Photo Shoots & Cold Pressed Juices

One of my favorite things about Cincinnati is that, especially now, it's constantly evolving and adding new dots to the map. Ten years ago, OTR wouldn't have drawn any legitimate interest from many people, but now it's a hub for some of the most delicious and attractive places here in the city.

Today started off with all smiles anyway; it was our 2015 marketing kickoff today, which meant dolling up in Express gear and bringing our A-game smiles. I love these opportunities because for us, it's never just pictures - we have a blast doing this sort of thing and inevitably have some hilarious outtakes when we're done.

Here's a couple of the highlights that we chose for our New Year's greeting card!

i ♥ this team!

It's been said that your work family can definitely be your second family; I don't know about the rest of you, but that couldn't be more true for me and this group of people. These ladies [& one gent] are the people with whom I spend most of the weekday daylight with, and I am beyond grateful that they are who they are and that we can blend the way we do.

Oh, and of course: where there are photo opps, there is always yoga.... duh!

elisa & cori : office yogis! 

Goooo figure ;)

Aaaanyway, once we'd reorganized everything that had been displaced for the sake of photography, Elisa suggested we try out a new place in Hyde Park Square: The Weekly Juicery.

the weekly juicery | hyde park, cincinnati, oh

Now, before you jump to conclusions off whatever preconceived notion you have about juice bars, let me say this: You're probably both right and wrong.

the weekly juicery | hyde park, cincinnati, oh 

If you're in the camp of people who think these places are frilly, overpriced watering holes for the privileged yogis with a weird obsession for $10 shots of wheat grass, well.... you're 90% there. This place is placed strategically across the street from a Lulu Lemon shop, on a block of retailers that yes, cater to the more... refined shopper, if you will. If you are one of those folks who frequents that level of spending on the reg, well hey, good for you - I'm not knocking you, but let's all level up here: Juice bars are a luxury, and as such by default need luxury surroundings to survive.

So that's true. Now, if you happen to be one of those artsy, free-range folks fascinated with all things local ... and fun... and artsy-fartsy like you are, then this place-and those like it- will appeal to you at face value based on those things alone.

See?

i admit i do love that. :p 

Well anyway, I'm certainly not one of those people who would be at this place every day, but I'm never opposed to checking out new things and giving them a shot.

never take yourself too seriously ;) 

Long story short, $20 later, Elisa and I had two bottles of cold pressed, locally bottled goodness:

$10/ea.

I'm 50/50 on the experience. I'm glad that Cincinnati is joining the ranks of juicebar cities, but at the end of the day, I don't know that it's gonna become one of my things, if that makes sense. It'll be a while before I'm on that level.

I'd definitely recommend you at least check it out, whether you're into that kind of thing or not. Expensive or not, it's still yummy, & a refreshing break in the day!

Here's to a day well spent, & a week hopefully the same!

xo | cmd

Madison's Birthday Party!

Today, just like I figured, was a fuuull experience, from start to finish.

Maricor and I were up early and out to run last minute errands: balloons, cake, miscellaneous party supplies... breakfast [duh]. From there it was back to the house to wrap up the pre-party prep and load everyone up to head to the park.

Photo time [find the FULL collection HERE!]:

friendship park

pretty presents all around

birthday girl

baby sister

my girl

madison. sydni. lilly. sophie. | the little girl cousins, acting oh-so-ladylike! ;)

my cousin & her beautiful family

♥ you, cousin!!

HAPPY 4TH BIRTHDAY, BEAUTIFUL MADISON! WE LOVE YOU!!

 

We finally got on the road back to Cincinnati and are now settled in. I have one super tuckered-out girl already in bed and I am unwinding just a bit before I try to get some sleep. What an amazing weekend!

 

Oh, and before I go, I didn't forget my darlin' girl Whitney & her older sister Meg, who happen to share the same date for their birthday! (: Happy BIRTHDAY W&M!!! Hope to see you SOON!

whit & meg | me & whit

Gosh, birthdays are awesome.
Friends are awesome.
& my family is awesome.
... Does that mean life is awesome?
.... DUH.

AWESOME.

xo | cmd



My Family.

Sydni and I ended up crashing at Becky's last night while we were waiting on our laundry to finish up [still working on deciding what kind of plug-to-wall adaptation we're going with for the dryer at our house], so this morning we were up early, laundry folded and out the door. Back at home, we tidied up some and relaxed until Nana & Pappy [aka, my parents] arrived.

Mid morning, the knock at the door came, and I hugged my parents for the first time in six months. It was awesome. Mom of course came bearing an entire cooler of food for a picnic, so after the mini tour of the new digs and a breather from the drive, we loaded up and headed for Eden Park for a picnic and an open agenda.

It was the perfect day for a picnic. We made it up the hill to EP and found a great shady spot under a tree for lunch. Sydni got some bubbles from Nana & Pappy, so we took our time playing on the overlook, blowing bubbles, and later playing in the miniature waterfall at the duck pond.

Picture tiiiiiime (:

mini in the park!

dad ♥

mom. syd. me (:

 

syd & the greatest man to ever be there for her.. pappy!

we found some wildlife (:

i love this picture.. | syd with nana & pappy

After our romp in the park, we decided to walk down the hill to the Krohn Conservatory for the annual butterfly exhibit. This is one of the gems of Cincinnati that's fun every couple of years to see. My first time was back in 2008 with Catie, and today was much like that, just with many more butterflies than I remember. The signs indicated 12,000 butterflies. That's a lot of butterflies. Sydni spent nearly half an hour trying to catch a butterfly on the little card they hand out, one landed on her head and sent her screaming. Too funny.

butterflies everywhere!

another waterfall...

another great picture w/ nana & pappy

my. love.

We decided that was enough fun for one day, so we headed back to the house and got Sydni settled in for a nap. A long nap. That gave me a chance to talk to my parents. Actually talk... to my parents. It's been a very rocky road, this whole "transition," as we'll call it, and since most of it was done over the course of moving from two states away, there was very limited availability of having a face-to-face with my parents. Talk about overdue.

couldn't have said it better. 

I can't begin to explain how grateful I am for what happened today; I'll admit my nerves were in defense mode and I was uneasy about approaching the subject of my moving on, in specific regards to my relationship. Fortunately, before the whole weekend started, Rob reminded me that everything would be okay, and reminded me to be open. It's no secret that I'm about as good at verbalizing my heart as I am at operating on one, so it was with caution but deliberate focus that I let piece by piece of myself unfold to my parents. Honestly, candidly, and unabashadly. It was liberating. I'd underestimated their response, more specifically their genuine support. Rob was right; everything is okay.
Once the monster was up and stirring from her nap, we squeezed in a bike ride before dinner. Dad ran out to grab a few things and Mom and I finished up the end of our conversation, in a mother-daughter heart-to-heart. Did I mention how grateful I am for my family?

biking with nana!

And then....
Dinner at Main Street Cafe!

dinner fun with nana & pappy ♥

We really didn't waste any time finding our groove, and although it's only 9:30, we're all pretty spent. We're settled on the couch watching a movie with Sydni, and I couldn't ask for a better moment with my family.

See you tomorrow (:

xo | cmd

Hello, SUMMER, Hello PADDLEFEST! ☼

Welpppp....

hello, summerrrrrr!!!

It's the first day of Summer 2013 and I have a feeling it's going to be an AWESOME one. Probably the best yet, if I had to guess ;)

The first order of business to start the summer off came as a surprise, when Dave came back from some of his appointments and told Elisa and me that we could leave a half hour early. We didn't expect that, but can't say we're complaining. I headed straight to Milford and picked Sydni up, and we raced home to change, grab some laundry, and head back over to Northside to rendezvous with Becky and Mike.

From there, it was off to Paddlefest/Pedalfest 2013. Coney Island it was!

And as usual, since I'm just so great at explaining how much fun things are [yeah, riiiight], I made sure to take enough pictures to do the talking. With some help from Mike, I think we got the night captured pretty well.

Yaaaa see? :

beautiful things to buy.... everywhere.... *c'mon, self control!*

the revolution of pop-up camping

maybe in a couple of years, syd ;)

the new.. and the classics

river!!

hangin' in the ohio... and not mutating...

me & my girl | miss becky & syd | mr. mike showing how to water gun fight ;)

two of the greatest friends i could've ever imagined.

Goooood times (: Summer is officially here! My parents come in town tomorrow; it'll be the first time I've seen them in just about six months... this is long overdue. It'll be great to have them at my new place, and just to see them. Six months is a long time without your family.

beautiful sunset (:

Happy weekend, friends!

xo | cmd

Spoiled Girl. Handy Boy. Crazy Pup.

This whole Monday thing needs to stop repeating itself. I'm not opposed to the actual day itself, but I'm definitely not a fan of all that it brings with it off of the weekend lapse. Tonya was out sick today [feel better!!], so we ran a man short for the day. Thankfully, Marc & Diana are back from ILC [with greetings from 1663, aw ♥], so that at least eased the regular ache of Monday. 

*Unrelated note to self: Remind Ali that we planned on getting massages two Mondays ago, which has yet to happen. Let's make that happen, soonish... yeah?*

  

Anyway, today was day one of leaving Stella at home for the entire day. I quarantined her in my room like I've done for shorter periods over the last couple of days, and thankfully she did just fine. She's a champ (: As a reward, we took the early part of the evening to play in the backyard. I may or may not have put the D90 to work for a few minutes as she romped around the yard. 

stella the pit... aka #stellapittie

She ran and ran, and ran around some more, before we finally brought it in for the evening. Rob came by after work and much to my surprise practically made a beeline to the kitchen and started right in on DINNER. Gosh, I'm a spoiled girl. (: Excuse the cornball mash-up, but I found these two completely separate shots and figured I'd create an applicable blend of sorts.

yep. true story ♥

Not saying that guys are typically bad chefs, because really they aren't, but if I'm being honest I will say that I was pleasantly surprised by my boyfriend's culinary skill. Seriously! I think I was more surprised by the impromptu delving into my kitchen than anything else; it occurred to me tonight that this is the first time he's done dinner.. solo. Haha. We just hit a new level.... and soooomeone else wanted to be a part of it....

"can i have just one little bite???"

Aw. (: 

Oh, and let me just say she's been barking a bit over the past few days; I'm sure it's a huge adjustment to her coming out cramped quarters with a family including a couple small kids and another dog to my house: unnecessarily spacious and quiet for the most part, especially when it's completely void of Sydni or other rare company. We're getting better, though, and tonight Rob laid down the law with a rolled up newspaper. Not only did I snag a good chef, I found a dog whisperer. Haha. I feel spoiled! :p Seriously, though... lucky me (:

Well, he's nerdin' away at COD and I'm nerdin' away at some other edits and ... this blog.. and Stella's finally settled down some. It's proved to be a pretty good day and not an awful start to the week, either. 

Let's try this again tomorrow... 

xo | cmd

No, It Really Doesn't Take Much

I ordered a lense hood for my camera what seems like 3 months ago, and it fiiiiinally came in the mail today. I had begun to think it might never make it here, or that it really had been shipped from a warehouse on the moon... as it turns out, I was just a few clicks off.

Thanks, China, for shipping this little buddy over to me. I know, I know, I just fell total prey to the consumer-hunger fangs of Chinese product. Let's face it though, only a fraction of us can honestly say that we don't incorporate foreign goods into our daily routine. Either way, I paid for this sucker in pounds [which seems even stranger now that I realized it came directly from China, but eh...], so I'd like to consider it just me participating in commerce on something of a cultured level.

[No? Okay, well it sounded good.]

Whatev'. It's here, I'm using it, and that is that.


my little chinese lense hood.. lol..

It really doesn't take much to impress me :).
Happy FRIDAY!!!!

xo | cmd

Wednesday Wish List

I've ranted too many times about my busted D-90. I'm still salty with the USPS over the whole ordeal, but by Diana Owens' genius suggestion, I've resubmitted the claim for appeal with a repair quote attached. My poor broken shutterfly is patiently waiting in the corner now to be dropped off, pending a USPS decision.

In the meantime, I started browsing some new accessories for the D-90. I found a few things that reminded me exactly why I shouldn't ever do this until I'm ready to buy. I'm now stuck with a mini obsession for the new gear. Christmas idea? ;)

The specs on this buster are incredible, not to mention on its own it's pretty fun to look at, drool over, .... puuuurchase..... ?

In due time, Cori. Let's get the actual camera repaired before we launch out collecting new accessories.

At any rate, this will fit just fine with the Gary Fong diffuser, so I think I've officially been sold.

If there's anyone out there with any feedback on this little guy, feel free to forward it my way. I've read nothing but high remarks from current and former users, so we'll see.

Just thought I'd share :)
I'm in a particularly good mood today, and I don't see any specific reason for it other than life really is just good. It's an early blog night, but I've got a little girl here that wants to go watch Nemo for the 48392745927424th time. I guess we'll do that and pretend we're worried, again, when the 'balloons' blow up the sunken ship at the beginnning. That's the fun in it.

Nite :)

xo | cmd