Birthday Bashes

I just realized that in the course of the last couple month or so, we've done more traveling to Illinois to celebrate our friends' birthdays than staying in Cincinnati. That includes my friends, too. Haha. Really, it's because most of my Ohio friends have their day o' birth anniversaries on either side of the Illinois group.

First we came out for Ali's birthday. This time, it was both Mike and Dillon's birthdays [separately] that we are celebrating.

The day started off with a background romp with Zepplin, Jesse's dog. He's too cute [the dog, that is. Sorry, Jesse.. haha]

"come outside and play with me!"

Ok, ok.. we will (:


action shot

30 minutes later... 

a far less zealous zepplin... action shot ;)

= Happy Dog!

too cute!

Rob, Jesse and I met with Rob's mom & Don for breakfast before relaxing for the better part of the afternoon. The evening crept in before we knew it, so we trekked over a couple blocks to Mike & Kelly's house for Mike's 30th birthday celebration.

not a bad way to start!

It didn't take long for the small crowd to assemble, and we made an evening out of the bonfire and great company.

from mini crackles to roaring warmth (:

Oh, and folks - this is the difference between men and women when it comes to photography at a casual social gathering.. haha

Women:

hi, ladies!

... And men. In every single picture:

so close, guys. this was the best one.
[happy birthday, mike!]

Haha. All photogenic abilities [or inabilities, whichever you prefer] aside, it was an awesome little shindig and I'm happy that Rob is able to come back to his hometown and see his friends.

After Mike's, it was out to the Marina to see Dillon and that bunch, at the tail end of Dillon's birthday night out.

happy birthday, dillon!

It's been a long night, but an awesome one and I'm glad we were able to make it in town this weekend. Tomorrow we'll likely be visiting Rob's dad before we head back to Ohio, so with the trip ahead of us, I'm callin' this one a wrap.

G'Nite!

xo | cmd

Trading '13 for '14

*backdated, durr!*
First things first : HAPPY NEW YEAR'S EVE!!!!!
Today of course was the last day of 2013; I'm once again floored by how quickly it went, and again I'm looking very much forward to what 2014 is going to bring us.

The daylight of December 31st really wasn't anything super magical; I made us all breakfast before we continued our mission of packing and cleaning Rob's house. Sydni was here this time, so of course she did her due diligence of unpacking every other box and playing with whatever was in it, but in spite of it all, we still made some pretty massive progress.

As the evening rolled around, we made our way down to Fairview to Dawne's....

coco playtime

2013 has been a rocky road [nothing like 2012, I'll say that much... but still.... ], but I'm looking back at it and making sure to identify some key individuals who made life a little better for us during our various transitions. Dawne is one of them, and tonight I was so grateful to spend a little time with her before the year ended. I probably would've collapsed into myself early on in '13 if it hadn't been for her helping hand and generosity to Syd & me. We sure do love her!

dawne: love. her.

From Dawne's, we headed back to Granite to Mike & Kelly's, where we started our New Year's Eve journey. Soon enough we had Jesse & Anna in tow, and the six of us rustled up some dinner plans. Before we left Jesse's, I made sure to capture Zepplin's New Years salutes; he. is. adorable.

zepplin says happy new year, too!

After dinner, it was off in search of a New Year's crowd. Nobody put an ounce of planning into the night, so it was essentially us flying by the seats of our pants for the evening. That meant a pit stop [a bust, really] at a local dive downtown STL before we pretty much crash landed at Lumiere a half hour before midnight.


None of us are prolific gamblers [which is probably a good thing], so we had to laugh at our BIG WINNINGS after feeding $5 to a slot machine and pocketing a buck-46 [which went right back in, haha].

yeah.. we party hard, ya dig... hahaha

Most importantly, we managed to get out of the car & the parking garage before the ball dropped, and in the company of some great friends, we welcomed the new year. I'm feeling pretty good about this one, and I certainly didn't mind bidding '13 a farewell in the midst of some pretty awesome people.

hello, 2014!!
♥ kelly. mike. cori. rob. jesse. anna ♥

last couple selfie of '13..
.. with the best thing this place has to offer ♥

Happy 2014, to you & yours!
Let's make this a great one!

xo | cmd

Mr. & Mrs. Steinway [& Co.]!

I did not want today to end....

First things first: breakfast. We had every intention of heading out to Missouri afterwards to take a look at a bike Rob's been eyeing, but decided to do it tomorrow in lieu of some other things we needed to accomplish before the evening rolled around.

Instead, we took to our first real shopping excursion together. For two people who don't like shopping, I think we did some decent damage in a relatively short amount of time. I blame the infrequency of [retail] shopping we both do, meaning that if and when we go, well... we go.

First stop was for some new dress attire for Rob.. which was simple enough [later realizing also that he and Ryan were wearing the exact same thing.. haha]. Oh, and Rob just bought me a ring. No, don't get all fussy over it; it's not THE ring, but we still shared a good laugh over it. Really it was my intention to buy it once we got to the register but he snatched it up and refused my offer, so.... yeah. Let's hope if that time ever comes for us to start [the.grueling.process.of.real] ring scoping, it doesn't happen quite like that.. haha. ;)

a ring!
haha, and no, it's not what you think, but i think it's pretty.. well, pretty!
[thanks, boyfriend!]

As I said, we went pretty hard at the stores today, given we were only there for a couple of hours, if even that:

retail therapy for men... acceptable when women are around.. haha ;)

Once we got our run at the mall out of the way, it was back to Rob's, a quick haircut for him [by yours truly], and then some quick getting ready before Tawny & Ryan were at the door. The four of us piled into Rob's truck and were off to Yacovelli's in Florissant for Mike & Kelly's wedding reception.

congratulations, mike & kelly!! ♥♥

group shot! | yacovelli's - florissant, mo

♥ i had the best date in the place.. yenno, not biased ;)

[back at] bindy's with my [absolute] favorite ♥

We took a few pictures from the evening, but honestly were having too much fun to stop and take that many. I always regret that the next day, but it was a blast (:

"look up there... " [@bindy's, duh...]

an accurate description of [some] of what ensued tonight, haha...

with kelly | cori. rob. kelly. jesse | reading books?.. with jesse

Congratulations, again to Mr. & Mrs. Steinway! Thank you for letting us be a part of this celebration with you (:
& gooooooooooodnight!

xo | cmd

ELAINA!

[backdated]

Today =

Work.
Errands.
Volleyball.
MIKE & KELLY having their baby??!

Whoa.


♥ mp!!

Work was work.. nothing new to report there other than we're kickin' tail and taking names on our journey out of newbie-ness here in the Central office. Our new sales gal Nikki is flying through training and will undoubtedly be giving me a run for my money with the orders she's sure to bring in. [I say bring it! I love this part!]

Post-work = Errands, specifically to Michael's to pick up some Mod Podge & a brayer, the two components I didn't have, necessary for some projects that I will, at a later date, show off if/when I don't botch them. Haha. [Stay tuned]

Yep... moving on to volleyball @ Hahana with Keifer, Kalyn & Beth? Well, we got flattened, again, but in a last ditch effort to redeem ourselves, two of the guys from our competing team stayed after to volley with us and give us some pointers. If I haven't made it clear already, aside from Beth playing in high school, we are not volleyball players; prior to this Keifer hadn't played at all, so in spite of posting 3 L's tonight, I will say we're getting better where team dynamic and communication is concerned. Kalyn & I have our sights set on tournament championship; we won it at Grand Sands with Tim & Paul, so I have no doubts this is possible. (:

And THENNNN [this is the backdated part], Mike & Kelly thankfully made it through a LONG night of hospital visit and emergency c-section to deliver baby Elaina!!!

baby elaina! | congratulationssss mike & kelly!!!

.... two months early. Holy cow. Rob sent me this picture of Elaina; I'm not sure if she technically was born today or in the early hours of August 1, but she's certainly a premie and weighing in at a mere 3 lbs and some change. For you mom's out there who know the process of child birth from experience, it's scary enough going into it when the time is expected... I can't imagine doing this nine weeks early.

So, CONGRATULATIONS!! to Mike & Kelly!! Baby Elaina is beautiful.. and I can't wait to meet her. Since this is the wedding I was slated to attend this weekend with Rob, it looks like our plans will be changing a little.. but I'm okay with that. (: There's a reason for everything, so this'll work out fine either way.

Life's Good ♥

xo | cmd

VIDEO BLOG :: Cups... Again&AGAIN | Cirque!

I fell in love with Anna Kendrick doing her rendition of Cups [thanks, Pitch Perfect]; obviously the entire world did, because there are about a bajillion remakes of this song out there. Anna of course has her own video for it, which is adorable, but most recently this viral video came out and I'll be the first to admit I've watched it WAY too many times.

... but I'll keep watching it, because while I'm starting to tire of the song itself, I love this particular rendition. These four deserve all the credit in the world for this arrangement! (:

Like I said.. over & over again I'd watch this. It just makes me happy, and since it was sorta gloomy out today, it worked.

In the midst of linking ^that^ video, I found another one: done, produced, edited, etc. by one person. It's certainly a remix, but I wouldn't be able to do it, so much respect to him!

On a whim, I also watched one of the Cirque Du Soleil productions tonight, and thought I'd go and share some of that with everyone, too. I honestly wouldn't recommend settling in for a night on the couch with this entire thing, but if you have the chance to go to an ACTUAL Cirque performance [I have, so..] trust me, it's worth it!

This is a snippet from the Worlds Away production, part of KA, if I'm not mistaken. Like I said, the talent that comprises and Cirque production is so intense in a live experience that no video will ever really do it justice, but it's still entertaining.

Speaking of the weather, I'm gonna throw this out there now that I'm reaaaally hoping this drab crap clears out by tomorrow evening for volleyball. I'm quickly realizing this league doesn't give us the competitive edge we're used to, but it's still fun and not a bad way to ease back into the volleyball scene here in Cinci for four people who've never played together. Aaaaand, since all four of us just got back to Ohio [well, one was never here in the first place, so make that 3], it's coincidental that we're all coming back like this.

A couple of sidenotes:

*THREE DAYS left, until I'm back in IL visiting with Rob, for Mike & Kelly's wedding! There's a tiny chance I'll get to see Mo on this trip, too, which would be awesome.. plus I'll see the meatballs [aka Sasha & Stella] - what is there NOT to love about this weekend?
*Sydni is in swim lessons all this week with Nana & Pappy, and from the reports I've heard, she is doing an incredible job and catching on at lightning speed [what else did we really expect?]. I'm itching to hear all about it from her!
*NEXT weekend is both my dad & cousin's birthdays! The bulk of my family will be there, which is great since we so rarely can do that anymore. I can't waaaait (:

C'Mon, week... hurry up ;)

xo | cmd

Nails | Nancy's Birthday | MVP's

Welp,... we only saw Nancy for a fleeting moment this morning but sure enough, the birthday surprises were a success! Elisa picked up some flowers, a balloon and a bag of chocolate, and we were ready by the time Nancy arrived this morning. I.. love.. birthdays (:

happy birthday, nancy!! (:

[Winning!]

Oh, and on that DIY note...
...... Thanks a lot, Instagram.
I swear, if it's not Pinterest shelling out new experiment ideas, it's Instagram. Haha. I should've known better than to browse around on some DIY pages a few days back, but I've been wanting to throw some polish on the nails and haven't really been motivated enough to do it... yet.

And then I found ombre [gradient] nails. This is definitely a rough sketch of what these could look like if I really put my mind to them, but I don't think they came out half bad (:

getting ready (:

Sponge + colors + way too much time on my hands....

base coat... prime color...

Sponge feeding the second color... It's not a pro job but then again, I'm no pro. I did find a few ways that I'll remember for the next time [assuming there is one] that I decide to spend this much time painting my nails.. ehh.

ta... da.

Yeaauuup. Probably not my favorite project, but worth at least one try and maybe another one down the road once I've forgotten how annoying this actually got after about 20 minutes. We'll see.

Lastly, to piggyback off of yesterday's dote on my friend Ladd, I figured I'd try and actually see him sometime before his next birthday rolls around... so yeah.... MVP's it was, to rendezvous with Ladd, Jason & Keith.. and eventually Kelly, too [*sidenote, Melissa .. feel 100% better, soooon!].

Good to see them, even if Ladd is still trying to be an honorary Asian. Jury's out, buster; I'll have to consult Nader & Nalom to see if your membership renewal is negotiable.. haha.

mvp's | silverton, oh

I'm home. It's late. I'm tired.
It's gonna be a loooong day tomorrow, I think... but worth it, since I'm supposed to see KALYN [*squeaaaaaaaal] tomorrow evening.

Adios, amigos.

xo | cmd

Marianne Is Leaving :(

We all know I'm leaving. Most of ya'll know that Marianne... is also leaving :( She scored a sweet job with YoungLife in Virgina, so she's headed there first thing in the morning. And I do mean first. thing. Like, 2am departure mode. It's a 10 hour drive, so I would ask you to be in prayer for a safe trip and safe arrival.

I will definitely miss this girl....... :(

"let's swap contacts!" - marianne

We got the chance to finish up Marianne's painting, too. I met up with her for a little while at Starbucks [last time I'll see her, for a while, .... sad face] to add my hand-footprint to the painting she did of the world.

"your footprints don't define you; your friends do."
footprints l-r : cori. ali. marianne.

We're back at Rob's tonight. This will be my home for the next couple of weeks until I move back to Ohio. Tomorrow is Stella's first day kenneled all day [we bought her a kennel tonight... ohhh goodie!]. So far, she's done well with Sasha and Ziggy [Kelly's dog], so hopefully we can hold out for another week and a half or so.

Tomorrow I'm off work [hallelujah], but I'll be spending the entire day at the house cleaning, scrubbing, and removing every last shred of belonging I still have there.

*Sigh. I'm ready for this to be over....

xo | cmd

Eve Of a New Year

I'm getting old. So are my friends.

You know how I know that... besides the fact that this may be backdated? Haha...

.... Just about everyone I've talked to this year had formulated plans for New Year that included more "No idea" and "Mehh... I dunno..." than actual plans. Haha. Personally, I don't hate it. I really had no desire to go anywhere and find myself watching a ball drop surrounded by loud, drunk strangers. It didn't help that the weather started a nose dive into that wet, sticky snow that isn't fun even for play; as soon as you touch it, it turns to slush and soaks through all your clothes at what seems to be double the pace of regular water.

So.... as we finished up our half day at work [right???], Rob came up to meet us at work; Ali joined us and we trekked over to STL Bread Company for lunch before heading our separate ways. Rob & I kept it super exciting with some errands and miscellaneous things before I headed home to do more fun things like laundry, cleaning my house and washing dishes. Haha. Oh, and I managed to get another gorilla bread assembled in that time. I still need to pinch Nancy for giving me that recipe... haha.

Dinner? Red Lobster. We didn't take any pictures, but ironically my other Ali friend posted one just moments afterwards of the exact same dish one of the girls at our table ordered. Nobody's complaining; RL is a good choice if for no other reason than cheddar bay biscuits. Let's just be honest. (:



Festivities pertaining to the actual ringing in of 2013 boiled down to us relaxing with a group of Rob's friends at their house, around a table filled with more food [nooooooooo, lol] and some perfectly sober laughing to move us all from 2012 to 2013. I was a big fan.

We ended the night with Kelly and I watching Rob & Mike set off some fireworks from the yard... haha.. rowdy, I know. It was a competition with the neighbors across the street for a few minutes before we all called it a night. We're party rockers... for sure [pshhh.. haha].


2012 is over. Holy cow.
I'm excited for 2013.
I hope you are, too!

xo | cmd

And I am HOME for Christmas (:

I MADE IT!!!!!

this is my vacation. home at the one & only dren lodge for the weekend.
i'm in country heaven. parents' house = ♥

I can't even tell you how much I've missed this place. Welcome to the Dren Lodge, otherwise known as my parents' house in Mt. Vernon, also the house in which I grew up. My heart will always be dedicated to this place; Mom & Dad built it themselves when we first moved to Ohio and they're still there. [Cue Miranda Lambert song...]

So I almost lost hope in making it home for the weekend. I had every intention of leaving yesterday to start on my trek back to Ohio, but after creeping through traffic at a neutral ONE mph from my office to my house, I quickly put a nix on that. Never has it ever taken me an hour and 45 minutes to get home from work, and with the traffic moving at the pace of sap, I had lost all patience in the thought of attempting to wait that out.

That meant falling on a backup plan of going to bed early and getting up by 3am to hit the road early with hopes of being home by 1pm EST. I was gonna make it here one way or another, daggonit.

Sooooo.. I met up with Rob, Mike & Kelly for dinner, before calling it an early night. Setting the alarm for 2am was painful in and of itself, but actually getting up when it went off was another story. At least I made it to the gas station for coffee and out on the road without too much fuss... and that was that.

Fast forward five hours to Cincinnati, when I stopped in at Joe's to grab Sydni, and then another 2.5 and I fiiiinally made it!!!

Just in time, too... My cousins rolled in the driveway shortly after we did, and we proceeded to spend the evening with them. As a note, the younger of the two turns 21 in a few days... and that ... makes me feel pretty freakin' ancient. Thanks a lot, Markie. Hahaha.

Here's how that went: 



top: christmas 2007 | bottom: christmas 2012
look at those boys! lol... love them (:

cousins + mom & dad + syd!

I love my family. This was night one of two that I'll have with different parts of my family, and I can't wait. (:

Speaking of being home, I just got back from the new BDubbs in Mt. Vernon [that's another story: I come from a small town and they are just now getting one of these... you would've thought we adopted the Statue of Liberty for as much fuss as they've made over it.. haha]. I got a message from Dusty earlier asking if I was available for a few minutes to catch up, and we opted for Bdubbs.

I was instantly reminded of what it means to be raised in a small town, leave, and then come back. Basically, every fifth person, on average, is someone you know, had a class with, lived by, dated, or avoided at one point growing up. Haha.  

hey, dusty! (:
neighbors since first grade, still an awesome friend!

krystal!
friends since elementary school... and yeah we've been through it ;)
top L-R: 2003. 2007 | bottom L-R: 2009. 2012!

Of the handful of people with whom I coincidentally reunited tonight, I was definitely pleased to run into one specifically - Krystal! We've known each other since fifth grade and I still love her to pieces. I shouldn't be surprised. Familiar faces have a way of aligning themselves at the same time in the same place when that place is so condensed :)

That being said, it's an early day tomorrow... time to get munchkin to bed.

I'm out (:

xo | cmd

VBS Kickoff: Amazing Wonders Aviation!

What's up, SUNDAY?!

I'm pretty sure one of us ran the other ragged today. It actually seems to be that we both exhausted each other. This day's on its last drop and I don't feel like a bit of it was wasted.

First: I would like to request a prayer for my neighbors. I don't know exactly who they are or whose car this is, but it seems to be the sole victim in my subdivision of the storm that plodded through here last night. Bummer.

:( 

Hm.. So yeah - Whether it was the anticipation of today's VBS kickoff, or the unrelenting heat that has settled into my AC-deprived house, I spent the bulk of last night tossing, turning, listless for the most part.I must've lapsed at some point sometime after 2:30am, brought back to by my alarm declaring it was 6:30am and time to get moving.

the runion brothers: derek & ryan | gabe [not pictured]
congratulations!!!

Grawr. < That's the sound my body and mind makes when I'm out of bed long before I should be on a weekend. *sigh. Anyway, it was just before 7 when I met up with Kirsten outside Walmart to pick up the VBS choreo DVD for practice later between church and the kickoff. I made a pitstop at the gym on the way home, since I was already up.

Church flew right on by in the usual phenomenal Towerview fashion: It started right off with not one, not two, but three baptisms. I love these kinda mornings! [congratulations to the Runion brothers Derek & Ryan, and little Gabe, who snuck up there after I'd put the camera away!]

Once church let out and lunch had been devoured by grumpy, nap-needing little fingers, I made a date with the VBS DVD and committed myself to memorizing the last of the VBS music for the week. I apparently dozed off during a little break; I awoke to Mo calling me to come and help w/ her classroom setup. Off we were, back to church to put final touches on all things VBS.

towerview vacation Bible school 2012!

And V-B-S.... BEGIN!


I'm spent. Kirsten and I did about as much jumping, waving, signing, and dancing tonight as I could manage for one night. As is customary for any good VBS week, we're gonna be ready to fist-fight this stuff by the time Friday comes around, but in an endearing way. Haha.

Many, MANY thanks to Laura for "managing" the production of this year's VBS, to all the teachers, to the nursery workers, and especially to my church family as a whole for having me participate! It's gonna be a long but totally rewarding week!

Tomorrow starts early. G'Nite :)

xo | cmd