It's never as easy as just throwin' on a costume...

Y'all, it is COLD this morning.


I get that I live in Boston, I should be prepared for cold, etc. But I have to say I don't think there are many people who expect to have to scrape ICE off of their windshields at 6am when leaving for work. I've also had a chill since I got out of bed and have yet to shake it. The fact that my morning shuttle had no heat likely contributed to this annoyance.

Also, my eyes? They cannot stay open. Being a Texan, I stayed up until 1am to watch the Rangers game... it was ugly and stressful and intense, and it made me wish I were in my bed asleep, yet I could not. stop. watching. So I went to bed at 1:30 and woke up at 4:50 to get ready for work to come in early. Yes, your math is correct-- I'm currently running on a whopping 3 hours and 20 minutes of sleep. My body? It is le tired. Honestly, I haven't had much sleep in over a week. Since the move, we've just been constantly going going going, either running errands or unpacking boxes or racing all over hell and back for pieces of our Halloween costumes...

...which is what we spent last night doing.

In the 38 degree pouring rain/sleet.

I love how you try to allot how much time you'll need to do something, and then it ends up taking about three hours longer than anticipated. That was our evening yesterday. Lists were made and such, but when it came down to it... it just took so. much. longer. than I was able to handle. Like at one point I felt as if I might just sit down on the floor of Target, crack open a bag of Cheetos and cry.

I did not break down in Target, we soldiered on, and by 8:30 we finally made it home, where I promptly turned on the heat and took a scalding hot shower. We ate leftovers, turned on "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!" (because of course I DVRd it, a week before my parents started calling me daily to remind me that it would be airing "at 8pm YOUR TIME Katie, on ABC. 8pm your time, NOT Texas time, okay?")...


... and set about carving BRIAN'S FIRST PUMPKIN EVER.

I'm not kidding. He insists that he has never in his life carved a pumpkin. Considering this is our first holiday in our first apartment, I insisted/demanded we start a new tradition, and so away we carved.

The good pics are on my camera, so for now you'll have to take my word that there is plenty documentation of his initial gag to the smell of the pumpkin's insides, his gags as he pulled out the seeds, and his victorious face when he realized that carving a pumpkin really is all I'd amped it up to be:

Any guesses which is mine?

This weekend is jam. packed. of things to do, which already makes me more tired (and it's only 8:23am-- gonna be a looong day). We're going to Brian's cousin's Halloween party tonight and I've offered to bring two appetizers. Considering I'm feeding lots of boys and girls who will be partaking in le beverages and such, I figured comfort food is the way to go:

Hot Dog Mummies
(let's be serious, these are mainly for me)


and

Seven Layer Dip, the Halloween Edition
(my plan is to pipe the sour cream around the top and drag a toothpick through it to make a web-- add a plastic spider and I'm set!)


In my quest to find the perfect Halloween snacks, I also came across some of the most disgusting ideas I've ever seen:

Boogers on a Stick


Kitty Litter Cake


And other tempting tastes such as Hairball Salad with Saliva Dressing (avocado, alfalfa sprouts, Italian dressing) and Day-Old Bathwater (frozen lemonade, 7-Up, rainbow sherbert). Y'all. I would 100% be gagging far too much to successfully even attempt to make any of this mess.

Now, give me a Sausage Ball Monster Eye, and I'm in


Alright, my lovelies. I'm off to Starbucks to find fuel because I am running SO LOW on energy as of now.

Have a happy (and safe) Halloween weekend!!


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Oh, how PINTERESTING!

Good morning, my lovelies. Today is one of my favorite blog days of the week-- Pinteresting Wednesday! I went with a random mish-mash of my favorite Pins from the week-- enjoy!

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love this-- just reading it makes me hungry to think of all of the deliciousness that could grace this platter!

Source: hgtv.com via Katie on Pinterest



the perfect southern kitchen.




perfect for the empty spaces i need to fill!




love the stagger of the shelves-- i don't naturally think of details like that!




so true-- on my DIY list.


Source: etsy.com via Katie on Pinterest



so texas can always be close to my heart.


Source: etsy.com via Katie on Pinterest



ordering this for the bedroom pronto.




so cute-- everyone can use a dash of color in the kitchen!


Source: tumblr.com via Katie on Pinterest



love!



i. die.




the kick in the ass i need at times. okay, a lot of the time.


And lastly...

Source: google.com via Kassie on Pinterest



... a little hint to our Halloween costumes this year :)

Have a happy Wednesday!!
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Moving is not for the faint of heart.

I can't quite recall just how much I'd mentioned our impending move here on the blog, but in case I didn't... we moved this weekend.

It was... intense.

We kicked off the event by picking up our UHaul at 8am, then started to pack it up. We had to book it because both our sectional and cable were due to be delivered/set-up between 11 and 1, and we still needed to sign our lease and make it to an appointment for Brian by 2pm.

I've never moved so fast. Truly. And that was going UP a flight of stairs with everything. We managed to get everything moved in and made all of the necessary stops, then headed back to try to start unpacking a bit. We rewarded ourselves with Bertucci's pizza and rolls on the floor of the living room and promptly collapsed into bed around 11.

While one would think that the day after a move should be reserved for unpacking and settling in... you haven't had the pleasure of meeting my own rationale. A few weeks ago I had registered to run a 5-miler Saturday morning, thinking that all of the walking and moving the day before would prep me for the race. Minus the exhaustion that morning, I was pretty pumped and felt prepared for the Cliff Challenge. Yes, my friends, you read that correctly-- not only did I sign up to run 5 miles, I signed up to run 5 miles of CLIFFS! And INCLINES! And ROLLING "HILLS."

I was still totally all smiles when I passed my photographer after the first two miles (and big cliff #1!):
But by the end, I was DONE. The last two cliffs just about did me in, and when I hit mile four (downhill) I had the worst cramp of my life. Having never really had bad cramps while running, I had no idea how to remedy it, plus I was running downhill, so time my feet struck the pavement it felt like I was being stabbed in my right side. AWFUL.

When I finally made it to the finish line I realized something: apparently this specific 5 miler was for the big runners, as in those who average 8 minute miles. This 10 minute miler was one of the last to finish-- talk about a blow to the ego. It was one of those really frustrating runs where I knew that mentally and physically I was prepared to run a great race, but between the cramps and the heat (we ran at 10, compared to my usual 5:30 or 6am) and the awareness that I was running alone and was one of the last 30 or so to finish... it wore me down. I was so happy to finally cross the finish line and wrapped it up with a time of 50:42. Annoying moment- desperately searching for water while the 8-minute milers were casually chowing down on their hotdogs at the post-race cookout. The BBQ smells? They were too much.

As if I wasn't already exhausted enough, we hopped in the car and headed to Ikea for a marathon shopping trip to find random odds and ends plus a TV stand and bedroom dresser. Two and a half hours and four (mediocre) Swedish meatballs later, we loaded the Jeep down and headed back to the apartment. Inspired by a lovely glass of chardonnay, I began to unpack the box containing the pieces of our dresser. And I unpacked, and unpacked, and unpacked. 972 pieces later, I was in the middle of the floor with more cheap "wood" and tiny screws than I knew what to do with.

After shoving a dresser support into the wrong spot and having Brian sternly correct it/me, I shed some tears while he ordered our Thai food and mixed up our cocktails (Apple Cider Bourbon, oh yes indeed). Full and slightly tipsy, we proceeded to put together the TV stand and pushed the dresser aside to finish at a time TBD.

We woke up Sunday and immediately acknowledged that should our furniture fall apart some day, we'd blame it on the bourbon, rather than the average American's inability to adequately interpret diagrams such as this:

We headed to BJs to stock up on essentials like Chobani, chicken breasts and Tide, then I dropped Brian off and headed out on my own to Trader Joe's, Target, and the grocery store. It is a rule I have for myself to never even consider the stores on a Sunday, but I had no choice. Three hours and half a bar of TJ's dark chocolate later, I made it home with my purchases. Did I stop to take a breath? NO WAY MAN. I went straight into the kitchen to start cooking dinner and unpacking and organizing. When I finally collapsed with my supper on the floor at 8:30, I was beyond exhausted... yet had that eerie feeling of "I can barely hold my head up but at least the kitchen's organized!"

Work was tough yesterday and I went non-stop, especially after being out on Friday for moving day, and when I walked in to the apartment after work, I might have lost it a little. All of the boxes and clutter and THINGS just lying EVERYWHERE had worn me down. After grilling Brian about why he was sitting down and not emptying boxes, he reminded me that he didn't sign up to date Hitler and kindly suggested that I head to the gym for a bit.

And so I did. Three miles and an Us Weekly later, I was a different gal. I went back, apologized, showered, made supper, and put our closet together.

AND DECORATED FOR HALLOWEEN!!

My stock of spookiness is pretty low, considering I've always been limited to decorating in my bedroom, but now that I have the space I am SO expanding... and it's lovely.

Tonight I'm for real going home to relax and take a breath and watch TV and lounge on the couch... because it's our apartment and I'll do what I want! :)



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Oh, how PINTERESTING Wednesday

Good morning, my lovelies!

Just to bring you up to speed...
  • Our building had a fire on the 3rd floor yesterday and we had to evacuate, via the stairs, from the 12th floor... then take the stairs halfway back up. Hey there, unexpected midday glow/workout/sweat!
  • While walking into the work kitchen to eat up my fancy Lean Cuisine yesterday, I slipped on a puddle of water that someone had spilled and failed to clean up and went DOWN to the floor. Like the deepest lunge of my entire life. The kitchen was semi-empty but still. The pride? It was hurt.
  • Every day after work I catch a shuttle for half an hour that takes me to my train, which I then also take for about half an hour. This is routine and typically goes off without a hitch. Yesterday, as if my day needed a cherry on top, as we were heading towards a very busy overpass in 5 o'clock traffic, I realized that we were now coasting, rather than driving/running on power. Long story short, all of the passengers had to get off of the bus and walk to the train. Not the biggest tragedy but still, after they day I'd had, I couldn't help but maniacally laughing to myself (inside, I promise) at the circumstances.
  • We went to look at two more furniture stores last night, on the hunt for The Great and Comfortable Couch with Non-Tacky/Annoying Fabric.
If you have succeeded in finding this couch/loveseat combo for yourself, please let me know. Everything seems to be made of carpet, of fake/plastic leather, or of microsuede, which is apparently the "in thing" yet drives me nuts at the thought of the fabric always looking so unsmooth. Each time Brian has suggested this option, I assure him that if we go that route, he'll undoubtedly find me hand-combing the couch at 3am. There's also an additional fabric that I refuse to entertain which resembles the texture of a horse saddle. Nixed.
  • Today is technically my Friday-- woo! Brian's having his wisdom teeth out tomorrow so I'll be home all day playing nurse, then I'm only working half a day Friday to be home with him in the afternoon. This day? It is much needed.
  • Tonight is trivia night. As much as I used to hate it, it's become a fun little date night for us... LOVE!


Today, per usual, I'm linking up with The Vintage Apple for Oh, how PINTERESTING Wednesday (i.e. my go-to when I have NOTHING to blog about mid-week).

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A potential solution to my search for something to go above our headboard.


Source: etsy.com via Katie on Pinterest



Please, oh please, may I be blessed with a little girl someday so she can be Ms. Hepburn for Halloween!




This would be super cute at a wedding but could really work for any kind of get-together... though I know my Aunt Linda will always go for the red Solo cups with our names written in Sharpie.




Caramel. Pretzel. Bites.


Source: imgfave.com via Katie on Pinterest



Red. Peeptoe. Les bows.
I may live in Boston with snow but I promise I could find a reason to bust these babies out for the holidays!




Delightfully difficult in every little way.




So glad I've found this feeling again!


Source: etsy.com via Katie on Pinterest



I absolutely DIE over this. Cannot stop peeking at it. Ohmyword.




LOVE this for a Christmas card!


Happy Wednesday, my lovelies!
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Mish-mash Monday.

Good morning, my lovelies. I have a suspicious feeling that 90% of you are reading this from the comfort of your bed/couch/cozy reading chair, decked out in your yoga pants with a good cup of coffee and Good Morning America playing in the background. Why, you may ask, would I assume that?

Because I'm convinced that 99.2% of America's working folk have today off from work, while I do not. If I DID have today off, that is exactly how you would find me.


Because I'm not bitter, not bitter at all, we'll move on to my Manic Monday Mish-mash of Musings... how about THAT?

*A woman sitting in the seat in front of me on the shuttle this morning was compulsively, noisily eating Goldfish crackers. Don't get me wrong- I love a good serving of Goldfish. These are in fact one of my "trigger foods" that I can only manage if handed a snack baggie of pre-portioned out crackers. If I take that little paper/foil bag into my own two hands, nary a fish will survive. However, at 8am on an otherwise silent bus, the noise of the crunching? It was a wee bit annoying. Then again, that could just be my PMS talking.

*I'm thinking of running a 5 miler next Saturday morning... as in the day after we move. Is this nuts? We can't move out of our condo on the weekends, so we both have Friday off to do the big stuff, like moving the bed and dressers. We have no living room furniture to speak of, so everything else is just boxes, which we really don't think will take that long. I could totally swing a 5 miler that morning, considering that's my average Saturday morning workout anyways, right?

Honesty is appreciated here, my fellow running folk.

*Fall weather to me equals casseroles. Creamy, comforting, carb-y casseroles. The whole healthy living/eating/breathing business tends to put a damper on recipes that include such culinary delicacies as creama mushroom soup (I've never once properly said "Cream of Mushroom soup," have you?). My Mama would probably be proud to hear me say that I feel that I am of the belief that though I may not use it as an ingredient all that frequently, I am confident that any recipe gone wrong can be righted again with the addition of that condensed deliciousness. A recipe I'm reading just referred to it as "gooey, creamy southern béchamel (that's Campbell's Cream of Mushroom soup for those of y'all with a more sophisticated palate" ...and I just about died. Southerners speak the truth!

Anywho, I have a BIG craving now for any/all of the following:
King Ranch Chicken
Chicken and Rice Casserole
Chicken Tetrazzini
Swiss Stuffing Chicken
Enchiladas
Poppyseed Chicken
Broccoli and Rice Casserole
Green Bean Casserole

Again... this could be my PMS talking.

*Considering we move next Friday, we finally made the trip to look at living room furniture this weekend. When Brian came across a loveseat with a console between the two seats, this was his response: "Katie! Look! Seriously. There's a beer cooler in the couch!"

I promise y'all that he is a very intelligent and properly raised young man. I suppose man-brain instantly thinks that a hard plastic box that opens and closes is a cooler for les bevs. Boyfriend was thrilled. I could not stop laughing-- as lovely as this convenience may seem, I can imagine it could inevitably only lead to this:

If you'd like a mid-day flashback to my fav show of the 90s, go right ahead and enjoy:

http://youtu.be/mQNc3xFyd48
(YouTube will NOT let me embed this clip, but if you'd like a giggle, go watch... NOW.)

*AND I just found out I get to leave early today, so with that I bid y'all farewell!

'Til later, my lovelies!
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Oh, how PINTERESTING!! Wednesday

Fall, oh fall-- how do I love thee? Let me count the ways. Once I decided that my Pin theme for today would be "fall and all of it's gorgeous fabulousness" (totally simple enough for a theme), my first impulse was to find a poem to kick us off. Having been an English major, my first thought was to head towards one of the oldie-but-goody poets:

The stripped and shapely
Maple grieves
The ghosts of her
Departed leaves.

The ground is hard,
As hard as stone.
The year is old,
The birds are flown.

And yet the world,
In its distress,
Displays a certain
Loveliness---

A Child's Calendar, November - John Updike


How can you NOT be feelin' fall after reading that?
Shall we Pin?

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I can feel an Autumn-in-New-England road trip being proposed...




One the best quotes from one of my favorite movies ev-er.




Adoreeblay! Argyle pumpkins have stolen my heart.




I'd be lying if I said the change of seasons isn't one of the top 5 reasons why I moved to New England.




Pictures of random people whom I don't know kind of creep me out... but I'm betting this gal is really cozy in that sweater and is loving whatever she's sipping out of that mug! Fall cozy, indeed.


Source: bhg.com via Katie on Pinterest



Simple yet pretty way to decorate a table... and to use some of the bajillion apples we always end up coming home with after apple picking.




I feel that it is my fall duty to make these-- Pumpkin Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Buttercream Frosting.




This little ensemble is in my closet just WAITING for its fall debut.

Happy Wednesday, my lovelies!
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time to refuel.

Do you ever feel like you've just been in a big slump? When it feels/seems like absolutely nothing is flowing the way it should be? If you haven't, I commend you-- won't you please tell me your secret solutions to avoiding this?

I personally have been known to get in a funk and milk it for all it's worth.

I use it as an excuse to act unkindly to the people closest to me:
Why does frustration seem to release so easy onto those who know us best? If I'm having a bad day, the boyfriend or my Mama and Daddy are most likely going to get the brunt of my attitude (bless them).
"So what if I'm in a bad mood. It's just one of those days, so get off my back."
(And yes, I did just cringe typing that because I know for a fact that I've uttered those words.)

I use it as an excuse to be unhealthy:
I'm not in the mood for the gym today. People just annoy me and I feel fat in my gym clothes and my shoes are too tight and my shins kind of hurt. Since I'm not going to the gym, I have time to make something really good for dinner... Creamy pasta? Tacos? Anything that goes well with a mashed potato? In the meantime, I'll snag a cheese cup and bag of Fritos from the cart on my way to the bus... BAD DAY FIXED!
(And yes, even after all of my ventures and successes with living a healthy lifestyle, I still have moments where I revert back to food being my comfort. I don't like it, and I stop it asap, but it happens.)

I use it as an excuse to not put as much effort into my appearance:
Now y'all, don't interpret that to an extreme-- I am a TEXAN, after all. While I shower every single morning, wash/dry/straighten my hair, and put on makeup, there are days when I just don't care as much- the hair goes into a poofy bun and my outfits are not all that hot (not that I'd dress hot to go to my office job, but there are days I'm scrapin' the bottom of the barrel for outfit choices).

Rather than hem and haw and continue to hold a death grip on my mood, I'm opting to find solutions to pull me out of it. Genius, right?


MY PEOPLE.
I need to make more of an effort with my boy, family, and friends. When a certain male someone kicks his dirty clothes to rest directly next to the laundry hamper, take a deep breath and count to five before freaking out. Would I want to be nagged constantly about little things like that? Obviously not. Once that rage of internal aggravation passes and I no longer see red, the moment has passed and the shirt on the ground is no longer a big deal. I will keep repeating this little mantra.


When the mom and dad call, even if I don't feel like being chatty, I will pick up the phone and talk. I live too far away from them to miss a chance to catch up and chit chat. Most of the time, these little chats can pick my spirits up all on their own.


THE DIET AND THE BODY.
This is already improving. Yesterday, after being pumped for Spin class all day, I tried to convince myself I was too tired, too sore, I was way too early for the class... and so on. I ended up running two miles and then taking the 50 minute Spin class afterwards. It is AMAZING how fab a good workout can make you feel. Brian was waiting for me when I came out and, as exhausted as I was, the first thing I said was "I have MISSED that-- it felt so good to be back!"

And it did.

I love Spin but I tend to put all of my other priorities ahead of making the classes- no more, my friends! My mind is getting back to the place that it used to be, where if I'm going to continue to be successful, I have to have my entire being 100% involved in the whole process. That doesn't mean obsessing- it means being aware. I tend to get angry when I realize that, thinking "Why don't skinny people have to care so much? Why do they just get to eat what they want, skip the gym when they want, etc.?"

Right about then it clicks that losing weight and staying in shape is HARD. If it were a walk in the park to follow a great diet and be perfectly physically fit all of the time, a lot more people would be taking the stroll. But it's not a walk in the park. It's a 6 mile run in the rain; a half hour spent climbing to nowhere on the Stairmaster; staring at yourself in the mirror as you pedal your legs off and climb invisible mountains on a Spin bike. It's making the effort while out to be particular about how your food is prepared; taking the time to measure and weigh, as annoying as it might be; it's learning about the differences in foods that fuel you, versus foods that are just empty calories.

As frustrating as this can all be at times, the end results are SO worth it. On grumpy days, I can lose sight of that, but I've finally realized that I'm the one in control. Scary, yet true. So today, instead of snagging a bag of chips to buffer my mood, I'm going to buck up and remind myself that while I'm going out tonight to enjoy Mexican food with Caitlin, I'm going to be right back at the gym tomorrow. It is all about the balance, my lovelies.

And these, because they're totally one of my material goals:

lululemon groove pants


THE WARDROBE.
Confession: I hate spending money on clothes that I can't wear to both work and in my real life. I try to buy tops that are versatile, cardigans that can be taken from the office to a weekend date, skirts and sweater dresses that are cute anywhere, etc. Pants? Hate them. I am never going to wake up on a Saturday and think "Ooh, I can't wait to pull on my dressy black pants today!"

And so I'm resolving to spend a little money on new clothes. I'm shopping the Ann Taylor Loft sale like it's my J-O-B. Here are some of my favs (I had to Pin them and then embed them because the Loft site won't let you save pics):

Source: loft.com via Katie on Pinterest



i have tons of fall-ish tops that would go great with chocolate-colored pants


Source: loft.com via Katie on Pinterest



wide leg pants - love


Source: loft.com via Katie on Pinterest



love for under cardis at work


Source: loft.com via Katie on Pinterest



the color is perfect!


Source: loft.com via Katie on Pinterest



a good cardi can turn any outfit around.


Source: loft.com via Katie on Pinterest



cute for under sweaters and such.


Source: loft.com via Katie on Pinterest



love this color!


Alright, friends. I'm now pumped to shop til I drop this weekend, margs & Mexican food, and going home afterwards to curl up in my PJs with a good book. Love when days turn around!

'Til later, my lovelies!
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