Festival of Lights!

Tis the season.... for LIGHTS!

I thought to really dig into the holiday spirit, it would be fun to take Sydni out to the zoo for the annual Festival of Lights. It was chilly out, but we bundled up and headed down to join a happy crowd meandering their way through the zoo's gorgeous display of twinkling lights and exhibits.  

hello, zoo lights! 

The indoor displays were open for everyone to see, and out of all the wonders of the insect house, reptile house and manatee tank, Sydni decided this guy was her favorite:

winner winner, rodent dinner..... 

We strolled, we took in the light displays, and even took a pitstop for some photo ops, at Sydni's bidding.

love these two to the moon & back! 

It was finally time to go, and after picking out a tiger laser-light sword [aka, Sydni's ninja sword], we bid adieu one last time to the towering Christmas tree and headed out.

♥♥♥♥♥♥

Brrrr!
Stay warm out there friends, and Merry [early] Christmas!!

xo | cmd

Tunes & Blooms: The Finale

Today was one of those days at work; for the most part, everything on our plates usually runs smoothly. However, when there is a problem, it's usually a pretty big one, and today was no exception to that. I was challenged today.. really challenged to comprehend the breaking point that pushes some people to act so violently in an unprovoked situation. I now have an employee with a broken wrist because of the erratic outrage of a random person. It makes me furious to think about it, still.. but our employee is handling it better than I probably, and he's going to be okay. Right now, that's all that matters.

In other news, Rob and I both needed a bit of a breather, so we joined Mike & Becky at the last round of Tumes & Blooms at the zoo. We've only gone to one other one so far, but wanted to make it out for one last hoo-rah.

There of course were the tunes:


bluegrass @ tunes & blooms!

There were friends... 

hi, friends! 

love love love 'em.

... there were flowers...

beautiful!

.. and of course, there were friends and flowers!

goofball.

Oh! And there's a new baby at the zoo! We caught a tiny peek of little [by little, I mean 5'11" tall and 150 some lbs..] Nasha's head while we were there; she was in the giraffe den nestled up against a far wall, so no full shots today. I did however find a video of her from TWO days ago when she was born!

Yay, baby animals! (:
We wrapped up at T&B when our stomachs started growling, and made a getaway to Comet in Northside for dinner. Tofu quesadilla it was, and of course a selfie... because... well, because lumberjack hats and PBR. That's why.

duh. (:

I'm totally shameless about that hat. Yes, it's quite the furry head accessory, but we took the bike out tonight and I'll give ya one guess as to whose head wasn't cold on the trips to and from.. E|:)

Happy Thursday, blogbots!!

xo | cmd

Tunes & Blooms @ The Cincinnati Zoo

The fact that it was an absolutely GORGEOUS day outside today made it severely difficult to sit still at my desk. That's a good thing. I love the phase between Winter and Spring when the temperatures start to soar; the contrast to snow and slush make the days just that much more desirable.

Becky asked us earlier this week if we'd be interested in joining them for Tunes & Blooms at the zoo tonight, and we had tentatively agreed to attend. I hadn't been to one of these before, and frankly couldn't tell you the last time I'd been to the Cinci zoo. We joined Becky, Mike and some of their friends for a couple hours of great music, even greater company and an all around awesome, relaxing evening outdoors at the zoo.
 
Sydni of course wanted to get her face painted, so I caved and spent the rest of the night on the arm of the most beautifully-decorated little girl in the place. Between our little sidewalk spot and the bathroom, she must've received no less than fifteen compliments on her pretty face, which put a smile on it for the better part of the time we were there (: !

welcome to the zoo for tunes & blooms!

face painting!

my pretty little butterfly

best date in the place

& becky!

syd loves miss becky (:

she wanted to get down and listen to music.. haha

shiny & the spoon

little family jam time ♥♥♥

underneath the kid pile is becky.. somewhere.. haha

dancing with my mini

good night!

This is why I love my city. (:
There is always something to do, be it an expo, community event, concert, market or whatever else that pops up on the schedule. I even got Rob to admit that tonight was awesome, in spite of early hesitations that it'd be more hassle than it was worth. Cincinnati is definitely a place to explore!

Plus, tomorrow's FRIDAY! That can make any Thursday a good time ;)
G'Nite!

xo | cmd