Words of Wisdom Wednesdays

Source: sunshineandpearls.tumblr.com via Sara on Pinterest

A Happier Holiday Memory

So yes, there was a little bit of an accident over the Thanksgiving weekend, but that didn't stop us from getting into the Christmas spirit! We went to the Phoenix Zoo Lights with the family.  They get better every year! We did notice one animal set missing this year though - the group of mating gorillas. You read that right. Every year since I can remember going they have had mating gorillas as one of the lighting arrangements - they must have finally figured out that it wasn't quite appropriate for this audience. The rest of the light displays were beautiful.....

Notice band-aid covering Dashing's forehead.

 

A Thanksgiving weekend accident that had nothing to do with deep fried turkeys

Did you know that there have been 141 cases of extremely serious injuries in the last decade that have resulted from deep frying turkeys. Yikes. I'll let William Shatner explain those dangers....


But this story has nothing to do with that.

Engagement Photos in Spring 2010

On Friday, it seemed like all members of the immediate family were off doing separate things - lunch with other friends and family members, craft fairs, etc. Dashing was left behind at his parents' home to sleep, play video games, hang Christmas decorations (which he loves) or whatever until about 1pm when his mother and I were going to meet up with him for lunch followed by attending Arizona State University's football game that evening. Apparently he decided to cruise around town in his vintage 1965 mustang (the one from our engagement photos).

It was about lunch time when the phone call came in Caller ID: Dashing "Um, do you have jumper cables...." followed by "well, my car (the mustang) died at the intersection, so I jumped out to push it and the corner of the vent window cut my forehead. I think I might need to go to the Emergency Department." Remember, Dashing works in the ED in another town, so on his day off, the last thing he wants to do is to go to the ED.

I'm thinking "cut." As in the length of a typical paper cut. Like, Ok, maybe he needs some of that dermabond glue for a little cut. His mother and I show up on the scene and his forehead is drenched in blood even with the random piece of paper he found in his car to put pressure on the wound. I will spare you these pre-hospital photos. This "cut" starts at his hairline in the center of his forehead and runs vertically down to the bridge of his nose. [warning: gory detail line] I couldn't even really look at it as chunks of flesh were dangling from the site of the wound. A bit was even left on the window. Yes - I know - I should be and am thankful for the fact that he had no head trauma from the hit, nor was he hit by another car - but I did still think of the cosmetic implications of this kind of nasty gash. I must admit, Frankenstein did come to mind.You'll see what I mean below.

Now, it was lunch time, and so before we went to the ED, we went and sat and ate lunch. Yup. This is how a medical family rolls.

Anyways, a few hours + a tetanus shot + 10 real (no glue) stitches later....

Now do you see the resemblence????!!! Oh, Dashing. I will love you no matter what.

The stitches will be removed in a few days, and he'll be taking care of the wound to minimize scaring. I'll post a photo in a few weeks to show progress. We are very lucky that after the whole car dying in the middle of a busy part of town that this this the only thing that happened. He is doing just fine, and his spirits are up. Last night, he even said "You know, I think this scar will be pretty awesome."

On a side note: We had a wonderful Thursday turkey Thanksgiving with homemade, state-fair blue ribbon winning pumpkin pies - you may not believe this, but the maker of these pies is my one and only 6 foot 5 in burly father- in-law!  I will share a few of the pie making secrets soon.

Words of Wisdom Wednesdays

Source: cardiganempire.com via Heather on Pinterest

Happy THANKSgiving.

Sincerely,
Sara Cate

Monday Catch Up

I'll be catching up on reading other blogs today. However, I must say it is quite difficult to avoid reading the reviews of Twilight's Breaking Dawn. I didn't get to see it this weekend, and I'm going to have to wait a few more days.
Hope you all had a great weekend!
Sincerely,
Sara Cate

Enjoy

I hope you have a relaxing weekend.............and enjoy Breaking Dawn!

Source: google.com via Joni on Pinterest

Words of Wisdom Wednesdays

I recently heard about a growing local organization that is working to promote small acts of kindness. Ben's Bells was started by a mother (and university professor) who suddenly lost her three year old son to a surprise illness. She found it almost impossible to move forward in life, but found that when a stranger held a door, smiled, offered the extra penny needed at the checkout, helped pick up a dropped grocery bag made all the difference in her strength to live. 

Source: ffffound.com via Felicity on Pinterest

I too experienced this during and even after my cancer treatments. When I wore my wigs, I looked normal from the outside, but my insides were sick, spirits sometimes low, and self-esteem sometimes plummeting. When someone shared a small act of kindness, it brought me warmth and hope. Thank you to all those who allowed me to feel that even during moments of darkness.  I feel like I always preach it, and here it is again, it's the small things in life that matter.  

Do something kind today.

I'd love to hear from you!........

POST A COMMENT to share something someone has done for you that made a difference in your day. I'd love to hear about how the small things stay with us all.

Source: google.com via Felicity on Pinterest

Pepper Design and EmersonMade Made My Day!

I am so giddy this morning as I was just informed by Morgan at Pepper Design Blog that I won her EmersonMade giveaway! Have you checked out EmersonMade? If no, I suggest you go....like now...and peruse all of the beauty that is EmersonMade! The Fall Line is the in process of being rolled out.

Thank you to the lovely and talented Morgan at PDB for the giveaway! Check out PDB for great style, home design, and DIYs!

Sincerely,
Sara Cate

Weekend Update with Sara Cate

Breaking News! Dashing and I actually got ONE WHOLE UNINTERRUPTED DAY TOGETHER this weekend. Let me tell you that this is AMAZING as our schedules for work always seem to overlap. So, we went walking through Tucson's Sabino Canyon. It was beautiful, and so much fun. It was nice to talk without knowing there was an expiration time on our conversation because one of us had to go to work. Ahh, the simple things in life.

I made it to the TOP.......of the rock that is!

In OTHER news. I have resorted to taking pictures of myself before I get out the car to go anywhere. This was prompted when I was at work, walked into the bathroom, looked in the mirror and realized my hair was a mess and I had oatmeal on my face from breakfast! That was an interesting day.

 And finally, the last piece of news. I stopped at my favorite Tucson neighborhood coffee shop, the Bake House, this weekend and got a HOT drink (I typically get iced lattes), and found they had the most intelligent coffee sleeves ever! Look! It actually covers the whole cup. Brilliant.

Hope you had a wonderful weekend!

Sincerely,

Sara Cate

Be Aggressive, B-E Aggressive

Does anyone remember this 1990s (and older) cheer? As a little league cheerleader, this was one of our go-to cheers Be aggressive, B-E aggressive. However, when I moved on to middle and high school cheer, we wouldn't have been caught dead cheering this out at a legitimate football or basketball game. Last night, that all changed.

I went to a University of Arizona basketball game last night. Now, first of all, you have to understand that this was slightly difficult to root for the red and blue as my alma mater is UofA's big time state rival Arizona State University (Go Devils!). However, since I work for UofA and my husband is in medicine here, I have converted to a split household fan. Plus, UofA is far better at basketball than ASU is anyways. So, onto the story. UofA was playing Duquesne University. If you just said to yourself, "Who?". Don't worry, I did too. Apparently it's a private catholic university in Pittsburgh with about 6,000 undergraduate students. Anyways, I figured that if I had never heard of them, our 16th ranked UofA Wildcats would have a field day with them. I was wrong.

This DU team was feisty, ball-thieving, rascals forcing 21 turnovers! We looked like we were being bullied around by a big brother, one who had a foot of height, 50 more lbs of body weight, and a wiffle ball bat. (not a real baseball bat, that would be violent! By the second half with us trailing by 8, I joked with my friend who brought me to the game that our Wildcats looked like they needed to be more aggressive, B-E aggressive. After a moment of laughter, friend loudly shouted into the crowd "BE AGGRESSIVE B-E AGGRESSIVE!" repeatedly. Yes, this cheer was busted out loudly, and the crazy part, I feel like it totally worked! We went from down 8 to ahead by 11 within minutes, clutching the win for the Wildcats. How wild is that! Love it!

Words of Wisdom Wednesdays

Today I'm sharing Words of Wisdom I found in a recent post of Paloma over at La Dolce Vita. When someone says something so beautifully, you shouldn't try to re-word it. So here it is....
I think this quote is a great reminder for us all.
Sincerely,
Sara Cate

Source: myonlyinstinct.tumblr.com via Paloma on Pinterest

Weekend Love

I loved this past weekend. Dashing had 2 1/2 days off IN A ROW. I must tell you that this hardly ever happens. I loved every minute of it. So with all of these hours (as in a whole 60 of them!!!), what did we do?

I made Andi's (from Can You Stay for Dinner) Chicken Tikka Masala. 

It was SOOOO delicious. Dashing ate it (which is success step 1)! THEN to really put the cherry on top. He ate the leftovers the next day. Let me tell you....Dashing NEVER eats leftovers. This should scream out to you TRY THIS RECIPE! I made Saffron Rice and steamed cauliflower to accompany this yummy dish. We ate it all before photos...so I used Andie's photo. Her photo is prettier anyways!

I also made homemade Pesto with basil given to me from a co-workers garden. To 3 cups basil, just add 1/2 c. toasted pine nuts, 1/8 c. grape seed oil (or to taste), a little salt to a food processor. You'll be in heaven! We used it as dip and then I made pesto grilled chicken. I marinated the chicken in the pesto in a ziplock bag in the fridge for a few hours, then Dashing grilled away. So yummy.

We also had a fantastic date night out to this place called Zin Burger in Tucson. Seriously Fabulous burgers, sweet potato fries, and cookies and cream shakes. Dashing saw one of his Emergency Department attendings (ie: physicians done with training) there. She has two beautiful young boys. Dashing introduced himself to the one boy and instead of saying hi or on the flip side, being bashful, he said "I like tacos." HAHAHA. It reminded me of this classic YouTube video.

We then traveled the 2 hours north to Phoenix, Arizona for our cousin's wedding at the "majestic" Royal Palms - that's quoting their website. It's a beautiful boutique hotel that hosts Presidents and celebrities regularly. Needless to say it was beautiful. It's always fun to go to a wedding to remind you and your husband of the vows you took too. Such a wonderful moment to celebrate love and tradition. Swoon....

I was concerned with my hair.....Here's how my hair turned out. I think it was alright. I was emotionally ok with it. I thought my dress and Dashing's tux rocked though!

Congratulations and best wishes to the couple!

Sincerely,
Sara Cate

These are the days when I wish I had long hair

This weekend, Dashing’s cousin will be getting married – a black tie event. Dashing will look dashing in his full bow-tie tux and 5 o’clock shadow. I will showcase a cocktail length black fitted dress with classic sleeves and a great  pair of black patent leather peep-toe heels………AND sporting my I-didn't-choose-it short hair style/cut. I never have been a short haired girl, so that's what makes this even tougher. To me, events like this scream for me to have long hair (Hence, I wore a long wig at my own wedding).

I want the LC waves

Source: people.com via BreAnn on Pinterest

or georgeous updo bun

Source: andeelayne.blogspot.com via Brittiany on Pinterest

or a trendy side style

Source: google.com via Jenna on Pinterest

So these are the days when I am again upset, dare I say even a little angry, that I had I had to go through this.

Those days will never leave my memory, and my hair is still a constant physical reminder of what happened only 18 months ago.

These are the days when I wish I had long hair - long hair because it would mean this never happened.

Words of Wisdom Wednesday

If you think yourself a victim, you'll act the part. But if you think yourself a problem-solver, you'll figure things out. If you think your work is difficult, you won't be disappointed. But if you enjoy a challenge, you'll find yourself engaged. If you think your boss is an idiot, she'll live up to your expectations. But if you find her thought-provoking, your perception alters. You decide what thoughts fill your day. - Nan Russell

11 (painfully) honest things...

It was so much fun playing the Duchess yesterday, and I absolutely adored seeing the dolled-up trick-or-treat-ers bounding up my sidewalk last night. I would have loved to have taken pictures of some of the munchkins but clearly realize that parents would think I was a devient so I resisted. So, transitioning from being someone else yesterday (Kate Middleton that is), I'm going to share some things about the real me.

Ages ago, I was totally inspired by blogger The Whole Kristen Caboodle to write 10 painfully honest things about myself. I apparently started this, saved  it as a draft, and just stumbled upon it today. So I set out to finish writing all 10 plus one for good measure (and by that I mean 11). For those who know me well, digging deep and letting it out has been a tough thing for me to learn how to do, so I am completely not surprised a half-finished, painfully-dig-deep post has sat in my draft posts for so long. So, this is a good test for me to see how far along I've come with reaching a place called comfortable in my own skin.

11. I am a terrible window shopper. I hate looking at things I can't buy. I simply won't go to the mall/retail store unless I am going to be purchasing something. 

Tory Bruch Store in Hong Kong - isn't it beautiful!

10. I have patience. I just think it takes a vacation now an then.

9. I love iced lattes. I claim that I don't need them for the espresso caffeine, but refuse to get them decaf claiming "what am I paying for then!" Hmmmmm. I may be misguided here.

How do they do those designs!

Source: tumblr.com via rebecca on Pinterest

8. I have left dishes, laundry, and trash to do just to see if Dashing will do it without prompting. However, I have come to realize that if I just simply ask, it will usually will get done. If I don't ask - it's on me.

7. My dream job is to be a domestic goddess. Inspirations include stylist like Mrs. Lilien, cook like The Pioneer Woman, an artist like Caitlin McGauley, an interior designer like Erin Gates of Elements of Style, provide comedic relief like The Blogess, have wardrobes like 9 to 5 Chic, Atlantic Pacific, and Sweet Caroline, Lauren Conrad, and Olivia Palermo and of course, be a wonderful wife and mother.

Source: thechloeconspiracy.com via Sara on Pinterest

6. I once took an ATM cash withdraw from Dashing and my joint bank account to go buy a shirt I wanted so the retailer's name wouldn't show up on our bank statement. I only did this once and no more!

5. I compare my body size to others and will make myself upset with my current size and shape.

4. I will rationalize with myself that eating mega servings of  chocolate chip cookies [insert any kind of food or sweet here] is the same caloric intake as eating one because it's the same food. Slightly self-destructive here as this is obviously not true.

3. I am irritated by odd things like: "just two for dinner" YES hostess, just two. My husband and I are very happy coming to dinner JUST us two. How about you say, "two for dinner?" Thank you. Also, I know these songs have a great meaning, but "live like you're dying" songs miss a major point. Every day we live, we are closer to death. Therefore you should live life to its fullest BECAUSE you're dying. Think about it in a philosophical and inspiring way - not as a downer. Finally, I hate it when my three favorite radio stations are all playing the same song at the same time. There are a billion songs out there and you can't seem to find a different one to play?

2. I find myself making backhanded comments (especially to my husband) more than I'd like to admit. I'm working on this.

1. Ugh, one more! I've shared lots of painfully honest things so far. This is exhausting. Ok, last one. I have a tendency to judge MY self-worth based on my salary and job title. What's crazy is that in my heart, I value my personal life, memories, experiences, future plans, and accomplishments so much more. So, I'm not sure why this matters in the grand scheme of things, but for some reason, it apparently does.