Me VS. Michelle Obama

Just joking. But seriously, check out my new necklace. I found this at the Saks 5th Avenue outlet store. It made me think of Michelle Obama's necklace, but with a kick. I love it!

*Add-on's: Look how Michelle Obama is inspiring fashion-

http://fabfindsunder50.blogspot.com/2008/06/daily-outfit-062608.html

http://cuteonthecheap.blogspot.com/2008/06/wednesday-ally_25.html

Fun, huh?

Scenes from South Florida

Marco Island was outstanding. The beaches are so nice, and there are so many seashells in pristine condition. The water was perfect. I loved it! In order to get to Marco we had to drive through the Everglades. I've never been there but it was a different experience. Pretty isolated and I would not want to have car problems along the way. We saw a sign that said "Panther Crossing" so of course I got my camera out just in case we saw a panther. We didn't, but we did see alligators at a rest area. That was very cool. The bird is one we saw at lunch on the beach one day. That bird was such a scavenger that he picked up a sugar packet from the table and proceeded to eat it! If you look in his claw you will see the sugar packet and the hole he ate in it.

Hello, Kitty!

Thank God for having my camera handy! We were in a parking lot at Walgreens in Marco Island when we saw this gem. I could not believe my eyes! Too funny. If you enlarge the picture you can even see that the steering wheel and rearview mirror has Hello Kitty decorations also. Pimp My Ride has nothing on this car! While we're on the subject of Hello Kitty, check this dress out. It is from the http://www.uglydress.com/ website. Too awesome!

Marriott Hotels

Brian and I are very, very spoiled by Marriott. We travel quite a bit, and when we do we always stay at a Marriott. (Unless we can't get into one) The experience is always top notch and the service is great. Sure enough we got to Marco Island and this place is OUTSTANDING. I can not say enough nice things about Marriott's. Or Marco Island at this point. We were walking down the beach last night and saw a man catch a Hammerhead Shark from the shoreline. Crazy! Then, Brian decided to have a new drink he discovered called the Miami Vice. It's a combination daquiri, pina colada and a shot of rum I think. Fortunately he did not wind up looking like Sonny Crockett after the drink.

I did it!

We're headed off for a mini-vaca in Marco Island. I told Brian I am not taking a suitcase, I am only taking a tote bag. I'm pretty sure he thought I was nuts and could not pull this off but I DID! Whew! I am so proud of myself.Now keep your fingers crossed that I don't get a sunburn on day one as I usually do.

Free Chipotle!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today from 5-8 at Columbus stores. As some people know, I love Burrito Bols.


Today between 5-8pm, all Columbus area stores will be giving away free burritos, tacos, or bowls, one item per person. No faxes accepted. The information was in the Columbus Dispatch today.DOUBLE TAKE Here's a free burrito to ease your gas painWednesday, June 25, 2008 3:16 AM By Robin DavisTHE COLUMBUS DISPATCH Can a car run on beans and rice? Chipotle Mexican Grill thinks so -- sort of.In an effort to offset the high cost of gasoline, the Mexican restaurant chain is offering customers free burritos, tacos or bowls from 5 to 8 p.m. today at Columbus-area stores -- one per person, no fax orders accepted.The company said it wants customers to be able to spend the money they'd usually spend on dinner on gasoline instead."Columbus is a great market for us," said Crickett Karson, spokeswoman for Chipotle. "Our customers, many who are younger, are suffering at the pump. We thought, 'We have a little extra in the kitty, and let's give back.' "At $5.25 to $5.75 per burrito, that's more than a gallon of gasoline per customer.Unlike May's Papa John's 23-cent pizza debacle, which stopped traffic and shut down stores, Chipotle doesn't expect to get burned. "We're famous for giving away food," Karson said.When Chipotle opened a store near Ohio University in Athens in April, it gave away more than 7,000 burritos in an all-day event, according to Karson."It was just pure awesomeness," said David Chrisman, who handles Columbus-area store marketing and worked at the Athens store that day. "We maintained a line of about 150 to 400 people. We did that for nine hours."He said at the busiest time of the day, customers had to wait about 50 minutes, but most people waited about 30 minutes for a free burrito.The company expects to give away more than 10,000 burritos citywide in today's three-hour event, Karson said."We're fast. If at 8 p.m. there are people still in line, we'll hand them a free burrito card. We're not going to shut stores down," she said.

Blog stalking

One of my favorite past times is checking out OPB. (Other peoples blogs) Some of my favorites are people who have a fashion diary of what they wear each day. It is fun to me to see what people are trying, where they find good deals, ideas etc... And I have to admit to trying some ideas from OPB. One of the best things ideas I've taken were hangers. Might not seem like a big deal, but on Kimberly's blog she had some new hangers I was curious about. (Also, she has beautiful hair!) And then, the same hangers popped up on a blog called Cute on the Cheap. After seeing these on 2 blogs, I decided to give them a try. They are awesome! I have to say it felt nice to ditch my crazy assortment of dry cleaners hangers and store hangers. Thanks for the great idea girls! And thanks for sharing your fun blogs.

I don't want to debate politics

But aren't these so cute? And stylish!

http://www.echodesign.com/product_info.php?products_id=1458

Virtual Fortune Cookie

How fun is this? I love fortune cookies!
http://astrocenter.astrology.msn.com/msn/GoFortune.aspx?Af=-1000&r=717

Orange my shoes cute?

My Reeses Cups and Coke have nothing to do with my shoes, but they did make for a yummy breakfast!

What Tessa is reading...

Tessa and her friends started a book club. Sounds nice, right? Well, their 1st book they chose was called All We Know of Heaven. And guess what? Somehow, that book is sold out EVERYWHERE. It's not at Barnes and Noble. It's not at Wal-Mart. It's not at Target. It is waitlisted at each branch of our library. Friday afternoon I was so desperate to get this book I called a Barnes and Noble store in Colorado thinking they might have it and could FedEx it to me in time for her Sunday book club. (It was still early afternoon there before the FedEx cutoff) No dice. Then I tried one in California. No dice. Aargh! I thought, okay, books on tape and she will just have to listen to the stinking book. Not an option. I can not believe I can not come up with this book. Well, long story short (not really for anyone patient enough to read all of this) I got the book Sunday morning. Just in time for the afternoon book club meeting. Whew!

What I'm reading...

Bringing Home the Birkin

I was curious about this book but kind of "iffy" about buying it but I decided to go for it. I am so glad I did. It's a really good read, or at least I think so. If nothing else it's interesting to see what people will do for designer goods, and the author travels all over the world so you get to read about all of the different places he travels to. It's worth reading.

I'm flipping out!

Saturday, June 28th Old Navy is having a sale on flip flops. $1 per pair, up to 5 pairs. Nice deal.

More shoes I love!

I got these a while back from http://www.endless.com/ I love their site. You get free overnight shipping and they have an awesome return and price matching policy. Unfortunately (and I am sure my husband would agree) they make it almost too easy to buy shoes! Seriously though, I really don't sit at work with my feet up on my desk like this. At least not while the door is open.

More Naughty Monkey

I really, really do love their shoes. They have so many fun styles!

Strawberry Surprise!

I came home today to a yummy basket on strawberries left on my kitchen table. It took me a bit to catch on but I think they were left there by my friend and neighbor Lisa. Lisa's dryer wasn't working properly today and I told her she could use mine. Then I promptly forgot there were clothes still in the dryer. Lisa was nice enough to fold the clothes AND leave me this nice little surprise. Thanks Lisa!

*OK, I was wrong. My husband came home during the day and left the strawberries there! Too funny! So I guess I should be saying Thanks Brian! (But it was Lisa who folded my laundry.)

Happy Day!

A few years ago I discovered a line of cosmetics called Shu Uemura. They make some of the most amazing eye makeup and lip colors I have ever seen. I love their products. We could not get them here at home so I would order online or wait until I was in a city where they had a counter. Well guess what? Our Nordstrom store at Easton has a Shu Uemura counter. If you like high end cosmetics check this line out. It does not disappoint. I swear they have the best mascara I have ever used!

Is having a great sale. An extra 40% off clearance merchandise. Check it out!

Brian's 20th class reuinion

Turned out to be so much fun! It's 3 in the afternoon and I'm still sleeping the fun off! One of my favorite things that happened was hearing all of the guys coming out of the mens restroom laughing about the pair of jeans in the trashcan in the mens restroom. They kept saying the jeans still had the belt on them and that it looked like a perfectly good belt. Of course, I had to go see this for myself. My question is this: What went so terribly wrong in there that someone was willing to leave with no pants versus that pair of pants? And why did they leave the belt?

Indiana Jones and our basement of doom

Indiana Jones really has nothing to do with this but it flows well with our basement. Today is Brian's birthday (Happy Birthday Brian) and sometimes it is hard to come up with a good gift idea. Plus, my idea of a good idea is not always Brian's idea of a good idea. One thing we can agree on is that the laundry area of our basement is a mess. I have been trying to organize it and make it nice as a surprise for Brian for his birthday. Exciting huh? It's the thought that counts. (Which means that I gave up and just bought a gift.) So again, Happy Birthday Brian! You don't look a day older than you did yesterday.

Designing Women, Still Going Strong

Caroline has added another food box to the decor in our home. This time she wants to decorate with her Kung Fu Panda Happy Meal Box. Great. We are all class around here.

My favorite shoes

You know how there are days when you wear something you really like so you just know it is going to be a good day? Today is one of those days. I'm wearing my favorite shoes by Naughty Monkey. They are actually very comfortable and oh so cute!

Do you remember the episode of friends where Chandler quits the gym? I feel like Chandler right now. We have had so many problems with Time Warner and have even had to come home twice in the last month for scheduled repairs. It is so frustrating. I would estimate that I have to call them at least once a week for assistance and we have to re-set our modem about every other time we turn on our computer. So the service was down again today, and I called and was told they could come again next week. Uh, next week? We have just about every service they offer and the best they can do is next week? So I told the lady that was not acceptable, she put me on hold and came back to reiterate that they could come next week. So I told them to cancel our services in 30 days. I could tell my decision did not affect her but it sure did make me feel better. So much for customer service.

My husband gets smarter with age

That is really a shameless plug for Brian's birthday (also the Olsen twins) which is later this week. This weekend is also his 20th class reunion. Anyway, here is how I know he is getting smarter. This morning I was feeling like I look pretty cute, but sometimes I have to search my own compliments out. I get smarter as I get older too, which means I don't wait for Brian to say something nice but then get my feelings hurt when he doesn't. I gently (not really) guide him towards my compliment. So I said "Don't I look cute today?" To which he replied that he thought I looked thin today. See how smart he is? Here are my cute orange shoes I am wearing which led to the compliment seeking exchange.

I just saved $736.00

Here is my $99 version (It was $220.00)



Here is the $1,195.00 version


I guess it depends on how you look at it. There is a GORGEOUS dress on eluxury I found a while back but it was $1,195.00. Well, now it is ON SALE for $835.00. Talk about a savings. But it gets better. I actually got a dress that is very similar for $99.00! So depending on how you look at it I saved $736.00.

You Don't Mess With the Zohan

We went and saw this tonight. I laughed so hard!

Big Brown

I have no idea why, but I was wondering what Big Brown's day is like leading up to the big race. I turned on my computer and now I know. A bath and some oats. Sounds good to me.

Little Miss Muffet

One thing I really, really dislike are spiders. They freak me out. Today I opened our mailbox (it comes directly into our home) only to find a spider dangling there. In true Katie fashion I just closed the mailbox again. Hopefully tomorrow it will be gone.

I am craft-y

Who knew? Tonight was my night to host Bunco and we had a Luau theme. I took a pineapple and did skewers with pineapple, strawberry, cherries and some blueberries on them. Then I put the skewers into the pineapple itself. It looked pretty cute I have to say. The coconut cups with lids I got at the Target dollar section.

Etsy is awesome!

Just in case you are in danger of running out of things to look at on the internet, check out Etsy. It is like a giant craft store with everything from artwork to jewelry, ceramics and clothes. There are so many great items and I have never had a bad experience. I recently found a shop with great vintage bracelets. The prices are great and the pieces are so unique. I had a lady at the post office checking out my bracelet from this shop. I am thrilled with my bracelets and have worn one of the two each day since I got them!

Interior Design

If you have kids I am sure you have been faced with the dilemma of what to save versus what to not save. Like "Oh, this is so cute, the first time my child ever drew an elephant" or "I can't part with this shirt my child wore for their 9 month picture." Well, every single picture seems to make it's way to our fridge and every Happy Meal toy has meaning, even if it is the memory of "Wow, this matches the plastic person I just got two days ago." So about once a week I take the pictures off of the fridge (Really, it is not practical to save them all no matter how cute) and clear out the mini-sized plastic junk and I put it in the trash, recycling or wherever else it needs to be. The problem is that Caroline looks in our recycling bins and trash can now and gets the stuff back out and acts shocked and confronts us to see exactly who parted with this crap. This usually leads to some finger pointing and snickering in our house as someone else gets in trouble for their misdeeds. Well, today tops everything. Caroline was so dismayed that her father would even think about getting rid of boxes from her fruit snacks and peanut butter cheese crackers that she has now decided we need to use them around the house as decorations. She asked me to pick her up so she could place them on top of our entertainment armoire. Just for the record, an entertainment armoire sounds more sophisticated than it looks once you have cardboard boxes on top of it. Hopefully this will pass in a few days. At least she positioned them well up there.

Can you spare a square?

We pulled up last night only to discover we had been tp'd. The funny thing is that I knew exactly who did it. It was done by a friend who was smart enough to do it the day before she moves out of state. I had SO MUCH FUN cleaning toilet paper out of our tree in the middle of the night. Seriously, this is the SAME TREE we just tp'd on our own last year after we tp'd our neighbors in an effort to make it look like someone other than us did it.

Caroline and Chelsea

I took Caroline to the Chelsea Handler book signing today. If you are a Chelsea fan, you know that she loves what she calls "little people" and has a "small person" Chuy who is her assistant. She calls him her little nugget. I was surprised at the huge turnout for the book signing and was lucky enough to be one of the people who got theirs done as Barnes & Noble passed out tickets and only a certain amount of people were able to get autographs done. When it was our turn Caroline went up with me and Chelsea called her "little nugget." It was so cute! I also got to take Caroline's picture with her.