Scenes from Sandy...

 We've been flooded (haha) with well wishes*** 

from our Midwestern family and friends

about Sandy, the Frankenstorm. 

In all honesty though, 

things are pretty quiet 'round these parts. 

Here are some pics from the eye of the storm! 

Hurricane home office. 

Yep, I worked from home today. 

And yes, Threadfriends, 

I'm still happily bouncing on the ball/deskchair.

The sky was eerily white all day. 

Weird. 

 

This guy took advantage of us both being at home

and creeped around whenever possible. 

That is, until he got super sleepy

and decided to snuggle in with his teddy bear. 

Ha. Scaredy dog. 

And here's a view of our street. 

Yup, nothing much to report. 

Unless you count this plant that fell over. 

 But as far as I know, 

it happened before Sandy. 

Now we're just hunkering down, 

waiting for the flooding to pass, 

and dancing around the house to Roger Miller. 

It's been a pretty good day. 

Happy Hurricane East Coasters! 

Stay Safe! 

(and drink whiskey)

**A couple of friends sent along

"That's what you get for moving away messages"  

I miss you, Chicago friends. 

How to....

prepare for a Hurricane. 

or Nor'Easter...

(I still don't know the difference)

Berries, berries and more berries! 

Momma B's All-Berry Pie

and the Capt'n's Crunch :-) 

Also, make sure to have lots
of beers and water ready, 
just in case. 

Batten down the hatches! 

Oh, and in case you are wondering, 
no, I'm not reading scripture while cooking. 
Well, dare I say that The Joy of Cooking
is the kitchen Bible? :-) 

Happy fall!

Just a quick happy list 

for those of you keeping track...

(thanks for reading, mom!) 

1. I started work at QVC this week, 

and so far, it's really great. 

More on that soon! 

2. Sundays with the hubs. 

Anth and I are both super busy now. 

Sunday has become our day to 

hang out and unwind from the week. 

Today we got out of the city, 

kicked around a soccer ball, 

drank tall boys, 

and hiked around trails. 


And although I spent 5 years playing soccer, 
I was reminded today that 
my soccer skills are still pretty craptastic. 

My soccer-style photo posing skills though? 
Amazeballs. 

How about you? 

What's topping your list for the week? 

Happiness is....

Two things this week. 

1. Donut Gods

Today I went to check out Federal Donuts' new location.

(happily only 4 blocks from our house)

They make "fancy" donuts, hot to-order ones, 
and twice-fried Korean chicken.

If that wasn't reason enough to be happy, 

here's one more. 

I ordered two donuts. 

I got these two bags of donuts. 

You can't tell from the pic, 

but there is a dozen in there. 

Waaaaaaaaaaht!

When I told the guy I only ordered 2, 

he kindly responded, 

"Did they accidently charge you for 12?"

Nope. 

"It's okay, take them, our mistake"

Oh man. 

I happily skipped away with my two bags of donuts

and made some new friends in Rittenhouse Square. 

I.Heart.Federal.Donuts. 

(and now my belly hurts from scarfing 4 of them in 10 seconds)

2. J-O-B

Everyone who knows me 

already knows that I got a job Monday. 

When I got back from the donut madness, 

my welcome packet was waiting for me. 

Yay! 

Happy Happy Birthday....

...to me and my grandma Sue!

My grandma Sue and I
have always had a special connection.
She taught me how to dance the jitterbug in her livingroom.

Took me to painting with her.
(she's an amazing painter herself!)

She's also always got a smile on her face
and is such an important part of our family.

Mamaw, I love you so much and miss you!
I wish we could be together today
and share these delicious donuts!

Randomly, it's also Gwyneth Paltrow's bday.

I kinda want to be her when I grow up.
Silly birthday wish?
I think not.
:-) 

Happytime

I've been trying to focus a lot 

on happiness the past week or so. 
How am I doing it? 

1. Before leaving Chicago, 

my friend Betsy

(who is the best running buddy EVER)

gave me The Happiness Project.

I'm only half-way through it, 

but so far, it's been a great read.

2. Happy. 

This is such an awesome documentary about happiness. 

Watch it today!  

3. Burgers and Cheese Fries. 

Who isn't happy when eating burgers? 

Okay, vegetarians, but other than that? 

Shake Shack is my new fav. 

Pretty much anywhere with crinkle fries 

quickly becomes my favorite :-) 

4. I restarted FNL today. 

I need some Tammy Taylor 

inspiration while job searching. 

I think it was a good idea. ;-)

Sometimes....

....you need a Manhattan and cookies bars for dinner. 

but just sometimes ;-)

What about you? 

What's your go to 

"I-need-to-chill-out-be-happy" dinner?

Skills I'm learning while unemployed....

Breadmaking. 

Bread has been my Achilles heel for a while now. 

But no more! 

I followed this recipe 

and (thank god!) it worked. 

I'm getting restless being home every day. 

It's hard to relax and go explore a new city 

when you're looking for a job...

instead, I'm cooking and baking. 

A lot. 

At least if I'm not bringing in any bread, 

I'm making it....

Right? :-)  

Oh, and there are only two things 

about this recipe that are difficult:

1. Waiting for it to cool...

so you can then scarf half of the loaf

without burning your fingers. 

(true story)

2. Keeping your dog away. 

While I was on the phone with my friend Jen, 

Jax decided to snag a piece for himself. 

He's now happily passed out on his bed 

with a belly full of bread.

hahahaha

Any suggestions on what 

I should take on next?

Dear people of Philly.....

I made this. 

Let's be friends. 

I mixed two recipes

(found here and here)

and it came out superfantasticallydelicious.

It was great over baked potatoes with cheese. 

Also delish in quesadillas, tacos and even eggs. 
(Anth will mix anything with eggs)

Needless to say, 

I'll be making pork booty again soon. 

Anthony was really excited too...as was JDog. 

I think the exact words after the first bite were

"Oh shit, Kim"

hahahaha. 

Cooking is a lot more fun when he's around. 

A huge shout out also go to Kara and Paul

who got me this cookbook for my bday, 

and Katie who gave the Dr.Pepper Pork recipe rave reviews. 

(no one wants to waste 8lbs of pork on a mediocre recipe!)

Yay! You guys rock!

Now I just need Philly friends to cook for :-)

Anyone?

napnap

House is in order.

Interviews are over. 

Pork Booty in the oven.

(more on that tomorrow!)

Now it's time to reward myself 

with a trashy tv catchup

and naptime with the pup. 

I think we've earned it :-)

PS, Isn't Jax such a handsome guy?! 

Filly Fun!

Now that we're getting settled in, 

we've had some time to go exploring in Philly. 

Here's the score so far

(in order of importance) 

:-) 

1. Unpack - check!

Our place is compact, 

(almost no kitchen!)

but everything now has a home...

and it's in a great neighborhood. 

 And yes, 

there is an amp in our fireplace :-)

 Little pieces of Chicago!

2. Get job - working on it :-)   

I've had one phone interview (QVC)

and have another tomorrow (Anthropologie).

Please send prayers, 

cross your fingas, 

think nice thoughts 

about me finding a jobby job. 

3. Find Bears bar - check! 

There is only one in the city. 

...and....

it's 4 blocks from our house. 

...and....

everyone there was awesome.

Bear Down!

4. Hit up the Italian Market - check! 

For those of you in Chicago, 

the Italian Market is a cross between

the Des Plaines market, Seattle's Pike Place

and then add in tons of meat and cheese.

We were in heaven. 

 Oh and we definitely got a lot of boos

for our Bear's gear. 

The guys in the meat shop 

almost kicked us out ;-)

Soft-shelled crabby sandwich?!

Yes, please! 

Di Bruno's House of Cheese was my fav.
We had to leave quickly
or we would have spent all
of our rent money on cheesy goodies.
hahahahah.
I'm not kidding. 

5. Find Rocky stairs and run them - check! 

YAY! 

The cheesesteak count
still sits at zero,
so there will be more posts soon!  

The mission at hand...

Just a quick update on Philly! 

We made it, yay!

Operation
"Find places for 24 feet of stuff"

is going pretty well...

However...

Operation
 "Don't drink all the scotch

while setting up house"...

not so much :-)

Drinking and moving just go so well together.
 hahahaha

But we're alive, well, and getting adjusted.

Thanks everyone for the prayers during our journey!

Oh, and a HUGE thanks to Poppa Bowers
for driving out with us and sharing in the moving fun
(and the scotch) ;-)
We love you so much!

Nothing says love like....

coming home from a much needed run

to find that your husband

has driven across the city....

just to get you one last order 

of your favorite super spicy panang curry.

Oh Phos, I'm going to miss the heck out of you. 

And Anth, you're so kickass.

Happy Tuesday ya'll!

Happy list is back again! 

1. Giggly nieces and nephews

Anthony and I had a blast spending time

at the lake this past weekend with the fmaily.

  

One of the best parts? 

Playing with the iSwap faces app

with the kids.

Their laughter is so infectious.

Here are some of our masterpieces!  

2. Lakehouse finds. 

We hunted for turtles, 

fished standing in the lake, 

and searched for goodies in the garden. 

 

It.was.great.  

(and delicious!)

 And last, but not least, 

3. Calumet Fisheries. 

Just go today. 

 

 And if you do, 

eat on the curb...

it's much more fun. :-) 

 

My momma's coming up tomorrow

to help us clean, paint, pack up....

That's also pretty fantastic :-) 

What about you? 

What's making you happy this week?!