Family Visits & Pad Thai!

My parents dropped Sydni off in Cincinnati today, after their mini getaway over the weekend. Sydni got to go see Shrek: The Musical, as produced by the Mt. Vernon Theatre organization. She had a blast.

I decided to take the gang to Piada, since they'd never been there. We followed up with froyo at Orange Leaf, which made for some very satisfied bellies.

mom & syd @ piada ♥

I love that they had a blast, and was super happy to have been able to spend my lunch with them!

After work, the food obsession continued, but in my own little quest of things homemade & fresh. I found a new recipe for pad thai, which was given a thumbs up by both Rob and me tonight; I'll share it for all you Thai food-loving blogbots.

Super Easy Pad Thai **

so. good.
[& yes, ali - that's an express edwardsville cup in the back :p ]

need:

::for the pad thai sauce::
- 3 tbs soy sauce
- 1 tbs sriracha
- 2 tbs lime juice
- 2 tbs canola oil
- 2 tbs brown sugar

::for the pad thai::
- pad thai noodles [8 or 16 oz; I would definitely say at least 16 if this is for more than 2 mouths]
- 2 eggs
- cooked chicken [The original recipe calls for 3 full breasts; I used 2 and it was fine]
- 1 cup bean sprouts [we skipped, but only bc we forgot to get them....]
- 1 cup cilantro
- 3 green onions, sliced
- 1/2 cup chopped peanuts

do:

::1. Prepare [aka, SOAK] pad thai noodles - I did it by pouring HOT water into a bowl, covering the noodles, and soaking for 30 minutes. I don't recommend boiling pad thai noodles on the stove as you traditionally would with Italian noodles.
::2. Cook your chicken. I just did this on the stovetop, pan-seared. Set aside.

::3. While chicken is cooking, prepare the sauce. Do that by mwhisking together everything for the sauce except brown sugar, in a small bowl. Add the brown sugar at the end, and whisk into the sauce.
::4. While noodles are soaking, scramble eggs for 2-3 minutes or until done, and set aside.
::5. Once noodles are done & chicken is cooked, combine the noodles, chicken, egg and sauce in a large skillet over med-low heat. Stir for a few minutes until everything is at the desired blend. Top off with bean sprouts, cilantro, green onion & peanuts!
** recipe credit : rachel schultz **
Yeah... this absolutely beats ordering pad thai at a restaurant, save for the whole bean sprouts thing, which I will NOT forget next time. I hope you're willing to try that out, if you're a pad thai person!

Haaaaappy Tuesday!

xo | cmd

SURPRISE!!

So, here's a message thread from today [in which I deleted the line of my actual address response, for obvious reasons]:

indications of a surprise visit! ..... that i didn't catch.. at all.

What I didn't realize, was that he and Kyle were about to be en route from Granite to Cinci to visit me for the weekend. Even as I was lazing on my couch at 6:30, I didn't realize he was serious until he seriously instructed me to be available at 2am, which would've been their projected arrival time.

That being said, I figured I'd take the evening to rendezvous with the usuals and busy myself with something other than sitting at home watching the clock move too slowly, in anticipation of their arrival.

So I took a shower.


shower buddy.

Oh, forgot to mention that this house I'm currently renting has produced a couple of critter surprises of its own, thankfully none of which have been harmful, just, well.... surprising. No worries though - this girl grew up in good old MV, OH.. in the sticks.. and is far from skiddish of a little dweller like this guy. I named him Sylvester, and once we finished showering, gave him a quick dry in the towel I used to carry him outside, and re-homed him in a damp tree across the street. Is it weird that I miss forest friends, sometimes?

Anyway, off to Norwood, where the clan was already gathered at Nader's. We originally thought we'd make it to the Listermann Brewery for the craft breweries' Oktoberfest, but we missed that entirely and instead found ourselves down in OTR for a few hours.


leticia. nader. cori. eric. keith.

ping pongers, extraordinaire!
carolina+nader vs keith+cori
rhinegeist | cincinnati, oh

rhinegeist'ers!

sweet girls! [w. carolina & leticia]
japps | cincinnati, oh

Annnnnnnnnnnnnnnd... [this is backdated]...... Rob & Kyle showed up at 2am, right on schedule! Unfortunately, the digs in OTR close down right around 2, so we all stood assembled on the sidewalk briefly before calling it a night and promising a full-on romp for tomorrow.

So that's that. Rob & Kyle are HERE!!! & that undoubtedly means a fun couple of days ahead of us.

For now.. zZzZzz!

xo | cmd

FAMILY HERE! [+Photo Sneak Peak!]

My family was here today.
That means....

We took a few pictures. Just a few. ;)

Mom, Dad, Sister & Nephew all came down just for the day, and along with Sydni, the whole lot of us toted off for a picnic lunch and picture session at Eden Park. That place never gets old. (:

I figured I'd launch into the preview right away, since really, that was our day today. There will be more... many more, but I wanted to share some of my favorites! Enjoy! ❤


a little flower | ©cmdphotography2013

kisses | ©cmdphotography2013

adoption: blood doesn't define family; bonds do. [myself with my mom & my sister]
©cmdphotography2013

playing in the water | ©cmdphotography2013

mama's girl | ©cmdphotography2013

sunbather! | ©cmdphotography2013

senior picture, the reprise.. haha | ©cmdphotography2013

[parts of] my family: parents. daughter. myself. sister. nephew
©cmdphotography2013

[**pleaaaaaaaaase excuse the graininess or low reso. quality of some of these; I'm working on the originals and will eventually post those, too. I promise they're better quality!]

So there it is... like I said there's a much bigger collection, but I'm still working on those. I'll get those posted periodically as I get them finished... orrrr... you can check on the Facebook page to see if they're up yet ツ.

 

I'd say today was a huge success. I'm relaxing now with Sydni; she's nearly passed out from all the excitement, and I'm on a good run with these edits.

 

Happy Weekend, Blogbots!

 

xo | cmd 

My Family.

Sydni and I ended up crashing at Becky's last night while we were waiting on our laundry to finish up [still working on deciding what kind of plug-to-wall adaptation we're going with for the dryer at our house], so this morning we were up early, laundry folded and out the door. Back at home, we tidied up some and relaxed until Nana & Pappy [aka, my parents] arrived.

Mid morning, the knock at the door came, and I hugged my parents for the first time in six months. It was awesome. Mom of course came bearing an entire cooler of food for a picnic, so after the mini tour of the new digs and a breather from the drive, we loaded up and headed for Eden Park for a picnic and an open agenda.

It was the perfect day for a picnic. We made it up the hill to EP and found a great shady spot under a tree for lunch. Sydni got some bubbles from Nana & Pappy, so we took our time playing on the overlook, blowing bubbles, and later playing in the miniature waterfall at the duck pond.

Picture tiiiiiime (:

mini in the park!

dad ♥

mom. syd. me (:

 

syd & the greatest man to ever be there for her.. pappy!

we found some wildlife (:

i love this picture.. | syd with nana & pappy

After our romp in the park, we decided to walk down the hill to the Krohn Conservatory for the annual butterfly exhibit. This is one of the gems of Cincinnati that's fun every couple of years to see. My first time was back in 2008 with Catie, and today was much like that, just with many more butterflies than I remember. The signs indicated 12,000 butterflies. That's a lot of butterflies. Sydni spent nearly half an hour trying to catch a butterfly on the little card they hand out, one landed on her head and sent her screaming. Too funny.

butterflies everywhere!

another waterfall...

another great picture w/ nana & pappy

my. love.

We decided that was enough fun for one day, so we headed back to the house and got Sydni settled in for a nap. A long nap. That gave me a chance to talk to my parents. Actually talk... to my parents. It's been a very rocky road, this whole "transition," as we'll call it, and since most of it was done over the course of moving from two states away, there was very limited availability of having a face-to-face with my parents. Talk about overdue.

couldn't have said it better. 

I can't begin to explain how grateful I am for what happened today; I'll admit my nerves were in defense mode and I was uneasy about approaching the subject of my moving on, in specific regards to my relationship. Fortunately, before the whole weekend started, Rob reminded me that everything would be okay, and reminded me to be open. It's no secret that I'm about as good at verbalizing my heart as I am at operating on one, so it was with caution but deliberate focus that I let piece by piece of myself unfold to my parents. Honestly, candidly, and unabashadly. It was liberating. I'd underestimated their response, more specifically their genuine support. Rob was right; everything is okay.
Once the monster was up and stirring from her nap, we squeezed in a bike ride before dinner. Dad ran out to grab a few things and Mom and I finished up the end of our conversation, in a mother-daughter heart-to-heart. Did I mention how grateful I am for my family?

biking with nana!

And then....
Dinner at Main Street Cafe!

dinner fun with nana & pappy ♥

We really didn't waste any time finding our groove, and although it's only 9:30, we're all pretty spent. We're settled on the couch watching a movie with Sydni, and I couldn't ask for a better moment with my family.

See you tomorrow (:

xo | cmd

It's FRIIIIIDAY [& Rob's HERE!!!]

♕

It's FRIDAY!!! Hallelujah.

I wasn't sure this week was actually going to end, probably just because of how excited I was that Rob was coming to visit. I had prepared myself to run a few errands and get a couple of things done before the late hours when he arrived. I'm not a fan of waiting for things like this, so I started brainstorming ways to occupy myself before he showed up.

And then... he sent me this.
At 6:30pm. 

well, hello... not far away at all?!

Sneaky little fox! Haha. He took off work early today just to make it here a little sooner. I felt like a little kid when I saw this and realized he was less than 40 minutes out.

Becky & Mike had dropped off a bag of fresh carrots [straight from the garden, dirt and all ♥]; I busied myself cleaning those up some before I got a second message on my phone, containing a picture of my house with my car in the driveway. Haha. I love it.

Fast forward: We just finished dinner at The Comet [shocker, I know...] with Becky & Mike, and are calling it an early night. We'll get going on some fun stuff tomorrow: City Flea, Findlay Market, whatever else we get into, and maybe camping tomorrow night if the weather holds out.

He's here. I'm happy.

xo | cmd

ONE MORE DAY!

I'm totally spent.

Craigslist did its due diligence again today; I picked up a microwave for the new digs after work and got that, along with the rest of the kitchen fully assembled and in working order. The dishes are clean, shelved, and the appliances are all in their respective nests. Gosh, I love new used things (:

newest addition to the kitchen (:

The bathroom is clean, put away and ready to go, too.

It's been a long day.
TOMORROW............

recognize anyone?? ;)

^^ That's a screenshot Ali sent me a few months back, that I'm not sure I shared yet. If so, for the sake of repetition, sorry. If not, well, let's just say we had a goooood laugh over the fact that:

1. Ali was Google searching "Ginger Lumberjacks," but more and most importantly,
2. On that third row down, third picture from the left, is definitely a fluffed up, goofy shot of Rob, that I took one night at Bindy's.

I have no idea how that made it onto Google as a qualified image for that search, but it's still funny. The point of it though, is that that certain ginger lumberjack, in all of his not-really-a-ginger awesomeness, is coming to visit me for the weekend, starting tomorrow.

I. Am. SO. Excited!
Now cross your fingers it doesn't rain on Saturday; City Flea & camping with M&B, here we come!

xo | cmd

Catie Hits STL

TGIF, dudes & dudettes!

No, seriously!

Caaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaatie is here!!!!!

I took an extended lunch break to trek over into STL to pick her up from the airport. It was a grueling 2 hours before I left early for the day and we made our way back to Belleville.

We did a quick stop at the mall and back to my house to get ready for some dinner and other miscellaneous adventure; Ali and Rob both made their way to the house and the lot of us piled into Rob's truck. Houlihan's it was, and a great decision at that. Deeeelicious, as always.

With bellies full, we were ready for some music and jigginess.

hi, you (:

A few of the folks from Rob's company were over at Silvercreek Saloon, so we headed that way and made a night of it. Not a bad time (: !

my two favorite gingers

double ♥

Oh gosh. I love 'em.

It's gonna be a great weekend, kids.

xo | cmd

Kick ROCKS, IL - HELLO, PHOENIX!

Welp, as far as work went today, I was like an impending high school graduate with a severe case of senioritis. I'm not sure where the morning went, but I was fine with that. I think I zoned out for the last half hour before I actually left. 

airlift me..... 

Anyway, it's raining in Arizona.

Seems fitting; apparently that's a rarity out here, but for now it goes well with the aura of things that are quite out of character and far from the norm. 

--- I have got to find some way to block myself from accessing a keyboard after 1) a certain time at night or 2) after certain mental capacities have been altered or stopped all together. *sigh. Freakin' VINO….
---- I need new friends that [while in similar states of mind] don't encourage me to start writing at these totally inappropriate times, too, so they can read it WITH me for the first time in the real morning. Ya jerks.. haha.

The first thing I thought of when I touched down at PHX was the overwhelming amount of sssssstuff on my mind that I'd be spilling everywhere when my best friend when she picked me up from the airport. The gal next to me on the plane agreed that it seemed more like a six hour flight than the short 3.5 we'd been airborne, so I was more than ready to be on solid ground. After some minor disconnect on discourse - gate assignment, I found myself in that familiar little green Jeep with the Ohio plates, bound out to Tempe with a girl who might as well be a direct extension of myself. I'm in Phoenix, with Kalyn…. and Becca…… and Justine. Since I believe perfection is relative; this is definitely on point in my book. 

kalyn. cori. justine. becca | postinos

First stop: Postino's. If there's one grand idea for converting an old post office, it would be transforming it into a wine bar with killer food and the most courteous, laid-back wait staff to boot. That pretty sums up this place, and it wasn't but a few minutes into the dinner run that I realized how much I'd missed my best friend and the liberty we have with each other to be the raw and so far sheerly uncensored characters that we are. Add the Jones girls to the mix and dinner really couldn't have been any better. We wined, we dined, and we wined some more before we made it back to their house and staked out our real estate on the couch. 

Apparently, I'm not the only one running in place when it comes to conquering my loose cannon brain on love, the pursuit of "happy", avoidance of pain and the general direction of that whole weird life thing. It didn't help that in seeking some accountability in perhaps the form of, "No Cori…put your phone away," I was met with "Mama. DO IT." [you'd only have to hear her say it once to imagine it clear as day again] … Inhibiitions are usually asleep by 3:30 in the morning (….hello), but I do know that some of my best A-grade quality papers in college were done in the wee hours. Sooo, in addition to ill-advised phone calls, I'm no stranger to late-night-writing with a side of morning-after-literary-regret. It's like [that] shot of truth serum that makes your head spin and dissolves whatever filter you had left between your brain and your mouth. In some cases, it's the heart and mouth disconnect you have to fear, but that… is another day. Right now I'm just thankful for auto spellcheck. [Red. lines. everywhere…lol]. Oh, and I sure as day returned the favor on the phone call advice, KALYN….. we can scold each other in the morning. Haha. 

love you, kp

I haven't laughed so hard in one evening in a long time. I kinda forgot how well we know the other and how KP is just as ruthlessly blunt and inappropriate as I am. Haha. We've swapped just about all of our most recent and vicious stories, in great detail from start to the present [end  isn't really applicable for either of us, unfortunately], and I've only been here for less than 12 hours. In spite of the way my gut has decided to remain twisted and tense for the time being, there is nothing quite like having your best friend there to reiterate to me that I am a thoroughly messed-up individual AND that she probably wouldn't love me if I were any. other. way. Especially when we're both in stitches laughing at each other, doubled over so hard that we're crying and our sides hurt. 

I needed this. 
It's only day one of four.
Whoa.

Tomorrow [well, later today, but I'll clarify since this is backdated…. again] we'll be hiking Camelback, eating more food, and gearing up for the debacle that will inevitably be five of us girls at Greasewood Flats: Bluegrass, food, cowboys & mechanical bulls, and a steady flow of libations are sure to generate some tales for the taping…. stay tuned.

Hello, Phoenix. (: 

xo | cmd

Salad & A Movie

Well I just feel like quite the DIY-er today, after having finished off the fourth of four in my first round of jarred lunches. I will never know why I'd not gone this route sooner, but after catching drift of a very similiar idea from Jess, I scaled back what she had displayed as more of a gift-esque presented version of the jar salad into something I could do for lunch every day.

yum. :)

Funny enough, I set out with the final picture as my goal; I was met with my first hurdle when I realized that good old Target didn't carry the "regular sized" mason jars; the tall, slender ones I automatically think of when I think of mason jars. Instead, I found two smaller sizes and one impractically huge size in the canning section of Target kitchenwares. I picked up one set of each of the two smaller sizes: 1 pint and 1/2 pint. They come in sets of 4, and run less than $6 per set. After comparing them to some salsa jars, I quickly realized that they were the of the same capacity and would be plenty big enough for what I needed.

Correct! I toted them home and filled each with some greens, carrots, hard boiled eggs, chick peas, and parmesan cheese. My advice at this point: do NOT add dressing until you are ready to eat it. Anyhow, they turned out nice and pretty; I was still a little leary about how they'd hold up for 4-5 days in the fridge, fearful I might crack open the last one and be faced with soggy lettuce, mushy garbonzo beans, etc. Happy to report, that was not the case! :) It's Friday, and the salad I'd assembled on Sunday of this week was just as fresh as it was when I put it in the jar. Add some dressing, do a little shaking [whoa, flashback to high school caf salads in the plastic containers? haha..], and presto! Delish. Inexpensive, quick, and I would say highly-recommended. Yums :)

the campaign

Oh, and Eric's still in town! We had dinner with the Prescotts at the house last night, and tonight, since Dawne is hosting another sleepover for Sydni, we were kiddo-free for the evening. In efforts to take full advantage of that, we immediately sprung plans for dinner and a movie. Dinner was the locally-acclaimed Lotawata Creek, and movie was, by unanimous vote, The Campaign. As it so unfortunately goes sometimes with movies like this, there were definitely some funny moments, but in hindsight I could've waited to Redbox this one. Oh well. The company was great and that's all that mattered. :) Eric heads out tomorrow afternoon, and we'll wrap up the evening with some long-overdue catching up on chores and such. Can't wait.. Womp womp womp....

Happy weekend!!

xo | cmd

Random Ramblings of a DIY-ish Day!

I showed up to work early this morning!
-- But not for the reason that most people show up early. While it was project-oriented, it had nothing to do with staffing. Christine had sequestered my assistance in readying her hair for a benefit she was attending tonight; we were in the process of coordinating in on a lunch break but realized she'd be out of the area on calls all day. We finally settled on coming in a half hour early and knocking it out then. I toted my beloved Marianna hair pins and all the other essentials for an up-do up to the office, and we made with it, from a design she'd scooped off Pinterest.

Success!


welcome to salon de express... haha. | pinspired!

It's still in the 90's here in the midwest, in May, and I love everything about that. I spent lunch between errands at Panera sorry... it's Bread Company here in IL... to bask in the sun. It was definitely hard to get back into the office, if for no other reason than simply trying to readjust from sunlight to flourescent light. Egghh..
Work ended promptly at 5, and I spent the next 45 minutes traversing all over the local territory hunting down giftcards for Meagan's going-away present. With all of them secured, I made my way back home to get started on the crafting. Three hours later, I was finished [*mega thx/shoutout to my bestie, Kalyn, for the template!]; this puppy is ready for signing!


[props to kp for this template ;) ]

 About a third of the way through the evening, I got a phone call from my sister's boyfriend, saying that he was en route from Kansas to Ohio to see her for her birthday [tomorrow], and that his sister's home over in Missouri had been struck by lightning, thus rendering it useless as an overnight pitstop. We gladly accepted some overnight company; he showed up around 10:45 and we briefly caught up with him while I put the finishing touches on Meagan's book. I ended up having to make an almost midnight run to Wal-Mart, which apparently yields an even finer clientele at that hour than during the day [s.a.r.c.a.s.m, heyaaa].

I'm home now with just minutes to spare before it's Friday.

It's almost the weeeeeeekend! :)

xo | cmd

Last Day

I'm getting a nice little tan here. Just sayin'. :)

Since today was Kalyn's first day completely off work, and our last full one before we fly back tomorrow, we took full advantage of it and got right into the day. We started off with a hike up from the apartment to the resort on the neighboring mountain. Being everything except conditioned to traversing inclines of any type right now [IL is essentially like treading across a sheet of paper], it was admittedly a winded experience, but absolutely worth it.

Back at the apartment, we showered up and made our way into a different part of Phoenix to Aunt Chelada's, a quaint little Mexican dive that they seem to like. We snagged a table outside on the nearly empty patio and devoured some tasty grub before heading back.


besties @ aunt chelada's



dos amigos



dos mas amigos ;)



It was easy for us to spend the rest of the afternoon playing volleyball at the resort before resigning to a few hours of basking by the pool. The boys took to the water, a section marked with a waterfall centerpiece, which afforded me some time to really catch up with Kalyn on the happenings of our lives over the last year since I last visited there. I realized today just how much I really do miss my best friend, but likewise how fortunate I am to have one like her in my life. :) Good times, good times.

We called homemade dinner tonight, complete with more grilling out and simple relaxing before getting everything packed up and ready to go first thing in the morning. This trip has been oh-so-relaxing and really a huge blessing for Joe and me. 

grilling out :: beautiful....

Love love love.

See ya back in the midwest, kiddios.

xo | cmd

'Tis a 13 on Friday. 'Tis.

wakin' up to this... again. :) hi again, arizona

And?

zucchini | window plants | veggies :)

I'm in Phoenix! Correction - WE are in Phoenix! What a transformation it's already been coming from the flatlands of IL to the elevated terrain of AZ. I woke up this morning to the familiar mini mountain that ascends in the immediate backdrop right outside of Sam & KP's apartment, and felt immediately rejuvenated. That of course, didn't happen until almost mid-morning, but I was ready in time for Sam to get back from his errands. Kalyn was already at work, so he and I headed out to see her, tour the elaborate golfcourse, and of course, eat breakfast at Mojo, the deliciously adorable and classy coffee bar/deli in which she works. It's totally her, too.

brunch @ grayhawk

After consuming the signature breakfast burrito off their menu [to.die.forrrr], I got a brief tour of the place: the peaks dotting the skyline in every direction surrounding the stark but lush greens and flowering color bursts on the golf course itself, stone laid veranda overlooking the experience, the pro shop laden from wall to wall with purple plaid golf shirts priced at a quarter of my car's value, and lockerrooms complete with lockers reserved for choice celebrity golfers. Hey, if I was a golfer, I'd be falling over myself to play here. I'm pretty sure the caddies here probably have caddies. [I'm outta my league, yo.]

that's right, valet ... at the grocery store. seriously?+ + hummus hummus & more hummus!

poolside. not bad for a friday afternoon :)

Anyhow, after brunch, Sam and I headed out to run some errands: last minute grocery shopping, but more importantly some souvenier scoping for Joe. I wanted to do something of even a small suprise element for him, knowing that even so, it wouldn't equate to a surprise trip to Arizona. Turd.. haha. We passed through REI, where I found what I  wanted, only to find the exact same thing at a much more sane price 20 minutes later at Costco. Some things never change :).

bottom of the hiking trail
top of the hiking trail :)

We invested the rest of the time between then and Kalyn getting home from work hanging by the pool at their apartment, reading books and basking in the early afternoon rays. Once Kalyn rolled in, Sam took off for some hangtime with his uncle; KP and I took to hiking up the exercise mountain across the street before hitting the tennis courts and the pool at the Marriott resort that's nestled into the mountain right beside their complex. Really not a bad way to spend the afternoon.

When we'd had our daily share of outdoor rec, we rendezvoused with Sam at his Uncle Fred's house, stayed to chit chat for a bit and then headed back to clean up for dinner. We wound up at Pei Wei, where we found the most advanced beverage dispenser I've ever seen. We ordered some grub, proceeded to devour all of it, and then settled into the evening back at the apartment before KP headed off to bed and Sam headed off to the airport to pick up Joe.

pei wei space-age bev dispenser

He's here! Let the weekend begin. It was the final part of getting all four of us together in the same place at the same time; we'll get the fun underway starting tomorrow.

Phoenix is two hours behind Illinois; I feel like I'm still jetlagged for some reason. Weird.
G'Nite!

xo | cmd