Already Nostalgic...

So I basically plugged my memory card into the computer once again, and realized that I forgot I took more pictures this past weekend... and that so much more happened then just pretending to be famous and publishing free PSA's...

I somehow forgot that Seaside Heights decided to transport crabbers to some Floridian resort, to be found right at their local bay fishing grounds...
Another little surprise was this swan, who people claim is a local and that they see him frequently, but i'm convinced he comes with the palm trees and destination-resort-vibe...

 yes, I've decided it's a him.  Girls don't fight my dog:

Florida can't last forever... so we packed up and headed home, with a few parting shots...
And after having the dog both on the pier and on the beach, we noticed something:

Back from the Beach...

Loooong weekend down the shore... I so got my tan on... in my new straw hat.  so I was all posh and people thought I was famous. Not really. But it was fun to pretend.)

 And a free PSA - if you are a FAT man with a little braid down to his butt, I WILL take a picture of you to blast on the internet..

































And another free PSA - PLEASE DO NOT ever think it's ok to have your BACHELORETTE PARTY at Spicy's on the boardwalk in Seaside Heights.

Yes.  I am a Ninja-Photo-Taker.  Just be sure to silence your shutter sound...


Also. I love coming home Sunday to a dishwasher STILL FULL of clean dishes after being run on Wednesday night, hence a sink still full of dirty dishes.

 Can someone tell me WHAT exactly my husband did Thursday thru Saturday morning?! (Besides party like it's 1999 with Adam and his Bachelor party - one in an appropriate place, Atlantic City!)

Grown men cried and went and fell asleep in strange parking lots... and I can only speak for Eric, but he looked pretty green when they got home yesterday - one sure sign of a good time!

Back to hot yoga tomorrow after work - I've promised myself!
And camping this weekend with Adam, Jenn, Chris & Vanessa - got my s'mores and sleeping bag ready!

08.22.2012 - Randomized Blather

True blog-entry style - utter and complete stream of conscious & thoughts:

 If I could go back...
...to sophomore year of college and the long-distance relationship I was in that created a mountain of credit card debt, flying to and from each other, and shopping and wreckless spending every college student falls victim to - I'd tell myself, "Save the money!! He's NOT The One!!"

 If I could go back...
...to Easter of this year when, while visiting family in Texas, I let my mom convince me to chop off my hair. I only sit now and look at pictures of long-haired-Kate with what can only be described as Nostalgia... lol

If I could go back...
...to 9th grade, I would tell myself, you DO NOT look good! WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?!

If I could go back…
…to 2 months ago, I would tell myself to keep going to the gym, don’t stop! Cuz then right now, I’d be reaping aall the benefits…

08.14.2012 - ...And then there was Texas

It's all bigger, and HOTTER, in Texas!!

Last Wednesday, Eric and I did the usual pre-vacation shpeal - basically staying up late entertaining Adam and Jenn who were watching Rocco for us, and staying up even later to get packed the night before our flight. So after about 3 hours of sleep and at the ASS CRACK of dawn - literally: 3am - we got up and got ready to head to the airport.
We dropped the car, shuttled to the airport, and blearily loaded up on Dunkin Donuts for breakfast and caffeine, and WHAT a wise decision on the caffeine:  We landed in Texas and went straight out for margaritas - frozen and salted yummy-ness - before we even dropped our suitcases at the house!

And when we DID get to the house, we barely had time to throw on our swimsuits and head out to the pool for some good-natured *AHEM CUT THROAT* volleyball...

Nothing screams summer more than sweating plastic martini glasses!

And while HOME-home was a cool mid-seventies, home-away-from-home was rarely below 100 degrees after 11am...

We delved into summer memories...

..."the ORIGINAL ice cream maker was a HAND CRANKED maker! We had to take turns because your arms would get so tired!"

(... the price you pay for your dad helping with the motorized ice cream maker...)






An era with homemade ice cream on your front stoop in summer, with hoop skirts and being pinned by your highschool sweetheart at homecoming, with drive-in movie dates and Bobby Darin on the car radio - I didn't want to leave!

An era that instilled marriage as a holy and lifelong union and commitment. If you're wondering what 31 years of  marriage looks like:








(The second time EVER he has taken off his wedding band.)

(The first time was when he jammed his middle finger - the one all swollen and bent, never properly healed.)

((Stubborness and doctor-avoidance : another remainder of past eras.))


(((ok I'm done with parentheses.)))













We rounded out the trip with multiple volleyball games carried way into the night:

And a cavern exploration - did you KNOW that Texas used to be underwater?!

08.14.2012 - First there was a birthday...

I know, I know - it's been almost a week... I'll take a slap on the wrist like a big girl...

And it's only a quick prelude-post until I can get home and sort through aaaalll the pictures (although who knows when that may happen - this is just the MAIL that built up since Thursday!!)

But Eric and I had a fabulous time with family while we continued my birthday celebrations.  And we ended the trip with FirstClass travel (!) and are, honestly, glad to see our mid-70's weather back home!

(please don't fret, and please hang tight - there'll be so much more tonight!)

08.08.2012 - Another Year, Forever Young!

Usually, the older you get the smaller your birthday celebrations are. I think it should be, the older you get - the BIGGER the celebration!

 So begins my birthday week!

Sunday night, Eric had all of our friends and family over for a Birthday BBQ which was a major success, despite the weather's efforts to rain on my parade...

Yesterday, on my actual birthday, Eric made me a seriously fluffy pancake breakfast, complete with fabulous lovey-dovey card.

I was relieved to finally get home to wine and berries later that night after a looong day at work - yes I had to work on my birthday, serious tragedy and yet just a #firstworldproblem...

And even though I'm SERIOUSLY slacking on the whole be-active-and-be-a-beach-body part of my recent checklist, I DID NOT forget about the slinky-dress-night-on-the-town part!!!

Dinner.......








Drinks......




and one Daring Dress.

08.06.2012 - Just Epic

Elizabeth just flew back out to Iowa and is probably ready for some rest... because let me tell you, did we PAINT THE TOWN RED...

We left our first mark on the town of Seaside Heights, where Eric's family has a shore house, and where we promptly hit the ground running!


We packed in visits to the beach, the Shore Store, the Aztec AND Beachcomber for some sun, souvenirs, salty beers and salacious crab legs - in that order!

The best Girly drinks for girls night are of course, wrapped in girly labels - pink and black!

And then we switched it up and went with boy colors, because everyone needs some balance! (we mostly just needed the hydration after a day of drinking in the sun!)

We then traipsed all over NYC: The journey started in the Upper West Side at Shana's... And after fueling up at the famous Gray's Papaya, we trekked to Times Square (where we got caught up with the tourist-y vibe and paid SIXTEEN DOLLARS for two beers...)

That was followed by GroundZero and WorldTradeCenter, and then onto the Brooklyn Bridge. We caught a subway back to Shana's studio apartment just in time to get changed and rest briefly before heading out to dinner in Chelsea, where the waiter/host/WHOEVER was a hot little piece and verbally delivered the specials like they were sex on a plate... WHEW we all needed a cigarette after we placed our order!

(Also, you will see no pictures from this time span because 1 - we were big time celebrating being in NYC with lots of wine and limoncello and cupcakes paired perfectly with pinot grigio which led to 2 - that we were WAY too busy living life to worry about recording the memories. Some memories are better left fuzzy anyways...)

In fact, the next and only other shot I have from the Epic Visit is from a lazy Sunday in Central Park where, after sloughing through some nasty city heat and humidity, we enjoyed some post-hangover bagels and berries:

08.02.2012 - Shock Factor

To start off with good news, my good blogger friend is coming to visit from Iowa for 4 days and arrives tonight!! (I'm so freaking excited, I sit here at my desk at work, dancing like a 3rd grader on a Friday afternoon before a big sleepover!)

Every minute of every day is planned and scheduled with beach time, shopping, paddleboarding, martini time, NYC sight-seeing - and TONS of pictures - GET READY for an epic post on Sunday night from this most-likely exhausted gal!


It rained yesterday - who can resist a good shot of some pretty dew drops??

(and no, our lawn is NOT that long - it's some decorative long grass growing in our flower beds... bees or no, Eric is religious about keeping the lawn mown!)
























So I stayed inside and got the house ready for Elizabeth to arrive, according to "Bunny Williams' Tips to Prep Your Home for Houseguests" from Country and Living!"

Set out some nice flowers (dried counts right??)

Make sure your guest has a nice lamp to read by (just make sure there's oil in this antique hurricane lamp!)

And when I was done sprucing up (ok not much sprucing up was done - mostly took pictures - cleaning still to be done in the 2.5 hours until I run to the airport tonight) I rocked out in my haven:

07.31.2012 - SURPRISE!!

We NAILED the surprise party this weekend!!!
Kristy's husband Chet did a fantastic job getting Eric down to Seaside Heights on time, and played into the whole "your friends and wife abandoned you this weekened - that happens when you get older and birthdays don't count for as much."

All 24 people in attendance sat in utter silence in the backyard, waiting for what felt like eternity as Eric and Chet unpacked the car and bags in hands, made their way slowly down the alley way to the backyard. (I think I clutched Kristy's arms so hard, finger marks are still there.)

We did it. We all yelled SURPRISE and he just stopped walking and started smiling really big as he noticed each face that had traveled down for his 30th birthday. And it was all worth it.

The times where I know he felt I was hiding something (that sucked); and the night before the party when I partied with his sister and friends and felt HORRIBLE that he had to sit at home all alone with his beer and TV shows; and the morning of the party, his ACTUAL birthday, when I didn't call him until noon and he was all peeved that he had to be calling all of his friends to see what they were doing and did they love him enough to come down and maybe barhop with us later.

He cancelled the divorce papers (ha!) and even though he'd told me months before that he would never want a surprise party, Eric had a kickin' 30th:

And yes, it poured.  But we still had a blast - thanks to a neighbor/friend's canopy, and Hefty garbage bags, as Danielle modeled during beer pong.

Rainy! Rainy! Rainy!

HEFTY!! HEFTY!! HEFTY!! 

By the end of the night, Eric and his buddy Billy had finished:

a bottle of Jameson
a bottle of Cafe Patron
a bottle of Jack Daniel's honey


and their dignities, as they ramped up on their drunken testosterone and peed in different corners of the backyard.