Faaariiiiidayyyy

I woke up to this gem:

who messes up the ymca? we do. 

I can't tell ya'll how excited I am for Mare & Derrick's wedding, and the dancing that shall ensue when Becky and I get to hit the floor in celebration. A few of my favorite people are getting married this year, so don't worry - plenty of opps to catch us cuttin' up rugs ;). 

In other news, today was gorgeous! 

sunshine = happy people!

^ Okay, while that's not always the absolute equation, it happened to be true today. We've spent so many days gridlocked in a pattern of clouds and sleet and rain and more clouds and just gray gray grayyyyyy... when the sun came out today and the air didn't feel like freezing needles, the universal affect it had was an improved mood both in and out of the office. 

Aaaaaand.. Timehop gave me a flashback to something I'd flashbacked five years ago (do the math, this picture is obviously older than 5yrs), but I love it just the same now as I did then, so it bears sharing: 

more than 5 years ago, but still today! 

To celebrate the weekend, I promised Syd a mama-mini date, so the two of us headed off after work for a fun night of Funko shopping, decorating and dinner. I am one lucky girl to have this kiddo in tow. She's my favorite little ham... 

We headed home and knocked out the spare bedroom, which previously had been used for Sydni making sheet forts and chasing the dogs around: 

before & after
(look how adulty!)

^ You guys, I'm doing domestic things like using matching bedsets and eating meals in actual compliance with the Whole30. 

Please send help. ;) 

Or at least give me the weekend. I'll take that, for now ♥

TGIF! 

xo | cms

Fancy Fridays

TGIF! 

Another week in the books, and another Friday to usher in the weekend!

I hit the road after work and made a beeline north for an hour to Beavercreek, which has happened more this year than it has in the last five.. but who's counting? Jennica's back in Dayton, and that's all that matters.

friday morning... vs. friday afternoon :) 

So let the twintastrophy begin.
Or something like that.

We made tentative plans to go canoeing tomorrow, so we decided I'd come up tonight and we'd kick off the weekend 12 hours early :). We started with dinner by the river, inside because it was raining outside... a fact we were fine with because it now freed us from having to get up early and stain her deck in the morning.. shhh..

dinner date! ♥

From dinner, we hit a row of nightcaps.. forgive me if I forget all their names; all I know is that this wonderful friend that I've known for almost 15 years is back in Ohio and barely an hour away. We'll have lots more nights like this and that makes my heart so, so happy.

[selfie station..]

Man.. this girl. I'm a firm believer in surrounding yourself with a tribe equally as - if not more - weird than yourself. They're the ones that push you to be your most authentic self; JS, you are definitely one of those and I couldn't be more thankful for our friendship... allllll 15ish long friggin' years of it. ;) 

Cheers to the weekend!

xo | cms 

Mangos, Maricor & Macarons

My wonderful cousin was in town today for work. She made it a point to see me before and after, and I feel so loved for that.

We started the day with brunch at First Watch, complete with morning tonics [and no, not alcoholic].

good morning tonics! 

We went our separate was after that; I had the day at my disposal; fortunately I have a husband who obliges my unplanned requests to go lumber shopping in the middle of the day. I've had my written plans in place for a couple weeks now and continuing the mini library upstairs, and am so thankful that he goes along with these things. I don't know how I got so lucky... even if we both decided halfway through circling laps through Lowe's that we didn't feel like getting the entire sum of material we'd originally planned. This would do for now.

gosh. i love him.

Our DIY plans fizzled as soon as we got home from Lowe's, when we both looked at each other and admitted neither felt like starting on that specific project. Rob's been working on a motor rebuild, and I owed it to him to have time for that, instead of hoarding him to help me build a bench. I took the opportunity to run a couple errands.. and some other unplanned stops:

i will pencil this place into any agenda... and on any day. 

Macarons are kinda sorta YES and ABSOLUTELY YES in my book. I was craving some blackcurrant today, and of course one thing led to another and well..

blackcurrant

*Sigh.

i'll just take 1.
..... pair of boxes.... please. 

I circled back home, relaxed for a couple hours while I waited for Maricor to wrap up at work. She eventually finished, and Rob and I met her at Chuy's for dinner. If there's anything I'd ever wish in an imperfect world, it would be that all my favorite people lived closer. 

♥

Our first HOUR was spent waiting past other parties who'd arrived long after us, and we were a little skeptical on how the rest of the evening would fare in terms of service. We were proven so wrong, so quickly, by the awesome server named Bobby, who not only made us smile every time he came by, but gifted us a free sopapilla at the conclusion of dinner.

If it's possible to have a spirit animal for a night, well.. Bobby... ya nailed it.

sopapillas = divertidas ;) 

I couldn't have asked for a better self-paced Saturday, except for maybe one including Sydni. Next weekend, though. Next weekend. 

For now, we're fed, happy and calling it a night. 

Happy Saturday! 

xo | cms

Woo!

And no, I'm not referencing the Myers-Briggs test result, but one of these days I'll get on here and share those with everyone.. haha. Today was just.. just a good day to be thankful for everything in it - the good, the frustrating, the delicious and whatever else came along with it. 

For starters, there was this guy: 

yes. 

^ I love that guy. I don't know his story, but if I'd had the chance to snag him before we parted ways in the parking lot, I would have asked. It's a small gesture to put a sign in your window, but he was shameless about it, and for that I applaud him. Plus, it's true, and I need to be reminded of that sometimes, even on good days.

I got hit with the desire to eat teriyaki for dinner, so that's what I did, and if Rob was in fact being honest, then he thought the same :). It's not a hard recipe, so if any of ya'll want it, let me know!

teriyaki chicken rice bowl! 

The evening was nothing spectacular, but we did have a contest between the dogs, of who could jump higher, hang on the longest and scrabble the quickest after a thrown toy. Sasha unsurprisingly has the greater amount of physical range, but man oh man, watch out for Stella's pearly whites if you're wild enough to stick your hand in the middle of a toy battle.

go go pups! 

Aaaaaand.... the highlight of Rob's week when it comes to the house: LOOK what is finally fitting in the garage! Please excuse the clutter around the car; that won't always be there, but I am so proud of him for his dedicated work in clearing out the space and all of the shelf-building he's done to make space for our cars! One down, one to go getting in here..

thanks, babe!

The countdown's on.. just a few more days and then it's a 3-day weekend, with good friends, boats & plenty of lake to go around. I. Can't. Wait. 

xo | cmd

ALI TURNS TWENTY FIVE, FINALLY!

I've been trying to turn Ali 25 for 3 years now.
[this entry is post dated.... ]
I don't know why it always seemed fitting to wish her a Happy 25th, on her 22nd, 23rd and 24th, but this year I can say it legitimately. Twenty-five for the win!

The birthday weekend started yesterday, when Damanji and I arrived in from the STL & Cinci Metros, respectively. Today was the real start of our Chicagoland weekend to celebrate one of our best friends.

1 | BREAKFAST! 
.: Eggs. We went to Eggs. No, seriously, the place is called [just] Eggs. It sounds like a broken sentence, but that's the name and that's the place and it was fun. I don't, however, recommend that you order the Georgia Peach Crepe, unless you like the combination of sourdough, cottage cheese and canned peaches... warm... together. Otherwise, it was definitely a fresh little vibe and I'd go back and try something else on the rather extensive menu.

metiiiculously unfolding the carry out bag
#militarybagfolding ;) 

2| NAPERVILLE
.: Ali's job as a live-in nanny has her living here, so she's become acquainted with several of the local shopping spots, etc. etc.

on our way! 

The highlights of this outing include but are most definitely not limited to:
DAVIDsTEA. Who do I talk to about getting one - or more - of these in Cincinnati, like.. yesterday?! Sorry, but.. Teavana, who? Cincinnati, you need a DAVIDsTEA, and that is that.

davids tea | naperville, il
so. much. yesssss. 

yesssssss! 

We hit the NVille outlets, as well; the birthday girl was loaded down with giftcards to use, and the plunder was bountiful: Sephora, Kate Spade and Pac Sun on the top hit list. We even managed to spot an interesting story parked in the lot outside: 

shark attack?

3 | NANNY LIFE
.: We stopped at Ali's "house" after our downtown Naperville tour, where she lives as a nanny. It should come as no surprise that it's practically a castle in a neighborhood of other castles, that has heated floors, awesome decor, a retractable cover and a fluffy dog named Lola:

oh ya know... 

if this was my house, i'd live in this room alone. 

ya'll already know.. where there's a dog, there's cori.
#sheissofluffffyyyyyyy

4 | BUBBLE TEA
.: This makes the list because I haven't had bubble tea since I lived in Illinois, which, if you've been counting, was over 3 years ago. I think the universe was savvy to this fact as I ordered [and paid for] one "taro with lychee," but received a taro and a lychee. Was I mad about this? No. Was I probably over-hydrated? Yes.

twofer.. and asian for the win! 

5 | CHICAGO! 
.: After our adventures in Naperville, we made our weekend ascent into Chicago, where the city lay waiting for 3 more tourists to take advantage of all is has to offer within a 3-day span. We checked into the hotel, and within half an hour, Ali's friend Lindsay rendezvoused with us to start the city celebration.

'ello, chi!! 

Our first stop: Happy hour at Howells & Hood!

quick stop before dinner! 

calamari.. yes please... 

The meat of the evening was dinner at Bar Siena, where our reservation awaited us. We changed, put on our evening faces and made our way out to an incredible dinner to thank Ali's parents for her existence :).

happy 25th birthday, beautiful friend! 

damanji! 

Things on the menu that we ordered:
Kale & cranberry salad
Roasted peppers
Corn ravioli
BAKED POTATO SOUP + MAC&CHEESE: 

leave me alone i need a moment....... *drool. 

cori. ali. lindsay. shawn.
♥♥♥♥

6 | CHICAGO AFTER HOURS :)
.: Ali only turns 25 once, at least legitimately... so naturally it was off in search of some spirited fun. We're in Chicago, so it wasn't hard. Thanks to Lindsay's guidance, Uber and a stellar tender at HVAC, we made the evening shine in special honor of Ali!

stop #1

stop #2

stop #3, with candid faces.. kinda ♥

A lot more of the pictures I have from tonight are blurry... but I suppose that's bound to happen when standing still is less fun than dancing until your feet want to remove themselves from your body entirely [current mood]. 

Good night, Chicago. You're beautiful. See you tomorrow! 

xo | cmd

Is It FRIDAY YET?!?

Welp, I signed up for this today: 

can't wait!

I'm so excited to get to Summit this year, especially with Paul & Clarissa going for their first time. To add to my excitement, I realized today that the Edwardsville & Fvw Hgts Express offices will be going as well, which means I'll get to see all of them!! :D Yay!!

This happened in my office today.. haha..

he's lucky i didn't crush him to death... yiiiikes.. 

This has been a grueling week, void of just about all productive activity outside of work hours. This is one of those weeks that didn't see the inside of a grocery store for more than 6 minutes at once, and with us heading out tomorrow to St. Louis, we've made it by on what we still have in the pantry and opted for seafood tonight. Exhausted as we both are, I still had the chance to sit down with this handsome guy for a dinner that revolved around just.. us. Date night, woo! :)

date night with this guy! 

Don't mind me... just eating like I still live in Alabama.... haha.. corn on the cob and all!

corn on the cob? yes, i think so. 

Tomorrow it's one more day of work and then we're outta here for IL. It's WEDDING VENUE selection time! [please pray for us.. haha]. 

See ya then! 

xo | cmd

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

Patio Date Night

Today started off with a downpour. Not a metaphoric one, but a literal, very angry lashing of the clouds above. A few thunder claps made us wonder if the power would hold out - we were lucky that it did, and within a couple hours, the rain had stopped all together.

It didn't take long at all for us to settle into a rhythm for the evening: Food, quality time together, and a flower-lined patio as a backdrop.

our perfect date nights: low key! 

because nom nom nom nommmm..

We really did plan on Jurassic Park for a post-dinner outing, but because we're us and also because we decided to eat dinner just down the street from our house, we agreed that Netflix as a backup plan was more of a primary plan, and went with that.

.... This is why I love this guy. Get on our level... haha.
Netflix it is!

xo | cmd 

That's a WRAP

Ya know, for a short week, this one was pretty stuffed!

Today was Dave's last day as active franchise owner for my office. It's a bittersweet thing to recognize, given the near two years of ebb-and-flow progression and digression that has led us to this point. My heart is happy to see him step into full retirement, and to know that our business will no longer serve as an added distraction to the things he hopes to accomplish from here on out. I do have some admitted sadness to see him go; there are so many things about Dave that we have come to love, and he has certainly been a part of our small office family. 

Dave, we wish you the best in your next ventures. Thank you for all that you've given us through your LLC and of course, for lunch today! What an excellent way to celebrate YOU! 

elisa with the mexican guac
cori with the thai chicken
..... typical 

It seemed as though our final farewell was far less ceremonial than we'd originally envisioned, but the time came and went, and that was that. It was a typical Friday on all other cylinders, with the weekend finally in our hands. 

pop... pop.. pop pop pop popppp....

Dinner plans took a spontaneous turn, and we found ourselves with bellies full at Los Cazadores. We enjoyed our casual family dinner date before heading back here to enjoy an otherwise uneventful night with each other :).

Here's to the weekend! 

xo | cmd