does tagging ever ruin your day?

Warning - This may be the most vain/insecure thing I have ever written but I mean it all in a fun sort of way.

Exhibit A:

----Picture Removed due to inappropriate content------

(okay not really....but i didn't have a really awful example because i insist on promptly removing all ridiculously fug pictures of me that other people have tagged online...the semi fug ones still exist and they have been coming in at an alarming pace lately. Hence, this post).

Exhibit B:

My sister and I cutting a rug at our friend Madeleine's gorgeous wedding.

Whats the difference? Exhibit A is an example of a picture that someone else would tag of me on Facebook....And Exhibit B is a picture I would post of myself.

ha ha - I bet you know what I mean - right?

in "A" I have a double chin. I do not have a neck, and my hair looks dull and icky. My skin is pastey white and I have probably consumed more than my fair share of adult beverages. I may even be in a freaking bathing suit.

In "B" i am tan and despite a lot of dancing i still have some makeup on my face. I am not holding a drink, and we look like we are having fun.

That is the way it should be. Pictures are supposed to capture and preserve good memories.

SO leave my little tagalicious tooshy out of the bad ones k? it ruins my memories of otherwise fun events!! This doesn't happen all of the time - but sometimes, when i get a "notification" that i have been tagged in so and so's pictures - my heart stops. Some people have absolutely zero judgement when it comes to posting and sharing information regarding other peoples lives. And they really should know - how day-ruining it can be. Sure I am to blame for taking an unflattering picture where maybe i am a little tipsy or maybe i just had chips and salsa, a margarita, and a burrito and I am wearing a bathing suit and you can see all of it perfectly outlined in my abdomen....but why the heck does the world need to know? Consider yourself a good enough friend to know that i am comfortable enough around you to wear a bathing suit and take pictures, but i don't necessarily want my office manager, 3rd grade teacher, and next door neighbor seeing me all icky and or half nakey on vacation.

And seriously....No self respecting 25+ yr old should want super drunk pictures of themselves, or really horrific bad outfit choices, or plump pinchy bathing suit shots exposed to other people. The only time this is sort of funny is when it was like 5 yrs prior and it really was a funny picture. I said funny though- not unflattering..... sooo do not be confused,there is a huge difference.

Use your judgement people! Us girl are fragile little beotches.
Bad pictures = Bad Chi......and i will get you back.
:)

(oh and Katie D - if you are reading this...our little tagging war a few weeks back fell into the funny category) that picture of my 21st birthday was so awful it was great....Just wanted to clear that up)

Tuesday Forecast: Crappy With A Chance of Tears

Why does everything seem to pile up all at once?

I have had such a bad day - and eventhough I will be the first to admit that nothing "big" actually went wrong, there were so many little things that now it feels more important than it should.

Maybe it is the rain that set the tone for today - and maybe i am just being a little ultra sensitive, but for now all I have that is keeping me from really seriously crying are a warm mug of mint tea, a fresh flower arrangement on my desk, and the idea of coming home tonight and turning my fireplace on for the first time since we have bought our house.

Please let it be sunny tomorrow, with less work stress, and more happy positive stuff. Two days of "Bad mood Katie" is pretty much unbearable for anyone. Trust me.

I'm Back, I was Busy, and I am Blonde (again)!

the title pretty much says it all - I AM back from a little blog vacation.... I WAS so incredibly busy with work, and being sick, and cleaning my house, and having company, that i didn't have time to document my life on here.....and I AM officially a very un-natural yet satisfying shade of blonde ....again.

As a quick update: I had a big chunk of my family in visiting this weekend for my cousin Kelly's wedding. We all had such a great time. I just wish that my sister Lauren could have joined in too. I did get to see little Marty for the first time since December, both of my parents, Kristen, Marty's girlfriend Jessie, and of course - the main event for all of us- was another visit with my beautiful niece/ God daughter Amory.

I hosted the extended fam at our house for some football and food in between the wedding and the reception..... and let me tell you: pizza and beer should never be combined prior to wearing a cocktail dress. It was all tons of fun but when it came time to actually get joojed up for the night I kind of hated myself for combining such opposites. I am a firm believer that fancy dresses should always be worn on an empty stomach. Thank god their was some interesting fabric detail that hid my poor judgement.

I will have some more pictures to post from the weekend once my mom gets back to Florida and loads her pictures, but for now - she is still en route....so just enjoy Marty and I .

Happy windy rainy Monday
:)

NyQuil = Crack!!

So i am sick.....and not sick in the kind of nice way where you get to sleep all day, lose your appetite, miss work, and get skinny. I am sick in the way where I feel like hot garbage, but i am so busy at work that I cant take time off. So pretty much I just sit in my desk until i have to blow my nose, then i walk out into the hallway blow my nose, hope that my hearing comes back, return to my desk and wonder if i am spreading H1N1 to everybody around me. It is awesome.

The silver lining to this sickness?????......well that would be the cracked out Nyquil dreams I have been having the last couple of nights. Does this happen to you too? I take a big swig of that stuff and before i know it I feel like the scarecrow in wizard of oz on LSD and that is before I even get to sleep. That is when the real fun begins! I dreamt last night that i was at a high school football game in California (normal), then i won some contest where i got to go to the moon (okay kind of weird), but then my space shuttle landed at an outdoor arcade and i figured out a way to get money out of some machine without even having to play, but then i found out that the money was fake - So i got back in my space shuttle with my sister-in-law (who hadn't appeared in my dream until this point), then we drove sideways through a resort tennis community in Florida until a giant fish that was knocking down bridges on its way to us took a bite out of our space ship (not normal). I jumped into the water then freaked out. It was like a moat but there were shelves i could climb up on the sides. SO my now- pregnant within the last 5 minutes (not in real life - just in this portion of the dream) sister-in-law shows me how to climb out of the water and when i get out......I am in a mad dash to fold a bunch of sheets. Some of them were baby sheets, some of them weren't but it sure was important that i get all of them folded. And then i woke up...in a panic about folding sheets???

What?

Really.

That is how my brain works.

Thank you Nyquil for making me feel nuts.

I want to go home NOW....and have another one of those dreams. ha ha.

Deco-drama....

I have a fall wreath on my front door.

Without a doubt, this means that I am officially old as rocks.....and Pat totally agrees. He thinks that we are too young to have a seasonally festive home. With the exception of a Christmas tree for a Christmas he thinks that we should stay away from the holiday decorations until we have kids. DO you agree?

I like to be creative and have a cute house....but I don't want to be cheesy. Are cute wreaths cool - or have I totally lost it?

Easy Chicken Marsala w/ Sage and Cremini Mushrooms

There are few things more exciting than finding a recipe online that sounds delicious and then having every single ingredient available in your house without having to make an extra trip to the grocery store. This was my luck at 4:45pm yesterday.

The coolest part? ....I even had fresh sage growing in my mini herb garden on my patio!!! I mean seriously? I felt like such a diva.

You have to try this this simple recipe that I found on http://dinnertonight.marthastewart.com/
All of their recipes are easy and fast....so if chicken marsala isn't your thing - they have plenty of other ideas for your dinner too!

Ingredients
Serves 4
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
Coarse salt and ground pepper
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (6 to 8 ounces each)
1 tablespoon olive oil
10 ounces cremini mushrooms, trimmed and thinly sliced
1 shallot, minced
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh sage, plus more for garnish
1/2 cup sweet Marsala wine
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon butter

Directions
Place flour in a shallow bowl; season generously with salt and pepper. Dredge each piece of chicken in flour, shaking off excess.
In a large skillet, heat oil over medium. Add chicken, and cook until golden on the outside and opaque throughout, 8 to 10 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate, and cover with aluminum foil to keep warm (reserve skillet).
Add mushrooms, shallot, sage, and 1/4 cup water to skillet; season with salt and pepper. Cook, tossing frequently, until mushrooms are tender, 3 to 5 minutes. Add wine and cream; simmer over medium-high until slightly thickened, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat, and stir in butter; season with salt and pepper.
Top chicken with mushroom sauce, and garnish with sage.

I love her.....and you are going to be seeing a lot of this little muffin!

Ohhhhhhh!

ahhhhhhhhhhhh!

oh my gosh.........

Gorgeousssssssss!

WOwwwwwww!

Serrrrrrrrrrrrriouslyyyyy?????

...Yep she really is THAT cute!

(more pics with Aunt Katie and Uncle Pat to follow)

She's Here!!!! Amory Colette Dowd....my beautiful niece!

This little cutie arrived 09/03/09 at 1:15 ish in the morning....She is 7lbs 6oz, 20.5 inches long, and absolutely beautiful!!

Her little tongue sticking out in this picture just melts my heart!

Kristen and Amory are both doing really well. I can't wait to see the whole fam-bamily this weekend.
Congrats you guys!!