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

Favorite Things Friday

I love fishing. I love my family. This makes for a SERIOUS favorite thing.
Fishing with the family aboard the "Gypsy Melody," our boat!

Graves Light in Boston Harbor

My cousin Jes reeling in her 4th fish of the day

My Handsome and the fish

Face of excitement and joy

That's a keeper!

Winthrop from the water

Me and my dad :)

Nope, this doesn't suck

Bucket List

I was inspired by a post I saw on "A Little of This and That ” about a bucket list, and I although I’ve never actually solidified it by writing it down. This was a perfect excuse to do so!

(April, I promise some of these are mine too! I don’t copy you ALL the time, just sometimes :p )

1.Find a job that makes me happy every day

2. Go to Italy

3. Learn to play guitar

4. Get engaged and get married

5. Have a child (or children)

6. Get a piercing somewhere other than my ear lobes (just got my cartilage pierced!)

7. Get a tattoo

8. Graduate college

9. Finish my needlepoint project 

10. Finish knitting the afghan I started a couple days ago 

11. Go hang-gliding

12. Be a bridesmaid 

13. Be a godmother (again) 

14. Build my t-shirt business

15. Stick to a work-out routine for more than 3 days

16. Go to Disneyworld AND Disneyland

17. Win a blog giveaway

18. Live in a house of my own

19. Go to Australia

20. Have 100 followers by 2012!

What are some of yours? 

xoxo Kate

Best. Whale Watch. Ever.

We went out early (read: 8 a.m.) Friday morning for Jonathan's very first whale watch. Now, I had been on a couple before, and I had seen the fins of whales before, and a couple of tails. But I had never actually seen a whale breach before (jump out of the water). I had also never seen a humpback whale before, so this trip was pretty exceptional. The crew on our boat said that they wait years and years to see something like this. 

Kindly, Kate xoxo