So We Did It

…we planned a trip to Paris! We leave for our adventure this May and I CANNOT wait until then. I haven't been out of the country since 2010 and I'm looking forward to embracing Paris and its culture.  I've been reading about it frantically, and have our days tentatively planned. I'm pretty sure that I don't want to be the tourist that has every second of every day planned. BUT I also don't want to just wander the streets with no real intention. It's a fine line, I guess.

In my quest for Paris-related-internet knowledge, I've stumbled across some great finds and, you know what, I'm going to share these finds because I'm just that kinda gal.

Here they are in no real order:

http://www.pret-a-voyager.com

(A blog about an ex-pat Paris resident who gives the insider scoop!)

http://www.davidlebovitz.com

(An ex-pat FOOD CRITIC, living Paris. There are so many good restaurant finds on his site, it's ridiculous.)

http://www.rachelkhoo.com

(This one is by far my favorite, probably because Rachel has great style, AND, AND, AND, she's kinda living out my dream. She has her own cooking show, an adorable blog, and a beautiful apartment in Paris! What's not to love?)

http://www.viator.com

(A sightseeing site! You can find every tour under the sun on that site!)

http://www.thelondoner.me/search/label/paris?max-results=20

(Rose has blogged about Paris a few times and I just love her insights!)

I really cannot wait to put all of this researching to use!

XO.

Image Found Here

Homemade Goodies: Embossed Valentines

I've fallen in love recently, and no, I'm not cheating on Ryan. I've recently fallen in love with my embossing gun. I'm going to be honest, now that I have one, I'm embossing anything that lies still for more than 5 minutes or so. With Valentine's Day fast approaching, I thought: why not make your own Valentines? And that's exactly what I did.  Should you be interested in doing the same, I may or may not have written out the instructions below.

Here's my set-up, I went with the robin egg blue/red/silver color scheme. I got all of my supplies from Paper Source and if you're new to the embossing game, you'll need:

1) card stock

2) embossing gun (a $25 investment but WELL WORTH IT!)

3) A stamp

4) Stamp pad (I went with clear this time around)

5) Embossing powder (normally I use clear, but I tried silver this time!)

Stamp ink onto card stock. I generally go for the middle of the card, but you can do whatever you want!

Sprinkle embossing powder over wet ink and shake off excess powder. 

Turn on embossing gun & watch the magic happen!  You'll know it's done by the change in color--it will go from a muted color to a VIVID color. It's pretty amazing, actually. 

Now you're ready to write your love notes!! Be sure to spread the love evenly!!!! 

"I’ll try and explain how this felt. Imagine being a twelve year old boy Richard. Now imagine it’s Christmas morning and you’re sat their with your final present to open. It’s a big one, and you know what it is. It’s that Goodmans stereo you picked out the catalogue and wrote to Santa about.

Only you open the present and it’s not in there. It’s your hamster Richard. It’s your hamster in the box and it’s not breathing."

 

 

My favorite excerpt from Oliver Beale's complaint letter to Richard Branson, CEO of Virgin Airlines.

What's In A Name

My God given name is Katie, not Katherine, Kathleen or anything of the sort. That's right, my parents gave me a nickname as a permanent name. I asked my Mom about this, and she thought that I could be called Katie when I was younger and Kate as I grew up. I guess that's some good logic. Last weekend Ryan's friend was in town, and we got talking about how I don't really feel like a Kate. I've always felt a Katie. When you think about it, a Kate and a Katie are two completely different people. Kate is put together, organized and punctual. Katie is a party hound, with a dirty car and wallet full of receipts. 

We started discussing how I am and am not Kate or Katie. For example, Kate has a fancy purse for every season (true). And Katie runs late to practically everything (also true). Kate points out spelling errors and grammatical mistakes (not true). While Katie reads US Weekly and doesn't know the difference between there and their (also not true). Kate lives by the phrase "early to bed, early to rise". Katie snoozes for an hour and then forgets to feed the cats on the way out the door (partially true). Kate measures everything out while cooking (totally true). While Katie throws things pell-mell style into the mixing bowl. Kate is obsessed with her to-do list (completely true). Whereas, Katie doesn't know what a to-do list is. 

At the end of the discussion, we figured that I was 80% Katie and 20% Kate. And I'm OK with that. I'm klutzy, and quirky, but at the same time I'm particular and even quirkier. I guess that's just the way I roll.