Thursday, June 23, 2011

Life.

It's interesting how life presents things.  And how timing is everything.  And how much you can miss a person.

Missing you, and thinking about you, Friend.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Almost 2 months out + sunny California!

Wow!

I've been SO busy lately!  Not so much with work (although things are picking up, as they always do in the summer!) but busy with life and wedding planning.

It's nearly 2 months out from the wedding (2 months on Monday!) and nearly everything is set and in place.  We have a few other details to sort out and work out, but it's not of huge concern.  This weekend, I'm working on assembling invitations (which, getting even to this point has been quite the ordeal!)  I'm hoping to have everything done and ready to go to mail out on Monday.  We'll see if that actually happens, as I'm still waiting on about 30 addresses from my mom.  Again, that's a whole different ordeal in itself.

Other than that, my dress is in (looks amazing, of course!) and I'm coordinating with my bridesmaids about the shoes they'll be wearing.

We are probably adopting a new kitty soon!  This has been in the works for a while, but things are finally happening on Friday!  One of Sean's friends is a foreign exchange student and has a kitty named Amira that he adopted from the Humane Society years ago when he first got here.  Well now that FES has to go home to his country of Jordan, and Amira needs a new family.  Poor Roxy has been so lonely since Ginger passed away, and we had been talking about finding a new addition to our home, and Amira has basically fallen into our laps.  I hope that Amira (about 5 years old) and Roxy (3 years old) get along well and play and have lots of fun together.  Roxy used to pester Ging and she  happy about it.  It took over a year that we had them together until Ging wouldn't hiss and run away when Roxy was nearby.

I recently took a trip to California for work, which, aside from having to attend the conference (which was interesting, but sort of a drag....let's be real) was INCREDIBLE.  California is amazing and has perfect weather (actually, it was surprisingly chilly due to being right on the coast), and there's so much to do!  I was gone for 4 days, and traveled for 2 of those days.  One of the days was set aside for conference-attending, but the other day was set aside for FUN!!!  Part of the conference included a "fun activity".  I chose deep-sea fishing.

Interesting choice for me, huh?  Yeah, I really didn't think it through, but it was so worth it! 

1.) First of all, I had recently purchased boat shoes with no boat to wear them on.  It was a sign from God that I was meant to be on the deep-sea fishing trip. 
2.) Secondly, I don't touch fish.  This kind of fishing involved baiting up your line with a live anchovy, which meant that every 3 to 5 minutes, I had to have one of the deckhands come and help me with my line.  Yes, I was that girl. 
3.) Thirdly, I hate/have a huge fear of birds, and I didn't think about the fact that with all the fish we had on our boat, and the bait fish we were disposing of would result in MILLIONS of birds swooping and swarming around us ALL DAY LONG.  (OK, maybe not millions, but there were a lot and they were unpredictable and massive, and that makes me really really really nervous and anxious and scared of getting pooped on/swooped at.)  Happily, I survived and made it through the day without getting shat on (at least to my knowledge.)

While I caught only a mackerel and calico bass (both too small to keep), we did get to see a HUGE pod of dolphins, and a guy named Omar Owen caught a sting ray, and a guy named Chad caught a SHARK.  It was incredible.  I spent most of the day (after quickly tiring of always bothering the deckhands to change out my bait) watching the horizon for the BLUE WHALE that had been spotted in the area.  The largest mammal in the world.  That would have been incredible.  But, alas, we saw no Moby Dick.

I spent that "fun day" evening eating delicious food and drinking (a lot) compliments of the conference host.  Let's just say a select group of us took advantage of the limitless drink supply.

All in all, I met some awesome new friends from all over the country (so I can stay at your houses when I come to visit, right guys?) and had a super fun time.  It almost makes me wish I could move to somewhere where the weather is sunny all the time, and there's hardly ever a cloud in the sky.  I think I would do well in California....(and go deep-sea fishing everyday!) except when would I be able to snowmobile or snowboard?  It's nice to be able to go right down the road to do those activities rather than travel to, say, Colorado!

Keeping it real in Milwaukee,
xoxoxo,
Kate

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Playing catch-up: Part 2

Apparently I'm not so good at posting regularly!  Hmm, what's happened since the last post?  Quite a lot, I suppose!

1.)  We had to put our fluffy cat Ginger down on April 18.  It was really hard for both me and Sean because while we've both had pets before, and those pets have previously passed away, Ging was the first we were both there for when she passed away.  Her diabetes got the best of her and presented a whole slew of other complications...I think she was ready to go up and chase bunnies and butterflies in heaven.  We miss her a lot and little Roxy really misses her company too...she's starved for attention the minute anyone gets home from work!  We may be adopting another kitty from a foreign exchange student friend of a friend who's in college now, but graduating soon and will be returning to his home country of Jordan.  If that happens, let's hope Roxy and the new kitty get along!

2.)  We're now approximately 3 months out from the wedding...most things have been squared away!  In fact, we're going for our "tasting" tomorrow night with both sets of parents to determine the menu at the wedding...that should be fun (and delicious!) :)  We are printing invitations within the next week (although, unfortunately, I'm still waiting for my mom's guest list.  That's frustrating.)

3.)  Work is going OK...I'm sort of losing steam, mostly because I feel like the salespeople don't take advantage of all the work I do.  Example - we hosted two events in the past month and both events brought in 500+ people each.  Instead of the salespeople being outside and mingling with these potential customers, they immediately wrote them off as "not the kind of people we sell to" and refused to go outside.  It was very frustrating for me, and makes me feel like the work I'm doing (in general) is not paying off.  My job is to bring people to the dealership; the salespeople should be talking to them!  Instead, I'm outside trying to talk to these people and put on a good face for the dealership.  And when the sales team doesn't make an effort to talk to the people, what's the point?  On the plus side, I'm going to California in the middle of June for a conference, and I'm really looking forward to getting away for a bit! :)

4.)  Sean had a procedure last week to determine what his stomach problems are (he'd been dealing for over a year with serious gas, throwing up, stomach pains that apparently would come and go randomly, lasting for several days and then going away sporadically) - it turns out he had a blockage in his intestine that was a flare-up from Crohn's disease.  They inserted a balloon into his intestine to inflate a little opening (as big as an eraser head, when it should have been as big as a golf ball) and now he's feeling LOTS better.  He'll be on medication for the rest of his life, and may have some dietary restrictions, but at least he knows what the problem is.  And less tooting all the time!  Hurrah!!!!! :)

5.)  We haven't done much work on the house lately...Sean is talking about regrading the backyard (maybe this next weekend?) to hopefully prevent flooding in our basement (which we had problems with last year...but then again, we had HUGE amounts of rain last year!)  Either way, it's something that needs to be done, and we want to get it done so we can continue with other outdoor projects (landscaping, making a patio, etc.)

6.)  We got to babysit my little 5 and a half month niece Avery last weekend.  That was fun, and good practice for parenthood (whenever that is!)  It's clear to both me and Sean that while we can handle the responsibility of a child now, we don't WANT to.  We both have lots we want to do before a child comes into our world.  Plus, baby stuff is expensive!  I want to buy shoes and purses and make up and clothes...and Sean wants to do his racecar stuff!  So, babies will wait.  Ha.

I guess that's all for now!  I'll try to post more regularly! :)  And maybe try to make this blog more interesting?

Cheers,
Kate.

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Saturday Shopping

Sean was up north this past weekend, so I took advantage of some "quiet" time to get some errands done!  I was out all day Saturday (well, back and forth from the store to my house to unload my findings, because my car is not big enough to haul everything!) from 9AM till 5:30PM!  It was a workday for me! :)

When I returned home, I started cleaning the house (as I haven't seriously cleaned since before we hosted for Christmas Eve!) and FINALLY put the Christmas tree away!  (nope, didn't put it away on my day off for the snow storm!) 

What fun stuff did I get when shopping?

- a new hamper to catch the clothes from the clothes chute in the basement (Sean had been using one of the Rubbermaids for the Christmas tree, and since I put the tree away, we needed a new hamper!)

- a separated laundry sorter for the laundry area.  Ginger the diabetic cat pees on pretty much anything, so it's not like I can leave a pile of "to-do" laundry on the floor!  I got a laundry sorter on clearance for $13 from Bed Bath & Beyond...and I'll tell you why:  the bag latches on to the frame of the sorter with velcro, so the second you put any weight (laundry) in the bag, the velcro unhooks itself.  Ugh.  Nothing a collection of safety pins can't fix!

-slimline hangers.  I NEED to organize my closet (going through and getting rid of stuff I don't wear anymore!) and putting away the stuff I do wear.  Part of my issue is that my closet isn't big enough.  I'm hoping slim hangers will help me hang more!

- Sam's Club supplies - kitty litter, laundry detergent, underwear for Sean's valentine's day gift (seriously!)

- Ulta.  My home away from home, I think!  I needed a few items by L'Oreal...and wouldn't you guess it that Ulta had a "Buy two, Get one Free!" for L'Oreal!  I ended up with L'Oreal's Studio Secrets Professional Secret No. 1 Magic Perfecting Base.  (Wow, quite a title, huh?)   http://www.ulta.com/ulta/browse/productDetail.jsp?productId=xlsImpprod1980035  Haven't tried it yet, but have been searching for it based on reviews and hadn't been able to find it elsewhere, so I thought I should snatch it if I could find it!

I also got the L'Oreal Voluminous Million Lashes Mascara - again based on reviews that I've read.  Still haven't tried it as I'm trying to finish up other older mascaras.
http://www.ulta.com/ulta/browse/productDetail.jsp?productId=xlsImpprod2530269

I also got the L'Oreal Translucide Naturally Luminous Powder as a fill-in for my Bare Minerals Mineral Veil.
http://www.ulta.com/ulta/browse/productDetail.jsp?productId=44985  I HAVE tried this product and like it so far.  I go through my Mineral Veil really quickly for some reason, so I thought I should have a back-up product for when I run our and my automatic shipment of Bare Minerals hasn't yet arrived.  I got the "translucent" version, so, in theory, it would just make your skin matte.  Lately, I haven't even bothered to wear foundation (I wear Bare Minerals foundation), so I just powder with the L'Oreal Translucide.  So far, so good.  Again, this is pretty much transparent, so it doesn't really hide any blemishes.

I bought OPI's "Bubble Bath" based on reviews of others.  Haven't had the opportunity to paint my nails with it yet, but I've read reviews that "Bubble Bath" has two formulas - a pinker version, and a whiter version.  I wonder which one mine will end up being.  It was pretty in the bottle!  http://www.amazon.com/OPI-Nail-Polish-Bubble-Bath/dp/B000CECSAO

One product I bought from Target (that was on clearance) that I really am enjoying is Cover Girl's Lash Blast Length (yellow tube).  I bought this one clearance - two tubes of mascara for $6 or something like that.  I have used CG regular Lash Blast (in the purple-ish tube) for years now and always liked that it gave me some definition (color) on the lashes without being clumpy or gloppy.  Honestly, I have been admiring Dianna Agron's lashes on Glee (seriously - they are SO long!) so I was inspired to try to replicate that look - without wearing falsies everyday!  CG Lash Blast Length might be that product for me!  It gives more length than volume, and doesn't really make the lashes appear "fatter".  I don't know how it works exactly, but my lashes look visibly longer!  I used three layers today (based on a review I read) and it looks great.  I think normally two layers will work just fine!  http://www.amazon.com/CoverGirl-LashBlast-Length-Mascara-0-21-Ounce/dp/B002IFT5VA  I got the regular formula - not waterproof, and there's no flaking or anything!
Dianna Agron - and her ginormous lashes!
OK, well I guess that's enough for now!

Cheers,
Kate

Monday, January 31, 2011

Playing catch-up

Sorry, it's been a while since I've written.  You know, life gets busy and writing takes a back seat.

The holidays came and went (and yes, I still have my Christmas tree up!), and here we are, in 2011!

Last Thursday was the 7-month mark till the wedding, and there's still a lot to do!  We need to find an officiant, and get the decorations and menu squared away.  I have yet to send out my "Save-The-Dates" (though they are in my possession, I'm just waiting on invite lists from both sets of parents).  Invitations have been designed by my talented soon-to-be-sister-in-law!  They look great...just need to print and assemble!  Yesterday, I went with my bridesmaids (minus the sister-in-law) to order our dresses...the bridesmaid dresses and MY dress!  I guess it's getting more real for me.  Ordered my dress - no going back now!

It's the end of the month at work which means billing and finishing up the month, and the start of February right around the corner which means planning for February advertising.  Most people in the ad world might wonder what's up with the "late" planning?  We do have things planned out - sort of.  We know what we're going to run on TV, radio, direct mail, interactive banners, etc., we just don't know the message yet!  We have to wait on the manufacturers to pass along that info, which can get a little irritating when they take their time to make decisions on the financing/lease offers that are available!  It ultimately delays our advertising efforts, but not much can be done with that!

I have a lot to get done around the house, which I should have done over the weekend, but instead decided to spend the weekend skiing with Sean on Saturday, and out with my bridesmaids on Sunday!  Lucky for me there's a blizzard soon a-coming to Wisconsin, and it sounds like the dealership may be closed on Wednesday (seriously, it takes A LOT to close a business here in Wisconsin!)  That means I might have time to catch up on laundry, finally take down the tree, and relax in front of the fireplace with a cup of cocoa and a book!  Sounds divine!! :)  Later when the snow dies down, I can help Sean with snow removal - I do the sidewalks while he does the driveway - with his ancient tractor!

Sean on his tractor.  Look how HUGE compared to our SUV!
At least he can plow the drive (and the street, if he wanted!) quickly! :)

OK, bye for now!  Time for lunch!

Cheers!
-Kate