It's a New Week!

Yes, yes it was.

One of my favorite things is a collection of people who can suffer joyfully through something together. One of my not-so-favorite things is that the reason we're suffering is because midwest weather seems to be having a midlife crisis. As a result, I along with a bucket of my fellow Ohioans are feeling the glowing effects: sinus infections, colds, flu, bronchitis, strep and delightfully-disgusting things that are coughed up first thing in the morning.

Beautiful visual, eh?

What I do look forward to on Mondays, for now at least:

And no, I didn't mean jumping ship after the standard Monday [although fitting, yes!]; Mondays mean new episodes of Shadowhunters, and I think it goes without saying I'm a hooked fan. I'm still 110% surprised at how much I don't hate all the plot departures in the show (vs. the books). When we got hit with Lydia in season 1, I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to handle these, but now that there's been a shift change with the writers, all the non-booky things seem to be weaving a course of their own that's still comprehensive, and dare I say it's kind nice? 

^ If you have no idea what I'm talking about, you really need to read the books. Honestly, I'd start with The Infernal Devices and work your way through those before The Mortal Instruments. It's all just... so good. So. Good.

SPEAAAAKING of TMI, this this THIS THIS THIS THISSSSS came today and I'm tripping over myself in excitement. I've been hunting this specific edition of Lady Midnight down since just before CHRISTMAS, when I spotted it on a couple of my favorite book instagrammers' feeds (bookstagrammers?). I learned it's a limited edition, and mostly specific to the UK. The Book Depository website told me it was out of stock, and the only available copy I could find in the U.S. via Ebay was going for over $200. I think not. THEN, just when I had a friend living in London who offered to procure this from a Waterstones and send it to me, Book Depository emailed me to let me know it was back in stock, and well.. the rest is history. This gem arrived today, from Australia, and it is even more beautiful than I'd imagined! ♥♥♥♥

i. am. swooooning.
#nerdstuff #goldenrunes

It's so.. beautiful. And it adds so nicely to the mantle shelf, which speaking of that.. is going away hopefully this weekend, if not very soon thereafter. The last thing I need is to replace a broken mantle and whatever book damage happens when gravity has had enough :p

So I'm outta here; it's time for the episode. One of these days I'll channel my inner Christine Riccio and do a book or episode review. We'll see. We'll see. 

xo | cms

A Life-Is-Great Wednesday

I'm a huge fan of variety, and breaking out of the monotony of what's typical every day. In the spirit of said variety, I happily obliged a client requesting me to come down on site today for a facility tour to start the day. While I knew my desk had undoubtedly been piling up over the course of the morning with memos, messages and files, it was quite a nice change of pace to be driving north into the city at a time that is very unusual for me.

hello, daytime city! 

It was only fitting to make a pitstop in for some fresh-ground encouragement before heading in to the office!

it was too beautiful a feeling not to stop and capture it

I did however realize why I'd been met with some semi-raised eyebrows between my client's facility and the office: I'd forgotten about and was still sporting earplugs. I mean.... it's not totally irrelevant, right?

these are just in case it gets too loud... or something..

The rest of the day passed without too much chaos, and I'm happy to say that there was a moderate amount activity completed after work as well, re: THE MOVE.

That's another day's worth of diatribe.. but we'll get to that later. For now, I hope ya'll were out and about today for at least part of this gorgeous day!

xo | cmd

MARCH: Sunshine, Ikea & Donkeys?

Dude. It was freakin' goooorgeous outside today! Am I the only one who nearly fell over walking outside at lunch?

yes, i did that.

Yeah. I'm going way overboard with the daily lunches this week, and with the selfies to match. Here's the thing though: I haven't taken 2 consecutive 1-hour lunch breaks in almost 10 months, so ex-ca-uuuuuuse me if I'm a little chippier than usual ;)! 

^ But really, I indulged today. Whole Foods, for one, is not the 99-cent store, as we all can attest. I'm not shaming those of us who shop there, but let's be real: it's overpriced and we all know it. Today though, I went for it, got lunch, a $5 chapstick and a kombucha [shout out to Jen & Jordan @ Fab Ferments!!], then proceeded to park myself on a painted bench directly outside of Pier 1 to eat said lunch and consume said kombucha.  Yeeeup, I went full-fledged White Girl today.

On top of that, I proceeded to punctuate today with a trip to the second most basic place on Planet Earth: Ikea. Yeah, you read that right, friends: Cori, in one day did a Whole Foods and Ikea run. Ya give a girl two days of lunch breaks and she goes rogue, right? Hah.

300 pages of yes please!?

But seriously, Ikea. The love-hate relationship I have with the place continues, as it probably will until the end of time, or until I no longer need to buy $1 aluminum flower pots, $3 clippy hooks for EVERYTHING IN MY  HOUSE THAT NEEDS HOOKING and 2-for-1 adorable throw pillows.

Wait, what? I mean... the ONE accent table, the ONE bedstand, the ONE bedframe and the ONE set of pedestal legs for the ottoman.

And silverware.

Placemats Nothing Else!

LED light strings Nothing Else!

Bamboo plant! Nothing Else!

Buckets Nothing Else!

Kids art accessories Nothing Else!

CINNAMON ROLLS! Just kidding, these are NOT crossed off. #sorrynotsorry.

Rob is beyond ready for this move to be done; I can see the terror in his eyes when I open my mouth now and the sentence begins with, "What do you think about..." He's a trooper, who is hanging in there and providing the brawn that I don't have, the truck that my Subie is not and the accountability not to go broke... that I do not on my own possess at this time. Kudos to him. 

IKEA on a Tuesday: 

US, at IKEA on a Tuesday: 

let's do this!!
[at 8:45pm... haha] 

hitching a ride

 Spoils of the adventure:

we planned on buying [tonight].... about 80% of this. 

I'm pretty pumped. The guest bedroom will be together in no time, and the rest of this place will be constructed one little bit at a time. I've already enlisted Becky and Jess to assist with the painting, when that time comes. We're almost there; I can feel it.

Oh, and an additional feature of our new neighborhood to which I wasn't savvy before tonight:
We've got.... DONKEYS! These two, named Jackson and some other president name, are little escape artist pals from the farm across the street. Tonight, as we were nearing our road, we noticed them wobbling down the side of the main road; at first glance, it was assumed they were deer, but at closer look, that agile gait of a deer was totally missing, and to be honest, these two looked like the brown versions of our dogs.... so no, they weren't deer.

donkeys. neighbor. donkeys.

I took this picture for corroboration to my claim in case nobody believed me later on. Fortunately though, we weren't hallucinating, which was confirmed by our neighbor when I tiptoed onto her front porch at 10:30 PM to ask about the donkeys. And also introduce myself for the first time. Nothing like a Hi-I'm-new-here intro that starts with, "Sorry it's so late, but I'm the new neighbor and umm.. Do you know anything about the two donkeys out here?"  

The neighbor knew, of course, and even had the number for the farm on speed dial. I'm fortunate that the neighbor didn't answer the door with a shotgun, with it being this late, but I'm super happy that they seem to be decent people with a good sense of humor, especially dealing with roving donkeys [insert witty quips here, re: donkeys].

Happy Tuesday, ya'll. Stay beautiful, like this weather! ♥

xo | cmd

Gray. And Dante Basco.

I'd thought about asking Rob if we could take a walk, or hike or something otherwise outdoor and adventurous after work today, but I realized somewhere around the mid afternoon that the day had changed its mind somewhere in the midst of me burying myself brain deep in the task at hand. 

So, instead of the brisk yet sunny day we had yesterday, this was the tone for the afternoon and evening:

I mean... it could've absolutely been worse, so I'll take it for what it's worth and be thankful we weren't wading around in snow this evening. :)

Instead of an urban outdoor outing, we settled for a night in, complete with a tinkering session that resulted in my broken hairdryer being reincarnated into a parts mashup to fix a heat gun. Soundtrack? Well, that one was an obvious: 

guess the movie? 

[P.S. - If you don't know that immediately, well, you're missing out!]

Time to call it a night for now.. this girl's a tired ol' thing tonight.. :) 

xo | cmd

Rain. Rain. And Some Rain.

Today:

And in case you missed it: 

Yeah, that's about it. 

Good night, rainy world. 

xo | cmd

I Play Sand Rainyball

So, it rained a lot today. Like.... all day. Awesome, right?
No... not really...

right before the lightning... 

The good news, we walked away tonight with our championship Tshirts from the last session, where we somehow managed to pull away with both league champion and tournament champion status. I could've done without the rain & lightning, but I'm not complaining - it was still a blast.

woop woop! 

Let's all say a quick prayer that the rain will not be here when we wake up tomorrow... wouldn't that be nice? ;)

Maybe. We'll see.
G'Nite!

xo | cmd

rainrainrainrainrainHAMMOCKrainrainrain...

Me & my sentiments towards today:  

staaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhp!!!!

Today's Weather:

Rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. Sunshi---nope, just kiddinnnngggg... Rain! Rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. And then no more rain, but just... wet.. everywhere.

HowEVER:

got it got it got it!!!!

^^ That was exactly what I needed to brighten up the otherwise rainy day: MY HAMMOCK!!! I'll be heading out this weekend to the Smokies with Becky & Mare, and I needed this sucker to get here. PERFECT. TIMING.

Le sigh.
And more RAIN.

Let's try this again tomorrow.
G'Nite! 

xo | cmd

My BiPolar City

Here's the course of a typical day here in Norwood [& really, in all of Cincinnati]:

8:00 AM. 

10:00 AM

11:00 AM

11:15 AM

1:45 PM

3:45 PM

Get the drift? 

If there's one thing you've got to accept and not fight living in the midwest, it's the weather. Seriously. We're about as close to bipolar as you can get without professional intervention. 

Fortunately, I have a collection of a few thousand of my closest friends here in Cincinnati who get the joy of suffering through all of this together. 

Now PICK ONE, CINCI. 

xo | cmd

First. Day. Of. SPRING!

Dear Google,

You're right, this is what I would have liked to see on the first day of Spring: 

Instead, it's this:

8am in norwood.
lovely.

Swell, huh.

Fortunately, the day went by as not much more than a blur of ringing phones, interviews, shuffling papers and orders FILLED [because we're awesome like that]. It ended well after 6pm, and I decided after that it was time for a date with the Mister... because it's been one heck of a week and I feel like I haven't seen him at all.

Sushi it was! We wound up at the usual destination of Mango Tree in Mariemont, but not before I made a trip through Ace Hardware to pick up some hard hats and glasses for work. *Sigh. We do it all.. haha.

A couple of fun things happened during dinner.
First, my sister sent me these:

20s flapper party! 

My mom, sister and nephew are probably the cutest ever with this. Let's talk about how my mom for starters looks like she could by sisters with my sister.. She is gorgeous, amirite?! ♥ LOVE you guys.

Oh, and Becky invited us out to soccer after dinner. I debated over taking my gear, just in case, but with this sinus infection still rearing its head, I couldn't bring myself to do it, especially knowing I'm down to 1 week before departure to Panama. An awesome night of kicks isn't worth the irritation of having an extended sinus infection hiking through Panamanian mountainsides. Gahh. Choices.

soccer cityyyyy

I've officially become one of those spectators, who arrives in full civilian attire to an indoor soccer facility. I always said I'd never be that girlish sideliner, but there I was tonight. Talk about the opposite of what I'm usually doing there. Woops. Haha.

Anyway, it turned out to be a good night, but I'm tuckered out. I've already pre-emptively called off for a birthday outing I was set to attend tomorrow, because my body is still going through a fit of being 89 years old for some reason. Graahhhh.

Oh, and I'm due back at work at 8am tomorrow - Saturday - to take care of a couple of things, so yeah. There's that. We'll call it a night for now.

xo | cmd

Oh, THERE You Are, Winter..... :/

Here's the only thought I had pretty consistently as today started, wore on... and ended: 

WHY, you ask?

And just in case you forgot whose daughter I am:

I think that should about do it. Folks, it's finally starting to feel like a bitter Winter out there - please be safe - & DRIVE SAFELY - wherever you go, stay warm and don't forget about your furry kids, either! ♥

Brrrr!

xo | cmd

#TBT : Grand Canyon!

Nature. 

Mysterious. Defiant. Breathtaking. Unbelievable. Serene. Dangerous. Sublime.
The list goes on.. and on... and on......... and on.... but one thing that never changes is nature's complete ability to deliver when we least expect it, and usually when we think we've seen it all.

This week's #TBT goes back to 2011, when I trekked out west with Kalyn & Sam; that trip culminated with a visit to the grandest of the grand: The Grand Canyon itself:

p - e - r - f - e - c - t - i - o - n.
grand canyon national park | az 

If there's one place I know I won't fully cover by the time I leave this planet, it's the GC. There are so many trails, valleys, ridges and rims to see there, that you literally would have to live there in order to wholly experience what it can offer.

another shot from my 2011 trip - looking into bright angel trail
grand canyon national park | az

And then maybe you do live there.. and work there. I don't, but my bestie's brother and his girlfriend are both locals there now, and shared some shots from today that I couldn't help but share with whatever audience I've got here today:

12.11.2014 : inversion @ the grand canyon
grand canyon national park | az

^^^ THAT?!

I'm no weather guru, so I let those more-qualified do the actual explaining [as seen >> HERE << ], but that shot is one of the few that Nathan [bestie's brother] shared with the world from his personal vantage point this afternoon.

His girlfriend Aly shared this one, captioned as her view on the way to WORK:

beautiful!!!!
grand canyon national park | az

For the record, she's a park ranger there.
I work in a sometimes-less-than-desirable-neighborhood-in-a-half-sketchy-city-slicker-landscape here in Cincinnati. To say I'm jealous of her "daily commute" should be the understatement of ... life, but hey, that just makes a visit to AZ a priority.

Move over, man-made anything.. Nature wins this one today.

Not a bad way to flip the page into Friday, I'd say.
..Til' Next Time! ♥♥

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

New Family Members!

... The Express family, that is.

Today we opened our office to a couple who will be the newest members of the Cincitucky Express family [Cincinnati + N.KY]. They'll be taking over a territory that was vacated by another owner a year or so back; today we welcomed them to our office to conduct interviews for their first staffing consultant.

welcome to the express fam!

Quick rewind to this morning... just really quick:

ohio.

^ Ohhhhhio, STOP IT!
Yeah, that's snow. Yeah, it was like, I dunno, almost 60 yesterday? Yeah, it's April. I know I'm not alone in wishing this crap would just..... go..... away. *Sigh. Mother Nature- 1, Ohioans Wishing for Warm Weather - 0.

Anyway, we lightened the drab start with the new owners; that's a special occasion for us, which also means food. If there's one unspoken Express standard, it's the provision of food at everything that could be considered a gathering. Shoot, we have office lunches here every single Friday. Today it was Chris bringing donuts, a pot of coffee to go around, and a bowl of greek yogurt+berries+honey. Nom, nom freakin' nom!


beauty in a bite!

After work, it was off to start my Easter preparation. That meant a trip to the dollar store to pick up a collection of plastic eggs, miscellaneous little trinkets and toys to fill them, some last-minute things for Syd's Easter basket and a few other things. I may have gone slightly overboard this year, but hey... that's the fun part!

Happy Tuesday, friends!

xo | cmd

Rain Rain GO... AWAY!

Rain. In Cincinnati. 

rain in cincy!

Go. Away.

That's all.

Thanks, though, for the opportunity to make some chicken noodle soup for us and to cozy up on the couch to enjoy the thunderstorm. Oh, and we'll get a double header next week in volleyball. Woohoo!

Get it out of your system by this weekend, though, ok? (:

xo | cmd