Ring It In // NYE 2012

New Year's Eve 2012 was my favorite of all time.  We spent it with great friends, delicious food, amazing drinks and, most importantly, tons of dancing!  Oysters, Gun Club Shrugs and Michael Jackson records were flowin', baby.

{ getting healthy }

With the wedding only 18 days away, and a new bathing suit sitting in my closet that I can barely fit into, Mark and I have made the decision to kick it into high gear and lose some weight!  Or at least get healthy.  Or, like, tone up and stuff.  Honestly, it makes me feel guilty to say this, but its actually way easier than I thought it would be.  We've kinda paved our own way as far as meal go, and I probably don't exercise as hard as I should, but I've already lost 5 lbs!  And I really don't crave unhealthy food like I did when I was eating whatever the hell I wanted.  Coffee was kind of a breeze to give up, and I don't mind not having major hangovers on Sunday mornings, so alcohol wasn't too difficult to cut out either.  Bagels, eh.  Cookies, take 'em or leave 'em.  Pizza, who cares?  

Gee whiz, who am I?  I'm one half a grapefruit away from agreeing with Kate Moss: "Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels".  Just kidding.  That bitch needs an ice cream sandwich, pronto!  

But really, massaging kale and mashing steamed sweet potatoes ain't no thang.  I should continue eating like this more often instead of homemade pizza with prosciutto and goat cheese and 3 beers on a Tuesday night.  After that I'd sometimes take Ben & Jerry to bed with me.  Man, was such a food slut.

My Golden Year

On December 29th I turned 29.  That's right, this is my golden year!  And it's going to be the best year I've ever had, I just know it.

Mark and I spent my birthday at Toasted Oak in Novi.  We stayed at the restaurant for just about 3 hours!  Luckily it's not the type of place that rushes you out after an hour.  Or at least I never felt rushed.  Maybe I was just drunk.  Anyway, their charcuterie and cheese boards are amazing, so of course we had to order both!  We also had steak tartare as an appetizer, the Farmhouse Lyonnaise salad, which has fried pig ears on it, and chocolate mousse for dessert.  To drink we ordered a Spanish wine flight and another bottle of Malbec, hence the drunk comment earlier.  Mark's a crazy dude and actually wanted to order a steak after all of this food, but I talked him out of it.  That boy's eyes are wider than his stomach!  We love ordering a few dishes and sharing them, so we always get a big variety of things.  It works out so well, dining with this guy.

After dinner, we bought a bottle of champagne and took it up to our room.  We were smart and thought to get a room at the hotel attached to the restaurant, The Hotel Baronette.  It's super swanky with a really modern decor and interesting details.  Just the kinda thing I love!  And about that bottle of champagne...I was poured a glass of it...I may have had a few sips of it...It was gone by the morning.  My guy sure knows how to finish what he's started.

The next morning we went back down to the restaurant for Pajama Brunch.  They clear out their private dining room and turn it into a slumber party for all the kids.  They play a kid-friendly movie, have bean bag chairs, blankets, a pancake stations with all kinds of toppings set out on this giant credenza.  Obviously we weren't invited to that party, so we sat in the regular old dining area.  I ordered the Chicken & Waffles and Mark got the Israeli Shakshuka.  Both were pretty delicious.  I think mine was better though.  The waffle was cornbread, for crying out loud.  C'mon, man.

(The first image is from my instagram, the bottom two are from Toasted Oak's website.  The restaurant was too dark to get any decent food shots.)

I've Fallen for a Cat

I've been a dog girl all my life.  From the day I was born, we always had at least one dog in the house.  I know dogs, I understand dogs, I love dogs.  Cats, on the other hand, were a foreign species to me.  I never quite trusted them.  I couldn't read their body language, could never quite figure out what the hell 

they were meowing for.  I just didn't get them.

And then I met Foos. 

Foos was my ex-boyfriend's roommate's cat.  He was fat, had one green eye and one blue eye, and would lick you on the nose if you put your face close enough to his.  I loved all these qualities about him, but he didn't really like to cuddle, which really bothered me.  He had that independent streak cats are known for, that I just don't understand.  If I were a cuddly kitty, all I'd want is to be pet and loved, just like a puppy would.  Foos was fine just sitting on the arm of the sofa, silently judging you from afar.

And now I temporarily live with a cat, Punch, who is Mark's family cat.  He loves to be pet, but only on his back and under his chin.  Try to rub his belly and you'll feel the wrath of his razor-sharp claws.  Punch lives mostly outdoors, even in the winter, so I guess we"re supposed to feel pretty lucky when he decides to meow at the back door and grace us with his feline prescence.  We really only see him when he meows at the back door to be let in.  He'll eat a few bites out of his cat dish and then meow again to be let back out.  I guess he prefers the mean suburban streets to the plush home life.

Now let's talk about this cat who stole my heart.  Her name is Sushi and she belongs to our friends Mark and Stephanie, who we are house/cat-sitting for at the moment.  She is sweet, barely leaves your side (she even waits outside the shower for you), loves attention, lets you pet her anywhere, and really only meows when she's hungry.  I've only ever seen her claws when she's licking her paws, which is adorable to watch, by the way.  She has the most perfect pink nose, the cleanest white fur on her chest and feet, and the biggest, sparkliest green eyes I've ever seen on an animal.  Right now she is curled up on my lap, purring away, and I'm not even petting her.  Amazing!

I can't believe I'm about to admit this, because it goes against what I've been saying my whole life:  I just might be a cat person.  Or maybe I'm just a this cat person.  In any case, if I can ever find another cat as perfect as Sushi, I'll have to rethink my "Dogs Only" rule.

Merry Christmas!

I had the best time celebrating Christmas with my new family.  We went to Mark's aunt and uncle's house on Christmas Eve for dinner and presents.  The food was amazing, the kids were so entertaining, and the tree was beautiful and at least 20 feet tall.

On Christmas Day, Mark and I woke up together at our friends' house, who we're house sitting for while they're in San Francisco.  (Lucky kids).  We drove to his parents' house for breakfast, opened some gifts, and headed over to my aunt's house for more celebration!  It was hard not having my parents, sister or older brother there with us, but James and I did I good job representing the Jenkins fam. At least we'll be seeing them soon for the wedding, which is only 29 days away, in case you're wondering.

Engagement Photos Continued

Here are the rest of our engagement photos.  Enjoy!

Engagement Photos // Kristi Gnyp Photography

Our incredibly talented photographer friend, Kristi Gnyp, of Kristi Gnyp Photography, took some engagement photos for us at Mae's in Pleasant Ridge a few weekends ago.  Although the photos aren't quite ready yet, I begged her for a sneak peek.  And here it is!

Eating happened first, obviously.  We girls both had the Bella Sandwich (only the best marinated Portabella mushroom, goat cheese, basil and creamy balsamic sandwich ever!) with a Faygo Rootbeer each.  The boys followed suit and also ordered twin lunches - The Good Ol' Boy (Cap'n Crunch country fried chicken, coleslaw and house made honey mustard) with Faygo Rock'n'Rye.  Oh, and sweet potato fries were shared.  Oh, and deep fried Oreos also joined the party.  Next time I get engaged (juuust kidding) I'm definitely not going to stuff my face before taking photos like I did that day.  But hey, eating is one thing Mark and I are champs at, so maybe it was for the best.

After our lunch, we took some photos around the neighborhood while the restaurant staff cleaned up.  We may have borrowed a front porch or two to pose in front of.  Kristi may have knocked over my root beer in a clumsy moment.  And my belt MAY have been popping off like crazy the whole time.  But you know what, if things weren't a crazy mess, it wouldn't be Mark & Katie.  It would be two other people...acting normal.