Christmas Eve!

It has been such a whirlwind of a week; I was more than happy to oblige the day off to hang out with my girl ;)

We ran a few final errands, which included delivering this bad boy [which is a day late in completion, but fortunately this one time, it's ok.. phew!]:

it's done!! happy birthday, andrew! 

Happy, HAPPY birthday, Andrew! I hope you love it! :)
I finally, finally, finally finished this thing, which took about three days longer than I'd anticipated, along with an entire extra skein of wool. Passing it along to Jessica for its actual gifting was both a relief and a loss; I've poured so much into this thing that it's bittersweet to see it go, but that's the life of crafting, I know... c'est la vie...

We dropped by Jess' studio to hand-deliver this bad boy, and caught her at the tail end of a client session. Sydni then had the chance to explore the likes of a fitness studio, and even got a quick sesh from its owner and personal trainer.

adorable. look at that form! ;) 

spartan in the making... 

OR....

aerial yogi in the making? ;) 

Hehehe... she's a gym lover! [Nope, not her mama's kid at all, huh... ;) pshhhh!]
We finished up with Jess and were on our way to complete a few errands and head home.

Workouts are exhausting, I'll give ya that, Syd:

zonked! 

Back at home, we relaxed into the evening and just before bedtime did our final preparations for the BIG day tomorrow. Santa has a lot of work to do, so we wanted to make sure he's properly fed and watered on his stop through here. She was so sweet!

come get 'em, santa! 

My sweet girl!! She just went down for the night, and I think it's high time we follow suit, so that we're not interrupting Santa's neighborhood route tonight.

See you then!

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 

Christmas Is... Surprising!

To fully convey this morning's [awesome] message from SonRise, I figured I would do it the easiest way possible!

YES, YES & YES :)

Today was [hopefully] our final excursion into the mayhem entitled Christmas Shopping. We wrapped everything up within a very reasonable time frame, and even managed a pitstop for lunch afterwards:

sometimes these things happen..... 

Fast forward about 6 hours to now; house is cleaned, laundry's done, gifts are wrapped & I... feel... blessed :)

See ya on the flipside!

xo | cmd

Pancakes, Big Screens & Knitting [Of Course!]

On our never-ending quest to try all of the foodie places in Cincinnati, Rob & I gladly obliged a breakfast invitation with Chip, Beth & Shane at the Original Pancake House, which is just a short drive down a straightaway from our house [go figure!]. It was excellent dining, and adorably accessorized to boot!

original pancake house

After breakfast, Rob and I parted ways with the Silcox family and embarked on our day of Christmas shopping. We both knew we were crazy for agreeing to the crowds, long register lines and traffic that is Christmas shopping in EASTGATE of all places, but against our better judgment, we went, we bought... we conquered.

The little girls' gifts are bought.
Our parents' are all taken care of.
Our siblings are good to go.
And we.... well, Rob took the plunge for an upgrade at our home, after the retail spirit got the best of him. That little inkling of a thought turned into THIS:

welp... there's that.. haha

Yeeeeup, thank you, Santa! ;)

We finally settled in for the day; Rob switched out the TV's and basked in the glory that IS this monstrosity mounted above our mantle... and me? Well, I finished THIS:

all done! 

This is a Christmas gift for one of my friend's girlfriends; he requested this one a few days back and I surprised myself by completing it within two days, when I was counting on at least three or four. Yay!

I'd say we're good to go here; just five days until Christmas! Yiiieee!! ♥

xo | cmd

It's ELF Season!

THIS:

photo cred: kena betancur

^^
Yes, guys, we are one of the households that has its own Elf on a Shelf, sent from Santa himself to grace our home when we're not looking. No, it's not the size of a parade balloon, but she's big in her own special way around here..

yep. 

I am well aware of the nay-sayers out there who don't participate in this fun little holiday tradition; we are however SO excited to have our own little gal elf, Lila, who finds her way back and forth between our house & the North Pole when the rest of us have gone to bed. She made her first appearance tonight and brought with her a book for Sydni [which went over perfectly]; thanks, Lila!

We'll get some pictures of Lila up here soon; for now, it's back to mama-daughter knitting. I know I posted a few shots yesterday of finished products, but I'm nowhere near done; they'll keep comin'!

knittin' fools over here :) 

See ya on the flipside, blogbots!

xo | cmd

Level UP : Knitting GOALS ;)

#trueeeeeeeeeeeeestory.

Okay okay okay... so I've been knitting a whole bunch so far this year. I spent a few hours tonight working away on the current project for Jessica's grandma, but I discovered THIS somewhere in the middle of my own work and breaks spent perusing social media.

The link has the full deets, but long story short, it's THIS:

want. need. want. need. want. need. 

The lengths to which this gal went to create this blanket seem pretty grueling, and I'll be the first to tell you I don't have my own personal collection of wool [........... yet? haha] to move on this. It looks.... fantastic, though. Add this one to my bucket list of other Pinterestesque ideas that may or may not ever find fruition.

That being said, I'll stick to my individual projects here, pale as they may be in comparison to that behemoth of a creation. If you want in on one, let me know! ;)

#6 & 7 so far this season!
$20/each - i will customize if you're interested! 

Yay, DIY-ers!
G'Nite, blogbots ♥

xo | cmd

All-Over Saturday

Hello, weekend!

I guess I should go ahead and disclose now that Taste of Belgium is currently serving their seasonal gingerbread waffles, and... well, GO.

yum! 

Nom nom nom nommmm!
We took our time today, getting through our to-do list at home. I had originally slated us a trip to IKEA for some Christmas shopping; Rob jumped the gun and went ahead and ordered everything online. That saved us both the drive there and the "fun" of traipsing through the pool of lawless goldfish that is the typical IKEA in-store experience. *Whew!

Oh, and Rob christened our house with the first fire of the year, while I started in on another knitting project today: This one's for Jess!

fireside knitting ♥

Stella was less-than-impressed with the fact that my knitting needles were getting more attention than she was, and have, for the past couple of weeks.

awhhh.. love you, pup-pup.. 

Poor girl. I promise that once Christmas is over, the knitting will cease to take up every evening. Okie? ;)

Trish invited us to join her and some friends in Newport, so on a last minute decision we obliged, meeting her and some coworkers at Hofbrahaus on the Levee.

:) :) 

Always a fun time (:
It's been a while since I've visited Hofbrahaus, and Rob's first time there, so we'll naturally be back. I couldn't tell you the last time I actually went to Arnies, either, but that happened, and was a blast in itself.

♥♥♥

We made a lot of good decisions today. We also made some not-so-good decisions today. This is the worst of it, and while it seemed a wise choice at the time, I'm making a note for next time [like I usually say] to never let this happen again:

yes... yes that is lucy blue's.... :/ 

All around I think that's a win. Happy Saturday! 

xo | cmd 

YEAH, MONDAY :)

i.... love ... this!

 ^^ Thank you, Modo for this gem. I've read and re-read this several times and had to share it with whatever reader happens to stumble across this page. This is perfect for those Mondays that challenge me to bring my best to the table and come prepared to do some damage to the week. It gave me some fuel for this morning, and for that I am thankful! 

Also, I debuted this guy at work today too: It's the product of hours in the car over the Nashville weekend, and I am claiming it as mine.. for now, at least:

pine green trinity infinity [raspberry stitch]

^^ Want that scarf? It's yours, $20, like the rest of them! ;)

As Rob and I sat and ate leftover Hattie B's for dinner tonight, we watched as the news unfolded re: Ferguson. I'm not going to sit and expand on what I'm referencing, because if you don't know by now, then you really should close my blog and read the news. My position in the matter is neutral at best, but what I will say is this:

Our nation is broken, and at a juncture now that demands prayer. It is not optional to pray for the well-being of our citizens anymore. It is crucial. It is not enough to believe that people will make well-informed, rational decisions right now, because that's not going to happen.

Please pray, whoever you are, wherever you are.. Please pray for our nation and for every single one of us living in it. We're in dire need of it.

Amen. 

xo | cmd 

[First] SSSSSSSSNOOWW!

Ohhhh, Sydni you lucky bug!

Here's one of those "old folk" moments where I get to say,

"When I was your age..... "

She had her first official snow day today, which did and didn't surprise me:
I wasn't surprised because it seems like it takes a lot less these days to warrant closing down, but a bit surprised, even offended in that joking-way as I thought back to the days when the drift would be halfway up our front door in the morning and we were still expected at our seats when the class bell rang.

Aaaaaanywho - it's our first snow of the year!

my backyard (: 

^^ (See? Noooot really that much snow)... Gorgeous, nonetheless!

Here's some shots I stole from my sister, back home at her property:

gorgeous work, sis! 

^^ She's up by my parents, which is North a few hours; their snowfall is usually a bit heavier than ours, and she's the lucky one of us who had time today to get out with a lens to capture it all. ♥ them!

Needless to say, it was a slow day at work, but I made up time afterwards on a couple of knitting projects that are kicking off the winter season. [Rob also warmed this place up with his signature turkey burgers; remind me next time to share that recipe!]

blueberry trinity infinity ["raspberry" stitch]
for elisa :) 

orange lorne infinity
for rebecca :) 

There will be plenty more knitting to come in the next several weeks as we prepare for Christmas. It's the perfect snowy day escape. Back to it!

STAY WARM & STAY SAFE, FRIENDS! 

xo | cmd

Scarfie Saturday

I. 

Have. 

Been. 

KNITTING.....

All. 

Stinkin'. 

Day. 

At least that's how it feels. My fingers felt like they were ready to fall off around 6pm, when I finally peeled myself away after about five straight hours of work. I'm not complaining, no, but to say I felt a little cross-eyed was accurate. Christmas presents are well underway, and we're not even to December yet ;).

We rendezvoused earlier with Rob's boss & a few of his co-workers for dinner, and he dropped me at home to nurse this headache I developed somewhere in the afternoon... I'm sure I'll be zonked by the time he's back.

I suppose I'll be curling back up on the couch for some Big Bang Theory and... you guessed it...

remember this, from 2 years ago?
..... get ready for 2014, haha.. 

[More.]

KNITTING. 

:)

See ya on the flip side, blogbots!

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

Going Away Party : Part 1

My going-away "festivities" began today. As I sit here at the end of the day, all I can is that I feel incredibly blessed and thankful for these people.

I thought I'd share just a couple of highlights from today.

For this week, I've been booted out of my old desk so that MB could move into the "neighborhood," and have been shacking up temporarily at Matt's desk on the other side of the divider. With this arrangement, I can no longer see anyone on the other side, but I sure as Sam can hear them. The conversations haven't changed, but I realized today how funny it is when you can only hear people that you're used to seeing as well. In NO way poking fun at the visually impaired, I made the comment that this is how it must be sometimes to be blind. I looked over at Ali, who was trying to absorb what it would be like.......... with her eyes shut ;). We got a giggle out of it, because obviously if you can't see with your eyes open, you don't need to them shut to get the same effect.. haha.


"how blind people listen???"

We agreed earlier last week that the destination for all things going-away would be Edison's, down the street from our office in Edwardsville. We toted ourselves there after work, sans Linda or MB due to family stuff [you.were.MISSED!], but added Jay & Rob to balance it out. Edison's, as always, didn't disappoint.

mmmm.. edison's! | edwardsville, il

My FOC-slash-best friend..... was there, of course.... (: Jay came along, too, but of course we didn't think to grab a picture. I have no good excuse. Sorry :( :( :(

love her, to the moon & back!!

And the boyfriend... who made the trip straight from work in O'Fallon... because he is amazing like that...

adore.

Once we thoroughly exhausted our welcome at Edison's, the party disbanded and went our separate ways; Rob and I headed over to Ali's house for about an hour so that I could say a farewell to Padre Lackey, DeShawn and Tim. DeShawn, with whom I also failed to get a picture, got me the first of my favorite going-away gifts, ever..... and I love it, and I'm wearing it tomorrow, and the END! ;) 

whooooooo has terrific friends! [me. that's who. me.]
thank you, damanji!!!

Ali also got me a picture frame... that I love love & love.... I'll show you that tomorrow, because the happy stock family in it now, despite their joyous marketing-appropriate smiles, are nothing that will stick around ;)

*Sigh. Tomorrow's the potluck at the office, which will include everyone who couldn't make the dinner tonight. It'll be a bittersweet day, that's for sure.... but I'm going to be thankful this entire journey happened, rather than be mad that it's over. How ... bout... that.

See you in the mornin'!

xo | cmd

Syd-So-Stylin'

Sydni is morphing into a new phase [for her]; she must have everything that Mommy has, everything that Daddy has, and she must do everything that they do. [How's that for force of accountability??] Most recently, I've noticed that the rack in our closet which holds all of my scarves has been raided several times over the past few weeks. A few days back, I caught the culprit red-handed, and cute as could be, for that matter.

Sydni was on the tippiest tips of her toes, reaching as high as she could to yank down one of my scarves. I peered around the doorway and marveled in silence as she fidgeted, strained, and finally succeeded in securing one. She proceeded to wrap it around her head, neck, and half her torso, just like mommy does. She came tearing out of the closet partially mummified in what was certainly an oversized accessory for her.

So...

We took a timeout and did some snipping to an old T-shirt I had, producing the finished product of a little scarf, for a little lady. She was so excited to wear it that she is now insisting on wearing it to bed [not happenin']. Ha.

Oh, and lest I forget our new box of Mickey Mouse bandaids that was ripped open this evening. After about three whole minutes of the most intentional deliberation I've ever seen from a 2-year-old, she finally picked out the bandaid she wanted for her non-existent boo-boo. [Sidenote: bandaids went up, up, and away into the cabinet after this one. Stickers will have to suffice moving forward.]

All in all, I'd have to say that I've got a like-minded little tyke coming up in the ranks here.

We're so proud.

Tee-hee. ♥

xo | cmd

Spreadin' Some Scarf

I’ve been knitting almost daily since that first little inkling I had a month or so back, and it’s paid off. I had an immediate goal of finishing enough scarves to assign one to each one of the names I’d added to that part of my Christmas list. I’ve always appreciated a handmade gift, especially one tailored specifically for me, so I thought I’d give it a whirl.


pretty little gift boxes | michael'scardstock cards with embellishments

In order to help me better customize, I thought I’d name each project accordingly. I got pretty creative with them [*sarcasm*]. Here’s how that’s going, so far: 

diana :: crimson reds



nancy :: cobalt blues

meagan :: burgundy & rose

I thought I’d stir up the Santa-bug a couple days early at work, so I gathered up everything last night and of course did a little documentation for the digi-scrapbook beforehand.

Just a few more days!! J

xo | cmd

Scarf Spoiler Alert!

Okay, okay, okay.
I think I'm developing a problem.
A knitting problem.

Last night, I started in on a little somethin' that is going to eventually be a Christmas pressent for a certain best friend of mine that may or may not live in Phoenix. I was at war with myself for about an hour or so over whether or not to post what progress I've made thus far, but I can't help it. I'm so excited that my knitting has taken itself from complete, utter confusion to a level worthy of gifting. Who knew?

SO, without further adieu:

Voilà!

Haaaaa.... Gotcha.

Really? You thought I'd actually spoil the fun?

-- I really do have nearly a foot of knitting complete for this, but I wouldn't dare show off more than what Kalyn's *ahem* anonymous best friend has already seen. :)

Anyway, I'm feeling pretty good about this week. We got a challenge from our management yesterday that if we hit a quota of 500 for a certain task we do here, we'll be heading out for the Thanksgiving holiday a few hours early.

Well, you'd better believe we'll be leavin' early ;)

xo | cmd

Marvelous Monday

So long, Monday!



happy bday brittany!

 First off - HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!! to my best friend's sister, and one of my bridesmaids, Brittany :). I hope it's a perfect birthday! ♥
If there's a tougher girl out there than Brittany, she surely can't beat her by much. She may be beautiful [always!], but this chick survived hitting a tree a few years back during a ski outing and I must say, I wouldn't have wished that surgery/recovery process on anyone. I'm glad to call her a friend and hopefully today is as cool as she [and Miss Maddie, pictured]!

I felt rather accomplished, for the most part, at the closing of this Monday.

- My most recent knitting project made its debut today and not only served its purpose, but held up through all the hustle and bustle of Mondays at the office. I'm starting to feel some solidity under my feet when it comes to handling the basics of knitting. I'd like to think that, after some more practice, I can branch out to some more complicated endeavors: socks, beanies, and looms are my first three targets. I'm at a good pace, so far.

- Secondly, we did Salmon tonight, which is one of my favorites for both its taste and nutritional value. I always feel a swelling pride when I watch Sydni eat stuff like this; she obviously doesn't realize the idea behind healthy eating, but I sure do, and I sleep better at night knowing my mini is getting the right kind of fuel. :)

All in all, it's not been a bad start to the week, by any stretch.

Let's see how the rest of it pans out!

xo | cmd