorority picture as proof: 

twinsies! 

Damanji & I have been pretending all weekend that we're as hipster as we feel, so we seized this opportunity to do something hipsterish, in the doorways [to the soul] on this street, illuminated by the light of a thousand serenading high-efficiency lightbulbs. Or something. 

you look so.... pensive

Q: How many hipsters does it even take to change a lightbulb?
A: It's a number you probably haven't heard of yet...

deep in thought about life, the universe, and probably donuts.... 

Q: How many kale smoothies did I drink before this picture? 

A: I'll build you the answer out of upcycled pallets. Stay tuned.

yayyy for friends! ♥♥

We finally said our see-ya-later's to Britta, and loaded up for the trip back to Naperville. From there, it was quick hello's and farewell's to the family,l and then Damanji and I were back in our separate cars, bound respectively for STL & Cinci. 

At least it was as beautiful day for a drive! 

don't skip these, kids... don't skip these. 

almost there :) 

they're much prettier in the daytime! 

Happy birthday, Ali... I hope you had the best birthday yet, and I miss the fun already! It was such a fun weekend meeting some new faces and reuniting with the familiar ones! 

See you on the flipside, blogbots..

xo | cmd

Ali's 25th, Day 2: Tattoos & Other Chicagoland Things

Waking up in the rises above Chicago really wasn't a bad way to start the morning:

good morning, chicago  ♥

Our Saturday adventuring started with a brunch at The Chicken Shop, this adorable 2nd floor cafe in the Fulton Market District:

get outta here, that's adorable. 

georgia peach rooibos + chicken&waffles
the chicken shop | chicago, il

Nom nom NOM. 

Across the street from our brunch place was this: 

next time! 

We were cutting it close on time, so we didn't get to stop in, but it - along with about 400 other places - are on the bucket list for next time. 

The big ticket item on our agenda today was the pitstop at Dream City! 

dream city | chicago, il 

Part of my birthday present to Ali was getting a tattoo together, one of the things we've surprisingly not done yet. We agreed on the design, and the rest was up to the artists at DC Tattoos. Thanks to Leo the steady-handed artist, it was the quickest tattoo session I've ever been in, and in no time we were done! :)  

ali on the left, cori on the right 

thank you, leo! 

We headed back to the hotel afterwards, where the pictures of tattoos continued into the afternoon/evening, even as we were getting ready for the rest of the night: 

"God is greater than the mountains & the valleys" 

twin tattoos... and that stupid strand of my hair the just. never. listens! 

ali's new ink

damanji is clearly enjoying this moment.. haha

So the rest of the night was laid out to us in the form of The Apartment, which is not an actual apartment, but rather an upper level clubhouse of cool people, because I mean.. we were there, right? [insert post-corny joke rimshot here...]

ANYWAY, we had a handful of Chicagoland friends out for the night as well, which made for a fun night of music, spirits, dancing and of course, Snapchat: 

"social anxiety face." 

look at all the snapchats i stole from ali! 

chicago friends!

snapchataholism

blue lights flatter nobody... obviously. 

happy people... happy birthday, ali!

And then, what happens to be my favorite picture of today, was a random photo opp in the hotel elevator on the way home:

31st floor, please!

And we owned our night. Ali, I hope your birthday weekend has been everything you've hoped for, and then some. We love you to the moon & back!

Tomorrow we leave the city behind, and head back home. *Yawn. Can't wait [dull face]. Haha. 

G'Nite! 

xo | cmd

ALI TURNS TWENTY FIVE, FINALLY!

I've been trying to turn Ali 25 for 3 years now.
[this entry is post dated.... ]
I don't know why it always seemed fitting to wish her a Happy 25th, on her 22nd, 23rd and 24th, but this year I can say it legitimately. Twenty-five for the win!

The birthday weekend started yesterday, when Damanji and I arrived in from the STL & Cinci Metros, respectively. Today was the real start of our Chicagoland weekend to celebrate one of our best friends.

1 | BREAKFAST! 
.: Eggs. We went to Eggs. No, seriously, the place is called [just] Eggs. It sounds like a broken sentence, but that's the name and that's the place and it was fun. I don't, however, recommend that you order the Georgia Peach Crepe, unless you like the combination of sourdough, cottage cheese and canned peaches... warm... together. Otherwise, it was definitely a fresh little vibe and I'd go back and try something else on the rather extensive menu.

metiiiculously unfolding the carry out bag
#militarybagfolding ;) 

2| NAPERVILLE
.: Ali's job as a live-in nanny has her living here, so she's become acquainted with several of the local shopping spots, etc. etc.

on our way! 

The highlights of this outing include but are most definitely not limited to:
DAVIDsTEA. Who do I talk to about getting one - or more - of these in Cincinnati, like.. yesterday?! Sorry, but.. Teavana, who? Cincinnati, you need a DAVIDsTEA, and that is that.

davids tea | naperville, il
so. much. yesssss. 

yesssssss! 

We hit the NVille outlets, as well; the birthday girl was loaded down with giftcards to use, and the plunder was bountiful: Sephora, Kate Spade and Pac Sun on the top hit list. We even managed to spot an interesting story parked in the lot outside: 

shark attack?

3 | NANNY LIFE
.: We stopped at Ali's "house" after our downtown Naperville tour, where she lives as a nanny. It should come as no surprise that it's practically a castle in a neighborhood of other castles, that has heated floors, awesome decor, a retractable cover and a fluffy dog named Lola:

oh ya know... 

if this was my house, i'd live in this room alone. 

ya'll already know.. where there's a dog, there's cori.
#sheissofluffffyyyyyyy

4 | BUBBLE TEA
.: This makes the list because I haven't had bubble tea since I lived in Illinois, which, if you've been counting, was over 3 years ago. I think the universe was savvy to this fact as I ordered [and paid for] one "taro with lychee," but received a taro and a lychee. Was I mad about this? No. Was I probably over-hydrated? Yes.

twofer.. and asian for the win! 

5 | CHICAGO! 
.: After our adventures in Naperville, we made our weekend ascent into Chicago, where the city lay waiting for 3 more tourists to take advantage of all is has to offer within a 3-day span. We checked into the hotel, and within half an hour, Ali's friend Lindsay rendezvoused with us to start the city celebration.

'ello, chi!! 

Our first stop: Happy hour at Howells & Hood!

quick stop before dinner! 

calamari.. yes please... 

The meat of the evening was dinner at Bar Siena, where our reservation awaited us. We changed, put on our evening faces and made our way out to an incredible dinner to thank Ali's parents for her existence :).

happy 25th birthday, beautiful friend! 

damanji! 

Things on the menu that we ordered:
Kale & cranberry salad
Roasted peppers
Corn ravioli
BAKED POTATO SOUP + MAC&CHEESE: 

leave me alone i need a moment....... *drool. 

cori. ali. lindsay. shawn.
♥♥♥♥

6 | CHICAGO AFTER HOURS :)
.: Ali only turns 25 once, at least legitimately... so naturally it was off in search of some spirited fun. We're in Chicago, so it wasn't hard. Thanks to Lindsay's guidance, Uber and a stellar tender at HVAC, we made the evening shine in special honor of Ali!

stop #1

stop #2

stop #3, with candid faces.. kinda ♥

A lot more of the pictures I have from tonight are blurry... but I suppose that's bound to happen when standing still is less fun than dancing until your feet want to remove themselves from your body entirely [current mood]. 

Good night, Chicago. You're beautiful. See you tomorrow! 

xo | cmd