Yay Shopping!

Ok, not really a "yay". Yesterday I left the house for the first time in 4 days to do a little shopping. You see, Marc has been out of town on business all week. So my choices were to either go to the store myself or starve to death. What was on my list?

Chewable Vitamin C:

OJ:

Fruit Salad:

Yes, that's right. I have not had nail polish on since I removed it Sunday night. Oh, the horror!

Homemade Turkey Noodle Soup from Seaside Market:

For when I run out of the good stuff:

Bringing in the big guns:

If you haven't guessed by now, I am sick. Really sick. I started feeling punky Saturday night and by Monday it was full blown. It still is. Yuck! I have not been sick in 2 - 3 years. I wonder what caused this?

Oh, guess who else is sick? Mary & Nina are sick. Really sick.

What do the three of us have in common you may ask? Well for starters, we were all at the same party on inauguration day. Also, neither of us has any children. I actually think that the three of us were the only ones at said party that do not have any children. Coincidence? I think not. I think that all of those mommies have built up a resistance to what ever nasty bug we caught. How is that fair? 

Hopefully we'll all be back in the swing of things soon. Feel better ladies!

Meet Marc

Meet my boyfriend, the 5th member of The Beetles:


Circa 1971.

Just look at that neckerchief. From what I understand, he was quite the fashion plate back then. He still is now. So cute. The cutest boy ever. 

*(he'll kill me if he sees this!! hehehe)*

Lunch at St. Tropez Bakery and Bistro

A few days ago I had a late lunch at one of my favorite spots in Encinitas, St. Tropez Bakery & Bistro. We dine here pretty regularly for both breakfast and lunch. They have a beautiful selection of pastries and a great menu of salads, soups and sandwiches. If you live in the area or ever find yourself in the North County San Diego area, a meal at St. Tropez is a must. 

My Goat Cheese Salad:

This is probably my favorite thing to have for lunch. Crisp lettuce, red onion, red pepper, kalamata olives, gherkin pickles, huge homemade croutons and goat cheese that has been wrapped in philo dough and lightly pan fried. So yummy, my mouth waters thinking about it!

Outdoor patio:

Inside:

Yummy Quiche:

Beautiful Pastries:

St. Tropez Bistro and Bakery, Encinitas, California. Yum!

I Heart Hillcrest

I hate parking meters. I hate them with a passion more than you can even understand. It's not because I am cheap, because let me assure you, I am not. It is because I never have much more than a quarter in my wallet. I don't carry cash, I use credit. It's just what works best for me. 

So imagine my shock and horror when I went to Hillcrest the other day to get my hairs cut, to find nothing but pay-for-parking lots and parking meters. I knew better than to even bother with a meter, so I pulled into the first pay-for-parking lot that I saw. I parked, and walked over to the strange yet cute old woman working the guard booth, and asked her if she took credit cards. Nope! 

The next thing she told me was utterly shocking, in a good way. The parking meters take credit. What?! Yup, they do:

See the beautiful Visa/Mastercard logo? Love at first sight. 

Way to go Hillcrest! Parking meters are seriously enough to make me write off a city completely. There are just too many places I can go where I don't have to hassle with them. But since you let me pay the way I want to, with credit, we can be friends. 

The freaking awesome parking meters are just one reason to love Hillcrest. It's a fabulous little urban oasis for me with funky shops and restaurants when the beach towns are just a feelin' little too boring for me. I can't wait to go back! I heart Hillcrest. 

Night Sky in Cardiff by the Sea

Evening view from my balcony:

In the foreground is the San Elijo Lagoon. In the background, if it was daytime, you could see the 101 (coast highway) and the Pacific Ocean. Looks peaceful, huh?

In the nighttime, I cannot always see the ocean, but I can usually hear it. As I sit awake in bed right now typing this, the sound of the waves crashing is nearly loud enough to keep me from falling asleep. If the sound of the crashing surf does not keep me from getting to bed, the sound of the Coaster or the Surfliner flying by will. Yes, the view is amazing. But sometimes I just want quiet when I am trying to sleep. Oh well, I guess a loud night in California is better than a cold one in Michigan. 

Good night.

Check out my new hat!

Thanks to the magic of Photoshop, you too can have your very own "Aretha Hat"! Don't we look fabulous?

Thanks to Mary for doing this.

Inauguration Day Fun

Yesterday I had the great pleasure of meeting up with some great gals at the home of blogger Jessica Gottlieb to watch history unfold as Barack Obama became our 44th President of the United States. 

The party was sponsored by Quaker Oats, in part to help them promote their Start With Substance Program, where they will be giving away ONE MILLION bowls of oatmeal. They had a beautiful spread of fruit and of course, oatmeal. 

It was a fun time! If only I would have gotten there on time, traffic near LAX was horrible. The party started at 9:00 a.m. and I did not get there until 9:45 a.m. I missed watching the swearing in of our new president, but I did get to hear it live on the radio. Of course I've seen it repeated it on the news several times today. I think that our new first lady looked very chic wearing Isabel Toledo. Sasha and Malia also looked absolutely adorable wearing their J. Crew coats. I fully admit to being one of those that is very excited about following the fashion choices of the first family.

Our gracious host, Jessica, is nearly a celebrity (in case you did not know). Check out this video of the CBS Evening News covering the party BEFORE it even happened! 

Here is a photo with me (looking puffy on the left, I need to start my new diet, um I mean lifestyle soon) with our host Jessica (middle) and my new friend Mary (right):

Other bloggers in attendance: Elizabeth (although I did not get a chance to meet her), Lolita, the Slackmistress, and Kim. I am sure there were more bloggers there but these are the ones that I am immediately aware of.

Also, John McCoy, a photographer from the LA Daily News showed up to snap a few shots. Here is a photo of me and Mary. I was supposed to be "live blogging" but Mary did a much better job at this than I did. I was too busy drinking mimosas. I am digging my hair cut in this photo.

You can click this link to check out more photos from the party on the LA Daily News site. You will see that there were A LOT of kids at this party (the LA Mom's Republican play group was on the invitee list). I am not accustomed to being around this many children at once, considering that we do not have any. But surprisingly, the kids at the party were relatively well behaved. Only one kid pooped on the floor that I am aware of. At least that happened before I arrived. Thank goodness for that bad traffic near LAX. 

All in all, besides the tale of poop, it was really a lovely time! Thanks again to Jessica for hosting such a lovely party. 

Welcome

My name is Katee and this is a blog about my life. Ever since I started blogging at e-polishblog, I find myself wanting to talk about things besides nail polish. I do not want to dilute my content on e-polishblog or bother my readers that I assume are there to read about nail polish and not me. So I am starting this blog as an outlet for all of the other things that I want to say and share. 

About me:

I am 28 years old and I reside in Cardiff by the Sea, California, with my boyfriend Marc and our two cats, Cleo and Vincent. We moved to California back in July 2008 from Michigan and it has been quite the adventure. I look forward to sharing it with you.