Broski in the 'yunk

Kyle came out to my neck of the woods last night. We hit up the Manayunk Brew Pub where my roommate Joe works. It's this cute little brewery/restaurant by day but then a bar/dancing/live music hang out by night. We had a good time. It was just nice hanging out and chatting. 

Then a rather intoxicated woman sat at our table and tried to pick Kyle up while I was in the bathroom. It was awkward when I got back, but so funny. That, I believe, was our sign to head on home.

Kara-isms

So two of my friends on facebook who I love dearly, Laura (roommate in the DR and first friend in PA) and Clarisa (AWESOME officemate at T3), tagged me in this same game.

Since I love them and think you'll get a kick out of this too, I have decided to participate. The game is as follows:

Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.

Here goes...

1. I don't like bumpy things; looking at or touching them. Bumpy as in barnacles on an ocean pier, not bumpy like oatmeal.

2. I drink excessive amounts of water for no particular reason; maybe habit.

3. I have cankles (maybe not as severe as the definition, but i think they're cankles). Thanks mom. Someday I'll appreciate them.

4. Sometimes I talk to my cat like she's a real person and could respond to me.

5. I love to bake. I have ideas of someday opening a non-profit type bakery or one that's proceeds go to children and schools in impoverished nations.

6. Once when I was 7 my parents left me at my brother's little league baseball field. Mom thought dad had me and dad thought mom had me. I was still on the playground.

7. When I was 6 I called 911 to see if it was real. It was.

8. I'm a price-shopper when it comes to clothing. I check price first then decide if i like something. This is also thanks to my mom.

9. I put my shoes on right foot first, then left. Every time. Left then right just doesn't feel right.

10. I love animals and I don't eat them.

11. Walking with Jesus has been the most unpredictable yet fulfilling journey I've ever experienced; I think I’ll stay on the path for a while.

12. I’m going to run a marathon this year. (Chicago, October 11^th!) 

13. I love going to the grocery store. So much that I go whenever I’m bored just for fun, simply to peruse the isles and read labels.

14. Google my name; it’s pretty funny--you’ll get a good laugh at my expense.

15. I wish I were bilingual, mainly with Spanish.

16. I still sleep with my baby blanket. And it might not be my original baby blanket, it might be a replacement/exact replica I received when I was 16. Embarrassing.

17. I love photography, but am really bad at it.

18. I wear way too much white. It's just so easy to match.

19. I can bend my left index finger back and touch the top of my hand.

20. I enjoy the smell of fish food. A lot.

21. When I was 8 (i think?) I dropped a brand new gallon of milk and it busted all over the kitchen floor; I thought my mom would never talk to me again; thankfully she did.

22. I think I like the idea of reading more than I actually like reading. I have 6 books on my list right now , but have been on the same one for the past 3 months :|

23. I HATE feet. Mainly other peoples, touching me. Gross. 

24. I always put my parking break on, even if I'm the only car on a completely flat surface; it will be on.

25. Vacuuming's my favorite. The satisfaction of being able to see AND HEAR something getting clean is amazing. 

There you have it. That was harder than I expected it to be. 

Now I just need to figure out how to tag people.

My first visitors

Kyle and Stephanie, my brother and sister-in-law visited today! The first official visitors of my new place! We walked the main street and just had time to chat. So wonderful.

Stephanie is carrying my first nephew/niece. I meant to take pictures today, but i apologize, i got caught up in the joy of visitors. So regardless of whether I had to stalk this off facebook or not :|, here they are pre-preggerness:

And post-preggers with buddha belly:

Steph is now 26 weeks pregnant with 10 weeks to go. 10 WEEKS! I just can't believe it. Two weeks ago I helped them paint the baby's room in their new house and last week I helped them move furniture in for the baby. It all seems so surreal.

I could not, however, be more excited and more ready for a little nephew/niece. Maybe due to the fact that I'm the baby of my family and never experienced a blood-related baby. Or maybe after all my years of babysitting and falling in love with those kids--picturing the attachment that's so easily made with kids I babysit for and imagining that for a child that's blood-related to me, I just can not even fathom the joy that will come with that. Tears come out just thinking about it.

I am so thankful for Kyle and Steph and that little baby inside her belly. 10 more weeks :) 

Brrrrrr

P.s. as a follow-up to my post on 1.15, my sigg (water bottle) was frozen this morning. Yep, left it in my car over night and it was a solid ice cube this morning. 

And I thought it was cold last thursday.

Drum roll please...

Ladies and gentleman I give you, my new space heater.

My house is old and my room is big which equals bad circulation. Not to mention  the lack of seal around where the window meets the wall; there is a slight, constant breeze coming through there. In Texas this leak would've been fine, but when it's 9 degrees outside, this minor leak makes a major difference.

Long story short, my room was freezing. WAS freezing :) 

Until this bad boy, my wonderful space heater, came along. Now my room is a wonderful bubble of heat.

Lunchtime Surprise

From my desk at work I don't have a view of the outside. This is nice when it's sunny and beautiful outside because I can't see what I'm missing. It's sad, however, when I work 4 hours through a thunder and rain storm and don't even know it (this has actually happened). 

Today was one of those days, the oblivious to the outdoors kind of day. So when I walked outside for a lunch-break trip to Target, I was pleasantly surprised.

 

Snow! Not just any snow. The snow. The snow I've been waiting for for 4 years. See, my parents have lived here for 4 years now, so I've always been back for Christmas break, hoping for snow. And if I didn't see snow (a good snow) at Christmas, which I never did, I knew (being from Texas) that I'd have to wait another year for this wonderful white stuff.

At last, after 4 looooong years, I got my good snow :) My 30-minute drive home might've taken almost 2 hours, but it was worth it. It was so beautiful outside! Next to the leaves changing colors in the Fall, I think shiny white snow/ice on dead winter trees is my second favorite thing about nature. 

Pretty, pretty snow. So beautiful.

Feeling Cold, Thinking Warm

Most people that know me know I drink a lot of water. So yesterday morning, per usual, sitting in traffic on my way to work, heat blasting to try to get some feeling back in my hands and stop my body from hurting, I take a gulp from my bottle of water I grabbed from the fridge on my way out of the house. This is also unusual that I have water in the fridge as I don't like cold water, but for some reason I put it in there. About half-way through this new bottle, I see the unfinished bottle I had left in my car last night. Extra water, perfect! Letting no water go to waste I pick up the slightly older bottle to finish it.

As my room-temperature-water-loving mouth sting's from the sheer coldness of the substance I just put in it, I realize not only why I don't like cold water, but more importantly that the water in my car was MANY degrees lower than the water from my 37-degree refrigerator.

Welcome to winter in Philadelphia.

Per weather.com it's currently 22 outside ('feels like' 11). The snow that greeted me this morning confirmed this, but it didn't feel quite as cold as yesterday morning during the water incident. Tonight, however, is a different story. Tonight is forcasted to be 9 (and 'feel like' -1). -1 DEGREES, PEOPLE. I don't even know what -1 feels like and can't say that I've ever wanted to know. But, alas, I shall find out tonight. And again tomorrow night as it's not forcasted to warm up at all.

On the other side of my shock at the temperature outside (mind you, I have been in Texas for 8 years), I appreciate the cold. I really do. I appreciate having distinct seasons and enjoying the gorgeous brown, leaf-less winter trees covered in a light dusting of white. It's wonderful. I love how cozy it is to curl up with hot chocolate and a book and I love how close Mica sleeps to me at night to keep warm. I'm thankful that I can experience this beautiful city during this chilly season and that I do have a warm place to escape from the cold.

Let me not be numbed by the cold and forget to be silent and appreciate where I am and why I'm here.

Eat Pray Love

I read this last night in Eat Pray Love but fell asleep before I had a chance to post it.

"The Search for God is a reversal of the normal, mundane worldly order. In the search for God, you revert from waht attracts you and swim toward that which is difficult. You abandon your comforting and familiar habits with the hope (the mere hope!) that something greater will be offered you in return for what you've given up...

...If faith were rational, it wouldn't be-by definition-faith. Faith is belief in what you cannot see or prove or touch. Faith is walking face-first and full-speed into the dark. If we truly knew all the answers in advance as to the meaning of life and the nature of God and the destiny of our souls, our belief would not be a leap of faith and it would not be a courageous act of humanity; it would just be...a prudent insurance policy."

I don't have much to say about this, or anything really. I just liked it and thought I'd share.

23 years is a long time

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LAUREN!!!



This is my best friend, Lauren Kimmel. She's my favorite and today's her BIRTHDAY. 23 years and counting. For the (almost) 5 of those years that I've known her I am thankful; so thankful.

Lauren-I hope you have a wonderful day. I think about you so much, but especially today. I praise God for you and this day 23 years ago. Happy Birthday!! I love you.

Manayunk and Mica

So I moved into my new place just after Christmas and have been here for a couple weeks now. I live in this cute little town called Manayunk; it's considered Philadelphia, but it's about 10 minutes from center city. I love it. Manayunk is small and very austin-ish, it's right on the Schuykill River and it's awesome. My house is a block away from the main street, which I haven't ventured to yet, but i'll get there and be sure to document it.

Er, the previous statement is a lie. I have been down main street once, but it was at night so I don't count it.

My house is a four-bedroom, tall and skinny row home. My 3 roommates are real nice; I like them a lot--very thankful for that. I foresee them each eventually having their own introduction post on here so wait for that. 

Since all my belongings, minus my clothes which I have, are still in storage in Austin and I'm not in the mood to make another 30-hour drive in a uhaul to get them all back here, I, bargain shopper that I am, started collecting things on clearance and threw together my very affordable room:

VOILA!

The mini fridge, tv and shelves came with my room because the stairs are so narrow the owner didn't feel like hauling them up another flight of stairs to the third floor. Those accessories definitely help the homeliness of the room (and the wallet). Oh, and you'll notice I'm missing a curtain. I guess that's what I get for shopping in the clearance sections. I keep looking for the fourth one; no luck yet, but I WILL find it---ON SALE.

After I got back from Austin on Sunday I moved Mica over here from my parent's house. She loves it so far; or rather, she loves the new bed at least.

 

Yep, that's Mica doing what she does best (well, second best; first best is eating). I love her.

I don't know about this pink business...

bare with me.

Introductions. So predictable.

Yet necessary. I mean, where else do I start if not with an introduction?

So, Welcome. Bienvenido. Blog, reader; reader, blog.

Lauren and I made a New Year's resolution together over lunch at Progress to start and maintain blogs this year. As one chapter of our lives has ended and another (very different and farther away) chapter has begun, it seems more and more difficult to keep up with every-day happenings and adventures. Hence, the blog.

Maybe it's because I don't have many (or any...) friends (YET!) in this new place called Philadelphia that I find myself, but I'm REAL excited about this blog. Now I, single woman that I am, can go out and explore the city with this bad boy (my blog) to share my experiences. :) This makes my heart happy.