Half-Baked

At the moment I need yummy, easy and healthy. Take an apple, core out the top with a spoon, fill it to the brim with butter, brown sugar and cinnamon, bake till it's bubbly and enjoy. Happy Monday!

It's Friday,Love

{ Feeling like white roses this week }

If you saw yesterday's post you know I'm in dire need of a martini and long morning in bed with coffee. Posting days have been a bit off too. Doing the best I can, and perhaps it's my looming birthday, but I'm alright with that. Hopefully age is a harbinger for self-forgiveness. And you'll also notice I didn't apologize. Another thing I'm working on in the new year. See ya Monday! 

{ In all honesty I'm pretty cheap when it comes to beauty products, so I'm super excited to try my new samples }

{ This fried chicken sandwich was surprisingly horrible but I'd already taken a pic so here ya go }

{ Currently living in my grey cashmere sweater once I cross my home's threshold }

{ How in God's name can we put a man on the moon and yet we can't create a computer battery any smaller than this? }

In Session

I'm suffering from what I like to call “Session Fever”. Here's some symptoms to be on the lookout for if you think you, or a loved-one, might also be suffering.

• Excessive yawning
• Dark circles and eye puffiness
•  Excessive irritability 
•  Increased forgetfulness
• An inability to remember what day it is
• If you ask them what time they can do lunch on Saturday (a day the legislature is not is session), they answer “maybe around 12, Commerce and Labor meets a ½ an hour after adjournment and my bill is up”
• A new-found addiction to Diet Coke
• Increased lung capacity from climbing numerous flights of stairs on a daily basis
• A sudden tendency to empty the contents of one’s pockets upon entering a building because there are metal detectors in Target too right?

If your loved-one is suffering from 5 or more of these symptoms please pour them a drink as soon as possible. Here are some other things you can do, as I’m sad to report the only cure is the end of session.

• Good old-fashioned “Tender Loving Care (TLC)”. We need our feet rubbed. We need a blanket wrapped around us. We need a hug.
• Take us out! Don’t be offended, but we probably won’t ask you. Our brains are in a committee-induced fog and we don’t think about doing fun things. But God do we need to. Ask us out for a drink. Take us to dinner. Get us outside. We’re getting pale!!!!!!
• Be patient. The pace, stress and overwhelming nature of session is something that is hard to understand unless you’ve experienced it. Don’t worry, it will be over soon. Hey....at least we're not boring:). 

Jack and Liv

So here's the deal...I'm sure you think your kids are cute. I'm sure if you don't have kids you think any miniature relative you have is adorable. I'm sure somewhere, sometime in your life you've seen a kid who was so freakin cute you thought you were going to abduct them. But here's the truth. Price Waterhouse Cooper did a study, all major movie critics agree and I double-checked the math.....my niece and nephew are in actuality the two cutest kids on the planet. It's a fact. I'm just reporting it.

I spent a few days after Christmas in Atlanta visiting them and I was going to put their photos in my holiday post, but frankly, there were too many awesome ones so they get a whole post to themselves. Wish I could give them squishes (that's what I call hugs) right now.

Dear Jack and Live,
Be nice to people, always do your best, don't ever settle for less than you deserve and remember, I will bail you out of jail if you need me to. At least that's what I think your Grandfather would have said to you if he could have watched you grow up.
Love Always,
Aunt Kel

It's Friday, Love

{ Telling myself this every evening lately }

I fell asleep on the couch one night this week typing on my computer. I woke up an hour later, hands still perched on the keyboard. The 2015 Legislative Session has started here in VA and no matter how many times I do it, no matter how much I try to prepare myself....the pace is always a shock to my system. Feeling a bit better today, think I've found my new equilibrium. It will be the norm for the next few weeks. It's nuts, enormously fast, stressful and exhausting. But it's also a hell of a lot of fun and in the end hopefully I've done some good. Hope I can relax a bit this weekend. See ya Monday!

{ Things got a little icy this week }

{ Telling myself I can eat whatever I want but I can only eat half }

{ Loving my new business cards }

{ Maybe the cutest thing ever }

The Longest Night

It's the first of the year and everyone is trying to eat a little lighter, move a little more and start things off on the right foot. That lasted about three days for me, which isn't too bad, last year it was two. Progress! But back in December I was seriously pouting about the lack of sunshine and my need for a tropical breeze and a fruity drink with an umbrella. That didn't happen so I had to do what I could to make it through. In fact, on the shortest day/longest night of 2014 I found myself hungry and with a few hours to kill. What to do? Make soup! Find a recipe with sausage and bacon and heavy cream! Done and done! Hope you enjoy....here's the recipe.