It's Just Another MAYnic Mondayyyy

Wow, I went there. Sorry guysssss...

yeeesssssss... 

OKAY, I'm done... haha. Sorry guys, but you knew that was coming, and it's an annual obligation, so just deal with it. #ITSMAY!

Anyway, it's the first Monday of the month and it was certainly an over-exaggerated buster, at that.. 

awesome.

This would've been totally normal if I still lived in Illinois, but here, it's weird for me to see an actual train on any of the tracks that run through the city, let alone get stuck in line for one to cross. But that's Monday, yeah? Yeah. 

Fooortunately, the day improved in leaps & bounds, with the majority of the credit for such falling on Kristin & Clarissa. Here's a free piece of advice on stellar co-workers: if they're as awesome as mine, do whatever you can to realize and express to them how thankful you are that they're not stark-raving lunatics, or otherwise unbearable. These two are blessings in plain view, and I am so thankful for them! 

The day ended, leaving Kristin and I after hours to do some catching up and preparation for the next couple days. The UPS guy took his sweet time making rounds today, so I'm happy that at 5:45pm when he got denied by a locked front door, we were still here to let him. 

Why's that so exciting?
THIS: 

infernal devices...... yesssss... ♥

Poor Rob. He knows that I'm no match for myself when it comes to reading. I got sucked into The Mortal Instruments, but having knocked out all six of those, it's time for these three prequels... *sigh.. 

Oh, AND.... I got home to find this in the mailbox: 

it's here! 

Arley, it made it!! If you just wondered who Arley is, she's one of my gorgeous mama friends from the hometown {MTV} who now sells Mary Kay and will hook it up on whatever it is you need from the MK inventory. Seriously. She's awesome, and so is THIS: 

finishing spray. mascara. 

Stay tuned for some post-makeup photos. I'm really trying to do some girly things and this will be one of them. I also got to support a friend's venture in selling this stuff, so that makes me feel pretty good about it too! 

So, dolls, I'm outta here. I've got mascara to learn how to use, dinner to make and books to read. Nevermind the weeds that I said I'd pull tonight.. it's gloomy anyway ;) 

See ya tomorrow! 

xo | cmd

Trains & Great Wolf Lodge

Trains, trains, TRAINS!

Anyone who knows my dad knows that his affinity for trains has been a lifelong thing. The Drenn Lodge, as I've affectionately always named their home up north, now has a train display where there once was a loft lounge, and they are launching a full scale village to go along with it.

dixie union station! 

Today we met with them at a specialty train shop, where Dad was able to gather ideas for his vision [& let's be honest, Mom too, as she'll be the real civil engineer here..].

Be it the small shop it was, it was certainly packed with all things trains, and quite a bit of history if you looked closely enough.

dixie train station | mason, oh 

dixie train station | mason, oh 

tiiiiiny little people..
... tiiiiiiny little expensive people. 

syd marvelling at the village

cute little houses!

so much detail! 

I had to include these, because I often forget just how Italian my mother really is.. until I see pictures like this. She may or may not have been speaking actual words; she's a seasoned Italian-hand signer.. haha.  

We wrapped up at the train shop once Dad and Mom were armed with material, ideas and determination to get their own village up to speed, and we were off. Sydni had done an exceptional job of being patient for the hour or so that we were in the train shop, despite our frequent instructing of DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING.

Her reward?

a day at gwl! 

Syd went bananas when we stepped foot into Great Wolf Lodge; she knew that although we weren't going to the water park itself, we were going to be there for a while, and the day was now all about Magic Quests, arcade games and ice cream.

And fun :)

welllll hi there! 

these two.... hahaha

Day outings with Nana & Pappy are the BEST. 

We bid adieu [for now] after a long day of trains and play, and headed back home, where the day for Sydni wasn't over yet. We had one more belated Christmas present for her from Nana & Pappy: 

We've read this book three times already tonight; it's super cute.

What an awesome day, amiright?! :D

Love.. love... and more love.
See ya tomorrow!

xo | cmd