Thursday, March 29, 2012

Digital SLR

I recently bought a digital SLR camera, and I'm obsessed.  Best. Purchase. Ever.  Check out some of the photos I've been able to capture with this new camera.









Because I've made Goosey pose for hundreds of photos this week, she now wakes up every morning saying, "No pictures, please."  Poor girl isn't a fan of the camera.  But, she's such a good model.  How can I not try to capture every cute moment on "film"?

Hugs to our followers,
LC

Monday, March 26, 2012

A quick trip to the city

I got to go to a conference in D.C. this past week.  The best part? Getting to see these lovely ladies for happy hour one night!


I wish we could do happy hour like that all of the time. Then again, I'd be broke but I would have so much fun. Thank you so much for making me laugh! It was a great night.

Other highlights include a visit with my friend Jen one night. I love our talks. We may have graduated from high school over 10 years ago (oh my goodness, seriously?) but it still feels like we're 11 years old sitting on her trampoline just dreaming of the future. We sat outside on the veranda of my hotel next to this awesome bonfire.



And here's the view from my hotel.


It was a long and busy week but I loved every second of it. Now, I need to get back to the real world!

~Kc

Saturday, March 24, 2012

Spring has sprung!

I absolutely love spring in North Carolina. I love it even more now that we're in our new house. I don't know much about plants and trees so I'm loving watching everything come to life. It's like a mystery unfolding before our eyes!

This weekend we discovered that we had Bradford Pears in our backyard. They bloomed all at once and it's beautiful (although they are stinky trees!).

Close up!

This is the view from our deck. I wonder what the tree to the right will look like?

And we discovered the daffodils. They are such happy flowers.
I love spring. I hope we actually get a decent spring but it seems like we're kind of skipping over it and going straight to summer. 

~Kc

Friday, March 23, 2012

Favorite pictures

Here are a few of my most favorite recent pictures.

Maverick gets some tickles from Nana

Maverick and LC

Goosey loves ice cream

LC and Ann
Notice the  strawberry-infused vodka ?

Goosey and LC

Maverick and Nana
Hugs to our followers,
LC

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Manly men

It was supposed to be a simple project.  My new laundry room only had a wire shelf up. My mom and I thought it would look soooo much better with nice cabinets instead. Now I can hide my junk and keep my laundry room looking somewhat clean. 

How many men does it take to install cabinets?

There's my hunky husband holding up the cabinet

All finished! Doesn't it look nice?
Once things calm down a bit, I may ask (or beg) my husband to put up a narrow shelf directly over the washer/dryer so that I can put little things on it--like a bowl for loose change and stuff.  Not too shabby for our first home improvement project. Thank you to my dad, Chris and Joe!

~Kc

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

I Put Some Whiskey, Into My Whiskey...

St. Patrick's Day is one of my favorite days of the year because I love celebrating the banishment of snakes (public enemy #1), listening to Irish music and drinking green beverages. This year did not disappoint!!! I spent the early part of the day with family. And our mom, like every St. Patrick's Day of my life, made our Irish Dinner.
Shamrock Shakes with my sister

Mom's amazing Irish meal

This plate brought to you by the letters Y-U-M
Then I went by the cemetary to take some flowers to my dad. Growing up he always gave my mom and my sisters and me a green corsage on St. Patrick's Day, so I try to return the favor.
After I that I went down to meet up with some friends. It was CRAZY crowded down there, who knew there were so many Irish people in Central PA ;) We drank beers and listened to a band in one of Harrisburg's "Irish Pubs". (Side Note: can we talk about how terrible DT Harrisburg is getting? No. 20 most dangerous city in America???)

Late night it was time for me to fulfill my little sister duties by picking up my brother from his yearly St. Patrick's Day celebration. It's the ONE day a year I have to do this for him so I don't mind, and it ended up being great times (there was a game called "Battleshots", enough said). I crashed the end of the party and got to reconnect with one of my favorite people from my past- my old babysitter, Erin. She was the COOLEST teenager. She introduced me to U2 at the age of 6 and her love of Bono and all things Irish has never waiver. It's been probably 15 years since I've last seen her but she's still one of the sweetest people you'll ever meet and it was so fitting that our reunion happened on St. Patrick's Day.

World Peace is photo bombing out reunited love
Party Host Brian- he's pretty happy about his outfit


Good seeing you, St. Patrick's Day. Looking forward to next year already- who know's where I'll be celebrating by then :)
~M


OK Go

Have you seen this?  It might just be the most awesome 4 minutes of your day.


Hugs to our followers (especially those that were forced to make a Rube Goldberg machine in high school),
LC

St. Patrick's day dessert

Monday, March 19, 2012

A place for everything and everything in its place

I love organizing. It helps that I work as a cataloger so I get to organize books every day. But I really love organizing closets. It makes me happy.  So, my mom and I had found an idea on Pinterest that we just had to try in my new closet.  My dad was on board and he made it perfect!

 Here's my new empty closet. I brought some shoes with me to get an idea of whether our idea would work.



 And here it is in action! It's perfect!  My dad used two different types of crown molding and put them together. Then he hung them on the wall of the closet. My heels just slip over the molding perfectly. It gets them off the ground and makes use of an otherwise wasted space.




And here's a picture of the rest of the closet. I allowed Joe one shelf--I guess he deserves some closet space too.
 

On to another room to organize!
~Kc

Saturday, March 17, 2012

In a world that's not so far away...

Goosey’s new obsession is Team Umizoomi.  
Check it out to see the appeal: 
   
Its a show on Nick Jr. that teaches math by using pattern (power!), (super) shapes, and numbers with mini superheros.  Its actually a pretty cute show and the math teacher in me just loves it.   Goosey asks to watch it about 100 times a day (no exaggeration) even though she knows she can’t watch TV until after her nap.  Today, as Maverick was screaming bloody murder (he must be teething!), and I just couldn’t take another:
Goosey: “Mommy?  Umizoomi?”
Me: “Not right now Goose.”
Goosey: “Mommy?  How about now? ”
Me: “Not now.”
Goosey: “Ok.  How about now?”
I warned Goosey to not ask again or she’d be put in timeout.  Needless to say, two SECONDS later she says, “Um, Mommy?  Team Umizoomi, pAH-LEASE!”  So, during her 2 minutes of timeout, I formulated a plan (which I was super proud of!).  Instead of saying, “No, no, no,” I’d explain to Goosey that she could watch Team Umizoomi after dinner (bonus, Goosey might be so excited for Team Umizoomi that she would quickly and peacefully eat her hummus flat bread).   I thought I’d have 2 solid hours of Goosey occupying herself knowing that Team Umizoomi was DEFINITELY going to happen after dinner.  When Goosey's timeout ended, I explained the plan to her.  She nodded, said she was sorry and gave me a hug (typical timeout behavior).  Then she looked up with her tear-filled eyes and said,”Mommy.  Dinner?”
So, instead of 2 hours of asking for Team Umizoomi, I had 2 hours of, “Is it dinner yet?
And, needless to say, her flat bread and hummus were NOT eaten.
Hugs to our followers,
LC

Friday, March 16, 2012

Hey La, Hey La My Boyfriend's Back...


This is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen

Sid the Kid is finally back (again) for the Penguins and I couldn't be more excited to see his beautiful face out on the ice. It was a great welcome back win last night, 5-2 over the Rangers. Playoffs are just around the corner and you know what that means- playoff beard hotness!


"I've been working with a new trainer this season to perfect my beard growing skills"

Let's Go Pens!!!
~M

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Infused Vodka


My husband has started infusing vodka.  So far he has created strawberry-infused vodka, peanut-butter-cup-infused vodka, and tangerine-infused vodka.   It is a pretty simple process.  Get an air-tight glass container, add your fruit, vegetable, candy, nut, olive or other food of choice, and top with vodka.  Let it sit for 7+ days (the longer it sits, the better!), and shake it twice a day.  Once the vodka is infused to your satisfaction, strain it and enjoy!
This tangerine vodka turned out to be a hit! Yesterday, we enjoyed a restaurant-worthy cocktail of orange juice, tangerine vodka, triple sec, and sweetened lime juice.  AWESOME!

Usually we discard the fruit after we strain the vodka.  But, with these deliciously infused tangerine segments, I think I may have to chocolate-coat them.  They will be a perfect snack as we sit on the deck enjoying this beautiful spring weather.

Hugs to our followers,
LC


Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Happy Pi Day!

Found here

I work for a company that does a lot with statistics so Pi Day is big around here.  We even get free pie at lunch to celebrate. Yum! My group was lucky to be one of the ones photographed in front of the huge Pi statue on our campus in our of Pi Day.  I wish I could share the picture but, unfortunately, my company has strict copyright policy on sharing corporate images.  Maybe some day!

Until then, I will enjoy Pi Day for all it's worth.  Maybe my hubby and I can head on over to Pie Birds in Raleigh for dinner? They even serve a flight of pie so you can try different types. Love!


Go enjoy a slice of pie today...you deserve it!
~Kc

Pi(e) Day



it's here! pi(e) day. a wonderfully delicious excuse to eat pie. and celebrate math.

i'm going to find a small cute pie shoppe and eat a slice of apple pie. or chery. or likely both.

happy 3.14!

xoxo,
Kate

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Everybody calm down, please stop shouting...

I know, I know Blogfans- you've missed me :) I've been a LAMES FRANCO (shout out to Katie ) about blogging lately but that's only because I've been slightly busy BEING IN EUROPE!!!!!!!! And now all your dreams are coming true because I've returned (for now) and have tons of photos to share with you. You're welcome! Go ahead and clear a good seven days in your schedules, it's gonna take awhile to get through them all, check back soon. Here's a preview for you- it's me being really mature and classy in a museum garden.
Butts
In the mean time, I'll go ahead and follow Katie's lead and answer her 11 blog questions. Fun stuff!!!

1. If money, schooling or time was no obstacle, what career would you choose?
Pretty sure I'm on to a good thing now, but if I was gonna chose something else it'd have to do with travel. Or maybe be a Princess at Disney World? I'm tall, people like getting their photo taken with tall princesses.


2. What’s the one thing you look forward to every day?
Listening to music in my car. And sleeping in my bed because it's the most comfortable bed IN THE UNIVERSE!


3. What is your number one, all-time, favorite blog?
Uh, is Videogum a blog? Because that's what I live for.

4. Biggest online pet peeve?
This quiz. Bahahahaha, jk jk.


5. What is your all-time favorite book?
I can only pick one? NERD NIGHTMARE! I guess I will chose To Kill A Mockingbird, but I'm not happy about this question.


6. What would your “last meal” be?
Corn, Calamari & Diet Coke. I'd probably add this amazing apple thing dessert I had in Ireland too. It kinda rocked.


7. Do you believe in love at first sight?
I routinely text my blogmates about falling in love with guys in the grocery store or other random places. So, yes. I LOVE love at first sight.


8. What would your ideal Sunday morning consist of?
Brunch followed by Sweatpants Sunday at home- watching the Steelers or Penguins then watching movies with some friends. I'm lucky I get to live that out quite a bit. Maybe too much??? How many days a month is it acceptable to wear Sweatpants? 11 right? Oh god, I'm going to die alone...


9. Why do you blog?
To keep in touch with my best friends in a public way. Duh.

10. If you had to choose one color to wear forever, what would you pick?
Black, so I could still support Pittsburgh sports but also look classy. All about keeping it classy, obvs.


11. What is your all-time favorite band?
If you don't know the answer to this question you are dead to me. Leave a guess in the comment section :)


Wasn't that fun??? Now, about these Europe photos...
~M




I don't know if it's because spring is in the air and I can feel that the winter chill is behind us...

Or seeing the flowers bloom around the District. Unexpected pops of color on my walks. Periwinkle! Golden Rod! Ballerina Pink!
I can't get enough of it...

Or perhaps it's the extra endorphins celebrating in my body after a few long runs...

For whatever reason, my disposition has been particularly sunny lately. March, I'm happy to see you.

xoxo,
Kate

Sunday, March 11, 2012

Tres Chic

I just had to show off Goosey's outfit.  She totally rocked it!


Hugs to our followers,
LC

Friday, March 9, 2012

Home sweet home



This was taken this past weekend after our first night in the house. We still have a ton to do but we're in pretty good shape thanks to our parents.  I love waking up in our new house.  There is so much potential and excitement. I can't wait to see what memories will be made here!

More pictures to come soon!

~Kc

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

cute as a button!

I'm still smiling from my perfect little weekend. It helps that my mom sent me back with enough food to stock my fridge and I've been enjoying leftovers for every meal since! And, I can't forget about these two cutie pies. They bring so much joy to our family!



LC said she's going to keep Goosey's hair in a pixie cut which might be the cutest thing I've ever seen on a two year old. Lucky little Goose--she's got the face to pull off such a style!

Speaking of which, tonight I'm finally get my locks chopped.
And by chopped, I just mean a healthy trim.
The bangs are so close to being grown out. But no matter how many times I think "no more bangs," I end up sitting in that chair saying "maybe just a few wisps". Stay strong, Kate.

xoxo,

Kate

Monday, March 5, 2012

Weekend Recap

I mentioned that I had the most perfect weekend planned and, as it turns out, I wasn't exaggerating.

Between work and busy weekends, I decided I needed a relaxing escape so I headed north to my parents' house for a wonderful get-a-way. My two sisters, and their crews, joined me for an impromptu family reunion.

A few of the highlights:

+We convinced Goosey to try a "special chicken" dinner called shrimp.
+It was a TV-free weekend. Sure, at one point, there were four smart phones and one laptop in use in the same room, but still...
+I tried a meyer lemon. Oh Em Gee. If the happy color doesn't attract you, give it a try for the interesting flavor. Lemon mixed with a mandarine orange. Yes, please.
+We played a rousing game of Telestrations which is like a combination of Win Lose or Draw and Telephone. It seemed like a success because at one point, I was laughing so hard, water came out of my nose. Hey, it happens.






1. Nana and Maverick
2. Goosey
3. LC, me, Ann
4. Pop and Maverick
5. Maverick and me

Clearly, we can't get enough of this little guy. More pictures to come...

xoxo,

Kate