where i have been.

I have been missing from this space for a little while, because I have been so busy transforming my life into a state that is so much healthier and happier. I have been trusting and listening to myself, surrounding myself with positive people, and literally enjoying every moment -- taking life in and loving where I am right now and where I will end up when my lease ends in August.

Pete and I have been feeling lonely since Sean moved out with Samson in November, and I have been on the lookout for a lab or lab mix puppy. I wanted a puppy because let's be honest, without cable or internet I am more than ready to take on the challenge and devote myself completely to our newest addition. Wednesday I found an amazing couple with lab/hound mix puppies, and from the moment we spoke I knew it wouldn't be long before we brought a puppy home. We picked up Hannah on Friday after I got off work, and I feel as though for now our little ''pack'' is complete. Her mother was a stray, so we've been working on de-worming issues (after 2 treatments there have been no worms in sight for two days!!!)... but other than that, I think she's pretty happy in her new home.

The four of us spent the entire weekend with my neighbor India who is quickly becoming a best friend and her two pups. We ate way too many burgers, laughed harder than I have in a long time, had heart to hearts, and discovered a new found love in Maker's Mark and Dr. Pepper ;) We also met up with one of our other amazing girlfriends, Sarah Anne, and did a little shopping and went out to lunch -- I am so blessed to have these incredible women in my life, and they came at just the right time. I truly belive the Universe has a way of balancing things out, and that they are in my life for a very distinct reason.

Life is pretty good right now, and if I've learned anything from separating from my high school sweetheart, it's that trusting yourself is the key to happiness. I won't say that there aren't times when I don't think about Sean or miss the feeling of comfort and security that come with being in a relationship, but I know this path is right for me.

These two melt my heart :)

My weekend in pictures: holiday edition

At the risk of sounding like a total scrouge, I will confess that Christmas isn't exactly my thing. I don't even have a Christmas tree this year, however I did manage to send out Christmas cards and my friends have done a pretty good job of trying to get me into the spirit.

This weekend was full of holiday parties: my best friends work party at a local brewery, a tacky Christmas sweater party, a gift exchange/brunch with some of my favorite girlfriends, and a 'fabulous' party at my friend Micheal's gallery. My body is seriously paying for the endless consumption of wine I indulged in over the weekend, and water has never tasted so gooooood.

[01] eating dinner on my counter top, because i sold my kitchen table and bar stools without really thinking that whole thing through. [02] i spent the whole day in bed Saturday with this handsome guy. [03] my tacky sweater... i like it because Santa's black. [04] all of the pretty gifts at our Christmas brunch. [05] a glass blowing demonstration at Micheal's party last night -- I got the be the volunteer and even got to help blow the glass! [06] at Michael's with some of my favorite neighbors!

Are you in the holiday spirit yet? I can't believe Christmas is Sunday -- are you kidding me?

My weekend in pictures :)

This weekend was seriously so much fun! I got to spend time with some of my best friends, eat a ton of delicious food, and made plenty of time to relax and watch movies.

1. Hanging out with my best friend Brittany on Friday

2. S'mores party at 1am after I got back from the bar (yes, I ate all of them by myself!)

3. Sean & Samson after the massive nap we took together on Saturday

4. Watching the Sunset from our rooftop

5. Being silly with my neighbor, Morgan :)

6. Homemade chicken veggie soup that I made on Sunday! So good!

7. Movies all day Sunday with my two pups, Pete & Samson

a day at the beach!

Saturday, me and this girl packed up my car and drove to Virginia Beach for the day. This is the one and only picture that I snapped, because we were having entirely too much fun drinking margaritas and other mixed drinks while hanging out in the water and getting some much needed sun. I can't believe this was the first time I've been to the beach all summer, we really are so so lucky to be only an hour and a half away!

It's so nice to get away every now and then, and who doesn't love a girl's only trip!

I'm so happy that today's August 1st. This summer has been entirely too hot, and I'm more than ready to welcome my favorite season of all : Fall! I can't wait for crunchy leaves, pumpkin spice lattes, cardigans, and all things Halloween!

Tomorrow is me and Sean's 3 year wedding anniversary, and the following week I'm going to Charlottesville to hang out with Denise & see her new h o u s e! This means that I have two 4 day weeks back to back, and that makes me rrreeeaalllllyyy happy :)

How will you wrap up the summer this year?



Have A Dreamy Weekend

I am still riding off the high of last weekend . . .

I hope your weekend is full of nature, music, and lots and lots of love.

xx, Kara


{all images found here}

Weekend Recap:

So far, 25 was my best birthday yet! It was full of. . .

Pretty Frozen Drinks. . .

Giving Tree Themed Cake. . .

Colorful Flowers. . .

New Ink. . .

And a perfect day at my favorite spot in Richmond. . . 42nd Street :)

To all of my friends and family who made Saturday so special: Thank you!!! I love you all more than you will ever know and appreciate you for who you are! I am one lucky girl, to have so many special people in my life!!



Weekend Recap

This weekend was pretty fun, especially because it seemed like the perfect balance of hanging out with our group of friends and spending time together, just the two of us.

Yesterday was my first day eating raw, and to my surprise it wasn't awful! It was actually really enjoyable! I went to the grocery on Friday and spent around $150 on fruit and veggies, which I'll be honest really really stressed me out. But after I got home, I was really happy with how colorful and healthy our refrigerator looked! Sean and I had Salsa Mole for a late lunch/early dinner. . . and we are both hooked!

We added hot sauce to the recipe along with some extra veggies, which was pure genius. I ate mine in a giant cabbage leaf like a wrap, and Sean added grilled chicken to his. See our recipe here :-)

Saturday we ran errands. . . but they were fun errands! We are going to a conference for Sean's work on Thursday (whoop whoop! 3 day work week!), so he wanted to buy some new dress shirts and slacks. These things are always really fancy, so we try to hide the fact that we're the only people in the room who aren't loaded. (best part? open bar ;-)

While Sean was busy picking out clothes and a new pair of shoes, I was on the hunt for my birthday dress! Every year I like to treat myself to something new to wear at my party, and this year was no different. I actually came out of Urban with two dresses. . . and I would normally feel bad about spending that much money, but my wardrobe needs a serious update and I'm going to wear one of them to dinner while we're at Sean's conference.

The Birthday Dress -- I've been drooling over this one for a while now (I got it in blue)

I also picked out this beauty. Also in blue.

Saturday night we hung out for a few hours at a friend's house and then went to our favorite bar in the West End, The Beach House. We usually stay downtown on Saturday nights, so it was nice for a change in atmosphere. We go here every Thursday night for happy hour, so it was fun seeing our waitresses (yes OUR waitresses, haha we're regulars!) for an extra night and being able to hang out without having to worry about work the next day. We left at 2am after last call and I had my last meal as a ''normal person'': Taco Bell. Words cannot describe how good those soft tacos taste early in the morning!!!!!!!! Sean and I got home around 4am (I NEVER stay out this late! And I was the DD so I was sober. . . not sure how I didn't fall asleep!) and we slept in on Sunday until about 1. It was awesome.

Also, we decided to stay in our PJ's yesterday. . . we haven't done this in a while and it just needed to happen. We watched the ENTIRE mini series of The Kennedy's and Katie Holmes stole the show as Jackie! I can see why the History Channel didn't want to play it, because it's not 100% historically accurate, but it was still good enough to capture our attention for over 4 hours! After this we watched Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, because let's be honest. . . we all know the ending of JFK's presidency and we needed something easy to laugh at ;-)

Hope you had a great weekend, too!

Best Weekend Ever :)

This weekend was probably the best one that I've had for as long as I can remember. And the best part, was it was 3 days long... and every single day was equally as amazing!

The best parts of my weekend:

• Meeting new friends that I have a million things in common with :)
• Watching Hangover 2 and laughing until I cried
• Laying out by the pool with Sarah and Brittany (then having a lunch date here - so good!)
• Grilling out and drinking obnoxious amounts of ice cold beer
• Puppy play dates with Toby, Pete & Samson
• Buying this adorable top at Ruche (so many cute things to choose from!)

And my very favorite part...

Deciding that 9 to 5 jobs aren't for me -officially- and starting to look at hair & make up schools! (more on this later)

What did you do this weekend?

My weekend in D.C.

This weekend was pretty amazing, because Sean & I (and Pete and Samson, too!) got to spend it in D.C. with two of our very best friends. You may recognize one of them :)


Sean and Samson stayed at his college roommate Dan's house, while Pete and I stayed at Brittany's. Most of my close girlfriends live out of town, so it was really nice to get as much 'girl time' as possible this weekend. Luckily, Sean understands how important my girlfriends are to me, and didn't mind us sleeping in different places. Also, I think the pups really enjoyed the one on one time that they got!

Brittany is a planner, and lucky for me she put together one heck of a weekend! Friday night we all hung out at Dan's apartment, but came home early to rest up for a busy Saturday. Brittany woke me up to made-from-scratch lemon poppy seed scones (what's up with all of my friends being excellent cooks but me?) and then we headed out for a day of shopping.

Our first stop was lunch at DC-3, aka my favorite meal of the weekend! We each got NY Coney dogs and split a basket of fried pickles (mmmmmmm!!!!!) It's been so long since I've had a g o o d hot dog, and this really hit the spot. Also, the atmosphere was awesome -- it's a 1940's aviation theme diner and they only sell vintage soda's (I got the Daddy's Rootbeer). Next time, I'm definitely getting cotton candy for dessert!

After lunch, we headed to Georgetown for some shopping. I typically shop at the same basic stores, so it was nice for a little change in my wardrobe. We stopped by Sprinkles Cupcakes and tried the coconut, banana, and red velvet cupcakes.... delish! I also picked up some doggie cupcakes... which Pete and Samson (and Brittany's pug Henry) gobbled up in a matter of seconds.

We rested at Britt's place for a few hours before meeting up with Sean & Dan for dinner and drinks at Red Rocks Pizza. This place was really great and our waiter was hilarious! I got the Confit Pizza, which had eggplant, olives and goat cheese. . . y u m! I highly recommend this place if you're ever in the area!

That night we hung out at my all time favorite pub, Murphy's -- I loooove the Irish Sing Along's and 'Take Me Home, Country Roads' has been stuck in my head ever since (Have you heard the Jersey Shore version? Hilarious!). I really love the laid back atmosphere, and it's impossible to keep from smiling because e v e r y o n e is having such an amazing time laughing and singing together!

Sunday we all met up for brunch and stopped by a little puppy boutique (Pete got a new collar, and they both got a new toy and an Easter cookies for the road) before heading back home to Richmond. It was a very quiet ride home to say the least, as everyone was passed out - except for me, the driver. I can't wait to go back!!!

Weekend Recap

Monday morning always leaves me feeling extremely tired. I try to cram everything fun that I can think of into the two days that I'm home, and while I usually have a really awesome weekend.... when it's over I'm totally worn out!

By the way - what happened to the warm weather? Last Friday it was 80 degrees, and this weekend it was freezing outside!

Anyway, Friday was a pretty awesome day. I went to a meeting in the morning and then had planned on getting my hair (re)done on my lunch break and then coming back to work. Well, I know the owner of the salon and it really paid off because she blocked her whole afternoon off just for me! Needless to say....... I was there from 1 until 4:30 and so it was a day off and I didn't even plan it! Thank goodness my boss was cool about it...

My parent's picked Sean & I up around 6 o'clock and we had dinner together at Baja Bean Co. I ordered 'The Whole Enchilada' which had shredded chicken, corn salsa, cheese and rice and was sooooooo amazingly good! Then, we hopped in the car and drove to the Landmark Theatre to see The Wizard of Oz. I had forgotten how gorgeous this building is, and was amazed by the detail on the walls and ceiling. It was built in the 1920's and I kept hoping that a ghost would appear around each corner.... there is no way that a place this old and with this much history isn't haunted! We sat on the top balcony, and if you look up there's a gigantic dome in the center that looks like a faberge egg with tiny blue windows around it. I kept looking up at it during the show, it was b r e a t h t a k i n g!

Saturday, Sean and I slept in and spent the entire day watching television. This wasn't planned, but it was very much needed... and trust me, nothing feels better than a midday nap! We had some friends over around dinner time and had a few drinks before heading over to Legends. It's been a while since I've been out, and honestly I had forgotten how much fun it can be! I need to make more of an effort to do this once a week... because once we have kids, the days of staying up until 2 am (Sean was up until 4!) are pretty much over. Unless you count getting up for crying babies.

Sunday was probably my favorite day. Sean and I went to the mall to get our rings resized (I can't believe I won't have my wedding bands for almost 3 weeks!) and had lunch in the food court. Afterwards, we drove to my friend's house and watched the VCU game... let me just say, I am not one to enjoy watching sports. At superbowl parties, I socialize the entire time and usually don't even pay attention to the commercials. But this game was soooo good, and it was so awesome hearing about Richmond, Va! I felt so much pride for my city... and the guys are really amazing! Go VCU! Go VCU! Go VCU!

Here's a before/after picture of my hair... I'm still getting used to it!

Before:

After:

P.S. --  Friday was exactly one week since Imogen's been gone. I've been thinking of something special to do to memorialize her (since I experienced so much with her and she was such a big part of my life) and I think I've come up with a pretty cool tattoo design. Ferret's are pretty strange animals anyway, so it's going to be a conversation piece for sure! More on that later...



taking the good with the bad.

Although this weekend was pretty emotional, there were also good parts that are worth mentioning. My mom lives about an hour away, so it was nice to spend some time with her. She came in on Thursday, I took her out for dinner at Bottoms Up Pizza , and then she was pretty awesome and took me to the grocery and let me pick out all of the food I wanted (really really cool, especially since my fridge consisted of cheese and beer. period.)!

On Friday we had to be up bright and early (I got up around 5:45 a.m.) and she drove me to Williamsburg, Va for a training. She shopped while I learned about Yoga, Nutrition, and Music Therapy. As far as trainings go, this one was pretty rad! It made me really miss my daily meditation, and also made me want to experiment with this.

Friday was kind of a tough day, and after leaving the emergency vet we decided to pick up dinner at La Bamba... which was perfect because this place is a little whole in the wall, meaning there weren't many people around. I gulped down a 32 oz. margarita and we cried a little together. It felt good to get that emotion out in a safe place.

Saturday morning I woke up to cinnamon rolls (ugh... so g o o d!) and we hurried to get dressed so that we could go out and shop a little before Sean returned from his work conference. We went to Target (where I picked up 4 awesome cardigans, starbucks, and dog food... retail therapy is THE best!), Pet Smart (where I got a travel crate for Pete -- we're going to D.C. together in a few weeks... more on that later!), and then ended the day at Applebee's for a big salad. Oh, we also got pedicures... so relaxing and much needed!

My mom went home Saturday afternoon and that night Sean and I sat around watching movies. We usually go out, but I was totally drained and he was kind enough to keep me company - even though I passed out around 11 o'clock (whoops)! We finished the weekend off at my in-law's house on Sunday... where we had dinner and just hung out. The perfect ending to any weekend!

Most of all, this weekend was full of people checking in on me and sharing memories they had of little Imogen. It was really cool to see how many people she made an impact on, and made me happy that she had a life full of so much love! To everyone out there who wrote on my facebook, commented on this blog, called me, texted me, emailed me, and hugged me -- THANK YOU! It's so much easier getting through a hard time when so many people are there showing support. I love you guys :)

So... before I wrap up the sad Imogen posts completely, I thought I'd share a few pictures I found from Imogen's glory days in college! My friend Nicky said it best... how many ferrets really get to experience COLLEGE?!?! And trust me, she lived it up like the rest of us...

have a relaxing weekend!

I don't know about you, but the month of October is so busy that I get exhausted just looking at my calendar. Next weekend I'm planning to check a few fun things off of my "fall to do list"... so this weekend I plan on relaxing with these two cuties.....

The husband's going to the mountains to visit with some friends from college, but I've become such a homebody and I miss lounging around our loft. Is it bad that I'm actually looking forward to cleaning this weekend?



I've been counting down since Sunday night....

it's finally here....Happy Friday!

What are you doing this weekend??

[i'm going on a mini-vacay next weekend... so looking forward to a 4 day work week!]

Nature, Family & Food.

This weekend was relaxing {minus the 14 hour migraine Saturday & Sunday in which I wanted to D.I.E.}. When I got home from work on Friday I got into one of my "cleaning freak outs" and went around the loft with my bleach bottle for about 3 1/2 hours. This tends to happen every few weeks and for some reason I do it whenever I'm extremely stressed out - Sean knows by now to stay out of my way. I finished the night off with pizza and a movie in my pajamas. Perfect.

Sean's cousin and her family came into town from North Carolina, and we decided to get together and visit Maymont Park with their little baby, Elizabeth. We had so much fun talking and laughing that I almost didn't realize the exercise we were getting as we walked up and down hills for two hours. Mental Note: Should have left the cute boots at home.

Anyway, here are some pics I snapped on our little adventure:



trees are always my favorite subject.

the piggy's are my favorite!

Happy Girl!

Sean testing his wing span...pretty impressive!

We could not have asked for nicer weather!

Yesterday I was so bummed because I woke up and my head was still throbbing. All week I have been craving this Chicken Crescent Ring that my mom used to make us growing up and I was dying to share it with Sean and my in-laws. Luckily, my migraine finally went away and we called Sean's parent's over for a nice dinner --

I Cooked...



Can you believe how yummy this looks? I was so happy because everyone knows I'm not the best cook, and we all went back for seconds! You can find the recipe that I used here, and there are sooooo many different ways to make this.

So dang yummy!!!

{so proud I didn't burn the loft down or poison anyone!}

What did you do this weekend?