Settling in a little more...

We have lived in our new place for exactly 2 months as of today. It's crazy how fast time flies! I'm dedicating my post in #809's honor.

I'm not sure if I've ever shared this story, but when we first moved in I went down to the concierge to ask him for a shuttle schedule for the metro. I told him what apartment we were in, and he replied "Ohhhh... the famous apartment". Immediately, I assumed someone had either been murdered or a crazy person lived there before us. When I asked him to please clarify his statement, he said "Not famous bad, famous because Steven Strasburg lived there until... well.. you know".

Well, no, I don't know, because a) I have no idea who that is and b) if I don't know who it is then I don't know what happened. But of course, I'm too embarrassed to ask since he said it so matter-of-factly, so I just played along. I'm sure I said something like "Yeah, I heard. Pssshhh... that was crazy!"

I went about my day like normal and when trying to recount the story to Zeke, it sounded something like "Oh hey so some famous person lived in our place, and something apparently happened to him, but I can't remember what his name is or anything. He sounded like a lawyer maybe? Or a mafia person?" Zeke looked at me like he usually does and said "Wow babe, that narrows it down. Sounded like a lawyer maybe, in Washington DC." I know, I know.

So Zeke finally discovers the name and informed me that DUH... Strasburg is a pitcher for the Washington Nationals, was one of the youngest people ever drafted into MLB, and he injured himself at the end of last season and it was some big story. Well I didn't feel bad for not knowing it because I only follow the Astros, and I wouldn't really call it following as much as go to the games when we get free tickets. If it doesn't involve Texas Tech or College Football, chances are I don't give a crap.

Anyhow, today I grabbed a copy of the free DC paper, and ironically staring at me from page 4 was none other than the famous....

Strasburg in the flesh! (Or on paper! What ev!)

I've always wondered what he looks like! Alas, I wonder no more.

So last night, we went to pick up the Crate and Barrel desk that I scored on Craig's List. And go figure, the GPS can't locate the address! We tried to pull it up on our phones, and it was directing us to Dayton, Ohio. Fail. Thanks to Zeke and his navigation skills, we made it there in about 20 minutes, only getting lost and cussing at each other once or twice. Well worth the trip, I love it!

The area formerly known as box storage.

Not too shabby for $60... holla! I'm getting a small lamp and a plant to go on the desktop so it doesn't look as empty. 

I also got the itch to hang stuff on the walls finally, but it was a bad time for the itch to strike (9:30 pm, and the next door neighbors have a small child). I as able to sneak in one last picture hang before Zeke cut me off. I present to you... the kitchen! Almost finished! 

Inaugural art piece in apt 809

Lovely spice rack courtesy of Auntie Colette & OXO Pop Containers from Kurt & Bo. Great gifts!

Still need to hang the Z & K letters, trying to find them a home!

I'm off to the grocery store... I picked out 3 dishes from my Bobby Flay Mesa Grill Cookbook to try this week. 

I'm substituting all of the fatty ingredients for healthy options (olive oil vs canola, fruit puree vs. butter based sauces toppings), but he uses so many fresh ingredients that hopefully it will come out equally as delicious. That is my favorite cookbook EVER, if you are a Bobby Flay fan, I highly recommend it! Only, be prepared to spend a full 90 minutes prepping & actively cooking, these recipes labor intensive but are SO good that it's worth it!

Have a great week!

Dan the Man

It's official- I survived my first personal training session this morning! Our trainer, Dan, is also a bouncer at our favorite bar, P Brennan's (go figure). So now, I can say that something good has come from us going to the bar all the time! Last weekend, we struck up conversation with him about getting in shape and how the wedding was coming up quick, and he told us that he's an MMA fighter and a certified PT, and he could help us slim down quickly. Genius marketing for him- convince drunk people at 1:00 am that they need a trainer! Well, it worked.

The first session was great. We walked through the goals I have for the next 7 weeks, and here's what I'm trying to accomplish:
- 1 inch off my chest
- 3 inches off my waist
- Eliminate any jiggle in my arms
- Tone my back
Zeke's goals are much more black & white- he wants to lose 25 lbs, he doesn't care where it comes from. While neither of us are obese, we have both put on some extra cushioning since the move. It's funny, we are both built the same and gain weight the same. No butt, thick middle, skinny legs. Our kids are screwed.

I did cardio for 20 minutes then we focused on triceps, lower back, and 10 minutes of intense ab exercises. We didn't do anything quite as intense as the Notre Dame arm workout, but it felt great and showed him what my limits are. I told him what the ND workout consisted of, and he said it's a GREAT program to follow, but is counterproductive for the shape I'm in now. It's like if someone who has never run before wakes up and decides to do 5 miles. They can probably finish, but they'll hurt themselves and won't be able to run again for a while. So true, because last week I was incredibly sore until Thursday evening... I couldn't even work out.

Another important thing is that Dan's in great shape, so I trust that he knows what he's talking about. You know how they say "never trust a skinny cook"? Well, I say never trust a fat trainer. Or a really scrawny one. I remember when I signed up at 24 Hour Fitness in Midtown, and I got a complementary trainer session. The guy weighed as much as I did and looked like he could maybe bench press the weight bar. If I'm going to pay someone to train me, I want a meat-head with ripped abs who is going to kick my butt into gear!

My next session is Saturday at 10:00 am, but I'm supped to do 20 minutes of cardio and some low weight/high rep circuits 2x this week. 45 minutes total, that's it. I can do that!

On a separate note, I'm excited! I was playing around on Craig's List last weekend and came across a posting for Crate and Barrel Sloane Bookshelves! They had 2 desks and the shelf for $200. That's a steal. By the time I got in touch with the seller, she already sold one desk and the bookshelf, but she still had a desk left. I bargained and got a great price, so we are picking it up tonight and will use it in the living room. We are registered for the bookshelf, hint hint, so if anyone is reading this isn't sure what to get us for a wedding gift, there's an idea! Well, that and our bedding at Macy's :)

Hope everyone had a great weekend, and congrats to the runners who finished the Houston 13.1 and 26.2!

My day with the Brittany's

Despite the snowstorm drama, my week was a success. I ended up closing 3 more deals, bringing my monthly total to 4! I was in the mood to celebrate, so I left work at 530, hopped on the metro, then took my trusty shuttle ride home. Since the shuttle has been a topic of several of my stories, I thought I'd give you a visual!

My dope ride

I got to the apartment and was waiting on Zeke to come when I remembered that I needed to call Brittany Winter back! When she answered I could hear that she was at a bar, apparently she had been at HH since about noon... HA. As soon as she said "I miss you", for some reason I just started sobbing. I wasn't in a bad mood or sad or anything, I just realized how much I miss all of my girls. On my way home I was thinking how nice it would be to head up for Porch Swing Pub or The Tasing Room for some drinks with my besties to celebrate. But I can't do that :( So Brittany was crying on the phone outside of the bar, and I was crying in my living room about how much we missed each other. We were a sad sight! It was so good to talk to her though, she's one of the best friends a person can ask for. I've been lucky this week and have had some good talk time with a few of the girls... I can't wait for my bachelorette party in New Orleans when we are all together again!

After I got off the phone and composed myself, Zeke came home and we headed down to P Brennans (the irish pub in our building) to watch this filipino guy Eddie Pasa play acoustic guitar. He's really good, we saw him last month, too. He plays everything from Led Zepplin to I'm On A Boat. A few of Zeke's co-workers came to meet us, and one guy brought his girlfriend. Turns out, her name is Brittany too!

Brittany and I hit it off immediately. They will be in the Bahamas with us for the company trip next month, so I'm excited to have a buddy :) She's a runner and has some great trails around the National Mall, so we are going to have running dates once the weather gets above freezing. She bought me a "welcome to DC shot"... a Washington Apple! That shot started the downward spiral. I'm not sure what got in to us, but we were on a mission to get hammered apparently. 5 shots, numerous beers, and a few drunken hugs later, we decided we were new best friends. I told her all about my 2 other best friends that were both named Brittany, and that I was crying earlier because I missed my friends, she told me about her best friends who moved away too, and I'm sure we exchanged life stories. Here's a pic of us about 1/2 way into our mission:

NSFP

Interestingly enough... the picture above lead to the picture below.

Mission Accomplished

The walk home consisted of my crying again (not sure what it was about though), and then I fell in the bathtub. Zeke thought it was just hilarious. He even has a video of me trying to unlock the apartment door... it took me about 30 seconds to find the key hole. Pretty sure I threw up on my foot, too. But I wasn't really sick, I think falling in the bathtub made me dizzy. I'm not sure when I'll outgrow my occasional binge drinking tendencies, but it has slowed way down the older I get. Then again, I didn't get the nickname KMFJ for nothing... I have to live up to expectations! And, sometimes it's just fun to get ridiculously hammered, quite frankly. 

Today, I wasn't feeling that hot. I had a hair appointment at 1:00 and used my LivingSocial voucher for a Haircut, Gloss Treatment, and Style for $49 at this cute salon in Old Town Alexandria, Salon Amarti. I will definitely be a repeat customer, I had a great experience! The owner is from Morocco and is a nice guy. They were really busy and he ordered pizza for everyone! They will get a good review on Yelp, for sure. Old Town is adorable, too. It reminds me of Fredericksburg... they have tons of shops and cafes. This is the salon-

Salon Amarti

We are taking it easy tonight... meeting Nick & Janice for dinner and might go see a movie. We have our first appointment with our personal trainer tomorrow! I don't think I've mentioned that yet... we decided we needed someone to kick our butts into shape. That wasn't exactly on the "ways to save money" list, but it's a justifiable expense. We joined the new gym that just opened in our building, and they had a deal for 1/2 off training packages, so we went for it. I'm still planning on keeping up with the Notre Dame Cheer workout, though. My arms finally quit hurting around Thursday... it definitely works.

Hope everyone has a great Saturday! 

I could never work from home...

My shuttle service was canceled today due to the road conditions, therefore I had no ride to the metro. My company was awesome and let us work from home. Or so I thought.

Worst thing EVER. I've been sitting at my computer since 7:45 this morning and have not moved. I'm going on 12 hours.... so this post will be quick. Every time I tried to get up to take a break, my phone would ring or I would get another email. I took 2 breaks today for about 30 minutes each- one to look on Etsy for a belt for my dress for the ceremony, and one to shower. I haven't even made it out of the bedroom... I might have permanently indented our mattress. I feel sorry for the merchants I talked to today... I was Miss Talkative. They probably thought I was on crack, but really I was still in my pajamas and had no one else to interact with.

On a positive note, I got two more contracts back signed today! That makes my "deal" count rise to 3 now! One Wine Bar & Bistro in Edmonton, AB and one Spa in Tempe, AZ. I also have 5 outstanding, just waiting on a signature. Excited!

Zeke is about to be home, I'm sure he's not going to be happy with me when he comes in! I told him about my great intentions to take a few breaks and get some decorating done. I even told him I'd clean up the guest room which has entirely become an extension of my closet... actually the whole bedroom is pretty much my clothes storage space. Oh and I also said I'd make chicken, spinach, and mango salad for dinner! And I'm pretty sure I said I would squeeze in a quick run.

Yeah... none of that happened. Welcome home babe... here's your hot pocket!

Thundersnow

Yes, it's a real term! And according to our research team at LivingSocial, it is one of the top trending terms on Twitter this afternoon because that's what's hitting Virginia right now. I'm writing you humbly from the metro shuttle van, wet feet and wet hair. I got a dose of reality today... I am a Houstonian and there's no hiding it. I "heard" it was going to snow... Yet I still decided to wear my black stiletto boots & head wrap. Well, I'm an idiot.

I nearly broke my neck the entire walk from my office to the metro... Slipping and sliding all over the brick sidewalks. One homeless looking guy goes "nice boots" as he sped by me in his rubber snow shoes.




I made it to the shuttle, accident-free. But traffic is horrible!

We are at a dead stop, and it doesn't look good. We just got stuck on the entrance ramp to Columbia Pike (it's kind of like Memorial Drive for Arlington). Our tires were spinning... And we all had to move to the back row of the shuttle. When that didn't help, I suggested that we all bounce up and down. So... We did... And it worked! I'm the hero of the Halstead Aparment Commuter Community! We were all laughing and out of breath. Talk about a resident bonding moment. We have just turned around and we don't know where we are going! We, including the Driver.

Everyone has their cell phones out to Mapquest how to get to the apartment, and we are turning down streets that aren't blocked by stalled cars. And I'm chillin' in the back seat, pretending to look up directions but actually blogging real time updates on my commute. I contributed with the whole "jumping" idea... I'm spent. Plus I'm useless with directions, I just moved here! Definitely the most action packed shuttle ride yet. All I need is my little person friend and this would be a day for the history books! I'm just glad I don't have to pee.


Here's a pic of me being useless in the back seat. Check out the line of headlights though... We can't find a traffic free street!

 Going on one hour in the shuttle... send good thoughts my way.

Long Day

Summary:
- Came in to work at 8:30 for a meeting that never happened. (Usual time I get there is is 9:45). I was not happy, but I got free bagels. I call that a wash.
- I was flustered from waking up early, and I forgot my cell phone today.
- Have a new manager, so had a "motivational" cold call blitz for 3 hours. (HA)
- Proud to report that i made 46 calls & had almost 90 minutes of "talk time" in those 3 hours.
- Lost another glove on the shuttle, so pulled another MJ.
- Went straight to the bar alone (Zeke is in Baltimore) and drank two 12% pints of Lagunitas Brown Shugga. So I'm "kinda" drunk. That's like 2 pints of wine!

Done and done

- Made friends with the single nerdy guy next to me. Then after two 12% beers, proceeded to make fun of him for riding the bus and having a flip phone. He left shortly after, but he promised no hard feelings & said he would get the iPhone to get more girls.
- Overall day was a success- I signed up 2 more merchants and have a 7 deals in the Pipeline... Woo hoo!
-Going to bed... these early 7:00 am wake-up mornings are taking a toll on me. Well, that and the beer. But what ev.

To my email subscribers- Sorry if you get this three times. I wrote the original post on my cell and noticed several errors.

Back on to the arm workout tomorrow then have a HH Thursday at The Whale, and have dinner plans Friday so Saturday will be a 3-day marathon post filled with purely amazing stories (most likely).

Hugs & kisses, Kate

Arm Workout Chronicles: Day 1

So I've decided I could never be a Notre Dame Cheerleader. I followed the instructions, did 40 minutes of cardio, then went through the arm workout exercises one by one. I got a few requests for the workout, so let me just share it with everyone in case you dare to try.

Exercice- Weight, 1st Rep, 2nd Rep   

Bench Press- 10 lbs, 25x, 15x
Dumbell Fly- 5 lbs, 15x, 15x
Lateral Raises- 5 lbs, 17x, 13x
Shoulder Press- 10 lbs (1st @ 5x) 5 lbs (2nd @ 14x)
Calf Raises- 10 lbs, 20x, x20
Dumbell Curls- 10 lbs, 18x, 14x
Tricep Extensions- 15 lbs (1st @ 10x), 10 lb (2nd @ 18x)
Abs- 300 Crunches 
Chair Dips- 12x, 10x
Push ups- 12x, 8x

I made it all the way down the list until the chair dips and push ups. I propped myself on the weight bench to do my first chair dip... and BOOM. I just went straight to the floor, no dipping about it. Push ups? No chance. I decided I was done for the day.

This morning, I could barely lift myself up out of bed due to my abdominal muscles being on strike. It feels like I got kicked in the ribs by little ninjas in my sleep. In the shower, I struggled to raise my arms to shampoo my hair. And the whole blow dryer/straightener just wasn't happening, so my hair looked like doo doo all day. If that is the normal workout regimen for all college cheerleaders, I think I picked the right route as the intoxicated sorority chick in the stands.

I took tonight off from the gym. I'm not giving up on my Notre Dame Cheer arms quite yet... I just physically can't do anything. I'll pick it back up tomorrow with a nice 3 miler and another round of torture. Plus, Zeke's in Baltimore tonight for work, so I had to seize the opportunity to catch up on my DVR'd Real Housewives of BH, You're Cut Off, and the Bachelor (of course).

If anyone attempts the arm workout, let me know how miserable you feel the next day. Sweet dreams!  

Virtual Golf: The most unhealthy and non-athletic sport

Zeke, Mattie, and Jamie played a successful 18 holes yesterday. They also successfully finished 3 12-packs of beer, 2 large pizzas, and one can of Pringles. Hence: the title of my post. Now, normal golf in its self isn't THAT great of a workout, but there is some walking involved and you move around a lot. In virtual golf, on the other hand, the only walking you do is 4 feet from the leather chair to the Tee Box. 

This is my favorite pic of the day. Back story- when we moved from Houston, we were so tired of packing useless crap that we really don't have a place for, so we went on a rampage and just started throwing things away. In our haste, we managed to throw away every single ice chest we own, as Zeke discovered yesterday morning! Luckily, my wonderful Matron of Honor (Tara) gave me an adorable insulated bag with a cute note attached about Zeke and I using it for a picnic in DC once the weather gets warmer. Thanks Tara! Little did she know, it would save the day for Zeke's Virtual Golf Man Day.

If that doesn't scream masculine, I don't know what does!

When the game started, I was downstairs in the gym as well, but I was running on the treadmill. (Luckily my apple cider hangover went away after a hearty bowl of oatmeal and lots of water). After my workout, I went up to the apartment to cool off. About an hour later, I returned to find this:

2 empty large pizza boxes, 2 empty 12 packs

Wait, where did these cans come from? Ok, 3 empty 12 packs

Zeke lost the front 9, so I caught the tail end of him chugging a beer.

They were all hammered, and I was thoroughly entertained. I did get some pics of them actually golfing...

Zeke

Mattie

Jamie needing a weed eater

Finally, the game ended around 8:00. Zeke unfortunately lost, he owes the guys lunch next week. We cleaned up and the drunken golfers all went their separate ways. Right when we got back up to the apartment, Zeke passed out on the couch. I'm sure he feels great today, he got a solid 13 hours of sleep!

While he was sleeping, I watched the Hangover for the 3rd time this week (never gets old) and did some wedding planning/online shopping. I ordered some earrings that match my belt & shoes from Amazon.com using my nifty $10 for $20 voucher I scored from LivingSocial this week! Here's a pic...

Earrings for Ceremony

I'm excited, I hope they look good! Last week alone, we booked our cake tasting/design, booked my hair appointment for Bridal Portraits in Austin, set up our final consultation with the Terrace Club, and found a calligrapher for the invitations. We still have several things to cross off the list though. 76 days away!

Today we don't have any plans. I'm going to attempt to hang some decorations around the apartment and make if feel a little more like home. It's a work in progress, I'll post some pics if I actually get anything done. I'm also going to continue with the workout streak and head to the gym. I'm shooting for 4 miles today & am going to do this awesome arm workout that my friend Janice gave me. Her sister was a cheerleader at Notre Dame and it's the workout they used. Hopefully 2 1/2 months is enough time to sculpt these guns!

Happy Sunday!

Making up for my "sneak attacks"

We continued No-Fail Friday with a celebratory HH/night out in Clarendon. That's pretty much the only place Zeke and I go out, we should probably explore other areas eventually.

The night started at Hunan One, Mattie's favorite sushi Happy Hour spot. After visiting, I totally know why! They have 32 oz big a$$ beers and 8 piece rolls for $3.95- score! And the specials last until 9:00 pm. Double score. We successfully got a cheap buzz and full bellies for very little dough, and the rolls were delicious. We will definitely become regulars.

Next, we walked (in the frigid cold) to Spider Kelly's. One of our favorite bars by far! It was here that I redeemed myself for the "sneak attack" I pulled on Mattie a few weeks ago. (I haven't figured out all of the cool blogger tricks yet, or else I'd attach a link to my previous post that tells the story). Turns out he likes the game, too! He tried to sneak a few good slaps in on me, but I'm a crafty veteran. He did get one good slap in, and this group of girls standing behind us all stared at him like he was crazy, then it got really awkward. LOL. But for the most part, he appreciates and understands the fun behind randomly slapping your friends. I call that "progress". He's no Jason Canlas, but it's fun to have a new guy buddy. Here's our new friendship picture, I promised him I'd post it.

Two person wolf pack

I also discovered my new favorite drink! It's apple cider, Captain Morgan spiced rum, and a splash of Ginger Ale. It was so delicious that I had about 4.

Around 11:30, we all decided to call it a night. When the cab dropped us off at the apt, we were convinced it would be an even better idea to head to our favorite irish pub, P Brennans, and see if our favorite irish bartender was working, Owen. I have yet to determine if having 2 bars in the bottom floor of our apartment building is a good or bad thing. Sure enough, Owen was working! We stayed a few beers too long and stumbled home after last call.

When we woke up and glanced out the window this morning, it just LOOKED cold. Sure enough...

Burr

Today, Zeke has some friends coming over to play Virtual Golf in the gym at our apartment. It's so fun! I told them I would be the cart girl. We saw a group of guys down there a few weeks ago dressed in full golf gear with a rolley cooler and Zeke thought it was genius. Since it's too cold to do anything outside, it's a prefect way to get your 18 holes in! We played when we first moved in...

Hopefully my delicious apple cider drink hangover will go away so I can go to the gym. Truth be told, I'm still ridiculously sore from my pathetic 41 minute 5k the other day. I decided I am signing up for the 1/2 Marathon in March, because it will force me to train, so I better just suck it up and be productive! We leave for the Bahamas 1 month from today, so I really need to kick it into gear. I would just do some fad diet or cut out all of my carbs, but I love food and beer too much. Hence- the reason I will never have abs. Oh well, life's too short!

Hope your Saturday is great & productive as well!

No Fail Friday- Huge Success!

Besides my phone geeking out this morning and posting multiple drafts of my blog, I'm glad to report that Friday rocked! Why? Well for starters, I closed my first deal today!!!! YaAaayYyyyaaaaayyyyyyy! I'm really excited. Its with Hegel Yoga in Tempe, AZ (close to ASU campus) and is $25 for 10 Yoga Classes. The classes can be used over a 6 month period. If they had a deal like that in DC, I'd buy it! I'm hoping it "whales" :) And I have 4 contracts out and am sending 2 more next week. Things are going well. We had a team building lunch at a place around the corner called "Proof". It was a swanky place that kind of reminded me of Max's Wine Dive... Food was delicious! I sat at a 4 person table with a few other inside sales reps. I discovered that Lisa (who I share a desk with) is from a town called Sandwich, Illinois. They have 1 stoplight. Sarah sits a few cubes down, and her dad is from Kilgore! And Nancy, who is one of our top grossing reps, has an amazing story about her first debit card. She opened her first bank acct with BofA in college. She was so excited to get her first debit card in the mail because it had her picture on it. Instead... This is the picture they sent her.





That doesn't look like Nancy Wong?? Haha. After lunch, we took a trip to Red Velvet Cupcake by the Smithsonian for some hot chocolate & sweets. It's a DC Staple, so I was stoked to try it!








I got the Red Velvet Cupcake... Why would you not?! Cream cheese icing & sprinkles. Mmmmmmm. I would have given two thumbs up, but the other hand was taking the picture. Duh. Later, I had this note passed to my desk...


How can you say no to that??!! Apparently no one could, because this strategic girl scout probably sold 200 boxes of cookies. It's our VP of Sales' daughter, too, so no pressure or anything ;) I'm on the shuttle headed home now. Oh- and I only have one glove on. Pulling a Michael Jackson because somehow my glove fell out of my pocket on my walk from the Metro to the office. Hope everyone has a fabulous weekend! Love, Kate the deal closer!

Sorry, My blog app is on crack

The blogger app was going crazy on my phone this morning, it kept resetting on me so I'm sorry if there are multiple posts today. Just delete the emails!

Wait... 3 fails in one day

Fail #1- I missed the shuttle to the metro.

I take the last shuttle at 9am, so if I miss it, I'm screwed! We have two elevators in our building, and one was broken, so it took me an unusually long time to get to the first floor because we stopped on every floor. Just as the elevator doors were opening, I saw Sherwin (the driver) take off. Once he's gone, there's no stopping him. So I (ghasp) had to take the bus! It actually wasn't that bad, I was only 10 minutes "late" to work.

 Fail #2- I'm a fat a$$.

Since I've been bringing my lunch, me and my young, cute, skinny co-workers eat in the kitchen area. There are 3 round tables in the kitchen but only 7 or 8 stools, so we often have to stand or improvise. My co-worker Hannah (adorable little 23 yr old blonde marathon runner) had a great idea to grab some boxes to sit on. (We have tons of boxes of snacks in the kitchen). Hannah grabs a box for herself and a box for me. She lightly starts to sit on it, and I just plop down, and BOOM!

The f-ing box breaks.

I fall on the floor, roll around, and my co-workers are just staring at me. I started dying laughing and said "welp, guess these boxes were only meant to hold pretzels & not out of shape 27 year olds!" They all laughed too. But it was really embarrassing. I snuck back in the kitchen after lunch and took a pic of the damage. Enjoy.


Fail #3- I posted this twice Love, Kate the fat a$$

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Paid a visit to an old friend....

His name is GYM. I hadn't seen him since November. I must say, I'm rather proud of myself though.

I got home from work around 7:30. I sat down on the couch, turned on the computer, and checked some emails. I got up off the couch to make my way to the refrigerator to pour a well deserved glass of wine. Before I got the wine, I wanted to get comfortable, so I went into the room to change into some lounge clothes. There stood my running shoes. Just looking at me. I just got them in the mail yesterday (long story- left them in Houston and Jess had to send them to me and kept forgetting). Suddenly, all of these phrases started running through my head. Wedding, Bahamas, Honeymoon, Bride with backfat, Chunk Arms, St. Lucia, Pictures, Jiggle Jiggle, 78 days away... Ahh! So... I harnessed all of my energy, and instead of putting on the same zebra striped nightgown and house shoes I always wear, I put on my workout clothes, grabbed my headphones, and headed to the gym.

So I'm dressed & ready to go, hop on the elevator, and pressed the button for the 3rd floor. I get off on the 3rd floor, walk up and down the hallway, and discover the gym isn't there. Crap.

I push the button again, and go to the 2nd floor. Get off, walk around, no gym. Double crap.

Same story, push the "M" button, (I think this stands for Mezzanine?) get off, and see the sign for the gym! Alas! But then there's the awkward "get on the machine and pretend like I've done this a million times" thing. Only, I'm not that smooth. We have TV's on all of the units, and I couldn't figure out how to work the stupid thing. So finally, I figured out how to turn it on. I saw everyone else was watching American Idol, so I try to find the channel, and the up/down buttons are turning them to some weird AUX channel! What the hell! So I manually punched in the numbers, starting at channel 13 and went down the line. Finally, found it on channel 5.

41 minutes later, I finished 3 miles. 41 freaking minutes. That's horrible! 3 months ago I could do 3 miles in 25 minutes! And to make it worse, I looked like this...

A new shade of red

But know this, blogger friends. Today was the start of a new healthy habit! I guess this is my week of self-improvement declarations. I'm feeling adventurous and might sign up for the 1/2 distance of the National Marathon in DC on March 27th. The only problem is it's the weekend after we will all be in NOLA for the debauchery also known as my bachelorette party. But I know if I register for it, it will force me to train hardcore for the next 2 months. Also, it's the first weekend of the Cherry Blossom Festival, so it will be awesome scenery! We'll see.

I might visit GYM tomorrow morning, because I have my first LivingSocial HH tomorrow night. That's a bit ambitious though, because a) I probably won't be able to walk tomorrow and b) I am the worst morning person EVER and don't get out of bed until I absolutely have to.

I'm excited about HH tomorrow night though, and I think it will be awesome! Incase you didn't hear, we broke a world wide web record today, and our CEO is super excited! With our Amazon.com $10 for a $20 GC, we had the biggest one day sale in the history of the web, selling over a million vouchers! Incase you missed the deal, you still have time... it closes in 9 hours. I just checked the total... 1.12 million! They cap it out at 1.5 million and it's getting a lot of press, so hurry! Today was fun & very high energy... when we hit 500,000 someone banged a big gong in the room beside us. I didn't even know we had a gong! And there were a bunch of champagne bottles in the fridge, I'm assuming we are having a party soon. Or maybe they did tonight and I wasn't invited... probably the case.

We have had so much good PR lately, I'm still nerdily excited to be a part of such a great team. AND- I'm going to close my first deal tomorrow!!! Arriba Arriba Aye Aye Aye! It's a Yoga deal in Tempe, AZ. The owner is supposed to send me the contract tomorrow and we are running it as early as next week! I will, OF COURSE, post the deal on the blog :)

Now, I'm going to reward my workout with that glass of wine I was going to grab earlier. Night night!

New Year's Resolution- Better late than never!

Cheesy post or not,  I want to brainstorm with you guys. With the wedding approaching and our newly reserved Butler awaiting our arrival in St. Lucia, Zeke and I realized that we should really cut back on spending and focus on SAVING this year. Hence... my 2011 New Year's Resolution.

Many of you are in similar situations... whether it's wedding planning, a baby on the way, taking up an obscene spur of the moment world-wide traveling hobby, or buying a house. Everyone could use to cut back a little! Whatever the case may be, here are a few things I'm doing to save save some moolah. Also, I would love to hear little ways you save cash. I know I have some savvy saving friends... would love to hear your tips!

Also, I figured if I typed everything out, It will make me stick to the plan because it's in writing. So here goes...

1. Packing my lunch- of course, a no brainer. But this actually takes a lot of planning ahead! I bought some lean cuisines, tuna fish, lunch meat, fruit, and pasta makings. My plan is to alternate a new meal every day so it doesn't get old. 2 of my co-workers and I thought it would be fun if we each cook a big meal once a week and bring in lunch for the other two girls. So this way, you have lunch provided for you 2 days a week! Friday, we will all grab lunch together at a new place with a cheap lunch special. Has to be under $10 total. My first meal is going to be- surprise- spaghetti! I'm making homemade turkey meatballs and garlic bread, too :)

2. Turning my bathroom into my own person nail salon- Mani's, pedi's, eye brow wack... twice a month it all adds up! I was spending about $120 month on average. By spending the extra 30 minutes and doing it myself every 2 weeks, I can save $360 before the wedding.

3. Plan out my outfits the night before work and do laundry more consistently- Will translate to LESS SHOPPING! This (for me at least) has always been a problem. I hate doing laundry, period. But if I take the time and plan out my outfits, as well as make sure all of my clothes are clean and hanging for me to see, I will realize that I actually do have the clothes I need and I don't need to buy more.

4. For things I must buy,  price shop online- I've realized that if I've lived without a specific item this long, I can wait the extra 5 days to have it shipped to me from Amazon.com or Ebay.

5. Look at every one of my bills- am I paying too much? I double checked several of my bills and noticed I didn't have unlimited text, so I was paying between $20-$50 a month in overages on my cel phone bill. My AT&T bill is autodraft, so I never noticed. I changed it to an Unlimited Text Plan for $5 more a month, problem solved! Always helps to take a second look.

6. Ask myself- do I really need to _________? Wether it's go to Happy Hour, grab that dinner out, buy the junk food that we don't need, buy that cup of coffee... do I really need it? I've stopped myself from impulse shopping quite a bit.

7. Enjoy time at home- Something we don't do enough. Now, it's tough for us being in a new city because we want to explore, but there are plenty of things to keep us occupied at home. Remember that really cool thing called a Wii that was all of the rave 2 years ago? Well, they're still cool & fun, and it makes for a good night in.

8. On the other hand, enjoy the free things in my city! There are so many cool things to do in DC and Houston alike. If you make it a point to only go to the free things, you will see a whole new side of your town.

9. Clean out the clutter and take my extras to goodwill- Zeke and I have almost completely eliminated all of the excess. This serves 3 purposes- first, there's not crap everywhere with nowhere to stash it. Second, it helped us realize that we really and honestly don't need anything new. And third, I realize how much money I've wasted on "deals" and "steals" from HomeGoods or Target that I only keep for a year or so and then it's useless. Every time I drop off a bag full of clothes or household items, I just hear "cha ching".

10. Think about having to be in a bathing suit in honeymoon pictures that will haunt me forever- that should make me think twice about spending $40 pizza & beer downstairs vs heading to the gym and cooking chicken breast that's in the fridge! I don't want to look at our honeymoon pictures 10 years from now and say "Dang- why didn't I get my act together and work out when I still had 3 months before the wedding?" I want to say "Man I looked good!"

So now I want to hear any tricks or tips y'all can share that have worked for you in the past!

MLK Weekend- Lots of good news!

This is a marathon post, I hope you can hang! This is what happens when I go for 3 days without blogging.

Good news #1: The weekend started off with an early morning Skype call from Karah on Saturday. SHE'S HAVING A BABY!!! I'm going to be an aunt!!!! She's due mid-September :) :) :) She goes for her first doctor's appointment this week, so hopefully I'll have some sonograms to share of baby Stracener. I'm soooooo excited for them! Zeke's a little freaked out that his little sister is having a baby, but he's excited for them too. They've been married for 5 years... I guess that's a good time to start! That's how long Mark and Michelle waited, too. If Zeke and I wait 5 years to start trying, we won't have kids until 2016. I'll be 32 and Zeke will be 35. Weird.

Good news #2: We have friends! We went out to Clarendon Saturday night and met up with Zeke's cousin Simpson, her boyfriend Zack, Lisa, and her husband Dustin. We had such a good time! We definitely took for granted being able to just call someone to meet you for a beer when we were in Houston. Several times, Zeke and I are out, just the 2 of us, and we will start laughing because we feel like losers. Everyone else at the bars or restaurants have groups of people, not just the two of them staring at each other. We start to call someone to meet us... but we don't have anyone to call. So we were pretty excited to have a "posse" for once. Here are a few of my favorite pics from the night...

Zeke's first drink. Yeah.... that's all vodka. The redbull can is sitting behind the drink, untouched.

Patron and SoCo Lime. Great for the soul.

Taught Lisa the "nerdy thumbs up" pose. She likes it, see!

Since DC doesn't have Whataburger, everyone gets late night Chili.  This was the Cincinnati Chili from Hard Times Cafe. It had cinnamon in it. Tigers would hate it. (Ha)

So the next day was Sunday. I woke up with a pretty mean headache. Discovering Magic Hat was the best and worst thing that's happened to me since moving here. I don't have anything cool to say about Sunday except that I didn't leave the apartment, Zeke walked across the street to get me some Aleve and Cinnamon Toast Crunch, I didn't shower, and we ordered a pizza. I sat on the couch and looked up honeymoon packages for about 6 hours straight. No joke. Which leads me to my next point...

Good News #3: We booked our honeymoon! Sandals St. Lucia, here we come!!! You would think that picking a honeymoon destination would be easy, but it's far from. There are so many freaking options. We decided to go with a Sandals, because we have not heard one negative thing about them. We've traveled our fair share, and you never know what you're getting yourself into. But once you narrow it down to Sandals, there are 3 in St. Lucia and one in Antigua... each one is just as beautiful! And then when you find one you like, there are 3 different levels- Luxury (which is actually ironocally the bottom level), Concierge, and Butler. Everyone said if you can splurge for the Butler package, do it. After reading what all comes with the Butler, we were SOLD! Check this out....

http://www.sandals.com/difference/butler.cfm

We're sooooooo excited and can't wait!! We booked a Beachfront Walkout room, and every morning, they serve us breakfast on the patio with a bottle of champagne! We also get out own dedicated Butler for the whole week to bring us drinks and food from any of the 3 resorts on the island, whenever we want it. I won't abuse that at all, promise ;) Lobster, anyone?

And last but not least, we went to visit the Lincoln Memorial to pay tribute to MLK and see the spot where he gave his famous "I have a dream" speech. Here are some pics... enjoy!

Read closely, it's the exact spot where he stood to make the speech.

From the steps of the Memorial.

The 3rd square is the one he gave the speech on. 

Life is GOOD for the squirrels here. Look how fat he is! I was obsessed!

Korean War Memorial. Statues of soldiers walking through the jungles.

Each of their faces is different and meant to signify a different battle. It's kind of eerie. 

We went to the grocery store afterwards and I used my nifty grocery buggy for the first time! This is in our parking garage. When they finish the new store across the street, we FINALLY won't have to drive anymore! Which is why I got the buggy in the first place.  

TGIMFF

Yeah, you know what it stands for. Hallelujah! Not that I had a bad week by any means... I'm just so excited that I have a 3 day weekend ahead!

So yesterday was our anniversary, we had a great time. Here are my pretty flowers...

I'm sad to report that "DudeFest" was sold out when we got there, so we had to revert to Plan B. We knew we weren't getting in when the people dressed in maroon velour bathrobes and bowling outfits were getting turned away. It looked like such a cool event... next time we will plan ahead and buy tickets online. Instead of white russians and abiding by the dude, we opted to test out the wine bar down the street, Twisted Vines. It was actually really good! They serve tapas and have a really good wine selection. It reminded me of Absolve Wine Lounge on Studemont and Washington.  We split a bottle of wine & ate some bleu cheese stuffed meatballs and some italian pita sandwich melt thing. Delish.

It was fun celebrating such a milestone in our relationship! 4 years is a pretty long time in my opinion. Especially considering we have an absurdly functional relationship and have never broken up! I'm sure we have our annoying couple bickering moments (and I'm sure you're rolling your eyes going umm YES you do), but I couldn't picture a more perfect person for me to get in annoying arguments with.

Tonight we're laying low, saving our energy for the long weekend. Tomorrow we are finishing up some things around the apartment and are meeting Lisa (Warren) Bomar and her hubby Dustin for dinner. For the non-AXO's, she's one of our sorority sisters from college who lives about 10 minutes from us. She's going to be my DC Bachelor watching buddy on Monday nights :) She's an awesome girl, so I'm glad to have an old friend live so close.

Sunday, I'm not sure what we're doing actually. But Monday we are going to head to the Lincoln Memorial to pay tribute to MLK. Incase you've had a temporary brain fart, that's the site where he made the famous "I have a dream" speech. It still blows my mind that we are close enough to experience these things! Every morning I wake up, the DC skyline is the first thing I see. On may way to work, I stare at the Jefferson and Washington monuments from the window of the metro. And I get off the shuttle at the Pentagon. I never thought I would have said that! Ever! Either way, I'm excited to get to share the experiences with you all through my sometimes long winded blog ;)

Have a good weekend!

Welcome to the fart box

Everyone always tells me how lucky I am to live in DC because of the public transit system, specifically the Metro! It's supposed to be the cleanest and best managed systems in the country. Well Monday night at the bar, I heard the first complaint ever about it. One of Zeke's co-workers, Anthony Mattie (but everyone just calls him Mattie), said he HATES the metro because he said "it's a giant fart box" and it makes him sick every time he gets on. I immediately start giggling. Anything with the word "fart" takes me back to my Beavis and Butthead watching days where my dad and I only referred to each other as "fart knockers". I've heard several fart analogies... but I've never heard a negative things about the Metro, much less heard it referred to to as a fart box! He proceeds to describe what happens when someone farts on there... the air has no where to go... so there you are... stuck in a fart box for ten minutes and it's disgusting. Well, in my 3 days of riding it, I hadn't experienced it, so I told him to stop over-reacting and quit being a public transportation snob. Then later I slapped him. But that's a side story, I'll get to it in a minute.

Today... the fart box comment all made sense. I was able to leave work around 5:55 to run and catch the 6:00 train to the Pentagon. As usual, it was packed. I was one of the lucky ones who grabbed a seat... or so I thought! Right after the train took off, I was overwhelmed with this rotten odor that made my eyes burn and I couldn't breathe. IT WAS A FART! Instantly, I looked up to see if anyone had a suspicious look on their face. I'm not sure why... what was I going to do? Point at him and call him a fart knocker??? Maybe just give them a "you know you just ripped one and you're an asshole" look. None the less, I was on a mission to find out who dealt it. I scoured my immediate neighbors who's butts were in my faces. I'm short as it is, plus I was sitting down, so I couldn't see their faces. No one makes eye contact on the Metro anyways, they are all busy listening to their iPods and reading a book (as was I before I was so rudely interrupted by the flatulence). Unsuccessful in my search for the culprit, I gave up and just started breathing through my mouth to avoid gagging.

It just so happened that this fart knocker chose to cut the cheese right as we are pulling out of the first stop and heading across the Potomac River (which is what separates DC from Arlington). It's a solid 4 minute stretch. 4 minutes doesn't sound that long, unless someone has just farted in your face. And BOY was Mattie right... the air literally has no where to go. It just lingers. Imagine if someone farted in the car then locked the windows so you couldn't roll them down.

So I now understand why & acknowledge the fact that the Metro didn't get an unfair nickname... it really is a fart box. So on my list of "things to bring on my daily commute", I need to add noseplugs and some Febreeze.

On less disgusting note, I saw my first REAL snow since living here! It snowed about 2 inches last night & into the morning. Here's what I woke up to...

View from my bedroom window

I would have been more excited if I wasn't so tired. Oh, why was I so tired, you ask? Well around 11:00 pm, Mister Snow Plow truck decided to drive up and down the street, over and over and over, plowing snow. And being the genius that I'm sure he is, the fact didn't cross his mind that it had MAYBE snowed 1/2 inch- so there was nothing to plow- so he was scraping concrete. For about an hour, all I heard was a loud diesel engine roaring and a giant shovel scraping concrete. Not pleasant. But it was a beautiful view this morning and I have to think positive.

I also got to wear my snowboots in real snow! I wore them to work today. I figured everyone in the office would have them on since... hello... it snowed! Boy was I wrong. All of the girls still wore their cute flats, high heels, and trendy flat boots. Not gonna lie... I kind of felt like a lesbian. I had on brown rubber boots, jeans, and a brown sweater over a white collared shirt. Good thing I have an engagement ring... I think my co-workers would have thought twice about my sexual orientation.

Despite my questionable outfit, I had a great day at work! They switched me over to Edmonton, which is in Alberta, which is in Canada. I submitted three deals for approval by our Operations Team! One is with an upscale health food restaurant  ($10 for $20 worth of food), one for a Yoga studio ($30 for one month unlimited yoga), and one hair salon ($125 for a Brazilian Blowout-regularly $300). 2 of 3 got approved this evening, so the next step is I send them a contract, they sign it, then we feature the deal! Pretty excited. No one from my training class has signed a deal yet, but another guy had a deal approved too, so it's a heated race to see which one of us can close first.

I. Must. Win.

So keep your fingers crossed for me and send good mojo my way tomorrow, hopefully I will have some good news to report!

Oh- and my slapping story. For some reason, Jason Canlas and I think it's hilarious to sneak up and slap the shit out of each other when we are drunk. There can't be any warning or hint that you're going to do it... you just have to launch a sneak attach. BAM! We think it's the funniest thing ever... but it's kind of endearing for us. So we have been hanging out with this Mattie guy quite a bit. He is the closest thing I have to a Canlas up here. A few beers and shots into the night, I decide it would be funny to sneak attack Mattie!

Yeah... not so much. He looked at me like a crazy person! He was like "Zeke, what the hell! Kate just slapped me!" I'm dying laughing in the corner, and poor Zeke had to explain that me and his best friend play a game at home, and it means that I like him. I was still laughing. Most normal people would have taken the hint, but not me! About 10 minutes later, I sneak attacked him again! And was dying laughing! I don' really remember what happened after that, but I know that I called Canlas and Face-Timed to tell him I miss him because I don't have anyone to play the slapping game with :(

That's all I have for tonight. Zeke's in Baltimore still, he had to stay 2 nights since he hasn't been there in a few weeks. So I'm bored at the apartment. I'm about to go crawl in bed and watch Criminal Minds. Best show EVER! Thank you mom for getting me addicted.

OH- one more thing! How could I not mention this??!!! Tomorrow is me and Zeke's FOUR YEAR ANNIVERSARY! We are celebrating by attending "Dude Fest: Lebowski Music and Movie Night" at the Arlington Cinema Draft House across the street. It's a once a year festival where they serve White Russians, play the soundtrack in the bar before, then show the movie. You're supposed to come dressed as your favorite character. Can't wait to post about it!

OK, good night for real this time. MWAH!