In a panic.

I have had this constant stress about finding a new job lately so I apologize for not updating my blog. Every free minute has been spent looking for a job, applying for a job or at the gym. This week has been kind of hectic and I am not really sure why.. well I do know but it should've have been as hectic as I made it.

I am running my 5k race tomorrow (Saturday) morning.. it is really nothing serious but it should be a fun time as I have never been to the Bronx Zoo. Saturday night we will celebrate two of my friends birthday's in New York City. I haven't been to NYC in months so I am extremely excited, especially for the warm weather. These were my slight panic attacks this week.

Panic #1 : Where are we going to stay this weekend!?
Panic #2 : I need to find a new job!
Panic #3 : How on earth am I going to run 3 miles!?
Panic #4 : I need to find a new job! (it seems to be an ongoing stress right now)
Panic #5 : What am I going to wear Saturday night!? (this is typical)

Well no worries, I found a place for us to stay, I went to the gym and have been running all week (around 3 miles - close enough) , I found an outfit... I know you were all very worried..

No new job but I guess that one will have to wait. The most frustrating thing is applying to jobs and either 1. not hearing back at all or 2. getting an email back saying they have found someone more qualified. How is a girl supposed to get a new job if you won't even give me a chance!? Oh well... hope to have a career change soon.

I hope everyone enjoys the nice weather this weekend! I will be running and frolicking the city of New York! :)

Lets build a nest.

I am so happy with the response I received from yesterdays entry. Although it was a sad subject, I tried to make it a cup of happiness that people could relate to. More people than I thought read my blog (even though only 1 person commented). I wrote about something that is very near and dear to my heart and I think others felt the same way. I hope people are reading my entries besides my mom and my sister ;). Sometimes I feel like shouting, "is anybody out there (insert echo here)!?"  Please feel free to comment, I love reading what others have to say.

 Easter is Sunday and I feel like I should do something creative. Of course I have put together a cute polka dot Easter bucket (not a basket) for miss Paige and I have filled it with the cutest bathing suit and sunglasses (both from target), eggs filled with candy, a dora cell phone with lip gloss inside and of course I can't forget about the Polly Pocket. Is this girl spoiled or what?

I also found a recipe I am going to make for Easter brunch, cookies of course. My sister and I are making a fruit salad but that is not very exciting. (Although, I did have a fun way of making a fruit basket for Paige's 1st birthday, I will share with in a moment.) As I was looking at fun Easter recipes I came across a super easy one, Bird's Nest Cookies. ONLY 3 ingredients! I am really enjoying these recipes that do not have crazy ingredients, makes my life much easier and saves me some money. Check out this recipe, it is super cute!

Bird's Nest Cookies

Makes 2 1/2 dozen cookies

Allergy note: contains dairy and wheat ingredients

12 oz. package chow mein noodles 

12 oz. package butterscotch morsels

90 egg-shaped candies

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mat.  Pour the butterscotch morsels in a microwave-safe bowl and place them in the microwave. Heat for 30 seconds then remove to stir. Return to the microwave and heat again for 30 seconds. Stir until melted. Add in the chow mein noodles and mix till combined. Use a 1/4 measuring cup to portion out the cookies onto the baking sheet. If the mixture starts to solidify in the mixing bowl, you can reheat for 15 to 30 seconds to melt. Place three egg-shaped candies in the center of each cookie. Allow to set for at least 5 minutes before serving or transferring.

If you feel like doing something creative with fruit, I promise it wasn't from Edible Arrangments.. Cute right?

I found out the sex of baby nugs but I am sorry I cannot leak that information... yet! To be continued... have a great Easter!

A beautiful girl.

Dear Lexy,

You are 23 years old today. I can’t believe it. I can still see you as a young teenager jumping on the trampoline with me and following your big brother around or sitting in the passenger seat of my car making me listen to the next song you were going to sing at the school concert. We won the lip sync contest because of the routine you taught us for Hey Mickey! The same night you sang Vanessa Carlton's Ordinary Day while playing the piano, I remember having tears in my eyes because  I thought you were so talented, I was so proud of you. Proud to have known you.

I still picture you exactly how you were. Beautiful. Beautiful is the word that best describes you, your personality and the love you had for your family and your friends. Your friends are doing so well, they are all chasing their dreams. I have no doubt in my mind that you are watching over them. They miss you dearly, as we all do. At 23 years old, you would be working your way to become a famous fashion designer or a great artist or the next American Idol, I picture you on that stage every time I watch the show. Life is unfair - unfair to take a star like you away from this world at such a young age.  

You are officially my baby sister. I remember the day like it was yesterday, we sat at the kitchen counter at your parents house with your mom and talked about how we could get Kate and Travis together, “why do they hate each other so much, they’re perfect for each other!” I wish you could see them now, I wish you could have been in their wedding and could meet your niece and baby nugs. Every time I look at Paige, I see so much of you in her. She would love you and she will know about you when she is old enough to understand. She will be an entertainer just like you. You made so many people laugh and I can still hear your laughter, I don't think I will ever forget the sound of it.

The rain has finally subsided and the sun is shining bright just in time for your birthday. I will take that as a sign that you are still here with us in some way. I celebrate your life today, Lexy. You are a constant reminder to not settle and to follow my dreams. Happy Birthday beautiful, I miss you.

Love Always,

Kari

I knew this beautiful girl named Lexy.





Breakfast on the go.

As I was flipping through my latest fitness magazine...called Fitness, that I just HAD to have it since it was only $5.99 for a year and let me tell you, it has the BEST recipes in it. It has healthy recipes for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I always have a hard time thinking of what to make for breakfast. I am sick of oatmeal. I spill my milk every time I try to bring it to work with my cereal. By the time I have my coffee in the morning, I am really not that hungry but you should always eat breakfast, it keeps your metabolism going and breakfast is my favorite. SO after looking through my Fitness magazine, spur of the moment I decided to try a mini quiche recipe that I found in the magazine. The recipe is so easy, it literally took me 5 minutes to prepare.

3 eggs
2 egg whites
1/2 c. chopped asparagus
1/2 c. chopped portabela mushrooms
1/4 c. swiss cheese

Whisk the above ingredients together, spray your muffin tin, pour in the ingredients and bake on 350 for 20-25 minutes. You'll be able to grab your breakfast and go.. or if you're me, make them the night before and pop them in the microwave.

Where for art thou weekend?

Oh there you are! I have been quite the slacker with my blog this week and I apologize (mom). Isn't it funny how each week, the only thing we look forward to are the weekends... well at least I do.
Monday: Ugh I hate Mondays, I wish it was Friday.
Tuesday: A little better than Monday but man this week is dragging!
Wednesday: Happy hump day, the week is halfway over.
Thursday: C'mon Friday, where are you!?
Friday: TGIF... Wait what am I doing this weekend?


My ideal job would be one where the weekdays felt like weekends because I would be so happy at my job that I wouldn't mind going. Until then... that pretty much sums up my week. By the time Friday comes, I am so exhausted that all I want to do is relax when I should be celebrating the end of the week. BUT there are a couple of things that I was happy about this week.

 

1.      I babysat for miss Paige and she is hysterical. While we were playing dress up, she grabbed her purse like this was her daily routine and began strutting her stuff across the room, she turned around like the movie star she is and waved BUH-BYE and then continued into the other room. Where did this girl come from? Ha Another thing that cracked me up was when she farted incredibly loud (that really just came out of her?), made her usual “oops” face, covered her mouth with her two tiny hands and began to giggle.

2.      My herbs are growing and I am so excited about it. All of them but rosemary have began to sprout.

3.      Pottery class went really well and we learned how to trim our bowls, so far I have one really great bowl. I then attempted something creative and it ended up in the pottery graveyard. Oh well, you win some and lose some.

4.      I made the most perfect omlette for dinner! Who doesn’t make breakfast for dinner?

5.      I bought a book on DIY crafts – I am very excited to try it out. I'll post some crafts soon.. I hope.

Today is my cousin Todd’s 30^th birthday, time flies – Happy Birthday Toddy!! :) I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. Hope your taxes are done.

Oh, hello Friday.

My week in a nutshell...

Monday night UConn men played for the championship and won the tournament! It was a terribly played game but they won and that is all that matters.

Tuesday, I had the privilege of accompanying my sister to her ultrasound appointment. I was able to see baby nugs and hear his/her heartbeat and watch baby nugs wiggle around. It was absolutely amazing.  Afterwards, I went out to dinner with some really great friends from my old job for some sushi, wine and an extra large fish bowl. We gossiped and caught up on the latest events in each other’s lives and we laughed, ALOT! I had a really great time with them.

 

Wednesday night at my pottery class, I had my “aha!” moment (like they said we would), I made two really great large bowls and the other (more advanced) women couldn’t believe my accomplishment after only two days of practice. I have always been the type of person to catch onto things incredibly fast. I can’t explain why and my family has always noticed this strange talent of mine. I am not bragging by any means, I have the ability to see something done and it just sort of sticks in my brain.  I remember being  this way since the age of three when my sister taught me how to do a back handspring, which led to a solo in a dance competition to gymnastics where I was doing double back flips by the age of ten. From then on, it was non-stop with sports, hitting back to back homeruns in middle school softball and then a couple of knee injuries away from scoring a thousand points in high school basketball. If you teach me something, I will listen carefully and if I like it, I will practice until I am great at it. That is just how I am. 

Last night, I was disappointed at the elimination on American Idol. If you ask me, Pia would have won the entire competition but America voted her off. I shouldn’t complain because I did not vote.

And at last, it is Friday. I feel like my week was jam-packed but in a good way. Tonight the fun doesn’t stop. One of my good friends from college and I are going to Northampton for Arts Night Out; an event put on by Northampton arts to help promote the creative artwork around the community. I can’t wait.

Happy Friday, enjoy the warm weather.



Dinner with friends



A not so secret garden.

I began my Sunday morning running some much needed errands followed by making an herb garden with my aunt Sharon. After doing some research, we came up with the best way to make our herb gardens, which I talked about in a previous post. Last week I stopped at Home Depot and picked up the seeds I wanted to grow (Sweet Basil, Italian Parsley, Rosemary, Dill, Chives and Cilantro; my aunt picked up lettuce) and pellets to start my baby herbs. You can (as my aunt did) use the soil starting mix instead of the pellets, I will show you both ways below.

Step 1: Buy your seeds and either the pellets or soil starting mix (feel free to ask whoever is working in the garden departments - they are extremely helpful). You will also need to purchase something the start your herbs in, they sell plastic containers at Home Depot, Ocean State, Lowes.. look around your local grocery store. An egg crate would even work.

Step 2: Place your pellets or soil in your plastic containers. Add warm water to your pellets until they are about 1 1/2 inches. A bag of soil will require you to add water to it before placing in the plastic containers.

Step 3: Poke a hole in the soil and add your seeds. Follow the directions on the package of seeds so you know how deep each should be placed.

Step 4: Don't forget to label where you have placed each herb, do it as you go...

you don't want to forget where you planted each seed.

Step 5: We decided what we're going to place our herbs in after they begin to grow so we wanted to begin decorating since we had the time. We walked around Michaels (for quite a while) and decided that placing them in jars would look really cool (plus Sharon had a bunch of jars so FREE is the way to go). All we had to buy at Michaels was the paper, string, labels and Mod Podge. We found some rocks that were in her yard, so we washed them and they will be placed at the bottom of our jars for drainage.

Step 6: Mod Podge your paper and whatever else you want to put on your jars, tins or pots.

Step 7: Let the paper dry but look how great they look!

Step 8: Wrap some cool string around your jars or pots and add the tags. I added my rocks already but you can wait to add the rocks and soil once your herbs have grown enough to be transferred.

Check out the final product, I think they look great!

Special thanks to my aunt Sharon for a fun-filled day of arts and crafts :). These would make really great gifts!

Off to never-never land.

Reading, for me, is a way to escape the sometimes hectic and stressful days. Reading is a way to relax and be taken away to somewhere new for a couple of hours. A good book will keep your imagination thriving for more but a great book, and my favorite kind of book, is the one that make you feel so attached to the characters it sparks intense emotions with only its words. A great book will make you sob because you feel so much emotion for the character/s and you fall in love with the story.

(I wish I had the ability to sit down and write a great novel but I am such a scatterbrain and do not have the greatest writing skills – so being a successful author is not in the cards for me. Oh well. Writing in my blog will have to suffice. ha)

Over the years, I have read some really great books and I am always looking for more. I am on a search for a new great book, so comment if you know of any. I would like to share some of my favorites with you and maybe you will take to reading like I have. A good book is like Peter Pan, it will take you to a place like Never-Never Land and help you think happy thoughts on this Friday afternoon.