Friday, August 26, 2011

Fill in the Blank Friday

It's Friiiiddayyyy! It's gorgeous and beautiful and sunny and, well, Friday. I'm soaking up every last second of today's happiness because it's going to be short lived. You see, there's this biatch. Her name is Irene. She's a party crasher, and she means business. Seriously though folks, if you haven't read my blog before, you might not be aware that we live in NY. Not only do we live in NY, but we live on the coast. The most southern part of NY and Long Island. Aka, deathtrap central. Aka, myhouseisgoingtofloataway central. Aka, everybodygetoutnow central.


Plain and simple, we're f*cked. In a coincidental turn of events, we have a wedding upstate this weekend. One of M's best friends from highschool and college. He's in the wedding, so it cannot be missed (plus it should be fun). We planned on have Jonanna and Grandpa stay at our house to take care of the Goose and watch Bailey, but that's out. So the plan of action is to grab our shiiit, our kid, our dog, and go. Luckily, M's sister, Aunt Jaimie, lives about 20 minutes from the wedding venue and has offered to cut her camping trip a day short to come home and watch the Goose while we take the night off. Thank God for family.
As we speak, Jonana and Uncle Peter are helping M to batten down the hatches at home (and hope to hell that some of the battening works). Then Jonana and Uncle Pete are heading back to Jonana's house to partay, and I'm leaving work early to take over hurricane prep at home with M (he's still recouping from his surgery, kid needs halpppp). We'll swing by Jonana's to pick up the Goose, head upstate tonight while he heads off to snoozetown in his carseat. It will probably be more than the usual 4 hours, what with everyone gettin' outta dodge, but we just think it's the best scenario. M is also missing the rehearsal and dinner tonight, but I hope the couple will understand. We'll be putting our freezer stash of milk in a cooler with dry ice (is it abnormal that this is my number one worry of this hurricane, losing my freezer stash?) and turning off the gas and electric. Effin serious ish, people.
Ultimately, we just pray that Irene calms down and goes a little bit easier on us than we're preparing for. Our little bungalow can't really withstand her power, and neither can most of our neighbors houses (our whole damn town to be quite frank). I just ask for your thoughts and prayers, peeps. Not just for our home, but for those not fortunate enough to have a place to go, or who can't prepare their home. It's gonna get scary and I just hope there's as minimal damage as God is willing. To my fellow East Coasters, good luck and be safe. All else, have a great weekend! I hope to report back soon...

But before I go, blanks time! Join me and Lauren over at her place, The Little Things We Do.

 
1.   One of life's most simple pleasures is     a childs laughter.
2.   Rude/inconsiderate people make me want to punch someone (said rude person, obviously).

3.  I like   chocolate    because,    well, it’s chocolate. Duh.

4.    exacerbated   is a funny word.

5.  If I had to choose one beauty product to use for the rest of eternity it would be    mascara.

6.  I'm happy that  
  we have a wedding tomorrow    .
7.  I would never     be naked in public    .

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

I Heart Faces Photo Challenge

I'm pretty obsessed with I Heart Faces, and am a loyal follower of their weekly photo challenges. I've always wanted to enter a photo of mine, but didn't think it was good enough (or more likely, was too scuurred to put my photos out there for judgement). When I saw this weeks photo challenge was pets, I couldn't pass it up. Our sweet sweet beagle, Bailey, is the perfect model. Well, not really. At all. In fact she's terrified of cameras. But she photogs well and her sad eyes always make for a good pic. Or at least I thought so. Turns out that all the pictures I have taken of Bailey, aren't necessarily great..er, good. So I got to snapping...the cat, Shilellagh (pronounced Shilayleigh - don't ask). Turns out, she is the better model. She doesn't move much,  and she tends to come near me but without actually wanting to be with me, and I happen to think she's damn cute. So here's my very first Weekly Challenge entry. I'm still a little scurred, but mostly, I'm happy to be getting this pic in on time (less than 30 mins to closing). So here it is...



Wish me luck!

Monday, August 22, 2011

M's Birthday cake

M and I are both chocoholics. It's actually quite a bad mixture, the two of us together. We're each other's chocolate enablers. It's our little joke, but seriously, it's a problem (can you please, puhleaase believe me when I tell you that AS I TYPE THIS, M is in the kitchen making the two of us vanilla ice cream and reeses PB cups sundaes? Cuz that's what's going on right now, I'm not making it up... and this is a typical nightly occurance).
So when his big day came rolling around and I knew we wouldn't be doing anything terribly special (because last year was the big 3-0 and there was a big party for that being thrown by a severely swollen preggo lady), I decided I would bake him a really special cake. At first, I thought I'd go with some sort of layered cake with colorful layers, but then I realized that vanilla/white cake is not his favorite. And when I really thought about it, cake wasn't even his favorite. He's more of a cookie/brownie/snack type of guy. And then my head suddenly had a little lightbulb over it, because the perfect "cake" had popped into my mind. I immediately remembered something I had seen over on Pinterest (seriously, how did any of us survive before Pinterest?):

(via)
The day before M's birthday, while he was at work, the Goose and I walked to the nearby CVS and picked up some birthday cards and then we hit up the grocery aisle. Cookie dough, Oreos, and brownie mix. Cheeecckkk. Lately, I had been on "bake it from scratch" kick, but we were short on time and had a family party to go to, so we cheated and took the boxed/pre-made route. And I happen to think it turned out even better than it would have from scratch, because sometimes that boxed ish just rocks.
So how did it turn out? Ridiculous is a word that comes to mind. But really, there are no words. 


Obviously, the cake didn't last untouched long enough to make it to its photoshoot. This is literally one day after M's birthday. And only the two of us had been eating from it.
Hi, my name is Katie and I'm a chocoholic.


Best birthday cake ever.


Friday, August 19, 2011

Fill in the Blank Friday

Hello peoples! It's been a week, and what a redonkulous week it was. There was a monsoon, apparently, almost all week long and so vacay was mostly a bust. Add to the fact that the baby barely slept while we were away, well, let's just say it wasn't much of a vacation for Mommy. I'm so glad to be home. It was great seeing and spending time with M's whole family, but there's nothing like home and your own bed when you just need to relax.

Back in full effect, I'm linking up with Lauren (who just found out her baby's a girl!). Head on over and join the fun...

 
1.   My idea of pure perfection would be     a day at home with M and the Goose, snuggling, no chores, eating all day.
2.    Love       makes the world go 'round.

3.  If it weren't for    needing to pay the bills    I'd   be a full time stay at home mom.

4.  Bloggers are   taking over the world, yo.

5.  If I had    unlimited funds  I'd buy you    season tickets to the Steelers, which would include away games and every single superbowl, whether or not they made it (haha, as if they wouldn’t, lol)

6.  I'm glad it's Friday because     two whole glorious days free from work obligations
7.  Something I'm excited about is     I’m playing in a kickball tournament tomorrow. Not gonna lie, pretty effin pumped.


I took tons of pics this past week on vacation. The weatherman advised the monsoon is back on Sunday so I hope to do some uploading in between Goose snuggles. Have a good weekend all!

Friday, August 12, 2011

Fill in the Blank Friday

It's that time of the week! We have a block party tomorrow and then Sunday we leave for a family vacation in Sag Harbor, LI. We'll be there most of next week, so you may not hear from me. Hopefully I'll be taking lots of pics, and then about a month and a half from now I'll be posting some here, haha. Sorry, but I just know myself well enough to not promise anything too soon.
The house we're staying in is LARGE. There's a pool, tennis and basketball courts, and sleeps a shitton of people. Thank god b/c M's entire family on his mother's side is also going. Let me just put it this way: Meema (M's mother) is one of seven kids. Those kids all have an average of 3 or 4 children, and now some of those are having kids themselves. There's going to be A LOT of us. But I'm excited and it's some time away.

Join Lauren and all the other link-er up-ers over at her place, The Little Things We Do, and fill in the blanks. Happy Birthday Lauren!

 

1.   My most favorite birthday was       this past one. Because I was so happy and in awe of our new addition (the Goose was born only 9 days before my b-day), that I completely forgot it was my birthday. Literally, M had to remind me, and laughed at me. I just remember waking up every morning so in love, that nothing else mattered. I’m still in awe and in love, but it’s not as “new”, and life has returned to normal.
2.  My worst birthday was    I honestly can’t think of one, but I guess if I had to choose, it would be the year I turned 22, when M and I first started dating. He took me out to a fancy restaurant and I ended up with food poisoning. And he was spending time taking care of me, so he forgot to get a card or cake…but his roommate did. I remember feeling pretty “woe is me” that day.

3.  My favorite birthday memory is     my 21st birthday, the whole day. I went to a beer festival, had on the cutest outfit, ran amock around NYC, got free bottles of champagne and ended up in a gay bar having the time of my life with a best friend. There are more entertaining stories from that one day than I can think of any other time in my life.

4.  The best birthday present I've ever received was   Does my baby count as a birthday present? Haha. Definitely the one that gets the most use is my kindle, from two years ago from M.

5.  The  best birthday present I've ever given was      Concert tickets to M. Even though the concert was cancelled just days before (boo), M was so surprised and happy. He had mentioned about 80 bajillion times how he kept “forgetting to go online and buy those tickets”. He had every intention of buying them himself and forgot until they were sold out. I got sick seats on presale and he was so happy. Even though it was cancelled, I think it was the thought.

6.  Birthdays are       
okay. Honestly, they’re not a huge thing in my family. I’m not sad or anything about that fact, it just is what it is. Although, I’m hoping to plan some really cool parties for the Goose in the future to celebrate.
7.  My favorite age so far has been       my late teens/early twenties. Not that my life now isn’t great, but I just LIVED life back then. Carefree, partying, not much of a care in the world. I was still responsible (with myself and my finances and such), but managed to just have the time of my life. I look back on those years so fondly. I guess I miss them, but mostly, I am just so happy that I got to live them. I just hope to keep that spirit alive in little ways here and there in my life.

Have a good weekend cool people!

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Sundance Yellow

I mentioned a while back that I hoped to paint our front door yellow. And I did. But first, let me show you the sadness that was our front door:




Besides the fact that we never painted it when we first moved in (welllll over a year ago), it was beat up and dingy looking.

Once I decided on yellow for the front door (chances are I would have chosen blue or green, but M told me if I painted one more thing blue, he'd go nutso), I went on over to Benjamin Moore's website to just peek at what they had going on. I don't really know why, because ultimately, I would decide in the store or take home some paint samples, but I guess I was excited. Upon my very first glance at all the yellows on their website, my eyes jumped to one specific color - Sundance.


I wanted something with a lot of pop, as I usually stick to neutrals or light blues. I wanted to take a step outside of my comfort zone, and I think this knocked it out of the park.
When I actually went to our local Ace Hardware (they're the closest that carries BM paint) Sundance just looked SO bright. And I'm very well known in my family and with friends as having a magical talent for picking out horrible paint colors. I always have a look in mind, but manage to pick out a color so far off of what I envisioned, it's actually laughable (imagine my vision of a "hint of lemon and lime" as being a beautiful pale yellow paired with a nice pale, complimenting green. Only to walk into what could only be described as Austin Powers' "eternally awake room" because the brightness literally reflected off of every wall and was even glaring in complete darkness). 
In the end, after considering a few others, even basing one choice off of name alone (Delilah, love it), I decided to stick with trusty Sundance. I reminded myself it was just a door and if my gut choice was wrong, I could just repaint it easily.
I painted the door on a morning when the Goose decided to take his first nap super early (like 8am),  which also happened to be the hottest day of the year, lucky for me. Believe me when I tell you my first strokes of paint were drying before I was halfway done with the first coat...which in total took only 10 minutes (that's 5 minutes for all you mathematicians out there). I added a second coat to be sure to get a nice coating. Within 45 minutes, I had a completely dry, beautiful new door. And I luuurrvve it. I actually think I nailed the color. M isn't quite as in love, but I told him he could repaint it if he wanted (cuz I know he would want to, but never actually would, for a few reasons - one of which is to keep me happy).
I may or may not have also whipped up a cute wreath to match/ coordinate with our new door. I pretty much followed these DIY steps I found by googling, with few changes. Honestly, easy as pie. I know these wreaths are pretty trendy within the interwebz world, but I've seriously had my eye on one of these for over 2 years now, so ha.

Without further ado: voila! 
Door AND wreath...



Like? Dislike?

Monday, August 8, 2011

The rest of the deets

So here it is. Only almost two months later. It's sans "damn pic", but I hope it's interesting enough!

These little projects took up a pretty good amount of time, but I love stuff like this. It sounds crazy, but I love pulling off things that make me surprise myself.
For favors, I wanted something simple, not baptism themed, not cheesy. My mind immediately went to food. And then I immediately remembered something I saw over on Pinterest:


via intimateweddings.com


  I thought they were adorable and would be a big hit. And it turns out, they were on both fronts. Although it comes with a printable template, I ended up making my own in Powerpoint so they fit the occasion:


The big task at hand here was the fact that I've never made anything from scratch before in my life, no joke. I decided to make a batch a week or so before as practice (and to nom), and also to see how they would hold up two days after they were baked with hopes I could bake these two nights before the actual party. The first batch was delicious, but I definitely decided to change a few things for the big day. So on the Thurs before the baptism I made all 100+ cookies and they held up perfectly, tucked away in our kitchen. The night before the party I packaged them and put the stickers on. I was pretty damn proud of my masterpiece(s). And at the party, I got so many comments. I swear that everyone referred to them as "the best cookies in the world". As I mentioned, I made well over 100 of them, and we only ended up having about 80 people. A handful of people left before they were even put out (they didn't make it out until caketime, I wish I would have remembered to ask the staff to put them out earlier). There were NONE left over, and many people asked if I had a hidden stash somewhere. The manager of the restaurant even asked if he could steal one because he overheard everyone talking about them.
I also made a cake (not from scratch - my girl Betty C did the work), but decorated it myself, along with some cupcakes. They were a hit too. Turns out a lot of people are like myself and enjoy nothing more than a box-mix cake anyway.

{Insert "damn pic" here. Imagine a baby blue sheet cake with white cross and lettering. Also imagine chocolate and vanilla cupcakes, bookended by the adorable cookie presentation in baskets. End of imagining}

Then, I whipped up some flower centerpieces. And by whipped, I mean literally an hour before the actual baptism ceremony. But the major plus was that the flowers were 100% FREE! I'm seriously lucky in that my aunt heads up the photo studio for her family's flower company, and they magically were doing a photoshoot at a home in my town only the day before, so my aunt generously offered me the leftovers after they were done. I bought some small green buckets at Target for a buck each. Voila, centerpieces!






Here are the very few pics that were taken, b/c I gave the camera to my father in law, and not only did he not know how to use it, but he somehow managed to let the full battery go dead in under 3 hours - don't even know if that's possible (it's all good, the Goose returned the favor. The ol'e throw-up-in-Poppy's-mouth trick). Oh yeah, and my parents are pretty much nowhere to be found...

Here you go...

Poppy and Aunt Jaimie, Goose's Godmother


Apparently, the Goose loves church (and looking like a pilgrim)


yes, that is me, sticking my tongue out at church. That's also Uncle Pete holding him,  Goose's Godfather. Oh and my mom is in the green, and my father's blurry face is sitting next to her.



he actually did very well. Later, he tried to jump in that tub....





Meema and Poppy.
Oh, you thought I was done with all the details? Yeah, not so much. But it's the last one. The thank you cards. I whipped them up very quick, I wanted something very simple. I used my usual 4-to-a-sheet format (same as used for the invites), except that two of the layout were the back of the card. Not fancy, but I thought pretty cute.


under that bar code says "LOVE BY MAK"

And that my friends, is the finale. It was a great day, and we're so blessed to have such caring and generous family and friends. Thanks for helping to welcome Goose into the Catholic Church!

PS, my favorite card message from the day:
"Dear Goose, Congrats on your new friendship with JC"

Awe.some


Friday, August 5, 2011

Fill in the Blank Friday


It's Friday again and I'm pretty excited that it's here. Tomorrow we're supposed to be heading to my bff 4life "Aunt Mimi"'s house for a pool date, but somehow we might end up at M's workplace medical office for a check in (and we could literally end up waiting around all day, 8-2, no joke). We're hoping he can work something out today, but it's not looking good. So that will be a fun way to spend my Saturday...yeah. Sunday is M's cousin's engagement party and it should be a good time. Andplusalso, I plan on taking lots of pics for them and then be all sneaky and offer them engagement pics to get some practice in. It's nice of me, no? To pretend I'm doing something nice for them, when really I'm helping myself out? Yeah, I thought so too. But seriously, I do think it's a win win. I'm looking to start a portfolio, and they get free pics. And I already worked my magic with another of M's engaged cousins and she was pretty pumped. So one down, one hundred-thousand ninety-bajillion to go!
Now for the fun stuff. Head on over to Lauren's place, The Little Things We Do, and link up to join the partay.


{photo by Caroline of Coeur de La Photography}

1.   My go to outfit for a dress-up occasion like a wedding is       whatever fits (mommyhood changes ish, ya know). But seriously, it's my favorite J Crew charcoal grey silk taffeta ballerina dress.

Because it's beautiful, has pockets, always makes the girls look good, and is the opposite of body hugging, so I never have to suck in the gut or worry about how my body looks in it. It's my go-to dress for when I'm feeling a little on the not-skinny side. Which is almost all the time, ironically (or not).

2.  This week has been    frustrating, but I won't get into that (work blah blah).

3.  When it's dinnertime and I'm feeling lazy I'll usually eat     whatever M makes. He's the cook in our house, so my laziness has little bearing on what we eat for dinner. But if he's lazy, it's takeout of some sort, lately wraps or salads.
 
4.  My favorite pair of shoes is   my rainbows

5.  A random item that I own that is completely unnecessary, but that I could never part with is      my monkey stool, affectionately called Juan Carlos. It's a very small, yellow leather-topped stool. The "stump", I will call it, is a type of sculpture of a monkey and large banana. I was in college, at Marshalls and had literally NO money. My mother was up for the weekend and was there to buy me clothes. I saw this stool and HADTOHAVEIT. JoMomma (now JoNana) wouldn't buy it for me. She laughed and said "absolutely not". Me, with no money, was desperate but determined. I grabbed the $40 stool, brought it over to layaway, paid $10 down and vowed to come back for him at the next week's end when I would get paid. I decided I wouldn't go out or eat that week. He fits nowhere into my house, stylewise (and never did), has seen quite a few hair irons burn his leather top and is overall ridiculous, but I love him. Juan Carlos, you complete me. (I absolutely plan to run home after work and take his picture to share. And that, I PROMISE, to "have in a later post". Fo' Sho'.

6.  My favorite person is      you already know it's the Goose, no doubt (and M a close second), but I'm going to play this game with all that assumed. Bruce Springsteen. his music moves my soul. and if I ever shared a drink with him, I could die happy.

7.  If I were going to write my own blank it would say       If you had one wish for the rest of your life that you had to choose right now, what would it be? And my answer would be what it's been since my very first memory of blowing out a candle: happiness



The End! Have a good weekend!

Thursday, August 4, 2011

DKMS

Please click here to learn more about and consider becoming a bone marrow donor through DKMS Bone Marrow Donor Center.

I have absolutely no personal ties/motivations behind posting this here other than I'm simply moved by what this organization does and for the reason it exists. I, myself, am registered to become a bone marrow donor and I feel it would be an HONOR to be able to give someone a second chance at life one day. I honestly don't know why I am so emotionally attached to bone marrow donation, considering I cannot think of one situation that affects anyone I know personally, past or present times. I do happen to read the blog of a family affected*, but it was truly by chance that I found it, and it was ironically after I learned of and registered with DKMS that I found their story and started following their blog. All I know is that this cause moves me, and I hope to move others. So check them out, or click on my sidebar

Thanks folks.

*It turns out that the little "star" of this blog is featured on DKMS' main page. Again, ironic. The magic that is the internet!

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Can't Leave You Hangin'

Today, I was browsing through some of my own, older, posts. It's clear that I have an affinity for saying "more to come" or "that's for a later post", without actually getting back to those items. In noticing that, I  thought it would be appropriate to address or update you on all overdue or forgotten items. It's not short, so I'm gonna jump right in . . .


*Towards the middl-ish-end-ish of this post, I mention the "money-making" aspect of our house and how it was pretty much the reason why we bought it. So without pictures (maybe I'll get them up someday?) here's the rundown: Our little bungalow has an attick. Barely. The previous owner turned this attick into an illegal rental apartment back in the day. It comes complete with a seperate heat zone and plumbing for a bathroom and kitchenette, but also with a pulldown ladder/staircase granting you access from within the house. There is also what has now come to be known as the "phantom door" on the second level on the outside of our house where the exterior staircase entry was. The staircase has since been taken down, but the door remains (can I add that we STILL haven't so much as found a deadbolt for that door - it's literally unlocked, ready to open with the twist of the doorknob). Basically, our thought was that this home already had some of the work done for a second story. All the other homes in our price range at our location didn't offer a whole lot. This home had "potential". We had already liked the layout of the main living area, but this added space and potential was definitely what sold us. Our plans for this space include a ton of work (including modifying our master bath and/or other rooms on the first level in order to build the interior staircase), but definitely not as much if we would have had to start completely from scratch. We decided that we would do all the renovations for the staircase and upstairs within the first few months of moving in, but that was before we knew the Goose was on his way. As you might know, babies = $$$. And our $$$ planned for that renovation went to a "family friendly" car. And then we needed to rip off and replace the roof. And then Mike got hurt and was slated to have surgery, leaving him unable to do any hard labor, therefore leaving him unable to bring in family/friends/contractor firehouse buddies to help in the renovations (this was going to be a DIY renovation for as much of the process we could manage). And time out of work also meant less overtime hours at work (which = $$$). And then I got all selfish and went part time to start pursuing a new career. In short, life happened. And now here we are, a year and half later, with no renovations in near sight. It's upsetting, but it is what it is. We're making do with the space we have, and in the meantime, the attick is just that - storage space.

*Mentioned here, the Delilah plates from C&B:

    Here's the update, or lack thereof: Because the yellow ones were no longer available online, I visited the two closest stores to work and home. Neither had the yellow plates, and even the other three colors were a little sparse. So it seems this decor plan might be a bust. I 'm still in luuurrvve with these plates and still want them to hang. In case you're wondering, it's all or nothing. No yellow plates, no plates at all. The blue, teal and green aren't enough for me without the yellow and I won't buy those unless I buy the yellow first/simultaneously. I guess I'll have to hit up the outlet for a try, but the closest one is almost 2 hours away and I'm not normally this dedicated to decor. We'll see. If you see two of these yellow plates online for a reasonable price, let a sistah know. (and worth mentioning:  the last look I took, C&B replaced the yellow plates on the website with super cute red ones. If I had some red decorating to do, I'd be sold)

    *The Goose's curtains. See that orange fabric? It is still just fabric. End of update. (I'm the worst!) 

    *The Goose's baptism pics. I seriously, seriously swear that I have a post all ready to go, save for one damn picture that was taken on my point and shoot. The delay? The camera cord for said point and shoot is nowhere to be found. Why not post without that one damn pic? Well I could. Easily. But that one damn pic has more than one detail I want to show you, so I feel like the post is incomplete without it. Ya know? If I don't find that cord by the end of the week I'll hit the publish button on the post, sans damn pic, K?


    I actually thought that list would be longer, but that just about covers it, I think. There's more things going on 'round here, but you know damn well that I'm not catching myself telling you "more to come" ever again. Ever.

    Thatisall.


    Monday, August 1, 2011

    Commuter Chronicles

    For some background info, click here.

    Today's chronicle is short and sweet (though I encounter this situation far more times than any human being should be made to withstand. Seriously).

    Dear Fellow LIRR rider,

    If I sit down in my seat in the morning wearing nothing but the scent of my shampoo/conditioner and deoderant, I think it's only fair that I should remain smelling that way for the entirity of my day. Should you choose to torture yourself with the entirely too strong scent of whatever flowery-nose-assaulting perfume you wear, and then sit in the seat next to me, YOU should be the only one smelling as such. Because you decided to bathe yourself in an asthma-attack-inducing amount of that dollar store knock-off perfume, I am now stuck smelling as though I have been locked in my Nana's closet full of potpurri for a bajillion years. It is not becoming of my 27 year old self.
    Andplusalso, please stop moving your damn arms so much. I know you're iPod isn't playing the YMCA, so lock it down, lady.

    Yours Truly,
    Offto Finda GasMask