Sew Awesome!

Last night, Justin and I went to Wal-Mart on a company errand for his dad's business, and we ended up having to stick around quite a while. We decided to make the most of it, stopping for dinner at the Papa Bello's pizza restaurant inside the giant store (not bad, actually. Superb cheese breadsticks!). After that, we did some "fun shopping" - at least for me. My poor hubby was getting shopper's fatigue, as men often do when forced to shop for long periods of time. He was a trooper, though. :)

Anyway, we walked around the arts and crafts area, and I remarked that I had been wanting to get a sewing machine so that I would have something creative to do with my free time. He smiled and said, "Do you want to get one now?" Um... of course I did! About 30 minutes later, we were checking out with this:



as well as two yards of black and white polka dot fabric, various spools of thread, a box of pins, a zipper, and a pattern for a basic, A-line skirt.

Now, I have never used a sewing machine before - ever. So, after over an hour of reading the manual and trying to thread my new machine last night, I finally gave up. This morning, all it took was a couple instructional YouTube videos and a little patience, and SUCCESS! It's all threaded and ready to go! I am so excited to actually make something with it. I will share my progress, for those of you who enjoy this sort of thing. :)

Oh, the possibilities!

Love and Lattés,

Katie

Moment of silence...

...for my laptop. It is currently at the computer hospital, getting a new motherboard. Thank the Lord for warantees!

In the meantime (the Geek Squad tells me it will be 2-4 weeks), I will be sharing Justin's computer (when he's home, anyway, and not on the road for work) and using my handy dandy iPhone web browser to stay connected to the world.

Not having my laptop for one whole day (gasp) has made me realize just how attached to it I have been. Perhaps it's time to get off my couch and find other fun and interesting things to do. Hmm. I feel like I need a project. Any inexpensive suggestions?

More to come!

Love and Lattés,

Katie

The Best Sugar Cookies Ever

I've had a lot of time on my hands lately, and have found myself itching to do something creative. When I don't have anything fun to do, I often default to baking. Specifically, I like to bake cookies. Justin and I both love a good sugar cookie, but neither of us is easy to please; we both love a not-too-firm, not-too-soft cookie, and frosting - preferably buttercream - that isn't *too* sweet.

One recent afternoon, I did a quick google search and found a recipe for "The Best Rolled Sugar Cookies" that used ingredients I already had on hand. I made a half batch, which disappeared so quickly that I didn't even get to take a picture of my delicious creation. You can find the recipe here: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/The-Best-Rolled-Sugar-Cookies/Detail.aspx.

A little more googling found a yummy sounding frosting recipe, which allowed me to utilize the heavy whipping cream we bought when my family was down (Callie made homemade vanilla whipped cream for a perfect strawberry shortcake). That recipe is here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/gale-gand/quick-vanilla-buttercream-frosting-recipe/index.html. Simple, right? But the cream makes all the difference.

After tasting one of my cookies, Justin remarked that these were the best I had ever made. So, I thought I'd share. :) You can bet I'll be making these again! If you used fun cookie cutters and added food coloring to the frosting, they would make a festive treat for any holiday or event! I'm considering making Jack-O-Lantern cookies with this recipe for Halloween. Maybe some candies on top... oh, the creative juices are really flowing now!

Love and Lattés,

Katie

Graduation, Celebration, Vacation!

As you can see, life is pretty great right now. That long sought-after bachelor's degree in English is finally mine, and graduation went splendidly. Our family vacation on the beach was a blast, and I must say that I absolutely approve of my brother's girlfriend, Kattie. She is super adorable and they are perfect together! I was sad to see everyone go, but as we said our affectionate goodbyes, we talked about seeing each other again sometime soon. I am (not-so-secretly) hoping we'll be able to make the trip to Michigan for Christmas this year. :)

More to come!

Love and Lattés,

Katie

Four years ago today...

we said "I do," and our "happily ever after" began...

we stood beside our dearest loved ones and made a commitment to last a lifetime...

we expressed our love and devotion to each other before God...

we reveled in the bliss of a new beginning, as two became one.

I am so blessed to be able to spend my life with such a sweet, funny, adorable, loving, amazing man. Here's to him, and to the next four years, and many, many more to come.


Love and Lattés,


Katie

One of Those Days

This morning, some invisible force was determined to keep Justin and me home from church. It was like Murphy's Law being played out before our eyes. One thing after another: Justin dropping a fruit cup, which exploded all over the kitchen floor and threatened to make us late; his clothes taking a little too long to finish drying; and then, finally, the big one.

We were making our way into the garage. I said, "Honey, do you have your keys?" and before I could get the word "keys" out, he had shut the door. Which was locked. He said, "No, I was going to use yours." I dug through my purse, but to no avail. No keys. We were locked out.

Since everyone was already at church, we waited outside the house till noon. Finally, Justin was able to get a hold of his parents, who had a spare key -- or so we thought. WRONG! So, feeling more than a little discouraged, we called a locksmith. Actually, we called about four before we finally got a hold of someone.

We waited, and waited, and waited some more.

Justin's parents were kind enough to bring us lunch from San Jose (THE local place to get Mexican food) and wait with us a while.

I don't remember when the locksmith finally came, but I believe it was around 2 pm. We spent $60 for him to use a little tool that took about... oh, ten seconds to unlock the door. But by this time, we didn't care. I can not explain to you how good it felt to step back into our cozy, air conditioned home after three hours of sitting in the hot, humid garage (it was raining; otherwise, we might have sat on the back patio).

Most of the afternoon was spent relaxing and enjoying NOT being outside, but eventually we gave in and took care of the grocery shopping and yard work that were begging to be done.

We also had dinner at Shoney's with Tim, Shannon and Emily (who is spunkier than ever and stinking adorable), which was a lot of fun!

Not the best of days, but not the worst either. Spending time with my husband - even under such circumstances as these - is always nice. He's my best friend, and I love him so much.

I should mention that we learned our lesson after the little episode this morning. We now have a spare key in the car, which we can get into at any time using the number pad on the outside. And yes, I have the code memorized. :)

Love and Lattés,

Katie