Personal – Page 2

12/27

Wishing you…

from my house to yours!

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, or a Happy whatever you celebrate. 🙂

The month leading up to Christmas, wasn’t so happy and pleasant. We lost a beloved grandfather and family member of my SIL was seriously injured (but will be okay). Honestly, I couldn’t wait for the holidays to be over and start 2014. But, the month is ending nicely.

Last week I took the kids for a quick trip to Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party at Disney. We don’t go to Disney World very often, but it’s nice to be able to have a quick getaway that the kids enjoy.

On Christmas Eve we headed to my MIL’s and had Christmas with my husbands side of the family. It was a tradition started before we had any kids and while it’s gotten earlier in the day through the years, this was our 15th year celebrating on Christmas Eve. It’s a time that is just for us and we all look forward to it. I score every year with my gifts, but this year I got this sweet Tory Burch wrap bracelet to add to my collection.

On Christmas we unwrap all our gifts at the house and then head to celebrate Christmas with my side of the family. This year we had two celebrations because my sister could only come up the weekend before Christmas.

We still have two extended family Christmas celebrations and then we’ll be done and ready for the new year!

May 2014 bring you much health and happiness!

posted by katiehigg Leave a Comment
Filed Under: My life, Personal Tagged: happy holidays, merry christmas, wishing you happy holidays

11/06

Pre-Opening at Nordstrom Rack!

photo via Erin

Tomorrow, Jacksonville gets it’s first taste of Nordstrom via Nordstrom Rack. The outlet version of the popular department store carries all the big name brands, but at a significant discount! It’s a bargain shoppers dream!

Last night was the pre-opening party and while I didn’t get a direct invite, my awesome friend Erin invited me as her +1! To say I was excited was an understatement! I like to browse in person rather than buy online…try things on, move in them a bit, hem haw over them. While I’ve had okay luck online shopping, shoes & jeans are two things that rarely work out, so I was uber pumped to be able to touch and feel and try on all the brands I have been drooling over online.

Kate Spade, Tory Burch, Paige Denim…just to name a few

I knew the pre-opening would be busy, but it was beyond crazy. So busy in fact that it was hard for me to concentrate on what I wanted to look at! There were people everywhere, delicious snacks & drinks, a line 10+ people long waiting for the dressing rooms, several registers busy checking people out as well as employees walking around with handheld check out machines!

I did, however, manage to come away with a few purchases so apparently I wasn’t THAT distracted. 😉

My loot! A plaid flannel shirt (super comfy with just the right amount of drape), a cute gold ring (only 8 bucks!) and the most epic purchase of the night…Tory Burch booties!

I know there is a ton more good stuff there that I missed so I can’t wait until it officially opens tomorrow! There is going to be a big opening day party starting at 8am. I want to go back, but I’m probably better off waiting a couple of weeks until the craziness dies down.

posted by katiehigg 2 Comments
Filed Under: dressing room tales, Fashion, Personal Tagged: jacksonville fashion blogger, nordstrom rack, nordstrom rack jacksonville fl, nordstrom rack pre-opening, tory burch aaden booties

10/29

I’m not a writer, but I play one online

I found a super cool blog a few months ago that’s about all things Jax. It’s called Somewhere in the City and they highlight people, food and places within the city. As a Jacksonville native who doesn’t know near as much about this city as I should, I like learning about new local people and places.

They put a call out for guest bloggers recently and I answered! My guest post on my new IRL friend & fellow blogger, Erin, is up today!

Ch..ch..check it out….

posted by katiehigg Leave a Comment
Filed Under: Personal Tagged: guest post, jacksonville, somewhere in the city

08/19

First day of school = Wahoooooo!

It’s the first day of school! Woot woot!! Back to Starbucks lattes & browsing Target alone, back to doing whatever the heck I want to during the day, back to working out, back to eating lunch while catching up on an adult tv show, back to reading a book midday with no interruptions…the list goes on, but you get the idea.

Don’t get me wrong. Seeing the kids grow up is bittersweet. I already long for their toddler days where we just hung out together and Eric & I were the most important things in the world to them. I loved teaching them the alphabet, making farm animal noises and having little toddler conversations. I know I’m biased and all, but they were pretty sweet back then. So filled with wonder and excitement.

But, time flies…and they grow older…

Gone are the days that I can do the tiniest thing and have C erupt in a fit of giggles…Now if I do something silly, she just gives me a look and tells me I’m not funny or looks at me with a “you’re a dork” look

Gone are the days that I rock H to sleep as he snuggles into my arms…he still snuggles for a minute now, but it’s not the same

They can’t stay little forever though, nor would I want them to. I like that they are getting older. They are growing and changing into little adults that I am proud to call my own.

My big 7th grader will be 13 in a few weeks and while most days she is still that sweet girl I remember, there are other days when her inner teen is unleashed. She is a bright, talented, empathetic, loving little lady and I’m excited to see the woman she will become. I know she’s gonna be amazing!

H is a safety patrol in 5th grade this year. Last year was the first year that I didn’t take BOTH of the kids to school and walk them in. This year is the first year that I didn’t walk either of them in. I watched C drive away with daddy and I dropped H off in the car line because he had to report for safety patrol duty. It felt wrong. Like a bad dream where you’re doing something so strange and not at all what you’re supposed to be doing. School doesn’t start until 9am, but when I dropped H off at 8:25, there was a huge crowd of parents & students waiting to get into the building. It felt very weird to just drop him off, but I knew that getting out and going up to the door was pointless. It was sad to just tell him goodbye on his way out of the car though. 🙁

He has always been my baby boy. He was a bit of a high maintenance little dude when he was younger and even though he drove me insane sometimes, I think I like that he “need”ed me so much. I have to say though, he’s growing into quite the little man…smart, handsome, funny, talented, driven and chivalrous…I couldn’t ask for more!

posted by katiehigg Leave a Comment
Filed Under: My life, Personal Tagged: first day of school, my kids, my life

05/28

Getting my groove back…

I’ve been in a bit of a funk…

slacking in exercise

slacking in eating healthy

slacking in day to day duties

Gotta.get.my.groove.back!

So, it’s 10am as I’m writing this. I have a sick kiddo home, but hubs can stay with her so it’s pretty much going to be a normal day for me. I was feeling good around 9:30 b/c I’d taken a kid to school, sent a load of clothes through the washer, showered and was half dressed for the gym. Then, I sat down to write this blog post and got lost in the interwebs for a half hour…story of my life.

I feel kinda all over the place lately. I don’t know if it’s turning 35 or the kids getting older or what, but it’s time to figure out what makes Katie tick. I’ve spent a long time being a mom and a wife and while I am still both of those things…it’s no longer enough. I’m longing for more.

Soooo…I’m working with a life coach/counselor to figure out what I want out of life. And starting this week, I’m going to work harder at exercising and eating better. I feel better when I’m working out a few times a week and not eating so much junk so I’m going to the gym today and going to try to keep my food/exercise log up at myfitnesspal.com. The food log will come and go b/c I try not to worry as much about calories as I do about eating the right foods. Not to mention that counting calories just plain sucks. 😛

In other news…#whatiwore this past Memorial Day weekend…

hanging with the hubs

hanging with all my siblings at the mostly non-existent Silver Springs

Sorry for the not so great photos. I’m trying to get better at it, but I loathe asking people to take my picture and I rarely have time to try to take a self timer photo of myself.

posted by katiehigg Leave a Comment
Filed Under: #whatiwore, My life, Personal

05/12

Happy Mother’s Day!

I hope all the mothers out there have an amazing day today!

posted by katiehigg Leave a Comment
Filed Under: Personal

05/02

My life :: in a nutshell

So, there’s this blog challenge that I learned about today on Saturated Canary. It’s a blog everyday in May challenge that Jenni, from Story of My Life is leading us in. I’m one day behind already, but I’m not letting that deter me. I don’t plan on blogging every day, but maybe I’ll blog more than usual and maybe you’ll learn a little more (maybe too much?) about me. 😉 Click that little pic below to see the challenge and join in!

Day 1, ~~Wednesday~~ Thursday: The story of your life in 250 words or less

Here goes…

I’m a Floridian born and raised. When I got married we had brief stints in Savannah, GA and Raleigh, NC, but once I got pregnant, we came back to FL to be around family.

I’m from a family of 4 siblings (youngest brother wasn’t born yet in above pic) and was the baby of the family for 8.5 yrs…then my brother came along and ruined my fun. Haha..j/k. I loved having a baby brother to play mommy to. *fun fact…My sister is 9yrs older than I am and I am 9 yrs older than my brother. Then my other brother is thrown in the middle of my sister and I. He had fun torturing us as the middle child.

I’m the only one of my siblings that did not play a musical instrument in school. The piano was the only instrument I was interested in, but we couldn’t afford to buy one for the house, thus…nothing to practice on.

We moved to a neighboring city the summer before my senior year of HS. Since we moved to a different county, I had to change schools. I cried several days during the first few weeks of school and I’m pretty sure I made my mom feel terrible (being a mom, I imagine she must have spent some time feeling sad for me and maybe cried a few times herself). I’m not very outgoing, so making friends was (is) difficult. Thankfully I found a crazy New Yorker to befriend (another new girl) who was very outgoing so I piggybacked of her socialization. Her name was Katie too. Most people would ask Katie ____ or other Katie. I was “other Katie” every single time. Hey, I’m not going to complain. Without her, I would have been “who’s Katie?”. Plus, because of her and who she knew, I met my husband in HS. We wouldn’t meet up again and fall in love until 1.5 yrs later, but that was where we first met.

My twenties are a blur…Got married at 20, had babies at 22 and 25. Spent most of the decade learning how to be a wife and mother.

Now, I spend my time…being a wife & mom (toting kids to and from school/events, helping with homework, ~~making~~ ordering dinner, trying to be a good wife), addicted to social media (FB, twitter, pinterest, instagram), blogging about anything that’s on my mind, shopping (making up for lost years of not shopping because I didn’t like the way anything looked on me), taking pretty pictures, trying to stay fit & healthy, and working on figuring out who I am and what I want to do when I grow up.

Whoops…I didn’t count, but I’m pretty sure I went over 250. :oP

posted by katiehigg Leave a Comment
Filed Under: May Blog Challenge, My life, Personal Tagged: #BlogEveryDayInMay, may blog challenge, my life

08/24

Back to School!

Yep, it’s the end of the first week back to school for us. It’s been SO crazy around here. Between getting last minute things done before school started, getting used to a new routine and school and then getting supply lists from teachers that apparently expect supplies to still be possible to get this week. *note to teachers – we need at least a week to get supplies in b/c in case you haven’t been around for the last 20 yrs, those effing 3-prong pocket folders are pretty much impossible to find a week before school starts, much less trying to find them AFTER school starts.

I have to admit that my first morning/day went a little like this…

However, our first afternoon/evening was not so awesome. Long story, short, it was a monsoon during pick up time, I had no idea what I was doing at a new school and everyone else and their mother were having the same issues. It took me 1.5 hrs to pick my daughter up. Not what I expected at all. Finally got home close to 6pm, had to fill out that ridiculous new school year paperwork where I have to write my ridiculously long name over and over again, then get the kids to bed and do it all over again the next day. Yay! Tuesday afternoon went much better and we’ve been easing into our routine more throughout the week. I can’t say that I love getting up 2 hrs earlier than I used to, but the quiet mornings with my girl, drinking my coffee and making lunches, definitely has it’s plus side.

Here are my seriously adorable kids on their first day. I was a bit sad that I didn’t get a picture of them together and hoped to get it after school, but that didn’t happen.

How handsome is my boy in his vest?! He saw this vest and shirt while school shopping and he fell in love with it. He had to have it for his 1st day of school outfit.

I was thinking before school started about what our “back to school” traditions are. I think it’s pretty similar to what most moms do. Most of the school year I don’t make a hot breakfast for them. I know, terrible, right?! Whatever. The only thing they would really want is pigs in a blanket (biscuit wrapped mini sausages) and how many days in a row can you really eat those?! So, on the first day of school, I make a special breakfast. It’s usually pigs in a blanket (because that’s what they request) with fresh fruit or something of the like. They get dressed in their first day outfit and we take pics. Then daddy & I take them to school! This year was different and that kinda made me sad. I got up early with my middle schooler, did the whole breakfast thing, took her pics and then daddy took her to school. 🙁 I haven’t not been there on the first day of school EVER. Ever since my girl started preschool when she was TWO, the hubs & I took them to school on their first day. *sigh* Things are a changing. They are growing up faster than I realize and will be off to college before I can blink!

What about you? Do you have any special “back to school” traditions? Do you do something similar to me?

posted by katiehigg Leave a Comment
Filed Under: My life, Personal

07/12

May 366

Holy geez. It took awhile to organize May b/c I started slacking off apparently. I missed a handful of days and there were a couple of days that were total crap pics, but oh well. FWIW, here’s my May in a nutshell…

• Mother’s Day brunch with my girl

• my little (big) brother graduated from the JSO corrections academy

• I got a new ride!

• my kids picked out this awesome necklace for Mother’s Day

• my girl was recognized as being in the top 5th percentile of her school

• the dog busted a blood vessel in my finger

• we attended a USA soccer game

• took a joy ride through a tropical storm after our concert got cancelled

posted by katiehigg Leave a Comment
Filed Under: 366, My life, Personal Tagged: 366

06/12

Last, but not least…the Grand Canyon!

Be sure to check out part 1 & part 2 of my Vegas postings, if you haven’t already. 🙂

Day 5…we took a helicopter ride down into the Grand Canyon!!! The highlight of my whole trip to Vegas.

Those who know me, know that I get motion sickness REALLY easily. I can’t ride an airplane without taking dramamine, I can’t ride a roller coaster at all (even though I love them), heck, I can’t even passenger in a car if it’s a bad day. So, as you can imagine, I was terrified that I wasn’t going to be able to handle a helicopter ride. However, I couldn’t pass up an opportunity of a lifetime on the off chance that I might get sick. I figured even if I got sick, it would still be worth it.

It was an early and cold freaking morning. I was feeling alright, but a little nervous. Once we got to the place where the helicopters were, I got really sick feeling and thought I was a goner for sure. Determined to soldier on, I took my dramamine and popped a piece of ginger gum in every few minutes. Thankfully, once we got into the helicopter, my stomach started to settle and I was able to enjoy the ride. The view was absolutely amazing! We even got to see the Hoover Dam on our ride into the canyon.

Flying in style…