"Change" for change.... (i die)

So I just spotted Obama .....on clearance.....on the bottom shelf ....at Home Goods. Pretty sure this was the first time I have ever seen something with his name on it that doesn't cost a TRILLION dollars!!

This made my day (especially since I actually saw this 2 weeks ago and still no one has bought it)!! Next week I hope to see his health care plan and Nancy Pelosi sitting on the shelf next to him.

:)

Motivated by a post-it .....

The weather is gorgeous....I have time. There is no excuse. I will start running again and the post-it stack pictured above will document my progress towards reaching a goal of 20 outings before September 26th.

I can do it. I will do it. I will wear my new birthday running shoes from Pat.....and there WILL be results!!!!

Birthday Thoughtfulness

26 is not a stand-out birthday....it isn't a huge milestone like 13 or 21 or 30- it is just sort of another year, in between the other milestones that I am thankful to have reached.


The one thing that i have always and will always love about birthdays though is the reminder of how lucky I am to have so many thoughtful people surrounding me year after year.


And I don't want this to sound like the most important thing to me for my birthday is something material - but i do have to say that I think it is so cool to open up a present, get a phone call or read a card from my husband, my parents, my siblings, my in-laws or friends and realize that they know me so well. They get my personality and my style and they took the time to think of me.

It is just so darn nice....and fun to have a whole day devoted to "me." I can't wait to get home tonight - find a fun/glamorous birthday outfit to wear.... Go on my birthday/dinner date with Pat and hopefully catch up with some friends too!

and P.S. Happy birthday to all of you other August 28th Birthday Beauties...it is so fun to share a birthday with you guys!

How Fancy do you get for Dinner??

I often wonder what other people make for dinner. At this point in our lives a lot of us are working all day, some of us have kids, and all of us are still pretty busy. When i get home from work (despite the fact that i really do enjoy cooking) I am hardly ever in the mood to make anything fancy. The meal pictured above is pretty typical - Grilled chicken, a tomato salad, and some green beans with - you guessed it...lemon juice (because i put it on all vegetables). The fanciest part of this whole meal was that i used "Montreal chicken" seasoning instead of the usual Lawry's so that this dinner could qualify as something "different"

I am not sure if I am the only one cheating my husband out of gourmet dinners. When i read other blogs that talk about food - every weekday meal seams to have about 33 ingredients and a wine pairing. We just don't do that.

I typically make things like fajitas, hamburgers, frozen pizzas, chicken and rice, tilapia, spaghetti and garlic bread, and in the winter lots of soups and chili. None of these things involve reading a recipe and they all get repeated pretty often. I think one problem is that aside from the lack of energy I have at the end of the day - I also find it amazing how expensive it can be to cook large recipe-ish meals. I can do my whole 2 weeks worth of shopping for the same amount of money that i will spend if I am entertaining for one night.

What am i doing wrong? Is this normal? What are your go-to meals....seriously - I am curious.

Giant Eff-You jeans

Being that it is nearing the end of August I have started to think about how I can improve my wardrobe moving into the lovely season of fall. My preparation has included a few trips to the mall and lots of clicks on "Must-Have Wardrobe for Fall" emails. Pretty much, it seems like the only way to be fashionable (past year and present) is to have a whole gaggle of skinny jeans. I hate these things. Never have I ever in my life felt like my legs were anything but fabulous until I tried these (as I mentioned above) "Giant eff you Jeans" on.....I call them that because pretty much I just picture about 10,000 little Rachel Zoe's sitting at sewing machines conspiring against all women who weigh more than 92 pounds because they are angry that we eat cheesburgers and still managed to look okay in regular person jeans. With these effers still in style I feel like i am sentenced to be anti-trendy, unfashionable, and unhappy until a.) I have lost enough weight to look decent in "skinny jeans" or b.) until the style is fazed out completely in favor of something like "pleasantly plump straight leg - you don't have to want to hang yourself in the dressing room anymore" jeans.

I feel like I get slapped in the face every time I remind myself that "skinny" does not fit me... and i don't really think it is because i am fat, I think it is because i am not petite. I can wear leggings or work out pants without a second thought, but somehow these just don't work at all. And just in case that point hasn't been 100% proven by meerly trying them on - Those little mini Rachel Zoe's even put out pictures of the women who are pregnant that happen to look better than me in this style. ....I mean seriously? You have another person crammed in your stomach? How is this possible?

So just to be clear, I am really confused. I don't want to be unfashionable, but i also cant handle the way my calves and ankles look to be 15% of the size of my fairly normal sized thighs. Am i paying too much attention to the feeling of being a "stuffed sausage" and maybe not really realizing that i don't necessarily look like one? Am I the only person that doesn't think I have fat legs but still seriously hates these jeans? Help me out.... maybe give me a brand suggestion if you do happen to have a favorite pair. I dunno? If trying on one more pair makes me feel like I am Ruby again I may just give up entirely. So be careful if you suggest something... and if you are 92 pounds - or Rachel Zoe I don't care what you have to say - you lucky bitches:)

Thank you computer at work

Dear Work Computer,

I wanted to send you a quick "thank you" for frying my eyeballs these past couple of years. Without you, I may still have 20/20 vision, the ability to see street signs, and pretty much everything else that exists in darkness. Perhaps I was taking for granted the fact that every single thing I looked at was not blurry. Wow. And those glasses that you forced on me - thanks again computer -You really have taught me an expensive lesson.

Best regards,

Katie

sooo excited!

I cant wait to read this new Rebecca Wells book because all of these were pretty darn fantastic. I don't really even know the story line yet but i am sure I will not be disappointed. If you haven't read this series yet...get to it.

Ya-Ya is by far my favorite!

An old friend introduced me to this series in high school and I instantly fell in love. This is the one book that sooo makes me want to grow into a glamorous old southern lady that drinks a little too much , and talks with an awesome accent .

It is one of those easy-read books that is hilarious and sad all at the same time.

This one was a little "darker" than the first

and this is another good one if you are bored and like reading in the summer.

Pretty Drive

I had a meeting today that was about 30 minutes from my office and the drive there was so gorgeous. I live pretty much in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park - and today I got to drive down its pretty, sunny, tree-lined streets. Even though i was in my car and I din't have time to get out and walk or ride a bike (like lots of the other people) it was still totally good for my Chi. I am going to go back to this area this weekend and stop at the fabulous farm I like to go to for produce. I'll take pictures and share them with you - pretty sure this place is so cool you are going to want to move to Ohio....okay maybe not - but you should :)

shhhhhh......

When you don't have anything nice to say....don't say anything at all.

But that gets boring sometimes sooooo I am going to be honest. Guess what? Despite my recipe posts, vacation recaps, garden pictures, and mindless entries about celebrities.....I actually have some really bad days where my mood can only be described as "shitty." Things don't always go my way, and life is far from being perfect. I have however made a commitment not to complain on here though because I have always liked blogs for their ability to uplift and look on the sunny side of everybody's lives.

So I guess with this being a bad day and all, I am going to stay quiet, but fill you in on a little insight: "happy 100% of the time" bloggers- I don't believe you and I am not one of you. I appreciate your positivity - but i really don't believe you....Nonetheless, carry on with the charade

There are plenty of other places online for negativity and feel-bad stories (i.e.: any site with news updates) so despite the small lack of reality I still love you.

Tomorrow will be a better day, I promise....but for now I am just going to keep quiet until I feel like there is something "happy" worth sharing.

xoxo,
Katie
(for some reason I wanted to write "gossip girl" instead of my name, but i didn't- just thought you should know).

I'm just saying...

So maybe this is a weird thing to say...but seriously my brother and his girlfriend are like celebrity good looking....and they are both hilarious and nice too.

Look out Brangelina - Messie is way cuter (ummm that is marty and Jessie and i just made that up 2 seconds ago).

The end.

welcome back old friend

Do you want to know what happens when I lose weight? ....I start to feel skinny, and becasue i no longer feel like the state of Texas, I remember how much I enjoy cheese and crackers and french fries....and who am I kidding - beer too. Pretty soon I am right back where I started. Not any higher, just back to looking puffy in pictures and hating the way I look in a bathing suit. Because of this I am returning to some pre-easter eating habits which include: no alcohol and my favorite snack (pictured above) 100 calorie packs of popcorn with balsamic and tapatio hot sauce. Seriously it is delicious. And the hot sauce totally killls my appetite. I also bought these delicious little things:

These are also very low cal, very refreshing, and quite tasty for a little at-work summer breakfast. I have only tried the red grapefruit cups but I would highly reccomend them.

So anyways - this is the new plan. Starve a little bit, and start weighing myself again. I haven't had a scale for about 5 years and guess what? I have been "puffy" for about 5 years. I would also like to follow some of the workout plans that people post on facebook incessantly but that seems sort of unrealistic. I truly don't understand how some people manage to go to the gym at 11am, do yoga twice a day at 10 and 3 or go for a run at 4:30......what about work? Who pays the bills when your job is to work out all day then rub it in the faces of bored people who are actually working and consequently become too tired to work out afterwards? I don't get it.....but i want to.