Follow my lifecast (like blogging but better) on NonSociety.com for oodles of daily updates, photos, videos and more.

You can also check out my partners in crime: Julia Allison, Meghan Asha and Jordan Reid.

from left: Katrina, Julia, Megan (Alagna), Jordan Reid

for me, this year is about being the best me I can be … and then being even better.

There will be a new website, new projects (stay tuned for some exciting announcements), new everything!

Let the fun begin…

New Year's Eve 2009/2010

xoK

Usually my blog posts are my latest video posts or fashion musings, but I have been remiss in posting ANYTHING lately…not because I don’t LOVE my blog and my super-cute website, but because I have been so insanely busy.

Traveling every week for work (I’m SO not complaining! I am freelance, after all), Fashion Week, TV segments galore (am taping The View tomorrow…tune in when the segment airs on Friday, October 9th), and my new gig as Editor in Chief of PinkMemo.com — not to mention a few other side projects here and there — have kept me running non-stop.

So, a quick hello … lots more musings, videos, Your 2 Minutes installments and exciting announcements coming soon….

XOXO

Katrina

(CNN) — In the face of a challenging economy, many would-be summer travelers have cut back on their usual beach getaways. But in New York, the urban tribe of sun and sand worshippers is still hitting the beach: Water Taxi Beach.

With three easy-access, city-side locations, it’s a bona fide staycation that is a step beyond the typical fare of museums, zoos and water parks … and it still allows for plenty of bikinis, beach volleyball and sand between the toes.

“It’s just very relaxed and non-commercial,” explained Harry Hawk, marketing and entertainment director for Water Taxi Beach. “It’s really a reprieve from the situation in Manhattan, with lots of tall buildings.”

The original Water Taxi Beach opened in 2005, at the Hunters Point ferry stop in Long Island City, Queens, just across the river from Midtown Manhattan. Tons of white sand — about 940 of them — were shipped in from New Jersey beaches, and voila: an instant 44,000-square-foot urban oasis with uninterrupted views of the New York skyline.

According to Hawk, the beach was intended to inspire city dwellers and visitors to get out on the water.

“In the daytime, we have lots of little kids, families and people tanning, coming for a burger or a hot dog, coming to see the view,” Hawk explained. “At night, it becomes more like a club.”

The concept proved a success. The New York Water Taxi group responded with two additional locations this summer, Pier 17 in the South Street Seaport and Governors Island, each offering a “beach” experience.

Long Island City is known for its no-frills, tiki bar style, complete with life-size electric plastic palm trees, whereas Pier 17 boasts a boardwalk, vibe with skee-ball and mini golf. Governors Island is the ultimate entertainment destination, hosting live musical acts from Erykah Badu to the B-52s.

Each beach has independent hours of operation and entertainment admission fees (many events are free; check the schedules for more information), but they have several things in common: low prices, fantastic food and easy access.

You can travel by train, subway, yellow cab, watercraft, bicycle or car to access the beaches. But if you’re hitting Long Island City or Governors Island, the New York Water Taxi offers the most scenic route, providing spectacular cityscape views, best enjoyed from the bright yellow boat’s roof deck (tickets start at $5).

Although there are plenty of options, your smartest bet is to buy a hop-on/hop-off pass for one or two days (a one-day pass is $20 for adults, $15 for kids; two-day passes are $25 for adults and $15 for kids). Buy passes on board or at www.nywatertaxi.com.

Not only can you visit all the Water Taxi beaches, you can maximize your exploration and venture to all 10 docking points across the city. It’s a fun and easy way to get to some of Manhattan’s most famous sights, from Times Square to the West Village to the World Trade Center Memorial.

Water Taxi Beach has some atypical beach rules: no swimming, no pets and no outside food. But you can play beach volleyball and cool off beneath the water-side misting system.

And you won’t go hungry: All of the beaches offer plenty of food options, from pulled pork sandwiches ($7) and oysters on the half shell (market price) to award-winning Motz burgers ($6) and vegan soy dogs ($4). They also stock full bars and serve a variety of beers, specialty cocktails, frozen drinks and sangria.

“Food, fun and sand,” Hawk said, “it’s the Water Taxi Beach motto.”

So this one’s only 1 minute, but it’s a fun and random chit-chat with Sean Lennon (and his gal-pal, who knew?) in the front row of the Charlotte Ronson show at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in NYC.

Got 2 minutes? I caught up with Keith Lissner, rising star designer, before BRAVO snagged him for “The Fashion Show.” He dishes on affordable chic and more…

PS

Check out my snap on Keith’s blog!

The area is known for pretzels, The Peanut Bar (above), Yeungling beer and yes, ground zero of Jon and Kate’s brooding and brood (little-known fact: Jon and I went to the same high school (below) — although I graduated a few years before he did ).

Fun fact: one of the first on-camera television series I did was during a summer internship at Berks Cable when I was tasked with exploring local treasures such as Lebanon bologna.  I like to think I’ve come a long way since then…

But I must confess, there is something delightfully nostalgic and appealing about local treasures, and since I’ve arrived in Wyomissing, I have been reveling in renewed awe of all things Berks County.  Except scrapple.

Over the next month and a half, I will be sharing some of my favorite memories, hot spots, foods, destinations and local lore both in blog and video form in a new series that I’m calling “K in PA” — stay tuned, cause you never know who you’re going to run into…