Knee Deep
January 7th, 2011 § 11 Comments
Day Seven: Jan. 7, 2011
Well almost.
The suspense can cease now – the boots fit! They are definitely a bit snug but by God, that zipper completed its mission on both sides straight out of the box. No hobbling, straining or crying of the calves this time around. The Fallara III is made my Fitzwell and can be seen here. After reading horror stories of boots lacking any support, I was happy to find a gorgeous pair with a wedge heel. The true test will come by way of a 40 degree drop in temperature, dozens of blocks walked and of course, some snow, so look for an update next week. Also, please ignore the whole sleep deprivation look I’m rocking here. Apparently my bosses and coworkers are accurate in their observation of how tired I look. You’d think I’ve been working two jobs and freelancing or something?
Happy Friday! Now, who’s going shopping?
Round-up!
January 8th, 2010 § 9 Comments
Back in my writer days, every once and awhile I’d have to do a “round-up” story on a series of events pertaining to one topic or event. They could be a pain in the ass, but they could also mean less groundwork as I (or someone else) had already been reporting on it. Today, I am taking that route and giving you a few pictures to round-up my past few days. On Wednesday, I took my first snow run.
If anything can be said for this, it’s that I enjoyed the bundling and feeling like a general hardass, but my lungs were seriously FROZEN rock hard solid by the time I finished, and it wasn’t even a full two miles. The Stadium Loop and I reunited and embraced one another’s company as old friends do. That is, until I ran past half a dozen restaurants doing what I can only imagine to be schlepping out last night’s leftover dinners and making way for new, fresh produce. Why is this a bad thing you ask? The smell. Goodness if I got a whiff of one more random smell (garlic! onions! meat! sewage!) I thought homegirl was going to keel over and proceed to dry heave. Nice visual, I know.
Post-run and post-hack my lungs out 2010, roomie and I ventured out to do some shopping at the outlets. Like any woman, I love a good deal and my oh my, did I get me some. I think I heard Chase screaming from the freezer: “I want to score major deals and make you happy wahhhhh!!” Sorry dude, all cash up in hurrrr.
“Hi my name is Caitlin and I love neutrals.”
My loot from left – sweater from Gap, three Artist T-shirts from J. Crew (I love these shirts, like I would marry them and make sweet cotton love to them) fancy button-up from J. Crew, black thermal from Aerie, planner pages from Kate Spade, cutest little Carrie Bradshaw tank from Gap (which was a whopping $3.69) This whole shopping spree cost what two of the shirts would have retailed at. Man I love a good deal.
Yesterday, I had lunch with two fabulous ex-coworkers at the Cafe at the Lofts. I met them at the job I returned to Pittsburgh for and they are the only good thing to come out of the six months I spent there. True, great friends whom I am so glad to have stayed in touch with. We just crack each other up – an hour is not enough time. Plus, who doesn’t love some office gossip, especially when you aren’t working there anymore!
They are readers and finally made their appearance on the blog!
I wish I could say that I stayed up and watched my favorite college team (if only by force) play last night, but I was nowhere near a TV when it was on. I still rocked out, though.
Alright kids, off to the grindstone I go. Happy Friday!!
The Big Day
December 23rd, 2009 § 9 Comments
Well my friends, Christmas has come and gone in my house! Sure feels weird to go shopping on “Christmas.” We headed back to the Domain last night (where I got my Mac at Thanksgiving) to spend some gift cards. I had one for Origins which I thought were obsolete in Pittsburgh, but a quick search shows me they are housed inside Macy’s. Oh well. Anyway, so I went in there for the first time ever and was completely overwhelmed and not impressed by the associates. I felt like I got half-ass treatment and coming from years in retail that can be overwhelming (a man or first-timer in Victoria’s Secret is like catching a deer in headlights) that was not cool with me. I mulled over several mint-scented varieties and I was still feeling helpless, so I settled on A Perfect World Intensely Hydrating Body Cream with White Tea. Is anyone a big fan of their products? I should have Tweeted and asked for recommendations – live and learn.
Anyhow, back to Christmas! It goes without saying (but I will say it anyway) that I am truly blessed to have a wonderful, caring family who gives thoughtful gifts. I am also very upfront with the admittance that I am spoiled, but homegirl can defend and justify. I am not a I-live-for-Coach-True Religion-Manolo Blahnik-and-I-got-a-Mercedes-for-my-Sweet-Sixteen-kinda spoiled. I am someone who works hard and plays hard. I have been making some sort of income -whether secondary or primary – since my early teens and I like to treat myself to nice things. My parents are the same way. We don’t drive ourselves into debt, nor do we strive to compete with the modern-day equivalent to the Jones’. (Well some of us may have been taking the expressway to debtville, but it was all mainly out of necessity and measures have been taken.)
So, the gifting was good. I got the Garmin Forerunner 305 which now completes me as a runner, if I wasn’t already. I know there’s no way to train for a long race without being able to track it, so this also completely makes me committed to signing up for the Pittsburgh Half Marathon in May. Eek! I definitely christened this baby yesterday along with improv directions for a loop around my parents development so I didn’t have a repeat “Oh Shit, Shit, Shit” storm when I realized I was lost.
I also received three great cookbooks and some awesome kitchen accessories – pinch bowls and a brown sugar bear to name a few – and lots of cool odds and ends like jewelery, clothing, etc.
Methinks 2010 shall be a year of cooking! Perhaps a cupcake party is in order soon, too?
Christmas traditions here include new pjs and a new ornament on Christmas Eve, opening presents together one round at a time rather than a free-for-all and my Dad’s awesome Sticky Buns (similar to Monkey Bread if you’ve ever had it). We also frost the most amazing sugar cookies.
I feel as if this photo makes me semi-crazy-dog-lady, but I should offer a disclaimer we were just playing, I ensure no sharing/licking/kissing occurred – GROSS.
They are the best. And I’m not just saying that because they’re my Mum’s, everyone loves them. They make a great addition to morning coffee, I would know.
Other activities included watching “Food Inc.” (only saw half of it – other half and thoughts to come soon) and making a trip to Mighty Fine Burgers, an Austin chain with some great meat and the coolest hand-washing mechanism including stickers!!
And an interesting stance on beef:
My brother, sister-in-law and puppy left this a.m. to visit her family so now it’s just the three of us. Later today we are heading into Austin to rejoice in the mecca of the Foodie Universe: The Whole Foods flagship store. Foodies, take note, this is the one time for you to be jealous of me. Muahahahaha!
Crunch Time
December 21st, 2009 § 9 Comments
Hi y’all!!! Greetings from Texas. I am back to the South and L.O.V.I.N.G. this weather – 60s today! Quite a change from the several inches in Pittsburgh. I came into San Antonio last night and we got to go to Riverwalk which was Fab-u-lous!!
It’s a shopping and dining area Downtown along the San Antonio River, which, of course was decorated for the holidays, complete with BOAT CAROLERS!
I was the biggest tourist taking pictures on the edge of the sidewalk whilst my family was freaking out someone was going to push me in – wouldn’t that have made a great post? Good Lawdy. We ate Mexican at Cafe Au Lait and had a great view of the hustle and bustle below.
It’s supposed to be a gorgeous week – right now we have all the windows in the house open. I just can’t get over it.
The men of my family and I are going to tackle last-minute Christmas shopping today. I’m sure this is going to be real fun. I actually have just about everything done, there were just a few things I couldn’t order or successfully carry on. If nothing else, I am a pretty good organizer and planner so I’m not really someone who freaks out at the last minute. I also have a knack for gifting if I do say so myself. Are you feeling the crunch right now? Last year I didn’t have much money to spend on anyone so I did something unique. For my Mum, Dad and brother, I found an old picture of me and that person, blew it up to a 5×7 black and white and gave it in a simple black frame with white matting. For two of my other friends, I did the same thing for a recent picture. The kicker though was the card that went with it. It, too, was white with a black border I etched on the front with a single word written across it. On the inside, I wrote a letter with the significance of the word to the photo and my relationship with that person. Y’all, this is a shoo-in gift. Every. Single. Recipient. Got choked up. This was not my goal (OK maybe it was) but that’s how I knew it hit the spot. It’s cost-efficient and touching. In this life, people aren’t going to remember what you did for them, but how you made them feel. Here’s my Mum’s:
Yup, that’s me, circa 1985 in Baltimore with my Mum. Awww. I have a few surprises this year, too, but I can’t tell them yet for obvious reasons. We are doing Christmas tomorrow because my brother and sister-in-law are spending time with her family this week, too. I’m off to shop, wrap, frost and enjoy my day!!!
Are you feeling the crunch or do you have everything done? Anyone ever tried the homemade gifts? I love new ideas!
Help me, help myself
October 29th, 2009 § 5 Comments
So let’s just get something out on the table: I have somewhat of an addictive personality. I can get slightly obsessed overly quick. Over the past few years, it’s ranged from many things – most of them not exactly what you’d call the best habits. There was a time I smoked. Not like a chimney, mind you, but I still did. I turned to it when I drank. I turned to it when I was stressed. Bored. When I wanted to fit in. Stand out. Trust me, I always found a reason. I am proud to say that is a part of my past for once and all now. It’s a hard habit to kick, and it’s hard to admit publicly to some people who I know will be disappointed. But, it’s over and the moral of telling that is to prove the point of my addictive personality.
When I stopped smoking prior to “once and for all,” I picked up shopping. Having lived by the mecca of shopping malls in King of Prussia, this was bad. I got myself and my best friend Chase Visa in a lot of trouble there. When I moved back to Pittsburgh, the shopping eased up a little, but my old habit came back. Once I kicked it again (“once and for all”), I found the best new addiction: running. Now, when stress hits me, I want to run, not smoke.
I’ll admit, in the middle of my training for the 5K, I took a drag of a friend’s cigarette (I don’t know what I was thinking) and I coughed like a 15-year-old trying it for the first time. Do you know what that means? VICTORY!
So, what other addictions has The Twenty-Fifth Year faced? Well, in the years leading up to this pivotal one, a big one was coffee. Starbucks coffee to be exact.
Now, I know this java isn’t the mecca of all that is good in coffee land. It’s a bit bitter. Burnt, some say. But it’s EVERYWHERE. It’s convenient. And it’s expensive. I know what you’re thinking, “Duh! It’s like 4 bucks!” Yeah, I know. Because I spent that every day for months on end in Philly. It became a part of my morning routine. Get off the train, grab a latte from the super cute barista who always remembered me and was so, so happy at 8 a.m. (probably an evil ploy to get 20-something female return customers like myself) and get on with my day. THEN one day I figured out I was giving 100 big ones to Starbucks a month! And that’s when I decided the addiction had to end. I invested in some store-bought creamer and called it a day.
My garbage can at work in Philly? Maybe..
When I started my current job, I started to get sucked back into the Starbucks Black Hole. I mean there’s one in the building I work in AND outside. Cmon, two within a few hundred yards Starbucks people? Did I mention I work in the BOONIES? We were always making SB runs, and then I looked at my checkbook and saw too many java deductions. Back to the home-brewed I go.
Now, I save Starbucks as a special occasion and usually get it once a week. Maybe when I am running late, or need a little perk, or when I look at my checkbook and feel I deserve a reward 
And now, with the holiday season around the corner, I know I will tempted by SB’s Peppermint Mocha – aka the stuff I live for the other 10 months of the year.
But never fear bank account – I have refuge!
It’s like the people at Coffee Mate heard my desperate cries of a need for intervention! When I saw this at my grocery store, I freaked. Like I-just-won-$5,000-a-week-for-life-on-this-scratch-off-lottery-ticket-at-the-dirty 7-Eleven-after-the-worst-day-of-my-life-freak-out. I immediately bought seventeen two. This is literally liquid crack. I checked it out and these suckers expire in March 2010 (gross?) so I plan to stock up in December. If $3 a bottle can save me $300 then I am all in.
What are your addictions? How did you stage an intervention with yourself? Do you love Starbucks too??
