Operation "Lookin Fine in '09"

Okay if Britney can do it...so can I, and by "do it" I mean get skinny despite an extreme love for cheetos and fast food. Though I would like to think that I don't actually look as bad as this extremeley unflattering picture of B. Spears I am going to use it as my inspiration in '09. This was her starting point....and if you flash forward to the clip below (more specifically a part mid-way through where she is standing in front of a shower of fireworks maybe naked) you will see exactly what my goal for 09 is :)

In order to look like the "Circus" version of Britney vs. "the potato" version, I want to start eating like an adult. I want to forget that ranch dressing and french fries exist in 09. I want the vending machines at work to be removed, and I want to fall in love with working out.

to see what I am referring to watch this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zeR3NSYcHk

And by the way, i have no idea why i have written about britney spears so much on here. Yes, I love her but not in a creepy "I wrote 3 blogs about you sort of way" (or at least i didn't think it was like that). She was just the first person I could think of that lost a ton of weight and would have "before" picture easily accessible online.

Crazy imaginary celebrity friendships aside, I also plan to follow the suggestions in "Eat this, Not That." A friend of mine was telling me how her husband lost 30 pounds just by following the easy guidelines in this book. There are a lot of really obvious things like don't get mayo on a sandwich or avoid cheese if you are going to eat a hamburger...but then there are really surprising things like regular bacon is actually better for you than turkey bacon because turkey bacon has almost twice the sodium content! And at panera, one of the best things you can order is a BBQ pizza. How weird is that? I never knew! It isn't a diet - just a book that shows what choices you should be making with the foods you are already eating.

So anyways (like every other year since I turned 19) I will once again be making my New Years resolution to get healthy and trim. We will see what happens, but i thought if I at least documented it on here that i am trying...people could post anonymous comments telling me that i am failing (if i am) and it would be a huge kick in the pants to actually follow through .Just kidding, i don't like random mean strangers. I am sensitive.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!

Love,

Pat and Katie

Top 10 Reasons I HATE Winter

( No clue why i have been posting such heinous looking pictures of myself lately, but i thought this one was funny and appropriate) :)

1. It is beyond depressing to have to stay indoors at all times.
2. You get fat becasue you have to stay indoors, and when you do, nothing sounds better than eating really thick soups and crock pot dinners.
3. Snow friendly shoes are so ugly....not for everyone, but when you are hugely tall -like myself - the cute tall heels and boots tend to make me look like a tranny lumberjack woman ( i am definitely more in favor of flipflops and flats year round)
4. My skin is seriously albino right now and becasue of the lack of pigment I overcompensate with makeup (especially bronzer) - then the light changes and I realize that i look like a clown.
5. My skin is so dry I can't even stand it. Baby oil, body butter, straight Vitamin E oil.....nothing does the trick.
6. My lips are corpse-like which forces me to turn to Carmex (which I hate becasue it tastes like death and has crack like qualities) . You can't use it just once. Even though it momentarily fixes my chapped lips I also have my suspicions that it is the cause too. Just like crack, it makes you feel good - but then once the "feel good" wares off it start s to chap your lips even more so you just keep applying it over and over again - all the while blaming the weather when it is also probably the lip balm brand I picked....see - JUST like crack!
7. You are never the right temperature. When I watch the news and get dressed in the morning it is hard to put anything other than a huge sweater on and even though I know the heat will be pumping at ridiculous levels at work I still can't fathom the walk from the parking lot without the sweater.....so then i sit in my desk miserable, hot, and itchy until lunch time or when i go home for the day when (once again) I will be freezing to the point of convulsions. It sucks.
8. When you live in a wintery place like Ohio people think it is fun to tell you (over and over and over again) how warm it is where they are living. My parents are especially guilty of this. Most of our phone calls go something like this: katie "hey mom....my car door is frozen shut - weird huh?" mom: "yeah that is weird. I am just finishing up golf because I need to swing by the beach and go out on the boat later in my tank top." katie: "sweet. FML"
9. No one comes to visit you. Who ever (myself included) has taken a vacation to a snowy place that does not include skiing or snowboarding?
10. It is SOOOOOOOO long. The cold never seems to end. October through May I am cold, chapped, dry, clownish and lumberjacky. ewww.

Fun & Cheap Christmas present idea

When my mom was teaching sixth grade she used to make jars of hot chocolate mix with her class so that the students would have something to give their parents (or whoever) . They always turned out really cute and the parents loved them. Eventually, we started giving out the homemade mix to our neighbors also. The recipe is delish - it is seriously the best hot chocolate ever, and it is really inexpensive to make so i thought i would post it.

Even if you don't put it in the jars and pass it out - it is a great thing to stash in a tupperware in your kitchen.....for a day when it is i dunno 12 BELOW ZERO LIKE TODAY!!!

Hot Cocoa Mix

1 pound jar Coffee Mate
1 pound can Nestle Quik
2 ½ cups powdered sugar
8 quart box Carnation Instant Milk
2/3 cup Nestles Cocoa

Mix ingredients. Use 1/3 cup of mix for each 8 oz mug. Add hot water

For 24 + jars
Buy 2 bags (5lb) non fat dry milk
2 – 3lb. 8oz cans nestle Quik
2 – 2lb. 3.3 oz Non Dairy Creamer
1 – 5lb. bag Ambrosia Baking Cocoa
1 – 4lb. bag powdered sugar

2 12 count 1 ½ pt. Kerr Wide mouth jars
Make labels
Raffia
Material 9” squares

Just a matter of time....

I saw this picture of myself today and it ruined my life.

I am pretty sure that I got wrinkles the day that I turned 25. FML. Seriously, and I HATE them. For now they are only showing up on my forehead, in between my eyebrows ( my "11's" according to Dr. 90210), and sometimes there is one on the left side of my cheek that sticks around after I have been smiling for too long. Regardless, that is way too many wrinkles for me. I need to get rid of them pronto. I can't figure out if wrinkles can actually "go away" or if they just stay the same once you spend lots of time trying to keep them from getting worse? I am hoping they go away, because even with botox it seems like I am screwed.

Anyways, If you are a very unfortunate 25 year old or a 50+ yr. old, you are reading this blog, and you have the same issue as me- here is my gameplan. None of these ideas seem like they will work but i am still trying...

• drink more water...maybe my skin is "puckering" becasue it is so dry.
• use more moisturizer (same reason as above)
• No more expressing how I feel....facially -No Smiling(Not hard considering I am a wrinkled hag these days), No Scowling (Hard, considering I am a wrinkled hag these days)
• Wear more sunscreen
• Put my hand on my forehead and pull until the skin looks relaxed - holding it there until I can breathe again.
• Wear really tight ponytails
• Invest in lots of forehead covering hats
• Cut bangs

I know this is so vain, but I plan to live for a very long time and if the wrinkles are already coming I will be a mess by 40.

Wedding Weekend

My sister Kristen married her boyfriend Jim this weekend in Chicago. It was sooooooo much fun and an absolutely gorgeous wedding. You can see in the pics below how pretty the church and reception site were. The pictures almost don't do them justice- they were seriously tdf. It looked so old school Chicago with all of the beautiful chandeliers, wood work, christmas decorations, and huge fireplaces. I want to go back and just hang out in the room and spend more time talking to everybody that flew in for the weekend. It is amazing how quickly one day can go by.

These pics were sent this morning from Jim's cousin Brian who is a great photographer. I will post some more of my pics later, but i wanted to start with the good ones :)

Here is the giant bridal party- 10 bridesmaids and 2 flower girls

Jim's brother Danny and me - making our grand entrance.

The placecard table

The cake that was GORGEOUS!!!


Cocktail hour

A cool pic of what the reception room looked like.
....and another

Kristen dancing - obvi

Jim and Kristen Dowd

more of the happy couple

So cute!!!!!