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

St. Patrick's Supercross!

Weeeeeellp.... we planned on an earlier start than what we got this morning, but it turned out pretty daggone good, all things considered. That's just like us, isn't it? ;)

So we got moving finally, Rob and I, on the road to Indianapolis, to rendezvous with Dillon & Dylan and continue on to the 2015 Supercross. This would not be a repeat of our time here in 2013, we were certain, but there were plenty of jokes to go around that it would be just as interesting..

The drive to Indianapolis is a range of trees, city and overpass driving; we made it with no issue to the outskirts of the city, where we met up with D&D at the hotel we'd planned to stay the night. I'm sure at one point it had seen days of glory, but the honest truth about it now is that it's a shady, rundown dive that scared me a little just being there to check in.. haha.

The four of us made our way into the city, where the traffic was already dense; it's St. Patrick's Day weekend in Indy. There was a marathon taking place early in the day, on top of streets closed for St. Pat's festivities. On the edge of all that was Supercross, where we were going.

heeeeeeeere we go! 

We parked eventually and met up with some of the other guys who came in from Illinois for the event, and hung around with them for a while before we eventually got separated inside the Lucas Oil Stadium a few hours later. The tickets we bought came with pit passes, so we took advantage of those and explored the pit areas with a few thousand of our closest fan friends.

millsaps

mitch payton

Before long, it was time for the races to start; Rob's boss & his wife met with us, and the last two last-minute entries were soon behind them: Becky & Mike! Poor Becky - bikes doing laps in the dirt for 4 hours really wasn't her thing, but she was a solid sport and seemed to at least enjoy the company if nothing else.. haha. [[Thanks again, Becks, for coming!!]

chip. beth. dylan. dillon. rob. cori. becky. mike. 

and this.. waiting on the 450s to start .. 

Dungey took 1st place in the main 450 event, which seemed to be a generally-predicted outcome, but as always, proved to be an edge-of-the-seat sight to watch.

dungey! 

We wrapped up at the stadium with no issue, and somehow made it to and into seats in the restaurant of Chip & Beth's hotel without much of a wait at all. Some late night grub to wind down, and then the decision of how the rest of the evening would be spent. Mike & Becky came to the conclusion that they weren't really feeling the vibe of staying overnight, especially since we were all slated to share a hotel room. After some consideration, I voted to ride back with them, which I later realized was a perfect decision..

a shot we shared for mare! 

Oh, and this is just a little backdated. We got here around 1am last night, and there was no room for blogging at that point. Either way, it was an excellent time with awesome people, and a sure improvement on the first go-round.. haha.

Happy Supercross!

xo | cmd

St. Paddy's Day Cookin'

Since it's Monday and I'm among the masses of grown-ups who have to work instead of spend the day binge downing green beer:

busken. yesssss.

^ Way better, right? Hahaha. We're not mad though.

It's a sure sign that I'm a lame one these days. The furthest I got into celebrating St. Patrick's Day this year was wearing some green to work to avoid being pinched by any of the more radical advocates, and add some green to dinner. If Rob was more of a traditional Irishman, I suppose I would've probably put a little more effort into some corned beef & cabbage [which I've obviously never tried], but green beans were as far as we got today.

Easy dinner recipe for all you blogbots, though!

EASY GARLIC CHICKEN

 

|| NEED || 

* 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

* 4 minced garlic cloves
* 4 tbs brown sugar
* 1 tbs olive oil
* salt, pepper & any addt'l spices you'd like!

 

|| DO ||

1. Preheat oven to 450°F. Line a baking dish or cookie sheet w/ aluminum foil & lightly coat it w/ either oil or cooking spray.

2. Sauté garlic in oil until tender, lightly browned. Remove from heat and stir in brown sugar. Add any other spices you'd like to use. I left it alone, but added salt & pepper to the chicken.

browned garlic + brown sugar

3. Place chicken breasts in/on prepared baking dish or cookie sheet and cover with garlic & brown sugar mixture. Add salt & pepper to taste.

chicken with some green beans cooking in the back!

4. Bake uncovered for 15-30 min, depending on the thickness of the chicken. I did 35 minutes for a slightly thicker chicken breast & it came out amazing!

added some cous cous for a smash hit (:

5. ENJOY!

That's all I had for today, folks. I'm stuffed from dinner and currently plastered to the couch... I know, too rowdy for a St. Patrick's Day.. haha.

G'Nite!

xo | cmd

Lá sona naomh Pádraig! [Almost]

Well, it's not the real St. Patrick's Day yet, but that didn't stop us from celebrating here at the office since we really won't be together as an office family on Sunday. Soooo... [sans Linda :( ... ], HAPPY DAY O' GREEN!

the express family [minus linda :( ... ]
tonya. andi. marc. cori. ali. diana

Potluck mode? Yes. Complete with corned beef & cabbage, potato salad, cheese & broccoli and an angel food cake topped with green sprinkles. Yeah, we know how to do it up around here when it comes to small office potlucks ;)

Oh, and no, I'm not Irish (clearly), but I do have a pure affinity for the color green; I found this on the Color Run page today and wanted to share, because I love... green... that.. much. 

color green (:

Love love love.

*Phew. The work day was something closer to absolutely neurotic than calm and peaceful like we'd hoped, but that's what makes our job what it is, and we do what we can to keep the ball rolling when one of us is MIA. Linda deserved a day off, so we were happy to pick up where she'd left off, even on a last-minute job order for double digit crew numbers. Oh, we brought it... haha.

Work aside, [HELLO WEEKEND!!!!]

We're headed out tomorrow for the weekend in Indy... here we goo..... (:

xo | cmd


Nashvegas!

First things first: Our lovely boss is at it again with her festive sales call gear. With St. Patrick's Day approaching, she is taking full advantage of a costume into which none of us could fit; she wears that sucker well.....

our little leprechaun!

She's hilarious.

Anywho, so last week, we went to see one of Ali's friends [Kali] in a theater production over at McKendree. Well, she's also an artisan. She made a couple of rings for Ali and Marianne; it was for this reason specifically that we made a trip down to Nashville [IL; don't get too excited ya'll...] tonight.

Check out these wire rings!

borrowed from fb ;) | "A" & "M" .. by Kali

Pretty awesome.. and they looked even cooler in person. So... Marianne & Ali met me at my house and the three of us headed off in the direction of Nashville, IL. I'd never been, and neither had Marianne. It was instant hilarity as soon as we hit the exit and started heading into the heart of Nashville. Well... first you have to pass through Little Nashville, which is essentially just a cover page to the actual Nashville: an adorable little town that embodies that podunk feel that I personally just...love.

Not to mention, there is a KROGER there. For all you Ohioans who thought I may've been totally jipped moving to IL, nope... there's a Kroger in Nashville, IL. Sure, it's the size of a Dollar General here, but it's a Kroger no less, and that alone made me happy. 

wahhhh!!! illinois kroger??! .... score.

Oh, and there are enough yachts for sale on one strip of highway to fill up the empty parking spots in the field dealership lot of the neigboring tractor dealership. Marianne was convinced that every silo we passed was filled with poop, as opposed to grain, feed or really anything else, and I quickly decided that if there were to ever be a fabulous yacht club, Nashville IL would...... probably not be... that place. Heheh. I'm really not poking fun, because I grew up in the country and I didn't hate anything about that place. Plus, it produced Ali, and this world would be a bit more dim without her. Everyone wins.

We ate at this place called Girolamo's, which is pronounced something like Gironamo, if for some reason you thought it was like Gyro - Lame-o, like we did when we saw the sign. Luckily, Ali had mentioned the name beforehand, but all I can do is laugh now at the fact that my mind is only recalling the name when I think Gyro-Lame-o. Sorry Nashville. haha.

clover marianne drew | heated conversation
yachts of nashville | girolamo wall art, aka marianne's new home | map of italy 

Oh, and Girolamo's is an Italian joint. It's a really good Italian joint.
I don't have many words for the conversation[s] that ensued over dinner, but what I will say is that it's been a while since I laughed that hard.

A few gems that materialized out of our visit to GIROLAMO'S [and shortly thereafter]... in NASHVILLE, ILLINOIS:

- Marianne self-enrolled herself into an arranged marriage. FRANK, aka SIR to those of us who are not from Nashville, kindly agreed to keep his eyes peeled for a legit Italian boy, in Italy, to whom Marianne will probably be married and live a long and prosperous Sicilian life.
- I recognized the danger of trying to execute a genuine laugh with a mouthful of 7-UP and an ice cube. It WILL end up in your nasal passages and it takes an exorbitant amount of self-control to keep it from coming out of your nose.
- Ali knows everyone... in Nashville, IL.
- Dairy Queen delivers ... in Nashville, IL.
- Marianne's hair can be transformed into the doppleganger styles of: Jimmy Neutron, Carson Dailey, Cogsworth [the clock from Beauty & the Beast], Tim Curry from the original 1985 production of Annie, Goku, Ace Ventura, Wolverine, Steve Carrel, and the much more unfortunate Hitler. It's... amazing.

angry opossum... possum... blech

- We are officially forming a band. Since Rebel Wilson already thwarted the name Fat Amy & the Chubb Chubbs, we may very well go with Ginger & the Re-Re's or something equally-babblish. Oh, and I'm slated as the interpretive dancer for this project. Our first album's going to be a re-make of Lion King. Haha....

- Opossums and possums really are not the same exact thing [thanks, Google], but we'll go with opossum, because it seems trickier, and because we almost hit one tonight. Apparently, Marianne has a pre-conceived vision of these things, and folks, it ain't pretty.

- One of these two things happened in real life: [Setting the scene: A woman came in, clad in a nylon jacket, on the back of which was embroidered the very large, very colorful banner of the 2004 FOOSBALL CHAMPIONSHIP] - Either A) There really was a national championship tournament somewhere in Missouri in 2004 and she earned that jacket.... or B) she bought that somewhere and was just giving us false hope that she may be some sort of local celebrity..... haha.. either way, WICKED cool jacket, but it definitely begged the questions [& prompted further hilarious conversation] in the rules and bylaws of said foosball championships.

these things really exist; i checked ... lol...

Yeah.. that's something I'll have to research later......
.... anyway, we stopped by Ali's mom's house [hi, Mom!] to see her for a bit and visit with her before we made a drive-thru run at DQ... and headed back to Shiloh.

All in all... a.... great.... night. These two girls are a wicked good time (:

Time to go stare at the back of my eyelids and choreograph my routine for the opening scene in Lion King.

;) ... See ya'll in the morning.

xo | cmd