life, cats, blanks, linking up.

linking up with lauren 

& for the first time with 

jeannett at life rearranged for instafriday

via miss lisa. 

1.   The last thing I ate was delicious leftover pasta that Matt had made last night. It's a variation on his chicken, sundried tomatoes, artichoke pasta that I was so afraid to try the first time and now I adore. He subbed sausage for the chicken because that's what we had. mmm mmm mmm.

2.   The last song I listened to was the last song on this playlist from meg. I've listened to this quite a few times. My favorite song of course is this.

3.  Using the letters in my name I can spell ate, take, at, eat, teak. KATE

4.  If I had to dress in one color for the rest of my life I would pick  probably blue or black. maybe purple..

5.  If you were to look in my bag right now you'd find wallet, gum, iphone, notepad for lists, receipts and coupons, lists, a ticket from the Grand Rapids Griffins game, touch screen gloves from Matt in the best limey mustard color.

6.  When I finish filling in the blanks I'm going to go home for the weekend! Ah, the first full week of work back after a long break is so rough. Ready for this weekend!

7.  My all time favorite song to dance to is oh probably something very 90's and very high school dance-y.

and now for:

 our newest picture from the hockey game

this cat looks like this, always. she is ridiculous.

 it took me forever to read this book. i'm not even sure i liked it.

bacon chocolate, yes please. it's delish.

my lovely package arrived from melissa. love it!
i plan to share what i received over the weekend!
but seriously, that cat paper cutting - you know it's going to be good!





Craving: a bloody mary Seeing: SNOW Loving: snow, matt, sleep, the kitties, the weekend

Package Pals - What I Sent!

Is it a pile of stuff sitting on the living room table? 

(not that ever happens)

Is it a Christmas gift for someone over seas?
(subtle reminder to my Croatian readers)

NO! NO! Silly, it's...

brought to you by the sweet (and patient!) blogger Gentri Lee!

(how great is that name!)

 It was great to participate in package pals with such great bloggers!

"From Michigan to Idaho (the mitten to the potatoes!!) a goodie box full of great etsy finds, some sweet treats and a few more surprises made it's way to my package pal Karly! It was fun to break out the kraft paper and finger knitting and share a bit of myself with a new pal."

Here are a few more snaps of the package I sent off to Utah:

Ardent Sparrow ring / Colette Paperie coaster / Anista Designs envelope

the box was lined with different scrapbook papers & once contained a 4x6 frame and photo album I sent off the picture frame with the list of all the goodies in it!

plum disco beads / finger knitting via me! / isavirtue notebook

Lemon Heads / Red Hots / a disposable camera! / Jones soda lid with a secret message ;) / a note

All wrapped up and ready to head to Idaho!!! 

(hey-oh)

And off she went.
Isn't sending and receiving mail the best?!

dialect meme

How do you say roof?


First I saw Katrina from pugly pixel and then Leigh-Ann from Freckled Nest participate in this fun dialect meme. I knew it was something I wanted to join in on, but I kept putting off because normally when I'm in the blogging mood I look a bit, ahem, disheveled. I'd take a picture but I might scare you away. ;)

Without further ado my dialect video, followed by an introduction. The intro is a minute long and a bit rambley but fun, of course.



To play along:

Say these words:

Aunt, Route, Wash, Oil, Theater, Iron, Salmon, Caramel, Fire, Water, Sure, Data, Ruin, Crayon, Toilet, New Orleans, Pecan, Both, Again, Probably, Spitting image, Alabama, Lawyer, Coupon, Mayonnaise, Syrup, Pajamas, Caught

And answer these questions:

• What is it called when you throw toilet paper on a house?
• What is the bug that when you touch it, it curls into a ball?
• What is the bubbly carbonated drink called?
• What do you call gym shoes?
• What do you say to address a group of people?
• What do you call the kind of spider that has an oval-shaped body and extremely long legs?
• What do you call your grandparents?
• What do you call the wheeled contraption in which you carry groceries at the supermarket?
• What do you call it when rain falls while the sun is shining?
• What is the thing you change the TV channel with?

Katrina has a list of a lot of other bloggers that participated, check it out.


Now for the introduction...

credit where credit is due

Remember this link post that featured the beautiful image above. Well, I'm finally going through some starred posts that included the correct credit for the image.

VIA oh, hello friend (image via pottery barn, thanks beth c!)

Which reminds me, I'd like to share and use this flow cart about when to share a photo.

Giving Credit / [in] Storm Cloud from Pia Jane Bijerk via sfgirlbybay

A pretty good reminder. I love that it looks like a chalkboard!

Not quite silence...

"So far we´ve raised $29,020 for Shelter Box USA.

- Utterly Engaged & Ever Ours"

From what I tried to understand of their tax forms 92% of your donation goes directly to the kits. That is enough for almost 27 Shelter Boxes, each contains a disaster relief tent for an extended family, blankets, water storage and purification equipment, cooking utensils, a stove, a basic tool kit, a children’s activity pack and other vital items. Utterly Engaged & Ever Ours set their goal at 5 Shelter Boxes. I can't imagine what it will be to by the end of the day or the end of the month.