Christmas 2013: T-Minus ONE WEEK

First and foremost, Christmas is my favorite holiday of the year. I love the assembling of family, even when multiple stops sometimes feels like a game of Tetris. For us, it's a non-negotiable absolute that we will get together at one point or another, because it's Christmas and regardless of how often we see each other over the other 11 months, Christmas is when we get together and celebrate as a unit, the reason for the season and what that means to us.

I opted out of the mass mayhem of Thanksgiving Day [ridiculous] and Black Friday shopping this year, and pursued the DIY route. My recent discovery of online providers like Julep, and of course Pinterest, made this one an easy vote for me.

julep surprise box for december!

^ I opt in for surprise boxes and they give me cool things like 40% off my next order. Since Julep's are usually around $14/ea for one of their polishes (& worth it, I would say), my enrollment discount + a promo 40%? NO-brainer! I made a big order last week & got a couple polishes for $3/ea. BAM!

And so I made with it on Christmas ordering ;) From there, I picked up some other small, related items for just a couple bucks and was able to put together a nifty little gift for a few girls:

for elisa (top left) & nikki (top right)

A cinch, really. Add some tissue paper, a pretty ribbon and a 'Merry Mistletoes' tag & voilà - done!

I had to save this until the girls got their mistletoes, so as to not spoil anything..

elisa (r) & nikki (l)

DIY success!

Also...... the Blums went in this year on some pretty lil' gift ideas for our clients:

express toffee boxes (:

They're so pretty! I had to snap a shot of them all arranged for delivery before they're gone.
It's really starting to feel like Christmas around here!

Tomorrow = Company Christmas "party" dinner at Zula in OTR. [[yummmm]]
Oh, and btw, Christmas itself is exactly 1 week from today. Chyeah. Wrap your head around that one.... I'm still trying. Hah.

xo | cmd

The Sun'll Come Ouuuuuut... On Tuesday!

It's been raining a lot here. The midwest has proven again to show its fickle side with fluctuating weather..... but mostly rain for the past couple of weeks. We've been fortunate to grab a few sunny hours here and there, but even so, everything off pavement around here just seems to be perpetually damp. Hopefully it'll hold off for the holiday, if nothing else.

Sydni and I made a quick stop next door when we got home, to see Trish and the kiddos. Syd and Gianna wasted no time becoming quick friends, and I have a feeling it's going to be a fun summer with the two of them as neighbors.

Oh, and of course, we colored...


my miniature artist! ♥

We were well into some pretty artwork when Becky and Mike showed up. Mike took the dare of being left alone with Sydni for a few minutes while Becky and I ran down to pick up some tickets for a little concert thing going on in a couple weeks....


... no big deal... hah, just kidding... i'm pumped!

Tickets in hand! I picked up two extras for Kalyn & Keifer, who will be joining us...  I'm stiiiill working on convincing Rob & Jesse to join us on their way back from FL; who knows if that will actually happen, but that would make it a perfect night. We'll see. Either way, it's gonna be an amazing time (: And, much to our relief, Mike survived the solo mission with Sydni and wasn't tied and bound in a closet when we returned. Haha.

I'm totally okay that this was about as much as there was to the day today. Tomorrow is the last full day of work we have to do this week [half day Friday is better than a full day, haha]; I'm just ready for an extra day and a half or so to veg out, spend time with Syd, and see some friends.

xo | cmd

Plugging In

First, I wanted to start off the day with some color:

hello! (:

I don't often go for the bright pops of color quite like this, but I thought it was fun, and coupled with the chair in my office, I couldn't resist. Spring is here and I was definitely feelin' it today.

I have been on a very gradual transition back into Cincinnati. In the past three weeks that I've been back, I've already had two mini trips back to Illinois, and have been making myself sparse around here, for the immediate time being.

Today I checked two more things off my Return to the 'Nati checklist: link up with a gym and decide how I want to continue with my banking. Well, for the sake of being a 'Nati-an, I'm going to stay local:


fitworks & wright-patt credit union | norwood, oh

Yeah, I took the plunge. I've been wanting to get back into some circuit training for a couple of months now, but with everything that's been going on, I never had time. Then I remembered that I have to make time if I want to see any sort of result [duh], so there ya have it. I'm invested. Haha. Tomorrow I'll jump in with a personal trainer and see just how out of shape I really am these days.

Back in Northside, I paused to take pictures of some of the simple, quirky beauty its residents have to offer. I don't necessarily consider myself a truly ecclectic person, but I always enjoy the manifestation of the more expressive faculties. 

pretty little northside (:

Fun. It may seem tacky to some people, but while I don' tknow that I'd paint a garden onto my car, it's fun to see random things like this speckling the neighborhoods across Northside.

Tonight I found myself back in the company of two of my favorite friends from Cincinnati. It's been a long time since I spent any time with them, but on a random fluke I found myself sitting through the last half of the Pacers-Heat game and half of an AnimalPlanet Mermaid documentary with Lu & Kyle [aka Goldy & Chester]. Lu's adorable girlfriend Ashley and Kyle's brother Chad were there, too. I've missed them, and it didn't hurt my mood to see some old familiar faces.


ky. lu. cori | circa2007

[Has it really been that long?! :( ]
Funny. The edge of transitioning back is starting to wear down some; I will finally move into my new digs effective this weekend, so once that's completed, I'm hoping to wake up feeling a little more "here" than I do now. I've got a great job, great friends who've supported me [literally supported me] through the process, a boyfriend who still puts up with me two states away [love. him.], and of course, the center of my world: the 3-year-old who certainly knows more about US currency than I did when I was 3... ;) ["Look! Waaaashington!!"] Haha.

I'm back in Northside and ready to put Monday to rest. I can't help but feel that slight emptiness that you get when you know you're missing someone but have no choice to power through it. He knows, though, and I know that it'll be okay. I'm just being a baby about it. Becky gets back tomorrow, so I'll have to catch up with her and see how the big Apple treated her on her first trip.

Random idea: Say something nice to a stranger tomorrow, and mean it. (:

G'Nite, friends.

xo | cmd

Oh, That's EGGSellent | Easter Crafts Pt. 1

I got into an Easter spirit late last night, but it was clearly too late by that time to jump into any craft projects. I decided we would do some egg dying. That happened tonight.

By the way, I do recognize the stark contrast between the true meaning of Easter and the dying of eggs and excessive chocolate consumption. I don't think the two are interchangeable, but for what it's worth, I love crafts; therefore, bring on the egg projects!

Sydni and I jumped right into it when we got home.

eggtastic!

It was a blast. I think next time, we'll be using KoolAid to get this done, even though the food coloring route really wasn't that difficult. After some consternation and debate over whether or not, then futhermore which kind of VINEGAR to use in the whole process [btw, Cori 1, Rob 0 ;) ], we settled for apple cider vinegar and got on with it. I'm thinking that if we go the KoolAid route, we may be able to skip using vinegar and thus spare the house from the smell. We'll just have to see.

Anyway, that was the bulk of our night. I can tell it's getting close to spring [well, technically is, but a cold one]/summer, because I'm feeling the craft / DIY bug scratching at my fingers. That being said, here's a few of the other egg projects we didn't do this year, but may certainly keep in mind for next year: 

scuba divers! super cute, super easy, super recycled!

i moustache you a question.......

my personal favorite! silk tie transfer

Easter is quickly approaching! I think tomorrow, we'll knuckle down on some cards for the family & friends... with love, from Sydni, of course. :)

I'm tellin' you, that craft bug is is gettin to me!!

xo | cmd

Monday Haze.

Today .... was a blur. It'd be a lie if I said I remembered a lot of details about the day, which gives me all the more reason to gladly bid adieu to this particular Monday. I think I'm still on a lag from the weekend. It definitely wasn't the mini-trip we'd planned, but we're back and all is well.

Rob took the night to go see his dad; Sydni and I are here gallavanting around the house like fools and eating leftover pizza from last night. I have to say at least the day is ending well.

Oh... and I figured out what I'd look like with green eyes tonight.

Thoughts?

to green? or not to green? 

[bored & lovin' it]

xo | cmd

Beanies: An Addiction

red!

I have a problem.
A beanie problem.
I'm obsessed......

Just wait til I get the yellow one I ordered.
This is my new thing..
Oh, brother.

xo | cmd 

Blendable People [Art Post!]

I wanted to share. I found these on Flipboard. You can thank Rob for my obsession with Flipboard, too, while we're at it.

I want... to do this....



[dunno why the orange one got cropped :/ ... but you get the basic idea]



I just thought some of you may appreciate these as much as I did. I need to find a cool, colorful building and make myself a part of it (:

Stay tuned... and never say never ;)

xo | cmd

I Haven't Forgotten....

It dawned on me today that in the midst of my newly-fashioned obsession with knitting, I've let my beadwork fall to the wayside. How rude of me. I made a resolution today to fish the bins of un-assigned beads, wire, fastenings, and other random trinkets out from hiding and give them some long-absent attention.



current knitting endeavor

 With Christmas just around the corner, I tend to be a little more bold in color selections and textures, simply because I feel like this is a brilliant time to celebrate boldness and color. Don't ask me how I arrived at that particular correlation, but I felt the distinct need to hone in on the array of ceramics over which I've always debated in adding to pieces. Why? Well, for starters, they're not cheap, and once I've incorporated them into a necklace or other piece, they are then no longer available for anything else. It's a ridiculous battle I'm constantly perpetuating in my own head, which could easily be remedied if I weren't so stinkin' fickle.

Whatev'.


ceramics: o, how i love you.

 Either way, I sorted out some ceramics today that, along the way, became part of a collection instead of a wearable item. I wound up losing focus on beads and leaning back on knitting when I realized that I should be crafting jewelry to match knitting projects, and vice versa. Hello, genius. Wake up.

That being said, I'll be taking Christmas gifts to a whole new level this week. Haha.
I'll keep you posted.

xo | cmd

Miss Tessa Bean!

SCORE! I survived my first week at my new office. It’s beyond different, still, but I think I’ll start meshing a little better when I’m not faced with 50 different things in a shortened workweek.

Anywhooooo. Sydni’s been gone [not gone, but on vacation, rather] at Nana & Pappy’s [aka, my parents’] since the beginning of this week when we left after the holiday weekend. It’s been eerily quiet around here, and I caught myself once this week feeling a bit useless not having the same recurring pile of stuff to clean up.

That’s why tonight we readily agreed to watch Tessa [Kyle & Amy’s] for the night while they headed out for a date night. I was pretty excited. Tessa is one of the cutest kids I’ve ever seen, and she’s funny, too.

I came home from work to find Tessa perched on our couch, tennis ball raised above her head, squealing at our dog, who was more than ready to play fetch with her in the living room. She thought it was the funniest thing. She helped me fix dinner, and told me all about how she helps her mommy out at home making dinner, too. She colored some pictures and ate dinner in Sydni’s high chair, because, well, she insisted on sitting there as opposed to a normal chair. Well ok, then.

tessa bean!

We took a trip to the park, where Tessa was very quick to make some new friends. I realized that Sydni does the same exact thing, and I had to stop for a minute and just appreciate the simplicity of children playing together. There’re no social borders, no status lines, and no inherited grudges to take into consideration. It’s just them, a playground, and all the free time they can handle until it’s time to go home. I love it. Tessa loved it, too, but was completely okay to head back to our house, get cleaned up for bed, and even fall asleep before Kyle & Amy came by to get her.

This is our first time babysitting another little one together: we didn’t do half bad! We still have one full week without our little one. I’m already starting to miss her, but I know we’ll find some way to fill the time.

For now, lights out!

xo | cmd