Visitors & TeePees & MOVIES!

Happy Friday, ya'll!

Today was a gorgeous day: The sun was out, people seemed happy and we all knew we were within earshot of the weekend all day. On top of that, I had the pleasure of trying out Cheapside Cafe for the first time with Elisa on lunch!

Carri took the day off; her daughter & daughter's boyfriend drove in for a visit, so Elisa and I made the best of Friday by making sure to highlight the best part of it: Friday lunch!

Back at the office, Carri and her clan stopped by; her daughter Katelyn's boyfriend happens to be Nick Gaines, one of the pro-am SX riders we saw in Indy. He'd ended up with a broken arm during that race, and spent his short visit in our office eyeing the auto parts store in our parking lot, in hopes that he could find some device to remove his cast that day.

The sun stayed out all day, paving a clear path for continued positivity as the work day and week came to a close. The good times would continue after work, too! We'd promised Sydni a date night at the movies, with a specific flick in mind: HOME!

adorable movie!! 

Guys. I've come to the realization that basically all of the movies I want to see... are animated. This one was awesome. If you think Jim Parsons is funny on The Big Bang Theory, wait until you see his voice and Sheldon-esque mannerisms embodied in a cute little purple alien.. haha.

We loved it.

And now we're home, it's late, and bedtime is beckoning! TGIF!
G'Nite, blogbots :)

xo | cmd

AHHH! FRIIIIIDAY!!

I knew it would be a good day when I arrived at work, sat down and authored up the little note for day 3 of my Lent Letters. And yes, it's taken me three days to decide I'm calling them Lent Letters. Anyway, Friday opened up with that, and only got better from there.


day 3 (:

Friday lunch = Rusty Bucket. Nom. Nom. Freakin' NOM. (:

rusty bucket!

There was a small hiccup when I arrived home and found that Sasha, in what was probably a 5-hour [at least] span of boredom, had annihilated her pillow:

good work, sasha.. haha

^ Really nothing serious, just a poor pup who was locked up all day. I can't say I'd be any different. Fortunately, it was a quick cleanup, followed by a couple loads of laundry and a whole-house re-clean before the company rolled in.

Rob made it home from work mid-evening, and after a power nap, I awoke to the sound of car doors in my driveway.

They. Are. Here!!!

Sure, I should have a picture to mark their arrival, but let's be honest: I think we all know there will be plenty of those to go around this weekend.

G'Night!

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

So, Guess What...?

He's HERE!!!!

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥!

I can't even begin to tell ya'll how much I've anticipated this visit. Rob's been on vacation all of this week, and had taken the earlier part of it to road trip down to Florida/Louisiana with a friend of his. He made it back to Illinois Monday and took a day's break from driving before he headed this way today. He made it to the house just before we had to take off for our opening night of sand volleyball league.... but he.. is HERE.. and I am one happy little girl right now.


soooo amped!!

hellooooo, sand vb!

If you didn't believe me.. this was early proof of our overflowing excitement.. at like, 11am. (: To start the season off, our opponent didn't show... which is fine, considering it was Team Powell, and we already have one of those. Hah. We wound up on the neighboring court against another team whose opponent was a no-show, and by the time it was all said and done, we'd had ourselves a fun three rounds and then some. Beth swears up and down that we won the first game, but Kalyn and I thought for certain that we lost all three [they had that guy with a near jump serve who wasn't afraid to spike it... in our faces... haha]. Rob thought he won two of the three set, and Keifer wasn't counting. I'm still sold that we lost all three, but we decided we'd find them and ask next week just to be clear (:

To celebrate our first victory [in terms of playing together for our first time officially as a team], we thought we'd visit the brewery right across the street... which worked out fine until we heard the kitchen was closed. From there, we found ourselves at Allyn's down the road, which was just a good a time as any.


to each his [or her] own!

Gosh.. this is just the first night of what's going to be an incredible weekend, for sure.

I'm excited. Happy midweek, friends!

xo | cmd

Ali & Melissa Are Here!

So maybe we weren't given the entire day off work today like some folks had, but I'm definitely complaining about a half day... since some other people [more specifically other Express offices] were working the full day. Happy Day-After-The-Holiday! Haha.

The extra few hours were great for heading home, getting Sydni, and having her "help" me clean up the house for our visitors, who were en route by mid-morning from Illinois. It wasn't long before Ali & Melissa made it safe & sound...

hello, friends! (:

Can I please just say how much I have MISSED seeing Ali every day?! We used to be co-workers, and went from every day both at and outside of work hanging out, to me moving two states away and seeing each other faaaar less frequently. Booooo! I'm glad they're both here, even if it is just for tonight & tomorrow night.

Ali came bearing little trinkets! (:

thank you, friend!! | you can never have too many owls! (:
+ a mini love statue from philly & some shells for sydni from new jersey!

We wasted very little time hopping back in the car for a trip over to Rookwood; there was browsing to be done at Charming Charlie, Francesca's and Love Culture [with no success at any of them], before we called it quits. Might I throw in here, too... that the lady we spotted very obviously and with no tact SHOPLIFTING from CC should really be ashamed of herself. If you're gonna be a thief, don't let my 3-year-old of all people blurt out, "Mommy? Is that lady taking those?" -- I mean, really?  and headed back to Mariemont for Graeter's.

graeter's!! | mariemont, oh

You cannot go wrong with Graeter's.
Ali, welcome to Cincinnati! haha.

Back at the house, it was dinner cooking time [one of my faaaavorite whenever guests are in!], Pitch Perfect [duh], and an impromptu jewelry-making session to match their attire for the wedding they'll be attending tomorrow.

mmmmmm! diiiinnnerr..... chicken+couscous+zucchini = homecooked fun

I have a few last-minute tweaks to do for their jewelry for tomorrow, but I think we're all just about spent right now.. we'll call this one and pick it all back up tomorrow... (:

xo | cmd

And Now, For the Tour [& Christmas Part II!]

fiona's | eds.ville

We realized this morning as we were getting moving for the day that we have done this sort of standardized tour for all of our visitors. Seriously. We thought back to Eric, who was the first to come and visit our new house, then JB, Lynn, Tim, Heidi, Paul, Jonathan, my parents, and now Joe's mom & aunt. We also realized that after this visit, unless KP & Sam make their way out in the near future, we should be just about done with our quick version of the IL-MO tour.

In honor of our last tour, we thought we'd spice it up a bit. First, we took them on base to show them where Joe works. We even made a pitstop by the Babots for a quick second, and they were able to see what base housing looks like. From there, we took a turn off the beaten path and  headed up to Edwardsville for a brunch at Fiona's. Now, keep in mind that up until today, I've only heard rumors of the superior quality of this little dive. Meagan and Rob frequent this place seemingly every other time he's here for her lunch hour, and Nancy speaks highly of it as well. So, we thought we'd give it a whirl. We were NOT disappointed. It was quite scrumptious, and at the very end, we ran into Nancy and Karen, who'd been there entire time we had, neither of us noticing the other party. Funny things. 

sandy. syd. joe | shadow of the arch from atop the arch :)

From there, we trekked into Saint Louis, being very mindful to avoid Soulard [mardi gras]. We found ourselves at the arch, and, at the request of our visitors, journeying up into the arch. We'd done that once before, the first time when Eric visited us. It's a nice chance to catch an aerial view of the city, and I suppose it's a must-do for any tourist not planning a trip back anytime soon. 

syd gazing out over st. louis

By the time we'd finished at the arch, we headed back home, ordered pizza, and got down to opening Christmas presents.

Wait.. what? 

merry [part II] Christmas!



Yeah, that's right. We weren't able to make it back to Ohio as originally planned over the Christmas holiday, so we had a very late Christmas here at our house tonight with just the four of us and Sydni. She made out like a bandit, and of course we all got exactly what we'd asked for during the pick-a-name drawing we do each year with his family.

It's been a great day. I hate that it was so short, but we are blessed to have our family.

xo | cmd

Visitors, Continued!

Friday was fiiiiinally hereeeeeeee [yessssss!!!!!]

With no small group in the dugout, and no other scheduled events for the evening, we spent the early evening just tidying up around the place before settling in for some relaxation time before Joe's mom & aunt arrived from Cincinnati. We patiently waited...


pack your bags & head for the dills' :)

 .. and waited...

... and waited.

Apparently, Sandy & Sis [the affectionate nickname for Joe's aunt] had gotten tied up in some traffice in Indiana, so they arrived much later than anticipated. I had finally given in to Sydni's whimpers of sheer toddler exhaustion and put her down to bed, and of course accidentally fell asleep right along with her. It's nearly midnight now, and while Joe's family did arrive safely, they and the rest of my house are fast asleep.

Woops.

We'll pick this up where we left off tomorrow.

xo | cmd

Clean Clean Clean!

I'm not sure where I was for the majority of today, because the bulk of it flew by so quickly. I'm not complaining, don't get me wrong, but it's the days like this that keep me on my toes for hours afterwards in fear of having forgotten to complete some crucial task. *Ohhhh well.

When work let out, it was straight home to clean up around our house, in preparation for Joe's mom and aunt coming to visit us this weekend. I'm excited to see them; it's been a long time since we had a good visit with Joe's mom, and I know she misses Sydni.

So clean clean clean it was, and then we waited.

This place is spotless!

*WHEW.

Company comes tomorrow. Yay! :)  

xo | cmd

Superbowl 2012!



[just some] of the gals of my family ♥



Man oh man! This weekend flew right past me. We woke up this morning to find that Paul had already headed out close to 6:45 to play an early show at one of the churches in St. Louis. Lynn left out homebound for Cincinnati around 8am, and Heidi & Jonathan left to rendezvous with Paul right as we were bound for church. Tim was the last man standing, and joined us for church and lunch afterwards. We were bummed to drop him off for his flight back to Seattle, especially since his next trip is homeland-bound for Taiwan. [We are praying for your safe travel! Have fun back home!!!]



amazing.
simply amazing.



Just as soon as we’d left Tim for his flight, we kicked it into gear again to tidy up around the house, clean where we could, and order pizzas for our Superbowl party. It wasn’t long until Pastor Ron & Debbie, Meagan & Rob, Jimmy & Mo, Adam & Cathy with the girls, and Kyle with Tessa were all gathered around a food-covered table munching away. I promise that every one of the guests that’ve been through our home since we moved into it have all been excellent cooks; we are all benefiting from that. Haha. I would like to note the chocolate drizzled popcorn brought by Mo & Jimmy: It has officially added a little spice to my already avid affinity for popcorn. Good call, guys. J



sydni got some goodies from
back home, thanks to
nana & pappy!



As for the actual Superbowl, I don’t think there was much preference one way or another, and save for Kyle, nobody really seemed all that interested in which team finished victorious, but we did join the ranks of Americans everywhere who probably had a better time watching the commercials. Plus, speculating on the halftime performance is always necessary. Lol.

So yeah, congratulations to the Giants, and to Manning & his new corvette. Haha.

It’s back to it, tomorrow. Briiiiiing it.

xo | cmd

Company & The City Museum [Take 1]

Happy Friday!

I was greeted by Joe, Tim, & Lynn when I got home from work. I had every intention of cooking dinner, but by unanimous vote, we decided on a more relaxed option of Eckert’s. Off we were to enjoy Joe’s favorite fried biscuits and some good country food. Taking visitors there has always been a favorite of ours, and it was no surprise that everyone enjoyed the experience.

now that's coffee!

Back at the house, it wasn’t long before my sister and nephew rolled in from Ohio, bringing with them all kinds of delectable edibles from either Mom or the farmer’s market. Tim had brought with him some authentic coffee beans, complete with manual grinder. I never thought I’d regret having traded our traditional coffee maker for our Kuering [and I still don’t], but now would be an excellent time to have both, as selfish as that sort of seems. It’s funny how the upgrade in technology can almost be, at times, inconveniencing. Hah. In any regard, while we were forced to momentarily postpone fresh coffee, we weren’t hindered at all in terms of regular eating. No sir, we were entirely prepared for all of that. J

 



fun @ the city museum



We’d already decided to take Tim & Lynn into St. Louis, specifically to the City Museum downtown. For the natives here, I don’t believe it’s considered much of a new relic, but we’re still enamored by its creative intensity, so naturally we show it off to our friends whenever possible. To our disappointment, we didn’t realize until after we got there that my 14-year-old nephew could’ve easily gone with us, as the rule for 18yrs+ doesn’t apply if you’re there with someone who is 18+. Oh, well. It’s probably for the better, so that Paul wouldn’t be excluded in the trip, and was there at our house when we returned anyway. At the museum, Tim & Lynn were beside themselves taking in the child-like visualizations brought to fruition on adult-sized scales. Joe and I had only been there once before, so it was a refresher of what was to be offered. We climbed, crawled, ascended, descended, and slid down the 10-story spiral slide, loving every minute of watching each other maneuver through tiny tunnels and crawlspaces.

It’s now almost 1am; we just got back moments ago, and I… [aside from post-dating...] am… beat.

Gooooood Night!

xo | cmd