Katie Karambelas

Christmas 2023 🎄🎅🏻

Only one more sleep…

My youngest has had quite the month. 😅 This first picture was taken maybe 2-3 hours before the next one. After bath and changing into PJs, she fell on a dollhouse and cut the back of her head resulting in four staples. 🙈 She also got glasses this month - and already broke one pair. 🫣 Alice has been living her best (and worst?) life this month. Lots of Santa. Lots of sweet treats. Lots of fun! She gets into everything and is determined to do everything herself. I’m really obsessed with her. 😅😍

But……. What if I do? 🫣

We had a great time visiting Philly this past weekend! We saw family, went to the Christmas village in love park, and visited Macy’s for the light show and Dicken’s village. It was a great time!

An oldie but still resonates. Seven years ago, Matador Network published my writing.

https://matadornetwork.com/life/parent-dies-youre-traveling/?sr_share=facebook&fbclid=IwAR3RVSrUIA8e2-XznjX4oiaI-uBjyC9lPDUvxqR-rLTrwRqdibZtnipot80_aem_AaTsm2Tje-c82ISCSr93qblQUABIVOMo1KcdFp6F7kTehlWV9-U1oIVmXC7Ez-ClAbc

When Your Parent Dies While You’re Traveling "This debilitating kind of homesickness is one that would never actually be cured by going home, because you know that home isn’t the same as you’ve left it."

Christmas decorations are the best. 🎄🎅🏻

Win a free signed copy of Second Best!

How to enter:

1. Like this post
2. Follow me on Instagram - https://instagram.com/authorkatiekarambelas?igshid=YTQwZjQ0NmI0OA%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
3. Share this post with your Facebook friends.

Bonus:
If you’ve already read Second Best - Get an extra entry for leaving an Amazon review here: https://amzn.to/47BGD6T

Second Best Can you really love two people at once?Tess appreciates being alone. Being alone is easy. After aging out of foster care, she’s ready to start a new life across the country at the University of Rhode Island. When URI’s most eligible bachelor, Jake, insists on getting to know her, there’s no wa...

Thanksgiving break was 👌.

Allllllmost turkey time. I love decorating for the holidays. 🥰

I’ve barely had time to read this year. I’ve spent what little free time I’ve had writing my own next novel. I’m alllllmost done with it but I needed a brain break. Enter: The Inheritance Games. I finally caved and started them. I read the first three books in three days. 😵‍💫 Now I’m on the fourth and I’m trying to make that one last a bit longer. They were such a nice escape and they gave me the friendly reminder that the build up to the kiss is almost as good as the satisfaction of the kiss itself. Now I need to know: were you team Jameson or team Grayson?! (I couldn’t choose 🫣🙈 I’m team both lol)

My FIL’s birthday party, my nephew’s football game, long talks about books with niece, 1:1 date with Hattie to see the Eras tour movie… it’s been a pretty good weekend so far. 🥰

Fun birthday present? A dust cover for a coffee mug. 😆 It also seems to help keep the heat in. Pairs nicely with my coffee warmer I got last year. 🤪

Alice really lived her best Paw Patrol life this weekend with Paw Patrol Live and a fun afternoon with Marshall at , complete with a visit from her daddy and the fire truck!

Starting my birthday with a quick writing session at my fave coffee shop. 🎉

This weekend was filled with lots of costume changes and way more candy than needed. 🍭🍫🍬🎃👻 Two more days until the real deal and my birthday. 🎉

Just give me a mocha moon latte and lemme stay here for hours and write.

Denmark was beautiful and just the week we needed. 💕 We saw two castles in Denmark and one in Sweden that was converted into a museum. We went to two amusement parks - Tivoli and Bakken (the oldest amusement park in the world). I won a box of ~40 full size candy bars at Bakken. 🥴😅 We took quite a few trains and visited many museums. We ate lots of Danish hot dogs (Alice particularly loved this food item 😆). We were lucky enough to bring Jordan’s mom along to join in on the European adventure, too! It was an expensive place to eat/visit but everywhere we went seemed to cater towards kids - whether it was giving out smaller strollers at castles or museums or having a play area in a restaurant or a coloring station in a castle or museum. We were endlessly impressed with how they thought of children. For once, traveling felt less burdensome because we had support. 💗 It was truly impressive! We were glad to get home, as always, but we made great memories.

The girls get stickers after every dance class. Since I’m always in the lobby on my laptop, they’ve decided that it deserves the honor of housing said stickers.

Yesterday, we lost my Gram. I’m getting really tired of losing the people I love. She raised five kids, including my mom, and was Gram to ten grandchildren. She loved chocolate and snuggling babies. I didn’t get to see her as much towards the end and I’m really kicking myself for that. I do find some comfort knowing she’s reunited with my grandad and mom. They needed her more. 💗

Lately I’ve been spending my time researching a bucket list trip that I wouldn’t be able to even consider if it weren’t for credit card points. I’ve slept on the 10x course for way too long - we would’ve saved so much money! I’m still working on my novel and soooo close to being done but this has been my hobby at dance class lately, too. 🫣

My middle turned six yesterday! I can’t believe how much she’s grown and changed over the last six years. Happy birthday, Hattie cakes. You’re the bees knees. I love you more. 💗🦄

I’m in one of those busy seasons where work is crazy, two out of three kids have bdays less than two weeks apart, and I’m consumed with extracurriculars and doctor’s appointments and procedures. Oh, and I’m trying to plan our itinerary for Copenhagen next month. 🥴 Basically, if you see me at the extracurriculars writing my b***y off, slip me a coffee and snacks but don’t talk to me because I’ll never get it done. 😆

T H R E E Y E A R S O L D.

My sweet rainbow baby 🌈 is officially three! I cannot believe how fast time goes. It feels like yesterday I was giving birth in the wee hours of the morning, knowing when the world woke up, I’d be announcing a new sweet babe. Alice is a wrecking ball and blows through life with no fear and lots of love. It’s normal to find her climbing the railing on our stairs, painting the house with Nutella or makeup, and running and jumping into your arms without warning. I’m seriously impressed she hasn’t broken any bones yet. 🫣😆

Alice’s laughs are music to my ears and she’s taught me many lessons in patience. She is a force and I didn’t expect her exuberant personality but I cannot imagine a life without her. I can’t wait to see all the big things she does someday. 😍

I’m thankful our bond is so strong and I contribute a lot of that to nursing almost three full years - the longest of any of my babies. She finally weaned at the end of June (mama had been ready for a while). She does things on her own timeline and let’s you know exactly what she wants when she wants it.

Happy 3rd birthday, Alice Maginn. I am so incredibly happy I get to be your mommy. 💗🥰

Sometimes I get nothing done because I’m too busy planning my next trip. 🫣

Because dogs make people smile. 💗

I’ve been thinking a lot about my future lately and how to infuse more creativity into my daily life. I’m also trying to work a full time job, parent three kids (by myself some days), and finish this next novel (sooooo close!). I’ve got a lot on my mind but at the end of the day, I find myself asking: What would Dolly do?

No, really!! What would she do?! 😆Dolly is one of my biggest role models and favorite businesswoman. She came from nothing and built an empire, while still constantly giving back to the community and children across the world. I hope one day someone will look up to me the way I look up to her.

Second half of August. 💗 😢