Mother's Day 2013

Is it really that time again?

--- Yes.

my world. my daughter. my love! 

Ok, so aside from from her actual birthday, I think Mother's Day serves to double the realization that each year, my little girl becomes less and less little. I remember Mother's Day last year; like I said, it's here again to remind me that another year has come and gone almost and she's growing up.

However, in my moments of fighting time, I can't say I'd trade it for the world. Today was Mother's Day, and as bittersweet as it ended, it was perfect while it lasted and I couldn't have asked for a better day.

Rob and I picked Syd up early this morning and made our way down to It's Just Crepes for brunch [we attempted Taste of Belgium,  but just couldn't stick around for an hour and a half wait... ]. As it happened, it seemed like crepes did better work this particular time around to satisfy all our cravings, even Syd's.

With our bellies full [& some silly pictures from brunch time under our belt], we needed to decide what to do with the rest of our day before Rob had to head back. My brain's been off-kilter all day long, so the Newport Aquarium didn't even cross my mind.... buuuuut, I did eventually come up with a trip to the Cincinnati Museum Center, specifically the children's museum. I also thought of Entertrainment Junction, but with the drive to and from West Chester + the time it takes to really absorb that place, we decided we'd need to put that off to another visit [sad faces].

So anyway, we ended up at the children's museum, which you know is fun when you come out after nearly three hours realizing you've taken a total of about... four pictures? Oh well, we made better use of that time playing and romping than stopping to pose for pictures. We did stop at the photo booth at the end of it all, a picture which Rob has and of which I might have to obtain a copy when I see him this next weekend. (:

Anyway, it was a blast. By the time we left, Sydni had thoroughly exhausted herself into one of her trademark I'm-passed-out-before-we-even-leave-the-parking-lot. That worked, because if I'm being honest, yes, I bawled my eyes out like I was myself a wronged toddler when it came time for Rob to leave. Call me a wuss, but I'm in love with that boy and while I know it's just a little distance, and we still have each other's commitment, it's still pretty rough standing on a sidewalk in broad daylight knowing that it'll be an undetermined amount of time until - if - you get to come home to that person again at the end of the day.

Good news: I'll see him this upcoming Friday, so really, I'm panicking for no reason .. yet... haha. He did exponentially better at being the more stable one today as he geared up to leave; I told him I'll be a big kid about this tomorrow, but for now... I'm sad.

He finally left, after a fairly emotional farewell [overdone, probably, but I care not one bit about the dramatics today], and I stayed behind in the driver seat of my car for a little while longer: reflecting, crying, convincing myself into composure, and then repeating that until Sydni finally started to wake up out of her nap.

I snapped right out of my funk, and convinced her to come up and take some pictures with me (: She obliged. These are the top two contenders from a slew of about 20 :

for obvious reasons.... 

again... obviously ♥

Goshhhhh I love her.

chocolate ganache!

Together we spent the rest of the afternoon running around town and doing a little gift shopping, both for a few other people and of course for Sydni too. :) Eventually we met back up with Joe for her to head with him, and I made my way back to Becky's. I practically ran right in to her and Mike as they were heading out the door; in a moment of spontaneity joined her and her family for another Mother's Day celebration at LaRosa's. She'd snagged something from Market from me, too (: [[thank you, amazing friend!!]]

We ended up at her parents' house for a few minutes, where her dad showed me the little playhouse project he's constructing for her niece and nephews. Yenno, just a tiny... little.... THREE STORY.. thing.. haha.

is the kid cori jealous? ... yes. yes, she is.
heck, the adult cori is still jealous. haha

Last thing on the agenda for the night? Some bluegrass by the The Comet Bluegrass Allstars. Not... a bad... ending.

bluegrass (: | the comet | cincinnati, oh

I go to work tomorrow.... at a new Express office. I'm still not sure exactly how I feel about it, but we'll see how it goes. I just got off the phone with Rob; he and the fiat made it back to IL safe and sound... too bad I miss him like crazy already....

Deep breath.
Night, blogbots (:

xo | cmd

Cinci-Wide TOUR!

Holy tour guide.

I'm fairly certain that the last time I spent even half as much time traversing all over Cincinnati in one day was when I was still with Clearchannel. Welp... records are made to be broken, yeah?

[Another backdated entry]

Here's Saturday, in a snapshot:

1. It's Just Crepes!
I called Catie and coerced into rendezvousing with us down on Court Street at one of Cinci's local digs, It's Just Crepes. Yes, it's exactly what it sounds like. They make crepes. Lots of 'em, pretty much however you want 'em.

it's just crepes. it's just awesome.

2. Eden Park
My FAVORITE place in all of Cincinnati. Enough said. This was my hideaway in college and well after: I couldn't tell you how many times I escaped to the overlook if for nothing else than to just retreat into myself and turn off school, work and whatever else was current news for me. I of course wanted to take Rob there; he thought it was great... duh (: 

overlook from cincinnati, across the river into kentucky | eden park

3. Round 'N Round: Norwood, Rookwood, Kenwood, Hyde Park, Indian Hill, Loveland...
Yeah... I know, it's a lot. After Eden, Rob and I took off on an adventure through all the hills [as opposed to the rolling flatlands of Illinois... :| ..] into some of my old stomping grounds. We started off North, and made a quick round through Norwood [Trish & Catie, I had a sweep of terrific memories on this jaunt!!], aka Norhood, where I used to live. We trekked up through Rookwood Commons, into Hyde Park Square, and through there into Hyde Park. I was instantly reminded of just how compact Cincinnati really is: the wide variety of neighborhoods you can see in just 20 minutes is a night & day contrast, and just about everything in between. Hyde Park wound up a hill through Madison into Madeira & Kenwood, and eventually into Indian Hill. We passed the mansions and stopped to get gas just past my old house in Miamiville, in Loveland. *PHEW!

l-r: old house on floral [hey trish & catie!!]
buca di beppo, rookwood commons | rookwood/norwood
kenwood towne centre | madeira/kenwood
mushroom house [aka atlas house] | hyde park

4. Eastgate Jungle Jim's. 'Nuff Said. 
My only [& I do mean only] irritation with the brand new JJ in Eastgate is that they built the daggone thing after I moved out of the area. Prior to that, the only location was in Fairfield, which although was not an awful commute, was still further than I cared to venture just to go grocery shopping. Well, I should visit more, because JJ is definitely more than just a grocery store. Picture an average grocery store... in any given country. Now combine ALL of those stores into one mega-space, and you've got Jungle Jim's. If you can't find it there, I'm gonna bet you won't find it anywhere. Sorry, Trader Joe's. Let's face it, what other international market has a mini zoo out front??!


teaser! [look it up yourselves, yo]

5. Newport on the Levee. Welcome to Kentucky [again]! This is one of the little gems of the greater Cincinnati area [for the folks back in IL/MO, this is kind of like the bordering between IL & STL.. yes, it's that close]. I forget how nice it is sometimes to have a levee view and to be able to see it from both the Kentucky side and the Ohio side. Pretty cool. 

newport [view from the cincinnati side]

6. Township Fields & Tavern... & Brittany!
In a random turn of conversation yesterday, Brittany sent me a note asking if I knew of any job-seekers back in that area for her company. I told her I'd be back for the weekend, and she insisted I make an appearance for her roommate's 30th birthday over in Newtown. I love backwoods shindigs, I love Brittany, and I love birthdays, so of course that was a given.

love... and love.

7. OTR! [Over the Rhine]
Before you old school Cinci folk freak out, let me go ahead and say that when I first heard that OTR is now a happening spot [as opposed to the crim-infested zone it was when I lived there the first time around]. I didn't believe it when Nader told me that months ago, but it's true. I'm truly proud of the progress Cincinnati has made in developing the area and making it more of an amiable place. We met with Catie at her place, then along with some of her coworkers, strolled off into the evening and wound up in the heart of OTR at The Drinkery. 

i love them.

8. Shangai Mama's
Ya heard??! Hahaha. This is another call on our part that would've been considered negotiable five years ago. The reason I say that is because these were trips usually made after long nights of other questionable decisions and accrued liquid courage. None of us were in that state when we got to SM's, but I must say... it was delicious. Go figure! Plus, we ran into Nick, Roxy & Kenji [shocking]. Not a bad way to wrap up a night downtown.


soooooooooooold.

Oh sleeeeeeep. Hello (: (:

xo | cmd

Farewell for Now, 'Nati :|

[#backdated.entry]

Did I mention it's amazing to be visiting back home? Well, you should've gathered by now that it's incredible seeing familiar faces, going to old favorite hangouts, venturing into new places that didn't exist when I last lived there, and above all realizing that I am still home in Cincinnati.

We visited our old church for the service this morning, not realizing it was a baptism Sunday. Andrea Jones and one of the youth girls made their show of faith with Pastor Poe today, and it was a blessing for us to be witnesses to the event. Congratulations!


baptisms @ new harmony!
congratulations, andrea!!

Another thing I dearly miss about New Harmony is hearing Julie sing each week. There are some people who can "sing" [I sometimes fit into that category], and then there are people who can SING. Julie is the latter, among the ranks of say, Trish here at Towerview. She picked a great song, too; definitely not a shabby Sunday to be at New Harmony!


julie singing - beautiful!

After church, we made a quick stop by Mindi's, who was our full time in-home daycare gal whenever we still lived in Cincinnati. Since Sydni is scheduled to stay a week with Joe's mom, she'll be spending the weekdays at Mindi's while Sandy's working. It was incredible to see them again, to catch up, but ultimately to know that Sydni is going to in good hands all around while I'm back in Illinois. 

love love love & LOVE her.

It was then off to It's Just Crepes downtown to rendezvous with Jimmy & Mo -- WAIT A MINUTE! Aren't you in Cincinnati still?! -- << I know, right?! As it so happened, Mo's sister lives up here, and she got married yesterday, too. That put the Prescotts on our turf on the same weekend we were scheduled to be here, so of course we wanted to show them around some of our favorite spots. Oh, and I did their maternity pictures, too! I can't show you those just yet, because they've still not seen them. Nothing personal, and don't worry, I'll have them up soon. I can however, give you a glimpse of the best photographer's assistant, ever... Haha.

*sigh.
So obviously this is backdated, but the good news is, I'm back safe and sound in Illinois and getting ready to take on the week sans husband and child. Holy smokes.. I may actually get this place clean after all! ;)

And
heeeeeere

we.... GO.

xo | cmd