SO Much Goodness {Farmers Market Lovin'}

Can we talk about the premiere of the Bachelorette last night for a quick minute?

Emily...she's the cutest. I haven't been this excited for a Bachelorette since Jillian. I don't think Emily's dress was the most flattering on her, but she looked stunning (was it just me or did you hear that about 592 times last night? Get a new word, bachelors!) nonetheless.

If I were Emily, I'd literally skip to the final four men. I hate to say it, but I feel as though she is wayyy out of most of these guys' league. I do think she made a great call on giving Doug the first impression rose. He seems the most sincere so far, and you can tell he's there to find love. Did anyone else see how SMITTEN Emily was when race car driver man (sorry, can't remember his name right now) got out of the limo?! She loves him. Calling it.

Anyway, here are my 4 favorite bachelors (and who I think will make it the farthest): Ryan (trainer man), Doug, Race car driver man, and Sean. I'm not too sure on Sean yet, but he seems like a good pick. Who do you guys predict?!

So...one of my favorite summer activities is to go to our local farmers market on Saturday mornings. There are different ones you can pick from here in Columbus, but our favorite is Olde Worthington's. It is such a cute area and we enjoy walking around the city and looking at the older homes after we shop. Billy would probably say all the things I buy at the farmers market is ridiculous, but I enjoy supporting local farmers and everything is just so tasty! I just can't say no (especially to kettle corn)! One of our traditions is to get cupcakes at my favorite cupcake store while we shop, Blue Frost Cupcakes. We were walking around on Saturday, and there was this man walking his pig on a leash. Rocky literally stopped in his tracks, looked at him kinda funny, then immediately ran over to him and kissed him on the snout. I'm 99% sure Rocky judged him by his looks at first, and then was like, "let's be friends, dude". It was so hilarious and cute. Maybe a pig is in the Krysh future...? Just kidding everyone.

If you haven't been to a farmers market before, I highly suggest looking for one in your city and giving it a go!

Even if that means just to get the strawberries.

Ohhh my, the strawberries. ahhh...

So, so, delicious.

cupcakes for us...

and a "Pupcake" for Rocky...

I ate that entire bag of kettle corn before it was dinner time.
No joke. Are you surprised?

Do you love farmers markets as much as I do?

Now it's time to meet an amazing blogger friend of mine, named Stormy.
She blogs over at Life's A Dance. Haven't been to her blog before?
Well, now is the perfect time to go meet her!

hint: she has her first giveaway going on right NOW. You best enter that.

This gorgeous gal and my football teams (Wisconsin vs OSU) 
go head to head every year & she's a pretty legit Registered Nurse with a heart of gold. She has known her fiance since she was 8 YEARS OLD. How cool is that?!
Take it away, girl!

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Hey all you Keep Calm & Carry On ladies!  

My name is Stormy {No, I'm not a stripper and my parents were not hippies} and I blog over at Life's A Dance

I need to start this post with a huge thanks to Katie for letting me grace her blog today! SO excited to be here with you all! 

Katie's blog has been one of my favs since I really started getting into this blogging business. 

And let's just say I'm addicted {to it all} now. 

Alright, let's go. 

I'm a Wisconsin girl born and bred. I love being dressed up in heels and pearls but will jump in a waist deep mud pit to rescue cows or ATV's if needed. Been there. Done that. No sweat. I grew up in a city of 1,000 people and couldn't wait to leave. Now I'm doing everything possible to get back.  Funny how that happens ehh? 

I am a Registered Nurse trying to find the specialty that's right for me. I'm thinking babies or hospice. Can you get more opposite? I'm also a daughter, a sister, and a bride to be <3

I've known my fiance since I was about 8 years old. For real. We got engaged on Christmas Day 2011 and will be married 09.15.12!! Wedding planning is well underway! {Any advice is greatly welcome!}  

Want to meet my hunk?

 Oh yeah. That's allll mine. 

It's totally okay if you're jealous. I don't blame you :) 

Before I get too distracted though let me fill you in on what 

Life's A Dance is all about. I started blogging to remember. Almost like a online diary...though not quite as juicy. 

Now I blog about my daily life, wedding planning {of course}, my attempts at being fashionable, my love for DIY-ing, travel {wishful thinking} crafts, and baking and whatever else pops into thee ole' brain. It's a never ending smorgasbord really.

A few random deats about myself:

I'm addicted to reality tv.

I'm 5 foot 5 inches tall. I could drink french vanilla cappuccino and caramel fraps all day. And margaritas. Morning, noon and night. 

 

I am WAY too sarcastic! #wayoflife

I love:

Decorating my house-thank goodness for Pinterest! 

 

Pinterest via Stormy  

Sugar-most anything with sugar

The color pink

My family, friends and my bloggy buddies

Christmas time

Target {spend WAY too much time and $$ there!}

 Sunshine

Fishing {pink pole of course}

I hope to be a photographer some day! 

 And I'd love it if you stop on by! 

I love getting to know all you lovely people! 

Come on over, bring a good drink, kick it up and stay awhile!  Again, thank you SO much Katie!
{P.S. If you're looking for a side job as a personal stylist...I'll hire you}

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  **Interested in being featured on my blog?
Email me @ whalenkat@gmail.com for more info on sponsoring!
I'm accepting sponsors for June and I'd love to have you!!
I have had a blast with all of my current and past sponsors! :)

Takin It Back Old School...

{shirt-American Rag, tank-American Rag, necklace-Charlotte Russe}

{Emily, Me, Lindsay, Angela. G/f Marissa is missing-Love you Riss!}

This weekend was my girlfriend Emily's birthday and we went out on Friday evening to celebrate. These girls (plus Marissa who couldn't come) and I have been best friends since high school. I felt like I was takin' it back old school with how I wore my shirt. Notice how I tied it up? I bought the shirt like that and thought it was cute tied up, so I went with it.

I think I do recall this trend before, no? ;)

But that's not the point here today.

My point today is I like takin' things back old school. I love and value the friendships I have with my friends who I've known for over 11 years, who know me inside and out, who I've experienced so much with. I'm not sure if I mention that, or them, enough on my blog. Don't get me wrong, I love making new friends, but the fact that all of us have remained close over the years means the world to me. The relationships I have with them are true, easy, comfortable, fun, non-judgemental, and meaningful {not sure if we could all say the same during our crazy high school days..ha}

I know you have your friends who you feel the same exact way with.

Do you tell them that you value their friendship enough?

Cherish these relationships and never let them go.

I hope when we are much older the KELAM's (the nickname of our group of friends) are still sitting around drinking wine and chatting about the good times we've had together. Recently, I remembered our high school trip to Washington D.C and most importantly (for me) our trip to New York City for my bachelorette party.

Good times...good times.

KELAM's-I love us. Thankful for each of you. :)

Enough of my mumble jumble.

It's time for you to become smitten with a cute Washington D.C gal!

Her name is Kellie and she is a teacher and rockstar singer.

She just visited Portland and posted a great recap today!

Visit Kellie's blog, the Yuppie Files (AWESOME name)

 to learn more about her!

 

I know you guys will love her, just like I do.

{and I have to say, I've introduced you guys to some great girls so far, haven't I?! I think so!}

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Hello! I'm Kellie from The Yuppie Files, & I'm pretty excited to be on Keep Calm & Carry On today. Thanks Katie for having me!

I was born & bred in Virginia, right outside of Washington D.C. I went to college at James Madison University (go Dukes!) where I met my future husband through student government.

By day I'm using my political science degree as a high school government teacher, which I absolutely love. I had lofty dreams of my DC political career from watching too much West Wing but realized pretty soon post-college it wasn't quite what I wanted & went into teaching instead, which has been the greatest decision for me.

While I love politics, my blog is my outlet for everything else going on in my life. The Yuppie Files got its name from my dad who always jokes I live in "yuppie-ville" & I figured I'd go with it.

Our latest "yuppie" addition is Abby, our puppy. She was named after Abigail Adams- not only am I a political dork but my husband is a history dork. I'm sure Mrs.Adams would be honored.

I recently returned to my first love, singing. I've sung all my life & had taken vocal lessons through college but quit when I graduated. I missed it so started back up again & even if the only thing I do is serenade Abby in our living room, I'm happy to be doing something I love.

I may be musical but my taste in music is sometimes questioned. There is nothing I love more than 80's music, but more specifically Bon Jovi. I have seen them in concert 6 times & am pretty sure I was the only college freshman rocking their poster on her dorm wall circa 2001.

Any other fun tidbits you want to know about me...

you're going to have to check out at The Yuppie Files!

Thanks again Katie- I had a blast!

BLOG // TWITTER // FACEBOOK

A Surprise Anniversary Post from Billy

Hello everyone,

This is Katie’s husband Billy and today I’m taking over her blog for my first blog post. I promised Katie that I would surprise her with a blog post for our anniversary, but she has no idea what I’m going to talk about. After about a million hours of thinking, I decided to talk about and show you my 10 best memories I have with Katie - starting with number 10.  I’m sure you already know a lot about us and probably know about the few things that I’m going to share, but hopefully you learn a few new things about us.

#10. Mr. Spots and BW3’s

The 10th best memory I have with Katie are the nights at BGSU (where we went to college) when we would go to Mr. Spots, an amazing Philly cheesesteak restaurant, and BW3’s.  We wouldn’t go on separate nights but on the same night.  Before Katie was a vegetarian, she used to LOVEEEE all types of food obviously. Her nickname was the “human garbage disposal” Haha. She would eat anything in front of her.  We would each get a cheesesteak and then 12 wings. Our favorite thing to do was order them to-go and then we would eat on her bedroom floor and watch TV like big dorks. I always had the remote because I had the upper hand in the relationship back then.. I remember those days. lol  

#9. Our tradition to go to local pumpkin patches in the fall around Thanksgiving time

My #9 top memory I have with Katie is going to local pumpkin patches.  We have a blast year after year doing this. We usually start off by going to Starbucks so Katie can get her “MUST HAVE” pumpkin spiced latte.  We start off by walking through the pumpkin patch finding ones for our front step and then we make it inside the building where the checkout is and usually buy random things like Apple Cider, some corn stalks, or BBQ sauce for myself.  It’s the best when you go on one of those days where you can taste the air and its comfortable enough to wear a short sleeve shirt or a sweater.  We love it.

#8. Christmas Traditions

Every Christmas we’ve started the same tradition. Well, Katie started the tradition for us and that is to put up the Christmas tree together and Katie cooks her Mom's lasagna recipe just for this occasion. We have a fake tree so we put the branches on together and then I add the lights while she cooks for us. She only cooks the lasagna recipe once a year and it’s on this very night that we put our tree up. The lasagna has meat in it so we’ll see if maybe this Christmas she will give in and eat the meat. Another tradition is that we gift each other an ornament for our tree. This past year was our first Christmas being married so I gave her a Newlywed ornament.

#7. Horseback riding and Lake Norman in Charlotte

Last year we visited my cousins who live in Charlotte and had an amazing trip.  It was extra special for me because I love the area so much.  We had a day planned where we went horseback riding which ended up being a hilarious experience. My horse started to attack Katie’s horse and then her horse took off and she almost got bucked off.  The next part of the day was taking a lunch cruise on Lake Norman which was a blast.  We had drinks and BBQ pork sandwiches which were awesome.  

#6. Halloween

Another one of my best memories seems to occur every Halloween.  I’m not sure if it’s because I dress up for Spiderman every Halloween and fight crime or if it’s the free candy.  We have started to have a Halloween party at our house which has become a big hit so if you’re near feel free to stop by.  Even you BranAAAHham!  I have a confession.  One day around Halloween when we were at school I wanted to watch a scary movie and my buddy who lives deep in the woods had the rob zombie movie that I was going to force Katie to watch.  While driving a ¼ mile in the woods and it being Halloween time and I’m full of jokes I turn to Katie and say, “I’m going to kill you” and I grabbed her leg. Of course she screamed and 10 seconds later I told her I was joking haha I was laughing.  But that’s not the end of it.  We parked in the pitch black driveway and I run inside to get the movie and left Katie in the car.  My friend happened to have a Michael Myers mask so I put it on and snuck up around the side of the car and stood up real slowly on the passenger side where Katie was.  She slowly turned to the window as she saw the movement and screamed so loud and jumped into the driver’s seat.  Hilarious!!!  She stuck with me after all that abuse...gotta love her.

#5. Driving to Kentucky to get Rocky

The # 5 most memorable times with Katie was when we drove 5 hours to pick up our ‘fur child’.  I’m not gonna lie, I didn’t think this was the best idea at first, but I’ve grown to love that lil guy.  Anyways, the drive to the meeting place with the breeder was great...we did our normal road trip thing, like stop at Tim Hortons and get an iced coffee, and a Boston cream donut for me.  So when we arrived to pick up the little monster we were both nervous as hell, but it all turned out great.  Except for the drive back when we reached Cincinnati and Rocky puked all over the car!  

#4. Our First Trip to Boston

Our first trip together was also a family trip. Let’s just say the trip was epic from the get go.  As our plane landed in Rhode Island we rented a car to drive to a small town called Sandwich on Cape Cod.  During the drive Katie spotted a sign for Dartmouth college and pronounced it DART—MOUTH and her Aunt Anne heard this and spit her gum out into the front seat.  As we arrived to our home in Sandwich for our week vacation, I discovered it was a very large old cottage that her entire family was staying in.  The place was really cool because I love history and it was like stepping back in time.  The best part of the trip that I will never live down is when we went on a lobster dinner cruise with a few of her family members.  Katie’s Dad had bought my dinner and the dinner included a piece of chicken, corn on the cob, green beans, potatoes and a full grown Lobster!  So having no idea how to eat a lobster I’m watching the people around me eat it up and I just follow their lead, and after the first bite I notice I didn’t really like this bug. I force this thing down because I didn’t want Katie’s parents to be offended. I mentioned to Katie while on the deck of the boat that I did not like the lobster and about a month later she tells her family (of course) and they haven’t let me live it down since.

#3. Swimming with Dolphins

Our last trip to Florida was extra special for Katie because I made one of her dreams come true - to go swimming with dolphins.  This was really cool for me because I got to be pretty close to the animals and Katie got to jump in the water for about an hour and play with them.  The funniest thing was seeing them push their nose on the bottom of her foot and push her across the pool.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen her so happy!  We got to cross it off the bucket list and share this special memory together.

#2. The Scrapbook

My #2 best memory with my better half happened before we were officially boyfriend/girlfriend.  We weren’t official for a while because I was way too stubborn to settle down. Just before we left for the summer from school, Katie said she had a gift for me.  I said ok, where should we meet?  She really wanted to meet at the ice rink because I played hockey and she knew it would be a special place.  So at the ice rink she gave me this gift bag and I noticed she was shaking which she had never done.  I opened the bag and it was a scrapbook that she created for me that had pictures of all my friends, family, and us.  She was so nervous to give it to me and how I would react. This was one of the best gifts I ever got from someone and I know she put a million hours into creating this book.  I don't have any pictures of it but it is awesome.  Thanks babe.

#1. OUR WEDDING

My #1 best memory with Katie is the day my best friend became my wife.  We had such an amazing day, it was everything we could wish for.  The most nervous parts for me were seeing her walk up the aisle because she looked so beautiful and I hoped I looked half as good as she did.  Then when we made our entrance; me and dancing don’t mix that well, especially in front of other people.  We have talked about this day for so long, and for it to be as perfect as it turned out was a dream come true.  Happy 1 year anniversary babe!  I couldn’t be with a better person, you are truly my better half.  I love you with all my heart, and I look forward to spending the rest of my life with you.

I hope you liked my post for Katie. I know how much she appreciates you all because she tells me all the time. I can't believe how long it took me to type all this and she blogs almost everyday..geez oh man it's a lot of work. Until next time..

-Billy