honeymoon revisited.

This post is a total ripoff of my f-book status but hey, this really is how I am spending my day sooooo (just in case we aren't facebook friends) i will re-cap my friday for you:

ihave started looking at other people's vacation pictures just to remind myself that sunshine does in fact still exist. Effff my life today.

I started to feel a little pathetic looking at other people's pics though so I upgraded and just revisited mine. These are from the resort we stayed at on our honeymoon. I want to go back.

Its not just me though, I think the whole state of ohio wants to peace out too....I drove by a church today on my lunch break and the sign outside says "whoever is praying for snow, please STOP!"

and I want those people to stop as well

because we are missing this....

....and this.

and this.

...and it has made me very depressed and unpleasant.

Thanks,

The management

Katie, Katie, Old Married Lady!!!

Guess what???? I have been married for 3 whole years as of today!!! Can you believe it? 3 years married, 8 and a half total years together. That is just nuts!

Sooooo in honor of our anniversary, I thought i would give you a little recap of what we have done in the years past for this big day.

I think our second anniversary might be one of my favorite weekends we ever spent together. It was pretty much amazing because it was so spontaneous. We both woke up early in the morning looked at each other and said " i don't want to go to work today".....Pat suggested we go to Vegas and I laughed, because we have the same exact conversation most mornings ( i.e. "work sucks...lets do this instead" it just doesn't get acted on usually) So anyways we both went about our normal routines. Pat showered. I showered. Pat left. I wasted time.....and eventually i left too. On my way to work Pat called me and said "make sure you check your email." Obviously this was pre-blackberry days for me, but as soon as i got into work I did what i was told and clicked to the one and only email in my inbox....It was a ticket to Las Vegas purchased 10 minutes before I saw it :)

I spontaneously "came down with something" and left my office by about 9:30. I packed both of our bags and we were on our way to the airport by 10:30. We seriously laughed the whole way there. For some reason it felt like we had just robbed a bank or something.

We arrived in Vegas and it was still pretty much lunch time.....which was so weird because at breakfast time we thought we were going to be spending a snowy anniversary working. Ummm yuck.

This picture may or may not have been taken after a "couple" of hours at the tables with a few drinks. Don't think this was all romance on this trip though. Pat means business when he is in Vegas.

I on the other hand.....went to the spa got a massage, got tan, went shopping, planned dinner, bought tickets to a show and pretty much felt like pretty woman.

Happy 2nd anniversary to us!!!

And then going back even further, This is what we did for our 1st Anniversary.

We didn't have anything huge planned because we had just moved to Ohio. We decided at the last minute (again) to do a little driving trip and we went to Niagara Falls. This pic is a view from where we stayed. The steam kind of hides the rest of the waterfall....but that is where the whole thing breaks off. They light it up at night and it is really beautiful.

We ventured down to the falls to check out the sites and let me tell you.....Holy God it is FREEZING there. I have never been so cold in my life!!!

Pat tends to under dress in cold weather (no gloves, no hats, and certainly no scarves). This day, he got so cold though that he actually let me walk with my hands (in gloves) covering his ears. It was like negative 20 or something like that....and the mist from the waterfall certainly did not help.

Nonetheless we loved it. Niagara is kind of a weird place, but i am always up for seeing something new.

This was taken from a walkway that pretty much hangs right over the edge. How anyone could voluntarily go over the side of this thing i don't know! Cool picture though.

And here we are right after the big day. Anniversary 0!

Our honeymoon was awesome. It felt like another surprise vacation after being so tied up with wedding planning. We went para sailing, horseback riding, snorkeling, and sight seeing. We sat in the pool with drinks every day and went out to a nice dinner every night. It was THE best week we have ever had.

I'll keep you posted on how the third anniversary turns out. We aren't going away this year and that is just fine by me. We have a really nice dinner planned for tonight and another vacation right around the corner.....This guy spoils me big time even when it isn't our anniversary and I still love love love him.....even after 3 whole years!

Myyyyy lip gloss is POPPIN!

I am putting together a gift basket for an event for Junior League right now, and it was kind of fun to go shopping and see what kind of fun stuff kids are playing with these days. I only know babies and adults right now so I was kind of clueless, but i think i found some fun stuff nonetheless. For instance, how freaking fun does this thing look? I meannnnn I am 26 and i would love to mix, flavor, and decorate my own lip balm!
We'll see if this one makes it into the basket or if i just end up keeping it for myself :)
jk.

Easiest delish dinner ever....

BBQ Chicken Pizza

Use a Whole Wheat Thin Crust Boboli Pizza Crust (or any other whole wheat crust option)

cook up some chicken with the usual seasoning then toss in BBQ sauce when it is completely cooked (set aside)

Prepare the crust with a little bit of BBQ sauce (not too much though - more is less here - it tastes gross. Believe me).

Sprinkle on some reduced fat Mozzarella cheese

Add thinly sliced red onion

And some Cilantro

Of course, you should also add the delicious BBQ chicken chunks

and then maybe a little sprinkling of the cheese again (maybe).

Bake in the oven for like 9 minutes at whatever temp your crust tells you to bake it at

Enjoy!

This one is for you Dunja....:)

My facebook status currently reads: i need a break....a long break....and a tan......a real tan.....now!

My little brother's roommates girlfriend replied: "really? you should blog about that"

and so Dunja (my cyber friend) I AM going to blog about it, and I even posted picture evidence of why that statement is so unbelievably true :)

Lets establish the facts first:

Fact #1) This picture was taken at my friend Melissa's wedding. She was an absolutely gorgeous bride. Her wedding was soooo much fun and I wish she would re-throw that wedding every weekend.

Fact #2) This wedding photo has made me realize that even expensive airbrush tanning will leave you looking bright orange in photos. I genuinely do not think it was that bad in person or I wouldn't have gone out but seriously? Holy Hell i am like the color of a Tupperware container after you leave spaghetti sauce sitting in it over night. Completely hyper color orange.

And soooooo, On this snowy hell of a Thursday - there is nothing more true than my previous declaration: i need a break....a long break....and a tan......a real tan.....now!

It is funny that i posted upbeat (almost happy) recollections of the snow from this weekend only a few days ago. The title was even "let it snow, let it snow, let it snow".....but because i know myself too well - that title was quickly followed by the disclaimer '(For now).' Truth be told, I didn't think that my patience for it would run out as quickly as it did.

I am not sure exactly why it happened so quickly but i have my suspicions.I didn't get to run the errands i wanted to this week, i didn't get to the gym at night like i had hoped, and i froze shoveling my driveway for 40 minutes just so that i could get my car up into the garage. it isn't all car though, my car is cute and anywhere else it would be great. It is the snow i truly loathe.

And now I am over it.
I want to go somewhere nice and tropical and I want to go now.

I walked out of work with a woman i didn't know last night, and while we dodged flying face freezers....we made small talk. I sarcastically said "wow, what a lovely day" and she said "yeah but you can't complain too much, i would rather have this than hurricanes or earthquakes"

Internally i laughed. I may have even called her an idiot....oh yeah, I did. I have lived in Earthquakey California (for like 18 yrs) and I have lived in Hurricaney Florida (for 2...i was even vacationing there - right in the eye of the storm- for category 5 Hurricane Charlie) and let me tell you NEITHER place has ever inconvenienced me for 6 months with their sometimes challenging natural weather disruptions!!!

It is just too much for one person to take. Especially one that knows firsthand and understands that 6 months of snow isn't some blessing in place of a one day rain storm.

NOTHING sucks as much as prolonged months of snow. Sure the occasional downpoor can be fun ,but at this time of year - most sane people have had enough. It is gray and depressing. It makes you fat and ugly! Your skin turns transparent see through white and because it is so miserable outside you aren't able to find anything better to do than waste away indoors while eating meal after meal.

This b had no idea what she was talking about. And I pity her, but since we were both putting up with the same shitteous weather I really started to only pity myself.Then i saw this picture of me - the one from above - and i really lost it!

That is where the whole need for a break and a tan really came from.I don't want to be orange, and i don't want to get skin cancer in a tanning bad. If i am going to get skin cancer I want it to be while i am laying in real sun on sand so hot that it burns my feet. i want that here. Right now. I want it in my life. i don't want to have to deal with fake sun anymore. I want to be able to walk out my front door and go for a jog without getting frost bite and having my lungs freeze. I want to be able to pull into my damn garage.

And don't misunderstand this for a "Katie wants to move" post. It isn't. I just want Ohio to go back to the way it was a few months ago. The lovely state of Ohio that made me think of the Tim McGraw song "Where the Green Grass Grows." I like it here, but enough already with the shit weather.

Mr. Chang has nothing on me.....

My husband told me that these were better than P.F. Chang's lettuce wraps.....okay that's obviously impossible, but it also probably means that this little concoction was pretty much ahhhhshmazing.

as with pretty much everything good that i make:

start with some butter, garlic, and diced red onion

Saute on medium heat in a non-stick pan until the onions get somewhat clear-ish.

mix in thawed/diced boneless skinless chicken breast

season with salt and pepper

keep things moving until the chicken is thoroughly cooked

add in diced baby bella mushrooms (1 medium container)

add in diced water chestnuts (1 can)

stir and cook until the mushrooms have softened

Mix in Soy Vey Teriyaki Sauce to your liking

sprinkle in some sliced almonds or peanuts (whichever you prefer)

Serve the chicken with Bibb Lettuce on the side. It has the perfect size leaves for an individual serving and it is soft enough to fold.

obviously rice is a logical side dish too....

Enjoy!

the only good thing going on today....

my beautiful niece Amory!
I miss her.

Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it Snow! (for now)

We woke up on Saturday morning to approximately 100% more snow than we had expected.

It was exciting, except for the fact that we had to cancel our plans for furniture shopping. The roads were awful.....We didn't get plowed in our neighborhood until 8pm (this picture was taken at 8am)

It was so pretty.....and to be honest - I started to love the snow.

Until our neighbors offered to let me "borrow" their extra shovel......Hello! When Pat tells me we only need one shovel because "shoveling snow is a man job" i take his word for it!

;)

I did end up helping and despite the freezing cold it was kind of fun.

Until I make my formal request for an early summer, I will enjoy the unbelievable ab/arm workout that is shoveling snow, and this pretty winter scene.

The roads are finally clear....but not for long!

a word to the wives.....

I bet you have all seen this or at least heard of it before.....the it i am referring to is the "How to be a Perfect Wife" commentary from the 1950's. I happened to think of it after staying busy with a very funny little string of emails running between my friends this morning and it was very funny reminder of how at once we ladies are both lucky and unlucky these days.

Sometimes, right around 5:00 when i am on my way home from work i feel just that - lucky and unlucky ( or pissed and annoyed however you would like to put it) because that is when i start wondering what i am going to make for dinner. I know that I have zero energy left, but i also have so much still to do. Its like my second shift starts and my mind is tuned to the channel that says: this "feminist go to work shit has really messed up my plans for today." It's not that i hate working, and it is not the fact that i resent my husband for not making the dinner or doing housework himself (sometimes he does).....what makes me mad is that I really (more than anything) want to be a good wife, I want to make fantastic dinners served on china with candles lit, perfume on my neck, and nice vanilla/cocoa scented clean hair BUT becasue i have also been taught that it is a wonderful thing to be a woman and have a job where (if i wanted to) i could go burn the world down while kicking ass and taking names in some fancy shmancy job...i tend to serve lean cuisines on paper plates and i am usually bitching about something when i do.

The sad part is that I am not 100% at either job: perfect wife or ass kicking professional. It is just too much to take on both and be perfect in either.....and i don't even have kids yet! So i can't even imagine the additional challenges that might be flung my way if i were a working mom.

Wouldn't it be nice if we were all able to earn the respect of others and get paid at least 100k for doing whatever the hell we wanted as long as we were working hard?

I think in my perfect world, i would be like the "perfect wife" below -Just get rid of all of the "submissive", "my feelings aren't important" crap in the article and i think this B is on to something! Minus the lack of a double salary I know Pat would love it, and boyyyy would our house look nice with an additional 40 hours of time/week devoted to its care :)

Anywho( for your entertainment) i leave you this....some of it is good advice, some of it is hilariously misguided, but somehow it all sounds better than what i am currently busy with

How to be the Perfect Wife.

(This was taken from Helen B. Andelin's Fascinating Womanhood. The course was designed to teach women how to be happy in marriage).

GET YOUR WORK DONE Plan your tasks with an eye on the clock. Finish or interrupt them an hour before he is expected. Your anguished cry, "Are you home already?" is not exactly a warm welcome.

HAVE DINNER READY Plan ahead, even the night before to have a delicious meal, on time. This is a way of letting him know that you have been thinking about him and are concerned about his needs. Most men are hungry when they come home and the prospects of a good meal are part of the warm welcome needed.

PREPARE YOURSELF Take 15 minutes to rest so you will be refreshed when he arrives. This will also make you happy to see him instead of too tired to care. Turn off the worry and be glad to be alive and grateful for the man who is going to walk in. While you are resting you can be thinking about your Fascinating Womanhood assignment and all you can do to make him happy and give his spirits a lift. When you arise, take care of your appearance. Touch up your makeup, put a ribbon in your hair and be fresh looking. He has just been with a lot of work-weary people. Be a little gay and a little more interesting. His boring day may need a lift.

CLEAR AWAY THE CLUTTER Make one last trip through the main part of the house just before your husband arrives, gathering up school books, toys, paper, etc. in a bucket or wastebasket and put them in the back bedroom for sorting later. Then run a dustcloth over the tables. Your husband will feel he has reached a haven of rest and order and it will give you a lift too. Having the house in order is another way of letting him know that you care and have planned for this homecoming.

PREPARE THE CHILDREN Take just a few minutes to wash the children's hands and faces (if they are small) comb their hair, and if necessary change their clothes. They are little treasures and he would like to see them look the part.

MINIMIZE ALL NOISE Especially give heed to this if your husband has to join rush hour traffic. At the time of his arrival eliminate noise of washer, dryer, dishwasher or vacuum. Try to encourage the children to be quiet at the time of their father's arrival. Let them be a little noisy beforehand to get it out of their system.

BE HAPPY TO SEE HIM Greet him with a warm smile and act glad to see him. Tell him that it is good to have him home. This may make his day worthwhile. If there is any romance left in you, he needs it now.

SOME DON'TS Don't greet him with problems and complaints. Solve the problems you can before he gets home and save those you must discuss with him until later in the evening. Also, don't complain if he is late for dinner. Count this as a minor problem when compared with what he might have gone through that day. Don't allow the children to rush at him with problems or requests. Allow them to briefly greet their father but save demands for later.

MAKE HIM COMFORTABLE Have him lean back into a comfortable chair or suggest he lie down in the bedroom. Have a cool or warm drink ready for him. Arrange his pillow and offer to massage his neck and shoulders and take off his shoes. Don't insist on this however. Turn on music if it is one of his pleasures. Speak in a soft, soothing, pleasant voice. Allow him to relax - to unwind.

LISTEN TO HIM You may have a dozen things to tell him, but the moment of his arrival is not the time. Let him talk first, then he will be a more responsive listener later.

MAKE THE EVENING HIS Never complain if he does not take you out to dinner or to other places of entertainment. Instead, try to understand his world of strain and pressure, his need to be home and to relax. If he is cross or irritable, never fight back. Again, try to understand his world of strain.

THE GOAL Try to make your home a place of peace and order where your husband can renew himself in body and spirit. Then add to this the application of all the principles of Fascinating Womanhood and your husband will want to come home. He will rather be with you than with anyone else in the world and will spend whatever time he can possibly spare with you. Try living all of these rules for his homecoming and see what happens. This is the way to bring a man home to your side, not by pressure, persuasion or moral obligation.

Wow! that last line even rhymed. If that is how it is done I have some work to do!

First thing on my to do list: start drafting the 2010 version of "How to be the Perfect Husband" for curious male readers....of course. it's only fair ;)

inmate mingling

I spent my Monday morning in the company of car thieves, wife beaters, drunkards and cops. I was the only non-cop who was not in shackles. And all of this Monday morning fun was brought into my life because I got caught driving double the speed limit.


Sounds pretty bad huh? Are you worried about my reckless behavior? Do you think i got what i deserved because I was going so darn fast my license should be revoked??


Hell to the no. I was only going 49mph.....and I was not in a school zone. I was in a "Chief of police lives near here so there is an unnecessary speed limit of 25" zone....or so the cop told me.


WTF seriously?


Well anyways there is a bit more to the story. The ticket was annoying, but no big deal really except for the fact that i was required to make a mandatory court appearance "because of the severity of my infraction"


I thought i would just show up to traffic court get a slap on the wrist and then pay my fine and be on my way. I showed up early (like 40 minutes early) because i wanted to be the first one to plead my case so that I could get on my way and get back to my office for a mid-morning meeting. I was indeed the first one there so I signed in and waited in the hall. I saw a bailiff/sheriff/ cop type walking the halls so i politely asked if I was allowed to leave to get a coffee once i signed in. I may or may not have also mentioned that i had a meeting and wanted to get out of this places ASAP but anyways what happened next was funny/ sad/ and kind of exciting all at the same time.


This cop/sheriff/bailiff must have sensed the drama queen within me because he arranged for me to bypass traffic court and sit in "with the prisoners" so that my case could be heard earlier and I could get on my way. Little did he know he was without a doubt also supplying me with great blog material and a new dramatic story to tell everyone i knew.


Sweet! This was so much cooler than traffic court!


I took my seat on a bench for non-felons in the back of the small court room. I watched as the prisoners slowly filed in one-by-one. No shoe laces, messy hair, handcuffs - the works. The judge called the first guy up. A red headed guy that i would guess to be 20 at the most. The judge stared him down then said in these exact words " you just lovvvvve those 4-runners don't you!" the boy was pretty much silent until he plead guilty. He was a car thief. But he looked nice so i sort of felt bad for him. He was in so much trouble (4th degree felony, five months in jail kind of trouble) and there wasn't a soul there to support him. Maybe there shouldn't have been. He did a really bad thing and I guess if my car was stolen I would definitely want the person to pay. But seeing this real person - heading to jail for real was just sad. What a waste.


Then there was the next prisoner....this time a woman. She was probably 30-35 and she had been put in jail only the day before for drunk and disorderly conduct. When she approached the bench the judge looked at her with disgust and said "uhhhhhhh you still smell like a brewery! How much did you have to drink"....the woman said in a somewhat respectful tone - "actually i think i am fine now." I think this guy wanted to be Judge Judy. Drunk lady got a large fine and probation, but she was released to go. Her mom came to pick her up.


Then came wife beater.


I didn't feel bad for this guy one bit. Any loser that beats up women deserves what is coming to him. I thought the judge would agree, especially since he was a repeat offender. Somehow - this was the guy who had his fine reduced and he was given some sort of deal where he could do house arrest if he paid his $300 fine by April first. What the hell? I just hope the wife he was beating will not be living in that house he will be confined to if he cant come up with that chump change amount. What is wrong with our system? and with the people who do things like this? and the judge who was making it easy on this guy of all people? But all of that is beside the point


Next came the real criminal!!!! First class trouble maker....


Katie O'Brien


The judge asked me what I had done. I knew what to say because pat and I practiced the night before, but now after sitting through the other testimonies I knew that this could go either way. Was I going to get a snide remark? or would i be in more trouble than i anticipated? Those thoughts aside, i reverted to the planned script and i pulled the ticket from my purse(Yeah i brought the purse to the stand....that car thief kid might like purses too - you never know) and handed it over to the judge. Unlike the others I started explaining what i had done wrong. How i had never been on the road i was ticketed on before, I didn't know it was only 25.....i'm really sorry blah, blah, blah.....and before i could finish he told me to "slow down" and gave me $25 plus court fees.

There is a verdict that will get me the opposite of street cred. But i was glad to have it.

Its kind of funny that i had an apology and more to say for myself about a speeding ticket than all of these other people combined, I knew i was wasting these people's time and i knew that i had broken the law a little bit and i felt bad. EIther that or maybe my drama queen self wanted to make themost of "my day in court." In the end $25 plus court fees sounded like a deal for what i had done. Well that was short lived because court fees are more than you would think and it ended up being a $150 mistake. Not the end of the world.....but annoying. ESPECIALLY when you consider that (fine wise) that makes me half as bad as the wife beater.

Speeding does not equal 50% wife beater in my mind.... but since some courts disagree, i think i will avoid this in the future, go the speed limit, and spend my $150 more wisely. What a crock right?

Oh well, lesson learned. Blog written. Dramatic story told.
The end.