Wedding Brain

It's very odd to me how that one moment, when Bryan was down on his knee saying those fateful 4 words, can change everything about how my brain works!

This strange phenomenon I'm sure is something that all women experience, but wedding consumes the brain and everything in life relates somehow to something that I'd never had to think about before.

-Driving home from dinner with friends, and all of a sudden there are 4 bridal stores I never noticed before. -Watching a movie with a 75th birthday party, and the table's centerpieces are what I'm focusing on through the drama while thinking "If I get a smaller version of that, it'd be great for the wedding."

There are many things to think about, but right now my brain is pretty much consumed with The Dress! Exactly one week from today, along with 4 women who are very special to me, I will be trying on wedding gowns for the first time!!

We will be dress shopping near my hometown just next weekend, but as the days go by it gets harder and harder not to stop in to David's Bridal and just "take a quick look" which I know will turn into, "oh I'll just try this One" which will turn into "so mom, I tried on 50 dresses yesterday, and I think I found one I really love."

And as much fun as that would be...I really do want to have my favorite ladies with me when I put on a wedding gown for the very first time!!!!

So in short..."Summer you need to go by slowly because I love the beach..., but next weekend needs to be here already!!!"

Something Different

So you all know how I'm a little obsessed with Groupon right...? And I was obsessed with them before it was the cool thing to do, just remember that!

For Mother's Day this year I bought my mom and I groupons to PaintBar. I had never heard of this phenomenon, but let me tell you, it's totally worth full price.

We arrived to find canvases, paints, brushes, easels, aprons and art stools waiting patiently for our arrival. The young and fun instructor walked up on the platform and demonstrated, step-by-step, how we could paint something somewhat nice looking. Our evening's project was called "The Funky Tree."

Now let me explain a little bit that my mother went to 4 years of Art school! She went to college for ART!! Therefore, I did get major gift-awesomeness points in my corner, but going to a painting class with her where we were going to be painting the same picture...I was not holding high hopes for my outcome.

Ok, so I'm not going to sit here and tell you that with the wonderful instructor's exact instructions that I was able to come up with this amazing museum quality masterpiece, because that would be total BS.

Bachelors Degree in Economics aside, it came out well enough to hang in a bathroom or perhaps a closet... :)


I will however tell you that my favorite part of the whole thing was looking around at the end and seeing how everyone listening to the same instructions came up with something a little different.


Another Groupon Success for sure! Add it to the Mother-Daughter memory books.

Hurry up and Wait!

So far this whole wedding planning thing is a bit of a push-me pull-you experience. There's so much to do...yet nothing to do, all at the same time. It started off with a major push in the first 3 weeks to find a location for the reception...and now that that's done (YAY!!!!) I've found myself in a major direction/motivation lul.
I know that I have to find my dress and pick out bridesmaid dresses and a flower girl dress and plan an engagement party, and send out save the dates, and book the church and the photographer and the DJ and the limos and block off hotel rooms, and figure out what my bouquet is going to look like, and plan decorations, and..., and..., and..., and...

But right now I'm sitting here thinking about which bathing suit I want to wear to the beach this weekend!

Is there something wrong with that? I'm not sure.

I know that it'll all get done, and our wedding will be beautiful, but right now I'm going to take it one day at a time, and enjoy every moment of summer!

I have a feeling September is going to be insane with planning and panic, but until then...

Happy 4th of July everyone!

Music City

I Love Country Music!

Bryan and I were fortunate enough to be surrounded by fellow country music lovers in Nashville, TN last weekend.

The atmosphere is one of camaraderie and one shared interest. Everyone is there to see country music stars. Everyone is there to learn more about country music. And everyone is there to share these interests with everyone else. Everyone is also there with sunscreen on! Because let me tell you, that all those CountryFest blogs that I read before going on this trip, they were totally right! It was 95 degrees and sunny and humid and HOT every day that we were there.

The convention center provided a lovely air conditioned escape for us mid-day. And though we were not among those who lines up outside the doors for autographs the night before!!! We did snap a couple of photos while other guests were meeting & greeting some of the artists.

Then came the night! At LP Field, we experienced 3 of the best concert line-ups ever. The energy levels were up, the excitement was tangible, and each and every performer knew how much we loved them! Trace Adkins made a particular impression on me as he got quite emotional when thanking his fans for all of the donations and support that he has received since his house was demolished by fire only one week before the Festival. He also encouraged people to turn their acts of charity elsewhere since he and his family are doing just fine. A great man!

All in all it was a wonderful trip filled with music and day-time-must-get-out-of-this-heat naps. Bryan and I successfully navigated our way through the crowds to a great get-away, and coming back to the real world on Monday was a real shock for both of our systems.

Having that nice diamond ring on my finger did cushion the blow a bit though ;)

Nashville Here We Come!!

In 5 minutes I am leaving work early, going home to meet up with Bryan, grab my suitcase and head to the airport.
We are going to Nashville's Country Music FanFare Fest and I could not be any more excited!
Check it out at this address to see what we'll be seeing, and I'll have the highlights when we return... :)

I'M ENGAGED!!!

It was perfect! I don't know how it could have been any more perfect, and Bryan gets major brownie points for pulling it all off as wonderfully as he did!

The story...

During one of our evening phone calls, Bryan mentioned to me that we were going to be going on a walk the Sunday morning of Memorial Day weekend. I fought the idea a little bit, because I knew that Memorial would be a really busy weekend, but then he told me that our friends Matt & Brielle were going to be going with us, and Matt was planning to propose to Brielle while we were on the dunes.
Matt is Bryan's best friend. He and Brielle purchased a Camera a few months ago, recommended it to us, and 3 weeks later, I bought the same camera. So I knew that it was very true that Matt would want pictures of their special moment.
We met up for a quick breakfast, put on our sneakers, consolidated into one car, and headed out for our 3 hour beach walk. Through the dunes, along the ocean in Truro, MA, the 4 of us walked almost an hour to get to Matt's chosen peak of a spot. I was privately very annoyed that Matt had chosen a spot so far down the beach, because the peak looked really far away, and walking in the soft sand, while pausing to pick ticks off of one another was not exactly my idea of a good time.
So we finally made it to the Peak, and Bry told me that we were going to go ahead and take pictures from in front of them, so I took out the camera as I was walking, and tried to be inconspicuous while taking pictures of Matt & Brielle, while they were also trying to be inconspicuous taking pictures of me!
After a few seconds, and just before I was starting to wonder why on Earth Matt wasn't rummaging in his pocket for some kind of ring, Bryan tapped me on the shoulder...
When I turned around, he had a ring box in his hand and was getting down on one knee!!
I was SO shocked, I had to replay in my head the words that he actually said before I realized that it was me being proposed to!
I believe my exact words were, "Oh My God, Oh My God, Seriously? YES!!"

He stood up and I proceeded to hug and kiss him and not let go (which is good, because I probably would have fallen off the dune if I did) until he finally pushed me away and said "well, take the ring already!"

The ring is nothing that I would have picked out for myself, but I love it more than I ever could have imagined! The 5 stones are a combination of his family's and mine, so we are truly combined in this wonderful symbol.
I didn't think it was going to be possible for Bryan to truly surprise me with a proposal, but he came up with the perfect decoy, and he had me fooled all the way until he was down on his knee.

Thank you Babe for a perfect beginning to the rest of our lives!
I love you!

My Recipe Blog Tribute

This post is a total tribute to my favorite food blog. This woman comes up with the best recipes, and they are all so incredibly tasty. I'm actually not a huge fan of sweets nor baking, but the meal and side-dish recipes that she posts here are better than I've ever found in any cookbook.

I made this recipe last night for dinner for myself, and I was sad. Sad that I didn't have company so that more people could have tasted the wonderfulness that came from Jessica's recipe.

Please make this at home for your families! You won't be sorry!

Crunchy Honey Chicken

Crunchy Honey Chicken
serves 2+
1 pound thinly sliced, boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 egg whites
1/3 cup cornstarch (or flour – for dredging)
1 cup broccoli florets
1/2 red pepper, thinly sliced
a handful of sugar snap peas (about 3/4 cup)
1 clove garlic, minced
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/4 cup honey
salt and pepper to taste

Prepare and slice all veggies – feel free to add whatever you would like. In 2 separate bowls, add the egg whites (lightly beaten) and the cornstarch or flour. (The cornstarch will yield a “crispier” chicken). Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and add 1 tablespoon olive oil. Add veggies with a sprinkle of salt and pepper and saute for about 5 minutes, until softened. Add in soy sauce and garlic and stir so veggies are coated, about 60 seconds. Remove from skillet and set aside in a bowl.

Cut chicken into 1-inch pieces and season with salt and pepper. Heat the same skillet (or you can use a different one, I just use the same to make it easier) over medium-high heat and add remaining olive oil. Dip chicken pieces in egg whites and then lightly dredge in cornstarch. Add to the skillet and let brown for 2-3 minutes, then flip. Continue with remaining chicken pieces, and do so in batches if needed.

Once chicken is cooked, add veggies back in the skillet. Add honey and thoroughly mix to combine. Taste and season with salt, pepper, additional honey or soy sauce. Serve with rice.