I promise I'm not hiding...

...the summer just got away from me. As I'm coming up for air the calendar has turned to September. So in honor of Back to School, here's what I did on my summer vacation:

1 - We got a new roof! Of course the work was done by Jeremy and crew. The photo evidence speaks for itself - the hubs picked out a great looking shingle and did a wonderful job.

2 - We enjoyed a busy summer that kicked off with a trip to ABQ, NM to get in some serious golf and a visit with Jenny and Luke. (It didn't hurt that we also couriered 3 cases of 2 Buck Chuck back from Trader Joes!)

3 - We spent quite a bit of time in the yard with a few projects. (Really this means that Jeremy with help from his brother and my dad had projects.)


4 - I'm done with my basic certification and am now offering private classes at the studio and was pleasantly surprised to become the newest Pilates Reformer instructor for the City of Lakewood.

5 - I love the new job. I'm almost through my 6-month introductory period and I'm still thrilled with my move. Everyday I wake up pleasantly surprised that I'm not dreading going into the office. After 10-years, that is a very weird feeling!

6 - We've golfed quite a bit this summer even though Jeremy didn't join his Men's Club this year. The ironic part about this lack of club time allowed him to play in the Member-Guest and WIN!
7 - We entertained - boy did we entertain. I had a brilliant idea to invite all the fam over for a 4th of July party then I hosted a pretty fab baby shower for my dear friend Katy. The 4th was pretty fun and held on the 3rd so we had quite a few more folks than I planned. As for the shower, I cooked like I was feeding 40 but ended up only having a dozen or so ladies. I think it all turned out beautiful and I'm sure Katy loved it. I would include photos but I was running around like a crazy lady and didn't have a camera handy at either party. C'est la vie!

I continued the summer of staying unplugged but am ready to get back into technology so be looking for more posts;)

Unplugged Cont'd.

As part of my efforts to unplug from technology, I've been reading a lot of books. I've become best friends with my library again. I missed the Whale of a Sale last weekend so now I'm going back to the old days when my mom would take my brother, sister and I to the library where we would spend hours picking out just the right book. My hold list is getting longer and longer but somehow the library Gods know when I'm in need of a new book. Do you have any new books that are must reads? I wish my patio looked like this - I could spend all summer reading if I had this set up.

Photo from Sunset

I thought this article in the NY Times is interesting, the couple profiled seems extreme, but I think it has some truth to the over-stimulated argument.

Enjoy some light reading - next time make I'll make it the actual newspaper!

Rejuvenated, Refreshed and Recharged!

It's been a few months since I've been on blogger. I had a rough start to the year and after making some changes I'm back to the old Katie. I'm healthy, genuinely happy and gained such a new perspective on how I want to live my life.

Change #1
After 10-years in the private sector working 60-hour weeks and never leaving work at the office I traded it all in for a job in the public sector. I'm out of the land development game completely and after 6-weeks on the new job, I'm positive it was the best move I ever made. At my going away party an old co-worker joked that I went to the dark side...I told them I finally saw the light. I'm getting used to 40-hours a week and am still struggling with leaving work for tomorrow, but I'm getting the hang of it.

Change #2
With the move to the public sector I gave up the crackberry cold turkey. I unplugged from email, the Internet and the constant distraction from life. I swear I'm more productive, attentive and calm without that life changing blackberry. I no longer aimlessly search the web while I'm waiting somewhere; instead I take in my sights and enjoy the surroundings.

Change #3
I finish my Pilates Certification Seminars on Saturday. It has been intense and just like being in college but with a very physical demand. I've never focused on exercise with such intensity before. Yes I danced and golfed all growing up but these seminars put everything I've ever done physical to shame. I'm quite proud of what I've been able to do but more than anything excited to start teaching. I had to focus on Pilates and not much else to get through the mental demands. Dear Jeremy has been great and so supportive; it's only 8 more hours then it's straight student teaching. Speaking of teaching, if anyone is interested in some great private rates, shoot me an email or leave a comment.

I didn't think I was that unhappy starting the year, I thought it was pure stress. I was stunned when people who saw me after a break between the old and new career commented on how happy and peaceful I seemed. Yep - I made the right move!

Spring has Sprung

I broke down last week and indulged in some spring shopping. Years ago I had given up on shopping at Ann Taylor Loft but recently I've loved everything coming out of their ads. Remember this outfit from Loft?

Yep, I scored the jacket for $19.88 on final sale and the skirt for $24.99 - thrilling! I love my chunky necklaces and couldn't pass up this beauty:

I wore the necklace with a suit last week and received so many compliments, I know this one will stay around for a long time. I have a few other items on my wish list so I'll have to watch for a good sale to snatch these up:

I also scored some great deals at Banana that included this darling shirt and cardi:

I honestly don't like how they styled the cardi from BR but love it with a yellow cami I have. It seems my wardrobe is taking on blue tones so I'm consider it the new black.

Amped Up

This morning started like any other Saturday with some early cleaning and me asking dear Jeremy for some coffee. He's such a dear and brewed my typical half a pot of coffee. I typically don't drink that much but today I drank the entire half a pot. After sleeping horribly and fixing it with drinking some serious caffeine I realized that I needed to burn off some anxiety so I tackled our master closet.


By appearance the closet seemed to have worked, we have plenty of rod space and can store all of our clothes without falling over each other. But it did not function the way I wanted and it was largely the shoes to blame. After vacuuming, dusting and evaluating I decided that it was time to invest in some of the clear shoe storage containers to hold my collection. After showing Jeremy that it really was the only way to maximize our storage without spending an arm and a leg he gave me the go-ahead to finish off the closet.
I took a brief intermission this evening to meet my parents at Our Lady of Mount Carmel for the St. Joseph's Table feast. Jeremy stayed behind to watch the beloved KU Jayhawks. (I don't really need to comment on the outcome of that game.) After enjoying the feast that reminded me so much of my Great Grandma, thanks to the polenta, gnocchi and pizzelles I headed to Target. I found an employee and made my way to the check-out with 40 of my bins in tow. Once home I dusted one more time and got busy. Here's the end product:


I'm absolutely thrilled with how this turned out and am so glad the closet is more functional. As for that half a pot of coffee, I'll be up until midnight and Jeremy will likely switch me over to decaf after this marathon day.

Worlds Largest Pepper Mill

In celebration of Dad's and Johnny Arkansas' birthdays, we all headed east to Emil Lene's Sirloin House. Emil Lene's is a no frills sirloin house in the middle of a field off of Smith Road. If you want atmosphere and swanky digs, this is not your place. There is no menu and don't expect anything on draft, bottles only. There is a certain charm that comes from a restaurant that has a tree in the middle of the dining area. Nolan just loved this feature and couldn't get enough of posing for photos. The best part of the meal is the pepper mill, words don't do this justice:

Happy Birthday Commish!

It's my Dad's birthday. How old you ask? Let's just say that there's the perfect beer out there for him this year:

My Dad sure doesn't look or act 64, he still has the energy of a 34 year old. Trust me, he keeps Corey, Jeremy, and Johnny Arkansas on their toes. He'll really put those men to the test with our upcoming roofing project, I'll have to document this one very well;) Thank you for continuing to build the tool arsenal and help whenever we need anything.

(Love these in progress shots!)

I wish you a year of many "appointments", travels and projects. But more importantly, I hope this is your year to win the Lang Cup!

You're the best Dad and I love you very much.

pure barre = pure torture

I went to pure barre for the first time today after my girlfriend Julie suggested that I'd love the workout. (Julie and I have done pilates together for a year so I had every reason to believe her.) OH MY GOODNESS - it was 10x more difficult than any Body Pump class I've ever taken and so different than pilates.

I'm in dang good shape right now with doing pilates 4x a week but this was such an intense class. The parts of class that focused on my strengths from pilates were okay, but the portions that were ballet focused were incredible. The article in the Denver Post last year was dead-on. I don't know if I'm naive or a sucker for punishment but after reformer tomorrow I'm heading to another class. Hopefully tomorrow isn't as killer as it was today.

Pardon my absence

It's been a month since my last post and I would love to say I was off on a fabulous vacation. The fact is, I've been in a big rut. The routine of work, pilates and more work has hit me hard. Couple that with the February weather and the "dirty" landscape that takes over Colorado and it's been a depressing month.

There were some high points, we celebrated a lovely little Valentine's Day and enjoyed watching the Olympics. But as it stands now, I'm dying for spring and something fresh. Here's hoping that the weather holds and we can avoid a big spring storm. In the mean time, I'll keep looking at the great articles in Sunset and hope my yard looks like this very soon.

Be Mine Valentine!

With Valentine's Day quickly approaching, here's my list of gift ideas to remember the one I love:

1 - Ecco World Class Limited Editions, size 45.

2 - A new staff bag.

3 - A vacation to somewhere warm & tropical, Poipu Bay anyone?4 - Or...a weekend of luxury at the Broadmoor concluded by their champagne brunch.

5 - A new watch, technically a replacement for the TW robbery watch.

Or...maybe I'll settle on making him dinner and giving him a carefully selected Hallmark;)

Baking Lady - Decadent Chocolate Cake

Do you follow Blonde Designs Blog? I love every post they do, as former art directors at Martha Stewart, their taste is impeccable. Can you imagine having them as room mom's? (Do they even have room mothers these days? Mom was mine for a number of years and was great!) A few weeks back I saw this post concerning their book club and when I saw the chocolate cake, I had to bake it last week for the KU/K State game. It is an amazing cake, has the perfect consistency and is super moist. Add this one to your recipe book - it's a definite keeper!

Cake:
1 C boiling water
3 oz. unsweetened chocolate (chopped into small pieces for easy melting)
8 T butter
1 t vanilla extract
2 C granulated sugar
2 eggs, separated
1 T baking soda
1/2 C sour cream
2 C less 2 T flour, sifted
1 t baking powder
Chocolate Frosting (see below)

Heat oven to 350 degrees, grease and flour a bundt pan. In a large bowl pour boiling water over the chocolate and butter. Let stand until melted. (The smaller pieces of chocolate melt much easier than leaving the bakers squares whole.) Stir in the vanilla and sugar then whisk in the egg yolks, one at a time, blending well after each addition. Mix the baking soda and sour cream together then whisk into chocolate mixture.

Sift flour and baking powder together, then add to the chocolate batter, mixing thoroughly. Beat the two egg whites until stiff but not dry. Stir a quarter of the egg whites thoroughly into the batter. Scoop the remaining egg whites on top of the batter and fold together. Pour batter into the pan. Back on the middle rack for 40-50 minutes or until the edges pull away from the side of the pan and the cake tester comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes then unmold on a wire rack to cool completely.

Chocolate Frosting
2 T butter
3/4 C semisweet chocolate chips
6 T heavy cream
1 1/4 C powdered sugar
1 t vanilla extract

Place all ingredients in a heavy saucepan over low heat and whisk until smooth. Cool slightly, add more powdered sugar if necessary to achieve the consistency you want. Spread on cake while frosting is still warm.

Cooking Lady - Black Bean Soup

Since I've been working 60-hour weeks this past month, I've been using my Sunday afternoons to cook multiple meals to last a week. Last Sunday I made black bean soup that turned out great. I think this one is definitely worth sharing:

Black Bean Soup
2 cloves garlic
2 cans black beans
1 can chicken stock
1.5 C salsa
2 C water
1 chicken breast cooked & cut into 1" chunks
1 T lime juice
Goat Cheese to garnish
Avocado slices to garnish

Brown the garlic in a heavy sauce pan in 2 T olive oil. After nicely browned, add the black beans, chicken stock, salsa and water. Bring to a boil then use a potato masher to thicken the substance. Lower to a simmer and add chicken chunks and lime juice. Allow to simmer further for another 10 minutes. Serve warm w/goat cheese and avocado slice as a garnish.

ENJOY!

10 Things to Love

1. Crab Bisque with Sherry from McCormicks. I had it at a lunch meeting this week and it was the perfect dish to warm me up.

2. All forms of pilates...reformer, cadillac, wunda chair, magic circle, wall unit & mat. If anyone has a nice little sum of money they'd like to give me, I'd snatch up this one in a heartbeat!

3. Since the golf courses are closed, work is once again progressing on the basement. Jeremy has the rough-in electrical done and will start drywall soon. Hopefully in a few months my work begins with selecting the finishes.

4. Blood oranges.

5. Grande Skinny Hazelnut Latte. This has been keeping me alert during day and likely causing the insomnia. But working 60+ a week this month has been taxing and I need all the help I can get to keep me going.

6. Duke basketball - hoping for a big win at Clemson tonight!

7. All of the great spring apparel hitting the stores right now. Here's a few of my favorite pieces to hit Banana, Loft, and J Crew. I'm holding on to a few gift cards in hopes that I'll be able to cash in on some spring sales!

8. Oatmeal with Cheddar Cheese. It may sound weird but this is the perfect breakfast on Sunday mornings before I go to class.

9. My Moleskin 12 month Daily Planner Boxed Set & Desk Calendar. The Daily Planner is actually functioning as a journal and the desk calendar is perfect for jotting down my daily to-do list. The best part? Finding them at Crate & Barrel for a steal.

10. The very mild weather, with highs in the 60s last week it was tough to remember it's only January.

Haiti

I haven't been up to much these last few weeks other than work, pilates and more work; nothing too exciting or noteworthy. I've been hesitant to post anything about Haiti because it is just so sad, but I do have some amazing photos that I think every American should see.

I had two co-workers who were in Haiti last week doing water resources work during the earthquake. My company has been doing work with Haiti Outreach for a few years and have been looking for potable water for the people of Haiti. Thankfully they were actually out at sea when the quake hit and didn't know about the quake until they arrived to the island of La Gonave. After returning to Port-Au-Prince 48-hours after the quake you can still see the dust in the streets and the desperation on the faces. Before the quake the Haitians faced a real challenge in their day-to-day existence. Seeing the evidence of the non-existence infrastructure is a good reminder of how long it will take for the Haitians to re-cover. The infrastructure is so lacking the ability to turn on a tap is nothing short of a miracle to these people.

These photos are a reminder that while our day-to-day livelihood can be rough from the economy or over-extending our schedules, etc., we will never know the challenges the Haitians face.

Keeping the Haitians in our prayers-XOXO

Baking Lady - Sea Salt Caramel Shortbread

I made this shortbread recipe for Christmas and fell in love these beauties. After baking my Simple Scotch Shortbread recipe in a 13"x9" pan that was lined with parchment paper I topped it off with this addition:

Caramel Topping
1/2 C unsalted butter
1/2 C packed brown sugar
6 T light corn syrup
1 t. salt
2 t. granulated sugar
2 T heavy cream
Combine above ingredients in a heavy saucepan cooking over medium-high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil, then stir constantly until thickened for about 5-7 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in 1/2 t. vanilla extract. Pour over shortbread in the pan.

Once the caramel topping is cool, add sea salt flakes and cut into 1"x1" squares and enjoy!

Happy Birthday Aunt Kay!

Today is my Aunt Kay's 29th birthday! Doesn't she look great?!?! Jeremy and I wish we could say Happy Birthday in person, because then it means we'd be on a mini-vacation. Alas, a cyber-wish will have to do. I hope this year treats you great and we see you soon!

Blue Sky Cafe

I had a business meeting over breakfast at Blue Sky Cafe this morning. If you've never been there or if it's been a while I urge you to return. The cafe doubles as Blue Sky Yoga in the evenings...and they are now a Donation Based Seva Yoga studio. I'm not a fan of yoga personally, but I love the intent behind this cafe. This means that they "donate all proceeds (the only exception being instructor's wages) to organizations we believe make honest contributions to people in need donating yoga classes to local non-profits." This is pretty cool and it helps that they have great breakfast.

Since I've been wearing through my workout wear very regularly I'm always on the lookout for new pieces to add to my collection. Lululemon is a fav for no other reason than I love their culture. Doesn't their manifesto make you want to live your life healthier?

Prayers please...

Julia's family can really use your prayers. Her father-in-law is facing a horrible battle and any extra prayers you can pass along will be greatly appreciated.

Top 9 from '09

I am not sorry to see 2009 move along. Is it just me or was it a grueling 365 days? There were some highlights though that I don't want to forget.

1 - Spending 365 days with this man, he really is the total package. 2. Our weekend get-aways to Trinidad for Cougar Canyon, Atchison and Silverthorne for NYE.

3. Having supportive parents who are so fun to be around. We're so spoiled.4. Spending time with the siblings, which includes welcoming John to the family! Looking back we spent so much time together it's hard to pick the favorite photos but I love this one of Bec & Corey from our trip to SF.

5. My girlfriends who are always there when you need an ear and know you better than you know yourself...Jenny, Julia, Jess, Andrea and Katy. Then there are my fellow golf widows, Robin and Aimee, so fun for us when the men talk golf.

6. Golf, golf and more golf. I'm back to my old ways and playing with a new swing but still enjoying every second on the course. It really helps to share a mutual love for the game. We also hosted the CCC'09 for the guys from Texas. It was great to finally meet the Texas crew, especially Billie who joined us in the summer for another weekend of golf.

7. Back to the college days I went when Bec, Erin and I headed to Red Rocks for the Counting Crows concert in pouring rain.

8. Our healthy lifestyle that we maintained a full year. This includes my new passion - pilates. I'm in certification now so hopefully a year from now I've started teaching a few classes a week.

9. My trip to NYC - AMAZING!

I can't wait to see what 2010 brings us, hopefully a little less stress and an appreciation for the simple things in life.