My Wedding Band!!! ( & Crock Pot Spaghetti Squash)

First things first, I loved all of your tips and ideas about how to begin living a healthy lifestyle.    

If you’re looking for more advice on how to begin eating healthily or how to start up a workout routine, check out the awesome informational nuggets from people who have been there in the comments section.  You guys are some smart cookies. 🙂  

Wedding Bands = Done!  

After work today, I picked Ryan up at home and we headed to Winter Park to (yet again) scope out a potential wedding band for me. (We picked out Ryan’s band last weekend.)    

When we arrived, the jeweler had two bands, both with princess cut diamonds, waiting for me to check out.    

Option number one had nine smaller diamonds. 

Option Number One

Option number two I actually examined last weekend. It had five larger diamonds. 

Option Number Two

 After trying them on back to back, and then re-trying them on about a billion more times, it became increasingly clear that I preferred the second ring.  

I felt like the first ring looked like a ribbon of diamonds, whereas the second ring looked like five individual diamonds, almost like mini versions of the diamond on my engagement band, which I thought was beautiful.   

I had a hard time with the whole process because the second ring was more expensive and it feels kind of crazy to spend so much money on a wedding band. 

Ryan was amazing throughout the process and encouraged me to get the one I really loved because in the long run the price difference isn’t crazy and it’s something I’ll wear and treasure forever. I knew he was right, but it’s still hard to justify. Thank goodness I wasn’t with him when he bought my engagement ring! 

A Little Anxious!

 In the end we decided on the second ring and I couldn’t be more excited! I think it is gorgeous! I’m going to have a hard time waiting until October to wear it. 

Me and Mah Ring!

  Here is a picture of us sportin’ our bands. 

Our Rings!!!

 We were both feeling pretty excited! 

Yay!

 The woman sized our fingers (I’m a 4.5… apparently I have baby fingers???), and we will pick up our rings once they’re resized in a couple of weeks. I can’t wait!  

Wedding band shopping made us quite hungry and we hurried home for a yummy dinner!  

Dinner  

Huuuuge shout out to TrailMomma for telling me that you can make spaghetti squash in the crock pot. Who knew!?!?  

According to TrailMomma,  

“If you put a spaghetti squash in the crock pot with 2 cups of water on low for 8 hours (or a tad less) or 5 hours on high you’ll come home to a cooked and ready to use squash. Keep in mind, cook less for a more “crunchier” squash as this makes it super soft . . . mix with tomato sauce, chickpeas and lots of oregano and you have one tasty meal!”  

Coincidentally enough, I purchased a spaghetti squash at the grocery store on Sunday evening. After reading her comment, I couldn’t wait to attempt to cook the squash in my beloved crock pot.   

As she suggested, I placed my spaghetti squash in the crock pot with 2 1/2 cups of water (it was a big squash!), and let it cook on low all day while I was at work.  

 

 

 

Cooked Squash

 I loved how easy the crock pot cooking made it to slice into the squash. Cutting into a spaghetti squash is always so hard and makes me nervous. It was nice to be able to slice into the squash withour much effort.  

Sliced and Ready

 After removing the seeds, I forked out the squash and topped it with steamed broccoli, pasta sauce and Parmesan cheese.   

Dinner is Served

Close Up

Close Up of Tastiness

 The verdict on crock pot spaghetti squash? It was really good! However, I like my “noodles” a little crunchier, so next time I will be sure to take the squash out of the crock pot after four hours or so to keep the squash from becoming too mushy.  

Mushy squash and all, I still loved this dinner!  

Of Possible Interest 

• How to Handle Running in the Heat (FitSugar.com)
• 5 Myths About Excess Weight (Health.com)
• 3 Helpful Websites to Help You Workout When You Travel (WomansDay.com)

 Bachelorette Party Countdown Begins!  

Look what I had waiting for me on my front door step when I got home yesterday:  

Bachelorette Party Goodies

My wonderful friends left me a bag full of goodies and a homemade bachelorette party countdown booklet… Only SIX more days!!!  

Count Down!!!

Bachelorette Party Countdown Booklet

What to Wear

The booklet they made was beyond adorable. As shown in the above picture, it included a list of things I need to pack, organized by each day we’re there. The goodie bag included adorable bachelorette party gear, like a tank-top that says “BRIDE,” a blinking ring, a pink feather boa and more.

I have the best friends and can’t wait to enjoy a weekend of fun with them in Chicago!

Big Day Tomorrow

Tomorrow morning I plan on tackling my first long run in three weeks! After being sidelined from a heel injury, I took some time off from my half marathon training plan to recover.My heel feels much better and I feel up to attempting to conquer a 10 mile run tomorrow! Eek!!! Cross your fingers for me. 😀

Registering & Ryan’s Wedding Band

Phew! Where did the day go???

Running –> Breakfast –> Mall –> Pool…

That brings us to lunch!

Lunch

I knew Ryan and I were going to be out and about for a while, so after gettin’ some sun by the pool for an hour, I came home to make a filling lunch.

Today’s mid-day meal included basil fettuccine pasta with steamed broccoli, topped with Barilla mushroom and garlic pasta sauce and Parmesan cheese.

Noodle Bowl

Parmesan Cheese, Please

This was my first time trying the Barilla mushroom and garlic pasta sauce and I absolutely loved it. The sauce reminded me of authentic Italian pasta sauce you’d get from a gourmet restaurant. Yum!

Stirred Up

Once our bellies were sufficiently stuffed we headed out.

Registering at Bed Bath & Beyond

Our first destination was Bed Bath & Beyond to register for our wedding.

Ready to Register

Our first registry experience at Williams-Sonoma was so positive, so we had high hopes for our time at BB&B.

Within two minutes of arriving at the store we met with two men who explained the registry process to us and answered our questions. Then, one of them took us around the store as we registered.

At first I wasn’t sure we were going to like someone following us around the entire time, but it turned out really well. The associate was there to answer questions, guide us toward some neat products and look up items we didn’t see in the store.  

We were there for much longer than I thought! By the time we got back to our car it was after 5:30 p.m.!

Rings: Round Two

Once we realized what time it was, we high-tailed it over to Winter Park to swing by the jeweler we previously visited to discuss our wedding bands further. I am looking for a band with several princess cut diamonds on it to match my engagement ring, but we’re struggling a bit to find the right size diamonds.

These diamonds, for example, were too big:

Bling, Bling

The woman we were working with at the jeweler is going to put out her “feelers” to see if she can locate something less showy. I am thinking I’d like a band with between five and seven princess-cut diamonds. You’d think it’d be an easy thing to find, but it’s tough! You gotta get the size juuuuust right!

Selecting Ryan’s band was much easier!

Ryan's Wedding Band

I love his ring. It’s a platinum band with etching that looks simple, classy and masculine. Perfect-o!

Dinner

We initially planned on selecting the groomsman’s tuxes today, but decided to push that back to another time since registering took longer than we expected.

With two wedding-related errands out of the way, we were ready for dinner!

We swung by Moe’s on our way home for some Mexican grub.

I enjoyed a cheesy quesadilla with chicken, salsa, black and pinto beans.

'Dilla

That ‘dilla was g-o-o-d!

Ryan and I also shared chips and salsa while enjoying our respective ‘dillas.

Chips + Salsa

Dessert

Can you believe I’ve never had a milkshake from Steak ‘n Shake? With as much as I love milkshakes and ice cream, you’d think I would’ve tried one from such a prominent fast-food milkshake maker!

After dinner, Ryan decided it was time for me to have my first Steak ‘n Shake milkshake, so we ordered a cookies ‘n’ cream shake to share.

Cookies 'n' Cream Shake

Looks pretty good, huh? Well, it was… until we got about a third of the way into the shake. Then, all the cookies disappeared and the shake was basically a vanilla shake. Meh.

Still, I dominated the shake and probably had 3/4 of it, but I wasn’t impressed. 

We arrived home a little after 7:30 and are planning on spending the rest of the night updating our registries online and relaxing!

Hope you’re having great weekend so far! 😀

Save the Dates = DONE!

Who doesn’t like startin’ their day with a little chocolate?

Cocoa Powder

I’m in the mood for chocolate morning, noon and night. 5 a.m.? Yes! 11 p.m.? Yes!

This morning chocolate popped up in my breakfast in a chocolate chip cheesecake breakfast bowl.

The base of my breakfast bowl was a mixture of ricotta cheese and cottage cheese, which I blended together with a pinch of xanthan gum, almond extract and sweetener.

Ricotta + Cottage Cheese

I topped the creamy, cheesecake-like mixture with chocolate chips, cocoa powder and freshly sliced strawberries.

Cocoa Powdaaa

Fresh Berries

Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Breakfast Bowl

This bowl contained:

• 1/2 c. cottage cheese
• 1/2 c. ricotta cheese
• 1 pinch xanthan gum (for thickness)
• 1 splash almond extract
• 1 pinch sweetener
• Sprinkling of chocolate chips
• Sprinkling of Nestlé cocoa powder
• Sliced strawberries

I blended the first five ingredients together with my immersion blender before topping the cheesecake-like mixture with the remaining goods.

This breakfast was really tasty and hit the spot after a hot run with Sadie this morning.

Workout

This morning I decided to change up my normal running route and took Sadie on a five-mile run around a different lake.

"Stop Taking My Picture and Go Get Me Some Chicken."

We stopped for a couple potty breaks (as usual) and had to pause for more cars than our typical running route, but I enjoyed the change of scenery.

Here are our stats (including potty breaks, waiting for cars to pass and talking to a couple about vizslas 😉 ):

Breakdown

(Woohoo for my first ever Garmin stats picture on the blog! Oh and yes I do wear my watch turned in rather than facing out. Not sure why…)

Save the Date Success

Wedding update!

Our save the dates are printed and ready for mailing!

Smiling for Save the Dates

After picking them up from Staples last night, Ryan and I got to work stamping the cards and licking lots of envelopes.

Please excuse me while I sing the praises of Staples!

With help from my sister and a guy from my work, our save the date images were formatted and ready for printing yesterday. I worked with a guy at Staples and explained what I was looking for and he went above and beyond to make our save the dates look amazing.

Then, on top of it all, he cut everything to fit into the envelopes I purchased, and only charged us for black and white printing when really it was color since the image of me and Ryan on the card is sepia.

Save the Date

October 30th, Baby!

I was determined to create our save the dates myself because I love being crafty and wanted to save money.When I found a wonderful (free!) template for these save the dates on WeddingChicks.com, I knew we had a winner.

We are so pleased with how they turned out and are even more excited about how inexpensive they were to make. The guy at Staples really helped us save a ton of money on printing costs.

Here is our save the date cost break down:

• Envelopes: $54
• Printing/ Cutting at Staples: $11
• Heart stamp: $4
• Happily ever after stamp: $7
• 2 stamp pads: $8

Total cost: $84

Not to shabby for 80 save the dates!

Now I just have to purchase a billion stamps and get these bad boys in the mail…

Guest List Grand Total

This morning I was up a little before 6 a.m. because Sadie was acting like a nut job all night.

In the middle of the night my mom let her out to go to the bathroom and she would not stop barking. We think there may have been some birds or a critter in our backyard, but whatever it was Sadie did not think it belonged there. Sadie spent the rest of the night curled up with me, tossing and turning. Needless to say, I didn’t sleep so well!

Though waking up before dawn on the weekend isn’t exactly ideal, it did give me a chance to get a quick run in before the hustle and bustle of the day began. I even got to try out my new Garmin!

Garmin Forerunner

Unfortunately I had it set up to report my statistics in kilometers, so I didn’t really understand my pace very well! I like my miles. 😉 I converted my statistics when I got home and found that Sadie and I covered slightly more than 5 miles.

Meeting the Pastor

After a quick breakfast, Ryan and I headed out to meet with Pastor Dean, a potential officiate for our wedding at his home in Dunedin, Florida.

Pastor Dean and his wife were wonderful to meet and seemed like such genuine people. Plus, Pastor Dean was very open to incorporating our ideas into the ceremony. I think we found another winner!

Brunch

When we arrived back to my parents’ house, we had a big brunch waiting for us.

Brunch

Before we sat down, my dad handed everyone mimosas to enjoy!

Mimosa Man

Dad + Daughter + Drinks

I filled my plate with all the goodies, and went back for seconds of the ham and thirds of the hash browns.

My Plate

Guest List

After brunch, we printed off our list of everyone in the world we would like to invite to the wedding and discussed everything thoroughly to get to a final number we are all comfortable with.

Our grand total… 155 people!

The total is definitely more than we initially thought we would have on our list, but it’s not as outrageously huge as it could have been. It feels good to have all of our guests on paper!

How many people came to your wedding? If you’re not married, do you want a big wedding or a small wedding?

Bridesmaid Dress Unsuccess

After visiting two different bridal boutiques with my friend Laurel, we came up a little short on the bridesmaid dress front.

Pretty Dresses

The first boutique carried a bunch of Vera Wang dresses that were gorgeous (Hello $13,000 price tag!). Since I already have a dress and didn’t feel like selling my car to buy a different one, we bypassed the bridal gowns and headed toward the bridesmaid dresses. 

We specifically went to the first store to see the Liz Fields dresses I loved online (and posted about here).

Unfortunately they didn’t have two of the three dresses I wanted to see, but they did have the halter dress and Laurel slipped into it within 15 minutes of our arrival.

Halter Dress

Note: This print is AWFUL and I would never put my bridesmaids in Hawaiian print dresses. As I said before, they will all be wearing champagne dresses on the big day.

Terrible print aside, this dress just didn’t cut it. Laurel was a great model, but the dress itself felt really cheap. The material was very thin and it honestly seemed like a dress you could buy at Forever 21 for $19.99. Needless to say, this dress is no longer in the running. 🙂

We hopped in my car and headed to our second boutique where we had much better luck.

I really loved a one-shoulder dress, but think it’s a bit over the price range I’m hoping to stay within for my bridesmaids.

Cute Dress

I think Laurel’s boyfriend needs to plan a hot date so she can wear this dress out because it looked great on her!

Pretty!

After dress shopping, I dropped Laurel off at her apartment and swung by Starbucks for a cappuccino before heading home to take Sadie out so our landlord could show our apartment to potential tenants.

Cappuccino

(I ❤ Starbucks gift cards! Thank you to my Aunt Laurie for this lil’ treat!)

First Timer

About an hour later I headed out to Marshall’s for some shopping that I definitely didn’t need to do, but wanted to do anyway. 🙂

You should all know that I succumbed to a trend today: the running skirt.

Pink Nike Running Skirt

White Nike Running Skirt

I ended up buying the white Nike running skirt because the pink one was a little big and I didn’t want it fallin’ down and my hiney hangin’ out as I run. Good reason, no?

I also purchased a banana bread Larabar at Marshall’s for $.70 which I promptly devoured in the car on my way home. Sch-weet!

Banana Bread Larabar

I think I’m the only one not on the whole “I love Larabars” kick because I haven’t found a flavor that I thought was suuuuper delicious yet. This one was definitely the best flavor I’ve tried so far though and I would buy it again if I found it on sale for $.70. 😉

One Last Thing

I totally forgot to post this picture last night, but it made me smile reeeeal big.

My mom is the cutest and for our dinner party with Ryan’s family she had place settings out for everyone with name tags. She even had one set for Sadie which I thought was hysterical and so adorable. 🙂

Sadie's Place Setting

The Beast

Hope you’re all enjoying the last of the weekend.

I’m off to the grocery store with Ryan to battle the Sunday crowd. Watch out!