Four Leaf Clovers and Other Irish Things

I celebrated St. Patrick's Day for the very first time this year. I'm part Irish (you may or may not be able to tell...but once you see my redheaded sister you will have no doubt) so I don't really have an excuse for this, but considering I abstain from all carbonated drinks, green beer has just never had a particular allure for me. But this year it fell on a Saturday, I happened to have a three day weekend with no major plans, and I had a green dress hanging in my closet (see above) so I felt as if the stars had finally aligned. I spent the earlier part of the eve at a bar-b-que at my roommate's parent's house in Orlando, stuffing my face with delicious food and acquiring an adequate buzz and then we headed downtown to meet some friends. We frequented some really random bars and my night ended sitting on a curb outside of Corona Cigar Bar drinking riesling and discussing fantasy novels with my friend Donny. I love how excited some guys get when they realize I love fantasy. Yes, I do have some more mainstream and occasionally girly tastes that run towards the Harry Potter/Twilight/Buffy the Vampire Slayer end of the spectrum, but I love the more nerdy Lord of the Rings/Game of Thrones fantasy worlds as well. From vampires and demons, to theology and mythology based stories, to the recent fad of dystopian societies (i.e. Hunger Games and Divergent), I can hold my own in a fantasy discussion with the best of them. One day I will make it to Comic Con and my life will probably be complete. And I am secure enough in my femininity to say that. After a relatively low-key evening as nights out in downtown Orlando go, I came back to Tampa today and spend the afternoon doing one of my favorite activities: lounging at the pool (see below). I am not a naturally tan person by nature (as is plainly shown) but if I continue to be able to work on it at least twice a week, I'm hoping to be able to get there. Though my "work" days may have to switch to week days...the pool is decidedly less zen when there are about a dozen screaming, running, and splashing kids constantly circling. God bless school days and me not having to work those days!

In others news...I got my one-year annual review at work this week. They like me! They really, really like me! I've always gotten along well at jobs in the past but I've often found that my work style has not always meshed well with my management's style. I feel like on 9A, and in nursing in general, I've finally found a career that my personality and autonomy will thrive in. Not only are they happy with my performance the last year, but they want me to further my education, become more involved on the floor, and take on more responsibility. On one hand its a little scary, but its also very exciting. I'm already Kristen, RN, BSN...am I ready to add clinical ladder, official preceptor, charge nurse, and possibly MSN to the list? I guess 2012 is the year to find out!

Love,

KayCee

Weekend in Review

Easily one of the best things about my job is that I only work 3 days a week. There's a lot of negatives to counter that, which include often having to work weekends or holidays, but being free to do absolutely anything my heart desires 4 days a week on the regular is certainly a blessing. Rarely do those 4 days occur in a row but this weekend I managed to have 4 consecutive days off and fun plans scheduled for every one of those days.

Thursday was one those fantastically lazy days that just take their time and roll by slowly. I spent the afternoon participating in one of my favorite free-day activities: reading and surfing in the internet at Starbucks. After spending a good 3 hours there finishing my book and people-watching, I went home to clean up a little and spent the evening walking around downtown Tampa enjoying some new company and trying a wine bar I'd never been to before. Perfect refreshing day.

Friday I was a bit more productive. I begun spring cleaning around the house and managed to clear out and organize a few problem areas that had been getting on my nerves; in particular two sets of shelves in my closet, my sock drawer (hey - I like fun socks!), my bathing suits, and my shorts. I must admit that one of my favorite things about clearing all that out is knowing I have a decent excuse to go out and buy more fuzzy socks and bathing suits, ha. 

That evening I gathered my good friend Diana and 3 of my favorite girls from work and we had a night out in Soho. I love my friends at work, but when we're there we're all wearing pajamas (i.e. scrubs) and have our hair back and little-to-no make-up and are varying degrees of fun depending on how taxing our patients are that day. So I absolutely love having Nurses Night Out every now and again and getting to see us look presentable and let loose with a few drinks and great conversation. 

Me, Kiersten, Laurin, and Tiffany at MacDinton's

Saturday the weather was gorgeous so I was determined to do something outside. The pool was the original plan but then I learned that the first annual Gasparilla Music Festival was being held in downtown Tampa. So I spent the afternoon drinking possibly the biggest lemonade I'd ever seen, sitting outside soaking up the sun, and listening to all sorts of live bands play. Even tried some organic nachos with black beans and pulled pork that were delicious! Add some good company and it was pretty much the perfect spring afternoon. 

Today was a busy day. First of all it is my dad's birthday and he turns the big 6-0!! So happy birthday Daddy!! After growing up in a very masculine, sports-oriented home, he grew up to, alas, have only daughters. And as he likes to tell it "even a female dog!" So to honor him on his birthday, here is a pic of him being a saint, yet again, surrounded by his wife, two daughters, and our friends on his way to attend a Taylor Swift concert.

Since I couldn't be with my family today which had originally been the plan, I decided to spend part of the afternoon with one of my other families: some of my good friends from my accelerated nursing program. There was a group of 7 of us that were particularly close during that year and a half and 5 of us regularly try to get together when we can. So every couple months I try to make it back to Orlando to catch up with everyone. So much has already happened. Last summer one of them got married and this April another one is due to have her first baby! These girls were such a blessing to me during that time in my life and I really want to continue to put in the time and forethought to continue relationships with them in the future. 

And finally, I have to end with one other particularly exciting piece of news that happened today: FLORIDA STATE WON ITS FIRST ACC CHAMPIONSHIP IN BASKETBALL!! We went into the game ranked #17 and beat the North Carolina Tar Heels (ranked #4) 85-82. I am so completely proud of my Seminoles!! I believe I may be watching March Madness this year!

Now back to the grind tomorrow. But after this weekend, I really can't complain :)

Love,
KayCee

Sunny Days

It's days like today that remind me why I'm so happy to live in Florida. The weather lately has been just breathtaking. Sunny, breezy, 80 degrees. I get to look out my window and see this:

Instead of looking out my window and seeing what I saw last week when I was visiting Indiana. That looked like this:

The only downside to the gorgeous weather is me being an idiot and thinking that because its only March, I don't need to bathe in sunscreen before heading out to the pool. Which unfortunately led to a rather angry sunburn. Is it wrong that thats just another thing I love about living in Florida?

In other news, my Mexican lasagna turned out perfectly last week! It was a Weight Watchers recipe already but I actually took some measures to make it even healthier. The leftovers were just as good as the initial product and lasted me through three days of lunches. You can't ask for much more than that! Here is my beauty right out of the oven

Happy weekend everyone!

Love,

KayCee

These are a few of my favorite things

I've had lots of little things I've wanted to share with you all lately so I thought why not combine them all into one big post?? So here's some things that have gotten me excited lately:

Books:

Goodreads

I am an avid reader. Have been since practically birth. My mom, sister, and I would walk into our local branch library bi-weekly and everyone there knew us by name. We could spend anywhere from 15 minutes to three hours in there and inevitably I would walk out every time with a stack of books all the way up to my chin that I could barely carry. I'm constantly looking for new books to read and this website has everything I could possibly want. You can rate and review books you've read, read other peoples reviews, track your progress in what you're reading now, and reserve books on your "To Read" bookshelf. You can friend or follow people on there with similar tastes to you and you can research lists of books you might like; my personal favorite is the Paranormal Love Stories list. If you're a reader, do yourself a favor and sign up!

Speaking of books, there's two that I would particularly like to recommend. Awhile back I spoke on this blog about The Hunger Games trilogy and why I am such a fan. Well, there is another dystopian trilogy out there and I wanted to devour it from page one. The book is Divergent by Veronica Roth. The second book in the trilogy is called Insurgent and comes out May 1st and sadly I will have to wait until 2013 for the conclusion. The second recommendation ironically is also the first book in a trilogy, though I was unaware of this until the final pages. It's called A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness. The sequel comes out this summer and the last one in this series will also be out in 2013. I urge everyone to click the links below to read the descriptions on Amazon:

Divergent

A Discovery of Witches

Movies:

Speaking of Hunger Games...the movie opens March 23rd! I need to get on this and go get my midnight tickets! Because, yes, I am the girl who buys midnight tickets and then makes sure she is not working the following day. Just being honest. If you have somehow not seen the preview by now, please enjoy below:

In other movie news, there is a new Nicholas Sparks movie coming out soon. If you know me at all, you know that I hate Nicholas Sparks books, however I admit that I normally cannot stay away from any movie based on his books. And when you add in Zac Efron looking sexier than I've possibly ever seen him look before, you've pretty much already sold me a ticket. So please enjoy this trailer for The Lucky One:

Other things:

I am admittedly certifiably obsessed with chapstick and though 95% of the time you will see me carrying around my green LipSmacker's strawberry kiwi flavored chapstick (that I buy in bulk) from room to room, I have discovered a new one that I might just be able to fit into rotation. Maybelline has a new line of tinted chapstick called Baby Lips that has the perfect combination of moisturizers, lip renewal, and color. My personal favorite is Grape Vine, but they're definitely all worth checking out. 

Skinnytaste is another one of my new favorite obsessions. I admit that I may have spent an entire afternoon browsing through and printing out recipes for my weekly cook-something-new movement. They have a ridiculous number of recipes that include everything from soups and salads to crock pot recipes to vegetarian dishes to holiday and seasonal themed meals. This is where I got last week's chicken thighs with artichokes and feta recipe from and it was delicious! And tonight is the night I've been waiting for: I'm officially making my Layered Chicken Mexican Lasagna!

Octavia Spencer wins Best Supporting Actress at last night's Oscars! If you haven't seen The Help, go rent it now! And then one up that and go read it! Because, as always, the book is 10x better than the movie and goes into much greater depth. Octavia plays one of my favorite characters, Minnie, and she so deserved this win. I don't always agree with the Academy's choices, so I'm always happy when at least one of my favorites wins.

I hope everyone enjoys the rest of their Monday! After only working 1 day in the past 11, I'm actually looking forward to getting back to work tomorrow and get my RN on!

Love,
KayCee

Philosophies for your life

So awhile back I found a link to this blog post and at the time it was something I really needed to read. Basically this kid (okay, guy that looks probably around my age) wrote a post about 8 simple philosophies that he thinks leads to a healthy life. I don't know if they are something that he came up with on his own or if they're something that he found somewhere and adopted for his own but I think they're all valid and things we could all benefit from reminding ourselves about occasionally.

I recommend you all go to the blog post and look at each of them but there's a few that I identified with in particular.

3. The right person at the wrong time is the wrong person.
This is something I constantly need to remind myself of. After having my heart broken and spending the last two years constantly searching for that happiness that I'd lost, this last week I've found a bit of peace about it. Dating is exhausting and I'm tired of the Three-Dates-and-Out experience that seems to have been on repeat for me. I finally just decided enough is enough and when it's supposed to happen it will. Don't get me wrong, I'm an impatient person by nature and this reprieve will only last so long. It also doesn't mean that I will stop being receptive should I see something positive coming my way, but the active pursuit has worn me down and I'm finally ready to abandon the idea that things Should and Will happen on my time. Okay God, you win.

4. A healthy body is a healthy mind.
Best quote I pulled from his elaboration of this point: "The prefrontal and temporal lobes of your brain typically shrink 1-2% per year as you get older, or even faster if you watch Fox News." *Insert smirk here* But seriously, this blogger also points out that you can actively reverse this trend by exercising regularly and finding the right balance between taking in the right amount of energy your brain needs but not taking in so many calories that your body uses them to lug your weight around instead of saving them for brain power.

5. The race is only with yourself.
This is a big one for me. I'm only 26 and I've already gotten two Bachelor degrees. I have a stable job. I'm pretty successful at that job. I have a nice apartment that I can comfortably afford. There are improvements I would like to make to myself physically, but I'm certainly no slob and I am actively making progress towards my goals. So what if I'm still deciding what I want to be doing in ten years? So what if I'm considering going back to school, which will have me starting over (again) at age 30. So what if I know people my age that are dating, engaged, or married? So what if one of my good friends is a freaking national level figure fitness model. I don't need to compare myself to them. You will always find someone who can beat you at your own game. Learning to be happy with where you are in your life and with what you have accomplished without constantly measuring yourself against others is probably the biggest key to happiness. As a competitive person it's sometimes a hard lesson for me to learn, but definitely a valuable and humbling one.

8. Act the part.
Fake it til you make it. You want to be outgoing? Talk to someone new! You want to sound educated? Research something that's going on in the world. I have always had an issue with being a little shy and very self-conscious but from sorority rush in college to performing onstage at Sea World to becoming a nurse there hasn't really been a lot of time to give in to the more anxious side of my personality. So I developed almost an alter-ego of myself who was happy, confident, and out-going that I could slip into when needed. And you know what? The more the years have passed, the more I realize I've gradually adopted this alter-ego into a true part of my personality where I don't have to consciously apply that persona anymore. So maybe this whole 'act the part' philosophy has some truth to it.

So some food for thought for the evening. And now I'm off to enjoy some wine and the Oscars :)

Love,
KayCee

Happy Birthday Mommy!

Today is my mom's birthday, and no I won't say how many years so she doesn't kill me, but I wanted to take a minute to celebrate her. Both because she's one of my favorite people and also because without her I wouldn't be here! So happy birthday Jane and thank you for being the most amazing mother a girl could ever ask for.

One of my favorite pictures of my mom and I at my first UCF graduation, 2007

And at my Nursing School graduation, 2010

So I'm back on the cooking a new meal a week wagon and while I had planned to tackle Mexican Lasagna last week, my roommate selfishly decided to go see her brother after he returned from 8 months in Afghanistan instead of hanging out with me (ha), so I decided to make a meal that didn't require her hollow leg to help me finish eating. So instead I tried some chicken thighs and artichoke hearts with feta cheese. Turned out pretty well! And super easy. All it requires is a bit of time to marinate the chicken and artichokes together and then about 20 minutes to broil!

Here's the meal ready to enter the oven:

And the finished product, topped with some feta cheese:

And by now you see that I am by no means a chef with presentation talent or a food photographer, but I do my best. I love that I'm discovering healthy meals that are both easy and leave enough leftovers for lunch!

Weddings

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. 

1 Corinthians 13:13

As many of you know, I was in a sorority while I was in college (love to my Alpha Delta Pi diamond sisters!). Well, yesterday my 'big sister' in ADPi got married and I was honored to be one of her bridesmaids. Paul's letter to the Corinthians is often read at weddings and usually it focuses on the part that states "Love is simple, love is kind..." but a longer portion of the scripture was read at Lisa's wedding, and though I'd heard it before, this particular verse at the end stuck with me. I just think its beautiful and its true. Being single at a wedding is never fun, though I had a hot blonde as my date so I had fun regardless, but it was so amazing to see Chris and Lisa together all night and see how much they love each other and how bright their future will be. It gives me hope for my own future. I pray God will bless them and watch over them and I can't wait to see all the wonderful joys they will be blessed with in the future. But for now - off they go to spend Valentine's and their honeymoon in Paris and Rome! 

Here's a quick snapshot of the evening:

Wedding hair and makeup

With the beautiful bride

Introducing Mr. and Mrs. Chris Farkas!

My wonderful wedding date and I at the reception

What I look like after 12+ hours of wedding festivities and removing 61 bobby pins from my hair

In other news, my task of cooking a new meal a week is still in effect. Unfortunately last week I was literally out of the house for work, plans, or wedding festivities every night of the week, so I had to skip a week but next week its on for some Mexican lasagna! I'll let you all know how it goes!