Meats and Breads and Desserts, Oh My!

Well, last night I did not make it to Taste of Western. I hope everyone had a great time, and congratulations to Iron Starr BBQ for winning Best Food! I had another obligation – a friend of mine was having a “tasting party”. Yes, my ears perked up too, at the thought that every tasting party I had heard of before involved lots and lots of wine. However, this was a little different. My friend sells baskets for the holidays, and this year she wanted some help deciding what to include in the baskets, so she invited us over to taste an assortment of goodies (wine was included at the party; not sure if it will be in the baskets).

I was greeted with a smorgasboard of delicious cookies, creme de menthe brownies, irish cream brownies, white chocolate bark, ribeye seasoned with a special rub, spicy pecans, mexican dip, chocolate pound cake…the list goes on. There were at least 30 items to sample, including cider, hot chocolate, and teas. It was ALL delicious! We had to try everything, and pick our top 5 items in each category – drinks, desserts, and sides.

Baskets are always a great option for gifts – hostess gifts, acquaintance gifts, or gifts for the person who has everything. As soon as I know the final options, I’ll post them on here, along with her contact information and pricing. Baskets are always a favorite around the holidays!  (Can you tell I like holiday baskets?)

What’s your favorite holiday fare/gift idea?

-C-

Website of the Week: MyPunchBowl

Recently, I discovered MyPunchBowl, a new site for *FREE* online invitations. The concept is very similar to Evite, except they offer tons more personalization and layout options, making it feel as if the invitation is your very own. This is great for people like myself who get sick of receiving the same online invitation (or Facebook invite) for every barbeque, happy hour, pool day, bachelorette party, etc. While I LOVE getting invited (yes, please keep sending, even if it’s the same look/feel as the one we got last week), I am more likely to remember and get super excited and tell all my friends about your event if you put it on a cute lace background or add a snazzy pic. And MyPunchBowl makes all of this so easy! 

Added bonus: every day they feature a new reason to throw a party! For example, today is Yellow Pig Day (yesterday was Macaroni Day!). Sooooo make some cute invites, and let’s get the party started!!

Sorry for my absence…Had to share this!

My friend Meggie recently got married, and recently wrote down her reflections on her former life as a single lady. This particular blog post resonated with several of my friends, who went so far as to actually marry some of these guys (or get close and end it, or also realize it after the fact and are now on their way back to singlehood [this is a good thing!]). Anyway, from Meggie, here is How to Spot a D-Bag.

Feel free to pass it on to your friends who might have an affinity for these men.

-C-

Birthday Shout-out

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KATE!!

Kate, one of the K(C)atherines, turns 23 today (aww, she’s such a young’un). In honor of her birthday, I plan to play a lot of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and some Postal Service while driving in my car. Also, I will be in Houston this weekend to celebrate Katherine’s (get it? more of the names) new apartment, where I plan to abuse the fact that Kate is still younger than me and still in school (albeit grad school, at SMU, so she ain’t gettin’ too crazy) by making her drink copious amounts of sangria and margaritas, and then we will all bemoan the days of when we were younger and could drink without getting hangovers.

So if you see Kate today, online (Twitter: @kwchap) or in person (Dallas-ites), wish her a wonderful birthday, and good luck in the binge drinking this weekend!

Love, Catie

Oh yes, the obligatory embarrassing picture birthday post:

Our Kickball League Made the news!!

For those of you who don’t know, every spring and fall for the past 2 years, Taylor and I have played on an adult kickball league. The league is sponsored by WAKA, or the World Adult Kickball Association. This was our second season as captains of That One Team, and although we haven’t won many games this season, we have a blast! Last week, Channel 8 News was at the fields, filming a bit of every game. The story aired last night, and I invite all of you to watch it:

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE CHANNEL 8 SEGMENT ON THE WAKA OK STORM KICKBALL LEAGUE!

Sorry for not posting the video on here, but WordPress wants me to install a new widget, and since I am at work, I don’t have the time right now. Go to the WAKA website to find a kickball league in your area!

Snapshots!

Just a few pics from the first half of 2009 to show everyone and remind me that my life is absolutely amazing!

Fiiiiiiive - for Clint & the Village Idiots

 

The K(C)atherines

 

At law prom, I found a dare from my bachelorette party in my purse!

 

While in Raleigh for work, I saw my BFF from middle school

 

This guy looked like Perez, so I made him take a pic with me.

 

Katherine & Me at Shawna's Wedding (she was my date)

 

Me & My Amazing Mama

 

In NYC for business, I hung out with my old friend Tim

 

This guy is from Oklahoma but lives in Brooklyn. I loved his tattoo!

Isn’t my life great??

Happy Birthday, Amelia!

I would like to take a post to extend a warm wish for a wonderful, cupcake-filled, California-style, fun and fabulous HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my amazing friend, Amelia. Amelia is the mind behind AJ does DC, one of the best pseudo-political blogs where I go to read about many obscure topics about which I might not care otherwise. Here’s to you, Amelia, and to being, TWENTY-FIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVE!

Love, Catie

Amelia and Me - She's the one in Red (fab color for you, btw)