Keeping Up With Resolutions: February 2012

February is a bitch of a month for "monthly" resolutions as it is shorter than all the rest. I'll openly admit that alot of these resolutions were rushed to completion towards the very end.

Read a book every month:

I've actually never been a huge Sarah Silverman fan. My Mom actually was the reason I knew about her in Sarah's beginning days, oddly enough. 

After reading this book I have a VERY different opinion about Sarah. I am really impressed with how honest she was with talking about her battles with depression. Her experience was eerily similar to mine in high school.

Learn a new art form/technique:

Much like last month, unless you count doodling at work I didn't make any progress in this one.

If I must eat a pizza, only one a month:

Mos def cut it close this month. Why? Two words: Mardi Gras.

More leafy greens:

This has actually become more and more easy. I crave me some leafy greens now.

Cook/bake 2 new recipes a month:

SUCCESS! I actually went over on this one. One of my new favorite dips is now Edamame Bean Dip. Super easy to make too. 

I also made Lentil Soup, Mexi-Grain Salad, and Smoky Mac and Cheese.

Keep in better contact with my Mother's friends:

Check! Sent my Mom (and grandmother's) friend a King Cake in honor of Mardi Gras.

Travel to at least 2-3 new (to me) cities in the US by the end of the year:

1 city down! I traveled to Jackson Hole, Wyoming this month (check out the posts here, here, and here). Truly a beautiful area to visit. So grateful I got to travel there.

Pretty sure this month was actually more successful than the previous one!

Have you been able to keep up with your resolutions this month?

TREAT YO-SELF Tuesdays: Feb. 28th

This week's TREAT YO-SELF moment is brought to you by the fact that I was completely consumed by partying it up for Mardi Gras and missed the first episode of one of my favorite reality TV show. I'm also unwilling to wait a full week to watch a repeat of an episode either. Patience is not a virtue I have when it comes to Bravo TV shows.

I totally downloaded (i.e. payed for) a episode of Bethenny Ever After. Yup. I am openly admitting it (just like I did with lt's A Brad, Brad World) that I will pay for trashy reality TV. I am a card holding member of the Bravo TV cult.

But seriously, I love Bethenny Frankel. First off, I love any alcoholic beverage she tells me I should drink even if it supposedly will give me cancer years from now. I also love how honest she is and that she doesn't wear make-up all the time on her show. Oh, also she's a fellow Scorpio. I mean, DUH, of course I have to love her!

Source

Did I have to buy the episode via Amazon? Nope. Am I considering buying the entire season in advance on Amazon because I know work will make me miss every episode? Very possible. Did I totally suck down a Skinny Girl margarita while watching Episode 1 of Season 3? Yes, yes I did and it was AH-MAZING.

How did you TREAT YO-SELF this week?

Life As Of Lately

1) John's birthday cake 2) Fun fact: John is an excellent Yoyo-er hence one of his birthday gifts 3) John lovin' on his Yoyo gift. Cue: me patting myself on the back 4) John's birthday feast

1) Awesome birthday cake 2) John's niece turns 4 years old! 3) All the nieces love helping out opening the presents 4) Lego queen.

1) Moonshine anyone? 2) Sucre's s'more sundaes, Mon Amour 3) A porch full of bikes makes me so very happy, happy, happy!

1) I can't not be filled with happiness when I look at this kitten's face 2) Chocolate tasting 3) Who needs more cowbell???

1) Stocking up on Superior Grill maragritas for the week 2) Kahlo thinking the blueberry pancakes we made are also for her 3) Art at my production office.

Life has been super busy around here. Full of ups and downs. Now it's back to hardcore work mode for me. I hope my social life doesn't turn into mush due to it.

What have y'all been up to lately?

Lent: Goodbye Cheese

source

I decided that I am giving cheese up for lent. I try to eat mostly vegan but cheese is my utter kryptonite. I seriously worship blue cheese. Last year I gave up beer but this seriously is going to be a million times harder. Wish me luck!

What are y'all giving up for Lent?

Mardi Gras 2012!

Here is a little (picture heavy) recap of my Mardi Gras yesterday. 

*Note: It's okay if you feel a heavy influence of jealousy*

1) First time Mardi Gras gals. Loved being part of their first experience 2) Literally painting the streets of New Orleans with Hollins girl Pride 3) Totally wish more of my Hollins ladies could have come but I'm grateful for the one

1) Bumping into oldie roomies/besties 2) Many a blurry photos were taken on Mardi Gras 3) Love this man LIKA WHOA!

1) First time Mardi Gras gal/Hollins girl for life/hopefully a New Orleans resident in a few months (fingers crossed) 2) I want this costume for next year!

1) Hydrate 2) Bumped into TWO old roomies. Love these girls 3) Just like last year I was able to make my injury work with my costume

1) GIRL! 2) Looking good, boys 3) Smith may have their ice tea hours, we prefer our whiskey sours 4) Constant touch-ups

*Sigh*

This Mardi Gras season was awesome. Dare I even say, the best one yet?

I wish yesterday was like the movie Groundhog's Day and just would constantly repeat.

Sadly, it's back to work.

King Cake Giveaway Winner

I hope everyone had a wonderful Tuesday....I sure as heck did!

But before I completely turn into a douche and brag about how much I love living in New Orleans during Mardi Gras I will announce the winner of my first giveaway!

Drum roll please!

Congrats, Blace. Hope you enjoy Sucre's amazing King Cake as much as I do.

Please leave a comment so I know how to contact you.

Last Day for the Giveway/ Happy Mardi Gras!!!!

It feels like it's the perfect way to plug the last day before the winner of the first GIVEAWAY is announced......

My friend who is visiting from Florida pulled/ate the baby (on Lundi Gras) from the King Cake.

By tradition, it is required that she provide the cake this time next year at the following party. Guess she is required to come back next year (*wink, wink*).

Sooooooo.......enter the GIVEAWAY today!

And Happy Mardi Gras

(and to everyone else....happy regular joe tuesday **cue: epic sad face**)

This Mardi Gras season is flying by and I don't like it ONE bit!

So glad I get to be part of it once again.

Don't forget to enter the Mardi Gras theme(ish) GIVEAWAY!!!!!!

(less than 2 days left!)

Hey, Mardi Gras

I survived my first hardcore night out for Mardi Gras without any broken bones.

Pretty gosh-darn proud. 

I'm hoping that my recent wrist sprain, that has left me with about 60% use of my hand, has used up all my injury points for this season.

Don't forget to enter my Mardi Gras themed GIVEAWAY!!!

I was already in a amazing mood today because my FAVORITE parade of the Mardi Gras season is tonight: Muses!

(Note: I am going to try my damnedest to not have a total repeat of last years broken foot incident.)

Today got 1 million times better when I was asked to be one of my besties bridesmaids!

I was just excited to go to her wedding and now, WOW, I'm so freakin' honored.

I hope everyone else is also having an amazing Thursday!!!
and
Don't forget to enter the giveaway!

Sometimes.....

Sometimes.....I eat all of John's left over birthday cake for breakfast and wonder if I can blame it on the dog.

Sometimes.....I try and count down the days, via my calendar on my laptop, till it's beach time.

Sometimes.....I think my fat cat Malick has depression because she doesn't bathe herself....and then I wonder if it's because she's to fat to reach certain areas.

Sometimes......I look at cute baby clothing online and justify it as "shopping" for my friend's children.

Sometimes.....I watch a whole season of a TV show in one sitting.

Sometimes.....I polish off 2 bottles of wine by myself for dinner.
Sometimes.....I blink and all my friends are engaged or pregnant....again.

Sometimes.....I look forward to the season premieres of Bravo TV shows (Holla, Bethenny Ever After) much like a child looking forward to Christmas.
Sometimes.....I wish Facebook or Pinterest would suddenly "forced quit" me out of there websites and tell me to move on with my day.

Sometimes.....I'm that douche who leaves laundry in the dryer overnight.
Sometimes.......popcorn is it's on food group
Sometimes......I realize that it's kinda awesome to be 26 and have no responsibility minus paying bills.

King Cake Giveaway!

In order to celebrate my upcoming 1st year blog anniversary AND Mardi Gras, I thought I'd do my first giveaway!

I am a HUGE fan of Sucre and go there any chance I get, so I thought I'd share there deliciousness with everyone by including it in my first giveaway!

Is your mouth watering yet from these photos? Cause mine sure as heck is!

To enter, please comment on what you wish you could do/eat if you were to visit New Orleans as well as a way to contact you.

Note: You MUST be a follower of the blog to win.

The winner will be announced Feb. 22nd!!!!

Happy Birthday, My Love

Happy Birthday to the most AH-mazing man in the world: my boyfriend.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, my poor boyfriend was born on the most miserable day for a male to be born: Valentine's Day.

I'm pretty sure this fact bothers me more than him because it's IMPOSSIBLE to plan anything special for him without people assuming it's for Valentine's Day. I always make it a point to say it's his birthday to which we will immediately get much better service most likely due to everyone feeling bad for him getting screwed over in the birthday department (Leap Year babies....you win this battle though).

I plan on stopping by his work today with his favorite cake (German Chocolate Cake which I find foul but hey, this is love) as well as picking up dinner from one of his favorite restaurants so he can come home to a wonderful dinner (he will most likely be getting home from work around 10pm tonight).


I love you, John! I am so thankful you were born and that I met you. You make even the crappiest of days worth it.

Cute Blog Award.....Pay It Forward

So I gotta admit, I was fairly surprised to find out I was mentioned on Cheeky Cheeky's Cute Blog Award. I totally have a blog crush on her so I was surprised that she decided I was worth being mentioned. This girl is witty as can be and her post always have me crackin' up and saying to my computer screen "Oh yeah, girl. I feel ya!"

Here are the rules...

Upon receiving this award, you are to:
1) Link back to the person who awarded you;
2) Answer all of the award questions;
3) Tell something about yourself that you haven't told anyone on your blog yet;
4) Award as many bloggers that you think are worthy of this award and make them aware of it.

Here are the questions:

What is your go-to makeup brand:

Easy. I'm a Clinique girl all the way. I've used the same brand since my Aunt Mary took me to Macy's in 7th grade to teach me how to use makeup. 

What was your favorite fashion trend of 2011:

I seriously have no fashion sense at all due to my job. In order to answer this question I actually googled, "fashion trends of 2011". I discovered that bright block colors were cool this year as well as drapey clothing. I enjoy both these things so I vote for them in my favorite trends.

What is your favorite dessert: 

Here is a funny fact about me: I was born in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Yes, that's right, the land where all the chocolate is made....and I really don't like chocolate at all. So desserts are just "eh" for me. I'm a grease and salty kinda gal. If I had to pick something it would probably be blueberry pie. I only like desserts if they have fruit involved.

What is your favorite color:

Orange, orange, ORANGE!!!!

What is your middle name:

Caitlin Fiona

The last song you listened to:

Literally, at this very moment, Midnight City by M83 is playing.

Dogs or cats?

Impossible. This is impossible for me to answer. I plead the 5th to this question.

Something I haven't told anyone of my blog yet:

I was actually thinking about doing a post on my silly fears I've had over my lifetime....so, I might as well start with one of the biggest and most bizarre.

As a child, I was scared shitless of Bill Cosby. Literally, shitless.

What do I mean by that?

Oh it's ridiculously weird.....

I believed that if I sat all the way back on the toilet seat whenever I pooped or peed that Bill Cosby would SUCK me down into the sewer system. I also believed that if I sat all the way back in the bathtub that this would happen.

I have no clue why I believed this was possible. Did I believe that Bill Cosby, when not doing stand-up or filming his wildly successful tv show, lived in the sewer? Maybe? I really don't know what went through my little head when I thought this was how I would meet my untimely youthful death.

And in case you were wondering: I never ate Jell-o as a kid.

I still have issues with it.

Bloggers I award:

(Oh jeez, this is freakin' hard. I know I'll forget some and regret it later. Much like when people win Oscars and forget to thank their parents or spouse....*sigh* here we go)

lalafauxbois 

Katie Did It

My Bachelorette Pad

It's A Wonderful Life 

Camp Patton

manzanita 

Just Another Story

Stela Bird

Matt and Kara Adopt

A Trice of Life

Thanks again for the little shout out Carmen from Cheeky Cheeky!

Back and Forth

Believe it or not, I'm once again "Up in the Air" and flying off to yet another destination.....

But it's the BEST destination of ALL!!!

I'm off to New Orleans, land that I love.

I have off for about a week before I start work again and I plan on enjoying EVERY moment of it. The best part is I'll be off for ALL of Mardi Gras season this year. So flippin' excited!

Recap of a One Day Weekend

While I only had one day off this weekend (Sunday) I managed to cram a whole heck of a lot into one day!

Here is a little recap:

1) Exploring the local bars 2) Considering buying this amazing hat to wear on set. 3) This was my first and only meal of the day after we finished work on Saturday. A cake that was used in a scene we filmed....and yes, that cake was as amazing as it looks.

1), 2), AND 3) I may have gone a little overboard with indulging in some delicious sweets at Coco Love

Your eyes aren't deceiving you. That is one of the many giant arches made of elk horns in the city.

1) Queen of the (ice) world 2) First time I ever rode in a ski lift....and it scared the SHIT out of me 3) Scenic ride = a MILLION tourist-y photos taken. HOLLA!

1) Picture 1,430,284 of the amazing landscape pictures I took 2) Shoulda worn snow boots. Lesson learned 3) This is the view from my hotel room. I kid you not. Be jealous!

I'm pretty impressed by the amount of stuff I crammed into one day. Normally I would have stayed in bed and slept for 75% of it because I average about 3-4 hours of sleep a night during the work week. But this town was to amazing to pass up a day of exploring.

Oh, and I also went to a Super Bowl party thrown by the movie I'm working on. Free booze and food? Yes, please. Although I did leave at halftime. Sorry, if it's not the Saints playing I really can't even pretend to give a hoot.

What did y'all do this weekend?

The core of ones spirit comes from new experiences.

Snow White Weekend?

I made it safe and sound to the next location we are filming in! I was a little nervous the movie "Alive" would become my life when we were flying in. It should be interesting working in the snow....not to sure how I feel about it just yet. We shall see.....

Hope everyone has an amazing weekend!!!

Up In The Air

I'm off yet again. Flying again and praying I don't have repeats of recent travel emergencies.

This trip will help me complete on of my New Years Resolutions of traveling to a new (to me) city in the US. Can't say this area is my top choice and it's freezing this time of year but hey, it's paid for via work so I'll take it!

Every time I'm in an airport/flying I always sing this song to myself.

The song, of course, has double meanings and both are ones I'm dealing with currently. I am truly up in the air with what I will be doing with my life. I don't know if I can/want to continue what I'm doing. 

I'm hoping that once I go back to New Orleans and am close to John that things will ease up but I have a gut feeling they won't.

We shall see.

Anyone else having an "Up In The Air" moment in their lives? 

And now onto something completely different

This post will totally contradict my post from earlier but I just wanted to share with y'all the ridiculously swank hotel room I'm staying in tonight (due to work).

Bath robes? Toilets with phones? Giant beds that are perfect for running and jumping into????

Seriously. This is a joke right?

Will I or Won't I?

I have a strong feeling that 2012 is going to be a major year for change for me.

I'm assuming it will be career wise but who knows what the future holds....

I'm hoping that it will be career wise. 

Let's be honest though, dropping everything and starting again from scratch is really freakin' scary once you become an adult and already started a career. But honestly, I think I'm ready. I think these next few months will help me mentally prepare to do it. 

I'm adding a New Years Resolution: Start writing in a journal 4-7 days a week.

I think that will help me get though this....at least I'm praying it will.

I'm also trying to not stress out about what I know will be a rough part of my life. I have had some extremely low times in my life at very early ages. Low points that most people don't hit until their late 40s. They are miserable moments that I am grateful I experienced young solely because it helps me know that current hardships can lead to extreme happiest later. Perhaps it's a bit Pollyanna of me to think this way but if I don't, any minor moment of unhappiest may consume me to a crippling depression.

I have come to realize a 2 major things:

1) If I write it on my blog and publish it I'm 150 times more likely to do it.

2) Y'all leave some amazingly nice comments. Those comments truly help push me through at times. Perhaps I am a tad naive but it's one of the things I love about the blogging community. We tend to be supportive of complete strangers. 

So thank you. Everyone.

Thank you for reading. Thank you for your lovely comments. Thank you for making me push myself to do things even though it's mostly just in my head.