Illinois Thanksgiving... GO.

I forgot to mention that this Thanksgiving weekend is pretty much going to be a blur by the time it's over, so if nothing else, these blog entries are for my own sanity of sorting it out when the dust settles.

Wednesday night we made our way north to Mt. Vernon, yesterday was our family Thanksgiving feast, and today we were back in Cincinnati for a few short hours so that Rob could work a half day. Sydni and I maximized the hours by cleaning the house, doing laundry and packing up again for the last leg of our Thanksgiving weekend, and soon enough found ourselves on the road again, west-bound to Illinois.

Fast forward through the 5-hour roadtrip to our first landing point at Rob's mom's. We stopped by primarily to visit with them, but also because she wanted to give Sydni her late birthday/early Christmas present: A Midieval Princess Dress!

She loves it. Thank you, Carolyn!!!

We're now at Dillon's; the boys took off to go do their own thing, and Sydni and I are busying ourselves with some good old fashioned mama-mini snuggle time to some cartoons.

Hello, Illinois! ♥

xo | cmd

I'm Awesome At Shopping!

.. That's a total lie. I'm about as good at shopping as I am at basketball.

& ice hockey.

& juggling hand grenades.

& cooking any sort of red meat.

You get it.

Shopping ≠ My strong suit.
It's okay.

Anyway, today after work, I embarked on day 1 of my mission to find a "semi formal" dress for the event I'm attending next weekend. I'm not a dressy girl by nature, so that in and of itself was the first hurdle. I figured it wouldn't be hard at all to find a piece to fit the bill.

 

Either I'm insanely picky, or I just... honestly... do not know how to do this.

^ found that online somewhere, made me laugh.. totally applicable.

So to my frustration this evening at dress shopping, and to the actual idea of dressing up in the first place, I say... not now. Just. Not. Now. I'll deal with you tomorrow. For now..

Here are some things that make me happy, that share my affinity for craftiness and avoiding big stores unless absolutely necessary. I'm drafting Christmas present ideas.

1. Jewelry. I have a lot of women [& men, too] in my family who admire and appreciate fun, quirky accessories. I just.. I have this really hard time spending exorbitant amounts of money on things unless there's an appropriate occasion [not saying that Christmas is anything less than that, however]; I simply like to give a lot, to a lot, so frugality is never a bad thing. 


via Tzunuum, Etsy
fun. definitely could add my own spin on it.

adore.

no, not mine... but doable.

... and so forth.

2. Scarves! I went on a huge knitting spree two years ago - remember that? Well, at the time I found a blog that I started obsessing over; it was one of those tutorial blogs that shows you how to knit and all that jazz. I found pictures [since I'm too lazy to go find the ones I took sporadically in 2011] of each of my four favorite stitches I learned and completed. I think.... it's gonna be another knitting year!

bring on the needles & yarn! i just got excited again...


3. Foooooooood. Duh. Food. I'd be here until next Christmas if I tried telling you all my favorite goodies for the holiday season, but I think at the top of that list is something I also learned while in Illinois: Gorilla Bread. It's a curse that I have no need for recipe instruction, but that I can recall it from memory. Pretty sad. Haha. Whatever.. I will be making mini versions of this for.... all ya'll this year. Be ready. Be hungry.


drooling already.

... So maybe my failed attempt at shopping today was a good thing, after all. I just caught my second wind of inspiration to actually do some of this stuff this year.

Gears are turnin'....

xo | cmd

A RAINY July 4th ☂

 ☂.
Happy Birthday, America!

 

This whole rain thing is starting to get under my skin. This happened a few years ago here in Ohio; I remember it very clearly because I could've sworn I was suffering from seasonal depression. There's just something about skies that stay the same color for days on end and that color is just .... drab.


weather forecast.. booo....

I have my phone defaulted to show the updated weather forecast. Any other time I would guess that it's lagging, broken, something... but no.. it's just been stuck on "rain" or "thunderstorms" for the past week because it's 110% accurate.

So aaaanyway, I was determined not to let both Sydni and myself deteriorate on the couch all day from cabin fever, so after the anticipated beauty of a lazy start [day off, yeahhhh], we made breakfast and watched some cartoons before I shuttled us out of the house if for no other reason that to just get out of it for an hour or so.

Everything around here just seems to be perpetually wet, even when the rain does take a short break. Syd and I ran a few errands, and on an impulse buy, snagged a little project to do when we got home to help pass the time. Oh, and because it's July 4th, and despite the rain, we wanted to be festive about it all!

DIY!
Same shirt, same girl .. with just a little snipping and some yarn (:

Looking at this picture for the bajillionth time now, I just realized that Sydni's arms look rather defined.. I don't know if I think that's funny or cute... or both. We'll go with both. My little monster...

So uhhh.. fireworks!
Well, it was rainy, of course, but Becky stopped by and we figured we'd try and catch the local Dogwood Park display from the house. The park's only about a half mile up the road, so I was sure we would be. I don't know what propelled us to hop in the car and explore what the other options were closer into Mariemont, but we did, and ended up at Graeter's. Rain or not, there is NO complaining when it comes to ice cream. Haha.

rainy July 4th!

Rain or not, it was a good day. I was off work, spent the entire day with Sydni, and celebrated with her and my amazing friend some fireworks, ice cream and most importantly, the reason behind it all, which I absolutely am NOT discounting.


thank you.... thank you. ♥

To you and yours, wherever you are, I hope today was a great day (:
For those who served, gave, serve now or any who may choose to walk the path of service for our great nation, thank you for dedicating your lives for the freedom we have in ours.

Happy Independence Day.

xo | cmd

We Don't Work Tomorrow (:

Tomorrow is Independence Day!

We still had to work today. Oh well. Tomorrow we're off.

Today was pretty much a lazy little day, aside from work, that is. I picked up Sydni and we headed home to veg out for the evening and not worry about having to wake up at any certain time tomorrow. It was awesome.

Speaking of the munckin, I've been in the process of planning a mommy-daughter photoshoot with her. I know, it sounds absolutely insane that I am planning something for once. As in.... these photographs, when they happen, will have been pre-meditated. As in..... I am coordinating every last detail down to the nail polish for this one. Wild, right?

The first step of this whole thing was to find the right outfits. I didn't have any specific dates in mind for this thing - still don't - so there's no deadline. I happened to be out and about the other day in search of a kitchen table, and found myself on the other side of the local Snooty Fox. I bought this dress for myself, along with a coordinating one for Sydni [no super spoilers here!], but didn't notice this until today when I was preparing to drop it off at the drycleaner:


bargain shopping... duhhhh.

Well okay, then! (: I should've had a super proud moment when I bought the thing, but hey, it's never too late to feel justified.. haha.

Anyway, when we got home, I had Sydni help me experiment with the mesh bun wrap that I finally caved and bought. I know these things have been around and in use for a while now; I was never really on that wagon, but I saw a style a few days back that sparked my interest, so of course I had to try it.

Behold, the braided bun! Why I boycotted this thing for so long is beyond me. It's easy, it's quick, and it definitely wouldn't look even this shabby if I were taking my time and being serious about it... 

easy peasy.. and pretty stinkin' cool (:

All these things I'm just now learning... tsk tsk haha. Oh well - better late than never.

So anyhow, I've got some movies to go watch with a little girl who's currently drawing me the prettiest montage of circles and squigglies I've ever seen.

NO WORK TOMORROW.
Scooooooore (:

xo | cmd

And a Happy Hump Day to You

Remember when we [Catie & I] stopped at CLR-MNSTR over in St. Louis that day on our return route from City Museum? Well.... I decided today would be an ideal day to sport one of the cute finds I brought home that day. I'm not typically an OOTD type of person, but for all intensive Instagram purposes, I was today. Haha. 

ootd? sure. &&thank you, clr-mnstr!

I was on an instagram kick today and thought I would share with the class the lunch which I'm sure would make my mother cringe if she knew it was the only thing I consumed during the lunch hour. I don't care; these are in fact a few of my favorite things, and I'll sacrifice one day of healthy living to do some enjoying. (:

the fantasy lunch of my inner kid self... haha

Back at home, Sydni and I wrapped up some of our last-minute touches to Valentines Day cards & gifts; I got a text earlier in the day from Mo, wanting to stop by for a few minutes after church to see us. She didn't stay long, but we did get to meet little baby Natalie for the first time!! Sydni loves babies, so it was quite the treat for her to see another one so little. 

baby natalie!!

Tomorrow is the BIG BAD VALENTINES DAY..... or Singles Awareness Day... whichever you prefer. Personally, I don't get too hyped about VDay, but to each his own (: It's bed time for us.

xo | cmd

And A-Thrifting We Go! [Again]

It’s been one heck of a weekend, in terms of sleep schedule and time management. Joe started into his mid-shift rotation a few days back, and since then it seems like the zany sleeping hours have spilled out onto the rest of us. For instance, Joe headed out for work around 10pm last night; I was up until almost 4am. Don’t ask me how that worked itself out, but it’s my hope that we’ll nail down separate sleeping agendas sometime before his next rotation rolls around.



christopher. loralye. easton. sydni. carlee
&& santa! :)



Anywho, we managed to pull it together and make it to church this morning, which was followed by lunch at the Woods’ with the Werner’s and Page’s. The somewhat bittersweet blessing better known as our small group expansion, has taken off so much so that it was mutually voted upon to split our one bulk small group into three smaller small groups, if that makes sense. That being said, it was decided that Dan & Robin, Adam & Cathy, and Joe and I would be the three couples accountable for hosting and discussion generation during our bi-weekly gatherings. At the last group gathering at the Woods’, names were drawn randomly to assign out all the couples or families to one of the three groups. We’ve landed three of our groups extraordinary couples, as well as two other ladies looking for involvement with Koinonia. Today we met with the other couples and the Woods in a spearhead planning session. We nailed down some solid ideas on how to move forward collectively, which can’t be shared for the sake of being a spoiler! J



ok, fine... i'll take it!

 Upon leaving the Woods’, we made a bee-line back to the house so Joe could get a start on his sleep. Sydni went down for a nap as well, and I headed out to run some errands. I decided to hunt down a mattress for the [Goodwill] bed frame I’d toted home a few weeks back. Along the way, I must’ve blacked out, and when I came to, I was walking through the door of Plato’s Closet. Go figure. I realized the reason for the unplanned stop when I landed one of those deals that remind me why I rarely deviate from thrift-fueled shopping. I finally made it to my original destination and found exactly what I was after: twin mattress. The whole thing is set up now and I must admit it adds a nice touch. I like it!



twin bed :: finished!



It’s been a long day; the work week starts tomorrow. *Sigh.

ZzZzZzzzz….

xo | cmd

Tuesday Perks

Today I’m feeling rather hopeful.

I’m going to be bold and say that I am finally adjusting to my new environment at work. Not a day goes by that I fight the urge to compare my old office to my new office, but the confusion seems to be subsiding and a more distinct sense of organization seems to be emerging. I have strong hopes that we’re all headed in a productive direction.



hello, dresses!



Anyway, as I sat in front of my computer arguing with payroll (Tuesdays, love it….), the UPS guy popped in with two unnecessarily large boxes. The store name tattooed across every inch of its surface was a dead giveaway to the fact that the dresses I ordered on Friday, made it safely to me by Tuesday. Not too shabby, and quite frankly a monstrous elephant removed from the back of my mind.



I also managed to order a few other odds and ends which I’ll need to complete the wedding ensemble, and if all goes well, I expect those deliveries to be just as punctual as the first.

When 5:00 hit today, I left work feeling an overall sense of accomplishment and progress. I headed home to Joe and Sydni, who, as it turned out, weren’t even there yet. That gave me ample time to get laundry moving and start dinner with minimal interruptions. They made it home shortly after me, and immediately set the goal of watching Road to Perdition while I was making dinner. Did I mention we’re harboring a Tom Hanks addict? ;)

Behold, the pierogie:



pierogies, pre-adornment

Yum. Home run on that one, if I must say so myself. I rarely say that of my own culinary doings, but after a long day of haggling employees for lost hours and adjustments, it felt good to focus on nothing but the flavor of the food.

I think I'll ask my mom for her pierogi recipe. She makes these suckers from scratch, and there's not a chance in the world I'd argue with that. :)

All in all, not an awful day, for me at least. I’m still praying that Joe and this weather deal will start to get along better and stop butting heads.

Tomorrow = midweek. HUA.

xo | cmd

Midweek Madness!

This is a free public service announcement:

If you’re getting married, and need A) your dress hemmed, and/or B) wedding singer(s), KP & Cori are your one-stop matrimonial Macgyvers. Be sure to book in advance, especially if you live anywhere other than Phoenix, AZ or St. Louis, MO. J

Yeah.

So tonight we made final touches to THE DRESS [dun dun dunnnn] for Saturday’s ceremony. In the most humble manner I can, let me just say that it looks daggone good for two people who reaaaaally were kinda just wingin’ it. 

finished!

However, the songs are coming along quite well; we take singing way more seriously. I think we’ve been on these songs now for about a month +, so if we bomb them, I may go into hiding. 



Look At Me | Carrie Underwood
Because You Love Me | Jo Dee Messina

Joe comes in town tomorrow for the weekend, and the wedding folk traveling in from around the U.S. are trickling in as well. Praying for travel mercies!

xo | cmd

Temperamental Little Monday | MM7

Oh my good gracious, it was BEAUTIFUL outside all day today! It was a welcome breath of fresh air and sunshine to replace the dreary curtain of rain that's been hanging out here lately.

After work, I stopped to find a song to sing this Sunday at church. I found one [secret :) ] and also ended up snagging this little number. It's a little pop-ish for my taste, but she's got a great voice that's within my range, and many of her songs would be a good fit for singing during a service. I haven't made it all the way through the album yet, but it's decent so far.

I found myself afterwwards at Kalyn's doing the dinner thing with her and her family, and we finally sat down to tackle the task of hemming the dress for her mom's wedding [this Saturday]. I am very honored that she's entrusting her garb to our artistic interpretation of a seamstress. We are the wedding Macgyver's and we are on a friggin' roll!

1. Hem dress. 2. Learn songs [x2]. 3. Don't bomb songs on Saturday.

Oh yeahhhh.. You've gotta admit, we're ok when it comes to improvising. All you need is a little fabric tape, scissors, a sewing machine, and a box cutter. Don't ask about the box cutter. Ha. :)

Anywho, also had to stop for a minute to admire the abrupt change in the weather. There was enough buzz all night about possible tornado activity in the area, but all we saw was some rain and ominous clouds.

Not a bad kick-off to the week!

xo | cmd

Friday = Four



asics!

^ .. Because the ones that are sitting in my room now are a definitely broken in and don't have this crisp look to them, anymore. BUT, they're the same ones, and they saw some good action this morning before work. I figured that because Friday is so often considered that last day of the week, and every slip-up that happens that day is just filed in the It's Friday cabinet. So.. at about 4:45 AM today (take THAT, Friday), these little buddies had to wake up early and work for 2 quick miles before I headed to work. For me, knocking out a quick jog in the morning lends me a bit more energy throughout the day. It's just a matter of dragging myself out of bed, because I for one love.my.sleep.

Anyway, KP's mom's wedding is in 8 days! Kalyn & I have 2 songs to perfect, and a wedding gown to hem up between now and next Saturday. Should be a pretty eventful week next week. We will make this happen, yes we will.

Oh, and P.S.- Good thing I got the running done this morning, because this is what we ordered in to help us tackle the task of dress hemming: 



marcos | cheese | y-u-m.



Well, it's Friday, isn't it? :/

xo | cmd