Where we are going, we wont need roads...

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As we get closer to the new year I am looking back at all that has gone on in the past decade and all the ways the world has changed. I remember in junior high reading about flying cars and all the things that would be different by the time I graduated college. HA! Flying cars, the FAA would love that! I remember in politics classes talking about how America was not ready to have a black president. That was only 5 years ago. Times have changed.

So with that I started to think what has happened to me in the last 10 years. I can't believe how much has changed in my life! I would like to take a moment to go over some of the highlights:

- I graduated high school, YEA HIGH SCHOOL
- I lived on my own in college in Philadelphia, where I knew no one
- Studied in Rome for a semester and traveled Europe
- I got my first apartment in Rittenhouse Square and was so "Sex and the City"
- Worked at City Hall in Philadelphia, for the now Mayor
- Graduated from college
- I decided after a drunken talk with my sister and brother in law that I should love to Texas, and did so
- I drove cross country with my mom in my 1995 two door jeep, so much fun
- I got my first job out of college
- Bought my first car, yea Saturn! 
- I found my first love, Harry, at the SPCA and have been obsessed with him since
- I got fired from what I thought was my dream job, but ended up much better off
- I met the man of my dreams
- Got engaged
- Became and Aunt two times over
- And am generally much happier than I ever could have imagined!

All in all I am blown away with all that has happened in the last 10 years. I just can't imagine how I got so lucky to have such great people in my life. I don't know what possessed me to move to Austin when I did not have a job or anyone other than my sister. I don't know if I could do it again honestly. I love my life here and I know with my fiance at my side I could do anything. But all alone and no job? WHAT WAS I THINKING!? Guess I knew good things would come.

Other food for thought as we go into the new year, where do you think you will be in another 10 years? What do you think the world will be like. That thought blows my mind. Honestly though, I know I have so much more to offer this world and the next ten years will be great!

***I am a little sad, I lost a follower today. Am I sucking at this blog thing? 

Confession

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I am green with envy:

I read this girls blog and think, "My God woman!" She her husband and her parents must be super wealthy. Please check out her blog posting of her Christmas visit to her moms house. Note they have a formal living room tree and what I can tell a "casual" living room tree? It makes me want to be a stay at home mom and have all the time in the world to plan crap out like her and her mom (might I mention and unlimited bank account to go with that stay at home thing too). UGH!  Glamorous Life 

I secretly wish I had been really good about working out and being healthy like Kelly because I am terrified of what I will have to stuff my body in for NYE. I fear I might look like a stuffed sausage in my tart outfit. I wish I had the drive like she does to keep up the working out and cooking she does. Also I heard from my bridal store that my dress will be in next week, AWESOME! But now I am super worried it wont fit and then I will have a break down.

I have secretly not being focused on anything but wedding stuff while at work for the last two days. I have been looking at honeymoon locations and hotels. I have been picking flowers and talking to my officiant about the ceremony. I guess I should include blogging as well. I wish I had the creativity of some of these other brides.

And I am back!

As some of you know around this time of year I go to see my sister and her family in Houston. I always kinda go MIA for about a week or two and get lost in the wonderful life of being a stay at home mom. My sister has two really cute kids, Annabelle and Declan. I don't post many pictures of them out of respect for her but let me tell you the are REDICK! I have so much fun playing with Annabelle and snuggling little baby Declan. I just can't take it when Bee (that is what I call Annabelle) tells me "I youuuu" (I love you in her words). I never want to leave them.

My mom and dad flew in from Alaska, yes Alaska, for the holiday so I got to see them. My mom is the most amazing mom I could ever ask for and I am so happy I got to spend some quality time with her relaxing and shopping. She is even cool enough to help me pick out some new panties that miss Amelia told me about from Nordstrom, Hanky Panky, and she told me I have to inspire my future husband! Here is what we picked out. We will see if they are as great as everyone says, if so I will buy more.

I love my mom. We got some wedding stuff done yesterday and I helped her find her dress for the wedding. I must say it is very "Mad Men" of her and I LOVE it. The picture does not do it justice. The best part of it is that it does not look like a mother of the bride dress! Check it out:

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My mom and I both fight our weight issues all the time. Last year she got to her goal weight and has since had some medical issues and gained a bit back. The both of us plan on doing WW together via online tools. I know she is going to look great in this dress!

The holidays were great and I am so bummed they are coming to an end. I am already looking forward to a great NYE party and relaxing next weekend with my Fiance! 

Confession

I may or may not have tried to wear sweatpants leggings to work for the second day in a row. I then decided people might judge and changed last minute.

Good thing I did because today was also the office group picture day and my short ass was put right in the front of the picture. DARNIT!

Sounds like nails on a chalkboard to me...

 

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There is a new lady in our office. She is horribly annoying. She seems perfectly nice on the outside. She is an assistant to someone and seems to be doing a good job of not getting fired. A+ for that. But she has a dark side to her and evil side that likes irritate me beyond belief. I must blog about this because if I don't let my frustrations out I might just say something really mean to her.

Let me take you into my world. Every day I come into my cube and drink my tea and do my job quietly. One day this new lady was hired and put int the cube next to mine, so now she shares a wall with me. Fine whatever, I have a new neighbor. Well then I noticed this lady coughs a lot. At first I was like hmmm I feel bad for her because she was sick, but three weeks later and she is still clearing her throat. I have deduced that this lady dose not have a cough, no, she has a tick. A horribly annoying tick in which she constantly clears her throat. ALL. THE. TIME. Every 30 seconds to a minute like clockwork this woman clears her throat. It is disgusting and so irritating. I want to throw a bag of cough drops over the wall and tell her to SUCK ON THAT Biatch. Am I a horrible person? Should I be more understanding? Maybe?

BTW - In the time that it took me to write this post she cleared her throught 6 times. Yes 6. Oh my god.

"Your Little Girl's Day Thing"/ The drunk florist situation

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Last night WF and I were in the kitchen cleaning up after a disaster of a floral appointment (which I will get to) and just after we finished watching the movie,"The Hangover". I love that movie it is freaking hilarious and WF loves Vegas and it got him all pumped up about his upcoming bachelor party in Breckenridge. As we are chatting I ask him if things are going to get out of hand at his party in March and he said "Well I know we will have fun, just like you will have a good time at your little girls weekend thingy you are doing" REALLY?!? That's what he thinks of my party. Plans are not totally set but now I am determined to make sure us ladies have a great time and there is nothing "little girls weekend thingy" about it. His friends really know how to have a good time and I know that they will have fun skiing and burping, farting and scratching together. But MY party will be a fantastic time. I have the best friends and big sister in the world. They know me so well and I have full faith in them. UGH men think we can't hang, I will show him.

Anyway, moving on to the florist appointment. OMG ladies you would not even believe what happened. Last night Janet and I drove all the way to Round Rock for an appointment with a company that did a friends wedding. They came VERY highly recommended and I have personally seen their work and was super excited about this meeting. Well I called 3 times and sent an email to confirm my appointment with them at 630, I got nothing back from them so I thought ehh maybe she is in another appointment or something. So Janet and I get to the house and ring the bell, Janet and I bother were thinking it was weird she had no light on in her house. She answers the door in her PJ's and slippers, and just stands there. I am like "Hi, I am looking for a florist, maybe I have the wrong house." She goes , "Oh no, I am a florist, sweetie do you have an appointment?" No lady I just like to show up to peoples homes asking for appointments for florists. So then she let's us in and proceeds to mention this is a really hard time of year for her and her family, her husband just died, WHAT? Oh my gosh I felt horrible. She was telling us she could still do the appointment though, meanwhile she is pulling out her appointment book and talking to us about her dead husband. She then tells us that he died last year at this time and she was really sad. Clearly she had taken some sort of pain killer and she was not all there she was kind of acting lost and or loopy. She then pointed to a picture (or shrine) on her wall and talked about him like he was alive. It was so weird. So I insisted we not have the appointment and we could reschedule (I am totally not going to that appointment though, sorry but it was a bad first impression). Janet and I then ran out of the house looking at each other like WTF? Most of all I am pissed I sat in traffic for that and wasted a night I could have been productive. On to the next I guess...adventures in wedding planning.

Save the dates ordered!

The save the dates have been ordered! Whoo who! I ordered them through vista print like so many girls suggested I do. I would have saved even more money if I had not have to rush order them. For a total of $37 I think we did pretty well. On the front I wrote "Save the date: Christine and P***** are getting married!" below the our wedding date and location. On the back we are using a stamp and adding a personal touch by signing each one like a Christmas card would be signed. Since we are saving a buck by not sending out Christmas cards and sending these out instead. I am really hoping that they come out well. Here is the picture we used on the front:

We then wanted to use one of the more "artsy" pictures Carli took on the back. I added this one which will be printed in black and white:

Its very "us" as we both love to drink wine and we are both actually just smiling at each other and not posed. and I and hoping it shows up well on the back of the card! 

I will let you know when I get them in. We will be sending them out this weekend and then I can check one more thing off the list. In the mean time I have a meeting with another florist tonight. Fun stuff!

Behold: My New L-O-V-E-R

Ladies (and maybe one dude who reads this) I give you my new vacuum cleaner:

 It is the Lift-Off® MultiCyclonic Pet Vacuum, and it is AWESOME. I seriously love my new vacuum. Let me tell you a little bit about him (yes he is a he and no I don't really know why). He is not only a regular upright vacuum, no, he has a lift off feature so then I have a small hand held vacuum for those hard to reach areas. I love this. I can take the little part off and go behind toilets and furniture with ease. I then can attach it and suck not only the dirt out of the carpet in my home but of the home in the apartment below us. This baby sucked up so much dirt (which totally grosses me out when I think about it) that I had to empty the tray 3 times just after a basic run through the house. I can turn on and off the brush so when I am on hard floors the hair and particles I am trying to pick up does not spray everywhere. It blows my mind. I am so excited I am going to use this thing on everything when I clean the house this weekend.

I must thank my future mother in law for buying this beautiful baby for WF and I for Christmas. I am in love with it and cant thank her enough.

Ouch, ouch really ouch...

The girls kicked my butt the other day and I am still reeling from the workout. They put me on circuit training and some light cardio. It was a lot of fun though and I am hoping that this might be come a weekly meet up.

The first day after the workout I was not that bad. I could tell I was hurting but ehh I could walk it off. I felt like HA see I am not out of shape I am just not toned. So this morning I woke up and OUCH! I hurt everywhere! I tried to got pee and it hurt, and I tried to step into the tub and I hurt, I tried to hug WF and it hurt. Oh my gosh, the workout was not THAT bad. I feel so silly that I am this sore.

I am hoping that I can walk down the stairs if there is a fire later tonight. In the meantime I am keeping my fingers crossed that the next workout will not be as bad.

Terrified

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Two of my bridesmaids have decided they would like to kick my ass tonight and I am a bit scared. Kelly and Janet both work out quite a bit. Kelly is some sort of freak Olympic swimmer who on her off days lifts weights and runs. REALLY? And then there is Janet, who is like 10 feet tall, looks like a model and kicks some ass at the gym on a regular basis while still looking totally hot. REALLY? REALLY?? Then of course there is me. I have not gone to the gym in a year. Yes I know it is shameful but that is how I roll. I used to walk my dog at town lake almost 4 times a week but now nothing. I got on WW, lost almost 19 pounds and was like well this is MUCH easier than going to then gym. So I gave up on the gym totally. Well now i have gained 4 lbs back, and have totally hit a wall. I know it and so does my butt.

Well with my last post on their minds Kelly and Janet have decided to "help" me get back on track. We are meeting at my apartment's gym, that by the way is super nice and brand new. They are going to show me how to really kick some butt. We will see if I can walk tomorrow...

Confession

I am slowly falling off the Weight Watchers bandwagon. Since Thanksgiving I have gained 3 to 4 pounds from my lowest weight. I am feeling really out of control and I am terrified of being coming the "fat" girl I was a once point about a year ago.

This weekend I have done nothing to help my situation. I ate cookies, pancakes, pei wei and lots of my moms wonderful pumpkin cranberry bread. Even with me knowing my weight is slowly creeping back up I have done NOTHING to get back on the band wagon. With wedding planning, holiday parties, friends birthdays and so much else this month I am worried I wont be able to get back to a WW meeting to get me back on the wagon like I normally do before the New Year.

I am so scared.

Yankee Deep Thoughts

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 For years I was this hard core Yankee that would walk literally 3 miles to the subway in Philly and the walk to class in the rain, snow, sleet, heat or whatever mother nature threw at me. I had like 40 coats, jackets and sweaters. I would wear a hat that had some sort of snow ball puff on the top because it was piratical and would bust out the mittens with the fold down top so I could have easy access to my credit card while buying a cup of coffee from a street vendor in the freezing cold weather. Fast forward five years... and I am officially a Texan (at least when it comes to weather everything else I am still working on).

Last night it hit about 39 degrees here in beautiful Austin Texas. And that means freeze warnings, heat on and people panicking about the possibility of snow. I drove home Tuesday night freezing my butt off, it was 45 out, I can't believe I thought 45 was THAT COLD! Then I ran inside not wanting to let my dog out because it was so cold (I did by the way). I then ran back in and changed directly in to my flannel pajamas. Last night I turned the heat on and slipped into some seriously comfy Eagles sweatpants and my big Temple University hoodie I used to wear almost everyday and took a minute laugh as how "soft" I have become. I came to the following conclusion, its OK, because I genuinely like Texas and I have had so much fun living here. I resolved myself to the idea of never really having a white Christmas again but then again, who really likes to shovel the sidewalk anyway?

So I guess in 4 working on 5 years I have lost more and more of my Yankee tough exterior.  I don't like the idea of having to run my car 30 minutes before I can touch the steering wheel, and I am not a fan of my snot freezing in my nose the second I step outside in January, I like being able to feel my face after walking to the car in the Target parking lot. Ladies, I think I might be coming around to this whole not so cold winter thing you all have going on here.

I live in santa's workshop...

We got most of our Christmas decorating done this weekend. WF's family was in town and insisted they buy us a good grown up tree. So here is what we bought this is pre decorating:

We then laid out all of my nutcrackers and all of our other decorations here is one shot of the mantle. I have over 50 nutcrackers, thought I should spare you pictures of all of them:

 And here are some shots of us decorating our first tree together:

WF has decorated the outside porch and the windows. I will get you pictures of that soon! This really is my favorite time of year. Everything is about family, faith and togetherness. I love lots of cookies and hot coco. What are your favorite treats? Do any of you like Christmas time as much as me?

Tonight Kelly and Janet are coming over for dinner. Janet's birthday was this weekend so we are going to toast her and catch up. After all this lovey dovey family stuff I need some good old girl time. 

One Heck of a Thanksgiving

I know you all have been waiting anxiously for my Thanksgiving update. So without further ado I give you my Thanksgiving...

The day started off with cooking some corn bread and a sour cream coffee cake for breakfast. We then moved on to the pies, crusts made from scratch. Then creamed onions, mashed sweet potatoes and carrots. We bought the turkey pre-cooked, and it was super yummy. Took about an hour to reheat and it was so much less stress on me to cook the turkey. We then set the table and laid out my handmade place cards made from cloves and oranges. It was a lot of fun to see everything come together. My mother in law was so helpful and really took great care to make sure everything came out really well. WF's poppy snacked and talked with me while I cooked. All in all it was just the best way to cook my first holiday dinner.

Here is the day in photos as I am not going to be able to full go into detail of everything.

The table before dinner...

Place setting before dinner...

 The centerpiece with leaves from Crate and Barrel

Wonderful Fiance and our first turkey!

Cutting the turkey...

Dinner waiting for us...

My yummy honey cornbread muffins...

I cant wait to cook my next Thanksgiving dinner! I already have other ideas and want to try new things. I hope all of you had a wonderful holiday with your family. Next up Christmas decorating!

Get ready!

I am about to blow your minds with all of my holiday updates and pictures. I have been pretty busy today and will be busy tomorrow at work. So in case you were sitting on the edge of your seats waiting for an update you will get it soon!

Everything went so well. The table was perfect, the dinner was yummy, my pre-cooked turkey was juicy, and we had so much fun with my future mother in law and WF grandpa! What a special time of year.

I will show you lots of pictures and give you the full run down in just a bit!

Sneak Peak of Engagments

We took our engagement pictures this weekend. Carli from Inked Fingers posted a few of them up on Facebook. Here is just a teaser:

 

 

 

 

Hope you guys like them. There will be more to follow! Thank you again Carli for all of your hard work and taking the time to take these wonderful pictures! 

Cleaning Update

So ladies I told you Monday that I had a lot of stuff to do this week. Little did I know that all the planning the world would not have prepped me for all the work I have done this week. I not only have gotten all the cleaning (except for the pantry organizing) done. I have also returned all the possible table setting items and settles on linins for thanksgiving. I got them all from BBB and think we picked a good one. I like that I can use it all fall and not just for thanksgiving. Here is what it looks like:

http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?order_num=-1&SKU=121281&RN=454

(Sorry no pictures)

I have also prepped all of the food for tonight’s birthday party for WF. He is turning 28 so he is feeling a bit “old”. To help combat this I have planned quite a few surprises for him and our friends and I am hoping to make him feel like a kid once again. Some of the highlights include a cupcake bar and guitar hero tournament on our Wii. There is a theme for the night but I want to keep it a surprise for my guests so I will unveil it with pictures next week. But it is awesome!

This weekend I will be cleaning the house once again after the party and then doing a HUGE grocery shopping trip for Thanksgiving. I am hoping that I can go early Sunday morning before anyone else gets up and just get it done.

Then the best part of the weekend, our engagement pictures! Woo Whoo!  We have not settled on all of our locations just yet but I am looking forward to getting to know Carli better as well as getting to spend some time making out with WF! I am really excited because I think I have finalized what I am wearing, barring any additions my girlfriends might make tonight at the party.

I can’t wait to share them all with you guys! Hope you have a great weekend!

Fashion Trends I cant Pull off – Part two

First, as an update let me tell you about what has been going on on my Facebook page. A friend put a posting on my wall about how she disagreed about my not being able to pull of skinny jeans. Meanwhile she is one of those super tall thing girls that can pull of any fashion trend! Here is the conversation from my page between my self, and my friends Amy and other blogger Amelia:

Amy: Read your blog post on skinny jeans ... lol, and I think perhaps you just haven't found the right pair. Once you do, it's all you'll wear. Promise. Or maybe try straight legs (if you need baby steps). Congrats on the tights outfit. Now work the belt and try this one - shorts, stocking, boots ... I KNOW!

Amelia: i have to disagree...you have to be built like amy or heidi klum to look good in skinny jeans. for the rest of us, they make our legs look exactly like an upside down triangle as you so eloquently put it. with gigantic boat feet. NOT a good look for 99.9% of the population.

although i DID buy a pair to wear with jeans...this is totally different. :)

Christine: Amelia, I am so glad you have my back on this! There is no way to make this look go right on my body type. It's truly horrible. I am currently freaking out though cus I apparently have no sense of style and cant figure out what the heck to wear for these silly pictures! I might need you to come over Friday and tell me if I look like and upside down triangle in what I have. Maybe even borrow some fantastic accessories for my fashionista friend Amelia?

See Amy you are just lucky - you are freakishly tall and thin. If you were not my friend I would have to hate you... :)

So then Amelia, decides to post on her own page about this controversy, showing two pictures of models, one in skinny jeans and one in boot cut. Here is her post:

RE: the skinny jean controversy...

i feel that from the following pictures, we can all agree that the second pair of jeans (the boot cut) makes even this model - who CAN pull off the skinny jeans, much like amy and heidi - look so much thinner and more proportional...

And here are her pictures, let me know what you guys think:

In the mean time other fashion trends I can not pull off -

The flower headband, its just not a good look on me:

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Fashion Trends I Can’t Pull Off

 

In my recent quest to find great new outfits for my engagement pictures I have come to realize that I am a bit out of touch when it comes to fashion. Or maybe I am just more traditional or classic? Whatever the case is this is a post about fashion trends this Yankee can not pull off.

First on my list is Skinny Jeans.

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What the hell are these horrible abominations you people call jeans. They make me look like an upside down triangle. Seriously what is wrong with my body in that I can not put on a cute pair of skinny jeans and pair of high heals and call it a night? I tried some of these so called pencil fit jeans at J Crew the other day and immediately thought I was looking into a funhouse mirror. My whole body looked out of whack. Like someone must be fucking with me right now, because I thought I just lost 20 pounds not ate a baby. I mean really the only people that can really pull this super cute casual look off are ten foot tall models and little pixy bitches that I loath. I am sorry if you are wearing this look and pulling it off, cus I am just a hater. I just don’t get how anyone looks good in this look.

I did however try a “new” fashion trend out on Friday and totally had a “How I Met Your Mother” moment. I wore leggings and a cute dress with ballet slippers and I was Pulling. Them. Off. I worked that outfit all day. I can’t believe it took me a year to figure that outfit out. I am loving it and am already planning several other attempts at this look and might even try it with an oversized sweater and boots next week. Who knows I might go a bit CRAZY and even “belt that shit” as Jmo says.

In the mean time I am currently in my A-line skirt and sweater set with pearls and heals. Guess the fashionista in me has a bit of work to do.

My Week in Cleaning

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As I look at my calendar of the next two weeks I get chest palpitations thinking about all the stuff I have to do. As a way to help with stress I break down my week by days and hours and plan out everything I have to do to prep for all that is going on. So that this post is not too overwhelming I will only tell you about this week. Take note and let me know if you like any of my ideas. I know I am anal but maybe I am helpful too!

Cleaning the house:
I plan the cleaning of my house by least used to most because chances of stuff getting messed up over five days in my guest room are much lower than in one hour in my living room. So this why I break things down as follows.

MONDAY - Clean guest room. Wash sheets, fluff pillows, vacuum, wash curtains, dust, clean spot in closet for guests stuff, put away any random stuff that is out.
                   - Clean laundry room. I recently bought a gift wrap organizer to help keep track of what I already have throughout the holidays. You can buy these at container store. They cost like 20 to 30 bucks and are totally worth it. I will be cleaning the tops of the washing machine and dryer, dusting anything and reorganizing shelving.
TUESDAY - Clean dining room. I will be putting together the table and decor for the dining room. Dusting bookshelves and light fixtures. Vacuuming and dusting the window treatments. Washing windows.
                   - Figure out layout for buffet for WF's birthday party and lay out all serving trays.
WEDNESDAY - Clean guest bathroom and kitchen. Deep clean oven and microwave, clean out pantry and check list off of anything I need for party and Thanksgiving. Cleaning out fridge and freezer, make sure nothing is old and outdated. Organize cabinets and make sure all serving items are prepped for Thanksgiving.
THURSDAY - Clean master bedroom and bathroom. Wash sheets, dust, wash window treatments, clean floors and vacuum, clean toilet and vanity, empty garbage and replace toiletries. Prep both bathrooms for guests adding extra toilet paper, hand towels and soap.
                      - Clean living room. Dust and vacuum and put out linens for party.
FRIDAY - Wipe down kitchen and cook for party. Party starts at 730 so I will be prepping pizzas and appetizers right after work and then have them in the oven when guests get there. Will be putting out pitcher of water and bowl of beer and drinks. Napkins and paper plates will be put out at this time as well. I am also going to be baking cupcakes one of the nights and refrigerating them to make a cupcake bar for WF. I think it is a fun activity. I will be putting it out like a buffet. I will provide pictures for you all to check out.

Saturday I am going to be cleaning from the party and changing out decor for Thanksgiving. Also doing laundry and prepping house for guests. More on that next week. Sunday are the e-pics! Super excited.

GOD I am seriously obsessive aren't I?

Hey Fatty Get Your Own Food

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I am pissed. I just went in to eat lunch and found that someone ate my apple and someone else took my carrots and put their name on it, whilst (you like that? I used whilst) eating my cottage cheese!!! REALLY?!? REALLY??? Come on! So now all I have to eat for lunch is my Greek yogurt and honey with a low carb tortilla. WTF!?! FML...

And we have a winner!

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We picked our officiant today. After a lot of contemplation we decided to go with the person who was going to be there for both our rehearsal and the ceremony. Even with the extra cost it just felt right for us. I posted on "The Knot" message board about these two guys and both came highly recommended. But I found out that the one we were going to go with may have been picking and choosing to come to certain rehearsals and not others. Even if that was not true, I just did not want to have any doubt in my mind. It's funny because I did not think this would be a difficult vendor for me to choose but so far this has been the most challenging part.

I am excited to check something else off the list of wedding planning. So far we have a location, coordinator, dress, photographer and a few other small things taken care of. Next thing to tackle will be our STD's and first for that project is our engagement pictures. We are taking them next Sunday. I am so excited. I am currently trying to figure out what to wear and where to take the pictures. My progress on my 5 pounds in 5 weeks is coming along very well. So now I feel like I can get excited about picking out a few nice outfits for the occasion. We are going to try and save on postage this Christmas and do our STD's as our Christmas card. I am ordering generic postcards from Vista Print with a great picture of us on the front. I am hoping to add some personal details like a stamp and some other things on the back.

Thanks for all your input ladies and now I am off to the next thing!

Thanksgiving Menu!!

OK ladies (cus let's face it no boy's read this) I am proud to present my first attempt at a Thanksgiving menu. I researched many of my cookbooks and websites. I love "Real Simple" and I got several great ideas for side dishes there as well. Above is a picture of my end table with all of the different books and recipe cards I went though last night. (notice that none of the following is from the WW book, hey I tried) So here you go:

Breakfast (for watching the parade and after the Turkey Trot)
Sour Cream Coffee Cake - My family recipe, best in the world. VERY Yankee traditional cake.

Dinner/Lunch
Hearts of Romain with walnuts and Parmesan - Real Simple
Cornbread muffins with homemade spiced pumpkin butter - combination of a few recipes
Mashed sweet potatoes (covered in marshmallows) YUM - Joy of Cooking
Creamed Onions - My future mother in law's recipe and Joy of Cooking
Glazed Carrots - My mom's family recipe  and in Joy of Cooking
Turkey or Ham - I am buying it pre-made. I don't think my oven would cook it right, I know I cheat.

Desert
Cinnamon Coffee in French Press
Bourbon Pecan Pie - Real Simple
Pumpkin Pie - Homemade by my future mother in law.

So what are your thoughts? I am super excited. I know it is a lot of food for a smaller group. I am going to half both the creamed onions and the mashed sweet potatoes. I just cant have Thanksgiving without either of them. Now I am going to work on finding ways to make them just a little bit healthier. Ugh...

And just in case you read my blog about grocery shopping and you questioned weather I actually am THAT anal. Here is the front of my fridge:

Notice both the shopping list and my menu. I also have coupons cut and the Target add up there for my next trip. (I will not spend crap loads of money next time!) Psychotic Impressive I know.

Officiant Update

Fiance and I interviewed several officiants for the wedding. We met with two that we both really liked. I need your advice though. One of them was super laid back, a pastor, has done a friend's wedding and will be there for both the rehearsal and the wedding, but costs a bit more than I would like to pay. The other one was recommended by like 10 people on the knot, was SUPER nice and right on top of all of the details of the service. WF and I really loved him BUT he does not come to rehearsals. That makes us super nervous. But he was perfect other than that.

What should I do? Do I trust that the one guy who does not do rehursals will fo a great job? Ugh I hate this.

So It Begins

Last night as I was baking brownies for our semi weekly dinner with the girls with Kelly and Janet I decided to start to plan out my table layout for Thanksgiving. I am hosting the holiday at my house for the first time. I am super nervous about hosting. I have never made Thanksgiving dinner and I feel a bit ill equipped. BUT I am going to do my best to blow my guests minds with my home making skills and creative genius in the kitchen. Fiance's mom and grandpa are coming so I have to keep it pretty formal and I would like to make it a really special evening.

So first things first, the table. I don't have any new and fancy stuff for the table yet so I am trying to work with what we have and buy things sparingly. I was originally thinking I would just use my regular white dishes and then buy chargers or something. Then WF suggested we use the china I inherited from my grandma, great idea! So after some confusion about what dish was what I finally laid it all out. What do you guys think? The silverware we inherited from Fiance's mom. I thought she would get a kick out of us using it. I am planning on buying a tablecloth and then using a runner.

Just for a better look at the pattern I took a picture up close: 

I know the pattern is not really holiday like, but I still love it. Don't you?

Just cause my dog is so cute, he was helping. 

This is fiance and Harry staying out of my way as I plan. Just had to put that up! 

Some addional inspiration for my thanksgiving table. I am thinking warm, rustic, organic, family.

 

Source

Source

More ideas and planning to come. Next is menu and centerpices. Oh BOY!

Grocery Shopping Tips

So I always tell you guys how organized I am but I never really share any helpful tips. So I thought I would share my thoughts on grocery shopping. It is a task that at one point I hated and now I look forward to. I read one girls blog about this last week and though well crap I do that and more. So here is my attempt to help you all out!

(Source)

Grocery Shopping:

1. Plan out your menu. I do this every time I go shopping. I really feel it is a good way to save money and time in the end. I usually take about 30 minutes before I head out to the store to go through my fridge and pantry and see what I already have. I then look for recipes that might go with what I already have. Marking on my list any additional items I might need to buy.

2. Try a new meal. I always pick one new meal every trip to attempt. This time it was eggplant parm. I have never made it before and was always intimidated by it. But I put the items on my list and bought everything I needed.I never try something new that has lots of ingredients I would never use again. I try to use what I have while still mixing it up.

3. Go over your basics and write those down too. I used to walk around the store and just have all my basics I knew I should get. But for some reason I would end up with doubles of things or forget other items. So I take the extra minute or two to write everything down and check to make sure if I really need everything.

4. Have a plan of attack when heading into the store. I always have a budget in mind for what I can spend on food on each trip. I come in knowing that all the frill items I might want to buy (like wine and maybe hair products)will be put on the end of the check out line and if I am over my budget on things we really need I start to make cuts. Although you might annoy the check out guy a bit, you are sticking to your budget and that's never a bad thing.

5. Stick to the outside rim of the store. People always walk up and down all the isles. It is so not necessary. You just don't have to do that. Most of the time items in the isles are processed and packaged, therefore not as good for you and they cost more money. It's true! So think about what you really need from isle four before you walk down it. Look at what is listed on the isle marker and then look at your list. It will save you time and money in the end.

6. Check the dates. I always check the dates on all my dairy products. You will find that the newer stuff is in the back of the row and if you take those two extra seconds to not grab the front carton of milk you might add a week onto the shelf life of the item!

7. Use a pre-made list. I love Real Simple's grocery list. Its organized by the flow of the grocery store. So as you walk through each section of the store is will be the next section on your list. It also has space to fill in extra things you need and even reminds you to buy certain household items that I usually don't think of when I grocery shop. Like trash bags and hand soap. I got mine from WF last year for Christmas but I know he got it from Target.They have lots of these types of things out there though. Its worth the investment!

8. Write out your menu. Don't just write down the ingredients you need for your dishes on your list but then on a separate note pad write out what you planned to make. I keep mine on the fridge and it looks like a menu, then when I make it I cross it off. I also write out the cookbook I got it from and the page number. That way those days that I am like ugh I have nothing to cook, I can just look at my menu on the fridge and realize I have all the fixings to make meal A,B and C. It saves me time, money and having to think about dinner too much!

I hope these thoughts help you! They make my life easier! Let me know if any of you have any other ideas to save money and time while grocery shopping. I always like to try new things!

Worst.Week.Ever.

Yes I know it is only Wednesday. But this week STINKS! I can't belive my luck. I have just totally fallen apart since this weekend and have had sever (yes several) mini breakdowns.

First Monday morning I did not have the right stuff for my normal lunch. I was pretty pouty about that, if I had only known I would have just gotten back in bed right then. Then while out at lunch running 10 errands I still have to get done I had a panic attack as I realized that I forgot to take my sweet sweet puppy out to go pee in the morning. Fearing the worst I promptly headed home to let him out. No big deal except I was on the other end of town and drove about 30 minutes north to go home. Ugh. Well about 5 minutes away from home I remembered that I did let him out. Double ugh! So I figured I would drop off my dry cleaning. After checking my pile of stuff three and four times I realized the the fabulous dress I borrowed from my friend Kelly was GONE! No where to be found at all. I went home checked everywhere as well as in my car and it was no where to be found at all. So after calling everyone I could who might know where the dress was I resigned to the fact that it was gone. So then I had to replace the dress. I called every store in central Texas where they might carry the dress and finally found it at a store on the other end of town. As we all know in Austin driving from one end of the city to the other during rush hour BLOWS! So I finally made it home two hours later than normal. Stupid MOPAC.

My dog had no food and neither did we. So I went to HEB to remedy that situation. Well I get there and there are NO GROCERY CARTS! Goodness really? Really!? So after asking several people to help me find one and no response I caved and just grabbed a small arm basket. I proceeded to rush through grabbing absolute necessities. I proceeded to hit a kid in the head, who was sitting on the floor in the middle of HEB (REALLY! Thanks crazy mom for thinking that was a good idea) So I got home and had a small panic attack in my closet while folding laundry. WF rescued me and put me promptly to bed.

Determined to make Tuesday better I got to work. I tore though the start of this huge project. Well at about 3 I realized that I had been processing this whole thing wrong!!! I have to now do it all over again and my boss got on me about how I cost us a bunch of time and money. I ended up crying in the bathroom for a while, all the while freaking out that they are going to fire me.

All in all this week had gotten off to a crappy start. If I don't get fired I am hoping to make up for my mistake and get more organized and on top of everything. I still feel horrible about Kelly's dress and I still want to shoot myself in the foot when I think about mistake I made at work. I have to make this better! What the heck is going on with me!

Amazing Halloween Pumpkin Carving Skills

I must start off by telling you all the WF and I have been known to get just a little crazy about holidays. In the next few months I will be posting our decorations for Thanksgiving and Christmas. We both love to decorate our house and this year will be the first time we get to do the our house together! Whooo WHO!

Last night we attempted to carve a pumpkin. I say attempted because when we went to the store to buy said pumpkin there were like three left and all of them were deformed AND they were out of the carving kits so we had no tools to help us out. So we when free style with our somewhat deformed pumpkin. I think we did a pretty good job. Here is the result:

I know you are totally blown away! Anyway, here are some other features of our Halloween decorations in the house. Remember this year we held back because of all the stuff that has recently went down in our lives. This is a reserved house for us:

This is our balcony, you cant tel but it looks awesome with our pumpkins!

This is our skeleton on our end table. It is complete with smoke effects!

Hanging on the door when you walk into the house is this scary guy!

This is us last night trying to take a picture of us with our pumpkin. You get the idea!

WF and I are taking my niece trick or treating this weekend, I am super excited. I will be dressing up like a pirate. We are also handing out candy too! I am pumped! I hope you guys have fun this weekend. Remember to be safe and don't eat any opened or shady candy! That's solid advice from this Yankee!