I’m Married!

10 Aug

Um yeah… so its been a while…. a long while. I basically started a new job and then two weeks later got married, so you can say things have been CRAYZAY lately and I have been juggling longer hours at work/ wedding planning/ spending time with my new hubby and I just didn’t have much time to fit in the bloggy. I am sorry. But now I’m baaacccckkk! I’m probably not going to be able to be as consistent as I was, but I will not be gone for as long again!

 

OK, so lets see where did we leave off. Last time I posted I was a Miss. and now I am a Mrs!

As of July 23 I am a married woman! HoLy CrapoLy!

 

Our wedding was absolutely perfect!

The day started out slow. I slept at my parents house the night before and woke up super early. I ate a good breakfast, did some relaxing yoga and played about a million games of snood. I wasn’t very nervous, more anxious for the wedding fun to begin!  And once it began it all flew by with the wink of an eye.  Soon my hair and make up were done. The flowers arrived. The photographers were there, and we were piled in the limo on our way to my wedding!

The day was super hot so I think all of our guest were happy that  the ceremony was short and sweet! Pat and I are huge music fans so music was one of the most important aspects of both the reception and the ceremony. Prior to the start of the ceremony we had instrumental Beatles music. Then as my bridesmaids walked down the isle, we had the Beatles “All you need is love” and as I walked down the isle, Grupo Capobianco’s version of “all you need is love” played. (I’m kinda obsessed with this version for some reason, oh yeah, because its awesome!)

Then after the formalities of me putting the ring on Pat’s right hand and him marring the JP (he looked at her the whole time he said his vows (he is never going to live that down…haha)) we were married and the closing song was the Beatles “I’ve just seen a face”

We both love the Beatles. Their music is CLASSIC and we though it would be perfect for our ceremony. And it was just that. Perfect!

After the ceremony our guests headed inside to cool off with while we took some pictures! I can’t wait to get the photographers pictures back!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once the photos were taken we headed in to see the reception space. It was beautiful, the cake, the flowers. Everything. Perfect!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The night started off with some rocking introductions. I thought our guest would be a little afraid of what they were in store for based on our intro musical selections, but we made the right choice for us.  Our bridesmaids and groomsmen were introduced to Motley Crue “Kick start my heart” while Pat and I came into  The Darkness “I believe in a thing called love”

And if that wasn’t enough, our first dance was to Quiet Riot “Afterglow”

I got all most of my 80′s hair band fill for the night so everyone else wouldn’t have to suffer, but you know what, I think the high energy songs really got people pumped. Never before have I seen every single guest on the dance floor dancing there faces off before the first course!

I really have to say it was a perfect night.

I didn’t get cake smashed in my face.

 

My Bridesmaids looked beautiful

My groom is a Stud.

My dad was surprised by our father daughter dance.

Half way through our dance to James Taylor “You got a friend. The DJ make the music seem like the record scratched, (like they even use records anymore. (“What’s a record?” young children might be asking), and went into “Wake me up before you go go” by Wham. Our song ever since I was little. He was surprised and very happy!

And my mom actually dance! She never dances!

I don’t know, I hope everyone had fun.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Humm… yeah I think they did. :)

 

Next up.. Honeymoon!

 

(I promise, I’ll be back soon!)

 

 

 

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Newest Obssession

13 Jun

This is my newest obsession!

What is it you ask?

Its Honey Dew‘s Sugar Free Raspberry Ice Tea with 2 lemons.

I stopped drinking coffee regularly a while ago and really can’t stomach it much anymore. I can only drink about a half a cup before it starts to taste yucky.

Since then I have been drinking a lot of green tea. Every morning at work I drink green tea.

But now that the weather is getting warmer, I want to enjoy a nice cold, refreshing drink.

I have had Dunkin Donuts raspberry ice tea before and it does hold ground next to Honey Dew’s version. It is just sweet enough that I wonder if it really is sugar free! The flavor is perfect for a nice warm summer day. Its cool, refreshing, tasty and satisfying.

I actually bought it two days in a row! I never go to Honey Dew, and when I went back on the second day, and the same women took my order, she smirked a little, thinking that I was a new regular. Which I think I am! On the weekends at least! I never give myself enough time in the morning to stop for tea before work.

I picture myself enjoying this drink lounging on the beach in the near future. Now, if only the weather would cooperate! It has rained in the paste few days and is forecast to rain for a few more. Wahhhh!

Gift Basket Made with Love

10 Jun

Hi bloggie!

 

Sorry I have been neglecting you lately, I don’t know where the time goes. By the time I get home at night I either go right to bed or crash on the couch and want to do nothing but watch mindless television.

There are two reasons I have been busy lately.

1. Wedding stuff- obvio

2. Applying, interview, and getting a new job!

Yup, on top of all the wedding stuff I have to do I am starting a new job at the end of the month. The timing is not ideal but I am excited to start a new job at this new company! Everyone I have met so far has been super friendly! I am a little nervous though. I currently work in a company with two people. Yup, two. And I am one of the two. I don’t put on make up, do my hair, or even get dressed up. Now I need to look like a normal human being and dress nice. It’s been a great excuses to go out and buy new cloths! I just have to get into a routine of getting ready in the morning. Usually I just brush my teeth, throw on some cloths, put my lunch in a bag and head out without ever looking in the mirror.  I will need to get up a bit earlier now, but its all worth it. This is a good change and I needed it!

Last weekend I enjoyed some more backyard time with my two favorite pups.

There was a lot of chasing and barking and this..

Freddie hopping on the lounge chair with me to escape this…

 

Psycho Puppy.

He is too hyper and Freddie gets annoyed with him pretty quickly. They are best friends though.

Remember a few weeks ago when I had dress fitting drama? Well the other day I went to pick my dress up! I was so excited. I put it on and my worst nightmare happened. I was too small. There was a good inch in the back between where the zipper should meet and it wouldn’t zip another millimeter. I started to freak out. “How could it not fit?” I couldn’t have gained THAT MUCH weight in two weeks?!?!” “I haven’t been watching what I eat as much but this is ridiculous!” Then the sales girl came over to give it a try. She had no luck either. She took my measurements again to see if that was the problem, but nope, measurements were the same as before…thank god! So it wasn’t me. Whoever altered it messed up. I was pissed. Then the sempstress came over and said no big deal she could fix it by taking it out on the sides a little.  She started pinning the dress and then I hear her go “ouch” and run out of the room with her thumb covered in blood. My mother had a weird look on her face and I said “Is there blood all over my dress?” She played dumb and pretended not to know what I was talking about so I didn’t freak out.

The semesters came back with a cleaning solution and told me so phrase in broken Spanish and said everything was alright. On top off all That, the bustle has ties to hold the train up and they put in 13 ties. 13! I’m not superstitious or anything, well maybe I am a little, but who puts 13 ties on a wedding dress. Its like asking for bad luck. (I just hope all my bad luck stays at the bridal shop and doesn’t follow me!)

Then heaven sent an angle, Mercedes who saved the day during my last fitting. She came in, refit me again, striped me of my dress and told me to wait ten minutes. (We waited closer to half hour, but who’s counting) She soon re-appeared with my dress. I put it on and it fit like a glove. Snug, but not too snug. Finally. It. Fit. Mercedes gave the dress one more quick press and I was able to take it home with me!

Now I just hope it fits a month an a half from now.

 

Tonight I am going to check out my friends new apartment in Jamaica Plain. She and her husband just moved in and I am excited to see there place. I wanted to give them a nice “welcome home” (they were in NY) and “happy house warming” gift and didn’t know what to get. I went out shopping last weekend and am pretty proud of the nice gift basket I created.

I started with the idea of making them a nice potted plant with basil, oregano and chives.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I thought, what would go with these herbs?

Then I created a glorious gift basket after a trip to Trader Joes.

Some assortments of pasta, bruschetta, fancy sauce, olive oil and a bottle of Merlot (not pictured. It will go in the middle)

I’m off to see my friends! I hope they enjoy the herbs and gift basket!

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Congrats Grad

5 Jun

Today we have a graduation party. One of Pat’s cousin is graduating high school. Remember those days? I feel like it was just yesterday that I graduated high school. Not eight years ago. Holy crap! Eight years? Really? How and when did this happen? I’m not eighteen any more? Wow, time flies when you are having fun I guess.

I had a lot of fun my senior year in high school. After being accepted to college, it was a free for all. My senior year consisted of two study periods ,which were use to sneak out for ice coffees and drive around town, and a chorus period, where my friend and ended up excusing ourselves from class at least twice a week because we could crack each other up and couldn’t control our laughter ( Old School came out that year and we would recite lines from it and freak out). There were cartwheels down the halls, rides in giant wheel barrels we found in a back hallway, mission in possible hijinks where we would hide in bathrooms and nooks and crannies in the hall from an “evil” teacher out to get us, all while humming the mission impossible theme song. In school we had fun. Harmless, stupid fun, but fun. On the weekends, the fun continued. Days at the beach, nights parting with friends. Senior year ruled.

Anyway, back to the present. For today’s graduation party, I made some chocolate chip cookies. Once again I took an old recipe and” healthified” it.

Before:

After:

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

1/2 cup vegan margarine
1/2 cup applesauce
2 flax eggs and 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp baking soda in 2 tsp warm water
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup sugar
2 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 bag of chocolate chips

Directions:

*Set oven to 375
* Combine margarine, applesauce, baking soda and vanilla in a bowel
*In a smaller bowl combine flax eggs and apple cider vinegar, let sit for about five minutes.
*Combine sugars and flour.
*Add the flax eggs to the margarine mixture, mix.
*Add margarine mixture to the flour mixture. Mix.
*Stir in chocolate chips.
*Drop 1 tsp of dough balls onto greased pan and cook for 12-15 minutes.
*Let cool and enjoy!
I though I’d give a shout to all those Hockey play off fans out there. I’m not one of them,  but some one I live with is obsessed.

So this is for you Pat!

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Instant Coffee in an Instance!

4 Jun

Happy Saturday!

A few weeks ago, when I was getting into coupons, I was searching online for coupon websites and came across a bunch of free sample offers. All I had to do was fill out my name and address and I would get a free sample in the mail. I think I signed up to get about ten different free samples (we’ll see if I get them all). A few days ago I received my first sample in the mail.

Nescafe’s Taster’s Choice instant Coffee packets. They sent one of each flavor, House Blend, Columbian, Decaf, Hazelnut, Vanilla and French Roast.

This morning I tried the Hazelnut.

Simply pour the content of the packet into a mug.

Add hot water.

And enjoy!

I love how it has a nice froth on the top. I was skeptical at first because I feel like instant coffee would be grainy and flavorless. However, I was pleasantly surprised. First off, it smells great. It has a nice hazelnut aroma which is one of the things I love about hazelnut coffee. The taste is perfect. I don’t like my coffee super strong and this coffee was just right. With regular coffee I usually have to add a bunch of sweetener and milk, but with this, I added nothing! That’s right, I added-nothing! This is literally on-the-go-coffee. At first I though, great concept, instant coffee, I can pack it in my bag and take it to work with me! But then I though, well what about the milk and sugar? Will I have to tote that around with me too?

The answer is no. I don’t need to add anything to this coffee. It is perfect as is!

I am really glad I got this free sample. I look forward to trying all the flavors. I might be hooked! It is simple, perfectly portioned and tasty!

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Our Wedding Shower

2 Jun

 

Hello Blog!

Long time no see! I have been wanting talk about my wedding shower since the weekend,  but I was waiting on my mom to email me the pictures. I can’t have a post without pictures!

Our wedding shower was on Sunday and it was great! My mother wanted it to be a surprise but it would have been to difficult keeping it from me, so the only think I didn’t know was where it was. I love mystery rides and that was enough of a surprise for me. As we drove I got more and more curious, but once we got off the highway I had it all figured out.  (I’m quick like that). My awesome aunt hosted our shower at her home! I was more that excited. Clearly…

Even though it wasn’t a surprise my crazy family all yelled SURPRISE! anyway.  When we first walked in I was overwhelmed. There were so many people! Well, so many women! Pat’s face says it all.  (“Oh sh*t). He wasn’t as excited as I was.

After making the rounds and saying hello to all our friends and family it was time to eat. My mom, bridesmaids and aunt all made food. There was fruit, chips and dip, salad, quiche, asian salad, pasta salad, deli sandwiches, wraps…

And then there was dessert. Why are there always soo many dessert options? I always want to try everything! There were chocolate covered strawberries, toll house squares, cake, cookies, pastries, whoopie pies, and this…

The Candy Table

My mother when candy crazy! She got all my favorites! Bulls eyes, Canadian mints, after dinner mints, jelly beans, m&ms, and yogurt covered pretzels. Well, the yogurt covered pretzels I had never had before, but they are sooooo good!

Between the main meal and dessert were gifts. Lots and lots of gifts. I could never imagine all the stuff we got. Our friends and family are so generous!

Yup, we all know that box. My face turned the color of a tomato and Pats aunt announced to the room how red my face was as I thanked my cousin.  I should have known, she works at Victoria Secret.

I am so awkward.

Everyone says you are supposed to wait and use all the gifts after the wedding. Superstition I guess. I figured we could wait, not only for the superstition part, but because when we come home from the honeymoon, it’s going to be like, “that’s it? It’s all over?”

Nope! Not over yet, we have all these new thing to open and play with and use for our home! Now we just need the home!

 

After the party died down, the boys all came by. My dad, brother, cousins and uncles all went golfing and torturer Pat by sending him pictures while they were on the course.

At this point my mother remembered the game she wanted us to play after opening gifts! We each got a white board and had to answer questions to see if we matched. It was pretty funny. Questions like, when and where did you first meet? Where was your first kiss? What is the thing that annoys you the most about the other person? What are you wedding colors? (Pat didn’t know that one).

The game was really fun, but I am glad we waited to play it with a smaller group. It wasn’t as embarrassing and everyone seemed to enjoy it more.

We had such a great time at our shower and it is all thanks to my awesome family! My mother put so much work into it I jokingly called it “her shower”. My Bridesmaids were a huge help. With out them, my gifts wouldn’t have been neatly piled by the door for loading in the car, all the wrapping paper wouldn’t have made it into the trash,  I wouldn’t have a precise list of gifts and their givers and I wouldn’t have an amazing bow boutique to use at the rehearsal! (which shall be revealed when the time comes. It is that good!) My aunts all did so much too. They made tones of food and helped my mom set up. My aunt Janice did the most though! She let us have our shower at her house! I can’t thank her enough. Her home was the perfect setting and just  what I have always imagined.

My family rules.

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A Night at Home

27 May

It’s finally summer! And the weather is said to hold up for the rest of the weekend! Perfect for my wedding shower!

My shower was supposed to be a surprise, but I talked my mom into telling me what day it is. I wanted to buy a cute outfit for it and figure it would have to wear it every weekend if I didn’t know when it was. So now the only surprise is where it will be, which is surprise enough for me!

Since hockey seems to be never ending, Pat let me know last night that he would be watching tonight game with his friends. I decided to spend the evening at my parents house. Eat some dinner, watch some TV, play with the dogs.

Yup, Neo came too!

Since my work is right down the street from my parents house, I dropped him off in the morning so they could play all day!

By the time I came over after work, they seemed pretty tired, and board with each other.

They just sat around. I threw the ball, the both walked over to it and looked at it until Neo laid down and gnawed on it. They are very exciting…

My mother wanted to try my pita pizzas for dinner, and since I haven’t had them in a while, I was happy to make them!

I chopped up some pepper and onion.

 

Cut a pita in half and topped it with some  sauce, homemade cheese and veggies, threw it in the over @ 350 for about 15 minutes, and dinner is served!

Yum!

The homemade sauce makes such a difference in the quality of the pizza. Good sauce is what it’s all about!

With my pizza I enjoyed a glass of the finest wine….

Trader Joe’s Two Buck Chuck.

Its cheap and tasty, and that’s fine to me!

 

Have a wonderful night and Happy Friday!

 

Any great plans for the long weekend?

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When Life Gives You Tomato Juice…

25 May

Make Tomato Soup!

It wasn’t really  life that gave me tomato juice, it was my dad. Actually, he did give me life, so I guess in a way life did give me tomato juice!

Any-who, since my dad makes crazy amounts of salsa, he ends up with some extra tomato juice. Luckily he saves it and gives some to me so I can make delicious home-made soup!

Today was the first  really really nice day, since, oh I don’t know, last August! I hope this weather is here to stay! Cross your fingers! We took Neo for a nice walk in the woods after work and the temperature was just perfect. There was a nice cool breeze and we were comfortable in shorts and a tee-shirt.

If this nice weather holds up, I figured we won’t be eat soup for very much longer so I might as well use up the tomato juice before I forget about it and it goes bad. I use to make this soup all the time, I missed it. Now I will be eating it every day at lunch for a week with the batch I just made!

Home-Made Tomato Soup

Ingrediants:

Yields 6, 1 cup servings

*5 cups tomato juice
*1 1/2 cups milk (I used almond milk. It tasted fine but gave the soup some white flakes.)
*1 tbsp or more of dried or fresh basil
*salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

* Combine all ingrediants in a large pot
*over medium heat bring to a rolling boil
*lower heat and simmer for about 10 minutes, stir continuously
* Spoon into your favorite soup bowel and enjoy!

I enjoyed my soup with a side of roasted veggies (broccoli, carrots, and onions) and some Nayonaise obsession.
Do you make home-made soup? What is your favorite?
Anyone else subject to suffering through endless hockey games every other day?

The Bruins have made it pretty far in the playoff and someone, I’m not going to name any names (cough, cough, Pat) is obsessed. Every few minutes I get hockey facts thrown at me. “In two more games the Bruins will be in the Stanley Cup.” ” Last time they made it this far I was 10 and cried when they lost.”  I nod my head and say “oh that’s nice” to be a supportive fiance. I have the attention span of a two year old when it comes to sports, I am just totally uninterested. At least I am not a “bandwagon girl” I don’t pretend to like them just because they are winning!

Have a great night! Tomorrow is Thursday, which means its almost Friday, which means its almost the weekend AND my wedding shower!

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Sunday Morning Pancakes

22 May

I woke up this morning with a hankering for pancakes. Luckily Pat was in the mood for them too. I got in the kitchen and went to work! I don’t have pancakes very often, so when I do I want them to be tasty, filling and somewhat healthy.

Sunday Morning Pancakes:

Makes 5-6 pancakes

Ingredients:

*1 scoop blueberry protein powder
*Heaping ½ cup whole wheat flour
*1 tsp brown sugar
*½ tsp baking soda
*½ tsp corn starch
*1 tbsp flax seed
*½ tsp vinegar
*1 cup almond milk
*Blueberries (optional)

Directions:

*Mix all ingredients in a medium size bowl.
*Grease as pan and place over medium heat.
*Drop two tables spoon drops of batter on to the pan for one pancake.
*Let cook until it bubbles a little and then flip.
*Cook until desired golden brown color.


I topped mine off with some cottage cheese, berries and maple syrup!
Happy Sunday!

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Wedding Attire Sneak Peek

22 May

Hi!

Where did the week go? I don’t know what I did all week but I was wicked busy and just didn’t have a chance to update the bloggie. Sorry!

Since my last post, I’m not so stressed out. Pat fixed the computer (for now). He is getting his car fixed, the dog is tick free and the sink is fixed! Whoooo-hooo!

Yesterday I had my first dress fitting. I was excited, but not ready for the emotional roller coaster I became during the fitting. first here is a sneak peek of my wedding day attire:

That’s all I can show in case a certain someone decides to check out the blog.

So back to the fitting, I arrived very excited and ready to see my dress fitting properly. I hopped into my dress and was ready to be pinned. I was introduced to the seamstress, would be pinning me. She couldn’t speak English really at all and had a cold demeanor. I told her the dress was loose and didn’t pass the “party test” (jumping with arms up in the air). She pinned the dress in at the sides and it felt better but still not quite right. I realized I was standing hunched over and sticking my stomach out to hold the dress up. I told her about my concern and when I did stand up straight, the dress did just that, slid down about two inches. She re-pined it and it felt a little better again.

She started hemming the bottom. As she hemmed and pulled on the fabric, the dress slowly slid down to an uncomfortable point. I told her I was still uncomfortable, and if the dress fell within 5 minutes, it will do the same thing on my wedding day. And I was still standing hunched over.  She looked at me, said “oh” and continued what she was doing. That’s when I lost it. I started bawling. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t want to be uncomfortable on my wedding day because my dress doesn’t fit right. I didn’t want to be tugging at it and standing hunched over because I was uncomfortable. When I started crying one of the girls working the bridal shop floor ran and found the head semesters, Mercedes. She came over to me and in her broken English said “No, no, no, no crying, what is wrong?” I told her the issue and that I was very uncomfortable. Immediately she told my seamstress to go take a lunch break, she was taking over.  She looked at me, then looked at the bridal floor employee and said, “Get me a so and so size bra”. In my mind, I knew that bra was a size to small but I figured I wouldn’t say anything until I got it on.

The bra was like a tube top bra, hugging my entire body. Mercedes helped me into the bra, and I said, “this might be to small, I am usually a size bigger.” She said, “um-hum, lets just try it out.” Once the bra and my dress were on, everything sat where it was suppose, I was standing up straight and it  looked amazing! Then she said, “See smaller bra gives you more cleavage, nice.” Very clever! Before Mercedes’ help the dress was giving me flat pancake boobs. With the bra and fitting, I felt good and the tears slowly stopped. She pinned the bra to the dress, redid the hem and bustle (which is wicked cool) and basically saved the day! She was an angle!

I felt so stupid for crying but I didn’t know what to do.  I felt like no one was hearing what I was saying. My mother knew I was going to cry before I did. And when she said, “No, don’t cry”, I lost it. Even though I felt stupid and dramatic for crying, it did get me what I needed, someone to take charge and fit my dress right. I gave Mercedes a big hug when I left. Because of her I will feel beautiful, comfortable and happy with myself on my wedding day! She was awesome!

Thank you, Thank you Thank you Mercedes!

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