Baby Shower!

Last weekend my Mom and I threw a baby shower for my sister-in-law! I can't believe I am going to be an Aunt! I have already gone overboard buying cute little outfits for my niece 

(sorry Abby!). Here are a few highlights from the day!

Rattles

Lemon Water

Hanging Flowers

Cupcakes!

Thursday Afternoon

Some days you just need a cupcake....

Chambray Love!

Chambray shirts are popping up all over the place. And they should, they are easy to style, comfortable and perfect for when you don’t know what to wear. 

Chambray shirts make me laugh just a teeeeeny weeeeeny bit though. Especially when I remember that as an 8 year old, I wore my denim “chambray” shirt everywhere and with everything (Anyone else ever notice that the trends you thought were awful when you were a kid are now super rad?)! Oh if I had only known I was super fashionable, I really thought I was being a tomboy. 

Since I doubt I could fit into my childhood shirt, I broke down and bought this chambray shirt from Gap. I can't wait to style it like this...

                                                                         Photo from here

The Weekend

This weekend was filled with fabulous adventures at our state fair (who doesn't love a cute cow and an adorable baby goat?) and I am pretty sure I could eat fried Oreos for the rest of my life. Well maybe not my whole life, but how about a whole day? I also spent some quality time with my man friend drinking soy mocha lattes and lingering over a delicious brunch.

My Pants Are Awesome

If there is one thing that every girl/woman/person/human must own, it’s a pair of black skinny pants. Traditionally, it’s the little black dress that gets all of the attention, but this post is dedicated to the most worn and well-loved item in my closet, my black skinny pants. I dress them up, I dress them down, I roll them into capris for the summer and pair them with tall boots for the fall and winter. Honestly, I would wear these every day if I could. Below is my current favorite pair and some nifty ideas on how to rock this look. 

Express Pants

                                                                 

                                                                 From Work to Play

Casual Date Night 

Happy First Day of Summer!

Happy First Day of Summer!


To celebrate, I am getting a huge ice cream cone and I am going to bake my body by the pool tonight.

Photo

Zucchini Bread

 I love zucchini bread. I love it so much I am dedicating a whole post to it. It’s rich, moist texture with the added crunch of walnuts and the comforting taste of cinnamon really hits the spot with me. It is not only my favorite, but also my family’s favorite as well. A special request from my Dad this past weekend for Father’s Day had me brushing off our recipe and baking a huge batch. I hadn’t made it in a long time and had never attempted this recipe in my apartment so I was moderately skeptical it would turn out well.

But despite an oven that has a decided slant toward the back, and raging humidity, the batch came out beautifully! It was rich, moist and had the perfect touch of cinnamon. Special thanks goes to my man friend for grinding up the zucchini and battling the evil, sparking blender.

The pan barely lasted the day on Saturday, it was that good. SCORE!!!!!

This recipe is incredible. The blog is pretty amazing too. 

Friday Favorites

It's Friday!! *happy dance*!!

Some of my favorites right now are:

This body scrub

Fresh squeezed lemonade, this recipe is truly perfect.  

Quinoa salad

Backyard cookouts for Father’s Day

Hope everyone has a fabulous weekend! Let's celebrate those Dads!

~Kat

Decorating

I love creating a beautiful, well organized space.  I am drooling over this bedroom, it’s bright and cheerful and yet it’s not overwhelming. The blue is a soothing color and the mustard accents give it that cozy, spend all day in bed feel. I have to say, if my bedroom looked this awesome, I would probably never leave.

                                                       Photo-Better Homes and Gardens

Now if I could pair that bedroom with this breakfast in bed, I would probably die from excitement.

                                                                              Photo-Food Network

~Kat

Who's Got The Time?

Today is one of those days where every time you look at your watch an enormous amount of time has passed and you go "#$%#$#$"! Yup it's one of those Thursday's.

Thank you trusty watch for putting up with me silently cursing you as the morning slips away. You take allot of abuse but handle it like a champ.

Happy Thursday!

~Kat

I'm Back!

Hello!

Did you all think I fell into a black hole? Well I did, a giant black hole filled with graduations, cookouts, Memorial Day celebrations and hectic work schedule.

But it’s okay, because I am back! Safe and sound.  I don’t know about you, but I am ready for some serious R&R this weekend. Below are a few things that will be occupying my time.

Shopping for a dress to wear to weddings/parties. I am particularly fond of this dress.

Sleeping! Watch out bed, you and I have some serious snuggling to do this weekend.

Baking cookies. I haven’t made cookies in forever, despite the fact I used to make them every week in the summer as a kid (Oh now I get why I have a crazy addiction to sugar!) *light bulb*. This recipe is fabulous!

Photo- from For Me For You

Enjoy your weekend!!

~Kat

My First Half Marathon

This past weekend I ran my first ever mini marathon. I signed up for the 500 Festival Mini Marathon back in January and jumped into training. When I signed up I had lofty aspirations of training my heart out and showing up on race day with a nice six pack and beastly legs.  Well while I did a great job training ( I only missed four runs due to sickness, life being crazy etc..)  I didn’t show up with a six pack..whaaa whaa. But I felt pretty confident that I could fight my way through the 13.1 miles. What I didn’t factor in, was how incredibly hot it was going to be. so.freaking. hot., all of my training runs had taken place in cool or cold weather. I was not prepared for the 87% humidity and record highs that I would encounter. Let me give you the breakdown of how the race went.

Start-I was pumped, adrenaline was high and I was ready to take off. It was warm, but there was a cool breeze blowing.

Mile 1 to 4-I am flying, I am right on pace with where I had been training and was sinking into a nice steady 10:45 race pace. I am clapping and cheering on the bands along the route and feeling pretty awesome, I think I might beat my estimated time. Stupid, stupid, girl.

Mile 5-OMG I have to pee, so bad. I take a quick pit stop, grab some water and take off again. I lost about 5 minutes because the lines at the potties are long.

Mile 6- I made it to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway track, and everybody is getting hot hot hot.  My makeup is dripping off my face and I am pretty sure every inch of my body is a stinky sweaty mess.

The Track- Dear God when did it get so hot?  Why won’t those cheerleaders shut up? I have a cramp in my rib that is killing me. WHY WILL THE TRACK NEVER END???????? I felt like I was running on that darn pavement for years. The only bright point is where they take your picture, my pride helped me pick up my pace and pretend to be having the time of my life.

Mile 9- I am really starting to feel the heat. Lots of runners have stopped or have slowed down.

Mile 10- I feel like I am delirious, how many bands can you have that are comprised of 8 year olds? Apparently all of the bands on the mile 10 stretch.

Mile 11- I am so hot, I stop and walk for a half mile to try and shake the dizzy feeling that has come on.

Victory Mile- I am determined. I no longer care about the medal, all I want is a bottle of cold water and an air conditioned car. I plod my way through, I see my parents towards the finish line and that gives me a burst of energy. A few more strides and I am closing in on the finish, I smile and wave for the camera and cross the finish line. Yipppeeee! I can get water now!

Overall, I am pretty proud of myself for finishing and not dying/ collapsing/vowing to never run again. While it sounds crazy, I can’t wait for next year. I know I will be stronger and will be able to kick that courses butt! You better watch yourself 500 mini marathon, you’re on my hit list and next year I am coming for you.  

It's Been Awhile...

So sorry for the silence! It’s been a whirlwind month so far..Easter, work, training for a Mini Marathon, I barley have had time to breathe!  My wardrobe has taken the hardest hit this month. Honestly, I  think my closet really will cry if I wear my favorite grey slacks one more time. I mean really, how many times can you wear slacks, a dress shirt and a cardigan? Umm I did… almost every.single.day this month. *ashamed sigh*

But with today being the first of May ( Happy May Day by the way!), I am resolving  to make May a month in which I wear items that are often stuffed in the back of my closet and overlooked.

I shall begin my experiment with some very lovely, but often overlooked dresses. Today I am sporting this look and I am trying out a new hairstyle as well.

Have a lovely day!

-Kat

Hello!

Wheew! Did everyone have a good Easter? I sure did, I stuffed myself on cupcakes and ham and enjoyed our weekend company. All of that food made me think about how much I would have to work out to  not look like a beached whale. And that made me grimace as I realized that swimsuit and tiny sundress season is just around the corner (begin massive panic attack.. Destroy the Oreos! Burn all remnants of sugar in my apartment..AAAHHHH!). So I browsed around for some workout inspiration and came away with a few cute swimsuits from Roxy as well as some adorable dresses that I found at Delias.

The dresses

The swimsuits

Now I am going to run my cupcake flab off, bring it summer!

-Kat

Dress Haul

Finding dresses to wear to work can be the most frustrating task in the world. Most are too short and the dresses that have an appropriate length look like something a mom would wear in the 90’s (no offense to moms who wore jumper dresses in the 90’s, I am sure you totally rocked them!). I didn’t want to buy a dress that would look something like this.

 However, on a trip to JC Penney over the weekend,  I was pleasantly surprised to walk away with three dresses that didn’t break my budget and are perfectly work appropriate.

This dress is a perfect way to incorporate color into my work wear.

This is my ideal weekend outfit. Comfy and versatile, it can take me from shopping to a nice dinner in a flash.

This dress isn't the one I bought, but it looks similar to the one I purchased.

Shockingly, all three of these dresses cost less than what I would pay for one dress at another store. The only downside to cheaper dresses is that they shrink quickly after a few washes. But when I didn’t pay very much for the item in the beginning, it doesn’t bother me that much!

Happy Tuesday!

-Kat

Friday Favorites

It’s Friday! Here are a few things that are currently my favorites.

• This perfume. It smells so fresh and feminine! An instant pick me up in the morning, I can’t stop wearing it.
• Drinking water-lots and lots of ice cold water. Especially when they are in cute glass bottles.

Source:Manette Gracie Events

• This pair of shoes.
• Taking time to RELAX during the weekend.

• This cake. Maybe something to try this weekend?

Happy Friday and enjoy your weekend! J

-Kat

The Darker Side of Nail Polish

My nail polish color usually rotates between, pink, red, pink, red and maybe the occasional purple. But this week I decided to venture into the darker side of nail polish. Lincoln Park After Dark by OPI seemed to be scarily dark, but after trying it on, this polish was exactly what I was looking for. Dark, moody and a gorgeous shade of burgundy and purple, this polish exceeded my expectations. This shade has been working beautifully with my bright outfits. If you’re thinking about trying a dark nail polish, this would be a great first step.

It’s almost Friday! Thank goodness!

-Kat

Maxi skirts are one of those whimsical spring/ summer items that I aspire to wear. I throw my long black maxi skirt on with high hopes of making a relaxed, yet polished look, only to tear it off frustrated when I can’t find the right combination. Unfortunately, most of the inspiration I have found always involve a cut off top that is too short or a boho look that doesn’t necessarily work with my daily activities. I was browsing around  some of my favorite blogs last night and I found some great inspiration that have encouraged me to give my maxi skirt another try.

 Source:be-mod.com

Source: Cupcakes and Cashmere

-Kat

Spring Fever

Every spring, I get the itch to try something new with my hair. In the past, it has resulted in some pretty bad haircuts. I can’t pull off the super short looks, and yet I keep trying.  About two years ago, I must have finally realized that I can’t pull off the pixie cut ( I think looking at some old pictures of me with my short hair convinced me..Eeeek!) and I let my hair grow. It’s a nice long length right now, so for my spring haircut, I am not going to chop it off.  I am thinking of trying the ombre color style. Right now my hair is dark brown so I am excited about adding in some caramel highlights!

Below is my inspiration…

Source: neilgeorgeblog.com

-Kat

Color Therapy

My spring wardrobe consists mostly of black, grey and the occasional white/pink. I’ll admit, I am not very adventurous when it comes to color. Maybe it’s because I am too practical with my purchases, but if I spend money on a piece of clothing, I want to know it can transition through most of the seasons and will match everything in my closet. Boorriiinnnggg.

This spring, I have promised myself to only buy items that have color. After swallowing sheer panic as I purchased my first coral pencil skirt from our local Target. I found myself feeling liberated.

Oh.my.gosh. what have I unleashed? Now I can’t seem to buy something unless it has color! Not quite yet willing to spend some big bucks on a gorgeous pair of bright pants like this, I nabbed these over the weekend. Sunny and bright, these capris are dirt cheap and have instantly taken my weekend wardrobe to a happy, colorful place. 

I paired them with a white t-shirt, some chunky mint green jewelry, black heels and BAM! I had a colorful outfit that made my black and grey wardrobe nearly have a nervous breakdown. But hey, my closet can’t get too freaked out, I DID wear a pair of black heels…

-Kat

Welcome

Welcome to Something Unique! With spring just a few days away, I thought it would be a good time to begin my first blog, centered around things that I find interesting, beautiful or unique.

I love spring, the colors, the excitement, and the beauty of watching a barren winter world burst into color and vibrancy!

I hope you enjoy!

Kat