goodbye 2015, hello 2016

it's been a crazy twelve months.

i know i say this almost every year, but this year was honestly my favorite yet.

i've made new friendships, and strengthened old ones. i've expanded my comfort zone. i've cried desperately, and i've laughed endlessly, and i've read books, and i've found songs that speak to my soul. i've cut my hair and traveled to another country, things that i never thought i would have the courage to do. i've been swept off my feet. i've discovered my true style. i've discovered my purpose in life. i've sat around on my butt for days on end with nothing but a box of cookies and the TV remote. i've gone on spontaneous adventures. 

i feel like i've grown so much through these past twelve months, and i am so excited to see what 2016 has in store for me.

memories are magic, folks. treat them as such.

-2015-

january: started my last semester ever of high school. froze my toes off in the cold.
february: celebrated my 17th birthday. hatched three beautiful baby ducklings. got an iphone. hit an emotional rough patch.
march: went for a windows-down-on-the-highway drive with old friends. developed an obsession with cookie-dough.
april: visited my brother at college in florida. finished high school, resulting in lots of bittersweet feels.
may: hit another emotional rough patch. graduated high school. survived my very last (bittersweet) tech week with my high school friends. got the best surprise of my life when conner flew in for the show without telling me. left for england.
june: returned from england a different person. went to a ton of grad parties. did a lot of soul searching. did a lot of swing dancing. did even more swing dancing. made a lot of sweet memories with friends.
july: fell in love with tori kelly's new album. saw a bunch of old friends at my graduation party. continued aforementioned soul searching. took a beautiful class trip up north. fried like a lobster. bought my very own macbook. had a blast volunteering at vbs.
august: camped on lake michigan with my family. felt really nostalgic/sad about not going back to my high school in the fall. watched my classmates/friends go off to college.
september: felt very sad about all my friends leaving. found a new perspective. got swept off my feet. got my very first debit card.
october: went to an amazing francesca battiscelli/matthew west concert with an old friend. got addicted to glee. bought way too many sweaters at target.
november: hit yet another emotional rough patch. really fell in love with music. saw the very last hunger games movie. had my first black friday shopping trip.
december: hosted an advent by candlelight table. started a new phase of my life. had a lot of ups and downs. visited my grandparents in pennsylvania. got a polaroid camera for christmas.
here's to a beautiful new year.
xo, kate

christmas day

is christmas really over? how did this happen?! i still haven't watched elf all the way through yet!

this year the holidays are really flying by. we didn't get a white christmas, so i found it really hard to get into the christmas spirit. then one day i woke up and it was christmas eve--not sure how that happened! regardless, i had a wonderful day full of food and giggles. 

christmas eve breakfast: french toast. yum. 

we had a crazy few days getting ready for christmas day; lots of last minute baking and wrapping!

the kids decorated the gingerbread house without me...but it is pretty cute...

baking. except all the cookies were in the oven before i could snap a picture.

prezzies wrapped and ready for my family to open :)

the altar at christmas eve mass. gosh darn, i love being catholic.

christmas dinner was at my aunt's & uncle's house this year, so we had a bit of a drive, but it was definitely worth it.

parcheesi is a tradition on my mom's side of the family, so my uncle pulled out the board. i played a game with conner, my mom, and my uncle--the sibling rivalry was strong ;) we also had it's a wonderful life on in the background--it was definitely one of the moments this year that i felt peaceful and joyous. the kind of memory i treasure forever. 

see the blue pieces? that's me. i'm not very good at parcheesi. i actually got pretty close to winning towards the end, until conner caught on and everybody ganged up on me.  conner won and i ended up in last place. haha

 the adult table at christmas dinner...that blur in the back is the chef/my aunt.

notice how my plate (to the right) is about 90% cheesy potatoes...yeah.

merry christmas & God bless!

xoxo, kate

haul out the holly

i can't believe we're already half way to christmas--this is crazy! i'm totally not ready. i've got 0% of my shopping done. no christmassy foods have been made. the tree isn't decorated, aside from the lights that i slaved away on. haha. oh, and i have no idea what i'm wearing to the vigil mass.

oh, and did i mention we have *zero* snow?! it's so hard to get in the christmas spirit without snow. how do people from california do it?

even though december if flying back waaaaay too fast, and i'm kind of freaking out, and i really need it to slow down a bit, i'm still excited. this christmas, we've hit a milestone.

we got a life christmas tree! for the first time since my parents got married (which is what, like 25 years? crazy.) we were able to convince dad that a live tree will *not* explode if left unattended with the lights on.

now if only we could slap some ornaments on there. haha.

i can't wait for the holiday prep to pick up a bit!

xoxo,
kate

thanksgiving 2015

happy thanksgiving everyone!

though the weather was grey, we still had a lot of fun. mainly cause food.

we picked up conner early this morning...like 1 am early. exhausting, but totally worth it. hehe.

  

after dinner my friend gina came to spend the night. we're getting up early in the morning to hit the sales. it's my first black friday shopping trip, and i'm not gonna lie, i'm irrationally excited. but also terrified that i'll get trampled. either way it should be fun!

i got this dress from the old navy outlet mall, 30% off! it's super comfy, swingy, and loose--perfect for stuffing myself full of delicious food :)

{ dress: old navy / shoes: target / necklace: target}

hope you all had a lovely day!
xoxo, kate