ADIOS, 2014!

It's been a long time since I've participated in any real partying for New Year's Eve [as defined in the traditional sense, that is]. I've thoroughly enjoyed and not-at-all regretted the past several years of laid back, under-the-radar celebrations, complete with a small circle of friends and/or family, and calling it a night.

But not this year. I am 30 after all. Why not?!
Rob and I as usual were on the same page with wanting to celebrate New Years in a big way: We are after all engaged, and depending on our settling a date, we might be sharing the same last name come this time 2015. That's still up for debate, but for the moment at hand, it was a matter of ushering in 2015 with great friends in Illinois.

I was off work today, which afforded me just enough time to run some last minute errands, clean the house and get everything packed up for a 5-day trip to IL. Rob worked until noon, and joined me to wrap up, stuff the car to the brim and load up the pups [yes, they came, too!] for the all-too-familiar 5-hour jaunt to Dillon's house.

We arrived with just enough time to unload the car, order a pizza [because classy, that's why....] & doll up to join Matt & Courtney down in STL for the night's festivities to really begin.

So we arrived at the hotel directly across the street from Harry's, where Courtney & Matt were waiting. We finished getting ready and made our final decent into the chaos that was NYE celebration on the other side of the street.

harry's | st. louis, mo 

And that being said,

HERE WE GO!

ready to get this started! 

The plan to do the night to the extreme:

yes, we had a table. [thanks, matt!] 

And there were photos galore...

rob. cori. matt

this guy ♥

matt & courtney [aw♥!]

The clock struck midnight and we officially welcomed in the start of a brand new year! I have zero complaints about the entire experience & am excited to see how 2015 dares top 2014! 

love, love, love you! ♥♥

See you on the other side! 

farewell, '14, & hello, '15! 

I hope you and yours have ushered in the new year safely and joyously! I know that for us, 2015 is going to have to step it up in big, big ways to top 2014, and I'm pretty excited to see where the next year takes us.

Love love & more love to you & yours - HAPPY 2015!!

xo | cmd

And On To The Next One [Christmas Destination, That Is!]

Rob had to work today, which is one of the reasons we didn't get moving north until the late afternoon. Sydni and I took advantage of the opportunity to finish up some last minute Christmas shopping, clean house and tackle some laundry before his return.

First order of business was breakfast!

breakfast date with my little ham! ♥♥

Sydni and I are the ultimate team; between the two of us, we managed to knock out the final gift shopping, clean the house up, paint a few pictures, play a card game, watch a movie, play with dolls, finish laundry, pack everything for the weekend and relax a little bit before it was finally time to load up and head north. Phew!

Oh, and we learned this today:

harry's

Looks like we'll be set for Harry's for NYE in St. Louis! More details on that a little later, but the list of things to look forward to is growing! :)

We made it Mt. Vernon safe and sound, and we're about to call it a night. Santa's making another stop here tonight for all of us, so off to bed it is, so the jolly man can do his work!

xo | cmd