I said YES!

I think I'm guilty of a blogger faux pas. Something big happened and I waited weeks to blog about it.

 

One Saturday in late September while strolling on the Brooklyn Bridge my boyfriend became my fiance and I, a bride-to-be! The weekend was full of so many wonderful surprises that it will forever be marked in my memory as one of the best days of my life.

 

Here are pictures from the actual proposal and the celebration afterward.

 

 

xoxo

 

Kate

Product Junkie

While packing for a long weekend in NYC, I realized I have become such a product junkie. Here are my newest purchases I'm loving...


Bebe Shimmer Body Lotion

{buy here}

Someone in a tanning salon once used the word "gorgeous" to describe lotion and I thought she was crazy because you can't see lotion...but ya'll, this lotion IS gorgeous. It gives your skin a healthy glow and has a nice, mild, long lasting scent.  I've gotten past my worry that someone may mistake me for a a vampire because you will sparkle and shimmer like Edward Cullen on a sunny day in Fork, WA. 

This blush looks extreme, huh? It's Bobbi Brown light pink and once applied, it actually creates a very soft, natural look. A perfect color for your apples.

 

{image}

 

Laura Mercier's secret brightening powder works miracles on my dark under eye circles. I apply it over concealer to both set and brighten the eye area.

 

 

Any product recommendations out there?

 

xoxo,

Kate

Weekend Recap

 

This weekend was for discovering charming new places, like Deale, MD. And wine tasting. And eating seafood.  It was a weekend to enjoy outdoor seating, and fall jackets and reading books.

 

How was your weekend?

 

xoxo,

Kate

Family Vacation

Ahhhh, vacation. I had a countdown all summer and then it was over in a blink of an eye.

 

But even though it flew by, I took time every day, multiple times a day even, to give thanks.

 

I'm thankful for my parents' generosity, for good food, our health, and family time. Thankful for relaxation, and the innocence of children, and the sound of the ocean.

 

Happy September!

 

xoxo,

Kate



Beach Vacation

I've just returned from a jean-free, flip flop-only, ice cream-filled vacation. Give me a few days to catch up and then I'll post a recap from our fun beach trip.

Happy Labor Day!

xoxo,

Kate

Oh yeah, I went skydiving

Mostly on a whim, last year I declared that I wanted to go skydiving. So when the opportunity knocked, I answered.  People gave me sideways looks but I decided that it was time to start checking items off my bucket list instead of just talking about it.

Folks, there is no talking about skydiving. There is just doing. And I did it. Once. Never again. It was incredible. Scary but only in the sense of my-stomach-is-in-my-throat-and-I-just-leapt-out-of-a-perfectly-good-plane.

I'm not a risk taker. Most recently, I browsed wallets online for months (multiple months!) and finally after much deliberation, I clicked the "buy" button.  And this was just a wallet. Imagine how I am with the big stuff.

On this particular day, my parents drove down to watch their youngest fall from the sky. We filmed it as proof although, obviously, we couldn't capture the free fall. You can tell the parts where my mom took over filming by looking for her thumb blocking the lens. It's ok, Mom, it adds character (=

Check it out...I actually went skydiving! The video can be found here. What you can't see is me saying to the instructor during the dive, "Is everything going as planned?" "Are you sure everything is going as planned?!!" And my sigh of relief when the parachute opened. I'm sure it was heard for miles.

xoxo,
Kate



{photo booth}

This photo makes me smile.

xoxo,

Kate

Lately

I've been too busy with work lately to do much else. It's a fact that I've watched less than a total of 45 minutes of Olympic coverage, which is really quite a shame.

When I do have a few minutes of freedom though, I've been...

I borrowed the book American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld for a summer read. The story is loosely based on the biography of Laura Bush and honestly, I thought it would be a bit of a bore. I was wrong. It's actually a pretty engaging read and I carry this dense book around with me wherever I go hoping to get a few spare seconds.

{photo}


I finally made it to the ballpark this summer for a Nationals game. And coincidentally was able to celebrate International Beer Day with Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy. Sundays were made for baseball and beer.

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I scored these awesome measuring cups on sale at Anthropologie. They may not be super practical, sure, but they are pretty. And they were begging for me to buy them. I had no choice.

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I've heard countless praises for Breaking Bad so I'm going to queue up the series and jump on the bandwagon. Fair warning, I have big expectations for this show. BIG!

xoxo,

Kate

birthday celebration

Below are a few pictures from Mindy's fabulous tiffany-blue themed birthday party.

tablescape

Pinterest idea

Mrs. K's beautiful flowers

pom-pom ball

petit fours

bubbly to start the night

   

the birthday girl

smores bar

Alcoholic content

delicious cake

3/4 of girlfriends

Hugs to our followers,
LC

Black Out

I was lucky enough to share part of the recent power outage with Kate.  Shortly after the lights went out, my husband and I were scrambling around for flashlights, and I see Kate staring in my pantry, laughing.  Nothing looks out of the ordinary, does it?

I walk over to her and she says, "Why in the world is this in here?"

We laughed and laughed over Goosey's Cinderella Pez dispenser.  And then Kate had some fun with a flashlight.

(In full disclosure, Kate and I were enjoying this moment after two hearty adult drinks.  If you happen to miss the humor in this post, check back after you've had a drink or two.)

Hugs to our followers,
LC

Birthday Girl!

The fourth girlfriend is joining the 30th birthday club! Happiest of birthdays to you, Mindiroo.

Dear Mindy,

You're not only my oldest friend, you're also one of the most thoughtful. Sometimes a text pops up from you at just the right moment. Sometimes, I wonder if you have a sixth sense about that sort of thing.

I saw this print and thought of you:

{photo}

Specifically, I thought of this one day when you came to visit me in DC not so long ago. We had this amazing conversation about our life paths and how our journey has been so different than we expected. What a lesson for us...such planners! But there was so much more in store for us.

I remember we kept says, "We're living life."  "Yeah, LIVING life!"

 We traveled and took risks and acted silly.  We got our hearts broken and went on adventures and occasionally behaved like hobos. We started over. We're chasing our dreams. We experienced loss and along the way realized that the support of friends and loved ones is what's most important in life.

But best of all, we did it together. Every step of the way, dear friend.

To say I'm thankful for our friendship is the understatement of the century. On your birthday, I want you to know what a rockstar you are.

You have a space in the giant blue chair anytime you want it :)

xoxo,

Kate

Girls Weekend

(L-R: my mom, me, my sister, Ann, and LC)

For our second Mother Daughters weekend, we met in Philadelphia for a girls weekend. We scoped out Reading Terminal where I was tempted by every single sweet in the place. I left with a watermelon and basil. How's that for will power?

We had dinner at a delightful little Italian BYOB and after dinner drinks at McGillin's. When we arrived back at our hotel, we had a front row window seat for TWO (two!) fireworks displays.

That picture of the Peanut Butter Chunky French Toast was from a breakfast spot called Green Eggs Cafe where I had the single best breakfast of my life. Quinoa Porridge topped with berry compote. If you ever find yourself in Philadelphia, you must try this game-changer. I don't even like breakfast!

But the best part was spending time with my mom and sisters. Can't wait for our special weekend next year.

xoxo,
Kate

Vineyard Haven, MA

The Sunday of Memorial Day weekend was magical.

It started before the sun awoke.
So I could watch the day unfold.
My goodness.
I can't believe this beautiful phenomenon happens every single day and my sleepy head misses it.

And while the world was still dreaming, we found, perhaps, the most perfect spot to enjoy a few moments of quiet.
With feet hanging over the dock
and a village of boats on display...just for me.

xoxo,

Kate

Happy Birthday Kate!

Being there in person is always a decent excuse for a belated birthday post, right?! Well lucky me got to spend a few hours visiting with Kate on her birthday yesterday. We talked and talked and talked the night away while we got pedicures and went out to eat. I was fairly forgetful about taking photos this trip, mostly because we didn't stop gabbing long enough to pose for any. Luckily, I documented my amazing meal at the very chic restaurant we went to.

Pineapple Chicken served in a FREAKING PINEAPPLE!!!



YUM YUM YUM

After dinner we retired to Kate's, put on cookie pants and relaxed away the remainder of her birthday. Pretty run of the mill night for us, just shocked we avoided eating nachos :)

Kate- I'm so lucky that our friendship has grown even closer throughout our 20s. We've been able to guide each other through some unexpected adventures and I'm so happy that I've been able to be by your side through it all. 

Here's to the start of your 30s! May they bring you all the things you never even thought to dream of yet :)

Happy Birthday and Lots of Love,

M