Cutie Mc Cutie Pants

I have always loved the little mermaid.....But my love for this cute little mermaid multiplied times one trillion last night when my sister sent me the latest picture of little Amory in her Halloween costume:

Who knew that a little red wig and mermaid costume could make this little baby so darn happy?

Oh and P.S. this is especially cute becasue pretty much the whole time Kristen was pregnant with Amory she referred to her as a "mermaid" becasue of how she moved around and the fact that she was just chillin in a bunch of water 24/7.

So, as if the one above was not enough - I have 2 other cute Amory picture updates below:

Ahhhhhh......

And its official - I think Amory needs a little cousin friend.

(okay it isn't really "official"...but who wouldn't want a little baby after seeing these pics?)

As Halloweenie as I am getting......

I did carve some pumpkins last night, and although they are not my best work I am happy with the way they turned out.

I am also happy that the tedious task of seperating pumpkin seeds from pumpkin guts paid off. Warm roasted pumpkin seeds are delish....especially with some sea salt.

Excuses, Excuses.....

"Excuses, Excuses - they are only a lie.
Excuses, Excuses - they mean you didn't try."

Pat says that.
I hate it and I love it all at the same time.
Mostly i think it is funny - but i also think it is true.
I thought I would post some of my excuses for why I have been absent from my little blog for the last 2 weeks.

Excuse #1:
I was sooooooo busy with work. ...And even though I was busy, I would be lying if i didn't mention that i was also having fun. I was out of town doing a shoot for a hospital that we work with.

One campaign we were shooting for was for their Emergency Services. I spent about an hour buttering these guys up trying to get a ride on the Life Flight helicopter....

It worked! I got to sit up front and actually had a really good time. For anyone who knows me: this was an extremely brave thing for me to do.

I just hope they don't send me a bill for my ride :)

Excuse #2
I have been enjoying the gorgeous fall foliage....

....that only exists in half of my neighborhood. Seriously. Isn't that weird? The next picture is what my street looks like (this is only 15 feet away from all of these gorg red trees.

Bummmer......but i guess it does make the clean up easier.


Excuse#3:

I have been busy decorating my house.

I finally had a very lucky shopping experience at Home Goods and found all kinds of fun stuff to fill the annoying void that is my foyer. There is still so much to do on the ground level, but filling this ledge with colorful little finds has already made the are seem way more homey.

and this - wasn't actually one of my projects but i had to mention it. We desperately needed a refrigerator for our basement. I mean - do you know how inconvenient it is for boys watching football to have to walk upstairs to get a beer???? Ummmm well Pat took care of that. He also made sure that there were 7-9 different kinds of beer available, along with mixers. All of the labels are faced forward in true cribs fashion and he did replenish the missing beers after we finished watching the ND game. I love him.

Next project will be to build the shelves that this beverage center and wine fridge will sit on. We want it to be more of a built-in look.

And here is the most exciting find of the weekend. Our new GORGEOUS chandelier! This is hung up in the antique store we found it in. No, I do not have floral wall paper with matching floral draperies in my house......but i do have this giant piece of magnificent bling!
It is like 70+ years old but absolutely gorg.... once I get the drapes up and the mirror hung i will post pictures of this dining room. I think buying/owning a chandelier officially makes me an adult. Whoa.

And there you have it......That accounts for at least 6-10 hours of the last 2 weeks. I really have been busy, but i miss blogging so I will try to kick it up a notch in the coming weeks

xoxo,

Katie

It isn't 666....but its close

Actually it is 66 - and it represents the number of sunny days per YEAR in Cleveland Ohio.

Wow. That's it. That is all of our sun? OUch. I think need to give myself a pep talk after hearing that one:

(WARNING: this is one of those annoying "internal dialogue" posts where I try to convey my thoughts without using the proper punctuation - so it probably makes no sense...feel free to read along if you want to see how my mind works....and be very confused, but you have been warned).

According to the news last night, only 18% of my life is now spent in the sunshine- well 18% + vacations, but who is keeping track? Just saying it out loud amazes me. I am a California girl: In theory, this means that I need lots of sunshine to be happy...I "should" by my very nature and west coast upbringing hate it here, but in the last year-and-a-half I have realized that that is not true.

Despite the dark gloomy, freezing, crap that is our weather - I AM very happy in Ohio. Seriously I am. And before that news biotch told me this little fact - I would have guessed that there were at least ....mmmmm 80 days of happy weather :)...that is way better than 66 right? But the weather is not what makes me happy anymore....that would just be an excuse - oh and it was when i was in college but I have since gotten over that little issue.

Sure I miss the beach, and having a pool that is actually useful, and being able to wear flip flops year round, but there are so many advantages to living where I do that those things are starting to not matter as much.

• I no longer have a tan ever......but i do have a beautiful home with a huge yard.
• I have a job that I really like and so does my husband....it is good to be a big fish in a small pond sometimes ( i guess that insinuates that I am a big fish though - I am not...but there is potential to be because everyone that graduates from college here moves to Chicago or some other big city- so if you stick around there actually is potential to be a "big fish" ummm i guess.)....and now that I said big fish so many times it makes me think of that one south park - where they tell Kanye West that he is a gay fish because he loves fish sticks. Hee hee....anways......
• I don't live near any of my friends that I grew up with...but I have made a ton of new friends that are fabulous and I still keep in touch with all of the girls I miss so much. It is awesome having friends all over the place....there is always an excuse to visit someplace new and cool.
• My kids wont know how to surf or skateboard....but they will get to go sledding during their recess (How cool is that?) Oh, and they will still wear cute little baby Vans too. I don't care if they are the only ones.
• I no longer get to see lowered vehicles with airbrushed naked ladies and Jesus on the hood....but i do get to occasionally miss work for snow days.
• Shaq and Lebron live within 5 minutes of me.....not just people who pretend they are Shaq and Lebron :)
• I get to make delicious soup and crock pot dinners all winter long...and they taste better here because you don't get all hot from eating them
• I don't have palm trees in my backyard....but I do get to see the unbelievably gorgeous season of fall. The smell of burning leaves, and actually having leaves to rake up makes me feel like i live in a commercial sometimes.
• My closet is the size of the apartment I could afford in the part of California that i would want to live.
• I get to spend every other Christmas alternating between a snowy winter wonderland with the O'Briens and beachy, hot, Christmas wake boarding with my parents. I really do get the best of both worlds during that time of year....and seriously- is there a better time of year anywhere?
• I am doing something totally different than what i am used to. I will never regret not moving around or trying something new.
• I am perfectly positioned to pick where Pat and I will retire....you compromise now to get everything you want later :) ( and this is not just in reference to location. It is good marriage advice in general).

I guess what I have realized is that Ohio is not better than California......and California is not better than Ohio either. They are extremely different but regardless of my location I am capable of creating my own happiness. Sunny days outside don't always mean that you feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside. So I am going to just concentrate on myself and my family -not my dark surroundings - and something tells me that everything will be just fine.