Where in the world did 2011 go?!

 Welcome 2012
 

I am so happy for a new and exciting year. Almost a little embarrassed to be blogging on here again..its been almost 6 months without a peep...but I am back!! Happy Twenty12 to everyone who happens to stop by and have a read. 2011 was pretty amazing, actually my favorite year to date but I am excited and anxious for this new year. I have a number of things I want to focus on in 2012 to better myself, my relationship and the way I view life. Here's a list of some of my more reasonable resolutions...perhaps blogging these things will make me feel more accountable to stick to them.

 2012 Goals

*Start planning weekly menus to save time, $$ & calories.

*Fall back in love with Bikram Yoga (1x per week minimum).

* Take advantage of where we live, unwind from work with a daily beach walk w/ my handsome man.

*More Tea, Less Coffee 

* Photo a Day for the entire Year. (trendy...but I know I would love the end result)

*Stop making excuses and start making progress... this pertains to EVERYTHING

*Random Acts of Kindness

*Read More

*Explore the world of D.I.Y.

I've been off of work for the past 10 days. (&& it has been absolute Heaven!) I am sadly back at work today. With the big gray cloud of responsibility and late nights looming over my head, I had a "Come to Jesus" moment last night. Although work can be extremely draining and the addition of school to that busy 50+ hour work week, it has become all too easy to make excuses for myself. I am far too young with too many opportunities to not take advantage of every one that I can. I am ready to start 2012 off with a BANG!!

My favorite memories of 2011 in photo-form. 



2011 New Years Eve with my Love



Steelers SuperBowl!! We didn't win but we made it to the big Dance!!

Moving into our very tinsy but equally sweet home.

Pittsburgh with Mom for my Gram's 83rd Birthday!

Happy 27th Birthday to Nick! Stayed at the amazing ACE Hotel in Palm Springs.

4th of July Fireworks @ the Oceanside Pier



Our Favorite Band, J. Roddy Walston & the Business, came to the Casbah! Amazing Show!



My First Vegas Trip--Labor Day 2011

Halloween!! Nick got to choose our costumes this year --Frankenstein and his Bride <3

Our First Christmas Tree

The blurriest NYE 2012 kiss ever.. Still a perfect memory to start an amazing year - taken exactly at midnight!!



&& probably my most favorite thing about 2011 - Adopting these two sweet peas! Mojo (orange) & Billie



Hope 2012 is the best year to date for all of us!

See you Soon.. for real this time!

xoxo

-K

Kitty Perfect

Papa and I are now truly "Mama and Papa" to this sweet little girl!!!


I am absolutely over the moon about her! She is a Seal Point Siamese mixed with Tabby, so not only gorgeous, but as soft and cuddly as they come. Maybe I am biased.. but she really has to be one of the prettiest kittens I've seen.. and to think up for adoption. She was rescued from a hospital in Escondido, Ca, where they Euthenize! I can't imagine anyone in their right mind killing something so tiny, sweet and innocent!

I got the kitty bug last week and had to get a kitten asap. (I don not know why I am like this, but once something is in my head.. it's a done deal.) I started looking online and in the PennySaver with my heart set on a RagDoll kitten, which are gorgeous cats, but it seems silly to buy a "name brand cat" when there are so many to save.

I came across an organization called "SPOT-Saving Pets One at a Time" and found a ton of babies that would melt any normal persons heart... and No, I do not consider cat haters "Normal People", I am convinced they must be missing a chromosome somewhere in the mix. On a better note, I really encourage anyone looking for a kitten or puppy to try and exhaust their adoption options first. There are TOO many loving babies that don't have the love and comfort of a home that they deserve.

We are naming her Billie, after the amazing Billie Holiday and as soon as she weighs enough to be fixed and can come home with us, we plan on spoiling this little joy... rotten!

Home Is Where The Heart Is.

Papa and I have already been in our place for over a month...I am kicking myself for not taking pictures when the place was bare and looked about as big as a sardine can. (not exaggerating) We have to space out our spending, so its a work in progress, but I really feel like everything is coming along.

*disclaimer-I have absolutely NO photography skills. 

-Welcome to our Home-




This is essentially the entire little nest... but it's pretty cute. Nick managed to find this coffee table off Craigslist for $45 bucks. (So thankful for him.. I never realized coffee tables could cost $300)
What I did realize is that I can spend wayyy too much money in Pier One Imports....but I managed to find the blue pillows and adorable throw on a pretty decent sale.




I had to take a picture of our bookshelf. I love that we ended up have the perfect space for one. All of my books happened to be boxed up and put in the garage...but we are hoping to fill this with records, cookbooks and a few of my favorite series.. "cough cough"...Harry Potter & Twilight.




Our kitchen! It's my favorite room!  I realize I may sound really weird getting this excited about having my own kitchen... but it IS exciting to have your own dishes, pots and pans!!
We found the perfect kitchen cart to give us some extra counter space. Seems to be a trend.. trying to make the most of what little space we have. I guess that's what you get trying to afford to live a block from the beach! And no, I am NOT complaining ;)

One of the little things I love about  Oceanside is the Thursday night sunset market which is held by the pier every week. Last Thursday was our first trip this year, I saw the sign below at one of the stands and couldn't resist!
-"Oh, I'm sorry. You must be confusing me with the maid we don't have."








Our room is cozy and that bed may not look like heaven, but it is! We've invested in a 3 inch memory foam mattress topper...and have a REALLY hard time getting out of bed on the weekends! Papa obviously let me pick out the bedding. I am mildly obsessed with the color orange right now.. I know this may be just a little too much for some people to handle, but I fell in love with it. 




This is the corner of the house I think needs the most work. My parents were kind enough to pick up this giant 9 drawer dresser at an Estate Sale, we had our clothes on the floor for 2 weeks.. great size and great condition.
We love Banksy... but aren't sure about the picture. To be honest, I'm still trying to figure out what to do with this area. I do love my flowers though. Papa, somehow got the "girls love flowers" memo. I lucked out!



Couldn't leave Papa's office our bathroom out of the tour. It's small but practical and dressed in white and and my favorite shade of green.

Thanks for stopping by!

I love our little home. I am dying to have summer beach BBQ's with our friends and family!

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Checking in...with a Tasty Recipe!

We have officially been living in our new little beach cottage for 15 days. I am not sure that life gets better than this. I have been on a constant high for the past 2 weeks just soaking in the fact that I have my own space, my own furniture, my very own pots and pans and a wonderful man to share everything with.

The initial move was simple.. maybe I say that because Papa moved everything in while I was working. I would venture to say we are about 70% done with the place at this point. I am kicking myself for not taking pictures of it when it was empty. It has much more potential than I thought it would. I remember our second walk through, the night we placed our deposit, I went back to Nicks and cried because it seemed so plain and tiny. I couldn't be happier with our decision though! I can't wait to post pictures! It truly is the cutest beach bungalow you will ever see!!

We went out and purchased a very sexy 46" LCD TV.  I had that gut feeling that I lost my boyfriend the minute we loaded it into the bed of his truck. I would have to say it's Nicks favorite part of the new place.. the TV paired with Netflix! Netflix is Genius. Simple as that.

Now..

MY favorite part of our home has to be my kitchen. It's all mine and soo cute (and small) but I have been really enjoying cooking. We've made home made meals almost every night we've spent at home. It's been really enjoyable and its nice to be able to use organic meats and locally grown produce.

Well the whole purpose of this post is to share a delicious recipe with everyone. My very best friend Ginny came over to see our new digs and stayed for dinner. I was all sorts of excited to have her over to MY home and make her a meal in MY kitchen. She is such a picky eater (and she will argue that she isn't.. but SHE IS) so when I came across this recipe on Our Best Bites I knew it was a pleaser.



Baked Chicken-Bacon Alfredo

8 oz. penne or bowtie pasta

1 recipe Guiltless Alfredo Sauce (1 16-oz. jar would work in a pinch)

2 chicken breasts, grilled and chopped (about 2 c. chopped chicken)

6 oz. (1/2 package) cooked bacon, chopped

1 14-oz. jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained and chopped

1/2 c. chopped green onions (about 1 decent-sized bunch)

1 c. shredded mozzarella cheese, divided

Salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 350.

Prepare pasta according to package directions.

While pasta is cooking, prepare Guiltless Alfredo sauce. When pasta is done, drain and add to the sauce. Toss with chopped chicken, bacon, artichoke hearts, green onions, and 1/2 c. mozzarella. Season to taste.

Transfer mixture to an 8×8″ baking dish and sprinkle with remaining 1/2 c. mozzarella cheese. Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until heated through and cheese is bubbly.

I subbed out the Artichoke hearts for peas for my picky eaters and it was still delicious. Can't wait to try it again with the Artichokes though! Please if you take the time to make this....USE the recipe suggested for the Guiltless Alfredo Sauce...it is full of flavor, sooo easy to make and the whole "Guiltless" factor makes it a much more enjoyable dish. (if you have a crazy calorie counting troll in the back of your head like I do)

~bon appetit!

Changes...

So, its a day short of a month since I last posted. Although I love the idea of the blog, I haven't had much to write about. Lets see.. in the past month:

• I turned 25. That was fantastic. Spent the day in downtown San Diego with my dearest friends
• Put a deposit on an apartment.
• Our dear friends Nathan and Dana got hitched!! 3.5.11
• .........

Maybe that's why I haven't blogged. Although I could have posted a ton of stuff to do with the wedding and pictures from my birthday. I've just been BUSY with the boring stuff....and packing!!

The reason for this post! wait for it...

I MOVE TODAY!!!

I am overly excited. This is the first real time I am leaving the nest (not counting those 6 months I was a 19 y.o. rebel and couch surfed... my poor poor parents) and I am moving in with Papa which makes the whole experience that much more exciting!

I promise there will be pictures to come (before & after).. give me some time though. We will be settling in and enjoying the Pacific Ocean which happens to be .1 miles away according to Google Maps.

Wish me luck!

Update from the Slacker...

Why is it so much easier to forget about this thing.. well not really forget but not have something come to mind for an entire week to blog about? I guess I am just new at this and truly don't know if anything that exciting is going on in my life that would warrant someone else actually wanting to read about it.
My day to day routine is typically the same... I wake up at 6:45 (there is nothing good about a morning that starts before nine), then I work till 5 pm, spend my evenings with Papa or make some sort of plans with a girlfriend, go to bed and repeat. I am constantly counting down my work weeks for the weekend. It seems like a waste to wish away 5 days of every week... but those two days off truly save my sanity. I suppose I can't beat myself up too badly over a slow start to this blog. At least I am spending my free time doing the things I love... so that is something to blog about in itself.
I had a wonderful weekend. Papa and I went house hunting on Saturday which was probably not the best idea because we still have another month until we are ready to move. I have my heart set on about 3 places that will be long gone by the time we are ready to sign a contract and move in. But!... it was nice to get a feel of what we can expect in our budget. We are hoping for something quaint and quirky where we can add our own touch and hopefully walking distance to the beach in Carlsbad or Oceanside.
I CAN NOT WAIT to decorate!!
We spent Sunday in Palm Springs at my brother's place. (Side Note: I am slowly but surely falling in love with La Quinta, Ca) It was Leuc's 2nd birthday party and my Steelers Division Championship game. The party was great! Tania (my sis in law) did a wonderful job with the food and football cupcakes. Everyone really seemed to enjoy themselves until the tantrums started. I feel like once one child cries, the rest will surely follow in his footsteps and throw a fit of their own. I couldn't believe how many babies were there! Let's just say.. Papa and I are getting a pup as soon as we move into our place. Something..anything..needs to help curb this baby fever I've got going on. My goodness!
Sunday afternoon I experienced my first family football day. I grew up in a home who never turned on the television on Sundays, we usually spent the majority of the day at church. But this past Sunday, everyone was sporting their Steeler's gear. There was a great energy with THAT many Steeler's fans in one room and I had a good time waving my Terrible Towel. The second half of the game definitely had me on my toes, but my Steelers pulled through! We are heading to Super Bowl 2011!  For those of you who don't care about football enough to know what it feels like when your team, which is one out of 32 in the league, makes it to the final game...It's a little bit like Christmas in February. I came across this photo and couldn't help but laugh.



School started yesterday..I attempted to get an English class I need in order to transfer from my JC, but every one of the 6 online courses had a wait list of at least 10-20. Apparently my college broke a record this year with the number of students enrolled, which only means next semester it will be equally as hard to get the classes I want and need.  This semester I will be focusing on "Music of the World"  I suppose it seems interesting.. not something I would take if I didn't need to fill my arts credits but I'm determined to pass all of my courses with A's, so I will embrace it!

I know the whole point of this blog is to post recipes and fun DIY crafts but I am having a hard time with this. I am planning a Bridal Shower and Valentines Day is coming up shortly after that. I've been working on some things but don't want to post until after the events! Papa is probably my only follower and it would surely spoil the surprise(s) for him. And..I will be very honest, I have not been in the kitchen to make anything from scratch in a few weeks! Things will definitely turn around when I have my own kitchen and free time!

For the time being... Happy Tuesday!!