LINKS

cat versus human - matt is such an animal lover, like cat versus human's guy. i love that about him.


Louis CK, Jesus is Trending

Indie Jane's puppy profiles

Swiss Miss, beautiful swear words

Meg, i believe



Before a little site called pinterest granted me access I used to blog. Now I'm pinning all the things.

Enjoy.

our day in one year

One year from today (the date, not the day) I will be marrying my best friend, my love. I am so, so geeked!

We'll be tying the knot here, the Bay City Country Club:

With Bryan & Mae to document the day.

Sometimes our day is the only thing I want to think, talk about, look for inspiration for and plan. I'll probably be sharing some of our planning process and lots of APW links.

Our next step is to talk food, invitations and flowers.

Get geeked along with me, won't you?! ;) 365 days

August

Do you ever feel that the beginning of August brings with it the beginning of fall? It's no wonder with the Target aisles full of dorm room swag, Mead 5 Subject notebooks and pencils. As a kid of educators and a lover of school myself, August quickly ramps up with back to school festivities and then the fresh start of school itself.

This year I don't want to rush into fall, because there a great few weeks of summer still ahead of me. TWO vacations! a birthday! a wedding! another boating weekend! delicious bbq & racing pigs! in seasons foods! it's all gonna be so good and I want to enjoy it all. I want to continue to work on my summer list. Look, we have yet to walk to get ice cream! There's lots yet to do.

vacation with matt to the upper peninsula
buy a bicycle and ride it. 
camp
pick blueberries
have a cookout for friends
picnic in the park
purge and organize the craft room and main floor closet and library
rock boat weekend
mini vacation with momma
do a picture a day
spend most of a day floating on a lake, at least once
fireworks
celebrate birthdays with love and fun and we still have matt's coming up
fresh, local, simple foods and dinners, hello lover august
grow our own stuff
wrap a light string around the apple tree
chicago in the midst of it
get out of the house once a day
walk to get ice cream
visit as many great lakes as possible
make a list like this
make a book to record it all

I'm not the only one trying to hold on to the last bits of summer. Sheenas' beautiful canola background calendar is now gracing my desktop.

Wanderlust is something I'm enjoying a few little bits of this summer. I enjoyed Port Huron and views of the Blue Water Bridge with my momma two weekends ago. Cheboygan last weekend was fun, fun, fun in the sun, sun, sun on the boat, boa-!

heading to hack-ma-tack via the cheboygan river.

Next week I'm off to visit my bestest in ChicagoOak Park. We have grand plans of a real girl's weekend with wine and cheese on the porch, junk food and movies, wandering her town and two full days to catch up!

Then it will be Matt's turn. Five uninterrupted days of vacation in the Upper Peninsula, visiting family soaking ourselves in the lake, a trip to a waterfall or a mine may be in store, definitely some beers and really good food. Much needed relaxation, for reals. Then we'll be home to celebrate his birthday the next weekend. Plans are brewing.

Matt's birthd-eve 2011

I really want to enjoy every bit of it and make the most of the 23 days we'll both be home throughout the month. Make it my goals to enjoy the house, cook fresh food, open the windows and work in the yard a bit, sit outside and enjoy the last few weeks of summer. I think it can be done.

goodness, i love that font. found on elise' blog

her august list.

dear weekend, you're nearly here.

 link up with lauren

1.  Today is a great day because it's Friday! Last weekend we were away which was great, but I'm ready for a weekend at home. I hope to work in the yard and get on top of some house cleaning. Also bunches of relaxing but I may plan that into my weekend so I don't totally bum around.

2.   Tomorrow I will clean the bathroom if I get up after Matt, make breakfast (bacon!), veg for an hour or so, weed flower beds for a few hours, wash floors, dust upstairs, maybe another hour of yard work, shower, VEG.

3.  My favorite time of day is the evening because Matt and I are both home, usually, and we're together, eating something yummy and making fun of the cats and laughing.

view from the bed at the H last weekend

 

4. Sometimes you just have to plan the crap out of your weekend even if all activities occur at home to ensure maximum productivity AND maximum couch potato-ing.

5. A song that I just can't get enough of lately is... well, here's the one I've been wanting to hear:

  
6. My favorite accessory is a good necklace, I'm usually wearing one, unless my top comes all the way to my neck. Also hair ties, 99% of the time I have one around my wrist.

7.  My favorite thing about this week {so far} was serenading Matt in the car on the way home from dinner last night. It was pretty hilarious. 

 waiting for dinner at Cafe Zinc

Craving: bacon & pizza, things I've dreaming about all week and will be having this weekend

Seeing: a messy desk I need to tackle.

Smelling: oranges, mid morning snack.

Listening:  Meg's 2011 Playlist

Quoting: 

"Everything is flawed. Spending a lot of time on something is not going to make it perfect. Worrying about it and obsessing over it is not going to make it perfect."  -Elise

Loving: Getting geared up for Send Something Good & Week in the Life

Feeling: Well, a bit of that malaise is still hanging on, but mostly I'm feeling optimistic for a productive and relaxing weekend.

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

reflection and resolution

I love this time of year, the end of it. It's a time for reflection and resolution. love. it.

 source

I thought I had done pretty well on my list of resolutions but it seems that I only managed to cross run a (baby) triathlon, make and stick to a budget, clean up and keep my computer organized (and blog reader) and make more lists. So that leaves me with seven overlooked resolutions...

1. Take an academic course.

2. Sew (crafty goodness!).

4. Get a tattoo (or two).

5. (Look into) taking piano lessons.

7. Compile Grandma's recipes and history of my house.

8. Spend more time outside off of my list. 

10. Stick to a cleaning schedule.

That's okay though, I had a pretty damn good year. It was spent training for the triathlon, loving Matt and the kitties, and friends and family, eating and drinking lots of good food and drink. 

I'm taking a smaller approach to 2012's resolutions. Last year I separated my word, balance, from my resolutions but this year it is a resolution of it's own. Expanding on balance and looking at my list of 26 things before 27, which I have yet to post, where I saw a lot of the word "conscious" I chose intentional. The word struck a chord with me while reading this post from Kyla. 

"taking a moment to savour the little moments that knit everything together can slow down time to a stand still." -miss roma

As I work to have more balance in my life with health, good food, laziness, excitement, solitary time and friendship I want to be more intentional with that thought process. I don't want to feel overwhelmed, but consider my decisions and the alternatives thoughtfully.

I'll carry this word with me through 2012 and while tackling these four resolutions.

1. lose weight. get fit. but seriously, lose a serious bit of with like a final goal of forty to fifty pounds. whew! it's going to take some serious work and i'm glad (very, very, glad) to have matt along with me to get this done.
2. save at least $3000! and be more financially responsible. this year i learned to really budget and next year i need to learn how to SAVE and not over spend.
3. be on time. i tend to be a tardy to things and all this achieves is stress. seriously, i'm an adult. it's time to be timely.
4. develop solid communication skills. i feel awkward in somea lot of social situations and i'd love to be the person who always felt comfortable and could put others at ease. 

 source

That's it. That's all she wrote. Four goals for 2012.


tips on resolution making and keeping:
elsie.  no meat athlete. today's letters.


talking about resolutions, reflections and things for the new year:
kelle (home in michigan!) plus a birthday post.  rachel investing in 2011. gentri lee's fun goals. a recap of a full and lovely year from ashlee. a look back from lisa leonard. the lovely couple of today's letters 2011 review.

one little word:
cherish. up.

THANKFUL

As I {st}rolled through my reader this morning I enjoyed reliving many Thanksgiving celebrations and taking note of what others are thankful for. So before I start gushing about how excited I am for Christmas-time I decided to take a moment and share what I am thankful for. 

I'm thankful for my wonderful boyfriend Matt who bought me a glass blowingworking groupon, rode with me two hours to Dearborn, drove when I couldn't handle the lights anymore (bad reflective glasses?), was ready to just kill three hours waiting for me during the class, then drove us back home staying patient even when my shotty navigation kept taking us out our way. I'm truly thankful for all that he offers me and the love he brings into my life. 

Last year I did a bit of sharing what I was thankful for each day on blog posts in November. I'll bring that back next year for sures, because as I was trying to remember all that I am thankful for on Thursday it was hard to list everything.

   

Here is my list from last year. I am thankful for my cozy home. amazing, creative people like those who've made these videos. my orange boots. [not being afraid of color, wearing five different, solid blocks of color today. maybe too much of good thing.] hope. dreams. adventure. hope. this new beginning. a fresh start, the perk of a monday.  the sunshine streaming in. warming my heart and home! feeling whole and goal filled! having hair that i usually don't hate.

    

I did a quick search of my blog and found these things that I shared my thanks for, Lauren at the little things we do does a good job asking you to fill in the blank of what your thankful for the whole year through.

I am thankful for new love, family, the holiday season, a great meal, my wonderful home, sweet kitties, a good job, loud laughter, ridiculousness, friends, honesty, caring, silliness, happiness and seeing the beauty of everyday.

I am so thankful for the love and support I have in my life. The good health of [most] everyone I care for. I'm thankful that I'm strong on my own as well. 

The best things catch me by surprise and then I'm thankfully reminded how beautiful the world is.

Today I am thankful for an hour long chat with intelligent co-workers from a different workgroup.

This is my list from this past Thursday 2011:

Thankful for: Matt, family, kitties, friends, sleeping in, good food, my health, coffee, the Olympics, apple cider, the holiday season, laughter, family and friends x2, tights, color, travel, my job, football, dog shows ;), music, television, sunshine, snow, oranges, apples, hot showers, a roof over my head, the silly kitties, and once again Matt! That's a ton of stuff, and I'd come up with more but it's time to take a hot shower and put on some tights and spend the day with Matt and his lovely family celebrating all that we are thankful for!!

What I'm trying to say is, there is SO MUCH to be thankful for. 

Life is good.

Matt + Movember

I feel like it's grown even longer since this picture was taken Sunday.

My good sir has earned $220!

Matt + Movember

Matt will be growing a MOVEMBER mustache & I'm backing him as mo'sista {their term not mine}, pledging $10 a day until he shaves it or December 1.

I think he'll be working towards something like this...

but with a 'stache obv'.
It will be very piratey from what I've seen.

I've been following Uncrate since last Christmas time. They feature fancy cars and tech stuff and crazy cookbooks and other stuff  like fish hotels! I think we'll join their team since it's just us. It will be good to be part of a bigger something. Oh and here's Matt's mo space.

thankful for: my involved man

Movember

via Something's Hiding in Here

Are you participating? Is a man in your life? I'm curious to see if Matt will. He was kind of gung ho a few weeks ago, less so now that it's actually here.

Not quite sure what it is? Neither was I.

"During November each year, Movember is responsible for the sprouting of moustaches on thousands of men’s faces, in the US and around the world. With their Mo’s, these men raise vital funds and awareness for men’s health, specifically prostate cancer and other cancers that affect men." -movember

Again via Something's Hiding in Here, "if you know someone who's looking for a faux stache to help support their mo-bro tell them to visit our shop - from now until november 30th we'll be donating 100% of the profits from our mustache on a stick to movember."

thankful for: the efforts for raising awareness for men's health

Anniversary Retrospective

Our anniversary was at the beginning of October, but since we were busy with festival Matt waited until the next weekend to pull this celebration together.

{blurry} dinner table overview / lots of planning / demolished sushi / oreo stuffed chocochip cookies / books* / the most important part of the fort that wasn't. forts are hard. what's the secret? / pumpkin margaritas

all of the things Matt did for this night were things that we'd enjoyed together over the past year. i absolutely loved it. good job bebe.

*I asked Matt "what would David Foster Wallace have thought of this combo?" He said, " I hope he would be proud."

Stuffed Pablanos

I've been posting a lot about cats and "geeking out" so let's switch gears for a post. Food. Let's talk about food.

I really love to cook but until yesterday I'd taken about 10 days off. The summer is winding down and dare I say it, I'm tiring, only tiring I promise, of tomatoes and we still have a ton. We also have had a ton of pablano peppers and I hate to admit it, more have gotten thrown away then cooked.

It was time, to get back in the kitchen and pull together a yummy meal with some of those peppers. 

 zucchini, bell pepper, sun dried tomatoes {later added fresh cherry & grape tomatoes}

 Oh, but here's the thing I didn't tell you. I worked out after work yesterday, so Matt actually made dinner. 

Thank you, thank you baby.

Pablano Peppers baked at 425-350 (425 seemed to hot and blistered the peppers) stuffed with quinoa, zucchini, bell pepper, sun dried tomatoes and fresh grape/cherry tomatoes. 

Baked for only 20 minutes or so. 

homemade pesto aioli from BLTs Tuesday night, delicious on the side.

A glass of Redwood Creek, of course.

It wasn't the best meal ever and it takes a bit of time to make with the chopping and the quinoa and the baking, but it was complete and good and used our yummy pablanos.

Recipe here. {Gojee!}

lucky kitty glass

 Hello Mr Awesome...

Tonight brings us another episode of How I Met Your Mother. Do you think he will ever meet her? I'm not sure. I think he will continue to just Mosby up the Lily & Marshall story. That is something Matt likes to refer to when we watch. I'll have him find some links to share just what that means.

I'm really posting this to ask you a question or maybe ask a favor. Have you ever seen these kitty drinking glasses? They're the lucky Chinese cats you see in Asian restaurant. There's one at our favorite sushi place.

Incase you missed it.

 So... Chinese lucky drinking glasses, any leads? Thanks friends.

PS. A funny story. When the scene first started I noticed the glasses right away and had already rationalized to myself that we really didn't need these and we might never use them. Then Matt noticed them, looked at me and said, we need those. Do you see what they are?! :) I love him, no doubt about it.

Actually...

Remember these?

"i'm kate and matt is my wonderful boyfriend of nine months. we met through hell's half mile film festival film programming and ended up as a couple after making out on a stage {actually...} during the festival. it's pretty out of character for both of us. our favorite activities are drinking beers (or wine), eating, watching too much tv and joking about our cats lulu and sam . i'm so glad we all found our way to each other."

 Oh yeah, that happened.
Thank you, thank you. Free Crappy Portraits

Q. How was Hell's Half Mile?

A. Oh, good... Actually, I made out with a boy on a stage.

Happy one year Anniversary babe!!!

Disclaimer: We actually made out on a two step stage in an empty room... There was no cheering crowd, although I do believe our fellow programmers were cheering on the inside when they found out the festival brought us together. ;)

Where We Started / HHM

This delightfully awkward photo was taken a year ago this evening. 

This is where we started.


Matt and I had been programming (picking films for Hell's Half Mile Film & Music Festival) together for the past six months, but this was the first time we had more than a short conversation. Actually, I thought he was kind of a jerk. Sorry babe.

I think if we hadn't talked during the Block Party we wouldn't have felt as comfortable talking during the Filmmaker's reception Saturday night and we would have never... Actually, that's the story for Saturday.

Like us on Facebook / buy tickets & All Access Passes!! / visit our site.

September 29 - October 2, 2011, the sixth year of Hell.

Kate's Recommended Film Viewing Schedule:

Thursday

5-8p Open­ing Night Street Party Washington St.

8:15p Maria My Love*** @State

Friday

6:00p Fea­tured Shorts*** @State {Q & A w/Rider & Shiloh Strong & Alexan­dra Bar­reto lead by ME!}

9:00p Color Me Obsessed*** @State {Q & A w/Gorman Bechard, Jan Radder, Lynn Mancinelli lead by Matt!}

11:00p Eye of the Sandman*** @Masonic {bring your eye patches!}

Saturday

1:00p Shorts Pro­gram 2*** @Masonic {Q&A with Hard to Come By director lead by me!}

1-2p Film­maker Panel*** @Planetarium
2:30-3:30 Microbudget Filmmaking w/Gorman Bechard*** @Planetarium

3:30p Rid of Me @State

6:00p The Lake Effect***  @State

8:30p Girl­friend*** @State

11:00p Boy Won­der @State

5-7p Film­maker Recep­tion* @Masonic is where I'll be.

8:00p Music Fes­ti­val** @Masonic

Sunday

12:00p Shorts Pro­gram 2*** @State

2:00p Shorts Pro­gram 1*** @Masonic {Q&A with Spirit of Isabel director, Robert Butler lead by me!} /Didn’t make it to opening night? See Maria My Love*** @State

4:00p The Scen­esters @Masonic/Took a break during previous screenings? See Fea­tured Shorts*** @State /  Rid of Me @Planetarium
7:00p  Ford­son:  Faith, Fast­ing, Football*** @State

**Music Night

One AM Radio

Leslie Sisson

Empty Orchestra

The Crooked Trees

*All Access Pass Holder Only 

***Filmmakers in Attendance!

25 filmmakers will be in attendance, including Rider Strong - "Boy Meets World, my ass! Boy meets YOU!" via