Trying Something New...

I want this blog to be more than just my 365 gratitude project and one-photo-a-day, so I'm going to try something new.  I am hoping it will give me a bit more direction and that this new experiment will keep me posting more regularly.  Every day of the week will focus on a different theme, each one something that I am interested in and want to share with others.

Let me know what you think (and if there is anything you want me to include!).

xoxo
katie

365 gratitude project: Days 170 - 172

Day 170 (Sunday, June 17):

ahh, father's day.

we went out to a nice dinner with my parents and my brother and sister-in-law.

and we ate pig.  (by "we" I really mean "they" because i only had one taste

and l had none.)

the entire pig was set on our table,

and then the waiter carved the head, as you can see in the photo above.

ears, eyes, snout, cheeks, tongue, and brain.  wow.

i was so grateful to be with family, to celebrate the dads,

to witness the science lesson that was the pig.

i was also grateful that the whole experience didn't completely freak out the girls.

actually, it was quite the opposite, and p had two bites of tongue

(after watching the waiter scrape the hair off of it!).

grateful for these crazy experiences.

Day 171 (Monday, June 18):

after picking up the gals at camp,

we headed over to a nearby playground for a bit.

l has been very clingy, perhaps due to the move or being at a new camp,

but for whatever reason, she is all about momma these days.

it's pretty sweet.

grateful for all of the sweet lovin' that i have been getting,

even if some of it is before 6am.

Day 172 (Tuesday, June 19):

how cute are they in these jammies?

seriously.

p is way too tall for them,

and they ripped in a few places when b was trying to help her squeeze into them,

but she wanted to wear them anyway.

she is like a striped string bean,

and just seeing both of them in these make me smile.

grateful for striped footy pajamas.

after camp, we took the gals to paint some pottery as a gift 

for my parents for their 48th (!) anniversary.

i love, love, love doing art with my crew,

and i could have stayed all day.

grateful that we had some time to slow down,

get our creative groove on, and have fun together.

after painting pottery we were all hungry,

and b wanted to watch the france v. ukraine soccer match.

 we headed over to a bar,

and while it was complete overload for the senses,

we had fun watching the first half and filling our bellies a bit.

grateful for having girls who are cool to hang with their parents at a bar for an hour,

and who look so cute in momma's sunglasses.

365 gratitude project: days 165 - 169

Day 165 (Tuesday, June 12):

unpacking.

ugh.

grateful for my funny hubby

who knows how to add moments of humor to otherwise stressful situations.

by the way, that spot he is lying in, on top of all of the packing paper

was remarkably comfortable.

 Day 166 (Wednesday, June 13):

dylan's candy bar! 

the girls couldn't possibly love this place anymore.

and now we live 4 blocks from it!

i love these awesome stairs.

dylan's gets some points for cool interior design in my book!

hmm, i could use a gummi right about now.

 Day 167 (Thursday, June 14):

i forgot how much walking i do in nyc.

my feet were torn apart after just a few days.

luckily, there are shoe stores everywhere,

so i bought myself a cute pair of sneakers 

to help me get back into walking shape!

 Day 168 (Friday, June 15):

on friday night, we tried the chinese restaurant on our corner.

p ate and ate and ate. i guess she was hungry.

we all smiled when our fortune cookies arrived.

grateful for this very ny moment.

Day 169 (Saturday, June 16):

what a fun morning.

we finally walked to central park (the girls scooted there, actually),

and this slide provided hours of entertainment.

they must have gone down it 50 times.

and at first l needed b or me to go down with her,

but in no time she was sliding down with her sister and by herself.

what a great morning! love those smiles and that park.

365 gratitude project: Days 151 - 164

Ok, here we go...finally trying to catch up now that we are in NYC.

Day 151 (Tuesday, May 29):

we were strolling around stony point,

getting some errands done (b's birthday present purchased!),

and these goofy girls had to pose with the dog sculpture.

very grateful for funny little moments like these.

Day 152 (Wednesday, May 30):

it was a beautiful afternoon/evening, 

so we took a little stroll to dinner.

as we walked home, i purposefully lagged behind,

just to watch the gals and their sweet daddy.

grateful for my loves.

 Day 153 (Thursday, May 31):

we went to the pool with friends, and as always,

the girls had an absolute blast!

p spent hours jumping from the side in the big pool,

and l was totally content just chillin' in the baby pool.

grateful for friends, pool dates, and baby pools!

Day 154 (Friday, June 1):

we went out to dinner at one of our favorite richmond restaurants,

kuba kuba, and it was delicious as always.

the waitress brought the girls their drinks in these cups, 

and they had so much fun pretending they were drinking coffee.

so grateful for sweet imaginations.

Day 155 (Saturday, June 2):

we went over to our friends' for some playing, dinner,

and an early birthday celebration for b.

the cake was delicious, the company was wonderful (as always),

and we went home with big smiles on our faces.

so grateful for such a fantastic evening.

Day 156 (Sunday, June 3):

big day.

on our way to busch gardens (amusement park, baby!),

we stopped here for the most delicious donuts.

if you haven't been there and you live in rva, go soon!

your belly will thank me.

grateful for country style donuts on a sweet sunday morning.

at the park, these two liked the same rides,

and luckily they had fun waiting in the lines.

look at those sweethearts.

i hope they get married one day.

grateful for sweet friends for my sweet girls.

and this is the aftermath of our day at busch gardens.

we left our house at 8:30, arrived at the park by 9:45, and left around 6:30.

it was a fantastically fun and exhausting day.

grateful to have had so much fun for b's birthday.

happy birthday, sweet hubby.

Day 157 (Monday, June 4):

sometimes p arranges her art supplies in such a pretty way,

and i can't help but notice it.

grateful for all of our art supplies and the time my gals spend with them.

Day 158 (Tuesday, June 5):

i met some friends at a bar to say goodbye before we moved to nyc.

my ginger mojito was mighty tasty!

grateful for a night out with lovely friends and delicious drinks.

Day 159 (Wednesday, June 6):

ugh.  packing.  no fun.

but you know what was fun?

purging.

grateful that we were able to rid our home of clutter, sell some items,

and donate a lot!

 Day 160 (Thursday, June 7):

we met our friends at sweet frog as a final playdate before our move.

so incredibly grateful that we met this sweet family

and had a fun outing with them before we left.

love these boys!

 Day 161 (Friday, June 8):

how incredible is this?

we spent two nights before we moved to nyc at our friends' house,

and p and l shared the top bunk with their sweet buddy.

is this not a sight?  i love it!

grateful for candid moments like this one.

Day 162 (Saturday, June 9):

look at all of these smiles!

such a sweet time sitting outside, playing with the baby, and smiling.

grateful for everyone's happy moods.

and so grateful for our incredibly awesome friends

who let us stay with them an extra day

just because we weren't ready to say goodbye yet...

Day 163 (Sunday, June 10):

our arrival in nyc.

i love this city - it really is my home.

it is unlike any other city in the world...

to me at least.

grateful to have finally arrived.

 Day 164 (Monday, June 11):

we decided to stroll around our new neighborhood

to check out our locals restaurants and stores.

p was absolutely mesmerized by all of the jewelry in the store windows.

grateful for my little fancy girl who is going to love window shopping.

365 gratitude project: Days 149 and 150

So sorry for being such a lazy bum and not posting in a while.  We are moving back to NYC on Saturday, so I have been a busy little bee, packing and donating and selling and saying goodbyes.

Anyway, here is a little something that is very overdue!

Day 149 (Sunday, May 27):

so much to be grateful for on this fun afternoon.

grateful for: 

1) water for watering the plants and playing with the hose.

2) the bees that love our exploding lavender bush, showing us how they do their thang

(and so far not stinging us!).

3) sweet daddy for building a fire and suggesting a backyard campout!

4) fireflies because they are just so cool and easy to catch.

5) tents for frolicking and sleeping in.

great day.

(oh, and while the rest of the crew did spend the night in the tent in our yard,

i slept in our bed because i still wasn't feeling great from having my wisdom tooth

 out a few days earlier.

and because i was alone in the house and didn't hear anyone calling for me,

snoring, grinding teeth, or talking in their sleep, I had the best night's sleep ever!

i was a grateful lady for all of that incredible rest.)

Day 150 (Monday, May 28):

memorial day!

first trip to the pool of 2012.

the girls had such a great time,

and this little lady is like a crazy woman in water.

she thinks she can swim and has no fear which is absolutely petrifying,

but i love just how happy they were, splashing and playing with friends.

nothing better than a pool on a hot day.

p.s. check out her hands on her hips.  that's one of her favorite little poses.

she is a feisty one!

365 gratitude project: Days 147 and 148

Day 147 (Friday, May 25):

ended up having a wisdom tooth pulled at 3:30pm

 on the friday before memorial day weekend.

i was a nervous wreck.

in tears and scared beyond belief.

and you know what?  it really wasn't bad.

i am so grateful for the extremely kind and talented doctor

and her fantastic team of nurses and assistants.

they gave me halcion to calm me down,

 a chobani so i wouldn't be hungry, and covered me with a nice, warm blanket.

Day 148 (Saturday, May 26):

i was in bed, recovering, and my sweet nurses

came in for a wrestle break beside me.

the three of them love to wrestle.

i'm talking serious wrestling here - 

the kind that leaves welts and red marks all over their bodies.

and they love it.

so grateful for these three taking such good care of me!

and grateful that no one got hurt.

What I'm Reading: Night by Elie Wiesel

I just read Night by Elie Wiesel, and it was amazing.  It is a true story about Wiesel's time as a child spent in concentration camps.  I don't want to give anything away, but I really couldn't put it down.  To hear the story and imagine what this young boy must have been going through is absolutely captivating.  To see what he saw, experience what he did, and to survive it all is just incredible. I highly recommend it.

Next up for me is Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay.  This came highly recommended by a few people, so I am looking forward to it.