Let's be merry

Christmas was a festive affair around here...and this year the festivities centered around one super special little man.

I had to work Christmas Eve but it was actually a pleasant shortened day. Everyone seemed in a merry mood, a client brought us all chocolate cake and the owner provided delicious sandwiches. Because we closed early at 4pm it was the first time since probably September that I've driven home in daylight. That alone gave me a rush. Look at the beautiful Christmas Eve sunset I got to catch!

We stayed up late watching my favorite, "Love Actually," and eating Gouda and toffee and then I went to sleep and dreamt that Jennifer Lawrence was really horrible in Hunger Games and it actually devastated me...it was a Christmas gift just to wake up and realize that wasn't real and will never happen since she is an amazing actress.

For a few years now we've downgraded our gift giving due to all of us being in stages in our lives where conserving money is good...and also being in stages of our lives where we realize presents aren't even close to the best or most fun part of Christmas day. We each exchanged one or two gifts a piece and then watched as my little nephew bugaboo tried to make his way through 20 or so gifts. It was such a hoot watching him grab at the paper and then wander off to play with a piece of lint or what have you while the adults oohed and ached over all his cool gifts.

{Ahem, this is his Gryffindor hat from Aunt Kate.}

My favorite gift of the day was the beautiful card from my sister and Chris, and what it represented.

Jen does these amazing drawings and so she made a card for each of us this year with an inspiring or applicable quote and inside the card explained that they had made a donation to an organization picked specifically with consideration to each person's interests. It was truly moving. My donation went to benefit literacy and reading for fun for underprivileged kids and families.

{My quote, one of my favorites, is "It is what you read when you don't have to that determines what you will be when you can't help it." -Oscar Wilde.}

After presents we got ready to head over to Jen's in-law's for Christmas luncheon and puzzles. As I've mentioned before, we like to all get together to celebrate and it works nicely--we are all comfortable with one another and this way no one misses out on spending time together. My only qualm with the set-up is the puzzle--I hate puzzles. Luckily this year I had my nephew to keep me busy and entertained with his adorable antics and self-photoshoot opportunities.

Finally, we took some group photos which was wonderful since I haven't had a proper good photo of my brother-in-law and myself since, like, summer of '08 (when they got married.) Pathetic! Now I have some new ones to frame.

{Awww! Their first family Christmas.}

{The whole lot of us! My immediate family to the left, Chris' family to the right. Aren't the baby cousins adorable?}

{One last gratuitous shot of me and the babe--I can't be stopped. Isn't he so hunky?}

I finished up my day by watching the Downton Abbey Christmas special and texting like a mad woman with Abbi while hyperventilating and sobbing. That show is so absolutely beautiful and heartbreaking at times. You must watch! I insist.

(I was gonna post a convincingly beautiful picture from Abbi's tumblr here now, but they're all spoiler, so take my word for it.)

(If you were wondering, my favorite text of the night was: "If Daisy's life had a face I would punch it." ...because that is the truth.}

My favorite parts of Christmas at 23 are: Traditional Spanish hot chocolate, lazing around together in jammies, NEPHEW, mimosas and good food, watching holiday movies by the light of the Christmas tree.

What do you love about Christmas with your family or at your age?

99 Days

I'm over here today helping out with Lauren's Countdown to Hunger Games.

I have loved this book series since 2009 and I think I've been dreaming about the movie for almost as long. I am genuinely excited for the adaptation and I truly believe in the cast--I think Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson will do outstanding jobs as my Katniss and Peeta.

Anyway, I tend to hear music and imagine how well it'd fit a scene in a book (I used to do this with Harry Potter all the time too.) I made Lauren a Hunger Games mix tape when I visited her last year and I was so happy that she loved it and wanted me to make a new one. Head on over to her blog (linked above) to hear it if you'd like!

What scene are you most hoping to see in the Hunger Games film? What would you be devastated to see left out?

December 7th

I guess I've sort of given up on being a blogger for now. But not so much that I don't still want to post. I WANT to I just don't have much of interest to say. My life is sort of in an eat, work, eat, sleep, eat rinse and repeat pattern right now. I really need to figure out a way to craft a life out of the spare bits of time. Anyway, for now I'll be lazy and summarize my life as of late with a stream of photos. Although they're really just random. Hm.


1.) My brother-in-law returned from Afghanistan! There was much cheering and sobbing all across the country as family & friends awaited photos of his reunion with my beautiful sister and his precious adorable chubby cheeked son. (Gosh I miss that nephew of mine!)


2.) I joined my mom & dad in the mountains for Thanksgiving. It was delicious. duh.



3.) There were absolutely gorgeous clouds covering the surface of the lake when we went into town to visit Grand Lake. Breathtaking in person.



4.) I love to cook and lately I've been enjoying trying new recipes on my days off. Last week I tried Lauren's Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas...and then I died a happy foodie death. My roommate's loved it too and I am now planning to fix it for my sister and BIL when they're here for Christmas. I also fixed Chili for the first time and I think it turned out wonderfully.

5.) After my computer's pretty much complete demise I decided to maybe sorta kinda give in and try a Mac. My Dell was actually a good ol' faithful--I got it before my Freshman year of college! but the last year or so it's been in steep decline, starting with the DVD drive failing during my FIRST week in Spain when I was most desperate for some comfort Gilmore Girls watching. Anyway, I did it, I got the Mac...and it's true, I'm in love. Look, pretty!


6.) I also fell in love with Pan Am which I am able to watch since I have a computer that loads a web page in less than half an hour now! Yay Mac! Yay Pan Am!


7.) Lauren sent me this amazing shirt and I tried to figure out how to wear it everywhere. Seeing as my work dress code is black and black I'm thinking I'll have to save it for days off. Sigh.


8.) I saw this calendar at Tattered Cover today. It gather it's supposed to be sweet, right? Probably something to buy Grandma for Christmas? HA! Think again. Us Whovians know how menacing this really is. I threatened to get it for Jen for Christmas. Please love that it says "Angels are never too distant to hear you" on it, which is supposed to be comforting probably but in Doctor Who context is just frightening as all get out. DON'T BLINK.


9.) So this is my "silly" White Elephant gift (guys, it's tacky as hell--margarita mix in a glass shoe), my favorite Starbucks drink, a candle I got for free and, oh, yeah, Abbi's tumblr in the background...because I pretty much look at it 8 times a day to see David Tennant and Adam Scott's faces.


10.) The view out of my window at 4:30 pm. I can't believe the sun has gone down...but it sure is pretty to the East. The moon is up, the skyline is pink, the trees are silhouettes.

11.) I can't stop listening to this song. Because I loved the Format. And now I love Fun. And NOT because of Glee. The end.

12.) I watched "Never Let Me Go." And it ruined my life with sadness. But it was incredible. Incredibly sad. Watch it. Or don't if you don't want to feel devastated. But you should just watch it.

13.) How are you?

Tales from 308

I really really love my roommates. I think that sometimes there is a divide between high school and adulthood that just can't be traversed by old friends. Either you want to hang on to what you had so you're stuck in this strange state of high school reminiscing, or you just don't have anything in common. Honestly, I just don't have a lot in common with some of my high school friends anymore. I will always love them and the memories we share, but the truth is we just don't have anything tangible in the present.

{High School friends...my roommates far left and center front.}

Well, I have been blessed with my roommates, two of my closest friends with whom I have navigated that awkward transition from high school friends to college friends to "real life adult" friends. We went off and led different lives during college, but we were always able to come back together and have a blast, and most importantly move forward. Sure, we occasionally get out the yearbook and laugh, but we have way more to talk about in the here and now. We have different experiences and stories to bring to the table since we have done a lot of separate things, but we are building fun traditions and new stories together too.

Anyway, that was a long intro just to say, the new apartment situation is going well. I greatly enjoy the fun hang out times with my roommates. I just love the laughter and the silly times we share.

A few anecdotes...

My roommate J. Gibbs is one of the most hilarious people I've ever met. She's also insanely fashionable and works at Nodstroms but I don't want to talk about that. But it's all good because she dressed me whenever we go out. Literally, I stand her in front of my closet and say "go."

{Us in 2006.}

We are particularly on the same page as me when it comes to food. As in, our desire to eat it all. the. time. One morning when we were both off of work we were lazing around in front of the tv and she had made several comments about not knowing what to have for breakfast. Finally, she looks over at me and says:

"Kate, can't you please just suggest we go out to breakfast?!"

I love that she asked me to ask her rather than just asking...because so often I am hoping one of them is on the same page as me and will bring up food instead. I just couldn't stop laughing at her segue.

Then, a few nights ago, we were both home late from work and hungry. J. Gibbs said she'd thought about going through a drive through but was trying to cut back on the fast food. We sat silently for a few minutes and finally I said,

"But like, can we just go eat tacos?"

We were in the car 3 minutes later.

My roommate Elise is actually my oldest continual best friend in Colorado. The three of us went to high school together but Elise and J. Gibbs weren't really friends until college years when I had the three of us hang out together on holidays. Well, anyway, Elise and I have many many many inside jokes and we're pretty much always being ridiculous together.

{Us in 2003...? I think?}

Yesterday, she was put out because J. Gibbs hadn't ever texted her although she left a note asking her if she could let Elise's dog out and asked her to verify. We had a long discussion about whether or not J. Gibbs had even been in the apartment that day (We thought she had been sleeping in when we both left early for work, hence Elise leaving a note.) Elise decided she had never come home the night before at all and that explained her inexplicable inconsideration of the note. But I knew she HAD come back...I saw the light come on around 1 am. Plus, things in our shared bathroom had moved. We argued (not seriously) for a bit and once we settled that she MUST have been home at some point and thus been around to see the note...but she would never just ignore us or leave Elise's dog out, etc. Unless... a new horrifying thought entered our minds...

Was J. Gibbs still in her room? Had she in fact just never come out at all? Had something horrible happened? We had already tried her cell several times. It was straight out of a scary movie as Elise and I looked at one another, then to J. Gibbs door. We walked slowly towards it saying "oh my gosh, I'm scared," and "you open it!" and "what are we going to find?!" We were imagining the worst. My hand was on the doorknob, both of us trying to gather our nerve when...my phone rang. I literally yelled "Please be J. Gibbs!" as I ran over to it, and thank God, it was. Of course, I was doubled over in laughter when I tried to answer, both Elise and I so relieved that J. Gibbs wasn't lying dead in her bed.

(Turns out she HAD come home the night before but left far before either Elise or I were up for work to go snowboarding. Ohhhhh.)

So that's a bit about my roommates. And how we laugh. About silly silly things. More tales to come.

{I'm sure they'd rather me choose a more glamorous "current" shot, but we took a bunch of silly retro cam pics on my birthday and they make me laugh. We had an "aim" for each photo (hipster, emo, sorority, etc.) but I think they got different messages on this one. Either way, makes me laugh!}

Chocolates & Such

When I was a little girl, I loved a book called "Mrs. Know-It-All." At least, I think that was what it was called--I'm 99% sure but I spent a bunch of time googling so I could share the cover image, and I cannot find it! I think it's an older book.

Anyway, in this book a woman, Mrs. Know-It-All comes to a boarding school for little girls. She has all the answers until a stodgy teacher asks her one question she can't answer: "What is the largest room in the world?" She promises to stay until she finds the answer. (Ok, I'm getting a bit confused...it may be that she asks them the question and promises to stay until they answer. I wish it weren't so late so I could verify with my family; they know the book as well. Anyway.) Mrs. Know-It-All is enchanting but here's my favorite thing about her: She has a never ending box of chocolates. Once in a while she lets one of the little girls have one.

Sigh, who wouldn't love a never ending box of chocolates?

Well, I may just have my own never ending box now. My roommate Elise's boyfriend gave us the most gigantic box of chocolates I have ever seen as a housewarming gift.


It doesn't fit on any of our shelves or in any cupboards. It is a double-decker box. It is serious business.


{That says 2 POUNDS.}

So, I've been eating a lot of chocolates. I can only hope that they actually never run out. It should at least take a little while.

What else is new?


For dinner my roommate J. Gibbs made this delicious baked potato with egg on top meal. You bake the potato, carve out the inside and mash it with bacon, cheese, etc. You then scoop the mixture back in and crack an egg on top and bake it some more. Um, delicious!


I finally put up photos on my gorgeous green/gray/blue wall and I am really loving it. Also loving that new Target mirror.
The biggest thing in my life right now is this joyous piece of news:

My brother-in-law is home from Afghanistan! I spent a good long time crying with joy when my sister sent me the news and the photo of Chris reuniting with his son and wife at long last. I have never felt more in the spirit of Thanksgiving than now. Happy Monday! And happy thanksgiving week!

Let's go to the mall everybody!

I have nothing to say.

I was already sort of a wishy-washy boring blogger but at least I was frequent(ish) at it...now I've become pathetic! Well, life got busy. And boring. Simultaneously.

I'm attempting NaNoWriMo again, but the odds aren't looking as good this year. I don't have the same drive to do it and I find myself so tired after long work days. I've been opting for episodes of "One Tree Hill" instead of racking up the word count. I'm not out of the game yet (it's only Nov 5!) but considering how strong I started off last year, this is definitely a false start. Maybe I'll pick it up on my days off. The stomach virus I got on the 1st didn't help either. *Angry fist*

So in lieu of all this nothing I have to say, here are some photos of what I did for Halloween:

Robin Sparkles. BAM. If you don't get the reference, do your research and your homework (aka: tv watching) and then get back to me. Also, you won't regret it.

Meanwhile, "Bones" is back. Hooray! Hodgins and Angela's baby is DARN CUTE. But still not as cute as my own sweet nephew.

K, so maybe I just brought up "Bones" so I could post about my nephew. I'm shameless. And I make no apologies.

{Baby's first self-photo sesh!! My camera has a mirror option and G LOVES seeing himself in it...he was grabbing at the screen and took this!}

HA this is the most random blog post I've ever written. Probably. But I write a lot of random stuff.

Happy Fall Back! Don't forget to re-set your clocks and get yourself an extra hour of sleep.

Monday-Saturday

My days off from work are Monday and Wednesday...so my "Saturday" was today. Sometimes it's sad being at work when everyone is out and about and off when the world is working, but I make the best of it. And it's great to run errands when everyone's at school/work.

My working-weekend and my day off were both very enjoyable this past week. My sister's childhood best friend Lainey was in town to meet the little stud-muffin (nephew) and to visit. Sunday night after work we had a long, leisurely and glorious dinner at Macaroni Grill. I greatly enjoyed conversation and wine over an array of tapas, entree salads and dessert. We took our time and had a wonderful time.

Today was an absolutely incredible Autumn Day. It was on the warm side, actually, at about 70-75 degrees but the sunlight streaming through red and orange leaves was perfection. After growing up in woodsy Pennsylvania I was sad to move out to my suburb in Colorado where the landscape featured sticks in the ground which they insisted on calling trees. They had supports to hold them up. They were shorter than I was. But here we are eleven years later and I found myself amidst a heaping pile of leaves in the front yard. When did the trees grow up? When did we get leaves? I LOVED it (but was secretly happy it wasn't my job to rake them up.) This morning I went home to catch up with the fam (read: love on my nephew) and we had a little Penn State/Eagles photo shoot with Lainey & G-man.

Later on we (Jen, Lainey, myself) decided to drive about ten minutes away to Daniel's Park. I love the park--it's in the "back country" and has incredible views of the open land leading up to the foothills and the mountains themselves. It was a bit hazy today, but still breathtaking. I love going up there because it's close to home and yet it removes you a bit and gives you room to decompress.

I loved that from where we were I could see out to the lakes near my new apartment.

After driving back to Littleton (my new digs) I grabbed my roommate J. Gibbs and we went to explore nearby Clement Park. I fell even more in love with our new stomping grounds! Clement Park is huge, it puts Highlands Ranch's little town park to shame. It features a beautiful large lake and lots of open field space. Their are sports fields, playgrounds and a beautiful Columbine HS memorial (the HS backs up the the park.) We spent until sunset walking around the lake and exploring.

I love this last shot because it's actually a distant view of the cliffs of Daniel's Park where I was earlier in the day.

To top off a lovely day, I came home to flowers sent from my most darling bestie Tina (of the epic NYC trip and all of college). I couldn't believe how sweet and thoughtful she was to want to celebrate my new apartment from afar with housewarming flowers! Actually, I could totally believe it--she's always been like that.

Despite a few set-backs in my day, I really enjoyed the people and the places with which I spent my time. I hope your weekend and/or your Monday was equally enjoyable.

That time I almost didn't blog in October

October has been a very busy and exciting month for me and in the whirlwind it looks like I've lost my ability to type words and share pictures. I've been equal parts happy and exhausted but I didn't really want to look back at my archives and see a big blank nothing for October 2011. So here's what's been kickin'...

*I received my Hufflepuff shirt so I could continue to show my Hufflepuff House pride.



*I began packing up the room I've lived in (off & on) since I was 11. I've moved out, but my stuff has never left...until now. I found lots of things, put 900 photos into albums and reminisced a lot.





(my first cell phone; gear from my first midnight Harry Potter; my first homecoming; my first lead role; a bday mix cd featuring my first "ships".)

*I phone chatted several times with bestie Tina and we discussed how we are turning a bit into each other, probably in an attempt to compensate for our absence in each other's lives. Tina loves dark colors--her wardrobe consists of a lot of black. I wear bright happy colors whenever possible. But now with my new job half my closet has turned black! Not to mention I bought the same bedspread she has...in a dark color! She in turn has started wearing bright colors and it's weirding her out.

*My nephew continued to grow cuter and tightened his permanent grip around my heart. He turned 6 months a few days ago!




*I celebrated Abbi's 20th birthday and decided I love her more each day. We painted fabulous aspen trees with mini-TARDISes hidden away and laughed a lot. We had a moment where we laughed so hard we bumped heads and that only made us laugh harder. You know.



*I moved out of said childhood room and took all of my stuff this time. I lived alone for four years of college in a state 4 states away and then I lived alone in Spain, so I'm no stranger to independence and survival....and yet this feels like my first real big girl apartment. I think it's because I'm only 15 minutes from home but all of my stuff is with me that this feels so real. But I am in love with my place and the city we (my 2 roommates/HS friends) live in. Here are some "crappy camera phone pics" per Lauren's request.

So here I am in my new beautiful apartment and I'm pretty content with life. Things don't seem to be slowing down, but that's perfectly fine with me...for now.

How has your October been? Tell me things!

{Did you notice all these photos are two thumbs down? Yeah something weird happened when I sent them from my phone to the 'nets and they're all blurry and crappy and sad. Sorry...I decided to blog anyway.}