Mav's Birthday | New Haircut | Pups in OTR!

So.. first,

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AMY!!! 

happy birthday, mav!! [even though you're not really mav anymore.. still!]

As a way to ease into a flashback Friday, here's some fond memories I had handy of Amy [& girl we're both LUCKY I couldn't get into the hard-copy collection haha]

Just a few, to celebrate this awesome girl!

one of my favorites.. mvhs circa 2003, senior year!
me. allison. amy. jena [r.i.p]

of course.. some high school dances.. whhhoa... haha

keepin' it classy for britt's bachelorette party (:

columbus runs with hilary & kylie

arley's wedding reception!

amy's wedding!!
dani. steph. amy. britt. shanda. me. nikki. arley

So... HAPPY BIIIIIIRTHDAY, MAV!!!


hope it's the best one, yet!

Oh....
... aaaaaaaaaand...
I finally cut my hair last night. I meant to mention it yesterday, but honestly I just forgot. So yeah..

before .. right before .. and after! 8" gone..

^ I think I'm still going to venture a little shorter, but I'll be consulting a professional when that time comes.. and really I'm okay taking it a little slow, too. (:

To round off the night, I ventured out with Nader & Keith into our usual stomping ground of OTR; I'm glad we did - It must've been dog night down there!

late night dogs of otr! (:

I have more pictures of the dogs than I do of my friends, but we did manage to take one or two.. haha. But hey, it's never too late to celebrate a way-belated birthday for Keith, either [which, btw, happy wayyy-belated!].

we wish we were hipsters... haha... :|
w/ keith & nader | otr, cincinnati, oh

It was one of those nights, that warranted a post-festivities stop off at Shanghai Mama's before heading home.. really though, it wasn't bad at all.

To say I'm spent is an understatement.
To say this is backdated isn't... (:

xo | cmd

Paddlin' Munchkins [&TBT!]

Today = another perfect day as far as the weather went.
Work = Amiable and productive!
Sydni = With  me, and as we speak, thoroughly spent.
Me = Happy mama, happy girlfriend, happy daughter going home this weekend to see the fam!

That basically sums it up. Today was plain for the most part, but a good day no less. After work, I picked up Sydni and met up with Becky and her nephew Noah at Winton Woods for a quick evening paddle. Needless to say, the kids loved it, and while Becky and I walked away with soaking wet clothes due to a couple of unnamed splashers.... coughcough sydni.and.noah..... haha.

WELL worth it ☺!

tandem kayak time!

becky & noah

me & sydni

she worked so hard! ♥

best. tourguide. ever. | "mommy, look! another duck!"

"dancing boats" haha.. they had a blast!

We dried off some afterwards at the playground, and then headed home to get some ice cream [I promise these things so sporadically, but yenno what, she deserved it ♡].. she did a great job today and worked so hard paddling her kayak.. call me a proud mama, absolutely!

Tomorrow is FRIIIIIDAYYYY!! & that means after work Sydni and I are hitting the road north and heading to my parents' house in the good old Mount Vernon, OH. Semi-on-that-note, in the spirit of Throwback Thursday, here's a gem Nikki posted earlier today on Facebook of some of us on our last day of high school.. which was ten years ago, if I'm being honest about my age here... hahaha.

front: britt. hilary. amy m. nikki. | back: amy s., ginna, myself
mvhs senior year, 2003!

I say that because I'm about to head to my parents' house for the first time since Christmas, and I have no doubt that one of my missions on this trip will be to uncover some long lost artifacts [to be shared at a not-really-that-far-away-but-still-"later" date...]. I'm kind of excited. I'll apologize up front for any and all inevitable fashion faux paus, but hey.. I'm a kid of the 90's and I will embrace it.. wacked out hair, Old Navy shirts and all ;)

See ya tomorrow!

xo | cmd

2013 is Halfway Over?!

Firssssssssssst....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HILARY!!!

♥ you hillsy!

This girl.... haha. I love her and I hope she has a fantastic birthday. Hills, you've earned nothing but the best for your birthday and I hope you and little Julian [okay, so maybe he's not so little anymore] had an amazing time today. Say hello to another girl I've known since middle school, fought with like sisters in high school, and made up after that to get back to being friends (:


ouch. ouch. ouch. :(

And now we're all grown up. Happy birthday, beautiful friend! I promise I'll make it back to Mt.V and see you, soon soon soon.

As for me, well, this has been another day of rest and relaxation, and a few chores... and a bajillion mosquito bites. If I've learned anything around here, it's that this is a safe haven for those little critters and in the process of line-drying my laundry, they pulled a sneak ambush and got the best of me.

Mosquitos - 1. My poor legs - Zilch.

So.... that was fun...

I spent the rest of today tidying up the house, installing the rest of the shelves to the units in the living room, arranging all of my arts/crafts stuff into a manageable, searchable system, and just reveling in the beauty of the day. There was even a little visitor on my mailbox that I paused to photograph, since I don't see many of him around these days... 

hi!

Yep. A paced and relaxing yet productive Sunday. I even managed to squeeze in a short jog before the weather reared its mane for a thunderstorm. I'm settling in now on the couch with every intention on not lifting a finger for what's left of today. It's going to be a short week with a hectic weekend, so I'm absorbing this downtime while I can (:

See you tomorrow for the week!

xo | cmd

Happy Birthday, Hillsey!

HAPPY BRITHDAY, HILARY!!

hilary!! xoxoxo.

Ok. This one perturbs me a bit; I cannot for the LIFE of me find the pictures of hilary and I from the younger days we shared. Haha. I've known this little lady since middle school and we certainly had some classy [yeahnotreally] pictures I would've loved to share with the class here. There is a small handful of girls from my high school with whom I'm still friends, and she's right up there with the best of them.

Things that make me laugh thinking about Hilary [numbered, but really in no particular order]

1 | Pearl Harbor. More specifically, trying to watch Pearl Harbor in the theater, in the front row, missing one of your contact lenses.

2 | Getting advice from a lady at Crackerbarrel on which apron would best accentuate the overkill hats we were jokingly donning while waiting on a table.

3 | Writing on my basement wall. Also, the things that are written on my basement wall.

4 | 1990's chick flicks, with subtitles.

5 | Joining me on my family vacations. FAR AWAY family vacations.

6 | Hotel ammenities. Hotel room items, such as hair dryers, bath mats, irons, and towels. Also, hotel phone books. "Life ain't cheap, sista!"

7 | The term "clubbing." Hahahaha. Oy.

Long story short, Hills, I love ya, and I hope today was phenomenal. I understand that the power is out from the huge storm that eclipsed my hometown a few days ago; I hope it's not putting too big of a damper on your special day.

 Happy birthday, dear friend!!

xo | cmd