i promised you reviews...

So here they are :) Just wanted to share with you all some thoughts and opinions about books I've read, and some movies I've seen while I was away from my blogworld for that awfully long week! First up is a book that I personally struggled to read off and on for about 2 months. (I usually finish an average size book in a few days to a week)
The Host by Stephenie Meyer- First off let me say that I am a huge Stephenie Meyer fan. Twilight=amazing. This book should have scared me away when my boyfriend guessed that it was about aliens by the name of it. He said that aliens are referred to as hosts in a lot of video games he plays. Yeah, I should have put it back on the shelf right then and there. But because I am a huge fan and thought I would love anything she wrote after Twilight I gave it a shot. I don't want to say that it is a bad book, it's just not my style. If you're familiar with the author then you would know she has a hard time getting to a point quickly (look at the length of the Twilight books) and she has the same problem here except in this novel's case it was painful. If you like sci-fi this could be right up your alley. All in all for me it was a very hard read.

Since I rarely ever go to movie theaters to see a movie (not a fan of the obnoxious middle schoolers, and the rudeness of some people and their gum chewing) I normally just rent when I can watch them in the comfort of my own home. One of the most recent movies seen was a dud.

Knowing starring Nicholas Cage.
Again, I have to say Thomas and I are pretty fond of Nicholas Cage movies. This one was just bad. It had some pretty good ideas, for example if the entire movie was built around the list found revealing the dates of all major tragedies to happen around the world- the movie probably would have been awesome. But instead it went off on some odd tangents, leaving you to not really understand where the movie was headed, and questioning the need of some of the characters in the plot. That and the ending of the movie absolutely blew. End of story.








Beautiful Boy by David Sheff.
This book was a wonderful compilation of one family's journey through their son's harmful drug addiction. The story begins at his birth goes through his childhood and continues to present day. Sheff shares his emotions, his personal experiences with drugs and his thoughts on different types of treatments and rehabilitation centers. Having an addict in my family I highly appreciated this book, I loved the wisdom that the author shared as well as his feelings during periods of relapse. He shared both positive and negative stories about his son's addiction. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a good read, but specifically for parents, children or families of addicts, addicts as well as recovering addicts. I loved also the education that I gained from this read. (For example: I'm not very drug saavy, and had no idea that meth and speed were the same thing!) After Beautiful Boy came out Nic Sheff decided to write his story of his addiction called 'Tweak'. I can't wait to read that one. If you'd like more convincing to read here's a father-son video here.
And the one movie that I ALWAYS have seen the midnight premiere for.................
Harry Potter!! This particular release was Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince or the
sixth book. My review for this one will probably be very bias, since I am and have always been a huge HP fanatic. I thought that the director captured this book perfectly. The story line is of course fantastic, the acting is amazing as always. I love that they played up the little romances and jealousies between the characters. It was surprisingly very funny while being extremely dark and adventurous at the same time. Overall I'd hate to place a favorite but I'd say I think that this one did it for me. I think there was a few more things in the book that I wish they would have dwelled on longer but that's every recreation of a novel. Overall as a fan, I was very pleased with this movie!





Well guys, this was my first time doing reviews! If you'd like more posts like this or not, just let me know! Today has been filled so far with finishing up my mail holder, after it stops raining I think I'll head out for a jog and do day 3 of Jillian's Shred :)
Have a great afternoon!

pier1 freebie :)

So first off I have to give credit to pier1 for helping me recreate these beautiful babies myself :)
Here's my inspiration pic courtesy of pier1.com
First terracotta planters were purchased for $.89 at A.C. Moore, so far that was the cheapest we found them. Kira and I bought chalkboard paint at Walmart for $7.99
Here they are with SEVERAL layers of chalkboard paint. Literally took some patience, we worked on other things while the paint dried :)
And here are my new herb pots ...





Seriously peeps it was that easy. They erase with your fingertips!

















Oh, and as for my awesome find......
The missing parts are the hooks which were taken off to paint, it's just going to be white with the right empty side being painted with chalkboard paint! Once I'm done I'll be sure to show you the awesomeness of my new mail holder.
I'm exhausted from my date with Kira, my workout with Jillian, and my run with Parker! Nighty Night Bloggies!
Tomorrow's post is going to be full of reviews!
Kate

kate's finally crafting again...

You heard that right, give Kate a day off, a few extra bucks and a Sweet place to work and she'll turn into Martha herself. :) So I spent all lovely day with my bestie, Kira, and wowee did we find some cuties. I must not have been in the mood to pull my iphone out of my purse (?? if that's possible) because I did NOT take any pictures of my finds. I know strange of me, right? I thought so too. Well I'll remind myself tomorrow or friday when I head back over to Kira's to reuinite with my items!
First to backtrack Kira and I created an awesome space for our crafts! She has an area in her basement which is virtually unused and we now have a makeshift table, a few shelves and lots and lots of craft supplies! That's where we took on one of a few crafts today...but unfortunately you're going to have to tune in tomorrow to find out what! I hate posting crafts without pictures :)
I did find a few books from the Goodwill store...
and
I also found what I've been looking for all my livelong life I feel like.....
a Mail holder :)!!! Oh and it was only 8 dollars, it was at the Goodwill so you bet it needs some TLC ( a new paint job and some sanding) but I guarantee I will love it when it's finito! Once again, bare with me for pics! I promise I'll post as soon as I take them.
Folks, I'm off to watch watchmen with my man hehe, See you tomorrow!
Kate

Great news!

My internet's back! And I've lost almost all of the weight that I've gained from summer ice cream! I had literally gained about 8 pounds since June simply from Boardwalk french fries and mint choco chip ice cream. Pathetic I know but I've really put my head and body and tummy to it the last 2 weeks and have officially kicked 6 of those pounds.. almost there :)
As for crafts Kira sent me awesome news this morning, a family member cleaned out their craft room and donated whole lots of fun to the Kira and Kate craft foundation :) And we are going to set her basement up as a craft station for all of our crazy extravaganzas! We have a craft date Wednesday and hopefully we'll finish up working on these...
We got the idea from one of our favorite blogs Life in the Fun Lane, you can find the post on her cherry blossom branches there.

Well folks, I'm about to head downstairs and do a couple exercises out of my new book...
then get ready for work! Have a great monday!
Kate

Well guys this is probably the longest time that I've gone without blogging! Hi again, I almost feel like I need to reintroduce myself! To be honest I've kind of been putting this post off, :). I feel just simply like I have NOTHING to blog about. I know that seems crazy since I did take like a week off, but really I've just been working, moving everything into my Mom's house and DYING without internet. Gosh I really hate that part. We're finally in my Mom's, with just a few odds and ends to wrap up at the old place. We're looking at more places to move into but so far not really having any success yet.

Well as for blog world, I have been trying desperately to keep up with all of your blogs, but since not having internet that has become wayy harder.. obviously. And to make things worse they got rid of it at work as well! So if you're missing my comments bare with me, Thomas is working on fixing my Mom's as I speak. I do however have an iphone so when I do feel like reading an impossibly tiny screen I'll manage which is how I found out that I won my first giveaway!! I enter them on my favorite random blogs, mostly health foods (since they're so expensive) and because they often feature all natural body products as well. Well I entered the Mojamix giveaway on my favorite foodie blog eatliverun.com with Jenna and I found out via iphone yesterday that I won!! I got to make my very own cereal mix which was way cool, it's a little pricey for those of us on a budget... but I think I'll still invest in it every once in a while anyways. And also I think would be a really awesome gift to some one, you can personalize the labeling and everything! Just head to mojamix.com !

Well now to stop rambling. I'm not really working on too many projects, partially because of the move and the other part is because I can't find my hot glue gun. It's probably in a random box in
storage :( hmmph.Well all I'm just about to finish settling in my mommas and check out
a few places and hopefully hang out with Kira who finally came back to me!
Kate

man oh man...

What an interesting last few days. Well to make a long story short, (which I know I shouldn't do in a blog.. but I'm still a little stressed by the story so...) we did NOT move Saturday. Okay correction I did move boxes for a few hours but they were removed and relocated to our temporary residence as of Friday.. my Momma's :) Since I'm holding off on the whole story I'll just say that it was not what we expected. The walls were thin and we had a lot of loud rude neighbors. So thanks to the 3 day law in Maryland (you have 3 days to back out of a contract if you are not satisfied) we were able to get all of our money back and back out of the lease without question. We are now going to be with my Mom until we find something better! I don't have internet since we got all of that changed so blogging will be minimal in the next few days. Hopefully we'll find something better soon!
Kate

things I have wayyyy to much of...

Well folks this will probably be my last blog for a few days, I move TOMORROW :0 and will not have internet set up at the new place until sometime next week... boo. I promised you a post yesterday and did not sorry :)Yesterday was a busy day split three ways, shopping at AC Moore for craft things with Kira and starting a cherry blossom branch craft. Shopping with my Momma and sister at Kohl's.. twice. And packing. I've been doing alot of packing. Which leads me to the title for my post... I have way to many of a lot of things! For instance.
Picture frames.... I have soo many that Thomas made me put the last bunch in one of my baskets saying that I already have TWO boxes full and I need to stop wasting the boxes. Well obviously I don't seem to care that I have too many because I just bought two more as you know from my last post :/
Next obsession...
Wicker baskets... This isn't even all of them. Go ahead and laugh. This may be a normal amount of baskets... for someone who has a HOUSE I am moving from a bedroom into a one bedroom apartment. I think Thomas clocked them in at 34 baskets. Oh an not pictured is my collection of storage boxes too. I probably have about 10 of those. You can find a picture of what I'm talking about here when I fabric covered a few. If anyone one knows of someone I can see for help for a wicker basket/storage box addiction please leave a comment on this post.

Books, which most of them I have read a hundred times and am holding onto..
This is one of two large boxes! But I don't think I'm that bothered by this one. I love reading!

Shoes, once again not too upset about this I am a firm believer that one can never own too many pairs of shoes. I have about two boxes and a duffel bag full of those. However, Thomas owns three pair of shoes. One pair of tennis shoes, one pair of dressy/work shoes, and one pair of sandals. I don't know how he functions. That almost makes me mad that he thinks it's okay to only own three different types of shoes. Ugh, men.
I own one too many handbags. I have two very large trash bags of those. I have to say I will be discarding one! I took a good look through them yesterday and honestly I haven't used well over half of them in so long they've definitely gone out of style.

And now for the pictures that I am most disgusted by.... I have WAY too many CLOTHES

Even with the items in the closet, plastic bags and in the hampers... all of those are filled with my clothes...
I have more in the car. And I already donated 4 bags. I semi have a problem with clothes.

Well guys I'm gonna miss ya! Other than pack and move in I don't know what I'm going to do with myself for the next few days, Kira leaves for Florida today, and my nanny and entire family are all down the beach for two weeks!
I hope everyone has an awesome weekend! What are some things you have too many of?
Kate

packing and painting...

Story of my day :/ Well first off here's a hello from the Harry Potter premier, well from the line we waited in to get into the theater! An awesome movie, first off whether you're a fan of the book or not. And for all of you who went to the premier last night Congrats! because we set a record for the most money made at a midnight premier!! You can find the full article here.
Today I went to lunch with Kira at Panera, like every Wednesday if you haven't already noticed our little trend :) We then washed my car at a really cool DIY car wash.
And then I proceeded to have a really productive but still boring day. I packed the entire kitchen, which also meant cleaning out the fridge and freezer which meant SEVERAL trips up and down 3 flights of stairs to throw all the trash away. Inbetween getting bored cleaning and packing I worked on some painting too since the weather wasn't too humid. I was able to get my seagull frame completely painted...
It's the same color as my mirror, which I believe is country white by Dutchboy. It's still drying for some reason so I'll have final pictures tomorrow! I also just worked on painting some Ikea frames
..painted them gray to hopefully match our new bedrooms colors. I used spray paint on those as well as my "live" and "love" signs which I will post tomorrow as well.
I'm pretty tired tonight (maybe from being up until 4 this morning?) so I'm going to try and finish my book so I'll meet with you again tomorrow my dears!
Nighty!
Kate

steal alert!

What a day! My nan called me this morning early to ask if I could be her chauffeur today since my Poppy was not feeling too well, so we headed to her daily jobs at the crack of dawn. She travels to the elderly homes who are too sick to leave to fix up their hair! So today I drove her around town.... my reward.... SHOPPING :)
By far our favorite activity to delve into together. We headed to J.C. Penny's where we found their having 60% off and extra 20% off clearance items. I found a great pair of jeans by Liz Clairborne for 9 dollas! Steal. Next was Kohls where I found these beauties....
From the picture they look black (and kinda blurry :/), but they're actually a brown faux leather like frame. Total steals at 3.99 a piece on clearance.
And last but not least
This STEAL was 2.49$ because the frame is dirty! I love the picture in the frame it reminds me of my grandparents old beach house. I plan to repaint the frame just to clean it up but I couldn't pass it up for the price!
As if you think my day couldn't have gotten better .. it did :)
My cousin called and asked if we wanted to head out on his boat to do some crabbing... HECK YES.

Here's the crabber's pulling up our dinner :)
My darling sister and I.

And here's the non crabber basking in her UV rays A.K.A. me.

And our reward...
Tonight Thomas and I are taking my sister to see the midnight premier of the new Harry Potter movie !! Well I should say that they are accompanying me since I'm the semi nerd HP addict :) Hope everyone else had an equally amazing day!
Kate

Gotta love a good deal!

The pier1 closest to my current casa is closing which means good deals! I can't wait to scrounge around there tomorrow and see what I can find. I want to try and find items for my patio, someplace that Thomas and I spend a lot of time... so I want to make our new one more comfortable that our old. I already picked up some plants to make it a little more comfortable (from Ikea if that isn't odd, lol) as well as some cute planters. And Pier1's clearance items look like they'll be hard to pass up!

These bamboo torches are now just 2$ a peice!
More adorable planters 4.95$ a piece.
This lantern is just 14.95!
:)

These are perfect for my herb garden! (Could also be perfect for a craft... hellllooo chalkboard paint :)

Of course all of the images are from Pier1.com and I found all of these nifty things in the clearance section... now I hope I can just find them in the store!
Hope everyone's Monday was just fine!
Kate

wow I'm really getting into this!

Woah! I have to say when I started blogging I was sure that it wasn't going to be a long term thing, that I would eventually grow tired and bored with my topics and that I would never find a way to interest anyone.... I have to say that I am pretty surprised with myself! I have really enjoyed every moment of sharing my lives with all of you :) I have not really found myself...too often anyways... without words.


Since I enjoy this so much so that I have decided to start another blog. I am going to make this seperate because it really has no relation to my current crafts/good deals/random blog. It will be sorta like a foodie blog. I decided that I really want to get completely back into my cooking/healthy meal plan phase again once we move into the apartment. I'll tell ya, lately we've been eating out a little bit more than normal because of the not wanting to buy more perishables while we're in the current apartment, and all this eating out is really messing with my body. It's not that it's all entirely unhealthy (if you choose the right places) it's just not my style. So I started coming up with some weekly meal plans so that I have in advance ideas for lunches and dinners. I'll post what it is and where I found it, since I'm no chef I'll be grabbing most of these recipes from the web, and my cookbooks! And hopefully I'll have enough times to shoot pics and give you my reviews of the food! You can find my nifty little project by clicking here http://eatinglessonslearned.blogspot.com/.

For those who haven't followed from the start I've been on my weight loss journey since July of 08' and have since lost around 45 pounds. I hope that by starting this new blog that I can further my success and hopefully encourage some people out there that losing weight isn't as hard as everyone makes it out to be!

Have a great day!
Kate

maybe mountains?

I know this is awful far away to start planning for it already but Thomas and I normally go away just for a weekend around our anniversary date. (Which is in November people, OCD much?) Last year on our anniversary Thomas and I visited Washington D.C. which was an amazing trip. There was a perfect balance between history, entertainment and relaxation. This year I have started looking for places to go already! I'm thinking I really want to go to the Pocono Mountains in PA, which I hear is very romantic. We tried going there last year but couldn't find a hotel that was reasonable enough. This year, due to my excessive planning, I have it booked! Above is a picture of it in the Spring, obviously it will look more like this by the time we make it...

Well originally I thought there was no way Thomas would be into this kind of trip, because everyone kept telling me the only cool thing to do was ski- and both of us hate the cold! But I did a little researching and found out there is so much more to explore. I think we'll go horseback riding, go on a hike to tour the waterfalls,

... we'll probably go visit some museums and maybe I can convince him to shop with me! Well I was pretty excited so I felt the need to tell you :)

Have a great day!

Kate

...just a lonely saturday night...

Does anyone ever enjoy being bored? I don't know what it is about having absolutely nothing to do that kind of makes me like boredom. I may be weird, I don't know. Anyway, Thomas is out with the boys and I'm enjoying my boredom watching Bravo movies drinking hot tea and ...obviously blogging. :)
We move in one week exactly today!! And I'm still very under prepared. I wish I had enough balls to show you all how the apartment looks right now but I deleted the pictures as soon as I uploaded them! I also wish that my boxes and packing looked as organized as the picture above, but sadly no I googled that one. I literally will sit down to pack and give up after about 10 minutes. It's so mind numbingly boring! (The kind of boring that is obviously not enjoyable.) I've decided that I'm only taking half of my wardrobe with me so one of these days I will have to sort through all of that and decide what is nice enough to drag with me. Well tomorrow I'm off to work and then hopefully spending some time with Thomas!

Hope everyone else is enjoying their weekend, boring or not :)
Kate

I would want to sleep all the time!

This totally makes me wonder whether I want to base my room off of my current Vera Wang sheet set. I might try to convince Thomas into settling into these....
(images:PotteryBarn)






They match my blog :) and they completely remind me of my favorite designer, Vera Bradley, which for those of you who are not familiar works entirely with paisleys really.
Below is my favorite color by her yellow bird.
Image is from verabradley.com.


The sheet set is actually on sale right now if anyone is loving it as much as I am. Tonight I'm just relaxing with Thomas and then spending our day off tomorrow together!
Have a good night!
Kate

Things I'm totally obsessed with...

The three at the top are courtesy of Anthropologie and the last two are Urban Outfitters. Like my title claimed I am totally diggin' these at the moment. They retail for about 12-30$ each but I think with a few jars lying around some leftover photo wire I may have another project on my hands... what do you think?