6.28.2013

Tomorrow This Girl Gets To Meet....


 these two pretty ladies // bloggers:

Sarah (Total Basset Case)
 
and....

and I'm so excited. Obviously.
 I mean, who wouldn't be? 

I adore these two girls and have been following their blogs for so long it feels like.
So this is the only natural next step for us, right? 

Follow along for the fun via instagram (@katiewkrysh) if you'd like to!

Also-

As most of you have heard by now (talk about overkill), Google Reader is leaving us July 1st. So rude of them. I'm not sure how all of you follow my blog, but if you want to continue receiving my posts, you can follow me via Blog Lovin'! I would hate to lose contact with any of you!


Follow on Bloglovin


What are you doing this weekend? Preparing for any 4th of July festivities?

Aside from meeting the girls, here's what is on my weekend agenda:
 A brunch planned with girlfriends on Sunday, Billy's cousin will be in town tomorrow, spend some time with my Dad, a date night with Billy, and hopefully I can squeeze in some pool time (weather pending-crossing my fingers!)

Have a fabulous weekend!

 
 

6.26.2013

SO, I CONFESS THAT....


I confess that my dream kitchen looks a little (a lot) like this:
White, crisp, clean, bright....SIGH. 

I confess I'm on day 3 of dirty hair and it's tied back in a messy pony and has may or may not been like this for the past two days. Summertime and I decide I can't make my hair presentable the livings easy? 


I confess that I wish I could wear something like this for 4th of July...chambray and a scarf? Right up my alley.
 

However, it's been way way way too hot here for that business. It'll probably be more like this if I don't want to pass out from heat exhaustion...
 


I confess I've been holding a secret from you all about where we're traveling to later this year (not until early fall-it'll come soon!) and I'll be turning to all of you for some suggestions. 

Any guesses on where we are going? ;)
 


I confess that I've found the BEST snacks lately and the bags haven't lasted longer than a day in our house. Maybe that means I need to avoid this aisle for awhile? But they are all healthy, natural, gluten free, etc. 

Has anyone tried these life changers by Way Better Snacks?

They are made with flax, chia seed, quinoa, and other awesomeness. So tasty and probably my favorite thus far. I found them at our local Kroger.

I confess that me and Billy decided we like Rocky's shorter hair better. He is just so soft and cuddly and cute like this! 
Looks like he will be getting haircuts year round from now on (before we only had to get him trims here and there)


I confess that I get a little crazy about how our dishwasher is loaded. There. I said it.

I confess....that I love this quote. A lot actually. Happy hump day!

What do you confess?

 

6.25.2013

SUMMER WORKOUTS: THE YAY AND THE NAY {MY ROUTINE}


Let's talk fitness today, shall we?

Summer is my favorite time to workout...oh wait, no it's not. Not one bit. It's extremely hard to get motivation in the summer to work out. BBQ's? Concerts? Drinks on a patio with friends after work? OR spending time in the gym? Yeah, it's hard to stick to a routine when it's so nice out and you could be doing so many other things.With that being said, spring/summer is normally when I work out the most. Insert bikini season. Just looking at my bathing suits gives me some serious motivation to hit the gym. Right, ladies? It's a real pain in the butt...

I've talked about my daily eats/mean plan before, but had some questions about what a normal workout week looks like for me, so I thought I'd outline it a bit. It's important to find what works for you-if you want to have your evenings free, work out in the morning. If you want your extra sleep, make sure you carve that time out after work to get it done. Schedule your workouts just like your other appointments!


Monday: Circuit workout (see below) / 1 hour spin class 
This is my favorite workout of the week. Why? Because I normally eat the worst of the weekends and my body needs a detox. I splurge a bit (or a lot). Having a kick butt work out on a Monday instantly makes me feel better about it. ha. Not only that, spin is my favorite class to take and by the time I leave the class I'm 50x happier than when I walked in. Those endorphins will do that to you, promise. :)

Before spin class starts, I will do a short circuit workout for 20 minutes or so mixed in with some ab exercises. I highly recommend getting your hardest workout of the week done with on Monday's!

Tuesday: Run 3 miles / 30 Push ups / Circuit workout (see below) or 30 Day Shred (Jillian Michaels DVD)
The run could be inside or outside depending on how hot it is outside.
Wednesday: Rest day 
Thursday: Run 3-5 miles  / Leg workout (see below) / Abs (8 minute abs video)
Last week I switched it up and instead of running my normal route, I found a basketball court and did suicides on it for my cardio then did mountain climbers, lunges, and squats. It helped to switch up my surroundings a bit!
Friday: Sometimes I will do rest day if I'm busy or just a short circuit workout
Saturday: Morning run (3 miles) or 30 Day Shred / 30 Push Ups
Sunday: Rest day

I try to work out at least 4-5 times a week. Some weeks are better than others and other weeks I may only work out 3 times. I try to just listen to my body and take a break when I need it.

What do I mean by circuit/interval workout? Here are my favorites (all via Pinterest):

 




I think a lot of girls focus more on cardio and less on strength training. Strength training is just as important! It's something I've tried incorporating more of, for sure. Push ups, lunges and squats are now a part of my daily workouts when they never used to be. I see more results when I do them vs when I do cardio! My body looks leaner and I feel stronger.

As far as workouts you can do at home, my three favorites are: 30 Day Shred, 8 minute ab video (posted below), and any of the Tone It Up videos!

This ab video is such old school (I meannnnnn...old.school-I laugh just watching it), but it works. Man knows what's up. Listen to him, ha.


*Last and final comment: do not DRINK your calories! Keep a water bottle on your work desk everyday and fill it up as much as you can throughout the day. If you get sick of regular water, add some lemon juice or Mio to it to make it taste better for you! This is the #1 thing I do everyday. So important.

Alright, there we have it. 

What is your favorite summer workout? How do you stick to a schedule when all you want to do is be outside having fun? 

PS-You still have time to enter my Malibu giveaway and the Crystal Light one! xo


 

6.24.2013

INSTA TID BITS

 

MONDAY!
You sneaky little devil you. ;)
How was everyone's first 'official' summer weekend? 

I'm so happy we stayed in town...I feel relaxed and ready for a new week! However, I would have definitely took an extra day on the weekend, but then again I'm sure we all would. 

Friday was spent relaxing at home. We wanted to take it easy so we did exactly that...ordered food in and watched a movie at our house!
Saturday I went to my girlfriend's pool, ran errands, and then Billy and I had date night in the Short North (close to downtown). We went to Betty's-we split fried ravioli for an appetizer (first time having anything fried in forever and let me tell you-they were delicious!), Billy got their fried chicken meal, and I got the fish tacos. We loved them both! Since we were in the area, we decided to stop by Jeni's for some ice cream and also met some friends for a drink. We may or may not have been in bed by midnight....

*if you come to Columbus-you MUST visit Jeni's ice cream. They have multiple locations here so make sure to look up the one closest to you! 

Sunday was another pool day. Just how a relaxing weekend should be spent, right? RIGHT! I went to my gym and ran 3.5 miles, got myself a smoothie, then ventured out to the pool for the day...the weather was absolutely perfect and I walked away with a good tan. It'd say it was a successful day. 


I came home to our deck looking oh-so beautiful from Billy staining it again (only took him a couple hours since he didn't have to do the railings and such) and made him one of his favorite meals and we ended the weekend watching No Strings Attached // the Sky Wire man. Did anyone else watch these?! I felt like I should be covering my eyes!


Video from the weekend:
I confess I have watched this no less than 20 times now. Not even lying. Ever wondered what spoiled looks like for our little Rocky? Take a look...


It's normal for the owner to sit on the ground while dog is swinging away, right? I thought so. Doesn't he look like a little burrito up there in the swing? He loves it so much. Hey-what Rocky wants, Rocky gets...or something like that. 


**Last but not least...a little announcement. Saw it. Pinned it. Did it is on HOLD for now! Due to everyone's busy schedules and less people linking up, we are going to take a little break and then re-evaluate down the road. We get that everyone is busier in the summer (same with us!), so we thought that it was time! I will still be posting any yummy recipes/DIY projects I do in the mean time. :)

Linked up with miss Sami today-go share about weekend and join her.

 

6.21.2013

SWEET SUMMER

 


Happy first day of summer!

When I imagine summer, thoughts of long summer nights, barbeques with friends, and the pool flood my mind. Even the 4th of July is coming up so quickly (we don't have huge plans but still one of my favorite holidays!), which is absolutely crazy to me. I'm so excited to kick off this first summer weekend with temperatures in the 90's and at the pool! 

Here's a little list of things I hope to accomplish this summer (that I hope helps keep me on track): 
+go to a drive-in movie
+take a cooking class and learn new recipes (scheduled! So excited to share about this)
+eat at 2 new brunch spots and sit outside
+go to a country concert/listen to live music as much as possible!
+soak up the sunshine at the pool/lake
+cook out with friends

What do you hope to do the most of this summer?

Also, as I'm sure most of you noticed, the Insta is now doing the video thing....how we do we feel about it? I feel silly posting videos sometimes (@katiewkrysh-if you want to follow along!), but here's the first one I took last night.... of course Rocky running to me when I got home from work had to be my very first one!


Those little legs got some serious air... ;)

Enjoy your weekend! xo

 

6.20.2013

SPD: ENGAGEMENT GIFT KIT / PARTY



Good morning :)

Time for another round of Saw it. Pinned it. Did it!

...I have to say sorry to those who thought I was announcing I'm with child or something of the sorts from my post yesterday. No, I'm not announcing that right now, but we did celebrate one of my best friends engagements last night! My girlfriend Angela has been with her boyfriend for 6 and 1/2 years so this is a BIG DEAL! We are SO thrilled for her.

I hosted a small engagement party at my house last night for just our group of girlfriends and put together a little gift kit for her. I have seen various pins on Pinterest for engagement gift ideas and put a couple of the ideas I liked together to create the one I gave her!

Here we go....

Engagement Gift Kit:

-Bridal Magazine
-Bottle of Champs
-One white, plain coffee mug (followed Steph's awesome tutorial to make this!)
-Picture frame and dry erase marker
-Engagement picture of the couple

Basically, I rounded up those items and printed a picture they had taken when they got engaged and put it in a frame. I thought it was a cute idea to do a "countdown" until their big day using a dry erase marker on the other side of the frame. Then, I just added some bows to some of the items and had it laying out for when she came over for the party!


{her soon to be new last name!}

{this is actually a bottle of yellow tail's new sparkling wine, bubbles!}

I thought it turned out so cute and is perfect for a friend when they get engaged. I had some of the items scattered around my house for when the girls came over so they could see them too....

{from world market-gift from Steph :) filled with water, lemons, and some limes}


As for the appetizers, I got complete inspiration from the lovely April for both of these! I've always loved what April puts together when she throws a party (go follow her blog if you don't already!), so I decided I had to try these. All of the girls loved both of them!

The first is thinly sliced cantaloupe with prosciutto wrapped around it. Salty and sweet wrapped into one! The second is french bread (cut into thin slices), brie (I used the spreadable kind), honey (drizzled on top of the brie), strawberries, and basil! DELICIOUS. I also had some carrots and hummus laying out to munch on.

Last mandatory thing for an engagement party? Picture of the bride-to-be and her beautiful ring!


There we have it...how did I do?!

Your turn to link up with us!

*Angela: Congratulations again....I'm so beyond happy for you and Steve! Love you much! 






6.19.2013

CURRENTLY, I AM... {LOTS OF LIFE UPDATES}



Happy hump day, friends!
I hope you enjoyed the blog advice giveaway we had going on yesterday.

So, I realized it's been a hot minute or two since I've shared little tid bits going on in this life of mine. Summer is so busy and I'm loving every minute of it, as I'm sure all of you are!



First of all, if you don't have the bronzer pictured above-run to your local Macy's or anywhere that sells Estee Lauder and buy it. I've used it for over 10 years and can't seem to find another bronzer out there that is better. While you're at it, take a sniff of their new perfume that is also called Bronze Goddess. If you like the beach, you will love this perfume. Yum yum!

Let's get into it...


Reading: Yeah....you might remember when I mentioned I bought the Great Gatsby on my iPad to read when we went to Florida a couple weeks ago? I'm halfway finished. I can't seem to WANT to finish it...should I keep going or just go see the movie? Help a sister out!

Listening to: Is it just me or has music been getting better lately? I have found so many songs that I'm loving recently. Here's my top playlist right now (that doubles as my running/gym music): Blurred Lines -T.I. and Pharrell, The Other Side-Jason Derulo, Runnin' Outta Moonlight-Randy Houser, and I Need Your Love-Calvin Harris. All of them on repeat.

Loving: The amount of froyo I've justified that is OK to eat in the summer. It's hot out? Let's go get fro yo. I worked out? Let's cool off with some fro yo. It's the weekend? Fro yo.


These chips are my new bff.
SO GOOD. SO GOOD.

Doing kind things...
I left this note in the mailbox this week for our mailman :)

 The VS/B&BW Semi Annual Sale...
yee-haw!

Also, last but not least, EEK! I'm hosting a fun party tonight at my house that I plan to share ALL about tomorrow! I can't wait. There will be lots of celebrating going on! :)

Wearing: Summer clothes? I'm a big fan. Here are some recent outfit of the day's that I've failed to mention lately...

 {lace shorts and top: forever21, sandals: sam edelman, necklace: southern charm apparel}


 {peplum skirt: express, striped top: forever21, necklace: old, shoes: BCBG}
{neon pink pants: old navy, sandals: target (last year), top: forever21, necklace: bauble bar, iced coffe: via mcdonalds ;)}

Looking Forward To: Being home this weekend and having time to go to the pool, finally! We have been traveling the past three weekends and I'm excited to get some stuff done around our house and Billy plans to stain our deck.... again. I say Billy, and not us, because me and stain don't get along very well, otherwise I'd help him. Remember when I showed you our deck Billy stained last year and it looked all amazing?


Well, Mr. stain decided he wanted to give us a run for our money and start peeling on us this year. Not so fun. Billy contacted the company and they paid for new supplies for him to do it again, but it still stinks he has to re-do it already after only one year!

Cooking/Baking: my favorite energy bites and this dip - if you're new here, go check them out!

Thanking you: for reading my blog! I've officially hit 3,000 followers and that makes me so so so happy inside! I just want to scream and jump up and down :) thank you for your support and kind emails/comments.

PS-Make sure you enter my makeup/date nights giveaway and also my recent Malibu one where you can enter to win $100!

Come back tomorrow for SPD to find out what I'm celebrating tonight, or else! ;)