Sponsor KC&CO: March

see? I even used a green shirt

just for March. So festive.

Alright, fellow bloggies...

I'm sharing the news I mentioned I would announce yesterday.

Here's the dealio:

I have been contemplating accepting blog sponsors for a long time now. After a few emails from my readers (so sweet) that are interested, and recently reaching 1,000 followers {still pinching myself}, I've decided to do it. However, I'm only going to accept a certain number of sponsors each month because it is really important to me to keep the same posts and content on my blog that I've had all along. I want my blog to be a reflection of me and I don't want to take on too much. Hope you understand why I'm doing limited spots. I will evaluate how this month goes, and then possibly open up more spots in the future.

So, are you trying to grow your blog/shop?

This is the perfect opportunity to do so,

and will create more traffic towards your website.

I'm going to take 3-5 sponsors for March 

 which is actually good for your blog/shop because I won't have many buttons other than yours on my sidebar under sponsors!

aka less competition, friends.

(and yes, I realize it's almost March 1, but you will have your button on my sidebar by tomorrow.)

It is FIRST COME, FIRST SERVE.

If you're interested:

Email me {at}

whalenkat@gmail.com

One spot is possibly already spoken for, so act quick!

Once the spots are gone, they are gone for the month.

I will give you more information about my rate, etc. when you email me.

I'm SO EXCITED about this!

*

As I mentioned yesterday, it's Billy's birthday week.

He turns 28 on Saturday.

I've decided to carry on my Mom's love notes

(if you are unsure what this means: read here-it's one of my fav posts ever) 

that she would leave for me, and everyday during Billy's birthday week leave little love notes for Billy in random places for him to find. 

Reasons why I love him.

Reasons why I'm proud to call him my husband.

This morning, I left this note on his car windshield for when he went to work...

{all the notes are on a Keep Calm and Carry On notepad, of course.}

{the bug thing? ...long story.}

don't act like you don't have cheesy nicknames

with your significant other.

 Lastly, I MUST know...

Who all is reading the Hunger Games?!

Right now, I'm in the middle of the 2nd book, but I'm trying to read slowly so I don't go through the books too fast. So far, the 2nd book isn't keeping my attention as much as the 1st. For those of you who have read it, will this change? does it get better?

I cannot wait to go see the movie

when it comes out in a month.

 

Now that this is officially the most random post in Blogger history...

Peace OUT, friends.

and don't forget to EMAIL ME if you're interested in sponsoring

don't be shy now.. ;)

My Fav Month {St. Party's Day}

{pictures above from 2009-2010}

When you think of your favorite month of the year

what is it?

For me, it's March..

Yes, I know, it may not be a summer month here in Ohio (and I love me some summer), but it's the month of St. Patricks Day and my husband's birthday.

...and as you can see, I take St. Patricks Day very seriously.

My Dad's family is Irish, so I was raised to celebrate it and the more parties, the better. Luckily, the city I grew up in (Dublin) goes ALL out for it every year. It is my FAVORITE event of the year and I would not miss it for anything (well, most things.) Every year, my girlfriends and I have a tradition of starting early and going to downtown Dublin and bar hopping. We start when the parade in Dublin is over and we make a whole day out of it. We also usually go to Flannagans, which is a HUGE bar that typically has over 5 bands playing throughout the day and a massive tent is set up for the celebration. There are bagpipers that play and everyone dresses up.

This year, we got lucky. Dublin's celebration is actually the weekend before Flannagans celebration (which is on the day of St. Patricks Day) - so this year we get TWO weekends to celebrate my most favorite holiday ever. Did I mention it's one of my best girlfriend, Holly's, birthday too?!

Yes, please. Party all around.

Someday, I guess I will have to come to terms with the fact that I'm too old to celebrate like I'm in college again, but that day is not this year.

So, celebrate I will.

All of these pictures are inspiring me and getting me excited for St. Patricks Day.

I think green cupcakes are in my baking future...

yes, most definitely...

This weekend is Billy's birthday (got his present over a month ago and I am so excited about it!) and the following 2 weekends after will be spent in green attire and drinking lots of green beer. Maybe some shamrock shakes too.. ;)

So, here's to a great month ahead!

I'm ready for ya, March.

How do you celebrate St. Patricks Day?

do you celebrate at all?

Want to see unseen footage Steph throw me under the bus, YET AGAIN, from our Blacation to Naples?? Go HERE to read her post today.

For the record: Girlfriend snaps photos faster

 than I can SAY the word pho-to. #Truth.

*Half marathon training update: Every week I'm going to post how my training went the following week. This past week I completed the 14 miles I was supposed to and it was rather easy. My knee held up fine and that made me feel good because I was unsure if I would have any pain. I'm going to be starting Crossfit (with Kelsey) soon and I'm SO excited about this as I'm hoping I will gain some strength from these classes. I'm also pretty scared for my life too because I heard it's intense.

Have any of you taken a Crossfit class before?! Fill me in!

**Lastly, I'm announcing something different to be happening

on Keep Calm and Carry On tomorrow.

Check my blog early tomorrow morning

 for the news...

Xo.

1,000 is kind of a BIG deal...

Shut the front door.

Is this for real?!

Happy Friday to me.

Thank you just doesn't cut it.

But for the record, thank you.

Thank you to everyone who reads KC&CO,

everyone who leaves loving comments,

everyone who supports me.

I always wondered when 1,000 followers would come

and hoped I would still love blogging as much as I did

at day one.

Well, the verdict is out...

I DO.

...more even.

I will definitely celebrate this tonight

with a glass (or 2) of wine at dinner

when I'm chowing down on (veg) lettuce wraps @ PF Changs with the hubs.

Then, I will celebrate by painting one of our guest rooms

to prepare for my blogger visitors in the next few months. ;)

then maybe I will bust a move...

and wish I were still wearing those comfy yellow pants

that are BBFT's (they are so fashionable, right?).

...He WILL give these to me one day, he just doesn't know it yet...

Here's my photo dump Friday!

feel free to join me- just drop your Instagram pictures in a collage on Picnik.

follow me on Instagram: @whalenkat

Yesterday, Billy's grandma passed away.

 She was 86 and such a sweet, sweet lady. I will never forget how much she favored Billy..it was so cute. She would always just look at him, and tell him how handsome he was. She's right. We will miss her dearly. Her services are scheduled for later this weekend, so we will be traveling to Cleveland in the next day or two.

Thank you for all your kind messages!

What are your weekend plans?

I leave you for the weekend with this.

Thank you, Erica.

#love #pomobsessed

Xo.



Traveling To....Columbus? {+O.O.T.D}

Have you ever wondered what it's like

living in my city?

or why I enjoy living here?

Ok, maybe you haven't, since this is Ohio we're talking about..

but, I promise, you may learn a thing or two!

Today, you can find me over at

the super stylish, mom-to-be, Natasha's blog 

{at}

I'm guest posting as a part of her

travel series.

Whether you've never been to Ohio, or currently live here,

go check it out.

You can also read about visiting other cities

 that have been featured in this series.

Stop and give a big hello to Natasha too..

you will love her, and her blog.
Then you'll be jealous of her pictures about living in Lake Tahoe.
 Yeah, sucks to be her.
Not. ;)

If your name is: Steph (and BBFT), Erica, Jess, Kristin, Carolyn, or Erin...

then you, especially, want to check out this post.

Since YOU all are coming here in May!!!!!!!

Any other bloggers want to visit for my birthday?

It'll be a big partay!

*

Before I go...

if you're interested in seeing O.O.T.D (and other random) pictures

follow me on instagram: @whalenkat

I posted this O.O.T.D today...

where I got to take a stab at green//blue colorblocking

with some neon yellow flats :)

H&M Teal Blazer (only $15 on clearance)

White Ruffle Tank (shop in Charlotte, NC)

H&M Navy pants

Old Navy flats

Make it a great day, friends!

Neon This, Neon That...

I think..ahem...I know that I need this.

Anything and everything neon is catching my eye lately.

I am absolutely loving this trend.

I went to Target this weekend and was shocked at how many cute neon items they had throughout the store. When I got to my car, I realized that ALL of my purchases were something neon. Whoops!

 

Yesterday officially marked my first day of training for the half marathon

 I'm doing on May 5!

The other girls I'm running with have already started,

but I had to push my start date back a little bit since our vacation to Florida.

Every week, I will have Monday and Friday's off...

and every other day I will be running or doing some form of cross training.

This week I will run 14 miles

and it will just progress from there.

I'm excited to get going because ever since Florida my focus hasn't really been there.

Here's to kicking some serious boot-ay ;)

What are you lovin' on today?!



Last Day in Naples {Part 3}

Aren't the final days of vacation the worst?

Usually, I'm at least a tad excited to get home to see Rocky, but this time was different. I suddenly realized I wasn't in fact jumping on the plane with Steph and Beau to go to Texas like it had felt like, and who knows how long it would be until I would see them again.

 I sound like such a sap, but it was such a bummer.

The entire time we were on vacation, the boys were dead set on finding a gator.

What is it with men and gators? I just don't get the fascination. Anyways, we woke up on the last day and I remember Billy yelling to Beau from the back porch that he thought he saw one. Since our flight wasn't until late Monday evening, we had pretty much all day to explore and go to the beach one last time.

Of course, we went to see the gator out back our condo before leaving, and it turned out he was only about 4 ft long. I can handle those guys. Afterwards, we hopped in the car and went to an area called Tin City. Tin City is an area right by downtown Naples that is on the bay and has many different shops and restaurants on the water. We decided to eat lunch at a place we had been eyeing the whole trip, called The Jolly Cricket. The food was good here. Yum yum. Since it was the day before Valentines day, the restaurant had heart shaped balloons covering a lot of the ceiling.

After lunch, me and Steph went to walk on the beach one last time, while the boys drove around trying to pick up chicks. When Steph and I were being crazy photographers and I was focusing on this cute duck next to me, I stepped on a massive bee.

Whhat...theeee...
Um, OW!!!!

the culprit.

 It was so ironic, because just the day before, I was telling everyone how I have never been stung by a bee and they don't bother me. Just my luck, right?!

Guess someone was trying to tell me something.

...boyfriends before heading to the airport.

I know I've said it before, but this trip was so amazing.

Billy and I made two great friends that we would have never known

if it wasn't for this blog of mine.

I'm incredibly thankful for that.

I'm thankful for the time & memories we got to spend with them.

I'm thankful all of us took that risk in going.

When we got back from dropping Steph and BBFT off at the airport,

I found a note that Steph left me on my computer. It was so incredibly sweet and I would be lying if I said I didn't shed a tear or two. 

Billy was looking at me like I had lost my mind...ha. 

*Steph and Beau*

I love all of the inside jokes we have from this trip. Especially Billy's voice impressions...they are haunting me daily. ha ha. Love you guys.

"We will always have Naples.."
Steph, you are my other half. Just a very blonde, better looking, other half.

See you both in 3 months.

:)

 

So, what do you think?

Would you ever go on vacation with a blog friend?

...or do you think we are crazy?!


Update: What trip doesn't have some unseen video footage?
Not a very successful one, in my mind.

Steph just HAD to go there
and post a video of me on her blog today - white girl rapping.
This video is not the worst of our trip, let me just say that.

Two words: Ghetto Cowboy.
Go watch it and make fun of me:
here.

Don't act like you've never thrusted the air before.

 

*Today marks my 1st day of {official} training for the half marathon I'm running May 5!

I had to start a little late due to vacation.

Excited to get started!

**Also, if I could ask you to keep Billy's grandmother and sweet Chelsea in your prayers, it would be much appreciated.

Xo.

A Very Blogger Vacay {Part 2}

Happy Monday!
a brand new week of fun :)

Over the weekend, my girlfriend's husband, Josh, told me

"you know, when I read your blog {the fact that he reads in general-makes me really excited}, I can just hear you saying all of it"...

"you write exactly how you talk"

....cha-ching, party people.

That's exactly what I'm going for!

 

I don't know where I'm going with that

except for, that is what I'm going to try to continue doing!

Why not keep the KT talk goin' with Part 2

of our *Blacation*??

 (If you missed Part 1: read it here)

After much debate, Billy and I both agreed that Saturday

was our favorite day of our trip.

The weather was perfecto

so, what else better to do than spend it poolside?

I can't think of many things I'd rather do than sit...

around this all day..

with a fruit bev or Corona in hand...

and my {now} 3 favorite people beside me.

{can we just note that BBFT up there resembles that one country star, Jason Aldean, a little bit?! A better looking version of JA, of course.}

This day was our "party time" day

and we continued it well into the evening.

Which would explain why the term "hot commodity mess"

accurately described myself by around 11pm that night.

We headed to Fifth Ave to eat dinner at Mangrove Cafe and ended up getting 2 bottles of wine with our dinner (I mean, it's not like I really needed anything else by this point, but who's really counting?) 

{my fav pic of the 4 of us}

After some of us (ok, one of us..BEAU) indulged in ice cream,

we (yes, I said WE Billy, Steph, Beau) decided to go to a random sports bar called

ZOOOOOKIES.

It's hard to recap what exactly went down at this bar

but just know it was p-r-i-c-e-l-e-s-s.

There was:

-lobster served as late night drunk food

(taco bell just won't do the trick anymore I don't think..)

-videos of Steph pushing me to dance on a pool table

(she is such a good influence on me!?)

-dancing and singing
-I may or may not have talked smack to a few girls trying to hit on our men

(hey, you didn't think I could throwdown? kidding, obviously. I'm all talk.)

 

Oh, and I can't forget to mention the multiple like 5 Facetime sessions

when we got back to our condo.

Not surprising at all.

Sidenote: Steph took this picture {such a photographer, she is}

of my ring. It might be my favorite picture I have of it...

thanks Stephy.

 

Moving on--

(otherwise, I will never finish this recap)

By this point, it was clear that

we loved Steph and BBFT, and depression

would set in sooner or later when I remembered they live

...10,000 miles away in TX.

The next day, Sunday, it was cooler out {which actually worked in my favor b/c I was so tired/hungover I could barely keep my eyes open}, so we took Steph & BB to Bonita Springs (which is about 20 minutes away) to see all the beach mansions. We had lunch at a seafood place next to the beach and then randomly decided to stop by a local flea market. Who does this on vacation? Us.

Sometimes the most random of events turn out to be fun and this was exactly that kind of day... ;)

I found this amazing hat // glove combo

that I'm really kicking myself in the arse for not buying.

I mean..who WOULDN'T want to wear this 24/7?

I spy BBFT yellow pantelones.

Steph decided she "had to have" a hand held vacuum.

I kid you not.

I can't make this stuff up...

The mansions are always fun to show people that aren't from the area

because they are solely "vacation" homes and are only lived in for a couple months a year. I don't know about you, but if I owned a house like THIS I'm 98.3% sure I'd live in it year round.

When we walked by this house, we saw the absolute cutest set up.

It looked like a man had just proposed to his girlfriend by the beach because these huge wooden letters were set up in the yard (so of course, we had a photo op with it, would you think otherwise?)

She better have said "yes". 

 

Here we are all coupled up

enjoying the beach :)

That night, we headed to a japanese steakhouse for our last dinner together.

So so yummy, yet sad face that it was our last night.

Love her.

It was such a relaxing day and it was clear that

no matter what we did together,

we had fun.

...and doing these recaps makes me realize how much I miss them.

Part 3 (and the LAST post/day where I get stung by a bee)

 to come tomorrow.

Hope I'm not boring you all too much...

*Now, don't forget to go read Steph's recap, too!

It's a good one.

Can we go back

...pleaaaase?

Bonita Springs on Dwellable

Fan of Fridays {Photo Dump + Spring Skirts}

Happy Friday, party people!

What are the weekend plans?

Billy is actually going to the Cavs vs. Heat NBA game tonight. His brother got them really good tickets for Christmas. I'm really excited for him! He is going to love it. As for me, relaxation is the only thing I've got on my mind.

Last night, as I mentioned yesterday, the girls and I went to see the Vow. I melt during chick flicks and I'm a hopeless romantic. I'm that girl that sits in the theatre and goes "oooh" "aah" inside. Well, this movie looked like just my cup of tea {like the Notebook}. While I liked it, I'm still undecided about how I feel about the ending. Us girls came to the concensus that we would've loved to see something more dramatic, something leaving us feeling better about it, something more clear cut! If you have seen the movie, what did you think of the ending?

Also, if I could look like any celebrity..I may pick Rachel McAdams. She looks gorgeous with any hair color, any outfit, and in my opinion..has a great bod. Girlfriend rocks every look and doesn't try very hard. Don't we typically hate girls like this? ;)

I've been missing Florida a lot lately. Especially, the warm weather and the fact that I could wear sandals. I've been inspired by spring skirts lately and can't wait for spring to come so I can add some to my wardrobe...

have this skirt

and love it.

adore this outfit!

What skirts do you love?!

I was going to share Part 2 of our "Blacation" (as Steph would call it), aka our trip to Naples, but that will come on Monday. Sorry friends. It'll be good though, so don't miss it.

Instead, I'm going to join in with one of my favorite blogs EVER, yes EVER - Kelle @ Enjoying the Small Things. Most of you have probably already visited her blog before as she is  pretty much famous, but if you haven't, you need to HURRY THE HECK UP and click her link and hit FOLLOW. like ASAP. Kelle is a writer (with a book coming out), mommy to the 2 most precious girls, and is so gorgeous. She is so talented and her blog inspires me everyday. Anyways-she does a Friday Photo Dump with pictures from Instagram.

Thought it would be fun to play along and add some unseen pictures (unless you follow me on Instagram) from our trip to Florida and some other random ones...

Last thing.

Want $5 to spend at Sweet Tea Paperie?

Here is your chance.

This is ONLY good until Sunday!

    

Click HERE to shop.

Use code: FABULOUSFRIDAY

Have a great weekend, friends.

Xo.