Category Archives: cozy

Coming to Terms

Posted on 10.20.2011 | 13 Comments

This has been a real week of coming to terms with things.

Sunday evening, 6:00 PM – We turned on the heat.

Monday morning, 7:30 AM – I realize I can’t leave the house without a scarf anymore.

Tuesday morning, 6:00 AM – I acknowledge the fact that hot coffee in the morning is the only thing that will get me out of the house until the trees have leaves again.

Wednesday afternoon, 4:00 PM – I notice that none of my sweatshirts really feel Warm Enough.

Thursday evening, 5:50 PM – The big guns come out.

Legwarmers strike.

I don’t know how I blacked out this Essential Apparel from my memories of fall/winter/early spring, but truly, I did.

And the moment I put them on, just like the last time I had this revelation, the shivers disappeared.

It’s going to be a long five months.

Legwarmers: Are you a believer?

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Posted in cozy, Style

Hit by a Truck

Posted on 04.09.2011 | 8 Comments

The fact that the only appointment on my calendar today was 3:00 PM – Do Mani + Pedi! should tell you a lot about what my day has been like.

I mean, my mitts + paws are always a priority, but sometimes I even shock myself.

So what was a day in the life of Kat like today?

Remember The Napping?

After my long run (9 miles – outside!), it was all I could do to take a hot shower, snarf a bowl of oatmeal, slam a couple of cups of coffee and blow-out my hair before I had to pour myself into bed.

There’s probably something really wrong with the fact that I prioritized a pot of coffee over sleep, but I figured that it would all balance out in the end.

I thought about taking a post-run snap of myself after my shower, but mostly I just looked like I had been run over by a truck.   Not adorable, not necessary.

Did I mention that all of this happened by 11 AM?

Because there was that too.

Moral of the story: Get a full eight hours of sleep, kittens.  It’s a game-changer.

Second Moral of the Story: Avoid going to bed with Bad Hair at all costs.  You’ll pay for it later.

This afternoon (read: as soon as I rolled out of bed…again), I ventured out for a burrito bowl-type salad from Chipotle (lots of lettuce on the bottom, a little bit of rice on top).  Not so much because I was craving it (I was in more of a burger-mood), but because it would refrigerate well if Naptime struck again.

Constant Vigilance.

On the bright side, since all of the Chipotle employees were kind of shell-shocked by the stampede of hockey moms (there’s a youth tournament going on practically on-top of us), I got the nicest, happiest service ever.

We all took our pulse together at the cash register.  No kidding.

Since outright exhaustion didn’t rear its ugly head again, I decided to continue my Afternoon Of Meaning by streaming 2012 via Netflix On-Demand.

You know, nothing too mentally taxing.

I was explaining to Marcus that insofar as mindless movie-watching is concerned, 2012 beats Independence Day any day, because it doesn’t actually require you to follow a plot.

Those apocalyptic, sci-fi, thriller-type films can be so tricky sometimes.  Because then you have oddballs like Cloverfield that mostly just make you extremely nauseous.

We don’t love that.

What are your weekend plans?

Tonight we’re going out for a pre-wedding celebratory dinner with some of Marcus’ grandparents’ friends, catching up with Mads and a few others at the VFW (can’t get enough, really) and tomorrow is another wedding shower!

What’s your favorite movie to zone out to?

I’d have to say that The Proposal is another favorite of mine.  Not because it’s mindless and awful, but because it’s pretty easy to zone out with all of the Alaskan scenery.

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Posted in cozy, Mitts and Paws, Movies

Napping and News-ing

Posted on 04.03.2011 | 12 Comments

Story of my life: This weekend has been Nap Central.

Fact: Today I realized that over the past five months, I had completely forgotten how exhausting long runs are.

When I’m actually making them happen?  I’m the picture of perkiness and energy.  They feel great!  I’m in the zone!

But afterward?  I’m ready to curl up into a ball, channel a hibernating grizzly and sleep for an entire day.  To the point where I actually have to schedule a naptime for myself in order to make sure that I can survive the evening hours.

If you’re looking for a comparison, it’s like being…mono tired.  I literally have to fling my body into bed.

Yesterday?  There was napping.  Today?  There was napping.

Tomorrow?  No napping.  You have to get over it and move on at some point.

But in the here and the now, it is just rough.

Let’s play a fun game, shall we?

It’s called, WTF is wrong with this picture?

Begin.

Before snapping this picture, Marcus made sure to find out whether or not I wanted my feet to be included.

No, it’s not the fact that I STILL haven’t gotten my hair did.

At this point, I like to think that I’m rocking the ombre-hair trend…in reverse.

So classy, I know.

But not really the point.

If your answer was: Kat, why do you have an actual print-copy of the newspaper? then you win.

The New York Times’ paywall went up on March 28th, right?  And I made it a whole two days reading section fronts and Playing By The Rules until I was informed that I had to pay up or give up.

At which point I sucked it up, paid for my Sunday-only subscription, and chuckled to myself about the fact that in order to enjoy unlimited online usage I was actually helping their circulation numbers.

So today, I dedicated a portion of my afternoon to enjoying a good old-fashioned flip through the paper.  Yes, perusing it with my morning coffee would have made more sense, but I completely forgot that it was coming until we were pulling away from the house to go grocery shopping.

Timing aside, it was actually quite lovely, and a Sunday activity I’d be more than happy to make a habit.  Especially since newspapers aren’t as good for hoarding as magazines are. ;)

When is the last time that you picked up an honest-to-goodness newspaper?

Honestly, before this, I think that the last time would have been when I was in college working at The Minnesota Daily.

Are you a napper-by-nature?

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Posted in cozy, Fact., Newsies, WORK IT

Digging Back In

Posted on 01.18.2011 | 18 Comments

Kittens, last night I was practically falling asleep in my banana soft serve while I was typing.  It was not my classiest, or coherent moment.

Confession: I’ve been slacking on the protein front.  My hips have been sore.  Sore hips = no good for this girl’s beauty sleep.  And last night was the first night of normal sleep I’ve had in about a week.

Today’s prescription?  A healthy dosing of Egg Bake for One.

Amen.

On The Tundra, we’ve taken a turn towards Bitter Cold (read: Below Zero).  At this point in the winter, I’ve found that I’ll tolerate basically any and all weather conditions that keep the white stuff at bay.

A couple of inches?  Magical.  A foot?  Holy cow!  But where we stand right now?  Is max capacity.

To that end, I’m all leg warmers and Chardonnay tonight.

What I didn’t realize until I curled up on the couch, is that this is the first night I’ve really had to myself since we got home from vacation.

So necessary.

And because I’ve been more-than-curious since Tina mentioned it awhile back, I enjoyed the Spirit of the Marathon via Netflix On Demand.

Runners – watch it.  It was (not surprisingly) SO inspirational.  I thought it would be good, but I absolutely loved it.

What’s your definition of cozy?

What do you do to recharge?

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Posted in Confessions, cozy, Movies

Digging Out

Posted on 12.12.2010 | 15 Comments

So we survived Snowmageddon unscathed (even though the Metrodome didn’t).  We had heat, Comcast didn’t go down (though apparently we are experiencing “regional difficulty” with about half of our channels), and the power didn’t go out.

Amen.

Today, a new day.  Involving Errands and Productivity and Windexing All Flat Surfaces.

Or something.

I suited up.

This is what one wears to go grocery shopping on The Frozen Tundra with subzero windchills.

Yes, we sleep with a night-light and yes, it’s a miniature Jag bottle.  I have no shame, people.  And we all know that home decor maven, I am not.

When we got home from grocery shopping, we had to Assess The Situation.

We have a great plowing service, but they neglected to do our stairs/walk.

It was not good.

Important Question: How can you tell that Marcus is the one behind the lens?  I’m missing either one or both of my feet.  After having to delete one too many otherwise acceptable race pictures, I had to stage an intervention.

This is our progress.  I am now one-footed Kat.

For an afternoon of relaxation and laziness (involving 7 episodes from the first season of Weeds), I whipped up a batch of the Pioneer Woman’s Simple, Perfect Chili.  It was obviously delicious, but I was more tickled by the fact that Marcus first made a go of eating it with a fork.

Fork or not, while I’m an 11/10 fan of the Sunday Dinner idea, I never really get around to making it happen.  Since we had unlimited amounts of time to fritter away this weekend, it was just time.

Do you do any variety of a Sunday Dinner?  What are your traditions?

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Posted in Adventures, Cooking, cozy, nesting, TV

A Night In

Posted on 12.11.2010 | 14 Comments

We had some holiday parties to go to tonight, but since Hennepin County has pulled all but five plows off of the roads, we decided (I’m using that term loosely) to have a night-in and to go all-out while doing it.

Enter:

  • A 2001 bottle of Merlot
  • Practice-dancing in our living room to the song we picked out for our First Dance
  • As many sugar cookie dough balls as one human being can handle
  • An episode of COPS and The Hangover
  • A Cookies ‘n Cream cupcake from the Sweet Retreat

I was ready to break out the Ugly Christmas Sweaters and the Holiday Five Pack, but Marcus put his foot down.

Not that I can blame the man.  But I was kind of on a roll.

I’m not saying the night would have been a total waste if we hadn’t tried making something new,  but it might have been.

In the tradition of The Pioneer Woman, we made Crash Hot Potatoes.

In the mix: Yukon Gold Potatoes, Salt + Pepper, Rosemary, Parmesan Cheese and Truffle Oil.

A word to the wise: If you make these, make sure to season the pants off of them.  The crispiness was great, but the flavor was only good.  With a bit of help, I can definitely see how these would be just lovely alongside a hunk of steak.

The best news of the night is that for all practical purposes, the snow has finally stopped.  But, lest you be deceived into thinking that all is well, we’re meant to be having a freak windchill tomorrow of -30 to -40.

Joy.

Did you get to try any new recipes this weekend?

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Posted in Cooking, cozy

Snow Day of The Century

Posted on 12.11.2010 | 7 Comments

Lovelies, as I was driving home from work last night, the melee I saw when I drove past the grocery store parking lot looked like something that one would see on CNN before The Hurricane of The Century.

Given that our house is stuffed to the gills with meat and potatoes, bread and butter, beer and wine, I wasn’t particularly concerned about The Situation.

Nay, priority numero uno was rescuing my new shoes from The House On The Hill.

Obviously foot-portraiture isn't something I've spent a great deal of time perfecting.

They fit.  I was thrilled.  Word to the wise: If you’re ordering any heels from Seychelles, order a half-size (or so) up.  I’m a comfortable size 9.5 in flats and these are a size 10.

The remainder of the evening was lovely as well.  For my extremely belated birthday dinner, we ended up going to Bar La Grassa, which is one of our favorites.  To surmise what sort of delicious mess we got into, all you really need to know is that A. They serve Italian food, and B. It was one of the Top 10 New Restaurants of 2010 according to Bon Appetit.

No I didn’t take any pictures because when you’re eating a meal like that, living in the moment comes first.

Minneapolis people: If you haven’t been, go.

All of that aside, when I finally peeled myself out of bed this morning (setting an alarm seemed trivial), I was greeted by this.

What my camera cannot capture is the ridiculous amount of snow that's just...blowing.

Apparently, according to reports that are more credible than myself, in the last ~12 hours, the Twin Cities has seen 11″ of snow.

How Magical.

People who romanticize snow: Stop it now.  It’s like a bad relationship.

Since any and all plans for today were/are canceled, I decided to treat myself to a brunch for one.

Bon Appetit.

It was delightful and pleasing and relaxing and all of the things that a brunch should be.  Retrospectively, some champagne should have been involved.

More presently, In The Spirit Of Not Letting The Day Go To Waste, I threw on some makeup and Real Clothes.  Mascara has a 99% success rate of making me feel more put-together.  Fact.

My Master Plan for the afternoon? Baking a batch of sugar cookie dough balls for lunch and doing some light shopping online.  It’s a calling, people.

Minnesota friends, what are your snow day plans?

Non-Minnesota Friends, if you were trapped in your house for the weekend, what five “essentials” would you need?


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Posted in cozy, Fact.

An Appearance of Effort

Posted on 11.28.2010 | 6 Comments

Fellow survivors, welcome.

I know I can’t be the only one who feels like by the time that Sunday rolls around on Thanksgiving weekend, we’ve finally “made it.”

Not that I’m complaining.  I can’t remember the last time I spent four days going to bed without setting an alarm in the morning.

Snuggled in sweatshirts.

Reading magazines.

Eating chocolate.

I’ll spare you the highlights reel of the part of my day where I did laundry and went grocery shopping.  As fascinating as that was.

Marcus had an impromptu-Football get-together this afternoon with a couple of guy friends.  I convinced them to pass on ordering pizza in-favor of a pair of strombolis.

In the mess: Re-purposed crescent roll dough filled with pesto, pepperoni, caramelized onions and cheese.

They’re lovely for parties because you can fill them with whatever you’d like, and with the pseudo-braiding/weaving they look time-consuming.

I KNOW I can’t be the only person to factor in the amount of effort-appearance of effort ratio when I cook.

How often do you get wrangled into making game day treats?

What’s an easy go-to recipe you love to make that really looks like you put in more effort than you should have?

p.s. A huge thank you for your gifting-suggestions.  Y’all are lifesavers!

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Posted in Cooking, cozy, Mags

Unlikely Inspiration

Posted on 11.14.2010 | 13 Comments

Subtitle: Entirely and Altogether Completely Predictible Inspiration

I woke up to snow that was…

A. Still here. 

B. No longer magical.

Enter: The Snowman Mug.

The Purveyor of All Good Things.

It takes us to a better place.

Especially when it has homemade Pumpkin Spice coffee in it.

Today was an adventure in errands-running.  I had already made it home after my rounds to Target and the ALDI/Trader Joe’s when I realized that I had forgotten my drugstore-stop.

Naturally it was super-awesome to change back into Suitable For Public Consumption clothes so I could leave the house again.  Thankfully, CVS rewarded my endeavors with a BOGO on vitamins. 

Can we say, motherlode?

Following the resolution of my Errands Pilgrimmage, I Channeled the Spirit of Productivity and finally managed to write out and post the Focaccia recipe.

That really shouldn’t be an accomplishment, but its been a long time in coming.

And then, I followed my heart and set to roasting all manner of vegetables for lunch this week (green beans, carrots, brussels sprouts) and actioning a dinner that would soothe my soul.

Welcome Winter Dinner: Mustard-crusted Roasted Chicken, Roasted Broccoli, made-from-scratch Potatoes au Gratin

It’s safe to say that the wild amounts of Food Network I’ve been watching while on the treadmill have been rubbing off.  Thank you Rachael Ray for giving me the idea to glaze roasted chicken with inappropriate amounts of mustard.  It was a hit.

Are you a Food Network-watcher?  What’s been inspiring you in the kitchen lately?

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Posted in Cooking, cozy

Riding the Same Wave

Posted on 11.08.2010 | 14 Comments

Happy Monday, lovelies!

Friends, another day, another way that I feel like the blog world and I are riding the same wave lately.  Last week, Mostly Fit Mom told us all about the leg warmers that she’s been rockin’.

A lightbulb went on in my head. 

You see, I’ve been absolutely FREEZING lately, even when I’m wrapped with a sweatshirt AND a blanket (lest y’all think I haven’t been making enough of an effort).  With the exception of putting on a parka, I’m kind of out of layers to add.  On a more practical level, wearing a jacket inside doesn’t really hold a lot of appeal for this lady.

So when I was reading about her adventures in leg warmers, my mind immediately wandered to the pair I have stashed in my exercise-clothing drawer.

Verdict?  I need like, probably at least two more pairs.  I put those puppies on and the shivers were gone.

Legwarmers as functional clothing: yes or no?

What’s the most ridiculous thing you do to keep warm?

p.s. Thank you ALL for your protein-intake recommendations!  Basically, I’ve been stuffing myself silly with a variety of meats, beans and peanut butter for the past few days and I think its done the trick.

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Posted in cozy, Style