marzo.

As we bid February adieu, we welcome March with a cutesy and fabulous new background :) There may be snow falling outside, but I know time is on my side and that spring shall be springing soon!

Happy March!
katy c.

a picture book...

...think if we flipped the pages quickly enough that eventually there would be absolutely nothing left?!?!?! The progression does not look promising.

feeling like drew barrymore in duplex,
katy c.

gbfb.

not my best photog moment, but i wasn't allowed to take a
pic passed the yellow line!  i promise that's the conveyor belt!

This afternoon I spent a little time at the Greater Boston Food Bank with the CityLife Church college ministry. We had a very fun three hours sorting (and tossing!) goods to be sent to agencies in need within Boston and all the way to Cape Cod.

I was in charge of baking goods and "fake beverages" (that is, not coffee, tea, water, or 100% juices). It took a while to get the process down--but by the end of our shift, I'd say we were all professional box-to-conveyor-belt-to-another-box sorters! Apparently the GBFB is always in need of volunteers, but rarely lacking willing bodies--they told us to sign up now and maybe we'd have a shot at volunteering sometime in December. So crazy, but so so good, right?!?!

All-in-all, the team of about 65 people working today converted 9,243 pounds of donated items into 7,085 meals for those in need across New England. That's 109 meals contributed by each person today...and it only took three hours....and it was really fun!! I met some wonderful new people, too, which is always an added bonus. Doesn't get much better than that!!

say canned goods!
katy c.

if these walls could talk...

Remember that one time Jocelyn and I thought our apartment was gonna fall down on top of our heads??

Well, good news: it didn't. We are, however, currently living in a demolition zone with half the floor ripped up (and more to come up soon), practically an entire wall gone and poor Jocelyn's privacy smattered to pieces (as that missing wall is part of her room). And we also have the privilege of being lulled to sleep by a dehumidifier and two box fans. Ahhhh the life of the rich and famous...

Luckily, we have a very nice and committed handy man who, we've found out, does not like to be called at 1:30 a.m. for wall-crashing-down situations but does appreciate the humor in a well-placed Justin Bieber poster.

HOLY PETE!
katy c.

a sick, sick joke.

Some silly person put a Mac OS on Dell hardware at my school. I've decided, however, that this decision is far less offensive than putting some other type of operating system on any version of Mac hardware.

My people were offended, Emerson. But we've swallowed our MacPride and forgiven you for your transgressions. You're welcome.

say cheese,
katy

reason #8,934 why katy needs to find a husband asap.

....so that when the 100-year-old building she lives in starts to crumble, she has someone to call at 1:30 a.m. to find out if she and her roommate (and the ceiling) will make it through the night. **

...please notice the smooshing of the wall.

say cheese,
katy

**Note: I realize this looks scary but the building's maintenance guy came and reviewed the situation and has deemed our living space still....livable. Apparently, the radiator has just gotten too steamy and started to warp the plaster/wood in funny ways. So Katy + Joc are safe....don't freak out! I just like to hit ya with the WOW factor every now and then :)

singular.

That's right folks. When I was waiting on the train this morning at 8 a.m., it felt like a measly one degree outside. Yup. ONE. As in, singular. As in, uno. As in, the loneliest number. As in, freezing!!!

brrrrrrrr,
katy c.

fashion fairytale!

Got another hilarious picture text this morning from Anna. She has the best Pre-K kids ever...

"I received this present this morning. A very happy little girl ran through the door and wanted me to open a Christmas-paper wrapped box with butterflies glued to the outside. Inside was an empty Barbie box with an envelope. In the ridiculously taped envelope was a secret message that consisted of scribbles apparently translated as 'Happy Anniversary.' She assumes I'm married. Best present ever."

katy

surprise!

Ever have a morning when ya just wake up feeling blah?? Just angry at the world and not horribly excited about anything in particular? That was me today, for only God knows what reason. Lucky for me, He is always lookin' out...

I went to CityLife Church again this morning and I think I've (semi)officially decided to just stick to it there! It really has a wonderful energy, a young crowd, fabulous contemporary music and, most importantly, a pastor who speaks unapologetically from the Bible (without weird wordly rationalizations, which drive me loco!). Spurring me toward this decision--that is, picking a church, trusting the Lord, and just running with it--was David Platt, author of Radical. (<<Blog post about this absolutely spectacular, unabashed and slap-in-the-face book coming soon! In the mean time, go buy it and read it! NOW!)

Rev. Um preached from Luke 7:36-50, in which Jesus is welcomed at a "block party" of sorts by Pharisees, slaves, and any and all in between. This is the story where a woman (assumed to be unclean by acts of sexual promiscuity) cries on Jesus' feet and washes them with her tears and hair, while the host of the house (Simon) sits around thinking, "If He were the real Redeemer, He wouldn't let someone of her sort touch Him." Disclaimer: That's just my quick recount of about 15 verses, so go read it yourself for the real deal! 

After describing different surprises concerning Simon, the woman and Jesus' story within, Rev. Um summed up the lesson by pointing out that Simon was asking all the wrong questions. As he sat in the corner being all sarcastic and skeptical and yucky, this woman was doing the only thing she knew how to show Jesus that she recognized His awesomeness and ability to forgive her of a life of sin: she washed His feet. She literally humbled herself at his feet, showing compassion and sincere repentance...and it moves Jesus' heart.

Rev. Um challenged us to recognize that it was Simon's stubborn, proud and hardened heart that kept him from Jesus. His heart had become so frozen--for whatever reason--that he was unable to recognize that Jesus Christ, the Savior of all men, was hanging out at his party....and he couldn't take advantage of the opportunity!!! His heart had given him a skewed view of the world, not allowing him to recognize the weight of his own debt of sin; his need for that burden to be lifted; and the cost of not repenting, recognizing his own errors and submitting himself before the Lord. And that cost would be a death, lost forever without the love of Christ.

I was surprised by how applicable this story was to today's world--a story about a woman washing horse junk off of Jesus' feet with her own tears + hair. A stretch, right?? Not especially. Rev. Um pointed out that until we see our sin as something that is absolutely separating us from the Lord and eternal glory with Him, we are unable to be our most vulnerable and appreciate this amazing gift He's offered us. Until we see that because of sin we are lower than the low (which may seem a bit retroactive if we're trying to find joy), we cannot be humbled enough to appreciate His gift of redemption. Without humility, we cannot have joy. And without both humility and joy, how can we forgive? How can we expect to be forgiven??

I don't know that I am able to give his sermon justice today, but I hope that in your future, when you inevitably feel "unblessed" or trapped in a void (like I did prior to the service), that you will seriously make a list of your blessings. The Lord is so gracious, and too often in this world our hearts are hardened  and we're unable to see His wonder. His capacity to love those who are hurting is never ending and always present, we just have to forget ourselves long enough to prostrate ourselves before Him--like the woman of the story--to become our most vulnerable, humble and joyful!

what a pleasant surprise,
katy

pompom.

Per our chat on the radio Wednesday, Susan surprised me with some deliciously awesome and totally undeniable dark-chocolate-covered pomegranate seeds. They are soooo good!! And 2x the antioxidants....I hope....

say yummmm,

katy

fiesta!!

Jocelyn (and her wonderful mom, Dottie) and I hosted our first little get-together at our apartment tonight! We were both kinda surprised with ourselves for it taking so long to have all of our favorite people over--as we were both well-learned in the party-throwing ways in our respective undergrad years--so we gathered everyone up tonight for a little fiesta!

Jocelyn's mom is straight-up Mexican and the girl can cook! We had 50 homemade tacos, homemade salsa (which I'd like to have hooked up to me via an IV), mexican rice, a taco salad (a salad with fried tortilla bits in it) and pinto beans (which have been making our apartment smell fantastically yummy for the last 2 days). We topped that off with margaritas and beer, and enjoyed some fabulous company in our newly re-situated living room. I think the final head count was 17, which is quite a feat if you've seen the size of our living space!

We didn't have all the right tools/gear for Ms. Dottie to create her masterpiece, so somehow we got free tacos + a new blender and crockpot out of the deal, too! Muchas fiestas in the near futuro? Gracias, por favor!!

say queso,
katy

fixerupper!

I've just redone the blog's security settings so (hopefully!) any and all can leave comments again. Sorry for the random glitch! Please let me know if it's still an issue and we'll figure it out together  :) 


Remember, love it or leave it...but leave a comment.


katy

on air!

susan: our fearless leader!

I was on the radio today!

That's right, I'm now officially just like Roz from "Frasier." So exciting!!

Emerson's health comm professional development group--Health Connections--is sponsoring a new talk radio show all about, you guessed it, health! The show is called HealthBent! and it will be manned by many names you've heard me chat about before: Susan, Jocelyn, Emily and Anna! Oh, and me, too!

me, anna and emily right before the big debut!

We had our first show today and it was a blast! Inspired by Valentine's Day, today's topic was "Your Heart, Sex, and Chocolate." We chatted, joked and informed about heart health, healthy fun exercise options in Boston, what types of foods we think are sexy (mine: Hershey's dark chocolate with pomegranate seeds!), and the many wonderful joys of chocolate! And, somehow, Nutella worked it's way in as a subtopic, too?? We hoped to have made our audience laugh, feel more comfortable with taking control of their own health and a little more learned on matters of the heart!

We'll be on every Wednesday from 2:45-3:45 if you wanna take a listen! Simply go to etin.emerson.edu (no www's!) and click on the "Live Streaming" link. We think there may have been all of about five people listening to us today (ahem...our moms...), but I'm thinking that with the huge fan base I've got here on the ole blog, I should be able to get it up to at least ten or eleven?? Right??  :)

say cheese,
katy

totally ridiculous?

So...it is totally horrible that I have a "Glee" reminder scheduled in my Google calendar? Totally ridiculous? Or just totally organized?? Regardless, it's totally the best time every week as I get to spend it with my favorite cousin who's nearly 1,200 miles away....

say BIEBER FEVER!
katy

happy valentine's day!

Two posts in one day--what's going on?! It's like we're in some crazy time warp!! I just wanted to let y'all know that my started-off-not-so-well-at-3:30-a.m. Valentine's Day actually ended quite nicely :)

I awoke this morning with a picture text from Anna--ya know, my teacher friend in Texas who knows about crazy cool music. Her message: "What Valentine's Day looks like in Pre-K. I have now received 11 candy hearts. This is bigger than Christmas!" Quite a bold claim by Ms. Kerr, but I just thought I'd share this awesomeness with all of you to remind you of the good ole days when you decorated a bag with pink hearts, red kisses, and tons of glitter just so that your friends and crushes could drop in a sweet note and a piece of candy....that their parents paid for. Boy, those were the days!

Photo courtesy of AnnaKerrAnna

I hope each of you had beautiful days of folks showering you with love and telling you just how spectacular you are--because you are! And that it was one filled with courage and love and appreciation for those around you! Because even if you've no one to call your own, you've always got me!

<<As I'm typing this, I'm interrupted by a phone call from the lovely Katie Weiser, aka my BFF!!>>

In our phone call she announces that she and her rockin' awesome fiance, Kevin (affectionately referred to....by me....as Kevers) are coming to see me in April!! FREAK! OUT! I'm so excited!! BEST VALENTINE'S DAY EVERRRRR!

love y'all!
katy

say JEEZ.

It is 2:24 a.m. I have a project due tomorrow. My teammate Kristen and I are still g-chatting and figuring out the deets. We are tired. I'm going crazy. This couldn't be less ideal. Proving that she's still alive and hating the section we're planning to murder, she sent me this lovely pic:

This is my friend KJack. She's wonderful. Smart as a whip. And still kinda cute in the weeeee hours of the morning. Together we shall wiinnnnn!! And hopefully soon, because otherwise she "wont be able to type knowing that Katy is falling asleep on her laptop and potentially drooling on the keyboard and causing extensive damage to the OS." Muchas gracias. 


true story,
katy

i like it dark.

You're looking at a miniature tea-time-sized coffee cup filled with, unbelievably, 65% dark chocolate. Let me introduce you to the Thinking Cup Cafe's French Hot Chocolate, aka drinking a chocolate bar. So delicious....and almost worth the $4 I paid for it.

birds of a feather.

Emily and I went to the b-e-a-uuutiful Boston Public Library today to get a smidge of work done on this blistering cold, but lovely, day! We both agreed that it was our new favorite study spot, as it a) looks like the quintessential library in movies like "The Prince and Me" and shows like "Dawson's Creek," b) it was super quiet (which, as every good studier knows, can actually be distracting) but the architecture and gorgeous decor of the room was the perfect diversion when our little brains needed a break, and c) it's free! Ya don't have to buy a coffee, pay for internet, or even have a library card! Fabulousssss!

"while beiber is amazing,
sometimes you need a little
more substance."

I also received a wonderful surprise package today from my lovely friend Anna Kerr who is doing Teach for America alllll the way over in Texas. How she has time to wrangle 20 4-year-olds and make me a CD is beyond me....but I'm appreciative! She has always been my weird music friend...you know what I'm talking about, right? C'mon, everyone's got one! Ya know, you get in their car and their listening to something you've never heard of but kinda like and you ask, "Who's this?" and they so nonchalantly respond, "Soandso." (Which would be an awesome band name, by the way!) Well, she's that friend for me who is constantly introducing me to knew types of music and artists so that my brain won't turn to moosh because of my tendency to adore junk like that of Ke$ha and J.Biebs.... So now I'm totally in love with a group called The Civil Wars..."Falling" and "Birds of a Feather" are the besttttt!! Try 'em out!!

say cheese,
katy

PS--This is my shameful plug to say....hey...ya know....I love hearing new, different music....so if you send me some....I'll say thanks on my blog....I'm embarrassed.

headin' home.

Cute lil roomie on the train!

3*.

- The wind chill outside right now is 3*. Three degrees. THREEEE DEGREEEEES.
- In my walk home from work across the Common, I was honestly pushed--BY THE WIND--into a small Chinese woman.
- In response to this story, my mom told me to hold onto a lamp post but be sure not to lick it. Oh, Carol. You slay me!
- I literally had my TV volume on number 17 tonight (my norm is around eight) to watch "Glee" because I couldn't hear any of their show-stopping tunes over the blasted wind howling at both my windows!
- I took a shower tonight to get warm. Jocelyn approved of my wasting away water because, hey, it's included in the rent. True story.
- Though it may seem otherwise, I'm not dying in all this awesomeness right now. Don't worry :)

In other news, Haley informed me--after I reported nearly knocking that poor woman over--that it was 70 bloody degrees today in South Carolina. Congratu-stinkin-lations.

I'M FREEZING.
katy

jampackkkkkked.

Unfortunately, this pic doesn't quite capture just how packed-like-sardines we were, but we were!! 
This was my perspective squished up against the door and the madness continues alllllll the way back. 
You can tell from the horribly enthusiastic faces around me that we were all just overjoyed by being together! Ha!

It's obviously awkward to take a picture of strangers....without permission....

so this one snapshot will just have to do :) I love Boston, for reals!!

field trip!

Fun Facts from February 5th:

1. The closest Wal-Mart to Boston is in Framingham, MA...15 miles from my apartment.
2. Today, Katy Capers, drove a car through/near/over mountains of snow and on the smallest, most unorganized streets in the nation (aka Boston's) and did not wreck/kill anyone/cause damage otherwise! Success.
3. Jocelyn and I love Target. Almost more than life. Almost.
4. Boston CVS stores are now on our hit list--they jack up the prices soooo much in the city! Suburbia Target prices were much appreciated today :)
5. When I say "bath mats" it sounds like "back packs." Every. Single. Time.
6. Chipotle burritos = sheer brilliance. And their guac will make ya slap your mama and do cartwheels! So so so yummyyyy! I've been missing out.
7. The Ford Focus is a pretty nice compact! And it holds a TV, DVD player, new boots, three girls, three girls' groceries, three purses, a crock pot, six pieces of Pyrex, 30 double rolls of toilet paper, 36 cans of soda, 64 bottles of water, and about $16 for toll fare quite comfortably!
8. I love the smell of new office supplies :) Especially my newly purchased Sharpie Pens!!
9. Emily's left foot stuck in an expensive boot at DSW--even as you yank on the shoe and she holds on to her chair--is absolutely hilarious and will make you nearly wet your pants.
10. For six years, I took the ability to drive wherever the heck I wanted when I wanted for granted. No more!

say cheese,
katy

best thing EVER.

My new PCP just told me today about a beyond fabulous Web site called Calorie Counter. I don't know exactly why, but I assumed that all those wonderfully helpful sites would all cost money so I never really explored any of them on my own. Calorie Counter, however, is completely free...and we know how much I love that!!

You can set goals like "I want to lose xx lbs. by xx date," "I only want to consume xx calories per day," or "I want to increase my Vitamin C intake by xx." You just log what food/drinks you consume in a day and it calculates what you're getting too much of and/or what you should incorporate more often. You can just type "Diet Coke" or "romaine lettuce" and it already knows all the nutritional info! Otherwise, you can enter in your own nutrinfo and assist future calorie counters who may partake of the same item later. I love it! But it even goes further than that! Say you're low on calcium intake, it'll show you an article about what calcium is and why it's important, by what percent you're missing your daily value, what foods are high in calcium, and fun new recipes to try out to increase your calcium levels. It even lets you log exercise/activity!

I'm totally in love. I feel like a total cotton-headed ninny-muggins for not realizing that there are free tools out there that are just as equipped to help out as the ones that this grad student can't afford. And bonus: there's even a Blackberry app! Totes in love.

say cheese (but not too much or it'll yell at you),
katy

if it doesn't have a sign, you're allowed to touch it.

Wielded the power of my magical Emerson ID again and got into Boston's Museum of Fine Arts today...for free!! The Dream Team--aka Jocelyn, Emily, Susan and myself--was in attendance and we had an absolute fabulous time becoming totally cultured, sophisticated women of Boston society.

And let me tell ya, the MFA did not disappoint! The place is about the size of Texas, so we only hit the wings of personal interest. First up was the spectacularly HUGE and new "Art of the Americas" wing. They had everything ranging from busts of Thomas Jefferson to antique wedding dresses to old carousel seats shaped like pigs and dogs. Next, we raided the "Ancient World," seeing cat and alligator mummies, authentic three-story-tall pillars, Egyptian burial jewelry, and even (as Susan pointed out) old Egyptian beer mugs! We found our way, next, to the "Artists Abroad" exhibition--probably my favorite place! This part of the museum was just huge, open rooms with hardwood floors, high ceilings (great echoes!), and beautiful paintings by Monet, Van Gogh, and Renoir draping the walls. (Personal faves: "Rouen Cathedral in the Fog," "Portrait of the Postman Joseph Roulin," and "Dance in Bougival," respectively.) There weren't any fancy modern contraptions/exhibits to steal away your attention from these Impressionists' talent and I absolutely loved it!! Finally, we made our way to the "Modern Art" realm and tried to describe to each other why we think some modern art is actually art....and why some modern art is just arbitrary scribbles/splashes on a canvas. We came to the conclusion that "to each his own" is probably a good school of thought and enjoyed beautiful paintings by Georgia O'Keefe and Jackson Pollock.

And as newly inducted members of Boston's officially elite, we then nonchalantly proceeded to Northeastern University's Curry Student Center for Taco Bell and Wendy's. You can put the girl in a museum, but ya can't take the Taco Bell from the girl (especially one named Jocelyn Sterling).

don't say "cheese," it's a still painting. duh.
katy

madness. shear madness.

Jocelyn Ann Sterling and I had a hot date tonight! Woot woot!!

After a more than loooong wait at the T stop this morning (as the snow poured down) for a not-packed-because-of-the-snow train....and then an even longer work day waiting for Emerson to cancel classes (they finally did at 4 o'clock), I was so ready for a night out on the snow-filled town with the room room roomie!

Joc introduced me to CPK (California Pizza Kitchen)--we ain't got fancy joints like dem ones down in ole C-Town--and she and I devoured our Chipotle and The Works pizzas, respectively. Afterward, we saw "Shear Madness", the longest running non-musical theater production in American history with more than 12,000 performances under its belt. Tickets normally run around $50 apiece but we both got in for free tonight by showing our fancy college IDs. Yayuh!!

"Shear Madness" is a hilarious murder mystery with characters (a gay hair dresser, a snobby but endearing older socialite, and two glad-they're-not-real Boston coppers) and pop culture references (Gaga, a ShakeWeight, and Charlie Sheen, to name a few) that kept us both giggling for the entirety of the show! We even got to put on our Sherlock Holmes' caps and ask the actors a few questions of our own to figure out the whodunit. My money was on Mikey as the killer and hers was on Eddie...we were both wrong, but the good news is that that won't always be the case!

Tonight, it was Barbara....but just who will it be tomorrow??

say cheese,
katy