weekend in washington

One of my loves from college lives in DC now, so on Saturday morning I woke up at the crack of dawn and roadtripped to hang out with her for the weekend.  The weather was rainy, so I didn't bring my camera on the first day, which it turns out might have been a blessing in disguise because I think I would have taken more pictures than I would have known what to do with!

We did so many fun things!  We hit up the Old Post Office Pavilion Observation Tower, the Tidal Basin for the cherry blossoms, the Hirshorn, Eastern Market, Capitol Hill, the Botanic Gardens.  It's amazing how many things I've never done in DC before considering that I grew up 25 miles away.  I'd never been that close to the Capitol before!  And of course, we ate lots and lots of really good food.  I had so much fun exploring and catching up!

Oh!  I saw the The Hunger Games on Friday.  Anyone else?!  Brian and I both loved it.  I really want the soundtrack now, the Arcade Fire song at the end was so perfect!

What were you up to this weekend, friends?


Edit: I linked up our wedding ceremony post over on Schue Love today!  Click over to check out a bunch of beautiful weddings!

Happy Valentine's Day

My mom really outdid herself with these cupcakes.  She used the Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Cake Recipe and we piped on vanilla buttercream.  She sent us home with a few and I quickly regretted not grabbing some more.  They were divine.

Last night we went to a little restaurant that we hadn't tried before... it was delicious!  Then we came home, watched Alcatraz, then Brian made me a pink funfetti cake and we watched Beauty and the Beast.  Perfect! Since we went out last night, we are going to cook up something yummy at home tonight.  What are your plans?

I hope you have a sweet Valentine's Day!

Top 5 Tuesday

I'm linking up with Rachel from Just Peachy for the first time EVER today!  I've seen many of you participate before, but I've never gotten around to it.  This week's topic is favorite things from 2011.

1. Movie

My favorite movie this year was The Help.  I LOVED it!  Brian loved it too.

Source: alexacall.com via Kate on Pinterest

2. TV Show

I have been terrible about watching TV this year.  But the one that Brian and I consistently watch when it comes on is Parks and Rec, so I'm going to go with it!

Source: flannelanimal.tumblr.com via Jessie on Pinterest

(Honorable mention goes to Cheers which Brian and I have watched a lot on Netflix.  We started this summer and we're already on season 6!)

3. Song

I have been pretty obsessed with Florence and the Machine this year.  "Shake it Out" was my favorite from the Ceremonials CD that came out this year.




4. Thing that happened

Our wedding, of course!

5. Christmas present

I got so many wonderful things this year, so I'm going to go with the one that I wasn't expecting.  My Christmas list for my parents was really vague this year, which was awesome because I got to be totally surprised.  My mom found me this pair of black Aigner boots, and I LOVE them!  They are so pretty.

Source: paradisefashions.com via Kate on Pinterest

Happy Tuesday!  I'm going to do a more comprehensive 2011 recap later in the week, so make sure to come back and check it out!  If you're stopping by from Just Peachy, I'd love to hear from you!

late night catching up

Hello!  It feels like I've been away forever.  Not to get all mushy on you guys, but I've missed you!  We had a wonderful time at home and I will definitely be posting more about it this week.  I can't wait to share some of the pictures I took!

We just got home.  What should have been a three hour drive was a five hour drive.  Gross.  It's 9:30 and we're still waiting on our pizza.  I'm fried and this post is pretty random in case you couldn't tell already.

For those of you who were interested on Wednesday, The Muppets was awesome.  If you like muppets and big dance numbers and celebrity cameos, this is the movie for you.  My whole family was grinning ear to ear.  It might have been said that this was our best Thanksgiving-Eve movie ever.  The whole weekend we've been singing am I a mannnn or am I a muppet? around the house.  Did anyone else see it?  What did you think?

Also, while I was at home I got my planner that I won in a giveaway last week!  I am so excited- it's even cuter in person!  Thank you so much, Faison!

I seriously cannot WAIT to catch up on blogs this week!  If I didn't know I was addicted before, after spending 5 days away from my computer, I know it all too well.

Thanksgiving Tradition

Every year, my family sees a movie the night before Thanksgiving.  We've probably done it for 10 years.  The last few years... have left something to be desired.  Last year we saw Love and Other Drugs... which wasn't bad, just awkward to watch with your family.

Source: imdb.com via Krista on Pinterest

This year we are seeing The Muppets, and I couldn't be more excited!  I think this is going to break our streak.  I have high hopes!

Do you have any unusual Thanksgiving traditions?

tales of my weekend

Happy Sunday!  Today I'm trying to clean our apartment and wrap things up before we go out of town tomorrow.  I can't wait!

Last night I went to see Breaking Dawn at the last minute with some friends.  The last time I had seen a Twilight movie (I believe it was the second one) I snickered through the whole thing.  I felt like I was ruining the movie for everyone else.  I must confess that I wasn't much better this time, but at least other people were too, so I didn't feel as bad.  I guess I'm just not mature enough to watch Twilight in public.

The whole honeymoon scene was especially heavy on the snickering. Source: breakingdawn-themovie.com via Nancy on Pinterest

What have you been up to this weekend?

An Ode to Harry Potter

I've mentioned on here before that I started rereading the last 3 Harry Potter books in August.  I really haven't been reading much, so it has taken me a long time, but I finally finished on Thursday.  I'll try to limit my unoriginal gushing over J.K. Rowling's masterpiece, but reading it the last few days just reminded me that I really feel that it is the best story ever told.  Truly.

I know I'm far from the only Harry Potter fan out there, so I thought I would post some of my favorite HP finds from Pinterest since I can't get the Boy Who Lived out of my head!

Source: hadilaksono.bigcartel.com via Kate on Pinterest

Source: Uploaded by user via Kate on Pinterest

Source: 28.media.tumblr.com via Kate on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via Kate on Pinterest

Source: downwiththe-capitol.tumblr.com via Kate on Pinterest

Source: monstacookies.tumblr.com via Kate on Pinterest

Source: terriblyartistic.tumblr.com via Kate on Pinterest

Source: ellemenoh.tumblr.com via Kate on Pinterest

Happy Halloween!

On Saturday Brian and I dressed up as Leslie Knope and Ron Swanson from Parks and Rec- one of our favorite shows!

Do you love Parks and Rec too?  Are you dressing up this Halloween?  This afternoon they are having trick-or-treating downtown (or just in town?) and I'm hoping to go watch!

Update: Check out this link-up to see more Halloween costumes/ weekend wear!

P.S. Thanks for all of the love yesterday!  I just love blogging.  You guys are the best.

P.P.S. Don't forget to enter my giveaway!

Halloween is coming!

As I spent the day watching children draw Halloween pictures and babble on about their costumes, I realized something.  Brian and I do not have Halloween costumes!  It seems like just yesterday that I was thinking about how we had all of October to figure it out, and now we have only 11 days.  When Brian and I talk about it, he always wants to be some video came character or Fry and Leela from Futurama, and I always want to be Disney characters or something cute.  Do you have any ideas?

It was FREEZING when I stepped out the door this morning, and it wasn't much better when I left work for the day.  Below you can see my tootsies wrapped warmly in my Restoration Hardware slippers (or "foot duvets," if you will) which I swear by.

{they come up really high, which is part of their magic.  I don't have cankles, promise!}

Thanks for all the well wishes yesterday, I'm feeling much better!  I'm excited to relax tonight and watch NBC Thursday with Brian (and maybe make the rest of those cookies from yesterday?)  Have a wonderful evening!

the weekend

Brian and I had a cloudy, lazy weekend.  The temperature here dropped considerably and all we wanted to do was lay around.  We made dinner in the crock pot both days, caught up on TV, and snuggled up and watched The Prestige on Saturday night.  I hadn't seen it since it came out in theaters, and it is so good!  Especially since I only remembered about 25% of the movie.

Remember when I said I was subbing on Friday?  Well, when I got to school I found out that we were going on a field trip.  Surprise!  It was so much fun.  I spent the day petting and feeding exotic animals with first graders (thing I learned for the day: camels are aggressive.)  It was nuts.

{this was only the reaction of some of the children} Source: 16house.blogspot.com via Anna on Pinterest

What are your plans for this week?  I have a few days of work lined up, but I'm taking the day off for my birthday tomorrow and meeting my mom for lunch in Charlottesville.  I can't decide where to go!  Too many choices.  I'm hoping to make a pit stop at my favorite art supply store while I'm there to pick up a few things.

Have a happy start to your week!

Emmy Weekend Recap

We had a pretty slow weekened.  The temperatures dropped and I didn't seem to want to do anything other than lounge on my computer in my yoga pants.  Brian was completely swamped with work, so we hunkered down all day on Saturday and then spent the evening with friends.

Sunday was pretty much the same way.  One of my friends from home came over for dinner and then Brian and I watched a little bit of the Emmys.  We pretty much only watched the first half because I no longer watch dramas.  I know.  Who am I?

As always, I love to see the fashion at the awards, but I was kind of underwhelmed this year.  Too much red.  But my best dressed vote goes to Kaley Cuoco.

Source: usmagazine.com via Kate on Pinterest

I love her dress.  It's vintage and understated, and I loved her hair and make-up combo.  Too cute.

Runner-up goes to Sofia Vergara.

Source: people.com via Kate on Pinterest

Props to her for being able to rock this look.  I never would have picked this dress out of a line-up but it was perfect for her and she managed to stand out despite all the other red dresses.

What were your favorites?  {Here is my post on the Oscars from this year.}

2011 Summer Movie Round-Up

As summer comes to a close, I thought I would do a post on the movies I have seen this summer. I counted an even ten. That's a lot!

Something Borrowed- I thought this was okay.  As far as book to film adaptations go, it was kind of sub par.  John Krasinski was the best part of the movie, and he wasn't even really in the book that much!

Water for Elephants- Looooved it!  One of my favorites on the list.  The book was incredible, and I thought they did a really nice job getting the story across while still trimming some of the more depressing elements of the book.

Thor- Better than I expected.  I thought the villain was really compelling.

X-Men First Class- Hands down my favorite superhero movie of the summer.  It was so good!  I love James McAvoy and I thought the whole cast was great.

Transformers 3- Brian and Transformers go way back, so it's always fun to see these movies with him.  We saw this one in 3-D Imax which was pretty sweet.

Bridesmaids- Pretty hilarious.  Some scenes just went a little too far... like the whole trying on dresses scene.   I thought the cop was so cute!

Horrible Bosses- I laughed.  I'd give it a solid B+.  All three of the main characters were great.

Captain America- I liked how this was a superhero movie but still retro.  It was entertaining and I liked the WWII setting.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows pt. 2- BEST. HP. EVER.  While I am a self-proclaimed lover of Harry Potter, I've had my share of issues with previous movies.  This one was pretty spot-on.  I loved it.  It was appropriately epic.

The Help- This was another great adaptation of a great book.  I always lower my expectations when a book I loved is made into a movie, and this one far exceeded them.  Even Brian loved it!

All in all it was a good summer for movies, but if I had to pick a favorite...

HP wins.  Followed closely by The Help, and then Water for Elephants.

Weekend

This weekend my Dad turned the big 5-0. We were really lame in the gift department, but we did make him this nifty card:

{the front: Padre as Dr. Evil}

{the inside: me and my bros as mini-me}

We like Austin. A lot. Especially my dad. He watches it when he's home sick from work because it makes him feel better. Seriously.

In honor of my dad's b-day, we saw the final Harry Potter as a family. I looooooveeddddd it. Definitely my favorite HP movie, and probably my favorite movie I've seen this summer (which is saying something. I've counted them up and I think HP was my 9th).

When we got home from the movie we sang to my dad and ate the beautiful carrot cake that Brian made for him (it's seriously going to be a struggle not to get fat after the wedding...) My mom bought these cool candles at the party store...

Yeah, turns out those aren't really meant to be used as candles. We learned that from reading the package after my mom had already lit them. It's okay, we ate the cake with the sparkler dusting and it was still delicious.

Last night our family friends came over for a dinner of pork chops and the pasta salad of my youth. Which is basically pasta salad made with McCormick's Salad Supreme, which we don't really eat anymore for some reason. My mom used to make it in huge batches and I would eat it for lunch every. day. I kind of OD'ed on it, I guess, but last night it was delish.

Today the Knot tells me that there are only 5 days until our wedding... yikes! Pretty much everything is done, but I'm trying not to be lazy and finish up some last minute DIY stuff this week. We'll see.

How was your weekend?

Happy Friday!

I can't believe this week is over already! Today I spent the day trying to check stuff off the old to-do list and had lunch with my mom, my aunt, and my grandma at the Corner Bakery. Yum! Tomorrow is my dad's 50th birthday, and we are going to see Harry Potter! I know I'm a little late to the game, but my dad just finished the last book and I'm excited to see it with my fam.

{I'm obsessed with these HP Quote posters. Found on Pinterest}

Have a lovely weekend!

things I look forward to doing AFTER the wedding

Wedding planning has had it's ups and downs. I have loved picking out pretty things and fantaszing about all that our wedding can be, but the nitty gritty of it can be stressful. And it certainly takes up a ton of time. So with 36 days to go, these are the things I'm excited to do AFTER the wedding.

1. Read. I've never read so little in the summer. If you follow me on Goodreads, you will see that my activity has been about... zero. I need to have some books stashed up to take to the beach for our honeymoon. Any suggestions?

2. Genealogy. I've posted about my love of this before, and due to wedding planning my ability to spend hours perusing ancestry.com has been dramatically curtailed. Plus, after the wedding I'll have a whole new side of the family to stalk!

3. Scrapbook. Remember when I said I was going to start scrapbooking college? Yeah, that never left my computer desktop. I would like to start that this fall.

4. Watch TV. Brian and I have spent our summer watching Cheers on Netflix Instant. While I love Cheers, we have mostly been doing this because we don't have the wherewithal to follow a complex plot. I want to finish Battlestar Gallactica and West Wing and be ready for fall programming when it comes on.

5. Be organized. I know I complain about the mess that my room always is, but when I have time it is usually pretty okay. I want to organize our apartment and I look forward to living in a space that doesn't look like a hurricane just flew through.

I've read a lot of things about women who feel depressed when their wedding is over, but with this list I think I have a lot to look forward to!

Wedding Wednesday: The Royal Wedding

My plan for Friday is to get up at 5 to watch the Royal Wedding. I haven't been playing into the hype that much, but I do want to watch the actual thing. My roommates and I are planning to make scones, drink tea, and talk exclusively in British accents.

{haha, perfect. From Pinterest}

Maybe it's because Princess Diana's was so iconic, but I can't wait to see Kate's dress! Are you going to watch the Royal Wedding?

Easter Weekend

As I mentioned last year, I don't typically go home for Easter. It will be interesting to see what Brian and I do next year, since this year it fell during a really stressful time for him with finals. Even though I didn't get to see my family, I did see Brian and I got a lot of QT time in with my friends. Also, I would say that food played a large role in my weekend (as it often does).

This was the weekend of delicious brunch. Three days in a row. It was awesome.

On Friday I ate at the Tavern and had pecan pancakes, my favorite. Yum

On Saturday I ate at the Nook and had a biscuit with sausage gravy, scrambled eggs, and fried potatoes. It was soooo good! AND it was free! My friend had a milkshake spilled all over her, and management was nice enough to give all three of us our meals for free! She definitely took one for the team. We left a big tip.

And finally, for Easter Sunday I had huevos rancheros for brunch. The whole Mexican eggs thing has never really appealed to me, but this was AMAZING.

I honestly couldn't pick a favorite if I tried.

In news other than food...

On Friday I saw finally saw The King's Speech. I loved it! And what better timing than to watch it the week of the royal wedding?

Yesterday I went shopping with my friends after lunch. I got some nude heels (which I've wanted forever!) for a really good price at Marshalls. I also got a good deal on a dress at TJ Maxx. It was really fun.

Today my roomies and I made mimosas to go after brunch and went and sat on the lawn in our sun dresses. It was awesome. I didn't take pictures. So just trust me when I tell you that it was beautiful.

Afterwards we came home and drank some more mimosas and watched Ever After, which I love. Then we made dinner and watched some more movies on TV (there were so many tonight!) We also watched a special on TLC about the royal family which I thoroughly enjoyed.

I hope everyone had a happy Easter!

Weekend Recap

Thursday evening was kicked off by Fourth Year Beer Tasting with my friends. We got to try four beers and eat munchies. It was fun. My favorite beer was Starr Hill's The Love. I wasn't surprised; hefeweizens are always my favorite!

After beer tasting I went home for a little while and was playing on my computer as usual, when the "blue screen of death" struck and my computer appeared to die. When I started it up again, it looked like all of my files had been wiped from my computer. I was not happy. I had to go without using it until Saturday when Brian helped me fix it.

Later my friend and I went to try to hit up the bar specials that happen on the hour at various local bars- we wound up sitting at the bar by ourselves rather than fighting the crowds. It was really fun to sit and catch up over our woodchucks, even if they were full price. And we were first in line when the specials started at 10.

I was kind of bummed all day on Friday. I think it was a combination of the weather and not being able to use my computer. I had to walk to school in the pouring rain to meet with one of my students. I got into a very mild fender bender, which was more startling than damaging to my car. I tried to engage in some retail therapy, but I didn't find anything which only made me more depressed.

Luckily Friday evening I had made dinner plans to go to Guadalajara, a local Mexican restaurant, with some roomies and friends. It was really fun. We had margaritas and the food was yummy, especially the beans and rice.

After dinner two of my roommates and I came home and watched two Disney movies (being and fifth and six Disney films since Tuesday.) I blew up my air mattress and we moved the mattress from the futon on the floor, turning our living room into sleepover central. Yes, we are ten year olds.

Yesterday I went to Brian's. We ate dinner at a Chinese buffet and Brian helped me fix my computer (for now- I still don't trust it.) Then we watched Megamind. For those of you keeping track, that was my 7th children's movie in 5 days (Pocahontas, The Little Mermaid, Mulan, Hercules, Sleeping Beauty, Robin Hood, and Megamind, if you're curious.) Then we watched some Hey Arnold on Netflix Instant. Likely because I'm in denial about the end of my childhood. But at least I didn't watch any of them by myself, meaning that I'm not the only one.

Today was nice and warm outside. I went for a run, went to the grocery store, made dinner, did lots and lots of laundry, and did a little job searching. I can't believe how fast the day has gone! Another college weekend gone by the wayside. Did you know there are really only 3 left? And I'm going home next weekend, so really only 2???? Ahhhhh!

How was your weekend?

Say Anything

While I was watching Say Anything the other day, I couldn't help but notice how pretty parts of it are. Isn't it funny how things come back in style? Diane Court would totally fit in today. I want to be her. I especially love her outfit in the last picture.

Oscar Fashion Picks

I know I'm a little behind, but I had to get in on some of the Oscar fun. These were my favorites.

I loved Sandra Bullock's dress. She looked great and I and immensely enjoyed her introductions for the nominees for best actor.

I was so glad that after some mediocre choices for recent awards shows, Natalie clearly hit the nail on the head with her Oscar attire. She looks amazing. No pregnant person should be able to look that good.

I thought Hillary Swank looked awesome in her dress. I kinda wish the bottom wasn't gray, but I'm looking beyond it.

Mila Kunis looked incredible, as usual. I loved the color of her dress, although there are some sections that look weirdly see-through in this picture.

A word on Gwyneth... I am a huge fan. Seriously. Love her. And a lot of people loved her dress this year.

I just wasn't feeling it. Honestly, this is what it reminded me of.

Too much tall, lanky, blonde action going on. Let's break things up a little, okay?