Taking Stock // 03

Since I’m working on getting back on that blogging wagon and I haven’t done a “currently” post in a very long time, I thought it’d be a good way to jump back in and catch up a little bit.

Eating: Junk. But mostly these freaking Mozart Reber chocolate balls I found at World Market over the weekend. Our first German exchange student brought them as a gift when she came to stay with us a few years ago and I ate almost the whole package by myself! Every time I find them out and about around town, I have to buy some.

Drinking: Iced tea. All day…Erry day. Okay, not alllll day. I drink a lot of water too. And iced lattes…duh.

Watching: Flipping Out w/Jeff Lewis. If I could have one designer redo my house, it would definitely be Jeff! I love everything he does and he’s pretty amusing to watch.

Listening to: Kesha! Woman is my jam.

Waiting: for fall weather to arrive. I’m tired of sweating balls just walking outside.

Ordering: This fun light box. I’ve wanted one for several months now so I finally ordered it.

Reading: The Alice Network, I’m so behind on my yearly book goals this year, but at the very least, I’ve been consistently reading. Just not reading fast. I’ll catch you up on the books I’ve read so far in a future blog post.

Getting used to: my mom’s dog being here for a few days. She’s very different from our Lucy. We’re not used to a stubborn, bossy dog.

Pumped for: breakfast with my SIL tomorrow. As busy moms who live on opposite sides of town, we don’t get together very often by ourselves, but we always go out to breakfast/lunch for each other’s bday.

Working on: my fitness. 5 months ago I started going to Orangetheory Fitness and I still go 3-4 times a week. I need to be working on eating healthier, but I haven’t found the focus for that yet.

Excited about: My new Beautycounter business. I wanted to switch up my skin care routine and I fell in love with Beautycounter’s amazing products so I became a consultant! Woot! Now I have beautiful, luxurious, high performing products that are also healthier and safer for me and my family! Come join me on my FB page and see what BC is all about!

Needing: to make a few appointments, specifically an annual for myself. Not fun, but it needs to be done and I keep “forgetting” to call and schedule it. Not to mention that I loathe calling and making appointments.

Wearing: Workout gear, what else?!

Feeling: Grateful that we didn’t incur any damages during Hurricane Irma.

Loving: The Complete Guide to Home Organization because lord knows I need help in that department. I really do love organization, but I get overwhelmed and discouraged because I try to make it too perfect. It’s got some great organization tips with nice photos. Hopefully it will motivate me to throw some stuff out and get more organized.

What’s happening in your life lately? Something exciting happening? What are you loving? Please share!

📷 via Rab Fyfe

Bringing this baby back to life

It’s been awhile. I’ve thought about blogging for months now but every time I sat down to write, I had nothing to say. There’s so much to catch up on, but for today I’m just easing back in with a “hello, it’s good to see you” post.

I woke up this morning with a slight headache and the beginning of DOMS setting in. [DOMS is muscle soreness/stiffness after a strenuous workout] It’s just mildly stiff and sore at the moment so hopefully it won’t get too bad. Those skater lunges always get me. The headache is from two glasses of wine last night. 😕 I wasn’t even tipsy! I guess this a sign of getting old.

Yesterday was the first day of fall and it might be just in my head, but I can definitely feel the shift. It’s Florida so I don’t particularly feel it outside, but it’s only supposed to get to mid-eighties today so yay for that. It’s more of an energy in the air though. I was making my coffee this morning while the rest of the house is still sleeping and the air just felt different. In a good way of course. I love the fall. It doesn’t last particularly long here and it’s not as pretty as up north, but it’s all I’ve known so I embrace it.

Welcome back if you’re still with me from before my hiatus and WELCOME if you’re new here. The fall/winter is full of holiday hustle & bustle, but also down time. The plan is to be here on the blog more often. Hope to see you around!

#MicroblogMonday

Keeping it simple today with a short little Halloween post.

15 years ago I had never carved a pumpkin in my life. I’d just had a baby the month before and I was all about starting new traditions that we could continue throughout the years. Thus, annual pumpkin carving was born! This year we have an extra family member (a German exchange student) so there are 5 finished pumpkins.

2015-11-02_0001Top Row: (from left) hubs carved Germany and mine is the witch
Bottom Row: (from left) our German teen carved the cheshire cat, my boy drew his own pattern for the first year and my teenager carved Hellboy, but it was already kind of wilting. 

The teen is 15 so I’m not sure how many more years of trick-or-treating we have ahead of us, but both kids were still game for the festivities this year. Halloween night the kids all trick-or-treated as a group with a couple of the teen’s friends and my nephew. Here’s 4 of our group of 6…all dressed up and ready for candy!!

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We’ve had our temporary German daughter for almost three weeks now and we’re so sad for her to leave in a couple of days. More later in the week (hopefully) on our first experience as a host family. Spoiler: it was pretty awesome and Germania (inside joke with her) has set the bar high for any future exchange students we may host!

Weekly Highlights

Yes, that title really says, “weekly highlights” and yes, I’m talking about LAST weeks highlights.

I started this post on Friday while I was killing a little time, before heading to breakfast with my SIL, by sitting in a local coffee shop, sipping my iced vanilla latte, listening to some oldies playing over the house speakers.

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Me at said coffee shop, killing time, trying to take a pic without looking like I’m taking a pic

 

I kept opening my laptop all weekend trying to finish this post before Monday, but here I am…it’s now Tuesday and I’m still working on it.

At this point I should just scrap the whole thing, but dang it, I already spent time getting this post together so I’m going to finish it…late or not! 😛

Okay, weekly wrap up commencing…

Last Wednesday was MAH BIRFDAY! Woot! I did a little Sephora shopping earlier in the week to snag my sweet Beauty Insider Birthday gift (super awesome NARS lip duo!) and then we went to dinner at Bonefish Grill the day of my birthday. Not to mention my little birthday breakfast with my SIL on Friday and I’m due to have a birthday breakfast/lunch with my mom soon! 37 ain’t half bad so far.

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My goofy kids would barely stand still for a photo.

 

Don’t laugh, but I finally took the time to figure out how to borrow e-books from library. All I have to say is…why did I wait so long?! It sucks that a lot of the ones I wanted had a waiting list, but I did find a couple that didn’t and I got in the virtual line for ones that I was interested in reading. Gold star to me for taking advantage of the resources we are privileged to have access to!

We have a local coffee shop that even though I had visited it once, I was still kind of intimidated by it. On the recommendation of a local Instagram friend I ordered an Iced Vanilla Latte and I am intimidated no more! I’ve quickly become obsessed…they’ll probably know my name by heart soon. On the up side, since I have to get dressed and go inside to order, no more driving the kids to school in my PJ’s.

I’ve been getting in some regular workouts. Not as regular as I should be because I’ve been super sore after each one and I don’t have nearly enough time to get in good shape for the mud run that’s happening in 3 weeks, but I’ll be in better shape than I am now!

Lilly Pulitzer for Target – Did ya’ll see the craziness that went down the morning LP went on sale at Target?! People done lost their minds. They are material items, ladies. Let’s all just take a chill pill. And don’t even get me started on the people who bought a crap ton of it so they can re-sell it! Err.

Thug Kitchen *warning* NSFW or kids who can read  – I don’t love the use of “thug”, but this website cracked me up. So much so that I’m even thinking about buying the cookbook.

Okay, I’m sure more happened that I wanted to share, but that’s the bulk of it and at this point I just want to get this post published and move on to more current happenings. 🙂

Your turn…What’s the latest in your life? Anything fun, cool, happy, crazy? Any good jams you’ve had on repeat?

 

One step forward

I’ve been trying to get back on the healthy train by getting back to regular workouts and eating better.

I recently decided to cut gluten out of my diet (it’s been a week today!) to see if some of my health issues are related to my gluten intake and I signed up for a mud run in May.

Now, you’d think those two things would have been the catalyst that propelled me into healthier ways, but instead I find that I’m taking one step forward and two steps back. Yes, I do know that the more common saying is “two steps forward, one step back.” Which makes what I actually said, worse!

Last week I started walking. It wasn’t much, but I thought if I can just get myself out there, I’ll be more motivated. And for the most part…it worked. Then the weekend came along and my body was feeling tired from the several days of walk/jogs so I gave myself permission to forego the daily sweat. I was doing well. My eating was pretty good and I felt great.

Today I feel out of control. I haven’t snacked a ton, but my drinking is buh-nanas. And, no, not that kind of drinking. I did have a half glass of wine, but the rest of my drinks were non-alcoholic. I just could not be satisfied today with only drinking water. I wanted coffee, tea, wine, etc. The only ones I really regret are the Teavana tea and the wine. Otherwise I probably wouldn’t chastise myself so much. I started off my day with a green smoothie so all my drinks weren’t necessarily bad. I just had too many flavored/non-water drinks and very little plain water. Drinking is my kryptonite. It’s like liquid snacking. I like to have something to sip and water just doesn’t have the same effect on my brain as something flavored. Clearly I have a problem. Three of my last five Instagram photos are of me sipping on a tasty beverage! I think I need a new hobby.

Oh well, onwards and upwards. *puts on big girl panties* Tomorrow will be better, I’ll make sure of it!

Other than my liquid snacking, today was otherwise a pretty good day. It was one of very few days out of the month that my hair was did and I had a full face of make-up on. Of course I only thought of taking photos after I changed out of my outfit and was sitting on the couch slacking. (I’m a terrible blogger) I did snap a couple pretend-to-be-glam photos (in my workout clothes that I didn’t workout in I might add) while I was using Photobooth , on my laptop, to try on my new Nars lipstick pencils because I was too lazy to go to the bathroom mirror. 😛

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Happy Monday party peeples! I hope everyone had a great start to their week.

 

Under the Tuscan Sun

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If I click my heels together three times, maybe I can blink myself back there…

roaming the unfamiliar, yet quaint neighborhoods…navigating the cobblestone streets, treasures hiding around every corner…eating gelato once, twice, three times a day…more pizza and pasta than I can handle!

*sigh*

I’m missing Italy today.

I spent 30 min researching how to make a caffé latté at home. I’m sure there are other ways, but I settled with a moka pot, illy coffee and a milk frother.

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Italy has been high on my bucket list of places to visit for awhile, but I really fell in love with wanting to visit after watching Under the Tuscan Sun so it seemed only fitting to pop it into the blu-ray and watch it again today.

To complete my Italy reminiscing, I got 100+ of our vacation photos edited. *happy dance*

I may have been feeling a little nostalgic today, but all in all, it was a pretty good way to start the week.

Ciao Bella!

 

 

Life Lately

Oh hi.

*waves energetically*

Yes, yes, I know, I’m back from yet another unplanned hiatus. I’m not trying to disappear, I swear.

Remember back when I was doing NaBloPoMo and I said posting every day was hard, but easier at the same time? That’s because when I’m posting every day I don’t feel the need to have big, incredibly entertaining, awesome posts where I try to cram everything that’s been happening or that I want to share into one blog post. By posting daily I could just ramble about whatever was on my mind at the moment. Yet here I am, not posting often enough and feeling the need to have these super awesome and personable/helpful/cool posts. I’m not sure any of my posts are those things, but I like to think that at least some of them are.

So, let’s see…what’s been going on with me lately?

I’ve started my gym routine back…again. It seems like I say this every few months and I inevitably fall off the wagon. I’m determined to stay on top of that freaking wagon this time though dangit. I’ve had to take some extra rest days due to soreness and being busy so I’m a little behind schedule, but I’m just going to keep plugging along and not worry about how far behind I’m getting. I’ve already started to notice subtle changes and even though I hate working out, I love feeling strong and fit.

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Speaking of working out, I got some new bluetooth headphones. I’m not sure if I love them yet, but I’ll keep you posted. I like my old bluetooth ones, but I don’t like that they hang around my neck. When I laid down on benches or the floor while at the gym, they would fall off. Unfortunately, these new bluetooth ones start hurting my ears after about an hour. I’m going to try some different tips though and see if that makes them more comfortable. I very much like that I don’t have to worry about them falling off while I’m jumping around or laying on benches! I think for long term wear, I’d still wear my LG ones.

Book update: Even though I’m pretty behind in my reading goal for 2015 (only 3 in January 🙁 ), I did manage to finish my latest book from bloggingforbooks. Review coming soon!

I started a (very) part-time job. It’s some behind the scenes tech grunt work that allows me to work remotely most of the time, but it’s kinda perfect for me right now as I ease back into the working world.

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This past weekend the teen was out of town on a school trip (her first out of town trip that I didn’t chaperone! I thought the hubs was going to give himself a heart attack. He was tracking her with the Find my Friends app the whole time. lol. FWIW, she made it back home safe & sound). On Friday I had date night with my favorite almost 12 yr old and then we shipped him off to Nana and Pappy’s on Saturday so the hubs and I could have a date day at the theatre. We saw The Book of Mormon and…Oh.my.word…I was laughing hysterically most of the way through it. There are a few somber moments and a few slow songs, but for the most part, it’s hilarious! Btw, if you’ve seen the show, but don’t have the soundtrack, it’s available on Amazon Prime for free download. I say if you’ve seen it because it’s got some explicit lyrics that may not make sense or seem out of place if you haven’t seen the production. Listen at your own risk if you haven’t seen and loved the musical. 🙂

I was going through the photo roll on my phone to see what I’ve been up to since I blogged last and sadly this is the bulk of it. Just living day to day. Wake up, make lunches, get kids to school, do a bunch of random stuff that involves some combination of cleaning/grocery shopping/reading/working out/napping/slacking/working, kid 1 gets off bus, head to pick up kid 2 at school (curse you after school activities), come home, feed family, get ready to do it all over again the next day. Wash.Rinse.Repeat.

I hope you’re still dropping by my little corner of the internet even though I post sporadically. Anything exciting happening with you lately?

 

Taking Stock // 02

photo-1416431168657-a6c4184348ab(image via UnSplash)

Last time I did a post like this I borrowed prompts (with permission) from Meet Me at Mikes. Which were great! But, this time, I used some of the same prompts and threw in several specific to me and what I’m doing/thinking right now.

Making: these yummy gluten free breakfast cookies for the kids

Cooking: healthy breakfasts

Drinking: my copycat Whole Foods tropical smoothie (recipe coming soon)

Watching: Girlfriends Guide to Divorce

Listening to: the whole Sam Smith album, but also Ed Sheeran, Thinking Out Loud and Andy Grammar, Honey I’m Good

Lusting over: the fashion on GGTD! I’m obsessed with pieces from all of their styles.

Thinking: about my Italy trip. It’s only 65 days away and I can feel the anxiety slowly creeping in, but I’m also uber excited! The last time we went out of the country was my first time ever so I feel like I had more to do. This time it’s mostly just packing.

Focusing on: eating healthier and watching my portions

Waiting: to receive my Shannon Bonatakis print (warning: possibly NSFW-ish) the teen bought me for Christmas. I’ve wanted one of Shannon’s prints for over a year. Now the question is where to put it!

Ordering: my first Vitacost order. I had heard of Vitacost, but never actually ordered. Then I ran out of vitamins for the kids and didn’t want to make a Whole Foods run.

Morning Reading: the Skimm. I just started getting Skimm emails, but so far, so good!

Bedtime Reading: To Kill a Mockingbird

Recently added to my To-Read list: Party Girl

Getting used to: drinking my morning coffee with less sugar

Pumped for: season premiere of Girls

Marveling: at snow in Jacksonville! Okay, it was just flurries, but still…SNOW!

Playing: Wits and Wagers and Apples to Apples

Wishing: we could pick up and move where we want to RIGHT NOW. We’d only move to another area of town because of the kids schooling, but maybe eventually out of the state. We will get there eventually when the timing is right.

Pinning: my ideal winter look and this adorable kitchen staple

Working on: getting more organized and de-cluttering. I’m not a fan of baby steps because it’s hard for me to see the big picture, but so far I’ve been to keep my eye on the prize and keep plugging along.

Excited about: my new business app/digital business card…go here —> katie.oily.life on your mobile device! Want one for your business? My husband created it and is looking to expand. Even if you aren’t in the essential oil business, send me a message telling me what business you are in and what you would want your digital business card to do for you.

Wishing: I had more decor in my house. I love going in someone’s home and seeing how decorated it is. I really want ours to have more decor, but I have a hard time making decisions about how to do it.

Enjoying: the kids being back at school. I was dreading the early mornings and routine, but now that I’m back in the groove, I am loving having the house to myself again.

Smelling: Thieves + Christmas Spirit in the diffuser.

Searching: for a new salad dressing recipe. I LOVE my current staple, but I’d like some variety. I’m going to try this one today. I’ll let you know if it’s yummy or not.

Quote I liked recently: “No one truly interesting is universally liked” – Girlfriends Guide to Divorce

Needing: to give the dog a bath. She is so stanky! But I need to buy doggie shampoo first! 🙁

Wearing: workout wear

Feeling: Hungry. It’s lunch time. 😛

Loving: that Florida finally has marriage equality

 

 

Highlights of 2014

2014 certainly had it’s share of heart ache, hurt and sadness, but as glad as I am that this year is coming to a close, we had some really great moments too.

  • Two concerts. Date night with the hubs and mommy/son date with the boy.

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  • The teen performed in her first school musical

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  • My 6th grader had his first school piano recital

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  • I completed a half marathon

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  • The teen got her braces off

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  • I toured Washington D.C. with my favorite 5th grader

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  • I read 30 (THIRTY!) Books

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  • I finally saw the Golden Gate Bridge in person

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I love looking back and seeing some of my favorite moments from the year. There are, of course, many everyday moments that were just as special as well, but these were the big ones that stuck out.

Now bring on 2015! I can’t wait to see what the year has in store for us!

Getting in the Christmas spirit

Hubby is out for the night, a pot of chili is simmering on the stove, Christmas jams are filling the air and the littles are working on making the tree pretty.

Over the years, I’ve released my death grip on decorating the tree to perfection. I must say that I’m not sure why I held on so tight. It’s much more relaxing to sit back and let the kids decorate the tree. And, the older they get, the better they get at decorating. The first year tested my OCD tendencies, but this year they are doing a bang up job! They enjoy doing it, they’re usually sweet to each other while doing it and I can relax and enjoy the night.

Between finally getting the tree up, buying a few presents and reading my Blogging for Books holiday book, I’m slooowly getting in the spirit of the season.

Hopefully I’ll get more of my shopping done this weekend and feel a little less overwhelmed with everything that needs to get done.

How’s everyone doing on their shopping? Are you an early bird or a procrastinator like me?

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