iPhone Foto Friday - It's My Birthday! :)

Yay! Today is my birthday!!!!

I'm the big 2 4 now! yikes!

I've already had quite a few fun things happen for my birthday! On Tuesday Stephanie made me an AWESOME funfetti cake with pink funfetti frosting which I had NEVER seen before!!!

It was deeelish! Thanks Steph :)

She also spoiled me with a bunch of fun baking goods! She obviously knows me too well!!

Then yesterday was my "work" birthday, which was the last day I was at work before my real birthday. The girls at work were great and brought me flowers and cake and even took me out to lunch and showered me with gifts! :)

One wonderful co-worker who was off yesterday even surprised me and had flowers delivered to work!! I was so surprised! They were beautiful and smelled wonderful!!
Thanks Bethany!! :)

Our Stock Room Manager is this wonderful Mexican lady named Lala, I love her. We always talk in Spanish because she is determined to have me bilingual! Anyways, she is just so precious and I love her - did I already mention that? Well I do.

She went to this great Mexican Bakery and had a birthday cake made for me! And the poor thing didn't know how to spell Katie! So sweet though! :)

Lala also brought me these beautiful flowers, which I put in a vase as soon as I got home to my parent's house last night, aren't they pretty?!

I felt like I was driving a florist delivery car on my way from work to my parent's house because I had so many pretty flowers in my car! It was great!

So that concludes my 24 Birthday Edition of iPhone Foto Friday!!
~~~
Annnnnndddd as if all of those great birthday treats weren't enough, I am so thankful and EXCITED to have Today, Saturday, and Sunday off this weekend to celebrate my birthday with my family and friends! We have a few really fun things planned so get ready for a fun update next week!

Have a great Memorial Day Weekend Everyone!! :)

-Katie

scatter brained

SO much to do.
SO little time.

Birthday in two days - no plans.
Frustrating.

May 24th was my 2 year anniversary of my college graduation.
I am not in my desired field.
Depressing.

I don't think I'm having a quarter life crisis... but I wouldn't be surprised!

-Katie

Fun Weekend!!

On Saturday I had the Day off so Josh and I headed in to SF to do a little shopping! I haven't been shopping in forever and I wanted to get some new spring/summer clothes, plus my birthday is coming up this week but it will be raining, so we wanted to take advantage of the nice weather!

going across the bridge!

A cute little house on Lombard :)

haha couldn't help myself

We of course headed over to the Westfield Mall on Market St.

And I did quite a bit of damage - Happy Birthday to ME!

I got a few shirts at Aerie

A Vera Bradley Beach Towel - perfect for the gym!

A fun scarf from Old Navy!

And I hit the jackpot at Ann Taylor LOFT! I just love this ruffle tank and they were only $11 because they were having an additional 30% off sale! So I got one in every color! haha

So cute!

I also got two cute high waist skirts, this one is made of an organic cotton feeling fabric

And then this one is more silky and has pockets!!

After a brief spending spree, we headed home, but on our way out of the city some little butt wipes threw a firecracker at my car!!! I wanted to kill them, they are lucky it all wiped off!

View looking back at the city!

After we got back Josh and I went for a bike ride and then headed to our favorite restaurant Flavor!

On Sunday we had our Monthly Work Activity at our house, we had a pasta feed/game night. It was so much fun and we all laughed our butts off!

All in all, we had a WONDERFUL weekend! I hope yours was great too!

-Katie

iPhone Foto Friday

Last night Josh's sister Amber was driving us to their hockey game which is about an hour away. All I know is one minute we were cruising along and the next minute this was happening...

Whoopsie, I guess you aren't supposed to go 79 mph in a 65mph! haha

Happy Friday!!

-Katie

I've been a very bad blogger, but you love me anyways :)

So I have been stashing my awards away for quite some time now, hiding them in a deep dark draft post. But alas I finally have enough time to properly pass on all of the following awards and partake in telling you 32,048,320,954 bajillion more things that you don't know about me! haha

I'm so thankful for all of these awards, and I apologize for taking so long to do this post! Bad Bad Bad Blogger, I know!

So let's get started!

The first award is the Beautiful Blogger Award! This was bestowed upon me by Steph over at Watching Airplanes! Her blog is a crack up, if you aren't a current read of hers you should become one! She has a pretty crazy neighbor!

The rules for this award state that I need to list 7 things about myself and pass it along to 7 Beautiful Bloggers!
1. I had cheerios for breakfast
2. My favorite candy is Sour Punch Straws (I'm salivating just thinking about them)
3. I'm having my windshield replaced AS I TYPE!
4. Josh and I have the same last name, just spelled differently
5. I wouldn't work out if I didn't have the guilt of paying for my gym membership
6. In the winter I often go weeks without shaving my legs - sorry Josh!
7. I don't think a home is a Home without a fireplace

Here are some beautiful bloggers that I am passing this on to:
1. Mrs. B at From Our Place to Yours
2. Jess Bay at One Step at a Time
3. Kelly and Sara at Peace.Love.Taco Bell
4. Jules at Chic and Pink
5. Noel at Issued to a Soldier
6. Heather at Mrs. Southern Bride
7. Erin at A Tiger's Tale

As if Steph wasn't gracious enough, she also gave me this awesome award!

Here's the rules:
• Thank the person who gave this to you.
• Copy the logo and place it on your blog. Link the Person who nominated you.
• Name ten (I'm doing 7) fun facts about yourself.

Fun Facts:
1. I like Wal-Mart's Cotton Scented Candles
2. I don't see the point in spending $40 on a candle
3. I love playing with fire
4. The bathroom at work is ALWAYS messy, and we have a store full of girls - go figure
5. I drink Mon-A-Vie every night before bed - my Mom is a Mon-A-Vie lady haha
6. My birthday is on a holiday weekend so it makes it hard to go anywhere without reserving it months in advance
7. My hair is wavy, but I straighten it or make it curly, I never leave it in its "natural" state haha

And now to pass it along:
1. Jules at Chic and Pink
2. Chocolate Lover at A Chocolate Lovers Confessions
3. Jamie at Pickled in Pink
4. Erin at A Tiger's Tale
5. Expectant Girl at The Sand is Different Here
6. Karie at Wife of a Wounded Marine
7. Mrs. B at From Our Place To Yours

Next up is the Blogger BFF award! Given to me by the lovely Sarah Ann over at Misadventures in Matrimony!

So the rules are to:
1. Thank and link the person that sent it to you
2. Present this award to at least five people and explain why you chose them for this award
3. Copy and past the award on your blog

My Five Blogger BFF's would have to be:
1. Ivy at Little Woman, Little Home
2. Steph at Watching Airplanes
3. Mary Ellen at Mare's Mind
4. Sarah Ann at Misadventures in Matrimony - I know she gave it to me, but she is a BFF!!
5. Jennifer at Crazy Shenanigans

Ahhh the Sunshine Award! Such a sweet award given to me by Selma over at Crazy Little World of Mine and Christy at Delightfully Domestic!

The best thing about this award... you don't need to do anything...just look at the flower and be happy and all. If you want you can pass it on, but it's not a must. I just thought it was a cute thing and I wanted to give this happy looking flower to all of you! ;)
So here you go ladies!
1. Sonja at For the Love of Stilettos
2. Expectant Girl at The Sand is Different Here
3. Sarah Ann at Misadventures in Matrimony
4. Lis at Beach Bum and Baby

Selma also gave me the You're Going Places Buddy Award!

"This award means you're really going places, Baby. You'll still be blogging about your great adventures 10 years from now, and I'll still be reading them."

The rules for this award are that I have to post where I would like to be in 10 years, and then pass this award along to 10 other bloggy buddies of mine.

In 10 years: I hope to be well on my way to starting a family, having a job that I love, owning a home, and living the American Dream!

I'd like to pass this on to the follow lovely ladies and ask what are your plans for 10 years from now?
1. Sarah at Misadventures in Matrimony
2. Jen at The McCradys
3. Ivy at Little Woman, Little Home
4. Steph at Watching Airplanes
5. Lola at Alis Volat Propriis
6. Jennster at Jennster's Blog
7. Nicole at Summer is My Favorite
8. Lis at Beach Bum and Baby
9. Jules at Chic and Pink
10. Erin at A Tiger's Tale

And if Selma couldn't get ANY MORE GENEROUS! She gave me yet another award! The Beautiful Blog Award!

For this award I have to nominate seven beautiful ladies and their blogs...so here it is...
1. Mary Ellen at Mare's Mind
2. Kate at Sometimes Life is Messy
3. Steph at Watching Airplanes
4. Shanna at Shanna's Secrets
5. Steph at The Adventures of John and Steph
6. Megs at Megs7827
7. Jules at Chic and Pink

Jules over at Chic and Pink was also kind enough to give me the Stiletto Award! So Saucy!

Here are the rules for the Stiletto Award:
1. Display your Stiletto Badge of Honor on your sidebar! Wear it with pride…
“Heels this high are not meant for clubbing or walking long distances in. They are mainly used for getting from the living room to the bedroom, from the car to the restaurant, or for a short stroll along the catwalk.”

2. BRAG ABOUT IT! -write a post about your award.
3. SAY THANKS! - include a link to the friend who nominated you for the award.
4. SHARE THE LOVE! -nominate 5-10 blogs that you feel deserve the award.
Include links to them in your post -and- leave them a comment to let them know they are nominated.
5. DO WHAT YOU DO! - keep at it. Keep inspiring and encouraging and sharing your life! We love it and we thank you!!

So here are Five Fabulous Bloggers:
1. Ivy at Little Woman, Little Home
2. Jennster at Jennster's Blog
3. Jamie at Pickled in Pink
4. Nicole at Summer is My Favorite
5. Hailey at Destined For Royalty

Home Stretch I PROMISE! See I told you I was a bad bad blogger!!

Jennifer at Crazy Shenanigans and Jules over at Chic and Pink gave me the colorful I love Your Blog Award! Yay!

Rules:

1. List 10 Things I Love
2. Pass it onto 10 other blogs I love
Things I love:
1. Josh
2. My family
3. My Friends
4. The Jetta
5. Relaxing and watching my DVR
6. Sweat pants
7. The feeling I get after going to the gym
8. My iPhone
9. Traveling
10. Shopping :)

I'd like to pass this along to:
1. Selma at Crazy little World of Mine
2. Sara at That's Sassy
3. Jen at The McCradys
4. Christy at Delightfully Domestic
5. Sarah Ann at Sarah Ann's Bon Mot
6. Cassi at Cleverly Disguised as A Responsible Adult
7. Steph at The Adventures of Jon and Steph
8. Sonja at For the Love of Stilettos
9. Jessica at ...And Baby Makes 3
10. Jessica at French Kiss

And last but NOT least, I was awarded the Sweet Blog award by Erin at A Tiger's Tale!

The rules say that I have to nominate 10 people and comment on their blogs to let them know they've won the award! :)

So here we go!
1. Mary Ellen at Mare's Mind
2. Sara at That's Sassy
3. Jodie at That's What we Do in Maine
4. D.A.R. at Just Another Day in Our Midwest Paradise
5. Shanna at Shanna's Secrets
6. Megs at Megs7827
7. Steph at The Adventures of Jon and Steph
8. Jen at The McCradys
9. Cassi at Cleverly Disguised as a Responsible Adult
10. Selma at Crazy Little World of Mine

Thank you SO VERY MUCH to everyone who gave me an award! I promise to not let them pile up like this EVER AGAIN!!!!

Have a great day!!

-Katie

p.s. sorry I didn't comment each of you letting you know you have an award, but after all of that linking I need a break!! haha

Don't Smoke in My Front Yard!

We live close to a high school in a very cute town home development. I like it a lot, it is really safe and cute! But as of lately we have been having an issue with teenage boys coming in our Circle and smoking pot. I assume they think because they are tucked back into our town home circle that they are safe from being caught, but sorry buckaroos, pot smells pretty strong and this nose is not a fan of the stench!

So yesterday I was getting ready to go to the gym and I could smell the smell of skunk, GROSS! I looked out of our bedroom window and of course- there they were, the 3 delinquents smoking pot out side of our house.

So I did what any good citizen would do - called the cops! haha

The police of course didn't show up in time so the delinquents were finished smoking and started to walk out of our circle towards the park behind our house. So I called the dispatcher back and let her know.

I was Sad. I was disappointed. I saw the potential for a great picture blog coming - but it never did!

So I went on my way to the gym, did my thing and when I was driving home I noticed a cop car driving the opposite direction. I took a quick glance and I saw the kid in the white sweatshirt in the back seat! Then three cars later was another cop car, with the kid in the black and orange sitting in the back seat. This time I got a good look at him, he looked scared shitless!!!

That's right punks! Don't smoke weed, and do NOT smoke weed in front of my house! You should be ashamed of yourselves! Your poor parents probably have no idea what kind of mischief you are getting in to - but now they will!

I know it was mean of me to tattle, but if I was their parent and I had no clue that my child was going around smoking pot with a band of hooligans I would HOPE that someone would be responsible enough to turn them in so I could put a stop to the nonsense. Although I would like to think that I will be involved enough in my child's life to prevent something like this - but you never know.

So moral of the story: don't smoke pot in front of my house because I hate the smell, I am a rule follower, and I WILL call the cops on you. I hope you had fun explaining this one to your parents you little a-holes!!!

muahahahaha!

Happy Hump Day!

-Katie

Post Secret Event - Holy Moly

Saturday night Josh and I attended the much anticipated (on my part) Post Secret Event on campus! Let me just say that I could write a book on the event, there was such a broad range of emotions, stories, and people - it was a lot to take in and such a great experience! Here are some pictures from the event! :)

My good friend Angelina introducing Frank Warren
Frank telling about how he started the project, what it means to him, and sharing unseen secrets, or 'Secret Secrets' as he called them
Frank signing my book! After the show we waited in line for 45 min, but he signed EVERY last book :) After he signed my book we hung out and walked to the parking lot with him and my old coworkers
My former boss Bruce, Frank Warren, and Angelina
Angelina and Myself!

I honestly did not think I would get emotional during the event, but at times it was really sad. Towards the end he opened the mic up for people in the audience (around 1,000 people) to come up to share a secret. About 15 people shared, and it was so hard to hear some of their secrets. Ranging from thoughts on suicide, loosing a loved one, to saving themselves in times of despair - along with one or two cute and happy secrets. (and some guy read the secret I found in the book at the bookstore!! He ended up buying the book and shared the secret!) Watching these people share their most personal thoughts while crying and in front of a huge audience was really moving. But even more so, it made me fear for our country and how many unstable people there are amongst us.

One of Frank Warren's main goals with Post Secret is suicide prevention and awareness. All it takes is one person asking someone who is suicidal "how are you doing?" and genuinely listening and caring to show them that someone cares. Often times we are too wrapped up in ourselves or are unsure how to deal with someone who is having suicidal thoughts, but there are plenty of resources, and just being there for the person can often save their life.

Again, if you haven't checked out the Post Secret website or the books, I really suggest that you do. And if you are lucky enough to be near one of his book tour stops I recommend going, it was a really amazing and eye opening event!

-Katie

** if you are interested in sending in your own secret here is the address:
PostSecret/Frank Warren
13345 Copper Ridge Rd.
Germantown, MD.
20874

iPhone Foto Friday

Today's iPhone Foto Friday is a little different. I'm going to start with some background... as some of you know in college I worked as an event planner on campus. There were two events that I really wanted to put on before I graduated but they didn't work out, the first: a Q&A Session with one of The Girl's Next Door, and the second: a lecture with Frank Warren of Post Secret.

Well my friends, I am so proud and happy to say that one of my favorite co-workers has continued on with my dream, and is bringing Frank Warren to SSU! So exciting! Congrats Angelina!

In preparation for the event I headed over to Border's yesterday to pick up a copy of his latest book to have him sign! :)

Post Secret: Confessions on Life, Death, and God

Being the OCD person I am, I was examining every copy to find the one with the least amount of dents or bent pages, and as I was flipping through one I noticed something hanging out of the edge of the book, and I swear all of a sudden I realized what it was and I felt like I had seen a ghost!

Someone had tucked away their own secret written on a napkin in a copy of one of the books...

It was so weird standing there reading their cry for help and knowing I could do nothing. I mean who knows, it could have been some stupid kids pulling a prank by putting it in the book, but ya never know. I just stood there for a minute feeling really weird and sad. Needless to say I left the note in the book and chose another copy!

If you haven't heard about the Post Secret project you should check it out, it is really neat. I like reading all of the secrets - good, bad, and weird.

Anyways, I can't wait to hear Frank speak on Saturday and have him sign my book! I hope everyone has a great weekend!

-Katie

Eight Squared Picture Game!

I was recently tagged by Jamie over at Pickled in Pink to participate in a fun little picture game! If you haven't checked out her blog, please mosey on over!

The Rules
1]. Go to your photos files and select the 8th photo folder.
2]. Select the 8th photo in that folder.
3]. Post that photo along with the story behind it.
4]. Then challenge 8 blogging friends to do the same.

First of all, let me say - Sorry Josh! I had to do it!! hahaha

This is a picture of Josh wearing a pear of my overalls - disclaimer, this photo is from June 2004, so I haven't worn those ugly things in FOREVER!

This was taken right before my parents decided they were going to sell our house, so I was going through my closet and found these ugly things and made Josh try them on... and my brother too. Sorry Guys, but thanks for being such great sports! haha

I tag:
Selma from Crazy Little World of Mine
Erin from A Tiger's Tale
Mrs.B from From Our Place to Yours
Justine from Almost There
JessBay from One Step at a Time
Jennifer from Crazy Shenanigans
Jules from Chic n Pink
Kelly and Sara from Peace.Love.TacoBell

Can't wait to see your random pictures! :)

-Katie

This and That

-I worked Saturday and Sunday this weekend, which was absolute chaos! It was SO busy!!

-Sunday after work I headed home to my parents house to see my Mom for the little bit that was left of Mother's Day. We had a yummy dinner and got some Frozen Yogurt after which is always nice.

-I figured out how to tell if it has been TOO long since you have last visited home: I think a good sign is when the alarm clock on your nightstand hasn't been set to the time change which happened WEEKS if not MONTHS ago...
-In other news Josh is sick. So last night on my way home from work I stopped at the store and bought all of this:
Apple Juice
Pedialyte (I don't care if it is for babies I am making him drink it)
Gatorade
Sierra Mist
Because I will NOT let THIS happen to either of us again:
If you don't remember, you can read about that terrible adventure here.

-I have the next two days off, so hopefully I can get a few things checked off of my To-Do list, but with my luck probably not. haha

Happy Hump Day!

-Katie

iPhone Foto Friday

How do you know that you work in a cow-town?

Ohh I don't know... maybe seeing this on your way to work might be a clue:

I've seen people with dogs in the bed of their trucks, but this was the first time I've ever seen sheep in the bed of a truck rather than a trailer or something.

Needless to say this was definitely a funny way to start my day BAAAAHHahaha!!

-Katie

wtf? really?

Last night when I was cleaning up dinner I looked out the window in our kitchen and saw a person in the park behind our house - no big deal. But when I was done doing the dishes and the person was still there I decided to watch and see what they were doing... and quite frankly I have no idea how to explain it... so you can watch it for yourself...

Freak in the Park Part 1
(the person did this motion over and over for a few minutes)

Freak in the Park Part 2 (the finale)

hahahaha so hilarious! I was laughing so hard! I took two other videos that I couldn't use because the camera was shaking and I was laughing so much hahaha.

In other news, my second day off was great! I went on campus and had lunch with my good friend Christa, then I ran to the store to get some things for dinner.

After that I spent an hour laying out in the sun in our backyard which felt AMAZING!!
Then I went to the gym and had a lovely dinner with Josh :)

Happy Thursday!

-Katie

Day Off :)

Yesterday I had the day off, the first of two in a row! Holy Jeebus how did I get so lucky? haha

Josh and I decided to have a picnic in the park near our house before we ran some errands because it was SO beautiful out! We had a lunch of champions : turkey sandwiches, bbq chips, and cherry kool-aid! Delish!!
While we were eating I saw this guy unloading the trunk of his car, but it looked like he was taking it out of the hood of the car closer to us, so I was like "hey look, he is unloading from the front of his car!" and Josh totally fell for it hahaha
After our picnic we ran a few errands then I decided I wanted to lay out in the sun, the only problem: our backyard has turned into a war-zone because our lawn mower is broken!

Exhibit A:
So we did what any college students do - we went and borrowed the neighbors fully functioning lawn mower haha

What a difference it made! Sheesh!
We had to empty the bag before returning it because it was pretty maxed out
Then Josh did some edging with the weed whacker that our landlord gave us to "mow the lawn with" - she is an idiot obviously
But of course, the ONE rope thing that she provided for the weed whacker broke while Josh was using it, so he finished up the rest of the yard with scissors - poor Josh!
After the yard was all nice, I opted to go to the gym instead of lay out, and Josh went to class. We had a yummy dinner of Mandarin Chicken and Corn on the Cob followed by some vanilla ice cream and Oreos :)
I'd say the first of my two days off was a great success! :)

-Katie