What Year Is It?!

I had a very mixed response to a lot of what I saw today.. haha.

First things first, we are all aware of the recently-plummeted gas prices. I've seen post after post of my friends fueling up for pennies in comparison to what was nearly $4 per gallon just a month back. Per gallon prices of under $1 have been spotted in several places, and while I didn't manage that, I can't say I'll complain at all about the $1.57 I paid today. I'm in college all over again!

is it 2003? i'll take it! 

On to the rest of the day: Our business' subject matter is considerably slow at this point in the year; most of our key decision-makers are nowhere to be found within 2 days of the new year, which left us with a bit more flexibility with our lunch hour than is typically afforded. We took advantage of it as a unit; Carri, Elisa and I made our way down to Findlay Market, a short trip during which we learned Carri's never actually ever been [until today!] to Findlay.

We gladly cured that ;).
And while we were there eating, we spotted a rather spectacular doppelganger!

and now, it's 1950?
i'm wholly convinced mr. einstein was in the building.

I'm telling you, I don't believe I've ever seen such an uncanny resemblance..

amiright?!

So we ate lunch and chatted some with Becky; Carri got her first full experience of the awesomeness that is Findlay Market, and we headed back to the office to wrap everything up. Today was the last day that we'd all convene this year [wild thought!], so with an extra pep in our steps, we tied up the loose ends and bid our office adieu until 2015.

At home, Rob and I headed out to pick up some last minute things for our trip to Illinois, made a pitstop at Jungle Jim's and eventually landed at Fuji for dinner.

chicken katsu, sushi & rice
fuji steakhouse | cincinnati, oh

^ Dinner brought me full circle back to the present, here in 2014, which we'll leave behind in Cincinnati and return "next year." Tomorrow's going to be a jam-packed day, so for now it's off to get a head start on the sleep I won't be getting tomorrow night, haha :)

G'Nite!

xo | cmd

WHAT.. A .. WEDNESDAY

Today started off with a 4-hour commute to work.
That's right, FOUR... HOURS.

I'm totally accustomed to a lengthy commute whenever I take Sydni out to Milford before heading to the office, but today was an entirely different story.

This... a 5-car accident on the Beechmont Levee, was to blame for the severing of a major commuting artery between basically two sides of Cincinnati:

borrowed this from the cincinnati enquirer
photog: liz dufour

^ I didn't know exactly what had happened or see any of the pictures until I got to work.... at 10:30.

There's nothing like an extended stop-and-go drive to make someone crazy, especially when it's in Cincinnati, where the traffic already flirts with the line of insanity when it comes to commute congestion. I left my house at 6:30, like usual, to drop Sydni off in Milford.

7:25 am.

First, I thought it was an unusually-slow advancement through a routine light that does lag, but not like it did today. Every 30 seconds showed another driver doing a 5-point turn in the middle of the road to turn back and find an alternate route. But not us... we're gonna brave it.

ummm....

Crap. Those flares advised us all that not only was our on-ramp closed, but that it was proooobably going to be a long trip back around. The cars coming the other way weren't doing much coming at all.. they were mostly just sitting as we inched on past.

squad car lights

So we followed each other back onto eastbound Beechmont, which, mind you is the exact direction from which I had originally came about an hour and 15 minutes earlier by this point. Squad cars with flashing lights and sirens driving down the medians never really mean good things.

bumper to bumper :(

And back on up the hill, which by this time in the morning [8:25 or so] gave a discouraging glimpse of all the traffic that was clearly headed in the wrong direction.

I decided to share my confusion with my phone's camera:

So long story short [and I do mean long], after using an entire quarter tank of gas in touch-and-go traffic for the next TWO hours of our lives, through stoplights that had been manually disabled and replaced with cops directing traffic, I finally got to work.

The way home was an entirely different, barren in comparison story.
fafa
There was also a much better view (:

gorgeous!

= HAPPPPPYYYY ME (:

selfie joy : no 4-hour commute!!

There are worse things.
And there are BETTER things!
Liiiiiike.. Becky texting me asking to see us tonight! (:
[Sushi it was!]

nom nom nommmmm

Of course, the fish who were not part of the meal had a special admirer, too:

her courtesy half-smile, because
mommy, the fish want to play with me!

Life's good, yeah?
... Yeah (: (: (:

xo | cmd

Snowy Sushi Run

This weather has been something. The Farmer's Almanac this year didn't lie in predicting harsh conditions this winter. We had planned yesterday to go out for a sushi night with Becky, but after watching the sleet come down in waves and settle over everything, we all voted it an unsafe venture and rescheduled. She wasn't available tonight, either, so Rob & I hopped up into the diesel and made a break for Fuji over in Eastgate. 

goooood call!

Yyyyum. It's been ages it seems since the last time I ate there, but it was a good decision tonight and I think we've found a hibachi home here. Win!

And yes, the snow is still coming down. It's everywhere.

Be safe out there, friends!

xo | cmd