Twenty-Three

1.) My homemade dress from my 21st Birthday.


2.) Red lipstick.
3.) Girls night with Elise & J. Gibbs.
4.) Delicious blood orange cocktails.


5.) Silly photo shoots with retro filters.






6.) The perfect gift from a dear friend.


7.) Breakfast at Snooze with the family.


8.) Pineapple upside down pancake & Bella-Bella-Benny (best eggs benedict in the world.)


9.) No work!
10.) Doctor Who.
11.) Losing myself for (literally) hours in my favorite bookstore...and treating myself to a few birthday gifts.


12.) The sentiment on the tiny notebook:
"She woke up and realized she had forgotten the definition of the word 'impossible'. She decided it must not have been that important."
13.) Finding an old favorite from my time in Austria with my beloved girls...and buying it to "delight and terrorize" my future children.


{This is Struwwelpeter, a children's book written in Germany in 1844. It does actually claim to be a book that has "delighted and terrorized" children for generations. It's famous and my friends and I spent a long time reading and laughing our heads off over it in Austria and now I have my own copy. Also, listen carefully next time you watch the take your kid to work episode of "The Office", and you'll hear this referenced.}
14.) A mid-afternoon picnic complete with Sarsaparillas (gifted by the sister), Phase 10 & the nephew.





15.) A slew of delightful well-wishes from friends and loved ones via twitter, facebook, text, phone, mail, etc.
16.) A Sprinkles cupcake delivered to me in person all the way from Arizona by dear friend Megan.


17.) Phone calls from Abbi and Tina.
18.) A surprise strawberry cake that my Mom fixed despite our broken oven!
19.) A luxurious bath complete with a minty bath tea bag (gifted by lovely cousin Anna & her fiancee Kevin), candels and a glass of wine.
20.)Some quiet time to journal and read.
21.) Wonderful gifts from my sister, including a french press, a milk frother (you have no idea how excited I am over that one), and this beautiful apron:


22.) Bidding a fond farewell to 22--and realizing what a bittersweet, challenging and growth-filled year it was.
23.) Day-dreaming about what the next year of life will bring and who I'll be this time next year.


And those are 23 things that made me happy on my 23rd birthday. :)

Now & Then

I spent the past two weeks visiting family in Florida. It was a well needed breath of fresh air by the beach and the perfect time to reunite with relatives whom I haven’t seen in far too long.

One of my favorite things about being at my Grandma’s house is all the souvenirs of my life and the lives of family for up to four generations… Don’t be surprised when I post little bits and pieces along the lines of family photos and fun finds for a while.

I also appreciate all these relics because my Grandma has maintained a collection of things from my childhood that I myself have not. It was such a kick to find little newspaper clippings, poems and the like from my sister and my earlier years tucked into photo albums.

When I came across this little newspaper spotlight on myself as a fourth grader, I couldn’t stop laughing. It was like I was being reintroduced to a version of me I’d forgotten…a bit naïve, perhaps placing importance on the wrong things, but altogether quite the typical nine year old. I thought it would be fun to update my answers to this simple Q&A now, at 22.

{Then.}

{Now.}

Name:Katie
Kate

School: East Goshen Elementary School
…None. But hopefully Graduate School for Library Information Science specializing in Children and Youth next year!

Grade:Four
Again, none. I feel so old.

Birthplace: Riverview, Florida
Wouldn’t it be weird if I gave a different answer now?

Home: West Chester [Pennsylvania]
Highlands Ranch, Colorado

Favorite Movie: “Contact”
I can never pick just one! (Apparently an ability I completely lost after fourth grade.) “Love Actually”, “500 Days of Summer”, “Anne of Green Gables”, “Gone with the Wind” to name a few….

Favorite TV Show: Sabrina the Teenage Witch
How I Met Your Mother, Gilmore Girls, Arrested Development, and more…

Last Book Read: Sign of the Beaver
Sign of the what? Wait, is that the book for which I spent an entire day building a log cabin out of hand collected sticks (from the yard) and salt dough only to have my dog eat it when I left the room to get my parents and show them? Yes, yes it is. {I forgive you, Duchess.}

(I’ll have you know my sister just called that cabin “a masterpiece of stick and salt dough” and my mom adds that she did actually send a note to school reading “the dog ate her homework.”)

Anyway, last read book right now is Jellicoe Road.

Favorite Music: Now and Then CD
Mumford & Sons, Florence & the Machine, Vampire Weekend, Laura Marling, Adele, Taylor Swift, Glee soundtracks, happy music to sing and dance along to, etc.

Favorite Food: Pizza/Tacos
Sushi. Lobster. Things with cheese. Chocolate.

Hobbies/Interests: Taking care of dogs
Reading. Writing. Travel. Picnics. Blogging. Tea parties. Hanging out with my family.

The best advice I ever received was: Don’t give up.
Get over it---only phrased more gently during those moments in my life where I just couldn’t get past the things that seemed hard and shadowy and insurmountable.

I’d give anything to meet:Amy Grant
No comment, guys. I used to really love Amy Grant.
Now: JK Rowling

If I were President of the United States, I would: Make no smoking a law
Resign.

If there is one thing I can’t stand in people, it is:Cheating on tests.
That still irks me. To take it to the more broad scale level, I dislike small-mindedness, prejudice, and injustice.

If I could change one thing about myself it would be: My short hair.
My tendency to feel jealousy; my difficulty in letting things go; my temper.

Best idea I ever had: Was inviting a girl, Katie G., to sit at my table in school.
There’s a lot of pressure for “the best”—but a good idea was going to Palma de Mallorca all by myself.

Worst idea I ever had:Was running away.
I really have no clue. Was it that time in elementary school that my friend and I took our make believe came too far and smeared mud all over our skin to be more authentically Native American and then got in lots of trouble? Probably not. I used to think it was going to Rhodes College, but then I saw how everything had its reasons and my being at that college was one of them. I think maybe my worst idea was when I thought a straight center part looked good on me. Oh, high school.
(I can’t think of a worthy serious answer.)

{Kate in 2nd grade...aka Dorothy Hamill}

I hope I never have to:Cut my hair.
This answer had me laughing myself into a stitch, especially after the answer three above. The back story is this: In second grade my mom cut all of my hair off into the Dorothy Hamill. Guys, the Dorothy Hamill haircut is only sort of ok on Dorothy Hamill herself and NEVER ok on a seven year old. I considered hunting down a photo to share but a.) I was too lazy and b.) it’s hideous. Anyway, I thought it was pretty funny since I’ve kept my hair fairly long ever since I can remember (particularly the past two years) and I never realized that this is where that subconscious need for long hair came from.

If I had money, I would: Buy stuff for my dog and me.
Ha! I told you guys I loved my dog. Now I would spend money on: travel, books, family, shows on stage, and maybe some fun vintage pieces. I would also pay for Grad school without going into debt.

The career I fantasize having is:To help animals or be a singer.
Ok, that’s bogus. Even at the time I knew that wasn’t what I really wanted to do but the truth is I never had an imaginary career picked out and kids around me were always saying “I want to be a vet!” “I want to be a ballerina!” “I want to be an actress!” so I just mimicked what I heard.

Now, I want to be a children and youth librarian, a wife, and a mother.

People would be surprised to know: That I was born in Florida.
Ha…I guess?
I think people would be surprised to know that I had back surgery at the age of 20. I mean, I guess people who don’t really know me would be surprised by that—‘cause everyone else pretty much knows. Ok, bad answer.

Best time in my life: Was when I went to Disney World.
That was a pretty good time! But the best time in my life up-to-date was when I lived in Salzburg, Austria.

That's the end of the fun little interview...but looking back I felt insulted that the interviewer never asked about favorite books! Last book read and favorite are not the same at all. So I'm including that now.

Favorite book(s):Fourth grade Katie loved A Wrinkle in Time, A Swiftly Tilting Planet, and Betsy~Tacy. Current Kate loves Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (the whole series is my favorite but that's my favorite of the lot), The Hunger Games series, Jane Eyre, Pride & Prejudice, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Love in the Time of Cholera, and much more.

2 Years of Kismet

Dictionary.com defines kismet as a word of Turkish origin meaning fate or destiny, deriving either from the Persian qismat or the Arabic qasama.

Is this reminding anyone else of an introduction to a really bad essay or cover letter? Don’t worry, I’m not about to bore you with 5 pages on the role of kismet in a Brontë novel or convince you why it's fate that I’m right for the job (…unless you’re looking to hire?)

Jaja!

Recently while chatting with a friend she asked me out of the blue what kismet was. She had actually thought it was the name of a literary character, which would totally not be out of character for a book lover like me. I can totally see myself naming my blog something like Harry Potter & Kate, or Peeta & Kate. But nope, kismet is more along the lines of fate than fiction. I started wondering if maybe there were others out there who read my blog but weren’t sure what the title refered to.

So what better time to tell you than on my (very belated) 2nd anniversary post? I started this blog on April 23, 2009. In the midst of holiday and baby fever I completely forgot that the date had come and gone. Also, I’m aware it sort of doesn’t matter to anyone else—but I’m excited about it!

I started my blog at the end of my Junior year of college. I wasn’t very happy at the time and I wanted a place to share my thoughts and focus on positive things. I’ve never faked anything here, but instead just tried to see the good in my life and the world in general. I’m so grateful I started this blog because it has given me an outlet to write, something I love (heck, something I majored in), and it has connected me with many wonderful people and introduced me to some of my best friends. My family is also able to keep track of the little day-to-day things going on with me through it.

I don’t really know why I picked the word “kismet” when I was creating my blog. It was probably partially my love for alliteration. The funny thing is I was never really sure before if I believed in things like fate or destiny; but I do—I know that now. I have faith in God’s plan (which is really what fate is to me) and I have seen how there are no wrong choices in how I live my life, only different experiences where I can learn and grow in different ways. In that sense, I think my life is fated...because things will always turn out as God has meant them to and forseen.

When I got to Spain and was unhappy, I thought I’d misinterpreted my “fate” and what I was supposed to be doing. I had many many problems when I was trying to apply for the Grant that brought me here and then an uphill battle to get paperwork done and attain my visa. When I got here, I looked back and thought “oh no, I ignored all the signs!” But I know that’s not true. Honestly, I don’t think there is one path we are supposed to take in our lives, but many possible ways to sometimes get to the same place. I have learned so many valuable things this year—I think I would’ve learned them eventually in my life no matter what (“fated”), but I might not have learned them until later had I chosen a different post-college path. This is the view I have developed on fate and the way God works in our lives. He will help us no matter which way we go.

So I guess maybe it was kismet that I chose that word without even knowing if I believed in it.

Recently, my friend Teresa commented on a blog post and added this little extra bit at the end. I’ve never had anyone describe my blog but if I could pick, this is just how I’d like people to see it!

“Your blog reminds me of a quaint little tea parlor. Do I sound weird? Probably, but that's the picture I get in my mind: a quaint little cottage with a picket fence, sunny and decorated all vintage-y inside with pink and white and yellow and grey :-) (I have very detailed mind pictures.)”

I love that!


{From my post on How to Have Afternoon Tea}

So welcome to my humble little cottage, friends. Please settle into a porch chair, help yourself to a cup of tea, and stay awhile. I’m always glad to have you here. Thank you for making me feel welcome in this blogger world of ours the past two years. :-)

Spring in my step

It's Tuesday. And it's Spring. And I feel so happy today.

I am back from an amazing 10 days of travel with my family. I am sad that they are gone and headed back to the States, but at the same time it feels great to be back home in my pueblo (happy here? oh how far I've come!) and I know I'll see them again in less than 3 months.

We visited Madrid, Ávila, Segovia, Sevilla, Córdoba, & Puente Genil in Spain, and Lisboa, Sintra, Cascais and Belém in Portugal. I fell so hard for Portugal. I can't wait to post about my travels and share photos...which I will steal from my father's facebook.

Apparently I got some sun because everyone here is commenting on how tan I am all of a sudden. I mean everyone, even the girl at the bread counter at my market. Cool?

I'm just gonna talk about random stuff and happiness. Cause why not?

I am happy because my family got to meet my so-called Spanish family. I give them private lessons and they have completely taken me in during my time here. They invited my whole family for a huge comida this past Sunday. Their two boys (2 and 5) are the most adorable children possibly ever and I had so much fun playing with them on Sunday. I also discovered the joy of putting apples in Gazpacho. We are definitely adding this to my Mom’s version next summer.

I kept the radio on a lot in my hotel room in Lisboa and the song “Cooler than me” came on about 7 times over the 3 days. I had never heard it before. I’m a little obsessed now. Tapping to the beat is making me happy today.

“How I Met Your Mother” was absolutely wonderful last night, if you ask me. I felt like it was a really solid old-school style episode, a mix of heart and humor. And possums.

I'm glad The Hunger Games has finally started casting. Jennifer Lawrence came as a shock to me, but I'm adjusting. It's clear she has talent and Suzanne Collins supports the choice, so I'll go with it.

I've been reading the Percy Jackson series just for kicks. They are definitely a kids/YA series, but they're really fun, captivating and fast reads so I'm enjoying them. Plus, Annabeth and Percy are just so cute. However, having seen the movie on my plane ride over the Atlantic last September, I can say I do not picture Annabeth anything like the girl in the movie. I prefer the version in my head.

Did you know that Spring Forward hasn't happened here in Spain yet? I love that it's 7:10 pm and the sun is just setting...and I love that next week it'll be a whole hour more of sunlight!

What's new with you?

P.S.: I did a guest post for the delightful Elyse that went up while I was away. Check it out!

Capable

Lately I’ve had a little extra bounce in my step due to an exhilarating feeling of capability and confidence.

It’s just been a series of little occurrences that made me stop and take notice and think, “hey, look at me go!”—not in an egotistical way, just a happy surprised way.

For one thing, I took a vacation by myself for the first time ever last weekend (a lengthy post on this is coming to you soon!) and it was an overwhelming success. I had revelation after revelation about life, travel, myself and happiness. It was a joy.

But really what’s been making me feel a little extra happy is my level of Español. Do you remember when I made this post six months ago? Well, guess what? I’m still not fluent. Far from it.

But.

I am capable. I am functional. And it feels so so good. I think the main change is not in my actual level of fluency but in my own feeling of confidence. When I arrived in Spain any little task I had to accomplish took hours of prep because I needed to write out my “lines”, practice them, hyperventilate a little bit, try to calm myself down and then finally head into the store/make the call/etc. Now, in the past week alone, I have booked train tickets, called to make hotel reservations, chatted with museum workers and market artisans, and called taxis all in Spanish, all without batting an eyelash. Gone are the hours of practice and hyperventilating. The truth is that I may still make just as many mistakes when I interact with people in Spanish but I am willing to put myself out there and just do it without the panic attacks and stress I was causing myself by all my embarrassment and fear of failure.

And the thing is, for all my mistakes, I can communicate. When I want to book the room or call the taxi, they understand and the room gets booked, the taxi comes.

Although I am definitely calmer and more confident to do these things now, I still get a little thrill every time I do successfully function en Español. Last weekend on my epic trip I was wandering an art museum and the attendant decided to come over and explain a display to me. Palma de Mallorca, it turns out, has a huge German tourist population so a lot of what I heard around me was actually German, then Spanish, then English. This means that people working in the city really need to have a basic handle on all three languages as it is a big tourism town. So I was shocked and thrilled that this man began explaining in rapid Spanish without first asking what language I spoke, as almost everyone else I encountered during my weekend did. Of course, once I responded it became apparent that I was not a native speaker, but we continued to converse in Spanish. Do you know what he told me? He told me my accent was very small and not too noticeable. That may have been one of the best compliments I’ve gotten all year! I was secretly thrilled. For all my mistakes, I consider it a huge success if I am at least picking up on pronunciation and the local accent.

So, fluent I am not.

But I am capable. And it feels so good.

P.S.: You know who else is capable? Girls who read.

Katie Lately

It’s fa-la-la-la-finals time here at College. I’m half way through (even though today was technically the last day of classes) which means it’s procrastination time. What better way to spend my time than catching up with the past few weeks. This is long, but I make no apologies. Enjoy if you love me if you have time.

1. Thanksgiving
I caught a ride with my friend S for Turkey Break because she happens to live in the same city as my Aunt. My mom & dad flew out, as did my Grandma, and we all had a lovely Holiday together. However, it was lacking because I had to spend it without my sister. That’s 3 years in a row. Not good times for us.
->2 years ago she was abroad in Florence.
->Last year I was abroad in Salzburg (and attending an amazing dinner concert with the best friends I made there in a restaurant that was founded in 803. 803 people. And the restaurant had many rooms and each was decorated be-a-utifully. Here, let me show you with many many pictures.)

-> This year she was at home with her hubby in Arizona. (My sister. In case you forgot what I was talking about before the Salzburg picture spam.)

Still, I rallied and had a good time baking my famous turkey biscuits,

And catching up with my dear Grandma,

And enjoying a crackling fire on a chilly day.

2. Christmas Décor
I arrived back at school to find that my one of my roommates had festively decorated our apartment. Hooray! I love when things feel like Christmas.

3. Christmas Party
One of my best friends lives close to school and her mother was kind enough to invite us all over for some Christmas festivities. Wine, appetizers, dessert and really good conversation.

{Let's not talk about what my hair is doing in this picture.}

4.Internship
This semester I had the opportunity to intern at Davis-Kidd Booksellers in the Public Relations/Marketing Department. I had a wonderful time and got to do a lot of things and gain a lot of valuable experience. I absolutely loved the ladies I worked with. They gave me this fabulous tote full of goodies on my last day.

{Inside: A cup from their “Breaking Dawn” premiere party in ’08 that says “Only a Vampire Can Love You Forever” and Twilight stickers—jealous?, a Burt’s Bees starter kit, a Davis-Kidd mug, and “K” stationary)

5. Dorky Craft Projects
I had to suffer through a science class this semester. And I do mean suffer. I signed up for Astronomy to fulfill my science requirement as did every other non-science major at my school. I like Astronomy, but my Professor was pretty darn boring and I could not comprehend the really mathy/sciency stuff. These are technical terms. Anyway, good friend S and I had to create our own laughs to survive each 50 minute session. Our Professor had this habit of ending our classes with these Hubble podcasts. The host was this adorably dorky looking guy Dr. J with a muddled German/Scottish sounding accent. Well, we would watch about 10 minutes of these every few days and so pretty soon S and I had started sarcastically fanning Dr. J. If we watched a podcast with a different host, S and I would complain. We could barely contain our laughter (and really, what were we laughing about?) during each podcast.

Anyway, in Monday’s class we started joking about how we loved Dr. J so much that he deserved his own shirt. Forget Edward or Jacob, we were Team J.

I’m going to blame it on the stress-induced insanity of finals, but last night we took a study break to make said shirts to wear on our last day of class.

We ventured to Walgreens. Where the only blank fabric we could find was in the form of hideous periwinkle sweatshirts. Size? Child’s Small. S is way taller than me (and I’m no shawty) and, well, bustier but the sweatshirt fit and she really wanted a Dr. J shirt so she said she’d wear it if I would.

So we crafted. We wrote “Team Dr. J” on the front of our shirts with paint pens and then quoted his sign off on the back.

{The back says "Once again, nature surprises us beyond our wildest imagination."--This was Dr. J's sign off at the end of each show.}

{Hair fail! It says "TE" under my hair, mk?}

Oh so dorky. Love me through it.

So the Glee finale was tonight. It was...there are no words. Do you agree? I was struck speechless by how amazing the ending was. And now I’m burying myself under all of my books until I finish all my essays and final tests this Saturday. I will be home Sunday morning. How amazing is that?

The next time I blog, I’ll be back in snowy CO!

Parent's Weekend

Last weekend my parent's came to town for my last College Parent's Weekend.

We rocked it out Freshman style, walking all around campus and taking loads of touristy pictures.

{Kate: 17}

{Kate: 21}

But seriously, my campus is beautiful, so how could we not? We focused mostly on the Cathedral Library.

Wouldn't you love to study here?

Saturday was an unbelievably beautiful day and packed with family fun.

I took my parents to the bookstore at which I'm interning in the PR & Marketing Department.

We ate genuine & delicious Memphis BBQ. If you’re ever in Memphis, go to Central BBQ. No questions asked, just do it.

We spent the afternoon by the river (the Mississippi herself) just relaxing. It was perfect. A cool breeze blew off of the water so we were never hot or cold or soaked with humidity. We played a game of Uno that lasted an hour. Did you know that was possible? We didn’t.

Dad won.

Then, we followed the advice of those British blokes and just “Let it be.” I laid back on the picnic blanket, shut my eyes, and listened. There was barely any human noise and yet it was so loud, an orchestrated symphony of wind in trees, falling autumn leaves, an ever-present buzz of cicadas. I couldn’t make myself move, it was so peaceful.

We took a stroll.

Our next stop was to “The Cheesecake Corner,” a local establishment with the best. cheesecake. ever. Trust. I think it’s permanently #1 on my Mom’s “To Do in Memphis” list.

We decided to walk from our hotel to dinner on our last night together so we could all enjoy a cocktail and a leisurely meal. I liked walking, it made me feel like I was in Salzburg again, walking everywhere and thinking nothing of it. (Of course, everywhere I walked in Salzburg was bee-utiful beyond belief, so that made it easy.)

And then—

Off they went, back to Colorado to enjoy the beauty of Fall by the mountains.

Until Christmas, Mom & Dad. XO Katie.