Summer Where Did You Go?

It's been forever since I last posted. I have no idea where the summer went. I cannot believe that today is the last day of August!! That's just nutty.

A lot has happened this summer that I cannot wait to blog about.

• I went to Scotland and Norway with my family. The trip was AMAZING and deserves many of its own blog posts. I'll be sure to post some pictures soon. Above is a photo from Scotland.


• I got to go back to London for the first time since I studied there. It was awesome to relive some of those memories.


• I made some wedding progress!! Mike and I know have a cake, flowers, a DJ, and a registry. I must say that registering was A BLAST. We went to Macys and Williams Sonoma (though the Macys one is the main one). Mike was sweet and let me pick out whatever china and crystal I wanted as long as he got to register for his beer glasses and knives (priorities).


• I found my wedding dress.
  
• I went to several concerts.

But the summer isn't over yet. Soon, I got on my second vacation - a mini one this time - to Canada. It'll be a blast because it's my first real vacation with Mike. We've done weekends away but that's not quite the same. Plus, I'm excited to show him PEI - one of my favorite places on Earth!

Here's to one last awesome summer weekend!!

Making Progress

It's been awhile since I've posted but it's been crazy busy.

We've actually made some progress with our wedding planning!! Whoo hooo. We now have an officiant. I affectionately call him rent-a-priest. He's a little on the shady side of the Church which works to our advantage since he'll marry us outside and make it kosher with the Catholic Church. That makes us happy and Mike's parents happy. It's all good.

We have a photographer. I'm really excited about her too. I hate having my picture taken and she has a much more casual, fluid approach. She wants to photograph everything and just blend into the background. There's less of an emphasis on formal pictures which makes me ridiculously happy.

I've also been hard at work on our wedding website. Originally, I wasn't sure I wanted to make one but I definitely think it has merit. We have a lot of people who will be coming from out of town so it's good to have location information easily accessible. Plus, it was kind of fun to do. . .

But, the most important part is that we have our bridal party. YAY. I am super excited that my sister and friends will be my bridesmaids. To make the event a little special, I had personalized cookies made for each of them. They are from this delicious place in Bethesda called Bundles of Cookies. They have the cutest designs and everything can be customized.

I had a cookies made for each of the bridesmaids and the flower girl. The dresses do not really reflect what the bridesmaids' dresses will actually look like. But, they do represent our wedding colors - dark pink and yellow. It was just a little something but I thought it was nice - and tasty.

Mike has also put together his groomsman. And, he has 5 of them so now we are all symmetrical - contrary to popular belief this really was his concern not mine.

So now we need a DJ. We need to pick menus. We need flowers. We need decorations. And I need a dress. Yikes! So much to do.

But we've made progress so I'll just focus on that for awhile.

Trying Some New Recipes

Since I've recently become engaged, I've been happily buying many many bridal magazines. There's actually a new bridal magazine out on the market. It's Shape Brides (a special quarterly issue of Shape magazine). The magazine is basically Shape with bridal advertisements. There are also some slim down quickly types targeted specially for brides as well as "bridal advice" columns.

In the latest issue, it had some tips to cut calories so that you could slim down before the big day. I have no expectations that I will miraculously become a size 2 before my wedding day. I'm pretty sure my skeleton would not even be a size 2 - I'm just not built that way. But, that doesn't mean that I cannot try something new. Plus, I've been really stressed out so that leads me to wanting to eat a diet of pure M&Ms - not so healthy.

In the last couple of weeks, I've tried a few of the recipes from Shape Brides. The article's concept is to always eat protein, fiber, fat, and carbs in combination. You should never have one without the other three. This makes sense to me and it's advice I've read in other places. However, usually that advice is not accompanied by easy recipes of things I'd actually want to eat. Luckily, the recipes I've found so far are really good. I've listed a few of them below in case you are in the mood to try them. I did make some minor adjustments based on my personal tastes, but I kept the concept and calorie amount the same.


Yogurt Parfait

- 3/4 c plain Greek fat free yogurt
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tbsp nuts (I used sliced almonds)
- 1/2 c Kashi Go Lean Crunch
- 3/4 c blueberries

Mix together yogurt, honey, and cinnamon. Top with nuts, kashi, and blueberries.

Chicken Salad (you can also use tuna in this recipe but it will probably make 2-3 sandwiches instead of 3-4)

- 1 can chicken breast packed in water
- 2 tbsp light mayo
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard (or more to taste)
- 1 cup shredded carrots (you can add more to increase bulk and stretch the recipe further)
- 1/4 c. chopped celery
- 2 Tbsp sliced almonds
- 2 Tbsp raisins

Mix all ingredients together. Makes 3-4 sandwiches worth of filling. Serve in a medium whole wheat pita or a whole wheat sandwich thin (the more fiber the better)

Snack Mix (under 200 calories)

- 4 cups 94% fat free popcorn
- 2 tbsp peanuts
- 1 tbsp chocolate chips

Yum.

Anyway, it's been good to mix up my breakfast and lunch options. I've been getting bored lately so it's nice to have something new and healthy to try.

There are many more recipes to try. I'll post the ones here that I think are worthwhile.

Whataya What from Me

I should preface this post by saying that I have not watched American Idol in 5+ years. Also, I am not a huge fan of Adam Lambert.

But I cannot get his song OUT OF MY HEAD. I have been singing Whataya What from Me ALL WEEKEND. I swear it drove Mike crazy yesterday. Mainly because I really only know the refrain so that's what I just kept singing over and over again. I started to annoy myself. . .

Anyway, I posted the video below. Now you can get it stuck in your head too. Enjoy. :)

The Countdown Begins

The countdown begins!

In exactly one year it will be my wedding day. This is both equal parts exhilarating and terrifying. The exhilarating part is that I'll be married and then Mike and I will finally be living together. The terrifying part is the amount that needs to happen in the next year - planning a wedding, working out the logistics of living together, etc. It'll be fine I know, but there's a lot that's going to happen in the next year. It will fly by!

365 days to go!

Retail Therapy

This week has been a little nutty - work, personal, etc. It's all a little bit crazy. As a result, I feel like I'm in a bit of a funk. And how do I usually break myself out of a funk?

I shop.

But, I'm trying not to shop as much. Not for a noble reason like I should be saving money to buy wedding stuff. But for a more practical reason which is that if Mike and I are going to be moving into my condo, I have to get rid of stuff not buy more stuff. Yes, we'll put some stuff in storage, but I really should try and cut back on buying more stuff as much as I can.

Normally, when I'm in a funk I usually buy myself one of three things - a book, a piece of clothing, or a handbag. (yes I get that there's a huge price difference in this mix). And, what you may ask currently accounts for about 90% of my possessions and thus the bulk of what I have to get rid of?

You guessed it - books, clothes, and handbags.

And what do I want to buy myself to get out of my funk?

right again - a handbag.

This one to be precise.


It's from Anthropology. I haven't bought it yet, but it's tempting me. It would be so cute for the summer! Bright and happy. With lots of space.

We'll see how much I can resist. I mean would it really take up that much room?

Sculpture Project Opening

For the last year, I have been helping the National Museum of Women in the Arts fundraise for their New York Avenue Sculpture Project.


It's a really cool public art project in DC. Four statues were placed on the median of New York Avenue in front of the Museum. The goal is to extend the project for 4 blocks until it reaches the Convention Center. Every year or two, the statues will be changed for new statues by a women artist.

The inaugural statues are by Niki de Saint Phalle. They are colorful and cheerful statues. They are definitely not to everyone's taste. But, they are a vibrant start to the project.

Last Thursday, Mike and I were invited to attend the opening party for the Project. It was a really fun event at the Museum. It was a pretty fancy event but not stuffy. Everyone was all dressed up, but the atmosphere was very low key.


There was a jazz band performing in the Museum lobby. There were fun colored rum drinks chosen to match the colors of the statues. There were carnival entertainers who created origami type things for people. You could tell this man anything that you wanted and he would create it out of a paper plate. Seriously, it was crazy.


There was a man juggling a plate on the end of a stick. Mike got to try that and it was a blast to watch. And, there were performancee artists dressed like the statues.

We had a really great time.