EASTER SUNDAY

HAPPY EASTER!

I hope you all had a wonderful and relaxing holiday.

Since we hung out with the kids on Saturday for their big egg hunt, we took advantage of the (FINALLY) warm weather and sunshine on Sunday with a mid-day hike with Chubbs and Pete's nephew. I forget how much I've missed being outside in shorts...it was SO NICE!

Uncle teaching nephew the trick to rock-stacking.

After a long and exhausting hike, we ended the day at The Mom and Dad's house for Easter dinner; always delicious, always relaxing and just an overall good visit. They (and my mom's cooking) will definitely be missed when they move!

MOMS ALWAYS KNOW BEST

And they know just how to cheer you up after a rough week.

Love that lady.

Thanks, Mom.

WOAH BABY

This little thing called LIFE has been keeping me quite busy; and just like that, before I know it - BOOM - it's almost March and warm outside! Yikes. Slow down life. You've been good to me, but you're moving a bit too fast.


Freinds, get ready for a Whirlwind of the past month and a half...


I survived THE CRUISE and it was amazing; I absolutely loved it...Music, Sun, Friends, Food and Icy Cold Beverages; what's not to love??

Sam Thacker

NEEDTOBREATHE

Top of the ship at night

Costa Maya, Mexico (and our ship in the background)

Kara x2 soaking up some mexican rays.

Philly friend,Todd on 'Glam Rock' night

New friends!

Philly friend Matt, playing the Serenity Deck at sunrise...I was unfortunately asleep for this. Me and staying up until sunrise don't mix well.

Green River Ordinance in the Candlelight Lounge

 Yes, on the ship!

Breakfast doesn't get much better than this!

After the cruise, January pretty much went by in a blur...Between work life, social life, family life, and dating life (that's right, I said dating life...!!!!...but don't get too excited, those details are strictly confidential) the days just flew by and clearly the good old blog here took a back seat.


After what felt like a bagillion days in a row of below freezing temperatures and snow that wouldn't stop falling and still refuses to melt, February finally came. And so far has been a great month. The cold is definitely getting old, but I'm keeping my spirits up with thoughts of warmth and some much-needed sweat sessions at the gym (very necessary when you're stuck indoors for months at a time!)


I was able to make a short trip to New Orleans in the beginning of the month. Although it was for work, we were excited to get out and explore the streets at night. I can't believe I've never been there before, the city has such a neat vibe. I was hoping for warm weather, but we didn't let the 30 degree temps phase us; we had a great time. And I got to do the one thing I was looking forward to the whole trip, walk in the streets with an open beer...where else can you order a beer to go?!

Don't mind the beads; I got them legitimately with jacket on and all :)

Second best part of the trip? The layover in Dallas when I had enough time for lunch at Pappasitos to satisfy my constant Mexican food craving.

And most recently, I got to spend a whole evening with the cutest niece ever. It's been a while since we had one-on-one time and as usual we had so much fun - We colored valentines, made mini pizzas together, Mac served me 'coffee' from her new Little Tykes Kitchen, SHE read ME all her books , she showed me how ahe knows all of her letters and numbers, played in the bubble bath and most importantly giggled ALOT at each other. The girl is just so funny, she makes me crack up! And everytime I laugh she starts laughing and tells me I'm silly: "Kia, you silly!"

Cheeeeeeese. (Froggy needed a tissue...)

There you have it...the time you've missed (as a blog reader) in a nutshell...the girl is back! Love you all. Thanks to everyone who's getting my butt into gear and back on the blog train (not to name any names ::cough cough:: Heather, ::cough cough:: The Mom, ::cough cough:: Shannon and Steph).

COOKIES WITH THE MOM

It's that time again! Annual Christmas cookie baking with The Mom! I like how it's become our little tradition :) I don't know how long we'll live 20 minutes away from each other, so we take advantage of it while we can.


You might remember last year it was blizzarding and cozy while we baked; well this year, no blizzard but still super cozy with the chilly temperatures, candles blazing, oven warm and Christmas carols on. 


We spent the day this past Saturday each with our own bowls, beaters, measuring cups, measuring spoons, cookie trays, wooden spoons, ovens and cookie tins (yes, The Mom's kitchen is quite large; a baker's paradise) and cranked out 8 batches of cookies! Quite impressive if I must say so myself, and I even taste-tested most of them (of course) - they were all delish. 

The Mom in action

My snickerdoodles

Chubby's a big help in the kitchen, clearly.

HELLOOOOO NEW HOUSE

Pretend I updated my blog with days 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 of unpacking...and now we're to today.

TADA!

I'm all moved in!

Hah! If only it were that easy :) But with the help of my wonderful brother, the mom and the dad, it was A LOT easier than it could've been! So thankful for that. And I'm LOVING it so far. All the furniture I had fits in perfectly and I even have my own little craft room for all my little projects! It's perfect. I don't have internet at the house and I haven't unpacked my camera yet, so bare with the fuzzy pictures from my phone and quick post from work. More pictures with a complete tour to follow at some point.

Organic spice rack from Kevin and Shannon for Christmas fits perfectly in the kitchen (thanks to some homemade hanger-hooks from the engineer dad.)

New kitchen canisters with my personal favorite little touch...girl can't live without her Jelly Belly jelly beans!

And the princess is already making herself at home...didn't take her long!

PROUD NEW OWNER

No, no, it's not a car, don't get too excited. But it is..... (drum roll)

A sewing machine!

Thanks to the mom and dad, I got my very own sewing machine.

Complete with:

First projects? Finish my quilt and fill my very first ORDER (!!!!!)

MOM: SURPRISE!

You're iPad case is waiting for you when you get home.

I've become quite the sewing machine (hah, no pun intended) in my 'in-between-jobs-then-houses-so-i'm-squatting-with-mom-and-dad' days. It's quite neat actually.


My siblings and I all have a quilt that my mom handmade for each of us as babies. Who knows with four kids when she had the time to do this (and be done by the time each of us turned one years old), but she's super mom so I don't ask questions. 


A few months ago when the mom and I were talking about our baby quilts and brainstorming about possible quilts for my niece and nephew, I realized that this is something, a tradition I guess, that I one day want to pass on to my kids, but with absolutely no idea how to use a sewing machine I don't think I'd get too far or my kids would be graduating college by the time I finish hand-sewing the whole thing.


So the mom sat down with me to teach me the lay of the land, everything she knew, and we started my first 'practice' quilt. And so began my love for the sewing machine. It's super easy to use and being able to make your own things rather than buy saves so much money! I've cranked out a couple iPad cases and an iPod pocket (all made from discounted scrap pieces at the fabric store).

Want one? Email me, kara.denholm(at)gmail(dot)com. I'm taking orders! Any excuse to keep sewing :) I can't guarantee that it'll be the exact fabric you want because I get to pick it, but I can guarantee that it'll be cute...(and free!)

IT'S MY BIRTHDAY...

...And I forgot to document it! Until after the fact. Oops!

That's not to say it wasn't amazing, though. It was wonderful. You can tell by the half-eaten Vegan Chocolate Cake the mom made me:

And the birthday shrine the mom surprised me with at work. She sure knows how to make a girl feel special!

I was semi-hoping my 24th birthday would just kind of slip under the radars and no one would remember, but instead I had birthday presents before work, presents and lunch with Germie, Janet and Elaine (some sweet old co-workers), then wine and birthday dinner with the parents. All topped off with the most delicious vegan chocolate cake.

And I was in bed by 9:00 p.m. Now THAT'S a banner birthday if you ask me.

A DAY FOR THE MOM

Happy Mother's Day, Mom

For all the homemade school lunches, games of Sorry, skipping into the grocery store together, and loving me even when I gave you toothpaste for your birthday.

Love Always, Scooch

BUG GLASSES

The Mom gets a good laugh these days at a lot of the things I buy and how much they resemble things that she bought when she was my age back in the 70's. Everything from the color of dishes to the style of clothes has recycled back into style. 

Now I should preface this by saying, the Mom has been known to hold onto some things for a really long time, which I always give her a hard time for, but it's actually really neat now to be able to compare her original and truly vintage fashions to today's styles. I've already adopted one of the first blazers she bought out of college, a few cute handbags, and a handful of necklaces.

But today the Dad and I got to experience her most prized 'vintage' piece (which I don't think she'll ever surrender to me!):

The Bug Glasses!

(Or so my brothers and sister and I nicknamed them when we were kids...Little did I know I'd be shopping for these in my lifetime!)

I think she bought these when my sister was born in the 70's and has held onto them ever since. Now she loves pulling them out and reminding us all how fashionable and ahead of her time she was/is :)

OH, MOM

I woke up this morning to this: 

(mind you it's 7:30am and I just woke up, but The Mom's been up with coffee for a while)

Mom: Spring's coming!!

Me: Spring's what? 

Mom: Spring's coming! Just around the corner!

Me: How do you know? You read it in the newspaper? (thinking some highly qualified weatherman predicted it or something)

Mom: Nope, I heard the birds chirping this morning!

Teehee. Oh, Mom. Who needs weathermen anyways? You know Mom's know best! And at this point I will cling on to just about any hint of Spring that I can. Especially after reading this 40-inch snow prediction for next weekend! Eek!