It's Me, KP

Snapshots of My Weekend: 8.1.10

Some of you lovely readers have noticed that starting today I'm no longer the blog hostess over on the American Crafts blog.  I recently accepted an awesome new part-time position (more on that later) which includes some social media roles and had to let that job go.  It's been such a great experience managing the AC blog + design team for the past year and a half.  I've been lucky to work for American Crafts in some capacity for almost six years now and they've been so good to me.  Fear not, I'll still be partnering up with AC in other ways... they'll never be able to shake me.

Weekend snapshots coming 'atcha...




Thursday night I drove (big mistake... I'm sticking to airplanes from now on!) to Philly and picked up my brother Matt for a Phillies ballgame.  That stadium is really awesome... and they have cheesesteaks.  I couldn't ask for more.  Friday and Saturday I taught all day long at CKC Valley Forge.  I met some great ladies (including some super sweet blog readers - hello!!!) and I think the gal who whooped it up + did a air lasso over her head after winning a giveaway will forever be one of my favorite CKC memories.  My cool friend Linda generously allowed me to crash on her futon for a couple nights and even took me out for a yummy Vietnamese dinner.  After seeing her three adorable boys, I think maybe, just maybe, someday I would love to have cute little Asian babies.

I got to spend the rest of Saturday with my two brothers in Philly.  We went to their favorite Brazillian steakhouse for dinner.  Yes, they are ignoring me taking their photo and concentrating on picking out meat.  We take our meat selection very seriously in the Purkey family.  We all went out that night, along with my brother's girlfriend, and had a little bit of fun.  Although two doctors doing their residency + me who had been working all weekend = the three of us old farts ready to turn in at around 10 p.m.  Only Matt is hanging like a rockstar and says thumbs up to making a night of it.

Not very many snapshots taken but next weekend I'll be out west with the coolest CA chicks.  It might be snapshot overload.  Woot.

I picked up some brand-spankin' new Basic Grey at the vendor faire.  I went a little overboard buying Wander... it's one of my favorite lines from CHA.  Cannot wait to use it.  Double woot.

Snapshots of My Weekend: 7.25.10

I was unexpectedly stuck in NYC this weekend and it was quite funny that I had no idea what to do.  It was like the possibilities were too overwhelming.  So I didn't do a whole lot but run around with some fabulous friends...




Friday afternoon I had my one + only Restaurant Week meal with Chloe at Gotham.  I'd made the reservation because Amanda swears that their flourless chocolate cake challenges our favorite ever at Diner.  And sure enough, I think it won me over.  On Saturday I took the ferry over to the BK and passed by Lady Liberty.  The weather, the view, the boat.  I loved every second.  Kyle drove me + my new bookcase back from IKEA (and carried it up five flights of stairs!!!) and since I'm rarely in the car I took the opportunity to take a Amy inspired selfie.  I hadn't planned it, but the timing was perfect since we were getting off the BK bridge and you can see it in the background.  Awesome.  That night D + I beat the heat with some Starbucks and funny conversation.  Sunday afternoon I met a friend down at Century 21, which is right across from Ground Zero.  This was the first time I've seen it since my NYC visit six years ago.  There's a lot I could say on this subject.  But I'll keep that to myself right now.

We also saw Inception on Saturday night.  I know there's been tons of talk and hype around this movie but let me just say that I was riveted.  And that's not a word I use lightly.  Or at all.  But riveted I was, my friends.  Amazing movie.  Still thinking about it all.  Have you seen it yet?  Go go go.

Tonight Chloe and I were walking after dinner and she kept saying "I love New York!  I just love this city!" which made laugh.  This is the fourth conversation on being in love with living in NYC that I've had in the past few days.  Sometimes I get so caught up in traveling and being anywhere-but-here that I forget that I live in the best city in the world.  It was nice to have those conversations to remind me how lucky I am to be a New Yorker.  I need to stop taking it for granted.  Do a little reveling myself.

It also reminded me of a line from Let the Great World Spin that I thought was brilliant...


So true.

Snapshots of My Weekend: 7.18.10

This summer is about travel.  Going going gone.

From Friday to Tuesday I was home in Michigan, then went home to Chicago, and today came back home to New York.  Will be so nice to sleep in my own bed tonight.  Yipee.  And here come the Snapshots...

The reason that I went home was to attend my 10 yr HS reunion on Saturday night.  Let me just say right now that for the past 10 yrs I have been refusing to go to this thing.  And have acted like quite a 10 yr old brat about it as well.  Um, pretty much everyone who knows me well can back me up on that one.  It's a long story about how I got there and the night itself is quite a tale as well, but I went and survived.  Whew.

The real reason I went home was to spend time with my best friends.  It's become very rare that the four of us are all together.  I miss them every single day and I've got the phone bill to prove it.  Sunday we recovered from the reunion and spent lots of time cuddling Baby Harrison, who is Kellie's nephew + the first little baby in our group.  Yes, I know you fabulous mothers are noticing how awkwardly I am holding him and making mental notes to keep your children away from me.  But look!  He's fast asleep!  I swear he was not Photoshopped into that blissful state!  That night we rounded up some not-so-little-anymore brothers + sisters for drinks at TGI Fridays.  Every time we go home we rendezvous at Friday's.  And we close it down like the (small town) rockstars we are.  Monday afternoon Heather, Erin, and I had a little beach day then went to a fun BBQ at a friend's.  Perfect.

In Chicago I made a trip to the new Modern Wing in the Art Institute of Chicago.  To say I love it there is an understatement.  I think it's an amazing collection and spent most of the afternoon in that wing.  This is me with my all-time favorite Picasso statue.  The large version is in the Daley Center downtown Chicago and I want this little guy for my bedroom please.  Going on my Christmas list.

That night the rain held off so I went to the Cubs game. Did you see this game Tuesday night?  Yeah, the Cubs came back to win 14-7!!! Booyah!  Take that haters.  Being at Wrigley is the best.  Always good times + good company.

Tonight when I came home I walked over to the Hudson to feel the breeze and see the sunset.  My thing for sailboats continues to grow.  Forget baby fever, I've got boat fever.  (Sorry Mom! I know you were hopeful about grandchilden with that baby photo up there.  But I will take you for sail around the world, I promise.)

And so #3 from The Twenty-Eight List: Attend My HS Reunion gets crossed off.  How about you... did you make it to your HS reunions?

Snapshots of My Weekend: 7.11.10

I had good intentions of taking some Snapshots this weekend in beautiful Des Moines.  But someone drained the battery taking concert pics Wed + Thurs night, then someone forgot to pack the charger.  That same someone just remembered today that they could take iPhone pics to at least get some snapshots.  To save them from embarrassment, the guilty party shall remain nameless.

Ingrid Michaelson happened to be playing an outdoor concert Thursday night in Des Moines.  You know she is my favorite.  You know this because I've mentioned it just a few kabillion times ;)  This was by far the best concert of hers that I've been to.  Her set was awesome, including a little cover of "Toxic" at the end.  And it was also the first I've been to that wasn't 18+ so it was adorable to see little teenage girls gathered up in the front row, singing along just like me.  I did manage to get a pic of my longtime (that sounds better than old, right?) friend Lisa Gluestickgirl + me at CKC.  We only got to chat for about 10 min but it was so good to see her again.  The rest of CKC was fantastic.  I really had a lot of fun with the ladies in my classes and I hope they did as well.

Today I had a 6 a.m. flight and a long nap.  A friend met me for dinner and we ventured a whole block away from my apartment to try a resto called B Cafe West.  It's a yummy Belgian place.  I had a croque monsieur, he had mussels... both came with frites + mayo and both were delicious!  I also learned that they have Lindeman's Framboise on tap.  Glorious.  This is my kind of "beer" and I keep a bottle stocked in my fridge at home... but knowing it's on tap just a few minutes from my doorstep?  That's a delicious discovery!  After dinner we walked over to Riverside Park which is so more enjoyable now that it's no longer 100* here.

As I was flying home, I thought of a layout I did back in 2006...

Maybe I will make a 2010 version :)

I'm on another 6 a.m. flight tomorrow morning to Miami... just a quick trip down to take a dip in the ocean.  But I've scheduled the registration for Sketchbook 2 to go up at 10:00 a.m. EST - thank you for all your comments and I'm looking forward to it too!!! 

Snapshots of My Weekend: 7.4.10

This past weekend will be my last in NYC for the rest of the summer... so we had to make it a good one.

Friday my besties Sarah + Chloe arrived.  The three of us can sit together in an empty room telling bad date stories and "that's what she said" jokes and laugh for hours.  On Saturday my little brother Matt came to visit for the afternoon.  I asked him what he wanted to do and he said just a typical KP day in NYC.  I bet you could guess where I took him.  The Shake Shack, a Yankees game (complete with Carvel cones), and over the Brooklyn Bridge.  My New York loves.  Spending time with my little brother is much fun.  Both my brothers are extremely intelligent and can say inappropriate things that they know will make me laugh til I cry.  It's a gift, really.  That night I hit the club for P's birthday party.  Sometimes an awesome weekend just has to include a case of sparklers, waaaay too many people in a limo, a little bottle service, and a lot of insanity on the dance floor.  All good things... or so they seem at the time ;)  For the 4th I dragged The Besties down to the Hudson to check out the fireworks.  Best people watching ever.  And best fireworks ever.  There were some in the shape of smiley faces... those were my favorites.

This weekend was a fabulous one.  I love that I started these little snapshots to remember them by.  I've most definitely been enjoying being young, single, having amazing friends, and living in this incredible city lately.

One more photo from Saturday night...

Snapped from P's balcony in Long Island City... his view is spectacular.  I might be willing to trade in my little corner on the UWS for that sunset every night.  

Hope you had a great holiday weekend as well!

Snapshots of My Weekend: 6.27.10

Last Thursday evening my roomate and I took off for a few days in Vienna.  Just, you know, your typical long weekend strolling around Austria ;)  So here are some snapshots...





We got there Friday afternoon and spent a few hours biking around the city.  Vienna has this awesome city bike program where they have tons of bike stations around where you can dip your credit card and be off biking for really cheap.  I rode my bike for a while in college and used to crash into people (true story) so I was a bit hesitant to get behind the wheel in the city.  But I only had one close call hitting a small child and only crashed into a wall once.  Well twice if you count the fact that after I hit the wall I was laughing so hard I crashed into the other side.  But riding along the city in the cool air was the best feeling ever. We got very very lost and ended up in the most beautiful area by the Old Danube river.  It was stunning.  People were swimming, boating, kayaking, just enjoying the most crystal clear water.  I almost stripped down to my skivvies and jumped in.  Almost. 

Saturday we took a bus tour to Salzburg, where The Sound of Music took place.  My mom will be the first (of many, I assure you) to tell you that I am a bit obsessed with this movie.  I may or may not have played the tape over + over and reenacted it in the living room when I was little.  So seeing beautiful Salzburg was surreal.  I got to stand on the Do Re Mi steps and may or may not have sung the song out loud in front of many Austrian strangers.  We saw the church where the real Maria + Capt. Von Trapp were married, the concert hall, and the graveyard where they hid from the Nazis.  I loved it.

Sunday was spent attempting to see more of the city (but actually it's not as big as we had thought and covered most of it by bike) and doing a lot of wandering around.  One of the things I enjoyed the most about Vienna is the music history the city has.  I grew up playing the violin and my orchestra teacher made sure we played pieces by the great classical composers.  It was incredible being in the city of Mozart, Beethoven, Strauss, Haydn, Schubert, Mahler, and of course the amazing operas.  I soaked it all up.  This photo is outside the opera house where they project the live concerts going on for people in the square.  And Sunday night we finally enjoyed some true sausage for dinner.  Oh the bread.  The bread.  I wanted to fill up my suitcase with weiner schnitzel.

So that is my three days in Vienna.  It is a beautiful city and one I'm glad to have visited.  Not a bad way to spend a weekend :)

Oh and I can't forget the gelato.  It's been about 12 years since my love affair began on my first trip to Europe.  And when I say gelato I mean the real sweet creamy soft gelato goodness... not the sorbetish poor man's gelato they try to pass off here in the US.  Let's just say we indulged in more than our fair share of cones in three days.

Again... if only I could have packed up the gelato and brought it all back with me.
I miss it so much already.

Snapshots of My Weekend: 6.20.10

I wanted this blog to be 95% scrap related and 5% personal related.  What happened?!  Pretty much I stopped making stuff.  The only thing I've scrapped in the last seven weeks was the April album and Scrapfest classes for American Crafts.  Ay yi yi.  I need motivation to get scrapping again.  Hoping it finds me soon.

So instead what you get is a whole lotta photos on the ole bloggo.  Here come the weekend snapshots...






Friday I got to have breakfast with Chloe and it was definitely a roll out + wear bed head/a wrinkled t-shirt/sunglasses/red lipstick kind of morning for me.  Blahness.  But that night I actually brushed my hair, put on some eyeliner and headed to the LIC for D's birthday party.  I love this photo for the complete unprepared randomness on our faces... "hmmm what is that black box thing with lights and a flash that Missy is pointing at us?!"  On Saturday I met up with Wonderful Jennifer and her daughter Kay to gobble down Shake Shack (which we didn't get to do last time Jen was in town and heaven knows a trip to visit me in NYC that doesn't include the Shack doesn't actually count) (kind of like that whole tree falling in a forest thing, you know) in Mad Square Park.  Then thanks to Jennifer, we all went to see "Wicked."  I've seen it years ago in Chicago and it was incredible!  I fully admit to tearing up at the end of "Defying Gravity" (if I don't get chills from the music + singing at a Broadway show it doesn't actually count either, I think.)  This afternoon was spent on my friend Missy's 1st Ever Candy Tour, where 10 of us followed her to some really awesome candy shops around the city.  It was kind of brilliant. This evening I met up with Jennifer and Kay after they saw "Promises Promises" and we got up close + personal to Sean Hayes.  I've seen a lot of celebs around New York and he was by far the most gracious to his fans.  Adorable.

I also saw The A-Team on Saturday night and have to say I enjoyed it way more than I thought I would!  Great summer movie.  And let me just slip this in there... Bradley Cooper.  Mmmm yeah.  Go see it.

And Happy Father's Day to my Dad!!!

My Dad does not appreciate having his photo taken. 
However, I think he is the best and certainly do appreciate him driving me to East Lansing so I can get my Sparty on for an afternoon.  Thanks, Dad.

Snapshots of My Weekend: 6.6.10

Home sweet home after a quick trip away this weekend.  I've got some snapshots to share...





Kicked the weekend off with some fun friends + beers at the Frying Pan on Friday night.  It was a great night to sit back and enjoy the breeze.  Saturday morning a friend and I took the bus down to Baltimore for a night.  We got there early and the #1 priority was finding some crab cakes.  I think we found the best ones in Baltimore... with a side of the most amazing mac 'n cheese EVER :)  Such a delicious lunch.  We walked around for a while enjoying the water, then ended up taking the water taxi (which I loved!!!) back to the inner harbor.  The main reason for the trip was a visit to Camden Yards to see the Orioles + Red Sox.  Where we talked a guard into letting us into the club level to get some yummy BBQ sandies.  The game wasn't too exciting until the end, but as always I love just being at the ballpark.

This weekend I laughed a lot. It was so nice.
Exactly what I needed.

Snapshots of My Weekend: 5.30.10

I have to be honest... this past weekend has made me happier than I've been in a long time.  I think I'm given weekends like this to be reminded how incredibly lucky I am.  Not that I really need too much reminding ;) 

Jennifer says weekend like this feed your soul and I couldn't agree more...

Jennifer +Nichol arrived Friday afternoon and I got to show them around NYC... which pretty much meant eating, walking, eating, shopping, eating, drinking, talking, laughing, eating.  The first treat was a cupcake at Magnolia Bakery down in the Village.  They requested seafood for dinner so I took them to The Mermaid Inn in the East Village and we had a fun patio dinner.  Saturday afternoon was spent eating lunch from 'Wichcraft and lounging on the Southwest patio in Bryant Park.  Then some shopping, including Tinsel Trading and M+J Trimmings then dinner at Crispo.  I was also so lucky to share the weekend with my sweet friend Emily + her awesome husband Jay.  Emily has been one of my scrappy friends for six years who knew me back when I was living in East Lansing and dreaming of moving to New York.  It was the best treat to spend time with her.  After a tasty breakfast at Clinton St. Baking Co, we walked down to Donut Plant for a snack.  Sunday also included a matinee of Promises, Promises + dinner at Republic and some great bonding time. 

And because it was a long weekend, I'm throwing in two more...

It's quite pricey but I couldn't resist taking them to Norma's for breakfast this morning... and it was pure heaven on a plate.  And one shot of us all together before I had to say goodbye.  I spent the rest of the holiday relaxing, having fun, and hanging with more friends here.  I am lucky.

I love having visitors in the city.
I love it.
I love NYC when I'm on my own but it's even better when I get to share it with people I care about.
And I especially love planning out everywhere we're going to eat ;)

It was such a delight to see all my friends this weekend.  These ladies are so incredibly smart and unbelievably talented with huge hearts.  Jennifer has been one of my biggest cheerleaders for years... her kindness and generosity amazes me and I felt so fortunate to have been able to spend so much time with her.  

And my favorite shot from the weekend...

Now who is coming to visit me next?  You better be ready to eat ;)

Snapshots of My Weekend: 5.2.10

This evening I was hounding my bestie Sare about blogging some photos from her recent trip to California when I realized I never really blogged any of mine.  So hop into my Delorean because we're going back in time for some Snapshots of My Weekend in California.

The last Friday of April I had my first Reflections classes and I loved every minute of it.  I stole this photo from Kelly of us taking a little lunch break by the pool before class.  With Liz + Maggie around, how could I not have a blast?!  Impossible.  I also had the best time hanging out with Suzy... who was telling me here that she could catch me in the palm of her hand and clearly I thought this was the most ridiculous thing ever ;)  Before we left, Maggie and I did some more jumping.  Then after Reflections was over I drove down to San Diego with a stop at Moonlight Beach.  It was an amazing weekend.

The whole trip just made me happy.  I think the fresh air and California sunshine did me good... it came at a time when I really needed a break.  And believe me, I made the best of my week out west...

I spent some time in San Diego with Elena, the Padres, the sea lions, and the meerkats at the zoo.  Then I drove back up to Santa Monica (with a stop at In-n-Out on the way) (ok ok so full disclosure - I made two trips to In-n-Out in a matter of two days) to stay with my best friend Kellie + her fiance.  Being with them is just like going home.  It's so, so nice.  While I was in Santa Monica I got to see old friends Lisa, Amy, and Jessica... all amazing ladies.  The amount of girl talk that was crammed into this one week was wonderful.  Exactly what I needed.  Before leaving LA I made a stop at Sprinkles + the Getty for two things that I love best.  

I'm lucky in life for a lot of reasons but two of the big ones are 1) I get to travel to fantastic places and 2) I am blessed with incredible friends to share the adventures with.

And now I want to go back, please.