Work. Oh, Yeah, That Too :)

 My picking this book up is Britta's fault. I want to share the spoilers with everything and everyone within earshot, because I love it so much. Today, I purposefully toted it to work with me, and enveloped myself in a half hour of stillness on my lunch break to continue reading. I'm nearly finished, which makes me sad in its own way, but it's a familiar feeling I have with so many of my favorite books.

lunch break reads♥

With work checked off the day's list, it was time to get home and get back to the gym.
I haven't worked out since 2016. [heheh..] < It's corny, I know, and we're in the first month of not 2016, but the sinus infection that I had last week would've made for quite the scene of me wheezing and eventually/inevitably either passing out or vomiting all over the equipment. BUT, now I'm back, feeling my face again [which is a relic I don't appreciate until it's impossible to do, I've realized], and ready to get back on track with the task of hunting down all.ze.gains. ALL ZE GAINS.

cashed.

Whhhheeew. I'm spent. Not a bad way to end hump day.
We're on the home stretch now - two more days til the weekend! :)

xo | cms

Sales Contest Winners... Again! :)

'Thank Goodness It's Friday' has never been exclaimed more earnestly.. or desperately, in today's case. It's been a tumultuous week at work, so it was nice when we were able to put the office aside for the weekend and head down to Montgomery Inn to celebrate the successes of the first quarter sales competition... that we won :). 

montgomery inn boathouse | cincinnati, oh

Cincinnati, you're a murky mess in the middle, but you're still beautiful [don't get all offended, 'Natians, you know darn well that this is true...]

sunny day! 

It's been quite a while since I was last at Montgomery Inn, but that doesn't change how delicious I always find it. Chris disappeared momentarily, and returned with a box of celebratory cigars to commemorate our team's winning the first quarter.

3rd in a row! 

express pros - cincinnati central
kristin. cori. clarissa. paul

the whole gang!
front: cori. krstin. melissa. clarissa
back: rob. chris. deb. paul. micah (missing aaron!)

Gathering with the work clan outside of work is always a refreshing and often much-needed change of pace, content and atmosphere, and tonight was no different. 

Congratulations, team... I couldn't be more proud of what how our hard work has materialized like this! ♥

Not a bad way to start off the Mother's Day weekend, I will say that. 

xo | cmd 

Mondays Are For SnapChats

Except today, that wasn't necessarily true! We walked into the office this morning to learn that Riss was out, and thought the day might carry a similarly petulant attitude. 

But alas, that wouldn't be the case..

It all started with this: 

hiiiiiii guyyyyyyyssssss... 

Can I HELP YA?! If there's one thing this weird gourd filter did, it game me alien eyebrows that are on point, man... Haha.. I sent that darling portrait off to a few close friends [and now am sharing it with the general public? #whatever #ImComfortableWithMyAlienNoggin]

From there, it blossomed into a morning and afternoon filled with work, but also littered with endearingly-awful portraits [.... kinda] of some lovely people I know:

ali. in all her snappy glory. 

i. am. sooooooo.... pretty. gosh. jealous? 

i seriously cannot.... ahhahahahaha
rob... kristin

Ya'll know Rob by now, but maybe not Kristin - she's one of the 2 incredible gals with whom I co-exist at the office, and I love the lady to pieces.

Except... when we try this. Now I'm just scared of her:

face swaps. maybe not our thing? 

^ She kinda looks like the lady version of Kim Jong Un (with a double set of teeth and a brute looking scar that's actually my hair?!), and I look like like a younger, female Asian Gary Busey. As funny as it is, it's definitely unsettling, and I'm thankful that in real life, our faces truly do much better suit our respective faces ;).

And of course, some filter fun:

wooo! 

Guys, this is the kind of mood that needs to come around every Monday. Can we vote to end the sullen, moody Mondays and exchange them for ones that are light, fun and productive?

Happy Monday, blogbots; have a terrific week!

xo | cmd

Monday Lunch Break!!

An excerpt from the list of things I love:

* Jesus
* Sushi
* Lunch breaks
* Sunshine
* Friends
* 70° weather in the 1st week of March
* A stellar deal off Craigslist
* Rob & Sydni

It's clearly not the entire list, but it felt appropriate today to highlight those specific things. 

First, and I cannot emphasize to all maybe-two of you readers out there just how liberating it was today to TAKE A FULL, 1-HOUR LUNCH BREAK. You call it dramatic... I call it... rare. 

I'd forgotten over the past 9 or 10 months just how fantastic it is to step away from the desk and everything that comes with it, and just.... exist in a space free of work, errands and anything else that qualifies as an obligation. 

[insert über happy emoji face here]

For starters, I donned a dress to work for the first time in months today. It just... felt right - the air felt promising this morning when I let the dogs out, so I went for it. My favorite boots went with it, and out the door I went to start the week. 

This was not a typical Monday, at all. From the time I woke up to now, it's been nothing but fun. Seriously! I'm going to blame this on Kristin, the new girl at work - she's just now starting her 2nd week, but even so, I'm already feeling layers of stress and pressure peeling off. The girl is seriously a God-send, I'll say that much. Now that she's here, the daily workload will be more evenly-distributed, and with that comes lunch breaks!

Monday lunch break = SUSHI! Extra ginger, pwede ba! [<that's 'please' in Tagalog]

People, listen. If you're going to pursue my heart, you have to start with my stomach. In fact, you really only need my stomach, if the timing is right. I wanted nothing more today than a seaweed roll, and once I got it, the rest of the day was a cakewalk. 

And then the work day ended, and it was on to the next thing: Retrieving an armoire I'd hunted down on Craigslist. The guy who posted it months ago has been experiencing relay issues with emails, and I just happened to swoop in at the right time, as he was near giving up on hearing back again from any of the previous inquiries. Cori, would you pay an 8th of the full price for an armoire in near perfect condition? 

hello, lovely! 

Yes. Yes I would. And I did. And I'm PUMPED. #newhousefurnituuuuuuure

We came, we retrieved, and somehow we [Rob & I, but mostly Rob] finagled that sucker up and over the banister and landing to the 2nd floor of the new house. He probably needs a chiropractor after it all, but hey, it's there, it's ready and as soon as the walls are painted, it'll be a functional fixture in the digs of yours truly.

And with that, folks.. we're good here. The week is young, but God's been good to us for a Monday. We're feeling inspired to get this place under wraps!

Have a beautiful week, blogbots!

xo | cmd

Leap Year : Welcome Aboard, Kristin!!

I couldn't help it. Dwight Schrute is one of his kind, and much like a leap year, not found often. Happy leap year day, blogbots!

Although it has absolutely nothing to do with being a leap year, it doesn't hurt to recognize our newest addition to the team at work: Kristin! We're just a day into it, but I'm fairly certain this is the golden ticket for us, and I'm super. flippin'. excited to work with this girl. WELCOME to the team, Kristin!

welcome kristin! 

This was a good Monday. Monday, thank you for being nice this week :)
See ya Tuesday!

xo | cmd