Wordless Wednesday- Key West edition

Why aren't I here right now?

Fall is here!

In New England, fall comes early. The trees are starting to turn in small patches, but right now most of them just have this dusty pink glow over them. Some pictures from last year and this year...

Hidden Rose Garden we found on a hike- magical!

Vermont

Football game 

Happy Fall! xoxo, Kate

10 Things You May Not Know About ME

The capitalization in *ME* gives me a sense of importance (but I digress).

Inspired by a post on Accidentally, Kle, I decided to do a short little post about ME (self-importance again)

I am fully aware that most of these make me sound like a huge geek, but I'm okay with that.
1. I'm such a big band geek, that not just playing the saxophone for 9 years or doing marching band, concert band, jazz band, and winter guard in high school was enough for me. I went back to my old band director this year and said..."Let me help!"So now I'm an assistant color guard and visual instructor. This year, they're doing this music...

2. I'm a college student, studying Early Childhood Education, and I love it!

3. I'm obsessed with Harry Potter. Not obsessed to the point where I have posters all around my room, but I have read all the books more times than I can count, I can beat everyone I've ever played in Harry Potter Scene It?, and I'm a beta tester for Pottermore, J.K. Rowling's new website.

4. I love snow more than anything (being a New England gal) but I don't participate in any snow sports, like skiing, snowboarding, or ice skating. I do, however, sled and ice fish like NOBODY'S business.

5. I'm a ridiculously light sleeper. I have a noise machine that I have to sleep with every night, and I have wax earplugs for when I'm sleeping in the same room as another person. I wake up if someone breathes funny. Not fun.

6. I've always wanted to go hang-gliding. Not skydiving, not bungee jumping, just hang-gliding.

7. My favorite quote from a movie : "Thank you. That will be nice. Yes is being my answer. Easy question." Aurelia from Love Actually (my favorite love story out of all of them) 


8. My favorite vegetable is spinach- I love all vegetables, but spinach is definitely my favorite!


9. My guilty pleasure is Mac n'Cheese. Kraft, Annie's, Velveeta, homemade, doesn't matter, I love them all. The best Mac n'Cheese I've ever had is at a place in Faneuil Hall called MMmac n'cheesee - seriously- that's the name. They make every bowl right in front of you- sauce and everything! Unreal.


10. My favorite color is cerulean- best crayon in the box, don't ya know?

xoxo, Kate

My Week In Cell Phone Pictures

I can't claim this as a "Insta-Friday" post, because I sadly do not have an iPhone and therefore cannot get the instagram app. However, I did just get my first smartphone (huzzah!) and downloaded an app called "picplz" that I love! It's similar to instagram but has a bunch of different options to edit your photos.

I don't know what it is, but every time I try to photograph my cat, he looks evil

My godson at his first soccer game of the season

Daisy from my garden before the storm

Angry ocean at high tide during Irene

Roasting some of my summer tomato crop to freeze

Storm brewing over the mountains

My grandfather's homemade pickles

Sidenote- would you like to know how he made "Jim's Pickles" ? He saved all the juice from multiple storebought jars of pickles, sliced up cucumbers really thin, and put them in the saved pickle juice. I cannot make this stuff up.

xoxo, Kate

Really, Irene? Really?

Picture from here

See that purple area? That "extreme" level? That's where I live, and where all of my family (except the Atlanta contingent) live. Super. It's ok,  it's not like I was planning on moving into my new apartment on Monday, or anything. Seriously?!?
Would you like another comforting image from weather.com?

How about another?

Yup.

Vow Renewal Post#1- All About the Music

Several months ago, my boyfriend's dad, Donnie, approached me about organizing a Vow Renewal ceremony for he and his wife Arlene, in celebration of their 30th Wedding Anniversary. If there's something I love, its organizing things. And of course, I wanted to share this every step of the way and what I was doing, but I'm not sure if she read's my blog and didn't want to overtly ask her (that seems pretentious, no?). So I started by contacting the cruiseline, and from there started the emails and phone calls back and forth with the planners. Because I'm so OCD about things like this (and I love Arlene and Donald!), I wanted to make sure everything was perfect. This definitely included the music playing at the  reception. I made a customized playlist for them, because what the cruiseline offered was too stuffy and boring. Their first dance song- "Longer" by Dan Fogelberg. (The same one they had at their wedding! This involved several phone calls where Donnie couldn't remember the title, and then called me to leave a singing message where he got the lyrics wrong, and then called me back with the actual title). 

The playlist:

"It Had to Be You" (Kenny G version)

"Unchained Melody" by the Righteous Brothers

"Come Away with Me" by Norah Jones

"The Best is Yet to Come" by Frank Sinatra

"At Last" by Etta James

"I've Grown Accustomed to His Face" by Diana Krall

"Turn Me On" by Norah Jones

"The Way You Look Tonight" by Michael Buble

"Unforgettable" by Nat King Cole and Natalie Cole

"Wild Horses" by the Rolling Stones

"You're Still the One" by Shania Twain

"Moondance" by Michael Buble

"Love and Marriage" by Frank Sinatra

"Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?' by Bryan Adams

"Still the One" by Orleans

and finally, "Let's Stay Together" by Al Green

What songs must you have/what songs did you have at your wedding? 

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

Happy 85th Birthday to the man who taught me how to safely lick peanut butter off a knife, how to paint trim without the use of painter's tape, how to make the best fudge you've ever tasted, and how to tell the best story you've ever heard. I love you!

xoxo, Kate