Author: Kyllan

Our nephew… the superstar model!!

Kyllan 2 Comments

It is no secret that William and I have one of the cutest nephew’s in the world, and to prove it, he was booked by Neiman Marcus to appear on their website and had a photo shoot a few weeks ago!

Click here to follow the link to the Nieman Marcus website page.

As Neiman Marcus releases their winter line, more photos may be posted, so I am sure the family will be visiting the website often.

I talked to the superstar on the phone this evening and he says he seemed pleased with the photo.  He was more concerned with me noticing the brown shoes he had on since apparently he asked the Neiman Marcus folks if he could keep them and was disappointed to learn he would not be able to do that.

The conversation quickly changed to his school field trip tomorrow, so it is good to know he has not let the fame go to his head.  Haha. 🙂

Big Week

Kyllan 7 Comments

This is a big week for the Cody Jr. family.  William defends his thesis on Friday and then we pack up the Uhaul on Saturday to make the move from Denver to Dallas.  Everyone is very excited.  William is obviously a tad bit stressed, but I think he will be just fine.  His parents and I will be there to show our support and be ready to celebrate with him when it is all over.  It should be a great weekend, but please keep us in your prayers for a successful defense on Friday and safe travels back to Dallas on Saturday and Sunday.

Thanksgiving will be an awesome celebration this year!

Pinkberry Comes to Dallas!

Kyllan 5 Comments

William will be shocked to find that I made a post. I have been a stranger to blogging lately, but not on purpose. I have been busy traveling to family events on weekends and then my mom was in town for a couple weeks visiting (now that she is a retired woman with no schedule), not to mention I am adjusting to my new job… which is going very well, but leaves me mentally exhausted at the end of the day from my mind trying to absorb everything! So I have been vegging out on the couch the past few nights and falling asleep there as well.

Anyway… as you can see from the title of this post, the reason for the post was to share my excitement that Pinkberry is coming to Dallas!! I was reading news feeds from Google Reader today (which William will also be excited to hear), and I saw the article on the Dallas Business Journal that Pinkberry announced they would be opening a Dallas location in November! You may remember how I raved about Pinkberry after my visit to LA a few months ago.

For those in Dallas, there are a few knock-off versions in the area, including Orange Cup at the Galleria, but none quite compare to Pinkberry in my opinion. The new Pinkberry will be in the Preston Royal Village. Sprinkles and Pinkberry right down the street from each other… oh my… William and I are in trouble!!! I wish Pinkberry would open a location in Rockwall.

Speaking of treats, William is officially a fan of Five Guys Burgers and Fries. We both had our first Five Guys experience (made popular by President Obama and First Lady Michelle) a couple months ago in Denver and he is hooked. I have not been in a while, but it is muy delicioso!! They do have a Dallas location at the Galleria, so I am sure William and I will make a visit from time to time on our way to Pinkberry and Sprinkles. Yes… I will stop at both 🙂 Only if I eat healthy and make it to the gym every day that week to create a deficit for my indulgence!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY DAD, and my cousin Tyler and my college roomie, DeeDee!!!!

Where are the Codys?

Kyllan 4 Comments

Just wanted to let everyone know that we are still here. William and I have both been pretty busy lately. Unfortunately, I am behind on my recipes. However, the tradeoff was using some free time to get a personal trainer at the gym. It has been money well spent! I love my trainer. I am enjoying it thoroughly and seeing some great results. Today was session 8 of 13 and it kicked my butt! We are on to phase 2 of my training and the intensity has been turned up 200%. I am very excited about finishing strong and fitting back into some clothes that are sitting neglected in my closet 🙂 More importantly, I am feeling better about my fitness level, and making my workouts part of my daily routine. I have been to the gym every day for the past 27 days (except Friday and Saturday of this past weekend when I was out of town). This is a huge accomplishment for me, especially since work can keep me tied up with dinner meetings, etc. Some nights, I was at the gym at 10 or 11pm, but I went. I am very proud of myself! Still struggling a bit with the sweets, but I am getting better.

William has been very busy in the lab as usual, but has also been frequenting the gym.

Anyway…we will try to blog again soon.

Still Cooking

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In case you were wondering, yes I am still cooking my one recipe per week. I have only missed 3 of the 17 weeks in the year so far, but I have about 19 recipes (doubled up some weeks). I plan to update everyone on the recipes soon!

Cali

Kyllan 8 Comments

This past weekend, I made my LA debut.  I have traveled to many cities in the US, but had never been to California.  Since my best friend/suitemate/sorority sister from college (Crystal) lives in LA, I figured it was the perfect opportunity to go for a visit.  Since we both have busy work schedules, I only went for the weekend, but in the short time I was there, I really had a good time.  I was able to eat at several places that always get rave reviews, like Roscoe’s Chicken N Waffles, In-N-Out Burger, Pinkberry, and Pizzeria Mozza.

When I got there on Friday, it was already late, so we just went to the Grove, which is an outdoor shopping mall.  Since the Cheesecake Factory was open late that night, we were able to catch up over appetizers and cheesecake.

The next morning, we decided to head to brunch at Roscoe’s Chicken N Waffles…VERY good.  The chicken was perfectly seasoned and fried and the waffles were prepared in a way that did not make them too soft nor too crispy.  Paired with the homemade lemonade, it was a great brunch!!  After getting stuffed on chicken and waffles, Crystal and I went to get pedicures and relax from our overeating.  After a drive down Rodeo drive, we visited Westfield Century City Mall where I was introduced to my new favorite thing… Pinkberry.  Wow… I really cannot tell you how much I enjoyed this wonderfully sweet and delicious frozen yogurt treat!!  It is hard sooooo delicious… not to mention fat free!!!  You can top it with fresh fruit toppings like strawberries, raspberries, chocolate shavings, kiwi fruit, mango… even fruity pebbles!  I honestly think it was wonderfully delicious just by itself.  It has a sweet and perfectly tart taste as it is, so I was very impressed. So far they only have locations in New York and Los Angeles.  Pinkberry… please come to Dallas!!

***Star Sighting***  While at the mall, we saw Robert Downey Jr!!  Of course I did not go up and make a big deal out of it, but I hadn’t had a star sighting in a while, so I was excited.

Later that night, we decided to see Obsessed, but it was sold out and we had to go to the later showing to avoid sitting on the first row.  When we got there at 9:30 for the 10:00 showing, Crystal and I were blown away that there was already a line at least 50 people deep.  Really?  Are you sure this line is for Obsessed?  The one with Beyonce?  I mean… I like Beyonce, but wow… I was not expecting that.  Since Crystal and I went into the movie with low expectations, we were not completely disappointed.  It was actually better than either of us thought it would be.  Since Beyonce’s role was somewhat limited and I thought she had some poorly written lines, I really don’t have much to say about her performance.  Ali Larter had more of the lead role in the movie, and she was very convincing as the “obsessed”.   Before the movie, we had time to grab a quick bite at the ever popular In-N-Out Burger.  I must say that the fresh ingredients were nice, but I would not say it is the best burger I ever had.  It was very good though.

On my last day there, we enjoyed lunch at Pizzeria Mozza, a popular restaurant with an eclectic variety of pizzas.  I enjoyed a more traditional pizza, but it was good.  We also had some gelato for dessert.  Gelato was my favorite frozen treat until I tasted Pinkberry 🙂  We also traveled down to Santa Monica Pier.  There is a large beach area with an amusement park, playground, beach volleyball courts, biking path, and many more activities.  It was a great area.

A weekend was not long enough to explore the wonderful city of Los Angeles, but I do plan to return soon and explore a bit more.

Summary of trip:

  • Discovered that LA has tons of parking garages everyone that charge for parking.  The parking situation seems to be stressful… so I was not a fan of that.  Even the CVS has a parking garage!  Can I just get a plain parking lot?
  • Westfield Century City Mall had free parking for 3 hours and the best part was they have a system that has lights above parking spaces so you can quickly find a green light identifying an open parking space.  What a great invention!
  • There is a very electic variety of cultures, personalities, fashion, etc…  in California.  I enjoyed this diversity.
  • People at Santa Monica Pier thought 65 degrees was the perfect temperature to throw on the bikini and jump in the freezing cold water (wow… I was cold and needed a sweater!)
  • If you have a shiny black car, you will fit right in (I wish I could keep my car that clean)
  • Pinkberry is the best frozen treat EVER!!

I did not take as many pictures as I should have, but the few I did take are posted on flickr.  Click Here to see them.

It’s Birthday Time!!!

Kyllan 4 Comments

Happy Birthday to my wonderful husband, William!!!  William is in Dallas to celebrate this weekend, so we plan to eat some good food, have some good cake or sweets and see several movies (William’s favorite pasttime). We will try to take pictures and post later.

25 Random Things about Kyllan

Kyllan 9 Comments

Well… we already know that one of the main bloggers on this site is not a fan of Facebook, but I have enjoyed the opportunity to reconnect with old friends, even if only to say hi and see where they live now and see pictures of their kids.  I said I would never join Facebook, but I actually like it and can stay connected with a few people I would not otherwise.  One of the most popular notes on Facebook, which once upon a time traveled around on e-mail is the “25 Random Things” note.  William suggested I post mine on the blog for all the non Facebook members.  So here it is…perhaps you will learn something new about me.  Perhaps my husband will write 25 random things about him… perhaps not. 🙂

25 Random Things about Kyllan

1. I have never had a pet before (not even a fish).
2. I have the same middle name as my mother and sister. My daughter will not share a middle name with her mother, grandmother and aunt.
3. I am a very organized person at home. My closet is color coded, and also sorted by tanks, short sleeve, ¾ sleeve, long sleeve, sweaters… in that order. In my pantry… all the labels are facing out so I can read them. My DVDs are in alphabetical order. I do not consider myself obsessive/compulsive… just a fan of order.
4. I have to create lists for myself to stay on task and make sure I get things accomplished. I will not feel good about my day unless I get something crossed off the list.
5. My husband is one of the most intelligent people I know, and that is not just because he chose me for his wife.
6. Babies make me smile and for that one split moment… I think….awww… I want one. But… we are not ready for kids, so we are going to wait a little longer.
7. I have started trying a new recipe each week and have found I really enjoy cooking. I wish I had the opportunity to cook more.
8. If I were not in my current occupation, I would want to travel the world, take photographs, and write for Foder’s or Frommer’s or some sort of travel guide.
9. My husband and I dream of owning property in Turks and Caicos and somewhere along the South Coast of France.
10. I dream of going back to Turks and Caicos or the southern coast of France at least once a day.
11. I was born in Cleveland, but raised in Texas and therefore consider myself a Texan.
12. I frequently lack thirst… I can go almost all day with nothing to drink. I do not drink coffee and am not really addicted to soft drinks or anything like that. I know this is not good for me and am working on drinking water more frequently.
13. I LOVE sweets… soft baked cookies, brownies, Italian Cream Cake, Carrot Cake (as long as it is moist), molten lava cake, Lindor truffles… wow… I am completely addicted.
14. I hate cold weather and seem to frequently be cold. I wear socks to bed year round b/c my feet are always cold… like ice cubes… seriously.
15. I wear size 11 shoes. So does Michelle Obama.
16. I cry when I laugh, even when I am not laughing that hard. I just produce a lot of tears.
17. I am becoming more and more of a “home body” (mainly b/c my job can be exhausting at times and I just want to veg in front of the tv)and am perfectly fine with that.
18. I like to write in blue ink.
19. I have to take a shower every morning, even if I took one the night before. It is like my coffee. It gets me going (at least for about 30-45 minutes).
20. I set my alarm to go off at least 15-30 minutes ahead of when I need to wake up on purpose so that I can snooze. I have been known to snooze for over an hour, but I know that absolute latest time I can sleep.
21. I try to head to bed by 11pm, but it is typically closer to midnight or later that I actually make it there.
22. I like for all my clocks to be synchronized with the atomic clock in my kitchen. The clock on the microwave, oven, IPOD dock, etc… MUST be the same.
23. I hate being late. I often am late running to meetings throughout the day, but I really don’t like to be late.
24. My mother and sister are extremely creative and have that Martha Stewart like trait. I did not get that trait.
25. I have not lived in the same city as my husband since December 2003. We have been happily married for 18 months. We are only apart b/c he is finishing his PhD program in Denver. Absence does make the heart grow fonder and b/c of the distance, we talk constantly and never have time to argue. I can’t wait until we are in the same city…which should be very soon.