Meeting My Wedding Dress Designer

Today I had the pleasure of meeting Jim Clifford Hjelm (also known as James Clifford or Jim Hjelm), the designer of my wedding dress.

Jim and Me

He was such a fun guy!

He was very complimentary of the dress I chose and even offered to send me a sketch of my gown! I thought that was really neat and I can’t wait to frame it. 🙂

While we were at the boutique, we took advantage of the loads of bridesmaid dresses on display and had my sister (who will be my maid of honor) model several of them.

We liked several different dresses but loved one.

Bridesmaid Dress Front-Runner

The Jim Hjelm one shoulder chiffon dress could be the bridesmaid dress, though would want to change a couple of things, such as remove the beading from the inside of the two flowers on the side and add a little more material to the center of the flowers to make them a little more feminine and whimsical. (I would also get the dresses in a champagne color.)

I’m waiting some pricing estimates from the tailor since I want some changes made. We’ll see!

Snacks and Shopping

After wedding fun, we headed to Peach Valley Cafe to pick up some apple fritters, which were highly recommended by Leslie.

Apple Fritters with Strawberry Yogurt

The fritters were fried and tossed in a bag of cinnamon and sugar. A cup of sweet strawberry yogurt was served on the side for dipping.

Leslie’s recommendation was spot-on. They were delicious!

With a little food in our bellies, we headed out to the nearby outlet mall for some shopping.

My sister and I did some damage at the Banana Republic and J.Crew outlets. With my birthday coming up, my mom is boxing up some of my goodies for a couple of weeks! 🙂 It’ll be fun to open up the goodies because I always forget about something I previously picked out.

Dinner

Shopping really made us all quite sleepy! We were in the mood for some serious comfort food at home.

When Ryan arrived home from his soccer game (they won!) we were ready to dig into taco meatloaf!

I made the meatloaf using a recipe I saw on Lisa’s blog.

Taco Meatloaf

Cheesy Loaf

We enjoyed the taco meatloaf with corn bread and roasted zucchini and squash.

My Plate

For dessert we had freshly baked cinnamon oatmeal cookies.

Cinnamon Oatmeal Cookies

Nom, Nom, Nom

My mom is spending the night in Orlando again (yay!), but my sister is getting ready to head back to Gainesville. 😦

We’ve had such a fun-filled girly weekend… I’m gonna miss her!

My Lovely Sista

Goodbye Hugs

I hope you’ve enjoyed a fun and relaxing weekend! Thanks for poppin’ in!

Taco Meatloaf

Ingredients

1 pound raw extra-lean ground turkey (I used chicken)
2 slices of fat-free cheddar cheese (I used reduced-fat cheddar)
1/2 cup shredded fat-free cheddar cheese (I used reduced-fat cheddar)
1/2 cup canned sweet corn kernels
1/4 cup chopped green bell peppers
1/4 cup chopped onions
1/2 cup salsa

1/2 packet of taco seasoning mix, dry (I used the whole packet)

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Cook peppers and onions for three minutes over medium heat in a pan sprayed with non-stick spray.

In a large bowl, combine onions and peppers with turkey, corn and seasoning mix. Spread half of the mixture evenly into the bottom of the loaf pan (about 9″x5″) sprayed with nonstick spray.

Layer the two slices of fat-free cheese on top of the mixture (try to keep slices away from the pan’s edges). Evenly top with the remaining meat mixture.

Pour the salsa over the top of the loaf. Cook in the oven for 30 minutes.

Top loaf with shredded cheese. Return loaf to the oven and cook for another 15 minutes.

Bare Bones

We have no food in our apartment right now. We’re talkin’ bare bones.

What kind of hosts are we!?

Ryan and I woke up about an hour before my mom and sister and I scowered our pantry for something I could throw together to make into an edible breakfast for our guests.

We had about seven slices of semi-stale bread and some eggs in the fridge. I figured that was enough to make French toast casserole and I hit the internet in search of a recipe that contained only ingredients I had on hand.

With a few substitutions (which I’ve posted below), this recipe was the winner.

I got to work cubing the bread and set it in the oven to bake for a while.

The cinnamon scent filled the apartment and smelled unbelieveable. I absolutely love the smell of cinnamon. It has such a sweet, comforting aroma.

When the casserole was done, we divided the servings among us and topped them with syrup.

French Toast Casserole

Casserole Close Up

Breakfast is Served

After breakfast, we headed to church for the 9 a.m. service. Now we’re heading out the door again to take Sadie on a walk to the nearby farmer’s market before we meet the designer of my wedding dress and look at bridesmaid dresses.

I’m so excited!!! I love wedding fun!

French Toast Casserole

(serves 6… or in our case 4)

Ingredients:

• 5 cups bread cubes (I used 6 cups of light whole wheat bread)
• 4 eggs (I used 1/2 c. egg beaters and 2 eggs)
• 1 1/2 cups milk (I used almond milk)
• 1/4 cup white sugar, divided
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon margarine, softened (I omitted this)
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly butter an 8×8 inch baking pan.
2. Line bottom of pan with bread cubes. In a large bowl, beat together eggs, milk, 2 tablespoons sugar, salt and vanilla. Pour egg mixture over bread. Dot with margarine; let stand for 10 minutes.
3. Combine remaining 2 tablespoons sugar with 1 teaspoon cinnamon and sprinkle over the top. Bake in preheated oven about 45 to 50 minutes, until top is golden.

Nutritional Information (per serving): Calories: 207 | Total Fat: 7.2g | Cholesterol: 146mg