Bluegrass In The Park

It's almost Summer in Cinci! It's not quite here, but that's not gonna stop any of us from taking necessary steps to take full advantage of the pre-Summer fun that Cinci has to offer.

I snagged Syd up after work, and headed home to meet up with Rob; Syd made sure the evening romping started early, and as she became a colorful blur streaking through the yard, I couldn't resist some captures.

goshhhhh, this girl...love her. 

It wasn't long before the three of us were in the car en route to Washington Park, where we immediately caught up with Becky and continued on to find Brandon's selected patch of grass near the mini stage.

bluegrass in the park! | washington park, cinci, oh 

Let the fun begin!

training her up for the festival life! 

There was music, there was food, there were great friends, there was playing!

little hippie chick

Syd found the sand pit...

We caught her in action, and honestly, I'm not sure she even knew we were there... at least not for a little bit:

Hahaha :)

As the night wound down, we prepared ourselves to leave. The sun went from a gradual dip in the sky to a full eclipse, as the buildings aided in shielding its light. The water pad came to neon life at that point, making me regret not having clad Sydni in her swimsuit for the evening. Becky, per usual, came to the rescue with a middle-ground solution of walking through the dry passageways.

beautiful! 

It's been a beautiful, beautiful day & evening; I can't wait for Summer to officially settle upon us!
Happy [almost] Friday!

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

Succulents, Take 2 | Bluegrass Bandstand

Today was a good day!

Elisa and I started it off with a lunch hour trip to Findlay Market. We've decided this will be a standard practice now, at least once monthly, if we can swing it. We rarely get out of the office for a full hour, so we figured if we were gonna do it, we would do it.

Okay, so again our staged rebellion was actually driven moreso by my story about how Rob & I fed our venus fly trap a bug last night; she decided she wanted one for the office, and I thought it'd be fun to have one back here at my desk, too.


pretty lil babies!!

I couldn't decide between two of those little beauties, so I just bought both, thinking I'd keep one for the office and give one to Rob as a present since he was thoroughly entertained by mine yesterday.

Elisa got a couple succulents and a venus; we're obsessed. Hah.

elisa's succulents

tiny traps in their car seat ;)

We of course ate some food while we were there, before hopping back in the car right before the rain started pelting down again. We got lucky. Back at the office, Elisa managed to find an unfortunate bug clinging to a wall, and did what Rob and I did yesterday - fed them to her plant. Haha. It's going to be the office version of The Hunger Games for the little bugs that keep buzzing around our desks.

After work, it was home for a quick change, then right back out the door down to Washington Park for the Bluegrass Bandstand. Kalyn was working with the Mt. Carmel Brewery team, and it wasn't long before we had the whole group there.

bluegrass bandstand

brought this guy (:

love him!

Of course Eli's BBQ made an appearance, but StreetPops showed up and brought a little cool-down to the party, too.  

what before picture?

We brought our smiles... 

kalyn. kelsey. cori. brittany.

And this other super tall guy brought his super tall guy-ness..

thumbs up from kelsey

All in all not a bad night! Friends, bluegrass, BBQ and brew - No complaints here!  

 

G'Nite!

 

xo | cmd

The Doeblerts: Stock the Bar Train Jamboree!

*backdated! ;)

I've seriously been waiting all week for this.
By mid-morning, Rob and I were in the car, en route to Connersville, IN to rendezvous with Catie, Andy & Co. for their Stock the Bar Train Jamboree [aka, joint wedding shower]. Let me tell you, this was a genius idea, and an all-around awesome time for everyone.

I'll spare the chatter & get straight to the pictures. I borrowed a couple from Ryan & Reena, but since I forgot to bring the D90, I had to count on Ryan's Canon to capture a lot of the day (:




whitewater vally railroad | connersville, in

We boarded the train and got caught up with some familiar faces we hadn't seen in a while...

jen! a little filipino love for the trip (:

me, catie & trisha: "roommates," 6 years later!

the beardless guy i brought to the party ;) ♥♥♥♥

This was a legit train ride, complete with a conductor, tickets & all:

(:

and yes, we made him yell, "aaaaaaaaaall aboooooard!"

Once we started moving, The Tye Dyes [aka, Catie & her band] provided some of the soundtrack for the trip out to Laurel. There is nothing quite like an old fashioned train ride with awesome people and live bluegrass music. I could do this every Saturday.

LOVED IT!


yeah, catie!!

Of course, there's nothing like an unfortunate fender bender to add some awe and quick prayer to the first train ride we've taken in a long time. It didn't appear that anyone had been hurt, but we did spend the next 10 minutes after this all speculating on how that may've happened..

ouch :(

The train plugged along for about 45 minutes before we reached Laurel. There, we were met with some Indiana hospitality for lunch.

not nearly as shanty as it might look!

you had us at fried food

^ Lunch = buffet. Of fried food. Let's be honest, nobody was watching their diets today, and a good thing, too, because the food was pretty good. I'm pretty sure we were all back for seconds, if that says anything. (:

After lunch, we all took to exploring a bit outside the restaurant. The train was awaiting us just a few meters away on the tracks; there will be lots of pictures surfacing soon of us all on the train as it stood waiting. 

yes, that's rob. lol ♥♥♥

We boarded back on the train for the trip home, and watched as Catie & Andy tore into all the gifts that were brought to actually stock the bar. I think they did pretty good, haha..

stocking the bar for these two!

because why not?

We arrived back in Connersville, and bid temporary farewells to everyone. Back in Cincinnati, I managed to squeeze in a quick catnap before I was up and heading right back out the door to Rhinegeist for the girls-only part of Catie's bachelorette party.


yessss!

traditional fobby picture from your brown girls ;) haha

I even got a random text from Trish, asking if I was getting into anything tonight. I told her to come and join us, so she did, and it was awesome having her there to spend the evening with us! We left Rhinegeist and bounced around some to good old OTR. Our final landing spot to finish the evening was The Drinkery, and we all left with huge smiles knowing we'd done our due duties as friends to celebrate Catie's approaching nuptials.

trish came to play!

adore her!!

Catie, I LOVE you, and I am SO excited to see you in a month, walking down to tie the knot with Andy! Thank you, THANK YOU for including me on your celebration. LOVE YOU!!!

xo | cmd

Bluegrass in Washington Park

Today flew by. I'm not complaining, since tomorrroooooooow I'm off after work to Illinois to see Rob & Co. Today was a good day all the way around though; no complaints there (:

Sydni didn't end up at swim lessons tonight, so her and I took a little trip down to Washington Park to oblige an invite from Becky and Mike. There's bluegrass each Thursday down there, at least for a couple more weeks, and after tonight, I'm disappointed that we haven't been doing this all summer - it was fun!

some weeknight bluegrass | washington park - cincinnati, oh

We met up with Becky and Mike for a little while; Nader, Keith & Rick were there, too, so the lot of us spent a couple of hours milling around the park listening to music and watching Sydni run off some of the energy she otherwise would've used swimming.. haha.


Gosh, I love this little girl.

a few of the faces of my favorite mini!

Now we're home: Sydni's preoccupied herself stringing up some beads [no, nothing like me.. at all... ;) ] while I finish up throwing some stuff together for the weekend away.

It's almost Fah-riiiiiiiday!

xo | cmd

KIM!

Hello, Thursday (:

And hello, KIM!!

Earlier this week, Kim and I crossed chats and made tentative plans to get together today, if for no other reason than to catch up on the last two years and just make contact. (: We promised we'd have a sit down, and so after work I headed up to Kenwood and saw my friend that I hadn't seen since her wedding over a year ago! 

2007 & 2013 (:

I missed her! We had some definite laughs over the last six years or so, remembering some of the hilarious [and definitely not so hilarious] things, places and people that now seem to be such a distant, stark contrast to where we both are now in life. It was refreshing to look back on the days of unabashed malarky and know that your friends survived it along with you :) OH, plus.... Kim and her awesome husband Dan are expecting their first little one in October! Thanks A LOT for being an adorable prego; I've been trying to avoid the baby fever [still am.. nobody panic], but seeing cute prego's who make that part of it look good really doesn't help. Hah. I've already decided I eventually want more kids, but certainly not anytime in the next year. Just one of those things, I suppose. In time....

Anyway, Kim and I agreed not to let another two years lapse before we hung out again, and went our separate ways for the evening. I had every intention on meeting up with Becky for some bluegrass down in Washington Park, but knew that before I did anything else, I had to tackle the front lawn at my house.

It's small, yes, but it was getting out of control. Trish's grandparents were so kind to lend me their mower since I've yet to decide on getting one of my own, and in ten minutes the deed was done. It's a huge improvement, and aside from the grass still being damp from all the recent rain, it was cake.


it's the little things (:

Now, if I could just make a decision on the dryer plug adaption... we'll be all set.

TOMORROW.. IS... FRIDAY. Halle-stinkin'-lujah.

I don't think Rob's going to make it in town this weekend, and if I'm being honest, I'm so sorely disappointed that I can't go there to make up for it.. Yeah, I'm bummed that I won't see him. To dull that disappointment [in a completely separate way], Kalyn & Keifer are moving back this weekend and hopefully that will keep my mind off whatever else is missing.

Either way, life's good and I really have no room to complain.
.. I hope yours is too (:

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