Happy New Year and My Exciting News!

Happy belated Holidays everyone!

I hope Santa brought you something nice, and you were able to share the holidays with your loved ones! B and I had a pleasant holiday, it was just the two of us, so it was mellow and quiet. I got spoiled and received a Nintendo 3DS (obsessed) and a couple seasons of Ghost Hunters (my fave!) on dvd. I'm a lucky girl :)

So, tonight is New Years Eve and it seems completely appropriate that I get to share this news with you as we start a new year and fresh slate.

A few weeks ago, I told you I had some exciting news that I wanted to share, but had to wait until the deets fell into place. Today the last piece of the puzzle officially did, and I'm scared and nervous and excited all at the same time...

Yup, we are MOVING -- AGAIN -- this time, to Lexington, Kentucky!

This past year in the Tri-Cities of Washington has been crazy. We moved here in October 2011, full well knowing this probably wouldn't be a permanent move. We are city dwellers with close-knit families, and the Tri-Cities wasn't close to either. We left our families in Chicago, and the closest big city (and though I love Seattle and Portland, they still feel small!) is over three hours away! But we began building our life here and settling down, and in November 2012, when we found an epic townhouse, we moved again, eager to make ourselves more at home. We've made more friends here than we left in Illinois, and have had some crazy adventures navigating the Pacific Northwest.

When (after being in our new house for a whopping 4 weeks) B came home with the news that he had the opportunity to put in for an opening in Kentucky, I started crying. One year earlier, I would have been ecstatic. Instead, I was filled with sadness and nerves all at once. It felt too soon, and I wasnt ready to leave my awesome job or our amazing friends, but at the same time, I wanted to go back to the middle states, where I know we belong.

So after a long, well ok, actually kinda short, process, we made the decision and pressed forward. B flew to Lex and interviewed and got an offer shortly thereafter. He starts Jan. 21. Which means things are happening and happening quickly. I plan to work here through the end of the month and then head out, but theres so much to do before then!! I hope to chronicle the hip-happenings but if I disappear here and there just know its because I'm trying not to have an anxiety attack :)

Im excited to move into this next phase of our lives, and knowing that Lexington is somewhere we will finally be putting down roots is exciting. I'll be 6 hours from Chicago, and only 2 hours from my older brother and sister in law in Ohio, as well as one of my besties Rae. Indy (near where I went to school and still have friends) will also only be a 3 hour jaunt. I know this is a good move for us, in fact, I know without a doubt its the RIGHT move for us. Its just going to be way sadder to leave the Tri-Cities then I ever imagined.

On that note, I'm going to go grab a box of tissues. Tomorrow I'll share some of my pics from B & I's last little jaunt over to Seattle this weekend! I shall leave you with this little ditty about my feelings right now...

You're welcome.

Hope y'all have a blessed and happy New Year! :)

Couch blogging

Top: CAbi / Jeans: Rock & Republic for Kohl's / Mocs: Minnetonka / Scarf: Forever 21 (similar)

Last weekend my friend took me to the CAbi end of season sale here in the Tri. First, it was nuts. All the ladies in the area that have held CAbi parties were invited, and told to bring friends. It was at someones house, and was just racks and racks of leftover clothes in her basement, all from the fall/winter season that were on mega sale. We arrived about an hour into the sale, and everything was already picked over. Women were carrying out bags upon bags of clothes, and one can only assume they grabbed whatever they could in their size and and took off! While there wasnt a ton of options, I did manage a few good deals - this top being one of them! It originally retailed for $84, and I got it for $30! Score!

Anywho, I'm blogging from my couch today, living the dream in my kitty print sweatpants, watching old episodes of Ghost Lab on Netflix and drinking coffee with my sugar free peppermint mocha creamer. I'm off until the day after Christmas and I fully intend on spending the majority of the next 5 days in this exact spot. Only the sweatpants will change. Maybe.

Hope y'all have a relaxing and peaceful weekend before the holiday!!

Happy Fri-ursday

Top: Forever 21 (similar) / Trouser Jean: AE (similar - on sale!) / Flats: Target (similar) / Headband: AE (similar)

Happy Friday! No wait... Its only Thursday. But its my Friday! So Happy Friday to me!

Most of the other chumps in my office are taking off all next week, as I'm sure every working person with hours to burn will be, but SOMEONE has to be in the office and since I have no real Christmas plans, or children, or family close by for that matter, I decided to take the bullet and come in the day after Xmas. Ugh. But in trade I'm taking tomorrow off, so I still get a nifty little 5 day weekend. Hard to believe Christmas is just around the corner. It's gone by in a blur with everything else going on in our lives.

So anyway, heres the thing with these trouser jeans. I love them. They look great in motion and I love the fit, but I've decided they totally don't photograph well. I didnt really like how ANY of my pics turned out with these pants, they just look so... blah. I wasn't crazy about they way they photographed here either. Ah well. It wont deter me from wearing them again, thats fo sho.

Hope I'm not the only one with a Fri-ursday! Happy long weekend :)

Why Yes I am Wearing Leggings under my Maxi

Blazer: Forever 21 (A few awesome similar options -- One, Two, Splurge, Plus) / Tank & Skirt: Target / Mocs: Forever 21 / Glasses: Firmoo / Ring: inPink

I had ANOTHER one of those days where I planned a really cute and well styled outfit, only to wake up and forego said outfit for something I deemed waaaay more comfortable. Perhaps I should stop planning complicated outfits? OR, maybe I should just get up in time so getting dressed isn't such a hassle. Yes. Thats it. 

This particular day I had slept in leggings and a tee, and when I pulled on this skirt (it is a skirt, even though it looks like a dress - misleading, no?) I left said leggings on. I don't know about you guys, but the coldness of the air when I slip out of bed in the morning is one of my LEAST FAVORITE THINGS EVER. Sorry to have to yell, but I feel very passionately about this. Anywho, I figured I'd just keep my leggings on until I acclimated to the morning a bit... I finally took them off. Around 6pm last night when I got home. HA. It was actually quite comfy, and aside from the occasional sitting-indian-style-in-my-office-chair-and-showing-everyone-my-goods, no one even knew I had them on. I just might do that again the next time I wear a maxi-something.

Hope y'all have a lovely Wednesday!! Christmas is getting so close! :)

Windy City

Cardigan: Target / Top: Aerie / Pants: Gap (super old) / Shoes: Thrifted Cons / Scarf: Handmade gift from B's momma

...And no I'm not talking about Chicago. The wind in the Tri-Cities last night was out of CONTROL. It had me up from 3:30am until about 5:30am, which is no picnic when you went to bed at midnight and have to get up at 6:45am. Gusts reached almost 75mph and shook the house so bad I thought it might collapse. Thankfully for us, the extent of our 'damage' was that our grill cover blew away, but many areas around the Tri-Cities look like a tornado went through! Garbage everywhere, tumbleweeds stacked up, power out, siding down and Christmas decorations scattered. Not cool weather, not cool.

Thats pretty much all I've got today folks, I'm crazy tired and cranky, and my eyeballs hurt. Time to do some work!

Hope yall have a lovely Monday!

A Swing and a Miss

Top: Stylemint / Dress: Target (super old)

I must admit I'm not thrilled with the way this outfit came together. I really wanted to work on the whole "taking my summer maxi dresses into fall" thing, and I thought these pieces would be a great match. Unfortunately for me, it was only good in theory and the execution turned out pretty poor. I blame a large part of it on my styling, which I was able to give a whooping 10 seconds of thought to as I grabbed my glasses and makeup bag and ran out the door this morning. Darn you, snooze button!

I digress. You can't win 'em all and this blog is just as much about my fashion misses as it is hits. How else are you supposed to broaden your proverbial horizons, amirite?

Anyway I can't be too mad - it's Friday! Woot woot! And today I have a half day and a hair appointment which makes for a pretty great Friday to boot! B is pretty busy at the moment, so I plan on spending a quiet Friday evening of Christmas movie watching...or perhaps Harry Potter marathon?? Anything is possible ;)
Anyone else have any fun plans this weekend??

Also - don't forget! If you follow me on Twitter at @xo_kathrynlaine make sure you get rid of that one and follow me over at @kmook! It's about time you really see what my little slice of life is about :)

Styled by B

Sweater: JCPenney / Top: JCP (similar, cant find the original online) / Cord: JCP / Shoes: Toms

So all week I've been mentioning our little trip to JCPenney. You would think it was some ginormous deal or something, but you know how it is when you get new clothes - you want to wear them right away!! Anyway this little diddy is especially cute, cuz B picked the whole thing out for me. I should mention that this isn't unusual, and B has a complete knack for what I like and what looks good on me - even more-so then I do sometimes.

We were browsing the sale racks and he picked up this sweater first. I LOVED it, but wasnt sure what I'd wear it with, so we put it back. Then, he found these cords (and in my size - he even knows my size! Keeper I tell ya.) and first, I loved the color, I have a lot of abrasively colored pants (re: yesterdays outfit) and I knew these would go with everything. B then proceeded to tell me to go pick the sweater back up, and he'd find me a shirt for underneath. I loved that he picked this tee A) because the fit is excellent - fitted yet loose in all the right places and B) the color 'goes' in a nonobvious way.

Its just a super comfy little winter outfit. B even picked out my shoes. I sure do love that man.

Anyway, its THURSDAY y'all! Only a few more days until another glorious weekend. Not that I'm counting or anything.

Confession Wednesday

Sweater: JCPenney / Jeans: Old Navy / Shoe-Slippers: Forever 21

Confession.

This may be my absolute favorite new sweater. I mentioned yesterday B and I went on a little shopping trip to the JCP (for him, which I of course highjacked, and ended up buying more then him). This little number was one of my finds. I'm in love with the back detail, and the neutral black and white stripe is going to go with EVERYTHING. The fit is also great, and even as I (continue) to lose weight it'll look awesome.

Confession.

I say 'continue' in parenthesis because I ate out, and ate badly, twice already this week. Oi. I may see the result when I hit the scale Sunday.

Confession.

There are some exciting things happening in our lives - more on that soon - and no I'm not pregnant, before you even ask!

I may or may not turn this into a weekly thing huh? Perhaps after the holidays!

Not today, fancy pants.

Top: Target / Skirt: Target / Mocs...ok slippers: Forever 21 / Watch: Target / Necklace: Gift (similar)

Do you ever plan a really cute, well styled outfit the night before, and then get up, look at said outfit and say "Uh-uh. No way. Not today." Cuz I do that pretty regularly, and this outfit was the result of such a morning. I had planned for a fancy tank and flowy top and too tight jeans and my booties, and I woke up and said "Yea. Comfort wins." So here we are. Nothing fancy, but it gets the job done, amirite?

Last night B and I went to the mall to get him a new outfit for something he has coming up. We went to JCPenney, and I ended up leaving with more stuff then he did! When did JCPenney get so cute?!

Anywho, hope you all have a glorious Tuesday :)

Beauty Find: Liquid Lipstick

Awhile back I was totally bragging about Revlon's Bitten Lip Stain. Now, don't get me wrong, it's still one of my favorites, but a week or two after opening, I noticed it starts to dry out and the color isn't as bold or bright. Major bummer for an $8 lip stain. (I'm just getting into lipstick, so to me, that's muy pricey-o for only a few good uses.)

Anyway after another day of mediocre lip color I decided to hit wally-world and see what other options are out there. I honestly cant stand lip STICK, it ends up on everything, I can't eat or drink water (I drink water all.day.long.) without reapplying and I feel like I have to constantly be conscious of it.

I'm normally pretty loyal to my makeup companies, so I breezed over to the Revlon section, and there it was...

Revlon Colorstay Ultimate Liquid Lipstick.

This shiz says it last for up to 24 hours and its NOT kidding. In fact, at the end of the night you need MAKEUP REMOVER to get it off, washing alone doesn't work! To some people that might be an annoyance but to me its pure bliss. I put it on in the morning and I might touch up after lunch, depending on what I ate, and then I'm good for the rest of the day and night. My only suggestion is to make sure you have a chapstick handy as it does feel get dry on its own, and that being said, make sure you dont mind your chapstick getting a hint of color mixed in it.

Top Tomato is my favorite shade so far, as I'm on a huge red lippy kick. If you try it out let me know! I'd love to hear your opinions and favorite colors!

*note this is in no way a sponsored post. I found it, tried it, loved it and I know you will too :)

Tweet, Tweet

Good morning lovelies!

When I started this blog I thought I wanted to keep my personal life and my blog life separate. I created a new Twitter account (xo_kathrynlaine) to promote my blog, while still using my personal Twitter (@kmook) as I normally would. I barely posted on xo_kathrynlaine, and I realized that was completely silly.
I want you guys to know the real me, in all my silly, sometimes profound, (and once in awhile drunk) tweeting glory.

So in an effort to let you guys get to know me a little better, I'm doing away with my xo_kathrynlaine account. If you follow it - first, thank you - and second, please feel free to catch up with me over at @kmook.

I admit I haven't been the most consistent blogger, and maybe you'll get a little more of an idea of my whereabouts if I disappear :)

With that in mind, since I was a bad girl again this week (shocker), heres an outfit photo from this week. Taken the old school iPhone way. Holla!

Maxi Dress: Target (old) / Sweater: Maurices (similar) / Shoes: Gap (similar) / Scarf: Forever 21 (similar) / Glasses: Firmoo (similar)

This outfit was super comfy for a long Wednesday at work. I had meetings and loads of work... such has been my week. Plus this whole getting up early thing has been killer, even though I love being home and in my sweats before 5! (Don't judge).

Anyway, happy Friday y'all, hope you have a beautiful weekend!!

Mornings Make My Head Hurt

Blazer: Target (similar) / Top: Stylemint / Jeggings: AE / Shoes: AE (similar, but sooo much cuter)

By now, I think I've sufficiently expressed how much I hate the mornings. I'm not good at waking up, I'm even worse at actually getting out of bed, and every. tiny. noise. irritates me. Even on a good day. That being said, my boss approached us about nailing down more regular hours moving forward (we have a pretty casual come and go as you please environment - the kind where you can run to Starbucks at 10am and its nbd). As I nearly grunted for him to put me on the 9-6 shift, I realized, it didnt matter what time I HAD to get up. If I was going to be forced to do so, I might as well get up earlier and be done with work earlier! So today was the first day of 7:30am-4:30pm.

It did not start well.

I woke up on time but was having a bad hair day. B was parked behind me in the driveway so I had to take his jeep but couldn't find his keys. When I did find them and get to work, I realized I'm now one of the first at the office so I have to unlock the door... whose key was on MY key ring at home.

Awesome.

So it's a Tuesday but it sure as heck feels like Monday. Oh well. At least I like my outfit. :)

Mellow Monday

Sweatshirt: A&F (similar) / Jeans: AE / Mocs: Minnetonka / Glasses: Firmoo / Earrings: Forever 21 (similar)

Wow guys, can we just talk about the fact that its December? For one, it doesn't FEEL like December. Its still mild and sunny. And secondly, I can't get over how fast this year has gone. It seems like just yesterday was New Years Eve 2011 and we were just getting situated in the Tri-Cities!

Anyway there isn't much to say about this outfit, other than it was casual Friday. And in my already casual office, I take that to mean the only day I really feel comfortable wearing a hoodie most of the time. :)

How was everyone's weekend?? Y'all getting into the holiday spirit? B and I got our Christmas tree up and decorated with all our ribbons, but I haven't managed to get the ornaments up yet - tonight probably! Other then that it was a pretty mellow weekend and that feeling is following me into Monday (which I appreciate). We played some vintage video games (hello SNES) and watched the Boardwalk Empire season finale (gah!), AND I discovered Bud Select 55 is only TWO points on Weight Watchers. Yes please. Overall, I'd say the weekend was a success. OH and I'm down 4.1 lbs for my first week on WW. Feels pretty good :)

Hope you all have a glorious Monday!!