the next step | an SUV

I've discussed buying a new car on my blog previously. I wasn't ready to commit to a monthly payment at the time, but if I would have been, I would quite possibly be riding around in this little beauty right now. 

image via

She's pretty, right? Sidenote, who do I always refer to cars as 'she?' Maybe I'll make my next car a man. While I would NOT hate to be driving that pretty Kia Optima around, I'm glad I didn't pull the trigger. 

As you know (because I've only talked about it 2789755 times), we just bought our first house. And with 4 bedrooms...it's not THAT far until the time when we start having little As and Bowies running around. That is, if you consider 2-3 years not that of a long time...you do? OK good. 

What does this have to do with cars? For this next stage of our lives, we need room. We've got the house part down, so now we need the car part down. And with both of us at 90,000 miles or above (hey, we like having no car payments!) it is a little past time to move on. 

While the Optima above IS gorgeous, it's not the right car for the new stage we're going to embark on in a few years. And because I'm a thinker, I don't want to get a new car and then have to get another one in four years when we have two little peaches hanging out in the backseat. Those fancy strollers are big, y'all! Also, mom, if you are reading this, NO, we are not having kids any time soon. Just preparing extra early!

When we ran out of space at home, we moved on up. We're running out of space in our cars, so I say it's time to move on up! The plan is to get me a new SUV and A will take my current car until we pay of mine. Ain't nobody got time for two car payments at once. Ew! 

We haven't started looking at SUVs, but we plan on making the big purchase in September. That leaves us PLENTY of time to research and test drive and research some more. They all have so many fancy gadgets now, and admittedly, I get a little starry eyed at those things. I need A to bring me back down and remind me that we are not buying an SUV because it's pretty and will talk to me, we are buying it because we're transitioning to a new stage in life and we need more space. Space > features. Remembering that is going to be tough!

Hopefully I'll have a pretty reveal post in September with a fancy new big SUV! Now, I'm off to buy a lottery ticket so I can afford the gas...

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

taste of tuesday | turkey parm mini meatballs

Lately I have been spending hours and hours on Pinterest trying to find new recipes. I have a huge collection of great ones we have made before, but cooking the same things every month gets pretty old. Unless it's Avocado Pesto Pasta, that will never ever ever get old. 

If you also spend hours in the "Food and Drink" section of Pinterest, you already know this fact. 99% (or so it seems) of the recipes are deliciously bad for you. Ten pounds of cheese and butter sure sounds good, but I personally am wanting my backside to shrink, not grow after one meal. Hence the spending HOURS on Pinterest - it takes that long to find some good healthy recipes!

Not that this recipe is the best thing ever for you, but I'd like to think it's better than the deep fried mac and cheese that was right above it. 

__________________

Turkey Parmesan Mini Meatballs

inspired by this recipe by the hilariously amazing BevCooks

Ingredients:

1 cup panko

1/2 cup parmesan cheese - split

1 T+ olive oil

1 egg

1 pound ground turkey

1/2 cup finely diced red bell pepper

5 cloves garlic (those not obsessed, lessen to two) minced

1 T dried oregano

7 fresh basil leaves, torn/chopped/cut

1 pinch salt + pepper

16 mozzarella balls or cubes 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Put 1 cup of panko and 1/4 cup parm into a small bowl. Starting with 1T EVOO, drizzle it over the mixture and mix with hands until fully coated. I added a few more drizzles because most of it felt dry still. Set aside.

Place the egg in a larger bowl and slightly beat. Throw in the bell pepper, garlic, oregano, basil, salt and pepper. Mix with hands.

Place a couple of tablespoons of the mixture in a greased (I use the Coconut Oil spray from TJs) mini muffin pan. Punch down a little area for the cheese.

The original recipe calls for cubes, but I balled up some fresh shreds because that is what we had. Place the balls in the cheese area, and then cover up completely with the meat mixture. I pushed the cheese down and this was easier. 

Place the panko mixture on top of the meat mixture and pat down slightly. I used lots as you can tell!

Place in oven for 25-30 minutes. Don't get scared if the cheese bubbles out.

Serve over sauce + pasta (we use the organic veggie noodles from HEB) and enjoy!

Linking up for Taste of Tuesday with Ashley and Jessica.

he was my partner!

If you follow me or Ashley or Alexa on twitter and instagram, you already know what I'm about to talk about. But I don't want to talk about it because that means it's over. Hold up - I'm over here crying again. 

It all started on July 3rd. I was sitting at my desk bored out of my mind (hey, no one was working that day!) and reading blogs. I clicked on Stephanie's blog and immediately started crying. The big Katie surprise was the sweetest thing I'd ever seen. And so I got an idea...

The original LET'S DO THIS texts. Yes, originally we were going to be insane and DRIVE there. WE JUST WANTED TO GO THAT BAD.

Getting Glenn in on the plan. This is where we started freaking out because it's REAL.

Andre' was 100% against the driving. In his words - "we aren't 18 anymore, Kaitlyn." So he did what every normal person would do and got on Priceline and bid for some tickets. It was around $150ish cheaper to fly out of San Antonio, so Wednesday night we drove there and flew out at the crack of dawn on Thursday morning. 

The weekend was, besides my wedding, the best weekend I have ever had. We might have done it too big on Thursday, but we didn't let that stop up. I'll do a full wrap-up later on this week - or maybe just a photo post - but I'll leave you with the video that STILL makes me cry. 

I may not be the best and most consistent blogger, but I am for sure the luckiest. I have found two of my very best friends through this. We're no longer blog friends, we are just all REALLY good friends. (Even Glenn and Andre'! That part is slightly adorable.) Now we just need to work on getting Glenn + Alexa to Houston. FOR GOOD!

keeeeen-WAH pizza bites

You know what is yummy? Pizza is yummy. I've discussed before that I am a pizza-snob. If I'm going to eat it, I want the best. So what if that makes me a snob?

I'm a meal planner. Every weekend I plan the menu and I shop for the week on Sunday. This SAVES me throughout the week. Also, it saves a ton of money! 

Last week I decided we needed all new meals - the same things every week kind of get old. So I headed over to - what else - Pinterest and found some yummies. One I stumbled upon was these Quinoa Pizza Bites. Pizza in a healthy way? Sign me up!

First off, I made this marinara sauce. Verdict? I will NEVER buy the jar kind again. I am not a marinara person, but I could drink this. The fresh basil at the end really kicks it up. I used the sauce for dipping sauce for the pizza bites, to go on stuffed zucchini, and as a sauce over whole-wheat noodles. Three meals and it only cost about $2 to make? That is a winner!

I used this recipe with the following changes:

Omitted the onion, because onions on "pizza" is just disgusting.

More garlic. Is there ever such a thing of too much garlic? NO.

Sprinkled parm cheese on top prior to baking.

Used three egg whites, no yolks.

Verdict was that we LOVED these. They will be made again, and you should make them, too! They are an easy alternative to that greasy, cheesy, (but so yummy!) slice of pizza. I'd never had quinoa prior to this, so don't let that scare you away!

weekending means decorating

Look at me, I'm blogging! Every day when A gets home, it's all "why no post today??" NOT TODAY!

This weekend started off with a bang when the one and only Ashley came to shop! 

We picked out our re-do wedding dresses. What's a re-do wedding? It's a wedding that our blogger besties can come to. Don't worry, we're marrying the same guys. 

Ashley and I found the PERFECT gift for Alexa, fingers crossed that it arrives on either Thursday or Friday so she can have it in time for her birthday weekend! I'd check out her post after it does, it's a pretty amazing gift. 

We didn't have much luck in the clothing portion of shopping. Zara was having a massive sale, but everything was so unorganized and messy and we had to hightail it out of there in fear of being eaten by clothes. Ok, maybe it wasn't THAT bad, but still, nothing found and that's just sad. 

After dinner and drinks at Beaver's (yum!) we came home to watch some DM2. Too bad we fell asleep after 20 minutes. Oldies gotta sleep!

fuel for the longest two shopping days ever. tastes like tang!

Saturday morning A and I hit the shops and never looked back. We spent way too much money, but we officially have NO furniture left to buy! Here's a sneak peek at the house. We still have some things left to do/hang before I do the full reveal post. 

The king-sized guest room. The nightstands were found at an antique store on 19th in the Heights. Annie Sloan chalk paint for the WIN! And I found the lamps at Goodwill - 2 for $14 total. I need new lampshades, but they had the same details as the bed, how could I pass that up??

New side table in the living room. The pillows to the left are being put in storage at some point. 

I interrupt this post to show you the flowers that A came home with!

Hallway between the two downstairs guest rooms. Paint supplies are now in the garage, don't worry. Off to Marshall's today to find more goodies to fill the cart with!

Finally got a full-length mirror! Placing TBD, but I love it. I do feel like a super tall amazing model when standing in front of it. Liar.

Full-sized guest room. The beach room!

Gallery style-ish wall in the bedroom. 

 Not yet completed living room. We need to finish the media console, but we keep running out of time!

25.5 | a check-up

Growing up, I never knew that some people made half birthday's a thing. I'm talking full on celebrations, complete with a party. I guess one isn't enough?

They don't especially help with the whole getting older thing, either. It's not very exciting to say that I'm halfway to 26, is it? Although I did confirm last week that 26 is still a mid-twenties age. So I will not be celebrating the fact that Saturday is my half-birthday. Instead I'll be using it as a reminder to get myself in gear. I've got a list to finish!

Here's what I've done in the past six months. Besides legitimately thinking that I was still 24 for most of those six months. Comments in bold, completed in italic.

1. Run a half marathon This will happen before January 2014! I have been doing so good.
2. Read 25 books and start a reading journal I've read 25 (hi, I'm a nerd), and STARTED the journal. But I currently have no clue where it is.
3. Start an Etsy shop Started! Stocked? HA.
4. Take Andre' to a hockey game Better luck next year.
5. Buy a house YES! One month ago.
6. Visit 5 new cities (new to me or Andre') A will be able to cross this off after Iraq!
7. Find a charity I'm passionate about One of my Houston goals.
8. Saw a dress for myself CANNOT add anymore sewing projects, Kaitlyn!
9. Go skydiving Ehhhhhhh
10. Save $25,000 We were on track to complete this in about 7 months, but the whole house buying thing happened. Here's to getting back on track!
11. Ace the GRE Might as well just scratch this one off.
12. Take a girls trip to Nashville COUGHASHLEYANDALEXACOUGH
13. Learn how to use my camera off auto Help me, please!
14. Find my signature drink Found it. It hated me. Onto the next one.
15. Do laundry once a week Will this ever happen?
16. Join a Chi-O alumni group I need to find out about the Houston groups!
17. Throw a party in our new house CHECK! Success.
18. Find the perfect red lipstick color...and rock it Learning to rock it is hard.
19. Plan a surprise honeymoon for my parents Still "planning..."
20. Start my masters No thanks.
21. Learn how to sew piping Started this in January. Did I finish? NO.
22. Get my wisdom teeth out I'll call the dentist tomorrow...
23. Design my dream home office Design is a stretch.
24. Have 1-year anniversary pictures taken Hey MEG hey!
25. Go a month without eating out Going to attempt this while A is in Iraq. Don't tell me that is cheating.

I actually am surprised that I made any progress at all. I may not have completed a lot, but I think, save a few impossible ones for one reason or another, I'll be able to complete most by January 2014!

 

During a "discussion" recently, A mentioned (he's a good husband, you guys. he only mentioned it because I forced him to, he knew it would upset me) that I have a tendency to get really excited about doing something, then get bored with it, and move onto the next thing. And as much as I hate to admit this, he is right. I get frustrated when something doesn't go the way I envision it to go, so instead of working through it, I put it away and move onto the next thing. Or sometimes I just get bored, honestly. Is it a coincidence that I started my morning runs the morning after this "discussion?" Maybe he should call me out more often.

 

Maybe help me out by tweeting me to JUST DO THE FREAKING LAUNDRY ALREADY...please? A would really appreciate it.

weekend shenans | being present

You know what's rude? The weekend is rude. At least this one was. Last weekend we had FOUR blissful days, and then this one we only had TWO. Like I said, rude. I could use another two right about now. 

I didn't take many photos this weekend. I think it will remain this way for a while. Living your life through your phone isn't very fun. Being present in the moment is what I've been doing. And you know what? It's been nice. I'm not going to worry about not having a photo from Saturday night out with friends - because I was enjoying a night out with great friends! 

one: free things are the best things. A while back I clicked on an ad on someone's blog and got this free insulated mason jar! Winner. 

two: I wore my hair naturally on Friday night. A told me that it looked weird that the center of my hair was straight and the sides were curly. The center being the bangs...he's weird.

three: natural hair turned into poofy hair once out.

four-five: we took Reid on a swim date on Saturday afternoon. He was in heaven and mama and dada got to get a workout in!

six: Sunday lunch date to Ruffles Green. So good!

seven: followed by a shopping date. I call this "the one week my hair looks good" look. 

eight-nine: this morning's run. Color is good, and so is 79 degrees with about ZERO humidity. I was even chilly at first!

Not pictured because I was busy having fun:

Friday night we had A's cousin and his fiance' over for dinner. We grilled shrimp burgers - and HOLY COW, they were amazing. I plan on making them again and blogging the recipe. They were the perfect summer burger. We went over to Cedar Creek after for some beers, but by midnight we were all about to fall asleep. 

Saturday I went over to my parent's side of town to plan my best friend's Happy Hour wedding shower. Is that not the best idea you've ever heard? After our swimming date, we met up with my friend Cathren and her husband Will for dinner. Being back in Houston has been SO nice for reasons like this. I'd missed them! We were thinking of going out after, but after I almost fell asleep at 9:30, we decided to stay in and FaceTime Glenn + Alexa. Wise choice! 

After Mass and lunch on Sunday, we went on a whirlwhind shopping trip and then met up with the Reid clan and got snowballs. The hour wait (!!) was a long one, but they were delicious. My mouth is probably still red, though. 

All in all, it was a nice weekend! Maybe that's because it involved NO home projects. We needed a break, bad. 

weekend wednesday

haaaaa get it? wedding wednesday except it's weekend wednesday? It's OK, I know I'm not funny, you don't have to point it out. 

After this past weekend, I decided that I could absolutely handle the whole not working thing. We got so much done around the house! Yes, we still have a lot to do, but people can come visit us and STAY with us now! Just so long as the doors to my office remain CLOSED. Baby steps, y'all.

So what did we do this weekend? I know you're all chomping at the bit to see, right? (See, here I go being funny again.)

Wednesday night we went to the Astros game with Reid man and his parents. My brother's company has AMAZING seats and he sweetly gave them to Elizabeth for the night and we luckily got to tag along. 

In true Reid fashion, let's count in Spanish. He just got even more precious, right? Yep, he's bilingual  Reid man for the win. 

Uno: "BALL!"

Dos: "Mama, ball! baeball!"

Trees: "Kiki, ball!"

Cuatro: We made the trip and and down the escalators about 20 times. And then one of the sweet workers offered to take our picture. 

Cinco: He's a boy, that's for sure! We were amazed at how well he sat and watched the game. No tamtrums were thrown!

Seis: Little jokester eating the stickers. For a toddler, things get funnier when mama says NO, I guess!

Siete: I don't even remember what was going on - probably because this was now a WEEK ago - but I had to include because, uhh, how adorable does he look?

Ocho: Clapping for everything! 

Nueve: He loves Kiki and Ahhday. But not as much as we love him!

Back to English!
One - Six: The one and only Meg flambonging. Haven't heard of it? Sucks. 
Seven: Here I am faking it. I couldn't shotgun or beer bong a beer if my life depended on it. But I do have a bow front and center, DUH.
Eight: One of the 7 (I was I was kidding) trips we took to hardware stores this weekend. Next week I'll share the success of these trips!
Nine: We got a KING in the second downstairs guest room! Now couples can comfortably visit. Cough GLENN AND ALEXA cough. We have a full bed in the first downstairs guest and let's be honest - how can two people sleep together in that?! Ew too hot get off me. Romantic, I know. 

Work has been absolutely insane lately. I've actually been running (GREAT stress reliever, in case you already didn't know that widely known fact) and I tend to do so right after I get off work. Then it's time to cook dinner (this whole cook a meal from scratch every night kinnnnda is time consuming) and then I just want to lay on my couch and do nothing. And, let's be honest, my alarm goes off at 8am...for my 8am workday. Yes that's amazing and no I'm not giving that up just to blog. 

BUT! Tonight turned into a "hey let's invite our neighbor Leigh over for dinner" to a "all the neighbors are coming over for dinner!" night, so I'll be sharing a (hopefully) yummy recipe for saw it pinned it, did it tomorrow. If that is even still a thing. I have so got to get better that this. 

apple rant

I interrupt the normally schedule wedding Wednesday to have a rant Wednesday. More for my benefit than yours, but keep reading (please?) because maybe you can help me!

 

The day after we moved in, I was setting all of the technology related things up. TV - check. (Ok, maybe AT&T did that, not me.) Computers - check. Wifi on iPhone - BIG FAT NO.

I went to turn it on and enter the new password, when the dang thing froze. It's been doing this a lot, so I simply turned the phone off and then turned it back on. What did I see after that? A greyed out "off" next to the Wifi - AKA I COULDN'T TURN IT ON.

I'm lazy and let it stay like that for two weeks or so until yesterday I finally looked up Apple Support for the fix. What does it say? "In VERY rare instances..." OH GREAT, this happens to no one but me.

I proceed to spend an hour doing what it tells me to online - backed up, reset, restore from backup. Guess what? STILL BROKEN. Made the appointment to truck on over to the Apple store and within 5 minutes of being there, they issue the blow.

What is wrong with my phone, you ask? The hard drive is caput. Donezo. The wifi went out first, then the Bluetooth, and not the cellular connection is spotty at best, so she said to expect that to go out soon, too. You know, the whole POINT of a cell phone. Especially seeing as I work from home and it's my form of communication with my clients.

And of course, OF COURSE, I am 65 days past the warranty. So the fix for this? $200 for a new phone. And when I say "new," I mean a new 4S...$200 wouldn't even get me the 5. My upgrade is in December. If you think I'm going to pay $200 NOW for a new 4S and then pay $200 then for whatever version is out then, you are crazy.

I am now convinced that Apple does these things on purpose. I already know that when the 5 came out, they slowed down the 4. And so when the 6 comes out, they'll slow down the 4S. And they do these things because they CAN. People will still buy them, and stand in line for the latest and greatest version. If I used the features that Mac offers to have every Mac product run seamlessly together, I would maybe still want to have an iPhone. But do I use those? Nope. My phone isn't connected to my iMac...maybe because I've never once used the calendar on my phone.

Soooo what am I getting at? I think it's time I broke up with my iPhone. I had an HTC prior to this, and I had no issues with it. One time it had an issue and I was in and out of Sprint in 20 minutes with a fixed phone. I find it highly annoying that Sprint isn't allowed to do anything with the iPhone - you HAVE to go to Apple to get it looked at.

Anyways, you can find me today checking out Sprint phone on eBay - the option of an HTC for $40 is MUCH better than $200 for another stupid 4S is much better, in my opinion. And who knows, maybe I'll be back to Apple in December.

OH - and if you are selling a Sprint phone, holla at me!

college kaitlyn :: what were you thinking?

Once upon a time, I was that girl who put up a facebook album for EVERYTHING. Most people had one album for all of football season. Not I! I had one per game. At this point in Facebook's history, you could upload 60 photos per album...and you better believe each one hit that 60 photo mark.

I was the friend that everyone could count on to ALWAYS have her camera at the ready. This was before cell phone cameras were actually pretty decent cameras, so the Canon Point & Shoot was always with me.

I like to look back through these albums from time to time. Most of the time it makes me miss college a little too much. But sometimes it leaves me wondering just what in the world I was thinking. The pictures below are a sampling of these. Sadly, there are more. Many, many more.

the caption on this one is "we're so thug." no you aren't, kaitlyn. and you never will be.

 

"this one's for you, Megan!" years later, Megan will not remember what this was about, and neither will you. Also, a photo of trash...REALLY KAITLYN?! The album for this was titled "crazy night in college station!!" crazy, that looks like it...

I'm sure your friends love you for this one. STOP PUTTING SO MANY UNFLATTERING PICTURES UP!

"umbrella likes the rain!" I have no words for this one. It came right after a picture of a stuffed owl on my boot that said "owl likes my boots!" Whyyyyyyyyy

 "I like to computer it." WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN? But this does make me laugh because look how funny FB looks!! Circa 2006.

Yes, you SHOULD DEFINITELY put a photo up of you looking like a shacker with a huge booty so that people could see the snow. GREAT IDEA, KAITLYN.

60 photos of the Hornets game, and none of you and everyone who went? SURE!

so attractive. I should have been a model, OBVI.

 

cool hat, kait. you really knew how to get all the boys.

Oh wait, this was from last year. You obviously haven't learned much.

did I miss something?

OK first of all - I have determined that everyone was freaking out for no reason. I woke up thinking I missed something, why did my blogger homepage look the same when OMG EVERYONE MUST USE BLOGLOVIN NOW!? Turns out that I never used Google Reader. I just opened blogger and opened all the posts I wanted to read in separate tabs. Call me crazy, but I like to see the prettiness of everyone's blog every day. TAKE THAT BL - I don't have to use your craziness! But I guess you can still follow me on there if you want. Whatever.

 

Moving on. Let's get this weekend update rolling! Warning :: I don't remember much of Saturday night so that part is kinda hazy. Also, I'm embarrassing and I should never drink gin again. Apparently it doesn't hit me until it HITS me. I have no clue how we got home and some of these photos I have no memory of taking. And hangovers that last ALL day should be illegal.

 

 



 

1 :: shrimp and grits in a martini glass, can it get any cuter? NOPE.

2 :: the haziness beings. My absolutely gorgeous SIL and the MOH

3 :: still can't get over how amazing this is - they had a painter there painting the reception scene. can I go back and do this at ours?!

4-5 :: LUCKY DOG. it doesn't get better than this.

6 :: apparently kissy faces are back in?

7-8 :: i don't remember taking these. that's me in the hotel bed with cake that I somehow ate. And can you tell how much A loves me?

9 :: BACKTRACK - us at the NKOTB concert. I'd like to go back and have BIIM sing more than five songs.

 

Anyways, I'm clearly in need of a new signature drink. Or maybe I should just not drink.