The Dry Season

I'm not referring to weather, but instead hair!

Does you hair get so dry in the winter? I usually really struggle with blow-drying my hair since my hair is so thick, and then it never really looks the way I'd hoped and it takes me 45 minutes just to get it dry.

I had a great hair dryer, it was one I got before I went to college and from Target, and it worked well, but it really lost a lot of it's kick compared to when I had originally purchased it. Recently, Misikko sent me a brand new hair dryer!

I have never used a hair dryer like this one! 

When I say it takes me 45 minutes to dry my hair, that's after it's been air drying for awhile. I would post a picture or video, but y'all would get bored it takes me so long. I also am NOT skilled with a round brush, so it's probably a little inefficient on my end, but this Misikko hair dryer has totally transformed the way I do my hair! It has cut it in half AT LEAST and makes getting ready so much better and faster.

My mom is the QUEEN of blow drying and always has the perfect technique and set of brushes. Even she signed off on this hair dryer! She wants to get one herself! I'm telling you, her blow dryer seal of approval is HUGE. I bought her one last year for Christmas that she never used because it wasn't powerful enough and she signed off on this one. 

I use this dryer on the highest heat setting with the fastest air and it is perfect. At the very end of my blow dry sesh, I blast the cool air for a little to cool my head off and help seal my hair--I read somewhere (where...hmm...not sure...?) that cool air is good at the end for your hair follicles. It takes me so much less time and is definitely a dryer worth checking out!

xxKatie

Happy Birthday Mom!

Happy Birthday Mom!

To the best, most supportive Mom, I am SO SO SO happy I can celebrate with you today!

I love you!

xxKatie

I Got It From My Momma...

Happy Mother's Day to my awesome Mom! I miss you and can't wait to see you in THREE DAYS!! Before we know it, I'll be home! 

Arizona, 2009

Turks and Caicos, 2010

Aruba, 2011

Aruba, 2011

You can see the Mother-Daughter apple doesn't fall far from the tree...I got it from my Momma! Your oldest daughter cannot wait to see her fabulous Mom in a matter of HOURS!! I love you Mom, thanks for everything you've done, especially recently. See you soon!

For all the other Moms out there, I'm sharing a P&G commercial that makes me cry nearly every time I see it:

Happy Mother's Day to all the Moms out there!!

xxKatie

Celebrations! Celebrations!

Tonight we're celebrating my Mom's 50th birthday with a party at the Naval Academy! We are so excited! All us girls will be in Navy/Blue Lilly dresses and my dad will probably be in "boy uniform"of a polo and khakis. We are so excited and have been looking forward to this night for awhile! My sister designed the invites which are too cute! This is the outside of the FABULOUS facility:

Just so you can picture where we'll be celebrating!

This is the outside from the ribbon-cutting ceremony! We won't have those ugly chairs outside since it's tonight!

We will be listening to this:

Momma's wearing this:

And she'll obviously be the belle of the ball!

I am SO excited for tonight!! We ordered a fabulous cake that I cannot wait to see and I would describe it more BUT Momma's an avid reader so I don't want to spoil the surprise :) Check my Twitter for some pictures as soon as I see it after work!!

Woo hoo party time!!!

xxKatie

Happy Birthday Momma!

Happy Jubilee Birthday to the best Momma ever! 

YOU RULE!

I wish my summer classes were already over so we could be celebrating together, but come this weekend we'll rock your birthday in style! I can't wait to see you!! 

Love you Momma!

xxKatie

Quack Quack Quack!

About a month ago my Momma called me inquiring about duck shoes. Not only were these your regular Bean boots or anything. Nope. They're pink and shiny and have my name written ALL OVER THEM. Here they are:

Sperry Topsider does Duck Shoes

It is supposed to be rainy, rainy, and more rainy here at home so I'm wondering if these will make their big debut this week! Should be fun to take for a test run huh? Looks like chances are they'll be debuting with the khaki monster (the nickname for my rain coat) and a big ol' umbrella too! Hopefully our power doesn't get knocked out because we resorted to this (although this isn't me...):

And if anyone saw my tweet, I said, "Why yes we have resorted to hand puppets in the ceiling via candlelight. My dog/alligator is chomping and eating everyone." My dog was kind of missing that top ear so it more resembled an alligator. We seemed to enjoy ourselves for enough time because the power ended up coming back on before we went to bed. Thank goodness that AC came back on just in time!!

Anyone getting a lot of rain this week? It's just about time for those summer soakers to start...

xxKatie

"Yes, Mom. You're Right, Mom. You Know Everything, Mom."

That was the mantra my mom made me learn and repeat as soon as I turned 13. Turns out, it's a good one. My mom usually is right. She knows a lot. She's very smart and she worries a lot. For me and my sister and my dad and everyone else. She's great. And could own your mom in a fight. Just kidding. Let's just say that I am beyond lucky to have my mom as my Momma. This is the first year I won't be home to celebrate Momma's Day. Here's to you Momma R, I miss you and love you so much and can't wait to see you! You have helped make me into the awesome kid I am now, and yes I'm still a kid. Without you I don't know where I would be. Thanks for putting up with me and letting me cry on the phone and thinking of me with all of your care packages and pink duck shoes. I can't wait to see you on Wednesday (and Dad and Grace...fam shoutout whattup!) and we can celebrate our own reunion! Remember: read the cards in order.


xxKatie

Gift Giving

I meant to post a few days ago (really awhile ago...) about what we got my dad for Father's Day. Oops...a few days late on that for sure! I was reminded to write about it because I saw the gift by all the stuff he was traveling with. I just found out that he ended up (proudly) wearing the tie that we got him from Lilly:

We had so many cute options to choose from, but since I'm a totally a pink girl, we picked out this for him! I love Lilly ties for guys of any age. They're so popular with the boys at school. I'd even say that the bowties might be more popular!

Also, a few days ago was my Momma's birthday! Yayyy! We got her the Tiffany Elsa Peretti Open Wave Lariat Necklace! If any of you remember, this is the same special necklace I got for my 18th birthday. My mom loves it so much that we decided she needed one for herself too!

I went to go check it out online, but it was "no longer available". Cue heart sinking and stomach lurching. I immediately call the closest T&CO to my house and ask what the deal was. Well not only did Tiffany have the BEST customer sales representative I've ever dealt with besides Apple, but she entered a system-wide search to see who had this necklace still possibly in stock. That includes ALL of their overseas stores too. After running a search for me, she called me back and told me that she could get one, but she wasn't sure where it would be from but I gave her all the necessary information anyway. Well just two days ago the wonderfully perfect necklace arrived and will be all ready for a birthday presentation when my Mom returns from the beach!

I love giving gifts to people! I always enjoy making gift baskets or finding the perfect gift for someone especially when you know its unexpected, special, and something they wouldn't normally get for themselves!

xxKatie

Happy Mother's Day!

To all the Mommas out there, Happy Mother's day! To all the kids out there, go tell your Mommas thanks and that you love 'em!

We had a delightful Mother's Day in our house, and we celebrated all day! First we went to a (super duper) early 8:30 mass and then went to a little local breakfast dive that I had never been to. It was very cute and very close to our house. We got home and then my mom opened her gifts. Here are the two we picked out:

This is the Iris Skort. It is super cute in person, except the piping along the sides is yellow. Very cute and our momma loved it!

We also got her a Murfee! It is her first one and she loved it! When we were in the store about a week ago she pointed out that she like this print, and without even knowing, two weeks before my sister had mentioned the EXACT same one! Great minds think alike, huh?

For dinner, yours truly cooked (for the first time...a real meal! Not baking and not Easy Mac or Cup O' Noodles!!) shrimp scampi! I found the recipe on foodgawker (shocker, I know!) but it had been adapted from Ina Garten, my favorite FoodNetwork chef. Here is the website I used! I didn't eat it but the shrimp people in my family assured me it was good. I got a few tips about making it next time, but my cooking confidence went up a few points for sure!! As I look at the photo now, I'm realizing I forgot the parsley...oops! Oh well, lessons learned, right?

Happy Mother's Day to all my fabulous blogging Mommas out there!!

xxKatie