It only took 6 months...

but I've finally got my act together and am debuting my new(ish) apartment (the inspiration for the blog in the first place)! I motivated to clean the apt and in the process snapped a few pictures to hopefully give you an idea of the place I call home (and clearly where I also watch the movie the Fantastic Four).

Spacious Closet!

(could always be bigger)

Girly Bathroom

It's small, clearly the bike, bedroom and kitchen are all within reach if you stand in the right spot in the apartment, but it's quaint and it's all mine!

Not just blue, it's Carolina blue

For the long weekend Jon and I went to North Carolina to visit his friends Jen and Shane and their son, his godson, Gage! This was my first trip down to NC and it was clear right from the get go that blue is a very prominent color down there (just be careful which shade you're wearing)!

We got in on Saturday morning and spent a relaxing weekend eating, playing, and napping (I'm not just referring to the 2-year old). Gage is quite the ladies man, he woos them with his smile and he wards off other men with his new pair of plastic pliers...protective gear is suggested for guys that get in the way :) There was a little science museum action, some amazing chicken quesadilla's, did I mention napping (my favorite), and some playoff football. All in all a nice and relaxing visit!

Mama mia it's a pizza party!

Jon and I decided to let the creative juices flow this weekend...if you don't use them you'll lose them (and there's not much using them when it comes to our day to day jobs)!

On Sunday we decided to make homemade pizza! We weren't crazy enough to make our own dough, but we did have to turn it from a gigantic ball into some semblance of a circular pizza shape! Jon was in charge of this task, and given that I don't think Chicago style deep dish could ever be replicated by anyone other than the professionals we made what I would refer to as medium crust. Jon's technique was unique, not that I think I could have done any better, but it got the job done. Let me highlight a few of the more interesting methods (all original):

• Beating the dough Rocky style
• Rolling out 2 flat pieces of rectangular dough and attaching them down the middle
• Creating a rectangular, then circular, then square, and finally an oval shaped pizza

Work In Process

We cut up a ton of fresh vegetables and fresh salami and went to town! Needless to say we had fun and it was a pretty healthy way to start the week. I think next time we'll invest in a rolling pin, although that might stunt some of the creative juices :)

Yummy finished product!

Half pepperoni, half veggie...even though I opted for no pepperoni Jon let me pick some off from his side. Sometimes we refer to his meals as the buffet plate :)

A new year a new reason to...

break out the BUBBLY!! Happy 2010!!

This time last year I was getting ready to stay in for the NYE holiday in hopes of preempting a more peaceful year to come...I was easily persuaded (or I might have even convinced myself) to go to my friends holiday party instead...coincidentally this is where I met one Señor Jon....and as my mother once put it, took him for a test drive (aka got a NYE kiss)!...A year later and we were in Hotlanta getting ready to ring in 2010 with a bunch of Jon's high school and college friends!

To celebrate we went to a restaurant called South City for dinner and drinks before heading out to a local Atlanta pub to practice counting backwards from 10! What a fun night!

The ladies

(so awesome!)

The men

(so lucky!)

Not quite midnight buddy

This is what happens after Jon kisses you

(Jon where did you get the lei?)

After all the celebrating we needed a hearty breakfast so we headed to Waffle House! I haven't been there since college and I'm happy to report it's the same greasy, but oh so delicious food I remember. The rest of our time in Atlanta was spent watching football and hanging out with friends! 2010 is off to a pretty nice start!

Christmas 2009

While I didn't get the puppy I was hoping for, (I got some other really cool stuff instead!), there was a lot to be thankful for this holiday season, particularly the amazing travel luck I've had the last few months! I flew home for Christmas on Thursday morning with one mission in mind, holiday shopping! Per usual I procrastinated to the point of utter ridiculousness, but thankfully the panic attacks were over within a matter of hours (just in time)!

Merry Christmas from NYC!

(go Bears!)

I always love being home, especially when the family is all together. This year Jon came to spend some time with us for the holidays, flying in Christmas Day! We had my grandfather over for dinner and spent a low key evening at home.

My parents had gotten a Wii for Christmas so we were rather entertained by that for most of the weekend, and when I say we I mean me! It would be an understatement to say things got competitive. I won't get into the details, but let's just say the "Single Ladies" dance was involved and some people spent a bit of time lying on the living room rug. I'd also like to note that I beat the boys in the boxing competition the first time round, I'm sure now you know who was doing the dancing!

Everyone put aside their Wii rivalries and on Saturday we went into the city to see Cirque de Soliel's Banana Schpeel. It was a good show, although unfortunately the audience was only half full...probably because it was snowing like crazy outside! (I was really excited to help shovel the driveway, I'm sure it's because I only have to do it once a year at most...I think in the end my "help" was anti-productive.)

Super fluffy snow, perfect for snowball fights!

At Banana Schpeel!

Saturday night we relaxed at home and everyone enjoyed some more Wii (surprise, surprise)! It was fun to watch my parents get into the golfing and bowling, apparently old dogs can learn new tricks :). Sunday, Jon helped me pack my new handheld mixer and spice rack in our carry on luggage, and some how with all that AND the new speakers Curtis gave me, we made it through security and back to NYC without any delay or hassles!

Dear Santa...

I have been a good girl this year; I brush my teeth every night before bed, I say please and thank you, I don't cut the old ladies off in the subway, and I try to make sure I always eat everything on my plate. This year I'd really like a dog (or two) so I can name them meat and potatoe. Please let me know if this is possible and I will make sure to leave dog treats under the tree.

Love,

Kate

p.s...Jon will be very diligent about looking after their poop, I'm planning on getting him some rubber poop so he can practice cleaning it up.

Graduation Celebrations

This weekend my family was out in Colorado to celebrate the youngest member of the family's graduation from college! It's official, Curtis is an alumni of CU Boulder...or as the Chancellor kept saying a Buff Alumni! Curtis and his fellow graduates from the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences stood out at the ceremony with their yellow/orange tassels (I'm envious as mine was a poop brown color)! After the ceremony we took some family pics (grad with parents, grad with sister, grad with random CU Boulder building, grad with tree, etc) and even got one with all of us...it was so bright out we unfortunately all look like ghosts!

After the graduation ceremony Curtis gave us an abbreviated driving tour of Boulder before we stopped at Boulder Cork for lunch. Ironically we were just talking about this place with some family friends a few weeks before as they're CU Boulder alumni and were curious if it was still around! Once we were sufficiently (so) full we decided to make our way to Vail where we were planning to continue the graduation weekend celebration! We took the scenic, aka very twisty with lots of cliffs, way which was so beautiful and made me realize how much I like Colorado! On the way it was funny to see how roles have changed over time...Curtis and I were up front driving, while the parentals napped in the back :)

Vail, Co

Our time in Vail was amazing, very relaxing without any real agenda. Days were planned around the meals and the meals were mmm mmm good. Curtis and I went snowboarding on Saturday and are definitely still in the learning phase...although I have to say he spent less time in the snow then I did so really I should only speak for myself! It was so sunny and not to cold, all the up and down helped with that I imagine!

Standing Up

(some of the time)

!?

(most of the time)

Curtis!

(Despite the snow on his back he did not fall right before this picture!)

Congratulations again Curtis! You are now joining the real world...I will expect larger and more lavish birthday, Christmas, just because gifts :)