Shower Time!

Happy Monday Everybody!

I have been a very busy bee. So busy, in fact, that this little blog of mine has taken a backseat in the priorities wagon. Sad but true. I could try to recount the last two weeks with an epic play by play of my oh-so-exciting life… but to be honest you’d be bored to tears. It’s been a lot of calorie counting, boring meals, and work work work. But there is one thing that’s been keeping me busy that I can finally spill the beans about, because it finally happened this weekend! Katie’s bridal shower!

I was honored to put together a shower for Katie along with the help of her mom (the wonderful hostess!) and many of the other bridesmaids. I got super lucky, because Kristin (bridesmaid and mutual best friend) had to work in Rockville, MD for the week, so she was able to come to VA on Wednesday and Thursday to help me cook and prepare. I don’t think the shower would have been half as successful without her :).

I don’t really know what to say, but there are lots of pictures to tell the story.

First up: the food. Oh, the food.

We have: Savory: Onion and Goat Cheese Tarts, Deviled Eggs, Spinach and Onion Dip with Hawaiian Sweet Bread, Baked Brie, Veggie Platter, and Cheese and Crackers.

Sweet: Fruit and Marshmallow Fluff Dip, Whiskey Fudge, Chocolate Covered Strawberries, Merlot Cupcakes, and Cake Balls!

The fun:

Toilet Paper Dress Contest. Everybody won!

The Presents!

The haul

Even Patrick got some goodies.

But most importantly, we learned (as if we didn’t already know), that you can dress her up…But you really can’t take her anywhere.

Congrats again Katie!! I can’t wait for your day!

 

Wedding Chores Weekend

Hello friends! I apologize for my week-long hiatus last week. I have been a busy, busy lady both at work and at home, and that is my only excuse.

But this past weekend, Dan and I accomplished so much awesome! We had a meeting set up with the wonderful girl who has agreed to make cupcakes for us AT COST for the wedding, so we decided to just make a weekend of it.

Of course, we did have time for some non-wedding related things too. On Saturday morning I woke up bright and early and went to take my first lesson on Tulsa, the new horse I’m riding. I am so excited to have found her – her owner is fantastic and she’s such a fun horse. We both have a lot to learn, and I have my work cut out for me (I uh, can’t walk today from soreness, but this too shall pass).

After my pony ride, we went to Dominion Jewelers to look at/pick out wedding bands! Wheee! It was SO MUCH FUN. I really didn’t know what I wanted going in, but I think I made a pretty awesome choice. Of course it’s awesome… my band will match my engagement ring which is more than awesome, so yeah, it’ll rock. Dan’s choice looks pretty cool too but it’s too hard to explain so I’ll wait until we have pictures of it, and then the pictures can speak for themselves. :). While we were there, my ring got resized (it was almost a full size too big! oops…) and polished, and it is SO SHINY!! I want to get it polished every day. Or just, you know, not let it get so dirty.

This is where things got a little rushed. We were going to go register at Crate & Barrel, but by the time we got there, got our scanner and listened to the woman babble for 20 minutes, we only had about 20 minutes to “shop.” We did  little bit of shopping, but decided to just come back the next day. On Sunday we went back to C&B, and also started a Macy’s registry. We’re not sure if we’ll keep both… we will keep everyone posted. Registering is an interesting experience. Neither of us are super into shopping, so this activity, while fun, tired us out quickly. I’m so grateful that we can finish up and modify things online… I really don’t know how people did all this stuff without the interwebz.

And now, the main event. CUPCAKES! The focal point of my weekend! Seriously, I can’t thank Rachel enough. She is fantastic and HER CUPCAKES ARE DELICIOUS. I think I said at least 10 times, “I can’t leave them behind. They are too good.” I’m not going to post details here because I know some people want to keep this little detail a surprise, so I’ll just leave this link here to Rachel’s blog, where she tells you alllll about the deliciousness. If you don’t want to know, DON’T CLICK!

I’ve been busy with some other things too, which I’ll try and update about this week. If there’s time. Oy vey.

Getting Committed

Happy February! The shortest month filled with the most love. Or something.

You guys. I won a contest! I’ve never won anything before, but I won a blog contest! Cassie from Back To Her Roots had a giveaway for 10 free days of “Accountability Coaching” from Krissie over at Commited Coaching. Krissie is a certified running coach (whatever that means), but she also focuses on helping people meet their fitness, food, and lifestyle goals. I’ve only had one phone call with her once so far, but I’m excited for what the next 10 days will bring!

I told Krissie my goals (get in shape for wedding, form healthier eating and workout habits, etc.) and she’s already been super helpful, just giving me tips on how I can be more efficient and more effective. For the first ten days of February, the plan is for me to tell her my plan day to day in the way of food and exercise, and she’ll text, call, or email me once a day to see how I’m doing. If for some reason I’m not hitting my goals, she’s not there to “punish” or “shame” me, she’s just there to help me figure out what’s going on and see if from an outside perspective she has any insight on how I could change my habits for the better.

You guys. I’m stoked.

I don’t really know what to expect. I don’t know if I’ll be successful or if I’ll want to continue on with Krissie after my ten free days. But I do know she has some  really good ideas up her sleeve that I’m excited to hear.

I’ll keep you posted!