taking a break

Since getting out of school at noon on Friday, we have been taking FULL advantage of being on holiday break!!!
I started out the break by going to BJs with my anatomy lab group - we still can't get used to not spending 30 hours a week dissecting together, and I love that we get together every other month and have a lunch/vent session/chatathon!!! :)

Friday evening I did break right by heading to Kona Grill for Happy Hour with some of my girls from my old job at Rose! Best happy hour ever!!!

Loving this chardonnay!!!

Margherita Flatbread, drool. 

Loving seeing my girl Lauren!!! 

We LOVED the giant tree outside of Cherry Creek mall!

It was really exciting at that moment in time.

Saturday we took a trip to Fort Collins to reconnect with friends and visit new hot spots people have been telling us about (okay, not that Tony's is a hot spot, but I was pretty impressed with the heated rooftop bar they now have!!!).

First stop - Ace Gillete's with Robin! My new FAVORITE bar!

Tell me that doesn't look divine. 

A trio of Creme Brulee and a Raspberry Lemonade Martini??? Talked me into it. 

Delicious food. Perfectly made drinks. Beautiful live jazz music. The ultimate ambiance. Obviously, I recommend it. As a bonus, the experience of finding the doorway entrance to the stairs that leads to the brick-lined tiny alley that leads to the entrance to this little gem reminds me of going to Diagon Alley. I'm just saying. :)

I love Fort Collins - and I love holidays - and I love Old Town lit up to sparkle during the holidays! (complete with the random pianos hand painted by local artists!!!)

Sunday we had breakfast at McCoy's (ummm did I really go out to eat 4 times this weekend! Yikes, time to go the gym) then headed over to my in-laws for our 2nd Annual Gingerbread Village Festival! This year we all stepped it up and handcrafted our creations from graham crackers, no premade houses for us (although, legit that was hard, soooo getting a premade ginger house next year)!

My toy shop! It's a little messy inside, but that's because it's Christmas Eve and the shoppers are out of control in there!!!

The Village :)

Sunday night was a lazy movie and couch kind of night, just what we needed!!!

What a weekend...

Cheers to that!









camping with the chaps!

Happy Friday to you all!

So, on Monday and Tuesday I had my last finals for summer semester, and now I am free on summer break! I'm happy to report that I pulled As this semester - which is such a huge relief! It really bolsters my confidence in myself, and I feel ready to tackle fall semester [10 classes, integrated physiology/biochemistry...ick] - or at least as ready as I'll ever be!!!

Oh and if you're wondering about my blog post's title, the PA program I'm in is the Colorado Health Associate: Physician Assistant program, or CHAPA --> I call our class "chaps" :P

So now that I'm on my 12-day summer break, I am trying to squeeze in as much summer fun as I can! On Tuesday and Wednesday night, our little familia went camping up near Buena Vista with my PA school class. We had a really good time! And it was so blissful to be breathing in the mountain air without that little nagging thought of "I should be studying" in the back of my head. 

Ready to go!!!

Taking a break from the rain under a tarp :)

Beautiful Colorado sunset!!!

Glow stick time!!!

I love my class :)

Good morning, Colorado!

Sweet little Penny in her t-shirt [so she doesn't scratch her ringworm owies]

On a beautiful hike!

Reading Catching Fire creekside in the sun --- BLISS!

Sunset Wednesday night...so beautiful!

And last night was a girls' night out on the town with some of my coworkers from my job at the hospital before I started school. It was so wonderful to see my girls! I am still glad to be on my new adventure with school and everything, but I really really miss those crazy, beautiful, wonderful ladies!!!

This weekend is another camping weekend for us! So we're loading up the CRV and off to camp up the Poudre Canyon with my family!

Cheers [to freedom and beautiful Colorado!!!]

spoiled...and i LOVE it!

Hey ladies {maybe some gents read this...but I'm guessing not...}!!!

I'm writing because I can't contain my excitement over my fabulous birthday!!! I turned 25 yesterday, and I have had such a fun week! On Saturday I hosted a Wine & Cheese party at my house, and it was SUCH a blast! We ended up with 30+ bottles of wine entered into our Wine Competition, and we tasted and tasted and tasted until the wee hours of the morning! It was oh-so-fun to host! I finally got to use all the neat serve-ware we got for our wedding 2 years ago that we haven't really needed to use thus far! Hosting that party really showed me how many fab friends I have who would take the time to come celebrate with me!

Then yesterday I got So. Spoiled. 

Tyler gave me the CUTEST necklace from Etsy! It's called Pure Luck by Natasha Grasso and I am in love with it! It will be my good luck for my 25th year - PA school and all! It's so dainty!!!

Then Tyler got me the perfect heeled clogs! Being on the shorter side of the height spectrum --- 5' nothin' --- I like to have some added heel when I go out, and I have been wanting clogs for months! My old Rocket Dog pair had to be retired after almost 10 years of loving wear and tear! They are black distressed leather heeled studded --- *squeal with love* They have traction on the bottom so I won't fall on my ass {hopefully} while frolicking and dancing in them!

My parents gave me a CHI hair straightener! SO amped to use this pretty baby!

They also outdid themselves and got me this oh-too-perfect messenger bag from Mimi Boutique! It feels like butter. ADORE! It has been years since I got a new purse, and I am so excited to do the purse transfer! 

To my dear Purple New York & Co Purse: You have been so good to me! I am putting you in the duffle bag of bags to rest for a while! This is not goodbye --- I'll be seeing you!

My sister got us tickets to go see Ke$ha this weekend, and I cannot wait! It's going to be such a glittery, dancy good time! We all went to dine at Vesta Dipping Grill - a restaurant downtown I have wanted to try for over a year! It was so delicious! I got this grilled mango tofu steak and it was to DIE for!!! Added bonus --- our waiter told us that I was sitting exactly where Fergie sat when she ate there a few weeks ago! How's that for a fab 25th birthday??? 

Aaaand in the history of Feb 16ths, I'm not sure it has ever been so beautiful here in Colorado! Over 60 degrees!!! :)

Cheers!

my blog is one :)

After looking forward to my baby blog's first birthday for about a month, November 18th came and went and I completely forgot to celebrate! Haha. Just wanted to thank you --- my readers and followers, both stealthy secret readers and comment loving followers, for being there for me. I love having this blog! Apparently I'm self-centered because I have the nerve to think that what I am thinking is important enough to put into blog form and send out for all of you to read, but whatever. The blog makes me smile, it makes me remember what I thought about a book or a recipe or a movie, it holds me accountable to the goals I set for myself. 

Maybe I haven't been too gung-ho in the "ambitions" department lately {the three original ones I set last year: fitness, Spanish, art}, but I have made progress in each goal throughout the year!

Here's to another year of goals, trials, fun times, and friends --- old and new :)

Cheers!

celebrating love

Wow - can I just say that I am on a blogging roll this week?!? 

Anyhoo - so yesterday turned out to be a wonderful first anniversary! Tyler got home from school and we went to the gym together for a good sweat sesh. Check. 

We then came home where I literally rushed to get ready because I was SO excited to eat sushi! lol. We went to Banzai Sushi and it was quite an experience! Apparently this was my most legit sushi excursion thus far because we got some food that I didn't quite know how to eat! Like a handroll...I had no idea what to do at first...

Although the name should be self-explanatory (20/20 hindsight, right?) - you pick it up like an ice cream cone and just go to town!

We got some odd rolls with interesting combinations, so it wasn't overall my favorite sushi place. But the service was FABULOUS, and we were there during happy hour where the glasses of wine were $3 and there had to be at least 6 oz per glass! Cha-ching! 

After dinner we decided to forgo our movie theater plans and just hit up RedBox instead. We rented Planet 51 and Slammin' Salmon. Planet 51 was actually SUPER funny! We loved it!!! And Slammin' Salmon was pretty good - the latest installment by Broken Lizard, the boys who brought you Club Dread, Sooper Troopers, and Beer Fest. It wasn't as good as Sooper Troopers or Beer Fest, but it had me chucklin :)

I had so much fun snuggling on the couch with the love of my life. It still astounds me that after over 6 years of being together, I am so head over heels in love with him. It makes me giddy and I truly feel like the luckiest woman alive :) 

Oh and don't worry, we didn't get parched during the movies. We had a bottle of wine with each. Lol. Woke up with a slightly doozy head this morning ;)
 

Happy Tuesday!!!
-Cheers-

quite monumental!

Hello friends, readers, followers, non-followers...I know I have been MIA for quite some time. And I have an explanation, really, I do! Although it is kind of silly, after my last post 2 weeks ago, I realized that my next post was going to be my 50th! So I was kind of waiting to write my next post until there was something worthy of the 50th post. haha. Pretty lame, I know. 

Anyway, tomorrow is my 1-Year-Anniversary of being married to Tyler! Craziest year ever, it just flew by! I have been meaning to write a blog about how we met/our story/etc. for quite some time, and seeing as how he is the best thing in my life, I figured our story would be perfect and most worthy of my 50th blog post :)

Let me preface this story be saying that if you ask Tyler, he'll tell you we met in 8th grade. We both played competitive soccer, and our teams scrimmaged each other every few weeks. We went to different junior highs, but there were lots of boys from my junior high on his team. I also happened to "go out" with a few of those boys. So, he says he met me as Jason's girlfriend, then Dan's girlfriend, then Jason's girlfriend again...lol. Whatever. Tyler was always the SUPER shy guy, while I was a little (okay a lot) more on the outgoing side, so I honestly don't remember meeting him in junior high.

Fast forward to high school. Apparently we went to high school sophomore and junior years together without ever crossing paths. Senior year (2003), we both became members of Peers - a counseling team of students who did presentations on depression/suicide and sexual harassment (major tangent - but one of the school counselors who helped lead the group of Peers is now in jail for sex acts with minors...awkward). So the first time I really remember meeting him was in August of 2003, when we had a Peer retreat before school started to get to know each other. I met him, thought he was cool but really quiet, and that was kind of it. 

Until...

we happened to both be in the most romantic class together - AP Calculus. Yep, sexy. I was naturally not paying attention one day, and instead was just people watching. My eyes came to Tyler, and with a sudden realization, I thought, "Wow, he's super cute!!!" So then I decided to put the charm on and flirt with him whenever I could. During this time of me *attempting* to court Tyler, I think I literally batted my eyelashes at him - that was how hard I was working! I invited him to hang out, go to school plays, etc...and he politely declined all my invitations. After a month of my pursuing him, I was getting frustrated! 

So, on Halloween, a bunch of us went trick-or-treating then to a friend's house for a little party. I announced to my two best friends that I was done chasing a guy who CLEARLY didn't like me. I threw my hands up in defeat, knowing I had certainly done my best. One of my friends walked over to Tyler and said, "Kaity's done trying to get you to notice her. Do you like her or not?" To which he replied, "Kaity likes me?" So oblivious to all of my efforts. (He now says he just thought I was being friendly all that time...). Then he did something real awkward. He walked over to me and just stood behind me with his arms around me. WTF. Didn't I just write this guy off? He was ignoring me for over a month and now he's got his arms around me? Then he said he had to go get some sleep since he had to get up early the next morning. I said bye, and he KISSED me and walked away. As I watched him leave, jaw dropped, butterflies in a frenzy in my stomach, I knew this was definitely the strangest way I'd ever hooked a guy.

After two weeks, I was literally in love with him. I know this is so cliche to say, but I am such a strong proponent of "when you know, you know" because I honestly could see myself marrying him after such a short time together. There is a reason sayings become cliche, and I think it's because there has got to be some sort of truth to the saying, otherwise they wouldn't be said so often!

We became so close, best friends, and spent hours and hours just talking. He was everything I ever imagined my boyfriend to be. Ridiculously intelligent, good looking, athletic (arguably one of the best soccer defenders I had ever seen play), romantic, family-oriented, and sincerely a good person. I never once second-guessed our relationship, my family loved and approved of him (a first for my boyfriends) and when he chose not to go to Montana for college, and also turned down a full-ride scholarship to another college to stay in Fort Collins to go to CSU with me, I knew we were forever. 

We enjoyed college, having fun independently but growing as a couple every day. We never officially lived together until after we got engaged our senior year in college. So, here is how he proposed. We went to Estes Park every year for our dating anniversary, and this year (our 4th anniversary), he promised me we could get those old-fashioned saloon pictures taken together. I had always wanted to. We got dressed up and took a few pictures. 

After a few shots, he said, "I have an idea for another pose." I said, "Oh, really? What?" I was surprised he was taking initiative in a photo shoot situation. He brought out a box, opened it, and asked, "Will you marry me?!?!"

It was so surreal! I knew this moment was coming at some point (I had picked out my ring), but I was NOT expecting it in the middle of our old-fashioned photo shoot!

I screamed for a few seconds, then I was aware of the photographer and didn't know whether to smile or dance around the room or lay a big kiss on Tyler. But then, finally, I remembered to say YES! It was wonderful :) (PS - my mother was beyond THRILLED that my engagement photo consisted of me holding a liquor bottle in one hand, a shot glass in the other, and also I had gum in my mouth...classy)

The planning of our wedding was so fun, and I took 1 1/2 years to enjoy engagement with my fiancee.

You are only engaged for such a short time in the grand scheme of things, so I wanted to enjoy it! Our wedding was magical and perfect.

We had such a fun time, celebrating our love in front of our friends and family. The reception was an absolute party, and so was the after party at Lucky Joe's! 

We honeymooned in Napa Valley and San Francisco, where the wine and food were plentiful! 

This last year has been a whirlwind of moving to a new city, a new job, starting school, buying a home, buying a car, adding 2 crazy puppies to our family...but I wouldn't change a thing :)

Happy FIRST Anniversary to the one who completes me and makes me strive to be a better person each and every day!

Cheers :)