September 2011 | Page 2 of 5 | Kate's Point of View

Month: September 2011 Page 2 of 5

Catching up On Some Fun

On September 25, 2011

I’ve been on a family vacation the past week on Sullivan’s Island in South Carolina. I could easily say that I continued my 30 Days of Fun with 7 days of beach, but I’ll try to be more specific…

Day 15: Drinks at the Thirsty Monk and continuing our tradition of eating Indian food in different town by visiting Kathmandu Cafe.
Day 16: My dad did a great job of finding the perfect vacation house for all of us. Because we weren’t vacationing in the heat of summer, having a hottub was a wonderful addition to the rental and it made it so we could (literally) jump right in to vacation on our first night at the beach!
Day 17: My one sister and her husband were unable to join us on vacation because she us pregnant and on bed rest. My mom printed out some photos of the two of them and we took them out with us for Mexican food and drinks at an Irish pub on Sunday night. It was a goofy but fun way to include the whole family on vacation.
Day 18: On Monday the whole clan was eating some Thai takeout and a dog appeared on the deck behind the glass door. Her tag said she was Honey Dew and listed a phone number. Between my sister and I, we got Honey Dew back to her owners and it was a great feeling. Plus, the fact that it was such a cute, sweet dog didn’t hurt.
Day 19: My brother and my sister and her beyonce cooked us all dinner on Tuesday. They made one of my favorite foods, macaroni and cheese, and it was wonderful to have food being made for me while I got drunk with my parents and Wonder Boy while sitting in he hottub. If only there were a way to incorporate that luxury into everyday life…
Day 20: Wonder Boy and I served a fabulous dinner of flaming cheese, macaroni and cheese, fancy hot dogs and blueberry vodka and lemonade drinks. Dinner was delicious, but more importantly, we completely pulled off cooking it together as a team. Sometimes that can be hard to do and still get the final product out on the table on time but we did great.
Day 21: My family went out to eat and the Charleston restaurant specialized in seafood, leaving Wonder Boy and I a little stuck. Fortunately, we were surprised by being served some delicious Gnudi, a new food for me. Gnudi is like Gnocchi made with ricotta cheese and it is so good I want to marry it.
Day 22: On our last day of vacation we all set out to make the best of what was predicted to be a day with some terrible weather. We went on a four-hour kayaking trip and ended up doing the whole thing in sunshine. When we came home we had some intermittent rain but really enjoyed the best weather of our vacation. Reading while floating around in the sun on a raft and drinking beer is the right way to do vacation.
Day 23: Last night Wonder Boy and I made the best of our 11 hour trip home by end-of-vacation gorging on Starbucks, Taco Bell and Dairy Queen. None of that was nearly as good as being greeted at the door buy Biggie and Addy.

This is a spiny sea urchin that my mom and siblings found on the beach. Beautiful.

Pretty Princess Pink and Bright Yellow

By Kate

On September 16, 2011

In animals

Day 14 of Fun

I am a big fan of schadenfreude, which is basically when you get a kick out of other people’s misfortune. That makes me sound evil, but my entertainment is of the tame America’s Funniest Video variety. Wednesday I thoroughly enjoyed helped to make Biggie pretty.

In an attempt not to get Biggie declawed, Wonder Boy and I have invested in Soft Paws. These things have been a savior because early in the morning Biggie likes to snuggle and plays his razor sharp claws on my face. The benefits of Soft Paws are threefold:

My face doesn’t get clawed in the morning.
Fights between Biggie and Addy, who is declawed, are a lot more fair.
Even though I think they look pretty awesome against his white fur, Biggie pretty much hates the Soft Paws and his ways of expressing his distress are pretty funny.

In the past we have ordered Soft Paws online and had tons of colors to pick from. We recently picked some up at a local pet store that didn’t have great color options so Wonder Boy and I opted for the pretty princess color pack. He’s stunning, right?

Day 15 of Fun

After being at my job for a year, I finally feel like I can bust out some of my weirder qualities. Today I donned my yellow shoes. I love them but they usually result in two reactions: a raised eyebrow with no comment, which means the person thinks they are ugly, or a hesitant comment of “I like your shoes.” But I do like my shoes!

Scary Fun

By Kate

On September 14, 2011

In photography

Today I made a big purchase. I did it impulsively, which is the only way I seem to be comfortable parting with large sums of money because to me that is a scary act. Today, I bought a new camera.

I love my old camera. Love it! But I had to pay for some repairs to it after a trip to Africa and a very rough safari trip. And now the primary lens for it is broke. I shopped around and buying a new lens would have cost about what the camera is worth. By buying a new camera, I get a lens I can use on the old camera and I get all of the sweet upgrades that come with the newer, better camera. Additionally, it’s a way to finally use some freelance money I’ve earned towards something fun.

And so now I am the owner of a Nikon D5100. And I love it. Well, I will love it as soon as I figure things out. Features on Nikon cameras have advanced a bit in the last few years…

Day 12 in my 30 Days of Fun

By Kate

On September 13, 2011

In family / friends

Tonight I got to meet up with drinks with people who I don’t see nearly enough. Really, little is more fun than that.

This photo taken by Helmet. We’re a good looking group of people but getting everyone in a photo smiling at the same time? Apparently it’s near impossible.

Fun with Retail Therapy

By Kate

On September 12, 2011

In uncategorized

Sunday I had the day to myself and I used the time wisely. I accomplished some household chores, went shopping, are popcorn for dinner and watched too much Law and Order SVU and Cold Case. My life is super exciting, no?

I strive to have some stress reliever that sounds cool, but for now my most effective one is retail therapy. I love browsing through clothing racks looking for the best deal. Sunday was so successful. Scary successful. First I hit up Gabirel Brothers, a renegade discount clothing store, and left with a skirt, pair of jeans, shirt and a pair of shoes. Not bad! Then I went to TJ Maxx, a more upscale discount clothing store (particularly in comparison). My plan was to go to all of the clearance racks and then only look at regularly priced items afterwards. Unfortunately, I struck gold on the clearance racks. All but one thing I tried on fit! The thing is, everything was such a good deal that it was easy to rationalize buying it…

I can’t give myself permission to regularly partake in such successful shopping trips, but there is something nice about trying on clothes and seeing yourself in the dressing room mirror and thinking you look good. We all need that sometimes.

I liked this sweater so much I bought it in two colors. This picture isn’t great but you get the idea. It is makes it very clear that I need to clean my mirror!