Almost 2 months later...

 

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It has been almost exactly 2 months...Sooo, I had to take a break from blogging...Ck and I both started new jobs at the end of January, and although mine was only part time, both were an adjustment for our household.  Ck had a long commute and mine...well it was umm, lets say, different. So, with these changes came challenges, but we tackled them together...

If you know me, you'd know I'm a type A person....

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So, I take on things, and become obsessed, even borderline perfectionistic. So when I couldn't do daily posts, I questioned my blogging abilities.  Most importantly it wasn't worth hearing CK rant about how my blog was more important than him (blah, blah, blah).  But there are times when I catch him saying something being worthy of blog material, reallly? really? you hate the blog world! Therefore, I made an executive decision. I plan to blog. Not daily, but weekly, because everything can be in your life if you want it, in moderation, that is :)

Wedding Wednesday- I heart STDs

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 I heart STDs. Whooa, it's Wedding Wednesday, so STD as in Save-The-Dates!  They are basically unnecessary if you are having a small wedding or planning last minute, but I'm the queen of details that are unnecessary :)  But really, they are a great way to do something fun, creative, and a little less than traditional (totally my style).  Even this bride I know who did everything to-the-T of what a wedding should be, down to the perfect wording on her invitations, did a fun postcard for her save the date.  It's a way to be funnnn.  (think know this bride? you may know her as my friend GG and you can find her new blog here at In an Envelope).  Much to my surprise, Ck and I got another awesome postcard save the date in the mail yesterday for a July wedding.

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Yes, its landed itself a spot on my fridge with all the others, hanging with my pink and green magnet.  (and P.S. if you are keeping track this is wedding #7 for 2011 that CK and I are invited too, umm YIKES)


What do you think of the postcard Save the Date idea?

My Family Tree

So, for the past few weeks I have been working on this project and I am so excited to finally share.  It's going to be a work in progress.  I loved the look of a tree in my living room but I have a puppy, so that was out. Then, I started searching and found some cool photos of wall decals, that are like stickers for the wall, but you can take them off without taking the paint off. ( I was hooked.) But they were $100+, so I saw these at the local craft store for 19.99 and bought 3.

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I bought three because I wanted it to look like a tree, not a bush, and thought I could figure it out.  The color perfectly matched my couch so I knew it was the one.  However, a big tree needed a larger trunk and the branches were curved wrong for what I wanted.  So, I cut different leaves and branches with scissors to create the look I wanted, for more than half the price.  (this took forrrrrrrever).  But finally, after having to step back, look at it, move this branch 1 inch to the left,then up a little, finally it's done.

(personal photo)

Notice the x-mas decorations? yea, this project has taken forever, but then I thought one more thing would make this project complete. (because my artistic ability always encourages me to just add on more thing) If I added photos, then it could be a FAMILY TREE. :) I decided to hang some with ribbons, as if they were hanging from the branches and then get some to just float.  Ta-dah! ( I still need to print more photos so it's a work in progress, like I said)

How do you display your family photos?

What have I been up to?

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Oh man! So a lot happen this week and therefore, the blog posting suffered a little.  CK is beginning to feel jealous of the blog but I quickly remind him this has helped him with more dinners and a prettier home.  So, I made a deal with him that I wouldn't blog (or too much) on the weekends, since starting next week he will be home more.  Now, I know you are all probably smirking as you see it is Sunday morning this post is going out, but he's sleeping, so then it doesn't count!  Anyway...so one thing we did this week...

 CK traded in his car.  When I first started this blog, I told you a lot of changes had just happened? Well one of them was me getting rid of my car.  So, yes...we both got new cars a month apart from each other because well, we had cute cars for 20-somethings, but now we need to be more practical. Now, is it practical to get two new cars in one household, I don't know about that, but we did.

My 20-something car was this pretty eclipse convertible with, you guessed it, a hot-pink pin stripe.  It was a beauty, but was horrible in the snow, no trunk space, had been keyed all way across the trunk by a formal sick employee of mine, smashed in and everything stolen out of it, had CK's car smashed into it, and some other mishaps of parking in the city. (uggh, it was time to let my baby go) In the background of the picture you can see my dad and CK, oh so eager to get into the car dealership to get rid of my car. BOO!

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 But I actually have no room to complain, because I got a pretty Rouge that has lots of room for shopping bags, heated leather seats, a sunroof, more seating, and well it's all-wheel drive been fabulous in this ridiculous winter. 

And CK had this obnoxious bright yellow, big tires, jeep wrangler that you had to practically jump into and quite often did not have doors attached to it.  It was a bumpy drive and got 12 miles to the gallon, not so fabulous, but he loved in and could fit it in any parking spot he wanted.  This past fall, someone who was probably drunk, hit CK's parked jeep into my parked eclipse and drove off.  It sucked, for lack of a better term and it took awhile to get our cars back.  When we got the jeep back, Ck was so happy, that we did an impromptu photo shoot.  However, Ck will be doing a lot of traveling starting next week and the jeep's poor gas millege just didn't seem to make sense.  So, he searched for a new car and then came up with the idea of getting a truck, which he has always loved.  I was slightly confused because I thought we were going for more gas money?? But...apparently this truck gets 20-25/gallon, is in his favorite color black, and now he can start working on the DIY stuff around the house.  A truck would be very helpful for Home Depot runs and stuff like that, so who am I to stand in the way of a boy and his truck? Plus it has two seats behind us that can lay flat for the puppy (which means no puppy carsickness is my car) and there are those 3rd door suicide doors, which is cool too.

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did you ever have a fun car and then have to trade it in for something more practical?

Hey check me out!

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I am one of those people that people always stare at or have something to say about.  Seriously, whether I am in sweat pants or fabulous shoes, people turn their heads and a lot of times it become annoying.  However, in this post, I am actually giving you permission to check me out and well, encouraging it. :) 

(source: Check out blog link below)

I was a honored to do a guest post for my BFF over at Aligirlcooks.  Click on the link below and come check it out.  I gave my step-by-step on how to make homemade mozzarella sticks!

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Does it annoy you when people stare or talk about you so obviously when you are right there?

Wedding Wednesday-You've got mail!

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Today, no joke, CK and I got two wedding invites for March, luckily different weekends.  It so fun to see the pretty envelopes intermixed with your bills.  However, yikes, we have a lot of weddings to go to this year!  I know someone once told me, they had to decline some weddings once because it is so expensive to attend the events, especially if they are out of town and they have to stay in a hotel.  I thought this was crazy, because I love attending weddings. However, since I haven't been working to bring in extra money, I can see how this can be financially draining fast. Plus I am beginning to realize I have no open Saturdays for a long time.  This got me to thinking, are CK and I extrememly popular, or is it something else? Like maybe our age group per say?!?!

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So, not to air my age and all, but I am 26 and CK is 27.  Since most of the weddings we are attending in 2011 (which were are currently at 6+ and counting) are people that are around our age bracket, I began to think maybe our age is the culprit here and not necessarily our popularity.  So, I googled it, to see what the average age people are getting married is.  Wikipedia was my friend in this task and gave me stats from 2007, for all the different countries.  You can see the article here.

For the USA it says the average age for men is 27.5 and for women it is 25.6, so looks like CK and I were pretty average.  Interesting side note, the oldest average for men is in Japan at 35 and the lowest average for Women getting married is in Niger, Africa at 17.6, yikes!


So I ask you this...
Do you struggle with balancing all your wedding invites?  and how old did you think you would be when you got married?

Hot pink is the color of 2011 (duh)

In case you don't frequent the same places as me, I thought I would share with you that Pantone's color anouncement for the IT COLOR OF 2011 is Honeysuckle ( a hot pink look-a-like).  You can read more about it here but I will share with you the description of the color, just because.

Courageous. Confident. Vital. A brave new color, for a brave new world. Let the bold spirit of Honeysuckle infuse you, lift you and carry you through the year. It’s a color for every day – with nothing “everyday” about it.

 

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So let's be honest, hot pink is always my IT COLOR, but what's yours?

Laundry filled weekend

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Today was filled with doing laundry in our household, I know pretty lame.  Ck takes it down to the basement because my allergies can't handle that floor and then I fold.  Tonight, Casanova thought he would help too, because he acquired a passion for socks.  Just like his daddy, instead of being helpful, he became a distraction, as he found himself stuck in the collapsible hamper. 

So, Daddy, being helpful that he is, took the photo while laughing, and then proclaimed he would take care of the puppy so that I could finish folding.  Ten seconds later, I heard a loud crash, a word I shall not repeat, and then a puppy sitting attentively by my side, no Daddy to be found.  Casanova and CK had managed to play a little to rough near my shelves and decapitate my bridal head from our wedding cake topper!

I would lie to you, if I told you that I stayed calm and didn't care that my wedding cake topper is now broken due to poor supervision in a 10 second time span.  Like seriously? seriously! 

But last, I leave you with this question... where the hell do all the socks go?  Is this  a puppy dog heaven or a mix-matched sock graveyard?

(*all personal photos if not sourced)

Football Oreo Cake

This past Sunday Ck and I went over to watch the Eagles game with some friends.  CK had to work so much Overtime this past weekend which made him sad, so I thought I would make a chocolate moose cake for him and our friends. (yes, I was oddly craving a little chocolate myself).  I trekked out to the food store to gather my supplies...

I cheated a little and got an Oreo pre-made crust from the baking isle, because remember I was a little sick.  How happy was I that I found Football shaped oreos! Perfect for Sunday football day, Yay!


What you need:
-Oreo crust or (to make you would used crushed oreos and melted butter, pressing it into place)
- a few oreos for the top
-1 container of whipped cream (I used light and it worked fine)
-3-4 tablespoons of hot fudge
-1 package of chocolate pudding
- 2-4 cups of milk (depending on the pudding you choose)

How I did it:


It is super yummy and super easy, I swear.  If I can make this while being slightly under the weather, anyone can do it.  First up is the hot fudge.  Pop it in the microwave oven for 30 seconds to soften then spoon onto oreo crust, smoothing it all around to make the first layer.  Next, take about 1/3 of the whip cream and smooth it onto the hot fudge for the second layer and toss it in the freezer to set for 10 minutes. 

While the cake it setting in the freezer, it's a perfect time to make the pudding.  If you get instant pudding, this process it literally just adding the appropriate amount of milk and whisking for 2 minutes.  EASY!  Next, because you want it to be a moose and not just a pudding, you need to add half of the whip cream that is left to the pudding, whisking again.  It looks so pretty at this point, almost like a swirl, but keep mixing until it's a lighter brown.  Take the cake out of the freezer and plop the moose onto the cake.  Lastly take the remaining whip cream and swirl it onto the top for a white top.  I placed oreos around the top for a design and it looked so fun.  Place the cake back into the freezer for 4 hours to set.  Here's the final ta-da!

(*all personal photos)




What's something special you make for someone when they are sad?

Wedding Wednesday-PA Save the dates

While reading all the 20 million blogs I read, I just saw this and had to share...how creative is this save the date! Plus it's in PA, yay!

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You can see the blog about it right here. Just a simple postcard, but oh-so-creative.


How can you be creative with your save-the-date?

Wedding Wednesday-Girls Guide to

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One of the facebook groups, I'm friends with is Girlsguideto.com.  I'm not sure how I became friends with this group, but they answer questions daily from all type of girly things plus they post articles.  Maybe the pinkness and "fabulous" is what did me in.  Well anyway, earlier this week they posted this article originally found here...  It was titled 20 things to Do before you get Married.  I thought maybe I would actually read this one...I copied the 20 things below but I have to tell you the feedback on this article was a little less than fabulous.  Many girls were displeased and although some I felt were appropriate like living with a friend, having a girls weekend, or getting your finances in order, there were a few that were maybe a little to umm, well slutty, for lack of better terms.  Some of the girls leaving comments have been pretty pissed, but I don't know, maybe a little dramatic?  But in any case, I thought I would share and see what you think...

20 Things a girl should do before she gets married...

Here’s the list:

1. Live by herself for at least a year.

2. Live with someone else for at least a year.

3. Recover from a broken heart.

4. Have a vacation fling.

5. Take a road-trip with a group of girlfriends.

6. Relish sleeping in a queen-sized bed by herself.

7. Get her finances in order.

8. Learn to love her body.

9. Sleep with at least one person she’d never want to marry (or introduce to mom).

10. Find reliable birth control.

11. Pay off as much credit card debt and student loans as possible.

12. Spend way too much on a something frivolous.

13. Exorcise all past relationship demons.

14. Travel somewhere exotic.

15. Establish a strong circle of friends.

16. Forgive her parents for not being perfect.

17. Have at least one night she can’t quite remember.

18. Experience some really bad first dates.

19. Find hobbies that fulfill her.

20. Celebrate her 25th birthday.

- Article by Wendy Atterberry

Sooo, anyone have any thoughts?

Yay for pink things!

On one of the Wedding Wednesdays of my past, I shared with you that one of my besties got married this past year too.  (You can find the post about her Polish wedding traditions here.)  Well, now I am so happy to share that she and her husband have welcomed their second child, a beautiful baby girl named Rylee, yesterday. 

How cute is she?! This is their first girl and I am so happy to be able to buy her lots of pink things.  Finally, someone has a girl, yay! :)  So, I am sharing this, because the exact day that this little girl came into the world, I actually finished her blanket.  I've been working on it off and on since the fall.  Her bedroom colors are light pink, light purple, and light green (super cute color combo for a little girl of course).  So, here's how it turned out and I'm so excited for her "Welcome to the World Party" next weekend so I can give it to her. Yay!

(*all personal photos)



How many blankets do you think a newborn receives?

I'm back :)

So, I was a little sick this weekend but I made some great Asian inspired soup from left overs I had in the fridge/freezer in hopes that the soup would fix me and warm CK, who had to do some snow shoveling.  However, then I lost my sense of taste (due to a stuffy nose) and threw in a little too many red pepper flakes (whoops!)...


Empty out the Freezer Asian-Inspired Soup

-2 cans of Chicken Broth and each filled with another can full of water
-1 bag of chicken potstickers from Trader Joe's of course
-1 lb of frozen shrimp
-1/2 cup of chopped celery
-1/2 cup of chopped onion
-1/2 cup of chopped carrot
-couple dashes of garlic powder
-a SMALL dash of red pepper flakes

* I seriously love soups that you can just dump all the stuff in a pot and let it sit.  Especially when I'm not feeling well, so I just decided that's what I was going to do.  I put everything in my big pink soup pot and let it simmer for 20 minutes on Medium-low. Tah-da, and Ck even took it for his lunch the next day, so it worked!



Have you ever made an adventurous soup with things you see in your freezer?

I'm sick...boo!

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I'm a sneezing, coughing, sore throat, running nose, blondie who's doggie is very confused by all this.  Today I told him to lay down and take nappie in his crate and he sat there with his head tilted confused, probably because my voice is low and cracking, barely there.  I've seen other blogs where they say they take a few days off because they are sick and I never got it.  I mean really, you can't lay in bed with your computer? But now I get it.  Yesterday I didn't even turn my computer on, in fact, my reader has 200+ posts to look at. So, to be continued...don't worry :)

I'm pretty sure it's just a cold, but a snowing day probably isn't the best medicine, so back to the couch I will go.

Wedding Wednesday- short wedding dress

I must admit, I adore Wedding dresses.  In fact for me, two of the most important details were my dress and the photography, so they came pretty early on in the planning.  If there was a way that I could sell wedding dresses one day a week to get my fix, I'd do it in a heart beat.

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A new trend for the past year is this short wedding dress.  It's great for brides who love to dance, have fabulous shoes to show off, or looking for a twist to the tradition. The above photo is what I actually wore for my rehearsal dinner.  I know, it's a little much, but I love sparkle and poof, and I fell in love it.  I got the dress at this great site called "Uniquely-Vintage" and they have so many options for Prom/Wedding dresses. So many, that I have decided to share some of their short wedding dress options with you :)  I've seen a lot of brides that get the cute short dress for the reception part of the wedding too.  I mean, two wedding dresses is two times the fun, right?  Ck didn't think so, but then again I loved my wedding dress so I wouldn't have wanted to take it off anyway.

(*all dresses can be found on their site here)

How can you not enjoy fashion?  Don't you love them all! So pretty and fun :)





Anyone have any thoughts about the short wedding dress?