Magic on Mondays

See this?

amen.

Yep, amen indeed. I said hello to Modo again at 5:45 am this morning, for an hour-long 6am hot yoga class. Talk about starting the day! *Phew (:

Work passed by in a rainy fashion; it's scheduled to be gloomy for the next couple days, which is... blah, but oh well. Hopefully it clears up by Wednesday for volleyball!

After work, there was a break in the cloud cover - just enough for Sydni and I to take a stroll through the neighborhood. We took "baby" along with us, who I can only imagined enjoyed her half-flight, half-power stroll around the block ;).

little strolls ♥

We crossed paths with one of our neighbors, whose little girl passionately cautioned us on the approaching "lightning storm!" as the adults smiled at the exchange between our girls.

We're home now and awaiting Rob's arrival home from work. What a day!

We'll pick back up with the world tomorrow. :)

xo | cmd 

Separate Sundays

Rob went to paint his car all day, and I... read this:

done & done!

^^ If you want an intense read, I would recommend this... but only if you're savvy to the English lifestyle and don't misinterpret slang terminology, like I did a few times. Woops ;)

Anyway, as an appetizer to my afternoon spent reading, I absorbed some love and light at SonRise before a quick grocery trip and return home to the couch, a blanket and that book.

I caught glimpses of Rob's progress throughout the day:

in the paintbooth! 

Different variations of the progress kept rolling in, until finally there was the finished product:

little lexi! 

Although I'm not the least bit surprised that Rob did all this work basically by himself [aside from the sanding job; that took professional assistance....from yours truly, of course... ;) haha], I am super excited for and proud of him for getting this done. It was clear that this project was eating at him, so now that it's done, I'm sure little Lexi will be fully welcomed to sit in the driveway. Hah.

Entralled yet?
I know, this is pretty menial stuff to an audience, but I write these e-memoirs more for my own recollection more often than not, so your patience and silent endurance are greatly appreciated ;)

Monday's here again tomorrow, despite my ongoing protest [to whom can I write a letter on this?!].
Time to close out for now. I hope you've had a wonderful weekend, too!

xo | cmd

Three Phase Saturday!

Phase 1: Prep the Lexus for her new paint job.

this guy ♥

doin' my share! 

I had to cut out early and leave Rob to finish the rest of the work himself; I was pushing time to get ready and get myself to the chapel for Lizzy's wedding!

Phase 2: Wedding Bliss! #BlumVollmerVows

elisa & i @ the blum-vollmer wedding!
summit country day school | cincinnati, oh

congraaaaatulations to mr. & mrs. vollmer!!! ♥

Lizzy. was. BEAUTIFUL!! Congratulations, again to her and her new hubby!

From there, it was back home to rendezvous with Rob, clean up again and head right back out the door for the third and final trip of the day.

Phase 3: Becky's Birthday!

happy [early] birthday!!!!!!!!!

For those of ya'll who don't know, but for some reason care to know, Becky was my RA my freshman year at UC. It was friendship at first soccer practice; she was a keeper and I was one of those bouncy midfielders tasked with sprinting up and down the field while she kept an eye on the goal. She introduced me to each of the Cincinnati soccer arenas, and can be blamed, on several grueling occasions, of inviting me to run every. single. stair. [yes, every single stair] in Nippert Stadium. As a sidenote, for those of you who've never been inside a college football stadium, that's a LOT of freaking stairs, and you kind of want to meet some sort of immediate demise like, halfway through, if not sooner.

SOMEHOW, despite our frequent death runs through Nippert, repeated blood drives at Hoxworth and sessions of us either stripping off or washing our soccer shin guards post-game and choking ourselves on the putrid smell, we stayed friends, and grew into our post-college days as such.

yep. all around, yep. 

NOW, I can easily say she's been a lifeline to me over the past few years specifically, and I wouldn't trade that for anything. There's not a friend more loyal and respectable than this gal, and I'm proud to call her that. Happy birthday, to a truly incredible friend, coach and mentor. Love you, woman!

my date ♥

^^ That guy [we'll save my tribute rant on him for another day] was my date, and I'm reminded daily, especially at special events like this, that I picked a good one. I am one lucky girl.

Happy painting on little Lexi tomorrow, Rob.
Congratulations, Lizzy V!
And... Happy birthday, Becky!!

And for the rest of my blogbot loves : Happy Saturday! ♥

xo | cmd

Lunch Breaks, Yoga & Oktoberfest

This happened on lunch today:

that's all you need to know. 

Hehehe. In other news:
I brought a friend to yoga today! ;)

yeahhhh, becky! 

For her first time ever taking a yoga class - and a hot yoga class at that - she did pretty well. Whether or not she fully believed that she'd actually sweat that much, we walked out of that room drenched to the core but stronger and with more clarity than when we started. That's a win in my book.

From there, we parted ways briefly to each head home, shower and snag up a plus-one for the evening's festivities at Oktoberfest.

donauschwaben! 

schoolbusses... duh (: 

my better half ♥♥♥.

Gotta love Oktoberfest, especially when you attend it with a German and it's raining sideways outside ;). Becky's birthday weekend is starting to form, and I'm pretty excited. Tomorrow it's the peddle wagon and Rhinegeist!

For now... TGIF! Stay warm out there, friends!!

xo | cmd 

Feelin' Like Autumn

It's crisp feeling outside, which was perfect to do a little throwback action. How about a double throwback? Yep, you're welcome, Dad:

left: dad & me in the everglades, 1980something
right: nature hiking with my backpack mini me in cinci, 2010ish?

^ Dad, you almost have it, as it appears ;)

Anyway, I'd certainly count today as a success: work went smoothly, which isn't always guaranteed of course, and after work it was home to hang with my two favorite people in the city. Yeah, I'm biased ;). 

These two..

my world, these two ♥!

We're cuddled up for the night, folks. Word is, there's a storm rolling in overnight, so we're hoping to get some solid ZzZ's in before that hits.. if it happens. G'nite!

xo | cmd 

HELLO, OCTOBER!

Yes, I realize that by loving these, I am, by certain standards branding myself as a 'basic White girl.'

Here's the thing: I'm all about Instagrammed Autumn-esque pictures. Bring on the filters, even though really, they're not always needed.. not when it comes to October.

Here's 3 of the 3bajillion that are floating around out there [thank you, Google!]

hello 

october

welcome! 

 YES, I am absoLUTELY excited that it's October! Am I anticipating the cold weather and crappy driving conditions that inevitably follow? No, of course not.. but for now.... we're here in the midst of changing leaves and pumpkin everything [I digress.....] and bonfires and BEANIES. 

[[[Be reminded.. it's BEANIE season.]]]

Anyway, happy October!

Here's how we celebrated: 

sand in our toes @ hahana beach! | cincinnati, oh 

It's starting to get a little chilly out there - this season will be drawing to a close soon and we'll be finding new ways to occupy our winter days.

Brrrr.. Get ready for Autumn!

xo | cmd

Modo, Day 2

Here is a Yogi:

laura sykora

Here's another:

rachel brathen 

Those are two of the most popular and beloved yoga gals on social media these days [at least from what I've seen]; I am among their loyal media followers, wholly entranced and jealous of their bendy, flexible beauty and strength. 

Heeeeeeeeeeere... is what the rest of the world looks like during a yoga workout [or more specifically, post hot yoga here in Cincinnati]: 

weeee bit of contrast? 

Hahahaha. It's okay, you can laugh. I totally did when I took this and looked at it. Here's a super cute visual for you: I don't look it, but everything I'm wearing is soaked to the core, kinda like I'd taken a shower in my clothes instead of breathing through various flows for the last hour and fifteen minutes. HAUTE, I KNOW. : /  haha. 

So yeah, here's that moment that I drop the big bomb of realist-style encouragement on ya'll non-yoga folks, or those of you who fret over yourselves for whatever reason but fear the risk of taking on the commitment to change:

It does NOT look like this:  

patricia aballay

Nope. In fact, if you're like me [with dogs], it looks a lot more like this, when you first get moving: 

^ That makes me laugh every time, so I had to share. ;)

Moral of the story, I love my yoga, and know that the only way to improve my practice is to find local instruction from those who've paved the road long before me and can report back.

Day 2 : Success.

xo | cmd