It's NOT Too Soon...

So this is what our 4:45-5:00pm window looked like today. 

I'm just gonna leave this here..... 

ideas! 

It is never too early to start brainstorming group Halloween costume ideas.
Feel free to leave your favorites. :)

xo | cms

She Loves - Series Day 9: Just Me :)

Happy kinda-almost-Halloween, blogbots! If you're anything like us, your trick-or-treat night was tonight, because Halloween itself is on a Monday [aka work & school]night, and half of us lack either the time or energy - or both - for that. And yes, we trick-or-treat on Halloween not because we are demonic, but because we enjoy fun costumes, hanging out with friends and bringing in hauls of candy. [I was recently warned by someone that Halloween is not something a Christian family should celebrate; this is perhaps a conversation for another day, but I'll say this - I appreciate the weigh in, and understand the argument, but I don't agree. Connect with me directly if you want to dialogue on it!]

soccer tourney!

ANYWAY, we obliged an invitation an hour north by our friends Shayne & Cassie, and after a morning of soccer here in Cincinnati, we rested up for the long night ahead of us. There is something to be said about the excitement kids find in trick-or-treating. It's a community effort, and in some cases a rather extravagant one. We as adults reminisce on all the times our parents trailed us through neighborhoods as we willingly walked miles of residential sidewalk and driveway for chocolate and other varieties that very well could've sucked our teeth out.  I did that tonight with my own daughter, whose ballerina costume earned her several compliments, and an equal collection of Reese Cups [everybody wins!].

awww, flashbacks to jamaica!
the kittles. the stokes. the gills.

1 Corinthians 15:10 - 

By the grace of God,
I am what I am. 

This I think is ultra-fitting today, because as we get into costume as someone [or something] else, it's not permanent and it doesn't change who we are.

trick or treating 2016

I was reminded today of the novelty in being that other thing - even just briefly. As our kids meandered around the neighborhood- this pocket-sized battalion of story & comic book characters, I was struck with appreciation for: 

- all the times our parents braved trick-or-treating with us as kids, which IF I REMEMBER, was WAY more of a bloodsport for kids than it is now. I'm serious. I can't be the only one that remembers savage battles with sibling or friend over who got to ring the doorbell first. Kids these days are so... polite. Weird.

- all those times our parents had to take us trick-or-treating, in weather that sucked. Also something we're all politely choosing to ignore: I don't remember one single childhood Halloween when we didn't have to modify our costumes to fit over everything but the snowsuit itself. Today it was a very nice 65ish degreese outside, without a cloud in the sky. I said a silent thank-you for it.

- the fact that trick-or-treating is still a very real past-time, and that I get to share this with my daughter.

Rob and I didn't dress up this year. Really, we could've planned for something, but whether by lack of time or inadequate incentive, it just didn't happen. We're fine with that, but honestly, I agonized over the idea of not dressing up for longer than was really necessary. I get the festive spirit from my mother, who loves taking participation to a new level every time, not because she's competitive, but because she legitimately loves to be wholly entrenched in the spirit of whatever it is she's there to celebrate [Renaissance Festivals, if you need an example].

I didn't have a huge epiphany tonight, if that's what you thought I was going to say.. no. I didn't. I do however, think there's no better time than today to have this verse as an underlying reminder that we can dress up as anything under the sun that we can imagine, but it doesn't change who we are. This mama is learning every day to take and keep ownership of the mess she is, day in and day out, and embracing the idea that I am what I am, and every bit of it - both good and bad, by the grace of God.

excuse my face.. i was chewing.. haha

I hope all of you out there collecting candy, peering through little eye-holes in your mask, or bargaining all night with an itchy wig - I hope ya'll are having a blast, staying safe and spending some quality time with your crew. 

Happy Kinda Halloween! ;) 

xo | cms

H-A-Double L-O....

I FOUND IT!!!


I am an alumni of my hometown's elementary school system, and at our school, we learned [or reviewed] this song literally every. single. year. I know I'm not the only one who remembers this number. This was part of my childhood playlist for the Halloween season, and it clearly made enough of an impression that I remembered the bulk of the chorus as I near the end of my twenties.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN to all you blogbots out there!!
[backdated stuff staaaaaaaaaarts...... now ;)]

Tonight was definitely a production; it started when I got home and took the plunge into Halloween makeup mode. In 30 minutes, I'd transformed myself from recognizable me to a masked super-villain.

Rob arrived home, changed into his getup, and out the door we were to Jessica's, where I had the task ahead of painting the rest of my entourage into their villainous characters. Jessica's friend Sarah was having a birthday party, and had chosen the villain.

We arrived at Molly Malone's in Covington to find the Sanderson Sisters [probably my favorite costumed trio of the night]:

perfect!!!!

[Oh, how I LOVE watching Hocus Pocus over... & over again during the Halloween season!!]

My entourage didn't look too shabby, either!

the boys: penguin & jigsaw

the girls: harley quinn & poison ivy

all 4 (:

couples ... villainous couples! 

It has been a long time since I went full-out on a Halloween costume for any sort of party, let alone with a group of people [unless the Run Like Hell 5k counts... which for this example, I'm gonna just say it doesn't... it doesn't ;) .. ]. Needless to say, despite the small fortune invested into each of our getups, Rob and I had a blast and the wish I made back in August of dolling up for a Halloween party somewhere came true. I'm not the girl that gets flushed when I see a few other renditions of the character I chose to be; I think it's kind of fun to see what other people thought to do for it, too. [That doesn't mean I don't think ours still totally rocked! ;)]

batman's detention squad

^ At one point or another, I counted nearly all of the villainous Batman cast in the same room at the same time; I was bummed that we weren't able to hunt down the Joker & Harvey Dent we'd seen roving the place for that shot, but 5 outta 7 isn't too bad! We even found another familiar villain:

chad! [the burglar from home alone.. yenno,
marco belinelli... post-iron-in-the-face?]

Not a bad way to have a little fun with friends.

I hope you've all been SAFE and ENJOYABLE Halloween! Here's to the start of winding down 2014. Live, love, laugh and get dressed up with your friends. (:

See you again once I've got my real face back!

xo | cmd

Last Minute, OF COURSE....

Anyone who thinks that I'm well-prepared for most things is probably someone who doesn't know me well. Sure, I keep it together for actual life events, but things like.... OUTFITS, are certainly not an area in which I have ever invested much time to "plan ahead." It makes my family crazy, and oftentimes I cycle back through a pile of vetoed clothing just to settle on and re-dress in the first daggone thing I tried. First world girl problems, I know.

That all being said, I wasn't really surprised when I remembered today that we have a Halloween party to attend on Friday, and that our costumes as of last night... didn't really exist. At all. Today, I embarked on a blinders-on mission to complete mine, and am happy to report back that I'm good to go.

teaser! 

^^ That's all ya get for right now, although I'm sure it won't be too hard to guess for most of you out there. That's the central theme around my costume; poor Rob had the headache of the ages when he got home from work, and as it's nearly 9pm and I've not heard a peep from him, I'm going to assume he'll get all his costume prep done tomorrow.

Last minute like.
'Cuz that's how we do.
:)

xo | cmd 

Friends & Kids & Pumpkins & Apples & OTR

Today was a full throttle day from the time we woke up. Sydni was up at 3am to remind me that, "kids are coming over today!!!," and from there on out it was non-stop until our heads hit the pillow again. 

"honey, it's 3am. we still have a few hours."
- [skeptical response...]

First things first: Why pay a gutter service when you can just do it yourself?

do it yourself.

:). I was wrapping up the gutters just as Trish and the kiddos rolled up, jackets and snacks in hand, for an early afternoon of pumpkin painting and carving.

the girls (: 

mamas & kiddos

 Sarah made it out after work, with her daughter in tow. There were then 5 kids attacking one pumpkin..

paint, paint... and more paint! 

the aftermath? beautiful! 

 

Once the pumpkins had been thoroughly - and I mean thoroughly painted, the kids migrated to the front yard for some cardio and leaf-mud sandwiches [made, not eaten.. as a sidenote ;).. ]

gosh... love them ;) 

Soon enough, the kids departed, and we took a deep breath in preparation for round two: Jessica and Andrew soon arrived with their pumpkins. Sydni was off to her dad's for her father-daughter dance, so the grown-ups were left to their own devices.

great action shot of bumper & sasha! 

caramel apples!! nomnomnom

lol.. pumpkins ;) 

Round 2 of the day complete [carved pumpkins & caramel apples], we parted ways again to rest up and prepare for the evening, which was decidedly going to be spent in the bows of OTR.

We started our venture at 1215 Wine Bar, if you count our standing in one spot for 20 minutes deciding where the rest of the night would be spent. If that doesn't qualify, then we technically started with a pitstop at The Drinkery before they somehow coerced me into going to - and staying at - Japp's for more than a half hour.

yeah, so i guess when i'm photographed mid-laugh,
i look... super asian. ^_^

this folks, is what otr had to work with tonight...
oh i'm proud of this one.. hahaha.. 

that fan. we're music video superstars.... ;) 

We soon retired from the heat of Japp's and found our final grounds for the night: The Famous Neon's Unplugged!  

oh, lovely neons! 

runnin' the town.. into the ground [laaa dee daaaa... ]

we found chad!
ps - can't even be mad at the chick who bombed this...
.... she nailed it. #thanksdoodydood

nobody knows. 

that time jessica's hand was 2 feet in front of my face
& managed to still look insanely inappropriate.

i'm a cat. rob's an angry ghost.
#notsure...

some more of this.. 

... and consequently this, too. 

And it's Neon's, so there's Jenga...

we lost.

Along with a few hundred of our closest friends, we closed down Neon's and made one last pitstop for grub at Lucy Blue's before calling it a night.

pizza. because... yes. 

PHEW.
.. yes, this is backdated.. 

G'Nite!

xo | cmd

Halloween Pre-Game

It is September 18th. 

This girl reminded me that she does a 6-week pregame for Halloween, which I will totally entertain, every single day until it gets here.

♥♥♥

And I love every second of it.

In tonight's version of Princess Sydni, Snow White doesn't live in a cottage, but rather a castle. Made of blankets and pillows. It is clearly a fortress to be envied. ;)

Back to the royal castle I go!

xo | cmd

Halloween + TBT

Happy Halloween, everyone!

So, I regrettably admit that I did pretty much next to nothing this year as far as Halloween was concerned. I did the trick-or-treat thing with Sydni and my parents at GWL this past weekend, but other than that, there were no wiiiiild Halloween shenanigans, like many of my friends had posted all over FB & Instagram. [I'm a little jealous, yeah, but there's always next year.. and I plan on not being so busy with the same things around this time in 2014!

Elisa texted me late last night as we were en route back to Cincinnati from the game suggesting we dress up as twins for work today.. I obliged that and we got a couple of good laughs out of folks who weren't prepared for body doubles when they came to visit us.

twins!

Speaking of costumes, I couldn't help but point out that really, no matter what anyone around me dressed up as this year, we will pale in comparison to some of the costumes I saw from the early 1900's. Sure, they're not off Pinterest, but I'm guessing most of them were hand-crafted somehow and quite frankly, they're terrifying.


i mean c'mon.. that's pretty creepy...

Right??!
And then that reminded me that I wanted to check this out yesterday but hadn't had the chance. As we were watching the game last night, Becky and I sat reminiscing on all of the players we watched as little-girl-soccer-players back in the 90s and early 2000s when the legends were still playing.

And so, this TBT [Throwback Thursday] is dedicated to some of my childhood favorites, and the new players who've taken heir to their jersey numbers.

First, my most respectful salute to the Fab Five [& no, sorry, I don't mean last year's USA gymnastics quintet]. I'm a 90's soccer girl, so of course I mean THE Fab Five: Mia, Julie, Kristine, Joy & Brandi.

1999 world cup & march of dimes

This is the fab five, along with Briana Scurry [GK] and Michelle Akers [FW/MF], who, let's face it, were both integral players in the '99 season, not to mention pioneers for women's soccer everywhere. Man, I feel ooooold.

{clockwise from top}
#14 joy fawcett | #11 julie foudy | #13 kristine lilly | #9 mia hamm
#6 brandi chastain | #1,GK briana scurry | #10 michelle akers

And here's my tribute to their jerseys, all of which we saw last night..

|| #6 ||
then: brandi chastain | now: crystal dunn

|| #9 ||
then: mia hamm | now: heather o'reilly

|| #10 ||
then: michelle akers | now: carli lloyd

|| #11 ||
then: julie foudy | now: ali krieger

|| #13 ||
then: kristine lilly | now: alex morgan

|| #14 ||
then: joy fawcett | now: whitney engen

|| #1 - goalkeeper ||
then: briana scurry | now: hope solo

And.... of course I wanted to throw in an ode to the girl lucky enough to don Abby Wambach's old jersey... but uhh... since Abby's still out there, as the veteran of the team, I'd say she deserves to stand alone in this one (: She has her own throwbacks, to the 28, 14 and now 20 [among the many others].

abby wambach.
current record-holder with 159 goals

Loooove (:

It's raining. That's completely not fair to trick-or-treaters everywhere.. I'm parked here on the couch in my sweats and don't plan on moving anywhere outside of the path between this and my bed for the rest of the evening, especially since T-O-T here in my neighborhood isn't happening tonight. Poor kiddos.

Good news: Tomorrow's Friday and I think the weather is supposed to hold out for everyone who had this rescheduled. Score!

Nighty night!

xo | cmd