Sunshine, Bicycles & Good Books

Ohhh, sunny DAYS!
Even though I was working today, I did have an altered schedule that I didn't hate. It was mostly due to a hiring event I hosted in partnership with one of the Northern Kentucky career placement services; she set me up in a conference room for the afternoon and I knew then that the day would be all right:

i'll just swim on in there... hardy har har... 

The event ending gave way to a commute back across the river, which was packed full of commuters until I neared the river line on 275, and I couldn't help but snag a shot of the state line welcoming me back across the water.

and i'm cooomin' on back.. 

I hurried so that I could catch Sydni's bus; it's the first time this year that I've been able to see her off the bus after school, and while I snagged a shot of her coming off the bus, I wish I could've captured her face when she realized she was going straight to the car, with me. Be still, my heart... seriously.

so little, but so grown up.. how's that possible?!

We ran a couple of errands, went grocery shopping and had a mini mommy-daughter date for a snack before we headed home. Today's been gorgeous, and this evening didn't disappoint. Sydni and I cleaned up some around the house, and then I joined her outside for a couple hours of bike riding.

my toothless little darling! ♥

I had to remind her today that there was a time not long ago that she believed she would never learn how to ride her bike, and now.. this.  For hours, if I'd let her. I love everything about it.

I sat outside sprawled across one of the patio chairs, with Sydni blurring across my left and right peripherals as she rode in a circle up and down our street. Eventually, the bike retired to the garage, and for a moment, I became audience to an impromptu 1 person gymnastics meet:

She tumbled on and on, rolled around the yard several times and chased a teasing blue jay until it finally got bored of her being bound to the land. I drank it in, and managed to squeeze in the final few chapters, epilogue and bonus short story at the end of the latest book. I've been afraid of finishing Lady Midnight, because if I'm honest, I've read all 6 of the The Mortal Instruments, all 3 of The Infernal Devices and now this, the first in The Dark Artifices series that Cassandra Clare has released.. all within the span of less than 2 months.

lady midnight - done! 

NOW WHAT DO I READ?! 

Just kidding. I'll hunt down the Bane Chronicles or the Shadowhunter Academy books next and indulge myself in Simon's quest for ascendance. Do I sound like a nerdy maniac? Only if you've never read any of these, I suppose.. haha. Never in a million years would I have thought I'd be the one hooked on a book series like this, but yeah.. let's go with it! 

Anywho, it's late, and we're all spent. Happy Tuesday to you, blogbots! 

xo | cmd

The Journey [Is a Long One]

Dude, hoooooly driving..

Where the trip to South Carolina went off without a hitch, the haul back was quite the contrast:

Cons: There was so. much. traffic. 

There were detours.
Ignorance was running rampant on social media.
Thirteen. Hours. In. The. Car.

PROS: 
Woke up to the smell and sound of the ocean, palm trees and sand.
Tackled the journey with one of my best friends & her beau.
It was gorgeous weather the entire trip.
North Carolina bartenders will make you a specialty Wedding Tea, if you ask!
Plenty of time to peruse and reflect on photo reels from the weekend.
Finished reading City of Bones (now on to City of Ashes!)
Took a stand against ignorance and self-made bigot #forthewin #saynotowestborokids

Traveled back through the 5 states: SC, NC, TN, KY & OH! 

Returned to my family: Rob, Syd & the Pups!

I'm... tired. Like, beyond tired. Today was a gorgeous day, and while I'm here blogging, the newlyweds should be well on their way to their Caribbean honeymoon. I'm so thankful to have been a part of this wonderful weekend, and can't wait to see the pictures!! 

Love, love & sleepinginmyownbedyesssssss... 

xo | cmd 

A Life-Is-Great Wednesday

I'm a huge fan of variety, and breaking out of the monotony of what's typical every day. In the spirit of said variety, I happily obliged a client requesting me to come down on site today for a facility tour to start the day. While I knew my desk had undoubtedly been piling up over the course of the morning with memos, messages and files, it was quite a nice change of pace to be driving north into the city at a time that is very unusual for me.

hello, daytime city! 

It was only fitting to make a pitstop in for some fresh-ground encouragement before heading in to the office!

it was too beautiful a feeling not to stop and capture it

I did however realize why I'd been met with some semi-raised eyebrows between my client's facility and the office: I'd forgotten about and was still sporting earplugs. I mean.... it's not totally irrelevant, right?

these are just in case it gets too loud... or something..

The rest of the day passed without too much chaos, and I'm happy to say that there was a moderate amount activity completed after work as well, re: THE MOVE.

That's another day's worth of diatribe.. but we'll get to that later. For now, I hope ya'll were out and about today for at least part of this gorgeous day!

xo | cmd

Happy Birthday, 'Merica!

We really don't know how good we've got it. I know I certainly take for granted the freedoms and amenities that come so easily and immediately to all of us. I am a PROUD American, and am proud to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my beloved country!!

To celebrate, Rob and I loaded up the boat, finishing just as Jessica pulled up to the house to add her gear to the inventory. We hopped in the truck and were off to find Cave Run; it had been recommended to us by a few different people, so we opted to check it out.

We came to the realization about an hour and some change into the trip that there were a number of boats traveling the opposite way on the highway, and that eventually got the best of our curiosity. After some Googling, phone calls and research, we ended up abandoning our original plans of Cave Run, and in turn found ourselves on a direct route to Taylorsville Lake Marina somewhere in Kentucky....

love these two! 

Taylorsville Lake was a blast! I totally dig the fact that my tribe is a pack of spontaneous adventure-seekers, and can roll with just about any situation. We didn't land at our intended destination today, but had an awesome day anyway!

The evening started creeping in, so we packed back up and trekked back to Cincinnati, where it was a quick shower and turnaround, and back out the door we went, to spend the rest of the evening and watch fireworks with Andrew, Jessica and a collection of their friends on the west end of Cinci.

love this guy! 

Fireworks, new [& existing] friends, food and fun! From what I've seen, birthday parties are full of those things, so I'm pretty certain we did it up just right.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY!
U-S-A!!!

xo | cmd

Hello, Lake Cumberland!

It's been a while since we woke up super early and were actually excited to be awake before the sun. We had a very important destination to reach today, so it was not only totally warranted, but highly anticipated!

We loaded up, climbed in, and took off..... TO CUMBERLAND! :D

loaded up and car ride crazy! yeeeeshhh haha 

We rolled into the parking lot at the bottom of the switchback hill, where it wasn't long before Mike and Esther pulled up next to us. The four of us got a head start on dropping in and drifting over to the main office to get introduced to the houseboat on which we'll be spending the next three and a half days!

hello houseboat! 

What a fun little hideaway! I mean, it's basically a double wide on pontoons, but there's a hot tub and a waterslide on the top deck, so... yeah..

seven year old cori is extremely excited about this... 

We just started getting settled in when Kenny and Taryn appeared up on the bank, and before long, they'd loaded their boat and weekend gear into the houseboat as well.

snack corner assembly.. haha

on board with this guy! ♥  

We each staked claim to cubbies for sleeping, setting one aside for Tawny and Ryan. The Cumberland staff eventually came to escort us out of the cove into the open waters.

our escort with mike & "captain kenny" 

We cruised for about 20 minutes before we found a spot to anchor up to a shore and took advantage of the time to unwind and settle in..

here we go, cumberland! :) 

mike atop the houseboat
rob's boat on the left, kenny's on the right

We've all been driving all day, so as the sun starts setting, we'll be unwinding and probably calling it an early night. Tawny and Ryan will be here somewhere around midnight-1am tonight, but with any luck, some of us will be asleep by then ;). 

For now, we're here in Cumberland, and ready to go! 

Seeeee ya tomorrow! 

xo | cmd

The Drive: OH, THE. FUN. :|

You guys. 

This drive today... was long. 

1. Zac Brown Band at Riverbend. 

= friday night traffic... ohhhh joyyyy! :/ 

2. Rush hour in Louisville. 

* le sighhhh..

3. Construction.... EVERYwhere.. because we live in the Midwest and that's a fact of life. 

e v e r y w h e r e . e e e e e e v e r y w h e r e . gahhhhhh

Long story short folks, this is backdated.
We're here in Illinois, and ready for this weekend to start. 

xo | cmd

Smoky Mountains, Here We Come!

We left today for a weekend in the Smokies.

Before that could happen though, it was a prioritized early morning that began with yoga at 6AM.
That was followed by breakfast at First Watch once Becky came by to get us.

Here we go!

let's go! 

Here's the before shot... I can guarantee we'll be 1) nowhere near this clean in 3 days, and 2) probably still wearing these exact clothes [still] in 3 days. We've already accepted it.

The drive through Kentucky into Tennessee is beautiful enough when you're by yourself. When you're with two of your favorite friends, it warps into something beyond a scenic drive; it becomes a 5-hour launch into hilarity, during which you spend the entirety of your time doing one of three things:

1. Sleeping
2. Eating
3. Laughing so hard that you're crying & gasping for air. 

All of those things happened within the 5-hour confinement on the way down. 

WE MADE IT! 

Cataloochee is our starting point for the weekend; we're here in the lower portion of the North Carolina mountains, surrounded by trees, rivers, elks and hammocks. 

Our first order of business was a suspended timeout:

1-2-3, go. 

just... leave... me..... here.
forever.

 

Our contingency plan:

We broke out the JetBoils and had a successful first night of Mountain House dinners.

let's do it... 

Marianne and I managed to gather firewood; for Mare, this translated into full tree branches, but hey - noone's judging.. haha.

"wrist size or smaller.... " haha

Day 1: COMPLETE. We are here in the Smokies and ready for the weekend! 

xo | cmd

Job Fairs & Coffee!

Well folks, it was gorgeous out today, which we determined would be the perfect setting to head south for a St. Patrick's Day hiring event at the Radisson in Covington! Thanks to Tana and Brad, we snagged ourselves a booth at the expo and spent the day shaking hands and people watching with some of our local competitors, schools and businesses. These things are a blast.

express onsite!
elisa & cori 

Another benefit of these things, aside from time away from the office, is that when they're in cool venues like the Covington Radisson, you get lunch in the 360 restaurant at the top, for free. Pretty awesome. Sidenote, I need to bring Rob down here sometime for a date night.. haha.

lunch, courtesy of the radisson!

panoramic :) 

isolated view of the city ♥

Once we'd wrapped up with the hiring event, we began our ascent north from Kentucky back into Ohio, en route to the office.

We got hung up for a minute once we hit Montgomery; there's this little coffee shop situated on a corner near the highway entrances, and while I've driven by it several times now, up until today I'd not stopped to check it out.

Elisa and I are pretty good at scouting out new digs, so we took a small advantage of the beautiful day and stopped in. I am SO glad we did!

1. This is a co-op. That in itself is pretty flippin' cool. They're about as local as it gets.
2. They have a mango smoothie there that is to die for. I know this because I got it, it was gone in a matter of minutes, and I already want another one.

community blend! 

coffeee... coffeeeeeee & more coffeeeeee!
& mango smoothies!!! #perfect

Not a bad way to spend a Tuesday! There was a lot of talent today at the hiring event, and although the first truly nice day of the year doubled with it being St. Pat's was likely the deterrence from what otherwise would've been a packed house, I'm still grateful for the opportunity and glad that we went!

And maaaaaaaaybe, if we're lucky, this means the weather's going to start staying beautiful.. Oh, I dunno... consistently???

Or maybe not. We do live in Ohio. Doesn't hurt to dream though, right? ;)

xo | cmd

Hattie B's | Frist | Corvettes

*YAWN..

I am.. spent. Whoa.

Today's agenda was just as packed as yesterdays, it seemed:

First on the itinerary was checking out of the hotel and finding our way to breakfast. Brunch, if you will, based on the time we finally got to eating, but most importantly was VENUE:

heya, hattie b's! 

Damanji did a killer job of hunting down a chicken+waffles spot, which made me feel much better about him being cheated of T.o.B. back in Cinci. Coincidentally, Hattie B's happens to be one of the top-rated C&W joints in the U.S., and it is of course in Nashville.

..... So Hattie B's it was!

so much deliciousness, hattie b's! 

After lunch & a couple spontaneous merch pick-ups, we made one final stop at the Frist Center for Visual Arts to explore and stretch the legs before our separate trips home.

♥ these people.. so ... stinkin' ... much. ♥

And then it was goodbye, at least for now. We'll be headed westwards in just a couple of weeks to kick off the holiday traveling, so I don't doubt that I'll see them soon :). LOVE YOU GUYS!

farewell for now, nashville! ♥

Rob and I loaded up and put on our game faces for the trek back to Cincinnati, which we thought would be a straight, uninterrupted shot.

It was, until Rob spotted the National Corvette Museum from the highway, and it goes without saying that this would probably be the only time we'd ever actually go there. It was a good choice for a pitstop, though!

national corvette museum! 

generations of corvettes everywhere :) 

one of the several destroyed by the 2014 sinkhole :( :( 

I'll give to these Corvette owners - they are a dedicated bunch!

coming together from all over! 

It was certainly an interesting piece of history to see, and I'm glad we stopped. Given that we probably wouldn't have dedicated a trip solely for the sake of a visit, it's one of those places you've got to go at least once, even if you're not really a Corvette kinda person.

And now.. we are finally home and ready to unwind. I feel like this weekend was a dream, and am counting one more time before I call it a night just how thankful -- and blessed -- I am for these 3 people who did so much work to ensure my birthday weekend was perfect.

You guys are incredible. Love you!!

xo | cmd