The Return of SYDMAD

My favorite part of waking up on weekends with this girl:

ninja mornings!

Is it Saturday night already? Whoa.

Highlight reel from today: Ikea was our first stop on the way up to Columbus. Maricor needed some specific bowls, and so I agreed to get them. I was leary at first, since Saturday is probably the worst day to do an Ikea run if you only need one thing, but I was pleasantly surprised at the short 15 minutes between entrance and checkout. What took the longest was this [& I didn't mind, at all!]:

cinnamon rolls.. the first reason you go to ikea.. duhh..

Post-Ikea, it was off on the road to Maricor's, which I realized today is actually under two hours away. That.. is... awesome. I was beyond excited for this, since it was the first time Syd & Mad have seen each other since they were babies. I was amazed that they jumped right back in with each other, like they hadn't missed a single day. [L-o-v-e!!]

nov2009 | jun2010 | aug2013
... & many more to come!!

We relaxed for a little while before loading back up and heading over to Easton to eat and get some fresh air for the girls.  

cousins!

The girls [aka, SydMad] were quite rambunctious today, but aside from that, I couldn't have asked for a better afternoon. At least little Sophie provided some chill relief from her sister and cousin's exhausting conduct while we were out. Haha.

1. response to, "please don't play in the rocks."
2. response to, "please make nice faces at people passing by."
3. sophie, entirely unamused.

.... Ornery or not, they're still adorable.. I can't deny that.

holding hands like good little sidewalk buddies!

We had one final little meltdown on our way out, which was easily cured by Tita Corin agreeing to carry both girls. It took a couple attempts to find a feasible way to get from one side of Easton back to the garage on the other, but we figured it out and aside from the awkward glances, it was a fuss-free exit and for that, we were grateful.

attempt #1 ... and the successful re-arrangement that made it across the plaza!
... i am.. a human stroller. #dowhatchagottado

Back at home, the night continued on much like the day: Sydni and Madison tore the place apart, Sophie sat resigned to her movie with teddy bear in hand, and the mama's... well, we added some pleasantry of our own in the form of some pink moscato. How's that for a reward?

mad+syd. sophie. mama's

+ Dinner!

i'll pretend i'm not obsessed with cbay biscuits.. haha.. (:

+ FINALLY............... :

WIN!! haha.. two tuckered out little girls

Day 1 of Mad's birthday weekend has been a success so far. Tomorrow's the party, so until then, goodnight! (:

xo | cmd

Saturday Swims | Brittany's Housewarming

Catie and I originally rough-sketched an afternoon of wedding dress shopping [for her, let me clarify], but that wasn't exactly how it happened.

Rob and I took a gracious liberty of sleeping in until mid-morning, because ... well, we could, before we finally started moving and I made breakfast. 


mmmm breakfast!

Much to my displeasure, but understandably, Rob had to head out today as opposed to tomorrow. He had a lot of stuff to take care of, so I knew it was best, but goodbyes with him always suck, and if it's all the same, I still dream about not having to do that one day. No rush, but maybe (:

So yeah.. we did the whole goodbye thing, which sucks... but I'll be headed that way in early August for Mike & Kelly's wedding, so it's not that bad. So Rob was on the road by 2pm, and I headed downtown to meet up with Catie, Andy and Adam for some time at the pool before the rainclouds started creeping in. Not a bad time!

pooooooooltime! ♥ this woman!

Once we were finished swimming, I stopped at home to clean myself up and head right back out to Brittany's housewarming party. She asked for bottles of wine instead of any other gifts, to help her fill up her racks in the basement. I thought that was an adorable idea, and it definitely didn't look like a bad time once we saw all the others start to pour in ;)

wine!

We were all so busy goofing off and having fun that we forgot to take too many pictures.. but somehow I ended up with one of Brittany and Mandy, and of course one of mama & me [aka Kalyn & me haha.. ]

mandy & the woman of the hour [aka brittany!]

best friend-o. ♥ ya, kalyn!

So good to see some familiar faces that I hadn't seen in a while [shoutout to Westy, Matty Fine, etc..]. I'm home now, and am dedicating the rest of my evening to movies, popcorn and photo edits. Don't you dare judge me and my lame-o Saturday night, haha ;)

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