Animal Sounds

The fam and I went away for the holiday weekend and boy was it needed. Work has been crazy lately and this trip was going to serve as my mini reset button to life. Of course this reset button was a littler colder than I would have liked it to be but it served it's purpose. That beauty of a photo was taken in Lake Placid New York A.K.A my reset place. It's a small town that is quiet, covered in snow...it's the kind of place with no traffic lights, or traffic for that matter. It's the kind of place where you go to "the" drug store or "the" supermarket. There's not 5 Walgreens and Shoprite on every block. It's a small town where the people make friendly conversation and everyone knows your name. Basically, the total opposite from home. Re-set completed.

It's just too bad that Lake Placid is extremely cold in the winter. At this point my cousin Lex and I were braving the outside elements in a snow storm. A 7 degree snow storm. If you look closely, her lashes actually have frost on them. The last night the outside thermometer said -11 degrees. I've never felt coldness like that before.

Here's the crew of cousins going snow shoeing at Cascade (Cascade Ski). It was so much funny and so pretty on the trails. My uncle told us about the place since he's a huge ski junkie and they have hostel there that he stayed at when he was young, broke and wanted to ski.

The next day while everyone went Skiing I decided to stay back and do something I love to do- explore! I took a crew with me (see above), my dogs Courtney and Wrangler. We bundled up and set out wandering in the woods with the only sounds being the snow crunching under my feet and their paws. They showed their enthusiasm by shoving their faces into the coldness, leaving them with large beards of snow.

There were so many birds around us at one point and every time I moved to take a shot they flew away before I even got my lens cap off. After much cursing, a miracle happened and this little Blue Jay decided to strike a pose for me. As I get older, the more I'm getting interested in bird watching, which is worrying me because it always seemed like a geeky old guy activity but something about watching birds in the wild really charms me.

I considered the trip a success after the Blue Jay photo but this was really something awesome! I think they're moose tracks but I'm not sure. They were pretty fresh in the snow so I don't think I missed whoever left these by much. When I was 24 I made a list of things I wanted to do before 25 and one of the things was to see a moose in the wild(another list activity was to hail a cab- it was an eclectic list to say the least). I'm 27 now and we'll, at least I've got tracks.



After 3 very cold nights away, 4 people and two dogs crammed into my step-dads pick up and headed back to NYC. I was happy to see my BF and kitties again and to take a shower. I was only able to squeeze one in as there were 9 people sharing 2 bathrooms and showers were scarce. After my uncle had us snow shoeing or sledding or walking in below freezing weather for hours at a time, at night all you really want to do is calapse under some warm blankets and sleep. The texts from my boyfriend proclaiming his sleepless nights with me absent from our bed, did put me to sleep with a smile on my face though. Even if it was only 3 days, I did miss my life and the people I left behind while I was re-setting. I'm thankful to see those I left behind were missing me too.

On a little side note- my friend AM recommended this book to me and by some ways of karma, I found it bestowed to me after my aunt left it behind from her stay in NY. I'm only about 20% through it but I'm hooked. I'm not usually a fan of the non-fiction genre but this book has got it's hooks in me and I don't want to stop. Pick it up if you get the chance...great easy read if you're stuck in on a snowy night.

Who You Callin Cupcake?

I've been busy getting ready for one of my favorite holidays- Valentines Day! I have no idea why I started liking it so much but year after year I tend to enjoy it, look forward to it, and prepare for it more and more. This year was no exception. With my 14 days of Valentines Day (see previous post) , for one of the days, I decided to break out the sewing machine, head over to my moms (since I have no idea how to sew) and *hopefully* make a pillow for my BF.

At Joann's I went for it and got the typical pink red heart mash up with pink thread and enough fluffy goodness to make a huge pillow. My boyfriend often falls asleep on the couch since he works crazy hours and often I wander out of the bedroom at 4am to see the TV blasting, his dinner half finished on the coffee table and his head buried in a cat bed. I figured a pillow would be a perfect gift for a guy who often passes out in random uncomfortable places. Plus, I was looking for any excuse to break out the shewing machine.

My mom helped a huuuge bunch! I had no idea how to even thread the machine or what a yard of fabric could do for me but my mom was there to walk me through it. She always used to sew our Halloween costumes as kids- she would ask what we'd want to be and then she would head out to the store and make these amazing costumes that consisted of Rainbow Brights, mermaids, Snow Whites and crayons. We always had the best and most unique costumes and my sister and I loved it. By knowing how to sew, she made our dreams and wildest fantasies come true, if only for one day and I just hope that one day I can pass along that feeling to someone else.

My finished product! It's huge and it's supposed to be a heart but I'm mostly getting "is that supposed to be a butt"?

This was my surprise on Valentines Day! I really thought after days of his moaning hatred for the day I was going to be the girl who gets forgotten. Walking in the door and seeing this was just awesome! He makes flowers, champagne and cupcakes look soooo effortless.

The little pink box on the table was filled with Brooklyn's finest cupcakes from Little Cupcake Bakeshop (http://www.littlecupcakebakeshop.com/). Chocolate Cloud,Strawberry, Blue Velvet, German Chocolate, Peanut Butter and Red Velvet!

3 Cupcakes later ( You're next peanut butter!) I considered Valentines Day a total cheat day as this week I also decided to sign up for a weigh loss pool at work. I paid $20 to enter and the person to lose the most percentage of body weight (a la The Biggest Loser) wins the loot, which is now up to $350 and I really want it. I really just wanted a little push to lose the 5lbs I gained after the holidays but now I'm really into the contest. As a little post Valentines Day detox to get me back on track, I made lentil soup for dinner and it was good!

I used Alton Browns recipe. Here's some tomatoes, onion and carrots sweatin it. Then went the chicken stock, water, lentils, spices and then...

So yummy! I had 2 bowls. I figured this will even out the peanut butter cupcake I'm about to overdose on.

My first weigh in for the 2 month contest is tomorrow. How many hours of Wii Fit Yoga do you think I have to do burn burn off a cupcake? LOL. I hope all you out there had a very special Valentines-where ever you are!


Xo,

Kimberly

From the Mouth of Babes

I started my day with a sweet french vanilla coffee ( of course) and then headed over to Babies R Us for like the first time ever. I'm prepping for my first ever baby shower, which happens to be for my BF's lil sister. In case you've never been to Babies R Us prepare yourself- they have over 60 aisles of pastel baby substance. After 8 people asking me if I needed help, ( I guess I wasn't hiding that "I'm so lost" look of panic on my face) I was $200 in the bucket and desperately trying to shove something the size a pool table in the back seat of my car. Apparentl,y this is what $200 will get you at Babies R Us: For a first timer I don't think I did so bad!

So I'm not one of those mushy girls but I do have a soft spot for this time of year. I have no idea when it started but I really have fallen in love with Valentines Day. Evey year ( for the past 11) since my BF and I have been together, I do the 14 days of Valentines Day. He usually receives some little gift for each day, sometimes it's candy sometimes it's a lap top. Every year he gets the gifts in a different way, this year I decided to do an advent calendar. It's just a little something I wish I could do everyday but at least Feb 1-14th of every year I will. Take a peak at my Valentine advent:

On my way back to home base with a cartload of baby supplies, I knew there were a few movies I needed to catch up on, so I stopped by Redbox and picked up these two gems: Both should have warning labels saying: "These movies will fuck your day up good!

Catfish: The reviews warned me that it wasn't a suspense film like the trailer lead viewers to believe and it wasn't. the moral of this sad story was: Everyone on the Internet isn't who they say they are. Oh good thing it's not 1994 and everyone doesn't already know that. I mean I know they're still trying to push the whole Internet dating thing but even my friends gave up on Internet dating after meeting (obviously married guys) guys who "can only be reached by email" or just plain freaks whose photos were at least 10 years old and make you wait in the parking lot of a Mc Donalds while they "pick something up".

Buried: Thanks for screwing my day up even more! I'm a horror fan but not a torture fan and this film is pure torture.

So after that- I had to brighten up my day and I decided maybe making some mini blueberry muffins with the awesome blueberries I've been saving, was a good idea. Trouble is, after stuffing my face full of junk food for the Holiday season and Superbowl, I felt guilty about ingesting more carbs and tried to make these bad boys low fat. Big mistake. They're not as tasty as they look and when I bit into one, a blueberry exploded and ran down the front of my new white tee. FFFFFFFFFFFFF!!!!

I have to admit I haven't been a good mood all week and it's not like this day helped much. I set out in search of mood changing distraction and I found one in Shakti Yoga Center...ever since reading Eat, Pray, Love I've been thinking of her time in India and her time spent meditating. It wasn't until I was watching Howard Stern on Letterman last week and heard him talk about his meditations, that I put down " Try Mediation" on my to-do list of 2011. I googled "meditation NY" and Shakti came up and sounds like something I'd like to try if only ONCE! Stern said how it has balanced him and maybe it can do something for me too- at least Id' be trying something new and maybe a little crazy.

I would also like to try this gem http://www.starbucks.com/menu/drinks/tazo-tea/chai-latte?foodZone=9999. One day this week I will taste the awesomeness that it the Chai Tea Latte.

Until then- nighty night.

East Coast Winter, feels years long.

Let me break the ice cause it's been a while...I feel that this blog is always helping me pour my emotions out in times of need and that's why I've picked up writing here again. Things right now are not good and they're not bad- they're stationary. I still haven't decided/applied to grad school...I still haven't been on a vacation...approaching my relationships 11 year mark and we're still not decided on the future we want or we have an we're both too tired to act on it. Sometimes seeing things written down allow you to review your actions closely and hopefully, make changes about your situation. That's my hope for this blog- I hope it helps me change my current situation. Any encouragement is welcomed and appreciated! I promise this won't be all doom and gloom- I love food and I'm sure it will pop up here too- especially baking overly sweet specimens! I'm also hoping this blog pushes me to be more extroverted, forcing me to try/do things to add here. Here's to being hopeful!

Work is kind of crazy right now too. It's winter so I spend my days going to work and then home. About 90% of my life is spent in my office and it's driving me mad. I just can't seem to kick this rut and all I get is more snow dumped on me. I hate that it's dark when I go to work and dark before I leave my office. It's cold and icy and that makes it difficult to go anywhere or do anything. I'm just not motivated and that's flowing into my work and that's flowing into my life since right now my life is work...so yeah...you can see where I'm going here. Most of my life right now is spent doing this:
And my mornings have been greeted with this:

On a lighter side...it almost Valentines Day and I looooove Valentines Day! I was able to make some love cookies for my Boy Friend ("CT") last night, which worked out well since the East Coast was getting a beating from an ice storm and my other option consisted of more laying on the couch. I think they turned out quite nice!