'09 was quite awesome.

So I know that 2009 was not the best year for a lot of people, but for me it was the complete opposite, 2009 was probably one of the best years of my entire life and although I've never done it before, it just wouldn't be right if I didn't look back and highlight some of the awesome that was this past year.

January: Started off the new year with a Wii...got to go to an awesome O.A.R. concert and even met the lead singer Mark, so awesome...then went to a release party for Afro Samurai where I got to meet some guys from Greek (ummmawesome) and Christina Milian among others, haha.

me and Kimmy with the guys of Greek.

February: Celebrated Valentine's Day with Matt by having some delicious fondue...and later in the month I got to attend a lovely Boca sponsored spa event and meet some of my favorite bloggers.

Matt with our Valentine's fondue.

March: Brand About Town contacted me and I got to host an incredibly awesome and super fun DS party with some of my favorite bloggers and non-bloggers...I made some tasty ham and cheese turnovers which was awesome...and I walked in a half marathon and lived to share it.

all of the ladies at my DS party, so fun.

April aka best month of my life: First I was the featured blogger over at 20 something bloggers which was all sorts of amazing... then went to Palm Desert with Matt's family for Easter which was quite lovely....then OHMYFREAKINGOSH I met Craig David and yes that still deserves caps lock because wo that really happened...and to top off the celebness I met Joshua Jackson a week later, le swoon...oh and then you know, I GOT ENGAGED and turned 25 all in one wonderous weekend making April all around fantabulous.

aw the engaged us!

May: Started off the month go karting for Matt's 25 birthday....a couple days later my blog was featured on Blogger which was all sorts of exciting...even more exciting is that my blog turned two! Two years I've been blogging already, crazy pants...well even more exciting than that was Matt and I celebrating our third anniversary which was quite adorable and fun...and ultimately I ended the month in North Carolina for a girls weekend with my college friends.

the go-kart crew, so fun.

June: I started my review blog that although I don't tend to as much I still love...then was one of the best Vegas trips of my life with 20ish fabulous bloggers...and enjoyed one of my favorite activities of bowling with some friends.

rawr, one of my fave Vegas pics.

July: Had a great 4th of July weekend with lots of friends and family...I shared a very au natural picture of myself which became one of my most honest posts...I also posted some of my wedding don'ts which gave me my first negative comments aka I've officially made it as a blogger, haha...later in the month I got to attend my second BlogHer which was just as fun as the first year and I met even more bloggers and had a great time all around...I also joined 2009 and got a smart phone, more specifically an Iphone, woo!

my BlogHer ladies.

August: Started off my wedding season with some friends' wedding in New Mexico which was fun...then headed to Northern California for my family's annual Swiss picnic which was full of food and fun and lots of good times...had another friends' wedding that Matt was in and I got some new shoes for the occassion...and then for some ridiculous reason I decided to omit cheese from my diet for a week and I don't think I'll ever do that again, haha.

the SoCal kids at the Swiss.

September: I threw my first bridal shower for my cousin...took a mini trip to San Diego with Matt to visit some of our friends and have one of the best omlettes ever...booked our first wedding venue...and ended out the month meeting 140 of Matt's closest family members, haha.

me with Matt's family at the reunion.

October: Went to Ohio for my friend Virginia's wedding and couldn't have pictured a better weekend...a week later I was the maid of honor in my cousin's wedding which was quite the all day experience but fun nonetheless...I also made baked mac and cheese which was almost as good as it looked in the pictures...then Matt surprised me and took me to Disneyland which was so so very fun...and rounded out the month carving pumpkins and watching Hocus Pocus with Matt and our neighbors then dressing up like pirates for Halloween, arrrrgh.

the eight great lookig fabulous.

November: Not only did I get to meet Ali but I also got to meet James Van Der Beek along with other Dawson's Creek alums and it was amazing and my inner highschooler was squeeeeing....however my DC encounter was outdone only days later when I got to INTERVIEW THE ENTIRE CAST OF NEW MOON, oh yes that still deserves caps because seriously how did that happen and ohmygod I love talking about it still, haha...after coming down from my New Moon high I went to a private Colbie Caillat concert...and rounding out the month was a lovely meshed Thanksgiving with mine and Matt's family.

oh Rob, your door is awesome, haha.

December: Well the best news to come out of this month was that Matt and I got a new wedding venue and we love it...I hosted a wine party with some lovely bloggers and I can't wait to do it again...I also got a new coat that I love...but not only did I get a new coat but I got my wedding dress as well right after a day of cupcakes...then Matt and I hosted our second annual tacky Christmas party which was quite the success...and then it was Christmas and it was all sorts of loverly.

Christmas by us.

So yeah looking back on it all 2009 was one kick ass year. And I know I'm leaving some stuff out but man this post is long enough as it is, haha. But really 2009 I loved you so much and I hope 2010 is just as fabulous if not better :)



happy wednesday!

A short and sweet day in Hollywood.

So yeah I haven't really kept up with Hollywood so much this week (crazy I know!) and like I said, I'm sort of taking an internet break, sort of. So basically today's post is super short and sweet so here we go.

• Bringing out all sorts of cuteness are those oh so freaking adorable Garner girls. I mean really I may have squealed when I first saw these pictures they're so cute.
  
  
  
  preciousness.
  
  
  aw is that not adorable.
  
  
  
• Also bringing in major cuteness, the whole Madden-Richie family. I mean seriously they are just so cute and chic and cool together and I lurve it.
  
  
  
  heart them.
  
  
  
• Moving on from the cuteness here's some Hollywood news...
  Charlie Sheen got arrested for allegedly pulling a knife on his wife on Christmas, yeah that's a winner move....Tyra Banks announced that she's ending her talk show next Spring (but thank goodness Top Model is staying)...Jude Law and Sienna Miller spent Christmastime at the beach together, oooh la la...and the Obama's are spending some holiday time in Hawaii (can I come too please??)
  
  
• Sherlock Holmes and Avatar helped bring in a kick ass weekend in theaters over Christmas weekend and I still have yet to see either, but hopefully I'll see Sherlock soon.
  
  

And that's all we've got today kids, I'll find some better Hollywoodness for next week for sure. Let me know if I missed anything big?




happy tuesday!

A most wonderful Christmas.

How is Christmas over already? I mean really, it never lasts long enough but it's always fun while it's here and this year was no different. It was definitely a fabulous Christmas weekend...

Wednesday: Some friends of mine and their parents hosted a holiday party to get together some of our high school friends and it was lovely. Seriously it was great to see so many of my friends and just hang out and drink and have fun catching up.

Megan, JoAnn and me. Heart these girls.


aw Steve and Karen, heart them.


Matt and Steve lookin good.

Thursday: Spent most of Christmas Eve relaxing and hanging out before heading to Matt's mom's house for a bit. Eventually I went over to my parent's house for dinner with the fam which was nice and tasty and a little chaotic as always. After dinner I came home and watched It's a Wonderful Life, had some wine and relaxed until Matt came home, twas all sorts of loverly.

Friday: Christmas!! I seriously love Christmas, I was like a little kid. Matt and I did our own Christmas together before heading to my parents for breakfast. We opened some presents...these two being the absolute best, haha.

Yes, I got my dad a Snuggie well a Slanky
but still, just as awesome and it has a pocket!


using it to its full potential, haha.


my brother with his new karate shirt, LOVE it.

After breakfast and presents the rest of the day went something like this. Matt's dad's house for more brunch and presents, back to my parent's for more presents and games, our place to change and drop off gifts, my aunt and uncle's house for gift exchange and dessert where my cousins and I took these lovely pictures similar to last year...

such good lookin cousins.


and such silly cousins.

then we made our way to Michaela's house for dinner and more gifts and more awesomeness, then back to our place to change and drop off presents before walking over to the bar nearby to hang out with the cousins again, aka craziness.

I'm pretty sure we had a lot to drink, haha.


Love how my sister got her hand
in there under Matt's chin, haha.

Basically it was one hell of a busy Christmas but I wouldn't have changed any of it at all. Oh, oh and how could I forget?! Three of my favorite gifts that make me sound like such a domesticated adult....two new aprons (one of which was from my Etsy wishlist, thank you sister!), a coupon holder and some money towards my weddng dress from Santa, haha.

ice cream and wine aprons.
two of my favorite things!


so so cute!

this was too darn cute,
gotta love Santa.

Saturday: Spent most of the day putting away all our new Christmas gifts and organizing and having fun and hooking up our new DVD Blu Ray player, woo. The rest of the day consisted of lunch with some friends and dinner at my parent's house and rounding out the night with a marathon of The Mentalist (one of the best presents Matt got, looove this show) and some wine drinking, aka awesomeness.

Sunday: Oh what a lovely day. Walked in the morning before heading to Michael's to do get some wedding inspiration and then came home to a day of watching Rent and some more weddingness before and evening of spaghetti, hanging out with Matt and another Mentalist marathon (seriously love that show!).

And what made Sunday even better was the fact that I didn't have work today and I don't have work all week! Yes I know it's crazy and it's awesome. So with that I apologize now if I'm not making my rounds on the blogs or even writing as much, I'm trying to take a computer break if I can.

But do tell, how was your Christmas or weekend or both? Hope your holidays are all sorts of fabulous so far!




happy monday!

Merry Christmas!

I have always loved Christmas, I mean it's kind of hard not to. It also helps that my whole family usually gets quite in the spirit and there's always Santa gifts and movies to watch and cookies to eat. And although Christmas has turned into quite the event since Matt and I started dating (ie more than one place to go) I still love it and I know we'll make it through somehow and it will be lovely and jolly and bright or something like that.

So with that said, I hope you all have a sweater filled fun fest and smiles as big as possible for Christmas!

Merry Christmas and happy weekend!

Oooo Christmas Tree.

So I know some pictures of our tree were up from our party but I figured our tree is so awesome that it deserves its own post again. Last year we had a short and stubby guy and this year our tree is quite tall and skinny and I'm a fan.

check that out!
oh and all our wrapped up presents too.


all lovely and lit up.

Isn't it a cutie? One day I'll be able to take a decent picture, haha. And then of course we've got to highlight some of our ornaments this year.

my friend Katrina gave this awesome ornament to me
on Saturday and you can't see it but it has
"Matt and Katelin 2009" on it, making it the first
ornament we have with our name on it! squeee to cuteness!


a new globe ornament I got at Crate and Barrel.
a beautiful way to remind us to travel and go places.


a BBQing snowman, one of Matt's favorites.
love it.


the newest nutcracker ornament to add to my collection.

Isn't it grand? I love having it all lit up and making our apartment smell evergreen fresh. Did you get a tree this year?


And um how is tomorrow Christmas Eve already? Ah! I love it.



happy wednesday!

Rolling with the homies in Hollywood.

It's Tuesday and you know what that means right? It's Hollywood day of course. So here we go.

• First up and bringing a whole lot of cuteness we have my favorite of the favorites of Hollywood kids, little Violet Affleck doing some shopping with mom.
  
  
  
  cuteness!
  
  
  
• Also bringing in some major cuteness is Reese Witherspoon and her look alike daughter Ava and adorable son, Deacon. Seriously this is one super cute family.
  
  
  
  preciousness!
  
  
  
• In other Hollywood news...in case you missed it Brittany Murphy died suddenly over the weekend. Now I can't say I was a huge fan of hers or anything but still so sad and she'll always be Tai to me.
  
  
  
  
  
  In happier news, Carrie Underwood got engaged...Alyssa Milano got a Jersey Shore makeover and it is fabulous...and apparently Kevin Federline is trying to act, oh goodness.
  
  
• In some favorites news, Joshua Jackson is such a dream boat. I mean really he's adorable. Not only does he look dashing at the DVD release party for Inglorious Basterds, his interview with Craig Ferguson is hilarious. Seriously, check out the cuteness.
  
  
  
  so handsome.
  
  
  Also in favorites, I still heart Lauren Conrad and I especially love her fabulous coat. I mean I would rock that in a heartbeat.
  
  
  
  stunning.
  
  
  
• And in Twilight news...
  Nikki Reed looks fabulous in a newish photo shoot from I don't know where, but man she is stunning.
  
  
  
  stunning.
  
  

  More pics from the shoot can be found here.
  
  
  
• And in movie news, oh lots of movie news...
  So many trailers were released last week that I might have squeeeed several times.
  We have the newest trailer for Alice in Wonderland, the first trailer for Iron Man 2, a Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows snippet of a trailer and a super cute trailer for Valentine's Day.
  
  
• And in TV news...
  Well most of my shows are on hiatus so instead I bring you this fabulous video from Mark Salling of Glee because it's super cute.
  
  
  
  
• Lastly in today's WTF news a Boston mom called 911 when she couldn't get her son to stop playing Grand Theft Auto. Um say what? Apparently the kid also went around the house and turned on all the lights, but luckily when two cops did show up they persuaded the kid to listen to his mom and go to bed, haha, so random.
  

Anything I missed? As always let me know.



happy tuesday!

Nothing says Christmastime like tacky sweaters.

Another successful Christmas party has come and gone and if it wasn't such an ordeal to organize and clean up after I'd do every weekend! So want to hear about it? Of course you do!

Friday: Had a relaxing night in with Matt as we watched some TV and did some prep for our big party on Saturday. So basically a wonderful night in.

Saturday: The big day! Got up early to do lots and lots of cleaning and shopping and prepping and Wii Fitting and all that jazz before heading over to my friend Kimmy's graduation for her Masters degree (woo woo superstar!). After her graduation I was in full crazy mode as I helped Matt finish setting up (even though he'd done most of it already, seriously he is awesome) and then we were on our way to my uncle's 50th birthday party. The party was so fun! I can't believe I only got one picture but it was a great night to hang out with my family, have delicious food and just a good time all around.

No me, my mom and my sister did not plan to coordinate,
but we do look adorable if I do say so.

At about 8:45 I felt like Cinderella as Matt and I made the mad dash out of the party and down the street (well a couple streets and street lights) to our place to get ready for our annual Tacky Sweater Party! And it was hilarious that as we showed up my friend AJ was sitting on top of our cooler, hilarious sweater on and beer in hand ready to party, haha.

And before we knew it people were arriving, drinks were being made, and all sorts of awesome was going on and there are plenty of pictures to prove it.

Matt and I rockin our Christmas best
in front of our tree! love it!


I'm pretty sure AJ and I do not take normal pictures.


the 25th friends (minus 1) together again!


it was a high school reunion of sorts, haha.
love that so many hs kids showed up!


Court and I rocking the silly faces
to go with our silly sweaters.

some of our fabulous party goers enjoying the party outside.

Amanda, Matt and Marisa, heart these girls!


Mike's menorah sweater all lit up, literally and
Tiffany trying not to be blinded by its awesomeness, haha.


love Dennis' homemade Christmas sweater.


Steve and Karen posing in front of our tree, tre cute.


getting ready to take some peppermint patty shots,
aka amazingness.


a riveting game of apples to apples that went
on for a good portion of the night and was highly
amusing to watch.


Matt and AJ wrapping up the night, woo.

So basically it was another successful party. People didn't leave until about 2:30 or so and then even after that we had five people crash on our floor/couch and we didn't sleep til about 3:30ish and man it was awesome. No Mariah Carey sing alongs this year but I think that was a smart move, haha. Pretty much I cannot wait until our next party because I love having people over and hanging out with friends and just having a fabulous time.

Sunday: I think my two tweets of the day sum up the morning. Me, Matt, AJ and my sister were pretty much incredibly lazy lounging about our apartment all morning/afternoon watching football, drinking water, eating breakfast burritos and being insanely ridiculous. It was quite the way to spend the day and I couldn't have done it any other way. Eventually we cleaned up a bit and got ready to go and went with Michaela's family to see A Christmas Carol performed. It was so much fun to see a Christmas play and hang out with little kids and laugh and just have another good night. Eventually we made it home to just relax and recover and it was loverly.

Basically I could do this weekend all over again and I would do it the same way and have just as much fun. But alas this week is Christmas and I can tell it will be a great week indeed!!



And how was your weekend? Do anything Christmassy??



Oh and don't forget to enter my HP dm3 laptop giveaway!


happy monday!