Break out the bubbly and my new stemless champagne glasses...



because we are going to party like it's 2010 (side note: 2010 still sounds so futuristic to me, like we should all be celebrating the new year in space suits).

This New Year's Eve, I will be kicking it poolside during the day in downtown Ft. Lauderdale with high school friends. That night, we plan on having a small gathering at my friend BGS's condo, and then hitting the Riverfront bars.


Being from South Florida, we usually try to avoid Ft. Lauderdale. It can be an overpriced circus on New Yr's. However, we have a place to stay, and that means no one will be driving. Plus, when you are with friends, you can make any place great. Right?

This year my New Year's resolutions have an overarching theme. I am adopting an "everything in moderation" attitude. In CTK terms: I do not need to drink a 12 pack of diet coke a day. 2 sodas should suffice.

The moderation theme will also help me with another problem I have: I am one of those people that when I do something, I jump in head first. If I do not have time to dedicate 100% of my energy, it is not happening. For example, when I decide I am going to start running, I train for a half marathon. While this may sound like a good thing, it actually has had a detrimental affect on my life. If I do not have the time to train for a half marathon, I am not running. Therefore, I think realizing moderation is a good thing can help me in a few aspects of my life (1) cutting back on the bad, and (2) realizing that something does not need to have the max amount of good for it to be good for me. If I have time for a 2 mile run, but not a 5, do the 2! I do not have to run 5 miles every time I want to exercise.

My mom informed me that the problem with having a general resolution is that they are easy to forget or break. So, I am taking my moderation theme and making these goals:

1. I will not drink more than 3 diet cokes a day (a 12oz bottle counts as 2).
2. I will exercise (for whatever time, distance I have time for) at least 3 days a week.
3. I will do at least one nice thing a week for myself. This nice thing can even be just laying in the sun or reading a good book.
4. I will do something charitable every month, despite the size of the donation (of time or money). I will donate what I can.
5. I will contact at east one friend every month whom I haven't spoken with in awhile. Contact can be a text, voice mail, email, whatever. It doesn't have to mean finding time in my day for a 3 hour phone call.


I feel good about this. What are your resolutions?

I wish everyone a wonderful New Year. I hope 2010 brings you a wealth of happiness.

It has been a few weeks since I have posted An Attempt to Inspire and quote of the week, and I really want to get back on track. This week, this post is dedicated to a few friends of mine who have recently found themselves grabbing at straws (and to anyone else who feels they have a lot to handle).

I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just wish that He didn't trust me so much. ~Mother Teresa

It is amazing how in tough times we think we are at a point where we have been given more than we can take, only to find out later that we are much stronger than we originally thought. You can ALWAYS push through. A similarly themed quote to the one above that I love is by Winston Churchill (and more recently incorporated into a Rodney Atkins song): "If you are going through hell, keep going." So to anyone who feels or has felt this way, in the words of a famous Pixar fish named Dory, "Just keep swimming."


Keep on keepin' on. You can do it. Have a great week.

I think I speak on behalf of the Gator Nation when I say, we'll miss you Urban Meyer. Thanks for all you have done for our team, the SEC, and the community as a whole.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas filled with lots of love, laughter, and of course, presents! I know presents is not all that this holiday is about, but I am thankful to be the wide-smiling recipient of several wonderful gifts. I must have been on someone's "good list" because this year Kyle gave me something in a certain little blue box. :) I am a lucky gal. Have a fantastic day!

November found a blogsphere filled with thankfulness posts, and I definitely contributed by documenting my own appreciation. So while running the risk of annoying you with my continuing thankful spirit, I would like to say I am so grateful for two awards:




The three blogs that so sweetly tagged me for one of these are my regular reads. Dooley & Me, as mentioned before, is one of my IRL law school friends. She is awesome and so is her co-star, Dooley. She may be a Georgia fan, but being a big fan of hers, I am willing to accept her black and redness with open arms :) Pink Tights and Pigskin is one of my latest favorites reads and tweet pal. A former fellow dweller of the law school halls, this girl is not only the sweetest, but she also keeps it real. Miss L.A. at Life, Lilly, and L.A. writes such a fun blog to read. I love her sense of style, and when I first saw the Barbie heels on her sidebar, I thought, I really like this girl!

To start, for the Sugar Doll, I list 10 facts about me. For the sake of saving you all from repetition, they will not be the strangest facts about me as I listed those in this award post.
And...GO!

1. I am not naturally a red head, but I swear I am going to have a red-headed daughter.

2. I really really want to rescue a dog.

3. I twirled baton from age 6 to age 11. Apparently, it is a skill you never lose b/c as a joke I have been ask to try again. I can still do it. Moral of the story: don't hand me a glass of wine and a baton.

4. My grandfather (Pop-Pop) is an identical twin. He and his brother were married a month apart to women with the same birthday. They both have five kids, all the same ages. They live in the town homes that they both built together, both on opposite ends. They drove the same car. They are too darn cute!



5. My first name Kathrine is missing the traditional "e" in the middle. It was pretty much a typo on my birth certificate, and my parentals decided to keep it. My name is "Kath" (no pause) "Rine" not "Kath" "A" Rine."

6. I am not a pink girl. I know I may lose readers over this (just kidding I hope). I think it looks great on other people, but I would rather grab for green, blue, or purple, any day.

7. My boyfriend has the same initials as me (including the middle), and our mom's have the same names. This is just 2 of the strange similarities between us.

8. At some point in my life, I would love to live in Texas. Preferably Dallas or Austin. I love the Big State.

9. I sleep walk sometimes. I think at this point most of my friends have experienced this. For that, I am sorry!

10. I LOVE scary movies. I think I have seen all the recent ones.
_________________________________________________________________

And for the Happy 101 award, I list 10 things I am that make me happy. (*disclaimer: my list ranges from the serious to the frivolous for the sake of not boring my readers.)

1. As mentioned during Thanksgiving I am thankful for my family and my BF, Kyle. It is rough living so far away, but just knowing I have them for support brings a smile to my face.

(Me & Kyle)

2. My friends. I know this cliche, but if you knew them, you would post this too!

(LD, Me & JS- childhood friends)

3. Pandora. I cannot get enough music. My life definitely has a soundtrack.

4. Reality TV. The more classless, the better!

5. Law school. It is a huge pain sometimes. But at the end of the day, I would never have met these fantastic people and have had these wonderful experiences without it.

6. Cheese. I know, weird. But it is one of my favorite foods, only second to soup :)

7. College Football. If you read my blog before, you probably know this already.

8. Swedish Fish & Sour Patch Kids. How else would I get through studying?

9. Diet Coke. I mean I have a problem. I am just waiting for the day they officially announce it causes all kinds of health problems. I hope it is long after I am gone.

10. The movies. Going to the movies is my favorite date night or night out with the girls (my movie night with the girls usually includes juice box wine. Classy.)


I tag the following fabulous bloggers:

1. Sweet Caroline
2. My Blonde Ambition
3. MWM
4. My Blonde Reality
5. The Dishy Decorator
6. The Cowgirl Lawyer
7. Pink Lace & Cupcakes

To view or not to view...

Sooooo my Mom wants me to go see Avatar. She just told me. I smiled. On the inside, I was doing what two-year-olds do when they are told they have to take a nap.

But then, the adult in me read the reviews. Ok, James Cameron. I may or may not have seen The Titanic 4 times in theaters. But then again, I may or may not have been 13.

Regardless, I may have to see this movie, friends. Is anyone else intrigued?

My amazing roommate K8 and her equally amazing boyfriend B got engaged on Saturday morning. The two were headed to Jacksonville, FL to leave for a cruise on Saturday. B was intent on taking Kate by surprise. So...we all went out to a nice dinner on Friday to celebrate the end of the semester. B was driving into town from NC, and I left him a key under the mat so he could drop off the pieces of his plan. That night, we all packed so we stayed up pretty late. Well, B never went to bed. As soon as K8 was fast asleep, B covered the room in rose petals. He put a huge foam sign on her mirror that said "Marry me K8." (You all this sign was my favorite part: it was covered in glitter, ribbons, and stenciled. It also had a huge red glitter foam heart on it. B made it himself!)

Then, B spent one hour slipping the ring on her finger without waking her up. Her alarm went off at 5:30 am, and she looked through sleepy eyes up to see a glittery something. She turned on the light, and she saw her sign. Brandon got down on one knee, and that is when K8 saw the ring on her finger. And of course, the answer was YES!! I just love this engagement story. Congrats K8 and B. I hope you are living it up on your cruise!

[Before I start with the main subject of this post, I want to congratulate all the college football teams on their Bowl Games. Even though my team is not a participant, I am extremely excited to watch the "Hook 'em" Horns take on the "Rollin' Tide" in the Nat Champ. I am putting animosity aside. And it must be said- great game Nebraska. I enjoyed watching the Big 12 championship way more than ours! ]


I just finished my second final and now 3 take home assignments are all that is left till I can cross the finish line (aka the state lines from SC to GA to FL-home!) During finals I avoid Christmas music, decorations, and treats like the plague. I cannot fully appreciate the happiness of the holiday until I am done with le law school. I haven't decided yet if I am going to fly or drive home, but I do know one thing about my mode of transportation: It will include blasting my old time fave, Mariah Carey's Christmas Album (of course in headphones if on a plane).



I am also looking for suggestions for some new holiday CDs. Any ideas?

Hope everyone had a great day, despite the Mondayness of it!

I had my college football heart broken tonight when Bama defeated (um seriously defeated) my Gators. Bama deserved that game. We didn't hand it to them- they came in with vengeance and snatched it right up. I respect that (minus Ingram's Gator chomp in the last few min of the game, but we won't impute that on the whole team).

I know that probably 99% of my readers are sick of hearing about Tebow. I understand. He is all over the TV/mags/newspapers etc. It is probably annoying when you are not a Gator fan. BUT that being said, he really is a great person and football player. Thanks for a great season Tebow. I am looking forward to watching you play in a bowl game.

"Some people are born on third base and go through life thinking they hit a triple." - Barry Switzer

There is absolutely nothing wrong with being born on third base. I just like this quote because I feel that people who get a little extra push (be it whatever that push is) should be appreciative of it and appreciative of others who have to get to third base, beginning from the batter's box.

Have a great weekend.

One exam down, one take-home, one paper, one confidentiality agreement draft, and one in-class exam to go. Talk about variety. I am plowing through but also having fun along the way. Hey, I'm a 3L. Also, (in reference to my last blog post), I decided to pick these bad boys back up.



Time to start running (like more than once a month) again. I have been pretty pathetic- I was training for a half marathon (A YR AGO!), hurt my knee near the end of training, and have just not been able to get it together since. I am good for an occasional run, but this time of year there are so many fun local runs (in good weather), I would be really missing out if I didn't commit. Please keep your fingers crossed for me. Have a great evening!

I am avoiding any fashion posts after that meal! Happy Thanksgiving again!

Because it is 12:30am, EST, I thought I would be one of the firsts to wish you a Happy Turkey Day! I am thankful for so many things it would take 1 million blog posts to list them all. Don't worry, I will spare you the tiresome reading and focus on one thing- I am so grateful for my family.

It's funny because even as a child, I remember thinking this holiday was amazing for many reasons, mostly mashed potatoes, turkey, and getting to sit next to my Pop Pop at the dinner table (a privilege of being the first grandchild!) As an adult living about 9 hours away from my family, I realize that even my little 6-year-old brain was right on one point- this holiday IS about sitting next to your family at the table.

I am extremely fortunate that this year my family picked my brother up in Gainesville and brought the Thanksgiving dinner table to me.

(Me and my brother watching a Gator game)


I will get to spend the holiday with them for the first time in 3 years. This is just about the best Thanksgiving a girl can ask for.

I hope that whatever you are doing for Thanksgiving, you have a wonderful day filled with good food and the people you love!

There is just something about downloading music for a new CD that brings a huge smile to my face. This warm fuzzy feeling is always in full effect during the exam period. The one thing that keeps me near my computer (which houses what I need to study) is new music (well, ok, & twitter, blogging, google reader, gchat, gmail, woot.com, etc....but who is keeping track?) I am currently in a playlist bliss of the old (e.g. The Beatles), the teenage memories (e.g. LLCoolJ, Alanis Morisette), and the modern dance party (Lady Gaga & Cascada). Wait...Do you hear that? That's my foot a-thumpin! What are you are listening to?

I am a little late this time, but I have finally posted my quote of the week. I really need to remember this when I find myself saying, "if only I had 5 more hours in my day."

Don't say you don't have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michaelangelo, Mother Teresea, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein. ~Life's Little Instruction Book, compiled by H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

Have a great week!

There aren't many photos (see previous post), but here is a glimpse into last weekend's festivities.


This is M, Me, and N before we went out Friday night. You cannot really tell from the pic, but there is a dance party going on in the background at my house. I love dance parties.



The next morning on the RV. Kyle: "Bloody Marys anyone?" Group: "NOW!"



This is some of my girls at our tailgate, c/o my fabulous friend JG. She deserves a shout out because not only did she set this whole shindig up for us, most impressively, she drove a pickup truck filled with all the guys in the back (acting silly) all the way to the game. Thanks girl!



A just acting silly at the tailgate.



MD thought it would be a riot to wear cut off jean shorts to the game, to fulfill every Gamecock fan's prophecy that there would be at least one Gator wearing jorts. Notice the (um...vintage) Gator man tank. I love MD!



Back on the RV. Like I said in my previous post, it was a great weekend. Definitely a Party in the USA!

If you read my last post, you know that my phone decided that a 2-year relationship was just about all he could take. He so dramatically made his permanent exit this weekend by way of a pickup truck, at high speeds. It took me a few days to get over the whole ordeal, but today I decided it was time to stop lying to myself that he may be coming back. I, my dear readers, got a ...BlackBerry. I know. Once you go CrackBerry, you never go back. I am already addicted, and it is night ONE. K8 gave me a tutorial tonight, and I am right on track for a trip to BlackBerry rehab. The BBM and voice note thing are just too much fun. The best part is that it is orange! Has anyone else out there drank the Kool-Aid as well?

Hello friends!

This weekend was muy bueno. Everyone had (a little too much) fun, everyone got along brilliantly, my team won, and none of the guys got arrested. I would say that is the true measure of a successful weekend when you have 20 people at your house, 10 (mostly guys) in an RV. Despite a phone casualty for CTK, all the planets stayed aligned. I will post pics later when my friends tag me on Facebook. Mine were on my no longer exisiting phone. :(

How was your weekend?

This chatty gal is cleaning her house. Why? Glad you asked. Well, I have approximately 20 people staying here this weekend for the FL USC game. The best part? About 8 of them are staying on the side of my house in an RV. 1 bathroom and 20 people. Can we say, I call first shower? This is going to be interesting. I will keep you all posted!

Happy Veterans Day! On this day (especially) I think it is important to reflect on how great this country is and how much we appreciate our men and women who fight for it. So this week, my favorite quote is in both America theme and Thanksgiving month spirit:

How often we fail to realize our good fortune in living in a country where happiness is more than a lack of tragedy. ~Paul Sweeney

Thank you to our Veterans who made what Paul Sweeney said possible. We may not tell you often enough, but we really appreciate all of your sacrifice and dedication.

Pat Green weekend was everything I hoped for and more. Kyle and I decided last minute to get a hotel in downtown Ft. Lauderdale, and we hit the jackpot. On Hotwire, you don't know exactly what hotel you will get until you pay. Well, we got the Riverside, right there in the middle of everything on Las Olas.



Kyle and I got ready at our hotel and hit Johnny V's for a quick dinner. Delish.

(Before the concert. Look how excited we were.)

Finally, the most important part. THE CONCERT WAS AMAZING. Look how close to the stage we were:

(This pic is from my phone hence the blurry image. This isn't on zoom so you can see our precise view! )

He played almost every old song that I wanted to hear. We were also next to a fun group of people so Pat kept pointing up at all of us dancing fools. Unfortunately, I do not have many pictures because we weren't allowed cameras in the venue. But all in all, it was a great time. This past weekend made me realize how much I love concerts (especially at small venues). I need to do that more often. Are you all concert lovers as well?