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!