Could & did: I don't really like presents. This is not a new thing to most, I know. I love to give presents but I really have yet to master loving getting presents. It just feels weird. So, in trying to kick this habit, I bought myself an early birthday present....

I could have bought this lovely love seat @ Anthropologie, but I don't have a house to put it in. I could have bought this tiny Tiffany and Co. necklace, but I don't have a place to wear it, and I think we all know I like my diamonds big!

I could have bought this Valentino bag @ Nordstrom, but I have a lot of bags and a pair of Valentino heels, and it didn't fit over my shoulder or match my pink satin shoes. 

I could have bought a lot of things, but I thought the present I would like most is.....a new stamp for my lonely passport. So I bought that....I leave soon

1983: I was at my uncle's place in Chicago last week, he has this little pic from 1983 in the guest room. (Yep that is me in the pink fuzzy hoody) 2013-1983....I am trying not to think what April holds for me.

"Hold please":There are the days when you love your profession as a pastry chef, and then there are the days when you do not. Staff is unbearable, recipes are failing, hours are humorously long, kitchen is too hot and the chocolate isn't setting, kitchen is too cold and the chocolate is setting before you can mold it! Those are the days, when you dream of answering phones or cleaning teeth.  

There are days when you love your profession as a chef, but you long for the days when your meager little paycheck will afford you not just 1, but 2! ring pops a month.  (Once again, most likely answering phones or cleaning teeth). 

Today was NOT this kind of day! Today was this kind of day:

(truffle honey mini ice cream bar dipped in 54% dark chocolate and brushed with a little gold, made and promptly consumed by me)

Best of Show: so a little while ago my partner in crime and dear friend, Ruth, was in search of a furry friend and seeing as ferrets stink, hamsters are escape artist, and cats are always getting hit by cars, she decided to go with a dog.  A pug to be precise. The breeders invited her to a dog show to meet their bitches {and no this is not a no no word. in the dog world this is perfectly acceptable and you hear about every other sentence} and knowing how much I love comedy, she invited me. And what an invitation that was. Upon arriving at the, Middle of Nowhere Fairgrounds, we saw about 200 of these: 

motorhomes complete with indoor kennels, grooming stations, and various, "I heart poodles/pugs/pomeranians" stickers slapped everywhere. Oh and yes most the license plates are personalized. PUGLUV, DOGLUV, LUVRPET etc. Grotesque misspelled tragedies. The fun didn't stop here. Oh no. Upon entering the industrial sheds we found ourselves: 

 

encircled in a cloud of Aquanet for dogs, choking on mouthfuls of canine hair from all the back combing of the puffs on the poodles butts. They say owners look like their dogs, never have I seen more prime examples then I saw here. Pair after pair of canine, homosapien mimicry. The man pictured above was one of my favorite. 

They had stages for when they won, they had cages for when they waited

this was our favorite. Pounds of Pugs. So reminiscent of the Brady Bunch beginning sequence is it not?

There were also booths so you could buy overpriced dog trinkets to clutter up your canine spectacle on wheels. It was quite the marvelous adventure. And made only wonderful by having someone to share it with. We laughed so hard we cried, once we got back in the car, about everything that occurred. The emotions when they won, the shattered universe when they lost, the language used, the outfits, the names of the bitches. Oh what a wonderful day it was.....and on a less frightening note, from this event, Ruth got a bitch of her own, but has promised me she will never have a motorhome for Oswin, or an Oswin shaped mood ring.

The Nest: I awoke this morning a bit confused, as one usually does in a new environment. It took only a glance at the floor in the hall, and I quickly knew exactly where I was, and I nuzzled in deeper into my feather pillow, and fell back asleep. I was in "The Nest", the 3rd floor bit of wonder at my uncle Mark's home. We call it the nest because there is a down comforter and down pillows and you feel like you are surrounded by birds when you sleep. NO that is morbid. And while true...that is not the reason. The reason is, that when you wake up....this is what you see:

Treetops. You awake in the treetops every morning. No other room in the house has this view, and as a guest you feel privileged for this ethereal start to everyday you are here. 

Travel: for me it is sometimes better known as, The Unfathomable Momentary Anxiety that ensues moments before I take that final step that will rip me from my comfort zone. I am a wild thing, a rambuncious sort with energy for 6, and control issues for 13. However, I am cautious on the inside, shy with the unknowns. I have much less of a sense of adventure than most would be led to believe. I go with what I "know". In every new city I find my constants: an art museum, a bakery, a body of water {if available}. I start with my constants, then when my figurative feet are wet, I venture into the unknowns. I must establish familiarity so I feel I belong, just a bit, then I can explore. Today is not a great unknown, just a little one. So:

Goodbye Rocky Mountains....

Hello Windy City

I am a little bit awful, I think. I walked outside today after work, and it was lovely. Sunny, 51, blue sky, I took a couple runs and I wanted it to stop. Stop the sun, stop the 51 degrees, I need more snow!After 6 years in DC I have missed winter :( I want more than just 2 months of: crisp powder crunching beneath my feet, snowflakes almost suspended in the glow of streetlights, the feeling of the chill air brushing my cheeks as I maneuver the various runs {thinking, "don't fall, don't fall, don't fall, I know you haven't done this in a while and you are skiing like you know what you are doing, but let's be honest here MK, you aren't that good any more, slow down and next time start with a green circle not a black diamond! and plus how embarrassing would it be to have to have ski patrol pick your sorry butt off the mountain where you work!"}. I need more winter! All of Utah is most likely cursing anyone who thinks this, because our winter was the coldest since the 1940's, but I still need a little more snow. I am revamping that nursery rhyme, "Sun, sun go away, come again another day, MK needs to ski!"

Auntie Katie: So I have 2 darling nieces, Bella (6) and Lilly (6), and a bruiser of a nephew, Toben (3). These little darlings are your typical bits of wonder, lots of questions, lots of energy, and no filter. No subject is too delicate for them, and so it should be. Our latest conversation went like this:

B: Auntie Katie, you don't have any kids

Me: Nope, I don't

B: Well you need to get married so you can have kids

Me: That is a good idea Bella, who should I marry? 

B: Um...{long pause} YOU CAN MARRY HAN SOLO!

Me: {trying to contain the laughter} Why would I do that?

B: Because he would be a good a husband and build you robots!

So there I have it, the new criteria......robot builder. 

Just so you get a little better of an idea who Belle Rae is, this is her singing the national anthem, which begins with, "Jose can you see" naturally.