Happy Holidays...

From my cats to yours.

I'm really happy with how this year's cards came out. The photoshoot we did, was, errr, painful to say the least. But we did manage to get some good shots out of it. One thing I'd like you all to know is do not start a kitty-cat photoshoot without treats. That was our amateur mistake this year. As a result they were uncooperative and miserable. Despite the fact that Oliver looks adorable in his Santa hat, I nearly lost a finger putting it on. AND once it was on, it only lasted about a minute. YOU HAVE TO WORK FAST PEOPLE when dealing with cranky pets. HAHA. Last year we had treats and catnip to keep these boys happy. I'll never do another photoshoot without them again.

But enough with my creative woes, Happy Holidays (again).  

(Check out last year's cards here.)

GUESS WHAT?

Today marks the start of my THIRTEEN days off.THIRTEEN STRAIGHT DAYS! I'm so excited I might pee myself. It also marks the start of my visit-everyone-and-their-mother week. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining. Nope, not one bit. In fact, I'm so excited it hurts. Like literally hurts. I get to see...my sisters, Sara, Mari, Eva, Juliette, Yalissa, Steve, Erik, Meredith, Momma R and Papa R and ALL OF MY FAMILY. Aww YEAH! I can't wait to see all of these faces...

 Bring it on Christmas, bring. it. on.

XO.

A Lady Did Christmas Presents: Co-Worker Gifts

I love making little tasty treats for my co-workers as holiday gifts. Here are some ideas I found on Pinterest to inspire you to do the same! And if they don't inspire you to be crafty, just give your co-workers a bag of marshmallows minis with the poem:

You've been bad

So here's the scoop

All you get for the holidays 

is snowman poop.

See? Pure poetry.

XO.

{Tasty homemade bread}

{Totally cute!}

{I actually made this back in 2009! I made the peppermint hot chocolate mix! It was so cute!}

SoNo Market Place

On Friday night, my friend Kat and I went to the SoNo Market Place and I have to say if I were reincarnated into a physical place it would be that place. It's a collection of little shops located in a ADORABLE setting. They have an assortment of homemade goodies, almost like a physical Etsy store or something. They even have a bar! My mind was blown. I can't wait to go back!!!

{This little awesome, Hungarian woman HAND MAKES these decorative eggs! They are unreal!}

{Olive Oil Tasting}

{Reminds me of a log cabin}

{These Nothin' But bars are amazeballs! Totally delicious!}

A Lady Did Christmas Presents: Pom Pom Garland

As I mentioned the other day, I made pompom garland. I also might have mentioned that Bruiser ripped it down with a savageness I've never seen before. Well, since most of you don't have a Bruiser, here are some instructions on how to make your own pompom garland should you want to. 

Here's what you'll need...

I got all of my supplies at Michael's for about $10. I got the LARGEST needles I could find! Keep that in mind. 

Next up: 

Create a patter with your pompoms or DON'T create a pattern. This is your project, so do what you please, but I went with the red, white, and green theme. 

What's not pictures is probably the most important {tisk, tisk, Katie} but I want you tell you how to actually tie your pompoms onto the string. What I did was tie about 3-4 pompoms onto a piece of string & then snip that piece off, and set it aside. This garland gets tangled QUICK, so creating smaller segments and then tying them together later is the way-to-go. I threaded a bunch of pompoms onto the string. Then I slide a pompom to the side and knotted it into place. Then I slide another pompom over, keeping the spacing in mind, and tied that into place. I did that one more time and then SNIP SNIP SNIPPED. Not going to lie, but I'm kind of obsessed with the end result. The best part is that it only took me a 1/2 hour! Booya!

{he literally hovered near me during the entire project!}

{See the savageness I was talking about!?}

Outtake

So, I made pompom garland the other day.

It was promptly ripped down by the BRUISER MONSTER. 

I'm going to post the instructions regardless, because I'm sure that some of you don't have Bruiser Monsters to contend with. 

Stay tuned y'all.

My Kind of Comfort Food

My kind of comfort foods are generally vegetarian. I attribute this not to my upbringing (umm, hello! tons of meat consumed as a child) but rather to my stint as a vegetarian. I made the decision to go veggie when I was 24 {I basically didn't want to eat anything that I couldn't emotional kill} and consequently, when I taught myself to cook I learned vegetarian recipes vs. meaty recipes. This is one of my favorite recipes--it's easy, delicious and not-so-bad for you. The best part is that you don't even miss the "normal" ground beef.  The feta cheese adds a burst of salty goodness that just screams to be eaten & the chickpeas are a healthy source of protein.

Without further adieu, let me introduce you to my friend the Stuffed Pepper. 

Adapted from Martha's Greek Stuffed Peppers

What you need:

- 4 peppers (I like a get a assortment of colors, red, orange, yellow and green)
- 2 scallions chopped
- 1/2 c feta cheese
- 1c cooked couscous or quinoa
- 1 can chickpeas, rinsed & drained
- mushrooms diced (I go with a handful)
-1/2 of a zucchini diced
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- oregano, salt, pepper, crushed red pepper to taste
- 9"x13" pan
- aluminum foil
- 1/2c water

What you do:

Preheat over to 350F

Prepare quinoa or couscous to package direction (add some oil or butter for extra flavor!)

Cut peppers length-wise and scoop out seeds (make sure to remove any extra pepper inside)

Chop up scallions, zucchini, garlic, mushrooms and put into a medium bowl

Add feta cheese, chickpeas and seasonings to veggie bowl--taste to make sure your seasonings are just right

Stuff peppers. Put stuffed peppers into your pan, add a 1/2c of water to the bottom of the pan and cover with aluminum foil.

Bake for 30 minutes or until peppers are tender.

Let cool for 5 minutes and ENJOY!!!

XO

A Weekend

For us workin' folks, weekends are something precious.  A time to take care of life's duties, a time for yourself. I didn't do a whole lot this past weekend, but boy was it glorious. It included an {un-pictured} girls night out, a trip to New Haven, and lots of FOOD! My weekend also included some of this too....

{a afternoon nap}

{Christmas decorating}

{lots of coffee drinking}

{a trip to New Haven's Meatball House}

{out of focus pictures}

This is from Ryan and my first Christmas together.

He insisted on putting on his Santacon costume for our gift exchange.

It still makes me giggle. 

Oh, Ryan.

A Lady Did Christmas Presents: Mason Jar Rolls

There's something about Christmas that makes be want to go above and beyond. I want bake. I want to wrap. I want to decorate my home with nutcrackers and twinkle lights. I feel like a spaztastic Super Woman or something. In the true holiday season, I want to share some of the ways that I'm making Christmas more personal & homemade. FIRST UP, are these Rosemary Rolls BAKED IN A MASON JAR! Umm, can you say adorable? I'm not going to lie, they take a bit of time, but the end result is worth the wait. I seriously considered not telling my family that I made these beauts so that I could eat all 12 myself. They are light and fluffy and simply lovely. Enjoy!!!

It's Begining To Look A Lot Like...

[CHRISTMAS!!!]

OK, so this is my favorite time of year. I love winter, and twinkle lights, and everything associated with Christmas. To express my undying love, I have some crafts lined up for you, Blog friends, and will start sharing them tomorrow. In the meantime, take a look last year's Christmas card, adorbs, right? Ryan and I had a little photo shoot with the fur babes, and I wish I could re-use them again this year (cause there that damn cute).

I desperately wanted to have a picutre of Ryan and I, but he wasn't having it. So I got this picture instead. Lovely.

XO.

Dear Katie,

This week was one of those weeks. You cried at your desk, you only talked to the "have-to's" and only did what was absolutely required to survive this week. No above. No beyond. It was a hard week, no doubt about that, however, Pop is doing better (his color is back, he's making cheesy jokes, and he's in love with his roommate--no seriously, they both tell stupid jokes, whats not to love). Next week's work schedule is looking A LOT easier AND you've made a dent in your Christmas shopping. Things are getting better. Life's rhythm is in the process of saving you. Relax. Breathe. Enjoy your fur babies.Decorate for Christmas. Make bread. Do what you need to do to relax. Cause you deserve it.

XO.

You (or me)

This man is dreamy. I'm so glad that I get to call him 'boyfriend'.

Things That Make Me Go, HA!

Ryan showed me this video this weekend, and it had me laughing for a solid 10 minutes. My favorite quote is "do you have such a lady boner for Mumford and Sons that you need to see them tumbling out of yet another screen?"

When he said "lady boner" I near lost it.  HAHAHAH! I know that this will go down in my personal hall-o-fame....right next to "Smirnoff's Tea Partay", which still cracks me up.

"Where's my WASPs at?"

XO.

The Shipyard

I've always loved photography. I love the way that it captures hidden moments, I love the use of light, texture and composition. I've been actively trying to go on more "photography adventures" and this past summer I did just that in the Norwalk shipyard. I took over 40 pictures but really only liked a few. I hope that some day I'll look through this blog and see the progression of my photography and my "inner creative eye". Here's hoping...

{I love the texture and color of the rust}