Hott-Mess

... So remember all that "me time" I was posting about here? Well, I have slipped back into old habbits.

Crap!

With three grad classes and new house tasks, I am once again forgetting about my own sweet self.

I am doing a great boxing class twice per week with my friend P and we are getting our butts kicked but I haven't been to the gym since my trip to Detroit two weeks ago.

Not good. Not happy. Fixing it.

I saw a great pin on Pinterest that says "Today I will love myself enough to go to the gym". I will be printing this out and posting it in my bedroom... and maybe even my cube at work.

To further my "hott messness"...I noticed last week that I have not painted my nails in a month! A MONTH! To some, it sounds riddiculous that this would bother me. To me, this is a big deal. Painted nails make me feel confident and put together. So tonight- I have a hot date with my mani/pedi set after a nice long run on the treadmill.

This hott mess is getting back on track ASAP!

List update: Below are the 101 list items that are in progress or completed!

5. Send an email or letter three times complementing a job well done at work (1/3)
- I sent an email to the boss of one of the guys in my office who always helps me with my InfoPath forms. I hate those forms and he always assists with a smile. I wanted to make sure his boss knows how friendly and helpful he is.

6. Buy a home with my husband
HOLY COW! I'm a homeowner!

9. Buy a living room set
Check! Pictures of the house will be in a future post...

11. Hang window coverings on all windows in each major room (Kitchen, living room, master bedroom, guest bedroom, rec room). I really think this makes a house a home. (5/5)
done! Notice I said windows... I still have a slider to cover but the windows are done!

15. Explore two more states/regions I've never been to (0/2)
Can't really cross this off, but a trip is planned for the baby bro's 21st!

31. Cook a dinner with BFF Julie for our parents annually (1/3)
This weekend is the anual parents dinner at our new house. Post on that this Sunday.

34. Save $100 every month (5/36)

46. Host at least one holiday dinner per year (0/3)
hosting Easter

56. Do a detox diet for a week
Did yeast free. loved it.

67. Have at least one friend get together every other month (4/14)
We are hosting a chopped competition March 10th. Can't wait!

73. Grow out hair to mid back length and enjoy it
We are there! I'm getting my hair done soon- I'll post a pic after. It's also a hott mess right now. :-/

77. Get 4 pedicures per year (1/12)
Got one for new years eve

92. Write a love letter once every six months (1/6)
Wrote Hubs a poem (a cheesy one, at that) for Love day last week.

94. Go on a walk or work out with my hubs once a week for six months (1/24)
We started this one with a walk on Saturday

95. Try at least one new dinner recipe per week (someone else’s) (20/143)

96. Create one new recipe every other week (my own-EEK!) (10/71)

98. Make Christmas cookies every year (1/3)

Cheers!
Caitlin

Happy Love Day!

I hope you all have hearts as full of love as I do today. I am really feelin' the love this week. Spending the weekend with my family was wonderful. I am so appreciative of the love we share and the relationship the five of us have. I think what we have is special and something to cherish. My parents showed my brother, Hubs and I a little extra love this weekend- made us feel extra special.

Check out the beautiful roses my sweet cheeks had sent to my work today. He is so sweet and thoughtful.

I know many think Valentines day is a "Hallmark holiday". For me, today is a day to hold a little tighter, love a little longer and let all the people you love know how much they mean to you.

Not to put a downer on all the love today, but yesterday I learned of the passing of a friend from highschool. At 26 his life had just begun and was cut short tragically by cancer. He left behind a beautiful baby girl and his loving wife. If anything, today, please hold onto your loved ones a little bit more. You can't take for granted any of the time you have with the people you love.

To all my family, friends and especially my Hubs- I LOVE YOU! You all mean the world to me, today and all the other 364 days of the year.

LOVE,
Caitlin

From the road!

Well my Hubs is super sweet and got me the iPhone for valentines day! I am in love...seriously not sure why I waited so long. This thing is amazing!

So this weekend the Hubs has drill so my parents suggested we take a day trip to Richmond to visit the little brother. They came down to our house last night and we are in their new car now heading to Richmond!

This week was a crazy one. I had class Monday night and left for Detroit for work Tuesday. I had an awesome trip . My partner Gipsy and I both gave great presentations and made great connections, however, we are the only people in the entire organization that do what we do so our email and voice mail was slammed when we got back into the office yesterday.

Before my rents got in last night, Hubs and I headed to Costco to buy a 60 inch plasma that we've been chatting about. With a family and living room, we knew we'd have to make some purchases when we moved in. Have to admit, I am loving the shopping and decorating!

This week should be fun! Our living room furniture gets delivered Monday and we have a valentines day date Tuesday! I love celebrating our love and I love that valentines day gives me an excuse to go overboard. :)

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Cheers,
Caitlin

We're Back!

Our internet was finally installed yesterday morning! Thank goodness!!!!! I was starting to feel really disconnected from the world. Before it's time to get ready for the big game, I thought I'd sign in and share some pictures from the move...

 Opening the door for the first time!

It's ours!!

s

So happy to be busy moving in :)

Hanging our "R" on the door. 

Painting the kitchen. Big thanks to my Brother, Mom and Dad and Julie for their help!

The pup found a place to relax 

Some more painting and unpacking

The kitchen is done!

As we get each room decorated, I'll post pictures to share.

So who are you routing for today? Go Pats!!!

Me time & a TGIF!

In 2011 I can honestly say I did not have enough “me time”.  Between grad school, wedding planning, house buying, work, etc. I didn’t get many days to do things for me. I’ve always worked out to stay in shape, but never really took the time to enjoy the process of getting fit and feeling my best. It’s always been more mechanical. This is going to change in 2012. I’ve started great new eating habits (Yeast Free) and feel great already! I’ve been lifting more weights to tone up and am reading The Help for FUN! Now that we have the house, we’ve also been eating dinner at the table instead of on tray tables in front of the boob tube. All great things that I am definitely lovin’. Hubs is feeling great too and said that he loves our new routine. J

Last night I got home from work, went to the gym for an hour and a half and came home to unwind in my new soaking tub with my book. I felt like a million bucks! Now that we are settling in to our new home and we have more free time, I plan to take better care of myself.  Better eating, more reading for fun, enjoying my workouts, better routines.

On a side note, you know what’s freaking amazing about not having cable yet? I stayed at the gym an extra half hour to watch TV. No cable= more cardio. Ha! Love it!

What’s up for the weekend?

Tonight my very generous Uncle and Aunt are bringing us the dining room set my grandma is passing down to us. She is moving into an apartment and giving us a beautiful set that will look just perfect in our great room.  Hubs’s Aunt and Uncle are also coming over to see the new place and hang out with us. Tomorrow, Hubs has some homework to do and I will be hitting the gym and unpacking. I may also sneak in a trip to the mall. Tomorrow night will be the first Saturday night in a long time where we have no plans! I plan on taking full advantage of some Hubs time. ;) Sunday of course, we will be watching some football. More specifically, RAVENS FOOTBALL!!!! A while back hubs purchased a HD antenna for our big screen (modern day Rabbit ears). Due to the fact that we had Comcast I gave him a ration of crap for making such a silly purchase. Needless to say, this silly purchase has given us basic cable in HD for the past week. This means, a sincere apology for giving you crap, sweet husband of mine! I still need my extended cable back… ;)

Happy Friday everyone! Have a great weekend!

Settled!!!

Hello gorgeous!!!!

Hubs and I are all moved in and settled for the most part. It has been a very busy and grueling week to say the least! We don't have any Internet yet since we are new construction. No Internet = short and sporadic lunch break/after work posts. We will hopefully be up and running with all utilities next week. I am not enjoying the lack of food  network shows and Internet access!

We settled on Wednesday morning then spent the afternoon together in awe. It was really nice having time together before the hustle and bustle of the weekend ahead. We moved in some fragile boxes (mostly our china), went shopping for some breakfast bar stools and a new desk then headed to Don Pablo's for a nice mid day meal and a margarita!
That night we picked my little brother up from the bus station and hung out until it was time to crash.

Unfortunately, hubs had to work Thursday and Friday. As he headed to work, I headed to the gym for a quick work out. When I got back, I woke up my little brother to get the day started! We packed up the car and headed over to the house to put together the furniture we bought the day before and wait for the comcast guy. At around noon Julie came over and my parents followed about an hour later. We spent Thursday and Friday painting and unpacking some fragile boxes. Friday night we went out to dinner to celebrate my Dad's 64th birthday then got ready for Saturday.

Saturday morning the movers got to our apartment at around 9:30 and worked at packing until 12:30. In between we made a few trips with some boxes and miscellaneous things in the cars and helped them pack (to save buy the hour charges!). The rest of the weekend was spent unpacking, organizing and painting (for my parents). We were so very grateful for every one's help. We are settled for the most part with a few more boxes left to unpack.

Monday we started the "yest free diet" as see on the mess's blog. We feel great so far! Since the wedding we've put on a few of those "newlywed nine" and are looking to get back in tip top shape. I also went last night to join a new gym across the street from the new neighborhood and got in a great workout! I have always been big into working out/running/fitness and I'm thinking the new weight lifting regimen and yest free diet is just what I need to get back on track. :)

I'll be back as soon as possible with some pictures of the big move!

Cheers!
Caitlin 

Holiday wrap up 2011

It's about time I close out 2011 and move on into the exciting new year!

...So the hubs and I went on a frantic scramble to find our camera this morning before our pre settlement meeting for the house. (We settle in TWO days!!) This means, we thought the camera was accidentally boxed up, which also means I got my memory card reader out while we opened the "office" box! So without further ado.. here is a holiday wrap up post containing Thanksgiving through New Years Eve. Enjoy!
Thanksgiving was spent at my parents house.

Hubs and I on the porch

 Hub's Aunt Barbara and Uncle Ralph joined us for dinner, a tradition since we've been together.

 My "Mom-mom white hair" and her great grand pup, Dutch :)

 My Dad and I

 Maggie girl

 This year, we set the table with my grandmother's China from Scotland. We've never used it before and my Mom thought it was about time it gets some use. Such a beautiful place setting.

 Aunt Barbara and Mom

 The main guest

 

The night before Thanksgiving, my brother and Dad decided to dig into some cookies and milk. (Sure, let's pile poor eating on top of poor eating!) ;)

The day after Thanksgiving, we put up the family Christmas tree. It seemed like the perfect time, since the little bro was home from school on break and Hubs and I were up for the weekend. We have a tradition. Dad and Andrew put hooks on the ornaments, Hubs, Ma and I decorate.

Andrew and Maggie

 Hubs putting up the angel

 Mom hanging an ornament

 Dad being "the Grinch"

 Me hanging an ornament

 Little brother

The Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend, we went out to dinner and drinks with on of my best friends and college roommates, Ariel and her husband.

The following week, hubs and I put up a "tree top" in our apartment. We didn't want to get a whole big tree and drag out the decorations when we should be packing up the place! We are such Christmas fiends, we couldn't resist putting up something small.

Mini-tree

 cheesy

 distracted by cuteness in lights

The weekend after Thanksgiving, my BFF and our moms got together for a day of cookie baking. It was so much fun!

All the butter for ONE cookie recipe. Good thing calories don't count around the holidays. ;)

 My ma and I

 Julie and "mommy Kim". Our parents are best friends, which is how Julie and I became best friends. Since we grew up together, we've always called each others parents "mom" and "dad". They are definitely family to us.

 Kitchen Pimp

 Don't burn the cookies, or she'll beat you with a spoon!

 YUM!

Two weekends before Christmas, hubs and I went to "34th Street" downtown. They really go all out in the decorating department. It's like each house tries to out-do their neighbors.

The next weekend, we went home to visit with our friends Chip and Kristin. We had a great time visiting Winterthur. Sadly, I forgot my camera. The next day we headed on back to Maryland and had Christmas with Hubs's family. My MIL hosted and we had a great day. I didn't take too many pics, but I did make sure I got a few shots of our superfreakingcute nieces playing pin the nose on Rudolph.

Now for the main event, Christmas!

My cousin Katie and I on Christmas eve eve, along with the pup

(pic of my new bangs, which I love)

 Cousin Kay, Katie and I for Christmas eve eve dinner.

 

My mom's side is Italian, so we do the feast of the fishes for Christmas eve. It was finger lickin' good. And yes, we did have a rousing rendition of Dominic the Donkey being sung in the dining room as Uncle Al, My mom, brother, Aunt Di and I got our plates. Hubs probably thinks we are nuts. 

 video taping my Mom-mom opening her gifts!

 Finally it's Christmas morning! We always start with the dog presents... Maggie got a ginormous bone and Dutch got a new memory foam bed.

Aww brotherly love :)

Parents <3

Family picture

Now it's time to wrap up this holiday post with some NYE. Hubs's Aunt and Uncle surprised us with tickets to the Nations New Years Eve party at the Gaylord National in D.C. Oh my all the glitz and glitter. It was amazing. My three favorite college bands were there to help us ring in 2012: Mr. Green Geans, Kristin and the Noise and Jeffe. Yes, I did relive my UD days... and there isn't anything wrong with that!

Now it's time to move on with 2012. New healthy habits established, new home and new experiences ahead! 

Cheers!

Caitlin