finished!

So, remember that ModCloth writing thing I told you guys about? The one I only had a week to write something for? Well I hemmed and hawed all week about it, settling on a general idea of what to write about but not really being able to get into it. I kept wanted to quit and just say "Forget it, I'll never be able to write anything decent in the time I have," but I didn't. I kept at it. I'm pretty impressed. Because I ended up knocking the whole thing out, starting over from basically scratch, in the last three hours. Go me! It's just a sweet little short story, and maybe someday I'll share it on here, but it's the first thing I have ever submitted for any kind of publication and it's kind of exciting! Now I need to step away from the screen and de-compress. Phew!

inspired by...

Aria Montgomery

Does anyone else watch Pretty Little Liars on ABC Family? It's really good. I know ABC Family tends to err on the side of cheesy with their shows and movies, but this one isn't like that. The plot line is interesting and the girl's wardrobes are to die for. In particular, everyone seems to be swooning over main character Aria Montgomery's wardrobe, and it isn't hard to see why. Plus, the girl has amazing hair.

 images from here, here, here, here, also here, and finally, here.

Aria has a knack for mixing and layering unexpected items in totally great ways. Her bohemian-rocker style is what I think I'd like to go for in my fall wardrobe.  I love her little cropped leather jacket and penchant for bold jewelry. her dress and boots combo in the lower left corner is my favorite look, and a pair of slouchy moto boots is definitely on my shopping list.

new fonts

Guys, I changed the fonts on my blog and they're SUPER CUTE. Only thing is, I'm the only one that can see them. Can anyone assist or steer me in the direction of a tutorial on how to change the font in the header and blog post titles to a custom font so everyone can see it?

Much love and appreciation if anyone can help! Google is giving me nothin' but I'm not sure what I'm looking for!

things my boyfriend does

It's about that time again. Time for a classic edition of Things My Boyfriend Does. It's been awhile. Boyfriend seems to be wising up and hasn't been much of a hoot lately. But don't worry, I've got my eye on him for any little ridiculous thing he does. Today's installment is...

My Boyfriend Can't Shut Cabinets

(or Drawers)

Did anyone see that Steve Carrell and Tina Fey movie, Date Night? I did. It was cute. If you did see it, you probably won't remember this little running gag they did, because it was just a small thing. If you didn't see it, SMALL SPOILER ALERT. 

At the beginning of the movie, there's a scene when Tina Fey's character is walking into the bathroom and suddenly gets a bathroom drawer to the gut. Because her husband had been in there and opened every single drawer and then left. Later in the movie, the two are digging through some filing cabinets and Steve Carrell's character leaves every file cabinet drawer open and Tina Fey runs into them again. You'd think she'd learn, but then you'd think so would he. 

The only reason this scene really stuck out to me is because I've been there. Closing a cabinet or drawer is seriously the easiest thing you will do during your day. Closing them probably requires less effort than opening them, even. Some people even have very fancy drawers that close on their own if you give them a light tap (Ikea drawers do this! Cabinets too! I love Ikea.) It's just not hard to open a cabinet, take out or put away something, and then close it. Right?

Wrong. The above is a photo of the kitchen after Boyfriend put the dishes away. I was so happy he was helping out, then I wandered into the kitchen to check his progress. Boyfriend was no where to be found, and the kitchen looked like this. Note the two drawers in the corner. He actually opened one with the other clearly in the way and STILL didn't close them. Also note that the dishwasher is still open.

Another thing he does, is when he does put dishes away, they're never in the right spot. We've lived here for ten months. He's been taking things out of the cabinets and putting them back somewhere completely different for ten months. I still have no idea where my 3/4 cup measuring cup is. I'll probably find it when we move out. In his sock drawer or something. Which will be left open.

what i've been up to

gloucester for the afternoon

amphibious vehicle! grainy because i zoomed with my phone to get this ;) you can kind of make out the propeller!

driving into torrential rain

enjoying summer sunsets on my "wogs"

i LOVE this candle. it makes me think of fall and pie <3

i thought this was the sweetest bench ever {jme - we need a bench!}

dealing with mail the chupacabra ate at work

enjoying my first ever beer flight! i love these!

youtube masterpiece theatre

And now, for your enjoyment on this Tuesday morning, may I present to you...

Katrina's YouTube Masterpiece Theatre

Showing only the finest of what YouTube has to offer, we begin with some oldies but goodies: "Shoes" and "Muffins."

"Those shoes are mine, betch."

"Banana!"

 

And that concludes today's episode of Katrina's YouTube Masterpiece Theatre. Do join us again next time!

things my boyfriend does

Despite what I have written about in detail on here, Boyfriend does not always make me want to pull my hair out. Sometimes he does nice and lovely things. For instance, because he works overnights, he usually brings me an iced coffee and a bagel on Saturday mornings. This is nice and makes me happy.

I've been pretty stressed out with work lately, where before it used to be relaxing to go to work. So when I come home I am usually frazzled and desperate to just sit down and relax. So one day last week, Boyfriend agreed to make dinner. I wasn't expecting anything fancy, just something involving chicken because I had taken it out of the freezer.

Well, lo and behold I came home to a Boyfriend-prepared feast!

He had bought my favorite beer and had one chilled and ready for me when I walked in the door. He also had a plate of cheese and crackers prepared. Pepper jack cheese too, mmmm!

Boyfriend, slaving away in the kitchen. Note all the open cabinets/drawers...we'll be discussing that in next week's edition.

The finished product! Corn, garlic mashed potatoes, and chicken with bacon and provolone on top! Diet? No. Delicious? Yes! Score one for Team Chubby Katrina.

So there it is, a non-humorous, kind post about Boyfriend. Because I think he deserves it. He even cleaned up after himself when he was finished! And as far as I know, he used all the correct cleaning products!

drugstore beauty queen

I have a mascara problem. Namely, I currently own and use about four different kinds. That's typically how many mascaras I have. I'm sure most people just have one and move on with their lives, but I feel like the mascara market is constantly coming out with something new and I need to try them all. I think I've been on a mission for years now to find one perfect mascara to stick with, but all the new types are just so tempting!

Typically I swear by Lancome. All of their mascaras are absolutely the best, but for $25 a pop,it's not always a realistic buy. Since I use the tubes up so quickly (I will never go anywhere without two coats of mascara. I look freakish without it. That month before my eye surgery was really, really hard), I prefer to find a great drugstore version.

Right now, the mascara I am obsessed with is Revlon Grow Luscious Mascara. It's a perfect, inky black. The formula isn't clumpy at all, it's very smooth. And I swear it actually has made my lashes longer. Maybe not 93% longer, or whatever the ads claim, but they definitely are a touch longer. My only qualm is I got the waterproof version for summer, and I do find it rather smudgy, which is strange for a waterproof mascara.

While I'm here, I guess I will tell you about the super awesome lip stain I bought yesterday too. I love the idea of a lip stain. Put it on in the morning, slap on some gloss, and you're good to go all day. You don't look like you have heavy-duty lipstick on, just a nice I-just-ate-a-popsicle color. The only problem is they are usually dry, and it my experience, taste funny. Not that I am eating them, but my tongue is pretty close to my lips and sometimes they touch. And I taste my lip product. ANYWAY, the drugstores have recently been hit with an influx of lip stains. Cover Girl was first, with their marker version. I tried it, and found it much too dry for my tastes. I still use it, but it's not my favorite. Recently, Revlon and Maybelline have each come out with one. I chose the Revlon one (Revlon is killing it lately!) because it had stain on one end and balm on the other. Genius.

I got it in Gothic, which is a bright cheery red. It seems like a lot at first, but you can really customize the intensity when you put it on. Plus it stays on forever, and dulls to a lovely shade. It was still on my lips this morning! The balm is great to put on top, or even underneath, so you don't look like a dehydrated castaway with dried out lips.

Really, those two things with some concealer and you could be done. Apparently I am obsessed with Revlon lately.

Stay tuned for a long, long overdue Things My Boyfriend Does later!

bloglovin'

 Hi everyone! I've just joined bloglovin' and if you could take a moment to follow me over there it would be rad. Just click the link below.

Follow my blog with bloglovin

anywhere you go

Work has been crazy busy this week (and it's only Tuesday!) and when I do get home I've just been lacking in the motivation to sit down and do an actual well-thought-out post. I have a back-log of things I want to write about at this point. Just so no one is too concerned that I have died or disappeared off the face of the planet (I'm sure there was some serious concern) I've got a little post of randomness for you all on this craptastic Tuesday (just me?).

Fun Fact! I don't know if many people know this about me, but I'm kind of obsessed with Russia. I don't know why. I think it all began when I saw the phenomenal animated version of Anastasia. That still ranks as one of my all-time favorite movies. I have the soundtrack on my iPod. I am such a cool kid. I'll devour anything written about the fall of the Romanov's, and sometimes I peruse all the Wikipedia pages about it for kicks. Gosh I am making myself sound like such a nerd right now. I just find it all so morbidly fascinating. And sad.

I really want to visit Russia someday, which boyfriend thinks is crazy. He also thinks moving any further than the distance from the couch to the fridge is crazy, so there's that. I have a vision of me prancing around Moscow in a huge fur hat and coat. And I want some of those little nesting dolls. Maybe I was Russian in another life. Though I don't think I could do those Russian dances, I can't squat like that. Anyway, the point of all this is I just finished a phenomenal book that takes place in Russia during World War II called City of Thieves. Go read it, it will knock your furry Russian boots off.

This has nothing to do with Russia, but it does have to do with World War II. Read this sweet and interesting story about a man who escaped from Auschwitz. He is the cutest old man ever.

Last, but definitely not least, how did I not know about this?! I love ModCloth! How were they accepting writing submissions without me knowing!? I clearly don't spend enough time on that site. I only have a week or so to scratch something together, but I am DOING IT. I just need to start brainstorming some inspiration. Something true? Something made up? I don't do poems, so there's that. I'm working up a tear-jerker in my brain.

This is a picture of me wearing my Mickey Mouse poncho from circa second grade. It is backwards.

Also, don't know if you noticed, but I've posted links to my Weardrobe and Chictopia pages over there on the sidebar. I am going to try uploading things to those two sites, but I don't know how regularly that will happen. It started mostly for contests, so I may need you guys to vote for me for things so please be aware of the links. No, I will not be posting the above photo.

Okay, I'm off to start watching my new guilty pleasure, Pretty Little Liars, from the beginning. Thank you MegaVideo!

this post brought to you by mia

This was my first time playing around with iMovie. I really just wanted to get a feel for it and have about 200 videos of Mia. Usually she sees a camera and immediately acts like a statue, but I managed to catch her a little bit with this. My little baby angel!!

I wish the video was bigger, and I would go back and fix it, but I can't figure out how to delete this video in order to add another...hmph. Maybe next time I will use vimeo.

Also! If you are feeling kind-hearted, why not go and vote for the lovely Jessica of What I Wore in the Fall in Love in Iceland contest? Jessica is super cute and lovely and is getting married soon! Help send her and her fiance on a fancy trip to Iceland. You know you'd want people to vote for you if you were in a contest, so just do it. It takes two seconds. [The security bit at the bottom of the Iceland Naturally page is just math, add the numbers together.] Also check out her blog. She has a book coming out next year of her outfit illustrations and it is going to be too cute for words; she's a really talented outfit illustrator.

kooking with katrina

[Note: I know way endorse spelling things the way I did above. But once you see the ridiculousness I am about to post the 'kook' will make total sense.]

Because I am home alone this week, I have to entertain myself. The best way to do this? Cook dinner and pretend you have a show on the Food Network. I made my Easy Peasy Delicious Chicken Cutlets.

Please, follow along while I pretend I know how to cook!

Hello! Welcome to Kooking with Katrina!! Today we'll be making chicken! Because chicken and pasta are the only two things I cook!!

First, you need to pre-heat the oven to 350*. My mother cooks everything at 350 regardless of what it is or what the recipe says. So I guess I got this from her. Plus, most ovens default to this temp when you turn them on, so it's easy. If you have an oven like mine, you'll want to turn it on approximately 30 minutes before you want to cook. Yes, I timed it. Yes, the oven sucks.

Note the breadcrumbs on my fingers. Please ignore them.

Next gather your ingredients. First get your chicken breast out and wash it and pat dry. Then get your dry mix ready.

This is just breadcrumbs and grated cheese mixed together. I prefer to use Panko breadcrumbs or homemade ones, but I didn't have any on hand. This was a "Weee! No food in the kitchen!" kind of dinner.


Then get your dredging solution together.

This is two eggs, juice from one lemon wedge (add more if you want, whatever. I just didn't want to use all my lemon. Oh and cornstarch! That's the key. It makes the mix nice and thick. But only use like, one teaspoon. And measure it. Because I didn't, I poured it from the box and had to scoop the chunks out, hence the mess. DON'T DO THAT.

Next, dunk your chicken in the egg mixture. Get it all nice and covered in gooey egg. Yum!

Then drag it through the breadcrumbs and get it all nice and covered.

Then lay them on a wire rack on a cookie sheet to rest. I used the sheets that came with the toaster oven. Perfect!

Put them in the fridge. Or don't. I don't remember what the rule is for this, but I felt funny leaving raw chicken out. But if you let them sit for say, 30 minutes (the amount of time it takes to pre-heat my oven!) the breading will set and be extra yummy!


Then, once the oven is preheated, put the chicken on a cookie sheet and put it in the oven. Cook it for about 15 minutes, flip it then cook it for about 15 more. Until it looks crispy enough for ya, basically. While you're at it, make some broccoli for nutrients then make some tater tots because THEY ARE AWESOME.

Once it is done, enjoy!

 Yummmm!

things my boyfriend does

I'm going to do something a little different with this post. Since I've been slacking on these the past two weeks (I've been busy! Sue me.) I'm going to do a Special Edition of Things My Boyfriend Does. Because he's not always making a mess and being obnoxious. Ten percent of the time he's not even home!

This week, for instance he's on a motorcycle trip with his Best Friend to Virginia Beach. There was supposed to be a third Amigo, but he bailed at the last minute and Boyfriend is all salty about it. Anyway, since I'm scared he might die, I've been having him update me along the way - with pictures! So here's where he's been:

First picture update, Catskill, NY. This was yesterday, when he left.

Route 30, somewhere in the Catskill Mountains. They went west from here (from Boston, basically) then they were going south.

There he is! Boyfriend needs a bigger bike, look how huge his Best Friend's his compared to his! Someday, because I think he has more important things to spend money on right now (me).

Today they got caught in some nasty thunderstorms along route 11 in PA so they didn't make it as far as they planned today. If you see Boyfriend out on the road give him a honk and please don't run him over! I can't deal with that kind of stress.

P.S. Notice the new layout? I did it myself more or less! I wish I had more skillz to really fancy it up, but I think this is a definite improvement.

'cause that's my fun day

Ahhh Sunday! Sunday is my favorite day of the weekend, despite the fact that it is the last day of the weekend, because it's usually the day I get to do whatever I want and just sit around and be lazy.

Or, the day I decide to intensely clean the entire apartment. Whatever.

Boyfriend left on a week-long motorcycle trip this morning (sad! and scary!) so I figured I'd clean the apartment up real good today and enjoy it for the whole week while he wasn't here to mess it up. :) I'm actually having a great time doing it. Granted, I haven't gotten much cleaning done, but I feel very productive. I've gotten to peruse the internet without anyone hasslin' me, I finally put the heels that never fit me up for auction on eBay, and I have THREE new magazines to read later!

Right now I'm deep cleaning the bedroom and watching Robin Hood: Men in Tights (love you Carey Elwes circa this movie and Princess Bride!). At 1:30 abc Family is finishing up their Harry Potter weekend, so that's what I will be watching when I finally move along to cleaning the living room.  Ahh, nothing like a nice clean apartment! I even got new sheets for the bed, so excited to climb into them tonight!

What is everyone else doing on this glorious Sunday?

 from here

overwhelmed

So I recently got a "mini-promotion" at work. I was super excited about it, because I knew I didn't want to stay in the position I previously had forever, but I had no idea what I wanted to do or where I wanted to go. While this position isn't much different from what I currently do, it is more important. It will also gain me more exposure within my company, which is always a good thing.

However, it all came along very suddenly and I am starting to panic. We have this major project going on right now, and it is especially effecting my new position. If that wasn't happening, this would be a cake walk. I have no idea what is going on and I'm having such a hard time keeping it all straight in my head. I officially take over me new position on Monday, and the person who is supposed to be my go-to-gal is out on vacation next week.

I'm just so afraid I'll mess something up right off the bat. With my old position I really couldn't do too much harm, so I was never worried about messing up. Now what I do definitely matters and it's scary. I know I just need to relax, and that once I get started everything will fall into place, but it is overwhelming to start something new. I keep seeing little "universe advisories" as I call them. Like a magazine sitting out that said "Relax and Stay Cool!" on the cover. Or the beer bottle cap that said "to be real is to feel" or, most obviously, the big poster hanging in my kitchen that says...

fall wishlist - part 1

I know it's only just July, but I'm already thinking about fall clothes. The stores are already starting to carry "back to school" stuff, so I've fast-forwarded to crisp leaves and apple pie. And, of course, new clothes. :)

Since it is only July, I'm just gonna go ahead and call this part 1, since I'm sure more will follow.

Aldo Elfering - AE Leopard Flats - Madewell Lace Illusion - Madewell Skinny Ankle - Aldo McKew

The brogues were on sale when I was perusing the Aldo site looking for a pair to use as an example, so I went right ahead and bought them! And I got an extra 10% off for signing up for their email club. They actually should have arrived at my Mom's today so I am going by later to get them! I hope I like them. Look how cute the brogues look with the ankle skinnies!

Speaking of the skinnies, I need a new pair of black ones, hence their appearance on this list. My cheapie Forever 21 pair have seen better days. I've heard nothing but good things about Madewell jeans and they have an inseam I won't need to get hemmed, so I think they will be worth the splurge.

The boots, on the other hand, will not be mine. I do not love them $110. But I am counting on finding a similar pair somewhere on the cheap. I'm looking for a short pair of motorcycle-ish boots (under $50) so if anyone sees any good ones let me know!

The Madewell tee is gorgeous. I love it. My love justifies the $42 for a tee shirt thing. I feel it can be dressed up or down.

Leopard flats. Adorable. I've been coveting a pair for awhile, so I'm finally going for it. Plus, I have a coupon.

Anybody else already have a fall wish list started, or am I the only crazy?

desperate housewife

How was everyone's Fourth of July weekend? We get two days off at my work, so I got yesterday AND today. I know, I'm spoiled. I definitely needed the long weekend! It was great to be able to spend time with friends and family and get lots of sun!

Today it's VERY hot out (96*!) so I'm staying in the AC and getting some things done around the apartment - cleaning up a bit and making a sauce and maybe oatmeal cookies! Stay cool out there!

1995

Annie Barret of Entertainment Weekly is who I want to be when I grow up. She has an awesome witty sense of humor that I obviously appreciate. Check out this fab slideshow of 1995 she captions. Enjoy.

http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20313460_20397095,00.html

project365

You may have noticed the new little box I've got on the sidebar over there. That's my Project365 album. The idea behind Project265 is to take one picture a day for an entire year and document it. Easy peasy and fun to look back on. I started today, Friday, July 2nd, because why not?

Everyone should give it a try! Everyone has a camera or camera phone these days, so get snappin' and share your pictures with me once you do!

she works hard for the money

Phew. I have been so swamped at work this week. I have recently received some new responsibilities and with responsibility comes meetings. Lots of 'em. But today they all got canceled (it's just like in college when classes would get canceled!) so I have finally had some time to catch up on shopping and blogging work!

Later today I have a Things My Boyfriend Does planned, complete with photos. It's a short one, but whatevs. I have some other crafty little posts coming up, a funny story or two, probably a Weekend Update next week because this weekend will probably be EPIC.

Now I have to get back to work for the next two hours. Boo.