Take Me To The Tofu....

Work was long today. I was ready when

Rob surprised me by taking me to Comet to meet up with Becky and Mike. I was due in for both some time out with Becky as well as a tofu quesadilla. It was perfect.

setting up at comet! 

tofu quesadilla

Not to mention, we demonstrated our clear choices in beverage selection. Can you guess who's who?

guesssss.. 

Okay, okay.. from left to right it was Mike, Becky, me and then Rob. I mean, we all know Becky's obsessed with MadTree, Rob's the Jamaican beer drinker, and I can only handle pale ales these days. And Mike? Well, Mike's a dark brew guy.

I needed this. I've got a man who knows me, and knows how to put me back in a happy place :). I'm a lucky girl, for sure.

Good night, lovely blogbots!

xo | cmd

Comet Bluegrass Allstars | Non-Girly Girls Weekend Planning

Before I say anything about the little that actually happened today, I've got to give some credit where it's due: Rob was a trooper yesterday, hiking through the Gorge with me in spite of not feeling well. I don't deserve his type of dedication, but he braved it and I am grateful for that time we got to spend together. #bestever♥

Today, however, he paid for his exposure yesterday. I headed off to church, while he was bound to the bed with a chest cold unlike any that he's had so far. :( 

I breathed in some weekly love solo at the service before running some errands and heading back home. I spent the afternoon engrossed in some hard-copy journaling and meditation on the Transformed devotional that accompanies the series we're in now. 

amen! 

Rob was diligent in his pursuit of sleeping off his bug today, so when evening rolled around and Becky beckoned me to The Comet for live bluegrass & tofu quesadillas, I didn't have a legitimate reason or want to decline. SO, off I went to join her; I definitely don't regret it :) 

bluegrass allstars! 

We ate, we laughed, we chatted for almost two hours with a gentleman from England and listened to live bluegrass music. We also started formulating plans for a non-girly girls weekend, prompted by Kalyn's latest disappointment [we'll just call it that], which will be purposed as a way for each of us to re-calibrate and breathe in some inspiration and encouragement from each other. I think we are ALL in very real need of this. We've planned for April, as of now.. ideas are welcome! 

pretty much. 

^^ We say 'Non-girly' because our idea of such a weekend is one spent buried in a remote location away from civilization. Showering is optional; journaling is not. Said weekends always revolve around camping, hiking, biking, climbing, trekking, yoga'ing, canoeing and/or kayaking, or some variation of all or some of those things. Just the thought of incorporating these three women into the same trip with that environment makes me feel peaceful.

I can't freakin' wait. Plans [weird, I know] start NOW!

I hear we're supposed to get a nice snowy punch in the gut overnight tonight, so pop those windshield wipers up and sleep tight tonight, Midwest blogbots! Be SAFE tomorrow!

xo | cmd

Christmas Priorities... Pshhh... ;)

I can't believe Christmas Day is this week. The festive spirit got ahold of me this year and I'm on a roll preparing for it this year, more-so than the past few years, but I still can't quite grasp that it will all culminate this week. Phew!

Instead of staying home and diligently knitting away at Andrew's birthday/Christmas present like I should have tonight, I obliged Becky's invite to Comet for dinner, joined by Andrew himself [the ironyyyy], Jessica & Rob. While I lost several valuable hours of needle time, I wouldn't have traded it for the company, atmosphere and of course.. food!

quesadillas @ the comet.
'nuff said.

We're a funky bunch, I'll say that much. We eventually bid goodnight to Jess & Andrew, and followed Becky back to our house to hang out for a bit and watch the UC game. Sydni conned her buddy Becky into one of her endless endeavors as project manager in our house, and none of us were disappointed that giggles replaced the priority of watching the game.

little builders! 

The final countdown is ON! THREE DAYS! ♥♥

xo | cmd 

Tunes & Blooms: The Finale

Today was one of those days at work; for the most part, everything on our plates usually runs smoothly. However, when there is a problem, it's usually a pretty big one, and today was no exception to that. I was challenged today.. really challenged to comprehend the breaking point that pushes some people to act so violently in an unprovoked situation. I now have an employee with a broken wrist because of the erratic outrage of a random person. It makes me furious to think about it, still.. but our employee is handling it better than I probably, and he's going to be okay. Right now, that's all that matters.

In other news, Rob and I both needed a bit of a breather, so we joined Mike & Becky at the last round of Tumes & Blooms at the zoo. We've only gone to one other one so far, but wanted to make it out for one last hoo-rah.

There of course were the tunes:


bluegrass @ tunes & blooms!

There were friends... 

hi, friends! 

love love love 'em.

... there were flowers...

beautiful!

.. and of course, there were friends and flowers!

goofball.

Oh! And there's a new baby at the zoo! We caught a tiny peek of little [by little, I mean 5'11" tall and 150 some lbs..] Nasha's head while we were there; she was in the giraffe den nestled up against a far wall, so no full shots today. I did however find a video of her from TWO days ago when she was born!

Yay, baby animals! (:
We wrapped up at T&B when our stomachs started growling, and made a getaway to Comet in Northside for dinner. Tofu quesadilla it was, and of course a selfie... because... well, because lumberjack hats and PBR. That's why.

duh. (:

I'm totally shameless about that hat. Yes, it's quite the furry head accessory, but we took the bike out tonight and I'll give ya one guess as to whose head wasn't cold on the trips to and from.. E|:)

Happy Thursday, blogbots!!

xo | cmd

It's FRIIIIIDAY [& Rob's HERE!!!]

♕

It's FRIDAY!!! Hallelujah.

I wasn't sure this week was actually going to end, probably just because of how excited I was that Rob was coming to visit. I had prepared myself to run a few errands and get a couple of things done before the late hours when he arrived. I'm not a fan of waiting for things like this, so I started brainstorming ways to occupy myself before he showed up.

And then... he sent me this.
At 6:30pm. 

well, hello... not far away at all?!

Sneaky little fox! Haha. He took off work early today just to make it here a little sooner. I felt like a little kid when I saw this and realized he was less than 40 minutes out.

Becky & Mike had dropped off a bag of fresh carrots [straight from the garden, dirt and all ♥]; I busied myself cleaning those up some before I got a second message on my phone, containing a picture of my house with my car in the driveway. Haha. I love it.

Fast forward: We just finished dinner at The Comet [shocker, I know...] with Becky & Mike, and are calling it an early night. We'll get going on some fun stuff tomorrow: City Flea, Findlay Market, whatever else we get into, and maybe camping tomorrow night if the weather holds out.

He's here. I'm happy.

xo | cmd

Back to Work

Here's a little somethin to welcome us back to the [shortened, hallelujah] work week:

I saw that online earlier this morning and must've watched it about 4 times. I read a few of the comments, one specifically that we know more about space than we do about the oceans. Hmmm. What do you think about it? :)

After work, Becky and decided it may be time to finally disassemble the tents that we pitched on Saturday at her parents house. We headed there to do that, and helped out with a few other miscellaneous things there. Becky's dad was kind enough to show me up into the tower he's building in the backyard as a playhouse for Becky's niece and nephews; I've gotta say - I'm jealous! Hah..

And of course, for dinner, because we lack the ability together to make any real decisions:


& it's bike night..

One standard order of two tofu quesadillas, a PBR & lager later, we were good to go and headed home to call it a night.

That's now, and tomorrow's just around the bend.

Seeee you there (:

xo | cmd

THREE DAY WEEKEND!!

*Whew! Another week down. This is the first full week we've been open as the newest Cincinnati office, and it was definitely interesting with Elisa gone for most of the week. I hope she's having a blast on vaca though, and maaaaybe she'll be sweet enough to bring back some Florida weather next week. Hah [drive safely!!]

Anyway, with Friday under wraps, let's take a deep breath and welcome the THREE DAY WEEKEND! Helloooo Memorial Day!

woooooo! three-day weekend!! ;) 

I went straight from work to Sandy's to pick up Sydni, and stayed there with the two of them talking for nearly an hour before we got back on the road. It was great to see her, and now that I'm back for good, it'll be a more frequent thing. Sydni and I made the haul back down to Northside to Becky's, where she and Mike were awaiting.

hello, mini!!

comet... mmmm!

Sydni wasted no time making herself at home and finding the water gun collection hidden throughout the apartment, and for nearly 30 minutes, it was an all out war between Becky, Mike, Sydni and me. It was hilarious. Once we'd settled down from that, we ordered dinner from The Comet, played some Angry Birds on the iPad, and called it a night. I have a feeling this is going to be one busy, BUSY weekend.

Syd's about crashed, and I can tell I'm not far behind her.
Here's the long weekend! Stay SAFE and have fun, friends!

xo | cmd

Mother's Day 2013

Is it really that time again?

--- Yes.

my world. my daughter. my love! 

Ok, so aside from from her actual birthday, I think Mother's Day serves to double the realization that each year, my little girl becomes less and less little. I remember Mother's Day last year; like I said, it's here again to remind me that another year has come and gone almost and she's growing up.

However, in my moments of fighting time, I can't say I'd trade it for the world. Today was Mother's Day, and as bittersweet as it ended, it was perfect while it lasted and I couldn't have asked for a better day.

Rob and I picked Syd up early this morning and made our way down to It's Just Crepes for brunch [we attempted Taste of Belgium,  but just couldn't stick around for an hour and a half wait... ]. As it happened, it seemed like crepes did better work this particular time around to satisfy all our cravings, even Syd's.

With our bellies full [& some silly pictures from brunch time under our belt], we needed to decide what to do with the rest of our day before Rob had to head back. My brain's been off-kilter all day long, so the Newport Aquarium didn't even cross my mind.... buuuuut, I did eventually come up with a trip to the Cincinnati Museum Center, specifically the children's museum. I also thought of Entertrainment Junction, but with the drive to and from West Chester + the time it takes to really absorb that place, we decided we'd need to put that off to another visit [sad faces].

So anyway, we ended up at the children's museum, which you know is fun when you come out after nearly three hours realizing you've taken a total of about... four pictures? Oh well, we made better use of that time playing and romping than stopping to pose for pictures. We did stop at the photo booth at the end of it all, a picture which Rob has and of which I might have to obtain a copy when I see him this next weekend. (:

Anyway, it was a blast. By the time we left, Sydni had thoroughly exhausted herself into one of her trademark I'm-passed-out-before-we-even-leave-the-parking-lot. That worked, because if I'm being honest, yes, I bawled my eyes out like I was myself a wronged toddler when it came time for Rob to leave. Call me a wuss, but I'm in love with that boy and while I know it's just a little distance, and we still have each other's commitment, it's still pretty rough standing on a sidewalk in broad daylight knowing that it'll be an undetermined amount of time until - if - you get to come home to that person again at the end of the day.

Good news: I'll see him this upcoming Friday, so really, I'm panicking for no reason .. yet... haha. He did exponentially better at being the more stable one today as he geared up to leave; I told him I'll be a big kid about this tomorrow, but for now... I'm sad.

He finally left, after a fairly emotional farewell [overdone, probably, but I care not one bit about the dramatics today], and I stayed behind in the driver seat of my car for a little while longer: reflecting, crying, convincing myself into composure, and then repeating that until Sydni finally started to wake up out of her nap.

I snapped right out of my funk, and convinced her to come up and take some pictures with me (: She obliged. These are the top two contenders from a slew of about 20 :

for obvious reasons.... 

again... obviously ♥

Goshhhhh I love her.

chocolate ganache!

Together we spent the rest of the afternoon running around town and doing a little gift shopping, both for a few other people and of course for Sydni too. :) Eventually we met back up with Joe for her to head with him, and I made my way back to Becky's. I practically ran right in to her and Mike as they were heading out the door; in a moment of spontaneity joined her and her family for another Mother's Day celebration at LaRosa's. She'd snagged something from Market from me, too (: [[thank you, amazing friend!!]]

We ended up at her parents' house for a few minutes, where her dad showed me the little playhouse project he's constructing for her niece and nephews. Yenno, just a tiny... little.... THREE STORY.. thing.. haha.

is the kid cori jealous? ... yes. yes, she is.
heck, the adult cori is still jealous. haha

Last thing on the agenda for the night? Some bluegrass by the The Comet Bluegrass Allstars. Not... a bad... ending.

bluegrass (: | the comet | cincinnati, oh

I go to work tomorrow.... at a new Express office. I'm still not sure exactly how I feel about it, but we'll see how it goes. I just got off the phone with Rob; he and the fiat made it back to IL safe and sound... too bad I miss him like crazy already....

Deep breath.
Night, blogbots (:

xo | cmd

Unsuccessful Housing Hunt..

I just woke up.
....... for the second time today.


this was... our day...



We drove... a lot today. We took off around 9:30 this morning to head out to Anderson to check out a townhouse; I wasn't entirely sold on it, but I've not ruled it out, either. From there, we covered the entire Milford area from side to side, parts of Loveland, back down through Miamiville and even a little into Mt. Carmel. Through the process, we dug up a few very interesting characters, properties off the beaten path, and a tree with a twisted branch on which I lost the bet that it was organic [vs. a rope or wire of some sort]. That bet cost me lunch at Chipotle [not mad, not mad.. haha..], and we were off again. If for some reason you thought we didn't spend enough time in the car........ we were in that thing solid all the way up until our final Norwood pitstop at 6pm. I was exhausted.

BAD NEWS: Jury's still out on the housing situation. I'll be exploring some more options this week on a place to nail down, but I've heard from a few people that the Cincinnati rental market right now is pretty dry. I'm not crazy.

GOOD NEWS: I.. well, we [Rob has been my bodyguard all day] met up with David and Nancy [the owners of my new office] in Norwood to see what will be in its finished state the Express office of greater central Cincinnati. It's still a work in progress, but it's spacious and has excellent visibility/accessibility. I'm pretty excited about build-out, and was glad to have finally met David's wife. I was happy Rob was there, too; looking back at the folks we met today, I'm not sure I would've had as much composure walking into those meetings solo.


see that big blank spot? yeah... that'll be me... (:

Anyway, we made it back here to Becky's just shy of 8pm - Becky was out cold on the couch and we had very similar plans, so it was straight to a late evening nap..... which brought us to just waking up about 30 minutes ago.
Yeah, us.


tofu quesadilla from the comet? yesssssss, please.



This headache I've been fostering all afternoon is finally starting to subside, for which I am sooo grateful [I'm such a baby when it comes to headaches]. We've collectively decided on ordering food from The Comet; Becky and I just got back from picking that up, and Rob's in the shower so I figured I'd take a few minutes and blog before I pass out.. Haha. I'm still pretty spent from the day, but thankful for Becky... for Rob... and oh yeah, for the fact that tomorrow morning, we'll be getting Sydni for the day before we leave. I'll also be devouring a tofu quesadilla within the next hour, and for the time being, that alone is worth fending off sleep for just a few more minutes.

Happy Saturday, blogbots!

xo | cmd

Ohio Bound [Again]

Here I am in Ohio, again. Haha.

I feel like I should highlight the fact that Becky introduced me to tofu quesadillas [thanks, Comet].


tofu quesadilla | comet cafe, northside, cincinnati

 This one's gonna be super short, since I'm currently parked on the most comfortable futon in Northside, and I... am... exhausted.

Thank you, Lord, for delivering me safely once again. That five hour trek is no joke!

Three day weekend, let's go.

xo | cmd