Kimba's 6th Annual Christmas Card Swap

It's that time of year again!!!

It has always been fun to receive Holiday cards from my bloggers throughout the year! Fun to see how the littles ones have grown or how there is now a boyfriend/husband or furbaby attached to the card!

I will again be adding my fave bloggers to my Christmas Card list! If you would like to swap please send me an email (kimbakimba at gmail.com) with your full name and address, also please include your "blog name"! (Even if we've swamped in the past I would appreciate if you would send me your address, I for some reason can't find my file from the years past.)

Can't wait to swap with my new and old blogging buddies!

Happy Holidays!!!!!!

xoxo

Here I am

Well hello there! Hope you all had a very Happy Thanksgiving! Ours was wonderful, we went to the Cape. Leaving Wed at 1:30pm was the best idea as we hit minimal traffic!

What's being going on here? Not too much, the boat is put away, and i'm back on the restricted diet (no - eggs, wheat, soy, milk, all nuts, fish, beef, and corn). It hasn't been as bad as I thought, but I would KILL for a piece of cheese.

Basically i'm eating, fruit, veggies (no corn), and a lot of rice products. Take this morning for example, I had organic rice puffs with rice milk. Add a few berries and there you have breakfast. It's a pain but I only have 4 more weeks (8 total) so i'm half way done. Well kind of. After I have my biopsy they will determine if eliminating these foods reduced the allergen levels in my body. And two by two they'll add the above food back in and do a biopsy every two weeks, if my levels go up they'll know which food is causing it. So I have a lot more fun to look forward to.

Well I didn't plan to have this post be about the diet, but Christmas!!!

I'm getting ready to decorate this weekend, I can't wait! Also I've been creating my Christmas list and hoping I find the perfect gifts! Though if asked what I want, the only thing I can think of is a steamer to reduce my dry cleaning bills. So a steamer it is, how boring is that?! I just got the new iPhone 4 so that you can cross off my list.

What else? I've been running a ton and it feels great, i'm not keeping track of my miles or time, I just know I'm getting stronger and am able to keep a pretty decent pace throughout the run.

I think come the first of the year I'll keep track of the year, but I don't want too much pressure until I've got my speed up.

My traveling has picked up, I was able to meet the ever so adorable @CapeGirlInDC, we had a great dinner and shared some great blogging/twitter laughs! I am a good traveler, I don't love being away from home but I do enjoy seeing different parts of the country and meeting some great blogging friends along the way! I'll keep you posted if I come to a city near you soon!

One quark I learned about myself:
I get super stressed out while on the rental car bus because I use National and you can go right to the lot and pick out the cars they have for executive level customers, so I eye up my competition and try to be the first one out of the bus and to the lot. And each and every time I end up with a perfectly suitable car and my last trip to Baltimore I even got a Jeep!

Believe me I understand it's nothing to get stressed out about and I have many other things much bigger to worry about. But hey it's the little things sometime that make us us.

Also, my 10 year high school class reunion is tonight, I decided not to go back to Wisconsin to attend, mainly because I didn't want to get stuck at the airport in some random Mid-West snow storm. You always see people sleeping in airports around the holidays. But now that the day has come i'm bummed out. But being home is pretty peaceful for this crazy life of running around all the time. But I sure hope we get some good pics posted on facebook! And I have some girls that can give me the scoop!

It feels good to be back to blogging, I better keep it up!!!

Keep it in the family...

As an Irish Catholic, that is a common stereotype of ones family...Being Irish, Catholic and a Midwesterner the heart on your sleeve is the only way to go through life.

The above is here nor there...I am gearing up for next weekend, my absolute favorite cousin is coming to Boston for a visit! Makes me smile she's coming all the way here just to see me!!

My mom sent me this picture last weekend while she was going through old pictures.

That is my cousin Kelly (left) and yours truly Kimba (right), we may be years apart, but we're as close as ever! Her parents, (ovbi my aunt and uncle) are also my godparents, she's the sister I never had!

Love you Kell, can't wait for you to get to the Bean!

The ATK 600

After starting this blog in 2006, I would never imagine some of my dearest friends would be some of my readers, IRL and on here.

To think about all of the fun we've had over the years, I couldn't possibly name them all, but a few do come to mind.

Of course the first ever Kimba blog meet up, Libby comes over with mint, Jim Beam and a shot glass - now that's a Derby Party! Speaking of Lib, meeting her for drinks on Valentine's Day at the Liberty Hotel, is a dear memory!

Lisagh on her Grosgrain Garage Boston Tour, we need to copy that weekend and do it all over again! Harvard, Upstairs on the Square, Mel, shopping, phone chats with Suz (she couldn't miss the fun), Coll and I being the sassy tour guides and E and I matching with the Elves outside of Joe's on Newbury. Lib running from her exam to ensure she didn't miss a second!

If I had the time I would list each and every time E and I have gotten together, are we done mentioning the peeing on your lawn? There is never enough time in the day when I see that girl! One December morning that poor girl had to tromp around Boylston Street with me and 4 oversize Vineyard Vines shopping bags after an early morning 40% off sale!

Suz coming to Boston to see the Red Sox and of course me, she is truly the best person in the world! I tear up just thinking about how much I adore her! She has more passion than anyone I have ever met!

Diving to Lib's graduation party with Coll, trying really hard not to ask if she's pregnant, but knowing she'd tell me soon enough! :)

Dinner with C, J, E, K in the private booth and then to end the evening at the new Hard Rock in Boston, classy and classic!

A trip to LA is not complete without a date with C and La Scala, I want to jump off the plane and run to Beverly Hills to see C and get a famous chopped salad! I can't wait to meet the new additions to her and J's family! So happy she was able to tell me in person!!

So many more fun blogging meet ups to be had, stories to be told, laughter and tears to be shared. And that was just in person, the rest over the blogging world, email, online book club, it's all wrapped into the joy and love I have for this place! So here's to 600 post over here at ATK.

Love you all!

ACK vol 2

We're back from a week on Nantucket, it was some of the best weather the Island has seen in a September in a very long time.

Had a wonderful time beaching it with friends, new friends and each other.

Finished two great books, 1 book I read in two days, which I could have finished in one, but figured i'd put it down and enjoy the sunset.

Now that I'm home and watching the Pats (kicking butt, btw) I'm ready for Fall. Sweathers, vests, running on a chilly morning and all the perks that come with Fall!

Anyone as pumped to see The Town as I am? No? Well maybe it has to do with that fact it was shot in my backyard! Really!

Happy end of Summer and happy Fall!

"If you follow me on twitter"....

Is really just how it goes these days at ATK.

A few updates:

Boat...Boat...Boat... - is our summer, loving it as much as you would think!

Choke...have had issues with choking when I eat, ended up in the ER in Wisconsin, now on a super restricted diet, not able to eat - eggs, wheat, soy, milk, all nuts, shell fish, beef, and corn. Figure that menu out.

Planning our annual trip to Nantucket!

Busy Kimba, and wishing for an wheat bagel, egg and cheese, doh!

Cheer to you all and wishing you're enjoying the best days of summer (minus the rain in New England)!

xo

Side - kick

Hope you are all having a great weekend! It's a little iffy here in New England with these storms, looks like the mid-west is having the same weather.

With our new boat will bring new ways of entertaining, it's been a lit of a learning curve to ensure we have enough "stuff" to make a proper dinner for ourselves and guest. I mean who would have thought you would need a cutting board on board to be able to cut the steak tips?! Good thing we have a live well and fishing "station" and there was a cutting plate on there.

So my point and or ask, I've got the meat part of entertaining down, but the sides are another story. Any suggestions would be and are very welcome. Also appetizers, I will not allow cheese and crackers every time, not that I don't love a good cheese and cracker platter, but there are not enough miles I could run if I start eating cheese everyday.

Here are a few things I've pulled together:

Basic Pasta salad

Veggie Bomb (peppers, onions, mushrooms and potatoes, cut up in tinfoil put on the grill)

Cape Cod Chips :)

Said cheese platter with turkey peperoni

Veggies with light ranch dressing

Corn on the Cob - done on the grill

I swear I've come up with more, but that is all I can think of. So clearly you can see I need a little help!

For you red meat eaters, I found that 93% ground beef actually makes wonderful burgers, make them a little thicker and you won't even know how lean they really are!

Summah is here...

Just blogging from the Jeep while RJ drives, I do love having a Verizon wireless air card, minus the fact I have spent most of this drive back from the Cape doing work. But that's just how I roll.

We've been spending a lot of time on the boat, cleaning, entertaining and just enjoying! Its a lot of work, but it's so worth it!!

We've officially named it the Silver Lining. Maybe one day I'll explain (its pretty funny actually), you know it's official when you get tumblers!

Kimba just kicking back on the boat.

Hope you are all enjoying the weekend!!

Thank you to all who serve our Country to make this all possible.

xo

Gone Boatin'

I'm currently writing this while on the Plymouth Brockton bus heading down to the Cape. And why am I on a bus heading to the Cape and not in our fine Jeep with the top down on this fabulous Friday evening?

How are we going to get home you may ask? Well by boat!
Tomorrow morning we're going to pick her up in Yarmouth and motor it back to Boston where she has a very nice home!

To say we're excited is a little bit of an understatement! Talk about setting ourselves up for one awesome summer! Now lets not talk about all of the headace that comes with boating, that'll be another post!

So please get use to a lot of boating talk around here, maybe not that much! :)

Navy is the new Pink

I noticed that almost everyone of my facebook profile pictures I'm wearing either a navy dress or a navy polo.

So yes, navy is the new pink.

No title needed

Has anyone seen the Michael Buble's video for "Haven't Met you Yet". I haven't seen the whole thing only the clip on iTunes. He's pretty hot...until they pan away and he's in skinny jeans and chucks.

Come on.

With that said, I can get over it.

Thanks for all your sweet comments, it's good to be back! But was I ever really gone?!

Anonymous Comments

So I disabled the anonymous comment option, if you're anonymous and want to comment pony up and sign up! Unless you plan on being a jerk because I have no room for that, well maybe a little room, I'm tough!

The reason is I get A LOT of spam comments and then they get emailed to me and it's annoying. I don't use my personal email for sales or any shopping companies, mainly because I don't need to know when JCrew is doing their 20% or when Lilly has the most adorable adds to their line. But it would be a true ATK post if I didn't add Vineyard Vines is the only clothes site I get emails from. Sue me.

Sorry, back to my point. I use my phone as my alarm clock, yes, I'm an adult and use my phone as my alarm. And my phone buzzes when I get emails, so if I get an email in the middle of the night more then likely it will wake me up. Well maybe not really wake me up, but it has and it's annoying. So if some spammer leaves a comment it will email me and also if I get an email on my phone I know it's something good because I have tried to weed out the crap emails. And if I can eliminate the let down of getting a crap email then that's what I'm going to do.

Happy you asked?!

Haha, if I start to get random emails to my personal email because of this post you're all going to get it! :)

Skinny-twist

We all know about Bethenny's Skinny Girl Margarita recipe - a whole lotta this and that oh and a hint of lime juice.



I decided I'd try a little twist on the typical recipe by making it frozen. I think this was more of an excuse to pull out the blender for the first time this spring. (Protein shakes don't count).



Skinny girl version

2 oz of Clear Premium Tequila
Tiny splash of Orange Liquor
Juice of 4 Fresh Lime Wedges



- Kimba's additions

club soda

cup strawberries

chunks of pineapple

half packet of splenda



blend and pour in wine glass with random plastic Starbucks reusable straw





Funny thing is I just went to her actual site to get the measurements to copy and paste and she has a video of her doing it frozen. So disregard, she's got it covered!



Cheers

Showin' some leg

Now if you're a RHNYC faithful you've heard all the chatter the girls have with Kelly about her short dresses this season (well every season). But they all seem so surprised by her leggy baring dresses. Have they not seen the trends the last few seasons?!

While in Florida in March I went to the Vineyard Vines outlet and tried on all styles and types of their classic dresses. I was a little bummed that we really didn't mesh well. Though it may have been less the dress and myself and more the fact I had to take a step back and face I was not going to be able to buy ALL of them. Or if i'm being perfectly honest, I may just be too old to pull off their dresses. For some reason they're all so damn short!

So I ask you this, am I the only one who is finding that the cute summer dresses are just a little leggy?

Maybe I just have to learn to be a little more graceful when well doing just about anything in this new trend.

WHOA

To think it's been 3 months since I have blogged. Good thing for twitter!

To also think I have been back and forth between Boston/LA more times then I can count with a trip to Wisconsin and Florida thrown in there. I think for the time being my by coastal way of living is going to slow down for a little bit. I was this close to getting my mail sent there every other week!

I've been composing and erasing blog post in my head for months, nothing other then a little of this and that. I know I tend to say this, but I think I'm truly coming back. I miss posting about whatever comes to mind. But the ongoing crap in Preppy Blog Land has really taken the fun out of it. But hey, you can't control it all!

This is just me dipping my toe in the water, but I plan to jump right in soon!

A very very Happy Mother's Day to all of my wonderful blogging mommas out there, and of course the happiest Mother's Day to the very special moms in my life! Mom, Step-Mom and Mother in-law, I am ONE lucky gal!!!

More fun to come here at ATK!

Bangin'

If you follow me on twitter you know I have zero shame in taking pictures of myself. It's more for my mom then anything, but I thought I would share my new haircut. It's of course pulled back but I added some bangs, and I'm loving it!

AND don't judge, the Christmas decor has been taken down, I mean lent is right around the corner. Speaking of, what are you giving up for lent?

Me: diet coke (slightly worried)

You're going to Hollywood

While in LA I visited the "Polo Lounge" you know the super popular bar at The Beverly Hills Hotel. I hear you can catch a celebrity now and then, but come on who really could you see at a hotel bar?

Well it just so happened that Simon Fuller (created the Idol franchise) was there with Nigel Lythgoe. I know it's no Britney but please tell me that's not a pretty sweet sighting. AND to top it off it was only days after Simon Cowell announced he was leaving Idol and the three guys below were discussing it. AND their next steps together (Fuller and Lythgoe). Will keep the details to myself, I'd hate to leak anything. HA!

Not the best picture, but I couldn't really stand up and ask for them to smile. AND I didn't want to be "that person" snapping pictures. I really just wanted to blend, which wasn't easy because the gals I was with were cracking me up and we couldn't help but be that one table that is louder then the rest. Hey we're east coast gals!

Sorry it's been so long, I've been busy busy with life, work and well pretty much just the latter. I am heading back West in a week, so pretty sure I'll find something to blog about on my 6 hour 30 minute flight.

One last thing, we finally got a house cleaner, I kind of put my foot down and said there is no reason I can't keep up the housework. But finally last week I looked around and said we need someone. We are both far to busy to keep up with the weekly (read as daily) dusting, floor washing and the other cruddy tasks. She came yesterday and I actually may work from home the next time she comes just to give her a hug. Dear goodness people, she did wonders. It looks like a brand new place. And people, I'm a damn good cleaner, so that just shows you how great she was. One other perk, she prefers to be contacted via text as she doesn't get to her email until the evenings. PERFECT!

Have a great weekend friends, and stay warm and safe my Nations Capital followers!

xoxo

Prayers are the best gift

It's been a sad few weeks in blogland. Two completely different people in PA's hearts are completely broken. For two different my two very similar reasons.

Though i've never met either in person, I could tell how deep their relationship was with the ones they lost. I'm requesting if you know what i'm talking about to please pray for these two dear ladies. I know our prayers are the best thing right now.

Love to you both, my heart is with you.

xoxo

At least I laugh at myself!

A little recap of my latest trip will come shortly, but as I sit in the LAX airport I have to tell you about two little "All Things Kimba" that happened.

I have this very bad habit of reading tweets/blogs in bed on my iPhone. I don't do it at home anymore, but It's more of bad habit of reading them all the time.
So I was at the hotel not ready to get up but was checking my phone and then set it down on my blanket. A little while later I pulled the blanket up to cover my shoulders and my phone went flying and smacked me right under the eye, I jumped up right away to double check it wasn't suddenly black. It's a little sore now, but i think I will walk away unharmed. So note to self, if you're going to read tweets in bed, set your phone back on the bed table when finished.

We grabbed a drink at The Beverly Hills Hotel and I walked into the bathroom and a lady was standing at the sink and we made eye contact, I said "Hi, how are you, crazy weather out there", she looked at me and said "are you from the Midwest"? I said, no actually I'm from Boston, she said oh, well I am from Indiana and I said I'm originally from Wisconsin, she said I knew it, no one other then people from the Midwest talk to people. Ok, well, happy to know living in Boston for 9 years hasn't changed me!

Also, super random, but I was having an impromptu dance party in the bathroom while I was getting ready yesterday morning and I realized that Carson Daly is the morning host on 97.1 AMP radio in LA, I think he may have always had this show. But this day he was making snide remarks about Ryan Seacrest and Billy Bush...Not for nothing Carson, but I would think both of those two guys have the career you wouldn't mind having right now. Just sayin'!

Ok, time to board, but not to worry, I'm hooked on the in flight wi-fi!

Marty!!!

I was pretty impressed with the Golden Globes last evening, I thought Ricky Gervais did a great job as host. He is who he is, and I can appreciate his Irish humor! When he took his beer and put it on the podium, I laughed out loud! That was sure a jab he took at Mel Gibson, but I feel he's pretty much the only one who can get away with it, because he could care less.

Moving on....

I was touched and trilled to see Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio present Martin Scorsese the Cecil B. DeMille Award for career achievement.
I think he's truly brilliant, maybe because I'm "young" (note it's in " as I'm really not that young anymore, but it's my blog so young I am!) but I think The Departed is the best movie that Scorsese has directed. It could be for multiple reasons, it's based, filmed and all about Boston, it's a great cast, from Alec Baldwin, Martin Scheen, Leo, Matt Damon, Mark Walhberg, Vera Farmiga and many more. OR because it is the movie with the most uses of the word "f*ck" and its derivatives (237) to win the Best Picture Oscar. All of the above!

There's my favorite skyline and a not so shabby Leonardo DiCaprio who I really didn't do anything for me, but he looked pretty snazzy in his tux last night...just sayin'!

I'm currently on my flight to LA, I can't get over how AWESOME it is to be online, with my laptop plugged into a power outlet under my seat. My work computer laptop has a shotty battery at best so I did a ton of work yesterday as I didn't think I could get it done on my 6 hour and 30 minute flight, but guess I was wrong. But I'm blogging, twitting, facebooking, catching up on golden globe fashion and then I'll suck it up and get some more work done.

One last thing: if anyone is paying attention to the weather, I just left Boston where we had hail and it was snowing...heading to Southern Cal where it's cold and raining. How it is possible I'm going to the only other place in the country that is having cruddy weather too?! But I'm not complaining, I'm really looking forward to it! Remind me of that when I get on the red eye on Thursday night. Oy!

I Guess I Never Got the Memo....

I'm going to be spending some time on the other coast and would love some suggestions on what's what!

I'll be staying in Beverly Hills, any thoughts on Dinner places near Rodeo? Don't be shy!

One thing that should never touch Lilly....

SNOW!

The picture did not come out as clear as I had thought. Though I was standing at the bus stop on NYE waiting to get home to start another long weekend. I didn't leave the office before the snow started so I had no choice but to put Lilly out in the snow. But a bus came shortly after so I safely got her in the warmth where all Lilly belongs!

Cheers to a WONDERFUL 2010, pinky swear! (I took that one from the fab Clemsongirl, cause that's how I roll)