My Bridal Shower!

What a wonderful day!

My sister (who is also my maid of honor) and my mom have been working for months to plan this special day for me. I’ve seen the two of them whispering and I’ve been shunned out of various rooms in my parents house the past few times I visited my family in St. Pete, so it was wonderful to see all of their hard work and planning come to fruition!

They planned my bridal shower at the Tuscawilla Country Club, located in Winter Springs.

Ryan’s mom and I headed over to the country club together just before 11 a.m.

After hugging my mom and sister hello, I immediately noticed these delicious lookin’ little beauties.

My mom made these devil’s food cupcakes with whipped pink frosting which were light and delicious!

My sister was quite crafty when planning the event and clearly spent a lot of time on the cute little details.

Her little table markers were oh-so-Martha Stewart! 😀

My mom and sister also handmade the favors for all of the shower attendees.

Not only were their cookies adorable, but they were also very tasty!

They even made a special bridal one for me which I absolutely loved.

Aside from my sister, Laurel was my only bridesmaid who was able to make it to the shower (everyone else lives in Chicago, Texas or Iowa) and she showed her true bridesmaid prowess when it came the the “How Well Do You Know the Bride” trivia game.

Laurel and I lived together our sophomore through senior year in college, so it was no shocker she had nearly every answer down pat!

The trivia game was one of four games my sister planned for the shower. We also had a great time with a purse scavenger hunt, name that famous duo challenge and a trivia game involving questions she asked Ryan ahead of time that I had to guess the answers to.

Of course a portion of the shower was dedicated to present opening.

If you can believe it, that was the gift table before my friends arrived! Clearly my mom, Ryan’s mom, Ryan’s grandma and my aunts took this shower seriously. 😀

I received some seriously amazing gifts (Hello, KitchenAid Mixer!!!). Everyone was so unbelievably thoughtful and kind to bring something for me and Ryan before our wedding and I felt very blessed.

We had quite a time loading everything into my car!

The funniest gift was saved for last…

What in the world???

Well, it’s Jezebel, of course!

Isn’t she awesome?

Jezebel was made completely of handy household and kitchen items including an ironing board, mop, spatulas, sponges, a colander, apron, dish towels and more!

In the midst of all the game-playing, chit-chatting and gift giving, we also enjoyed a delicious lunch.

I had a turkey and hummus wrap with fresh fruit which I inhaled! Apparently my morning run with Sadie sparked my appetite!

I also sipped on a mimosa before lunch which was fantastic.

Mimosas should be an evening staple if you ask me! They’re too good to only enjoy in the morning.

I was sad to say goodbye at the end of the brunch, but I was so thankful for the love I felt from my friends and family all afternoon.

(Thanks, Minda, for driving all the way from Jacksonville!)

Once everyone was gone, Ryan’s mom and I drove back to our apartment to say hello to Ryan and his mom’s boyfriend. I had to head out pretty quickly because my mom, sister and I had an appointment at the bridal boutique where I brought my dress to pick up my sister’s bridesmaid dress!

I absolutely love my bridesmaid dresses!

My sister tried hers on and it looks amazing. I don’t even think she’ll need any alterations made! Sch-weet!

I’m finally back at our apartment and it feels amazing to be chillin’ on the couch. I have a feeling that’s exactly what the rest of the night will entail. Present unpacking can wait… 😉

See ya bright ‘n’ early in the morning!

Rethinking

I’ve been rethinking some things today…

First, before lunch I met up with my friends Merri and Laurel at the pool by Laurel’s apartment to soak up some sun and catch up.

My Friend Merri, the Bathing Beauty

Both Merri and Laurel are running in the Chicago Rock ‘n’ Roll half marathon with me on August 1 and started their training last week. Initially, I figured I would follow Hal Higdon’s training plan, which requires two decent runs a week, along with one long run.

Then, I began considering shortening my running days to one run on Tuesdays, followed by a long run over the weekend so I could continue to take BodyPump Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and also take a yoga class on Thursdays and fit a rest day in on Saturday or Sunday.

Though I am excited to run in the half, I just want to finish the race and I am not worried about my time in the least.  I want to finish strong though and feel adequately prepared, so after rethinking my plan, I am going to try to make running part of my workout three times a week, but I won’t beat myself up if I feel like missing a day for yoga or cross training instead.

Hal Higdon’s plan worked for me back in 2007 when I ran my first half, so I suppose sticking to his plan again is a pretty safe bet! 🙂

Snack + Lunch

Post pool time, I came home and enjoyed a snack of Brie cheese and whole wheat crackers with Ryan.

Brie + Crackers

We bought the cheese at Whole Foods after church this morning, and booooy is it a stinky wedge!

I really filled up on the cheese and crackers combo (I think I easily ate three-plus servings), so I wasn’t very hungry when lunchtime rolled around.

I wanted to try the Wanchai Ferry Beef & Broccoli frozen entrée I received to sample from Wanchai Ferry through MyBlogSpark, so I cooked it up to share with Ryan.

Wanchai

Sizzlin'

After looking at the slew of ingredients and nutritional information, I must admit this is not a product I would purchase on my own. Flavor-wise it was very tasty, but the long list of ingredients, white rice (I prefer brown) and less-than-stellar nutritional stats would deter me from buying it for myself.

Ryan, on the other hand, really loved it! 😀

Beef, Broccoli, Rice

Snack #2

Though my cheese and cracker snack sustained me through lunchtime, around 2:30 p.m., I started to get a little hungry again.

I made myself a protein frosty, following Janetha’s recipe.

Protein Frosty

It was really delicious but took a while to make because my blender struggled to chop down all the ice!

Rethinking Bridesmaid Dress Color

On to the second thing I am rethinking today…

This afternoon, Ryan came with me to the bridal boutique where I found the bridesmaid dress I like.

Bridesmaid Dreess Number One Contender

(You may see a picture of my sister in the dress here.)

I wanted to check out the color swatches for the dress one last time before fully committing to the cashmere/champagne color I love.

Though Ryan liked the dress itself, he seemed a little unsure about the color. When I described the color as “champagne” he thought that color was a light pink. Ehhh, not really. 😉

Ryan said he “trusts my vision,” but his reaction to the color is making me rethink my choice at the moment. I think the cashmere color is classy and timeless, but I want my groom to like it too! I picture the color with our flowers and color scheme (yellow, gold, ivory, white, wheat) and think it could look gorgeous. (Here’s an example.)

Ryan and I looked over some swatches and both liked the maize color, which was basically a muted yellow, so I am considering changing the dress color to that. We’ll see! I’ve got some thinkin’ to do!

Dinner

Post-bridesmaid dress dilemma, we headed next door to The Fresh Market to pick up a couple of whole wheat baguettes to use for our meatball subs for dinner.

The Fresh Market

While there, we also picked up a kitchen sink cookie to share on the way home, but that was gobbled up so fast that it eluded any photographs.

Once home, we straightened up the apartment for a bit before getting to work in the kitchen.

I used Quorn meatless meatballs as the base for our meatball subs, and smothered them in marinara sauce before topping the subs with lots of mozzarella cheese and placing them in the oven to get all ooey-gooey.

Quorn Meatballs

Balls 'n' Bread

Meatball Subs

Cheesy

Dinner is Served

Dinner was delish and suuuuper easy. Ryan and I both agreed this lil’ combo will be recreated again soon. 😀

Dessert?

I’m in a baking mood. I see some homemade treats in my future… Off to browse some recipes!

I hope you’re all enjoying the last little bit of the weekend. 😀

Two Dresses

Since we finished printing and compiling our save the dates last night, I’ve been in wedding-planning mode! I like the feeling of checking things off my to-do list. 😀

After work today I headed to Something Blue Bridal Boutique to meet with Lori to discuss the bridesmaid dress I fell in love with back in April.

I had a couple of concerns regarding the color and the design and wanted to make sure all of my issues were addressed before fully committing to the dress.

Lori isn’t sure if the dress I like is available in the cashmere color I want, and will be calling to check on Thursday.

While I was at the boutique, I browsed some of the other bridesmaid dresses and really liked a pretty, whimsical dress by Alvina Valenta.

Alvina Valenta Dress

Here is a ghetto photo-of-a-phone photo of me in the dress:

Photo of a Photo

I really love how romantic an flowy this dress feels.

If the one-shoulder Jim Hjelm dress is not available in the cashmere color I love, the above dress may be a contender.

To jog your memory, or if you are new to the blog, here’s a picture of the Jim Hjelm dress:

Jim Hjelm Dress

Which one do you like better?

I really love both dresses though they look completely different!

Dinner

Since I arrived home later than usual, I wanted to get dinner on the table fast.

Enter, frozen pizza.

CPK White Pizza

Ryan and I are huge fans of the California Pizza Kitchen frozen pizzas and the crispy thin crust white pizza is one of the best.

The pizza cooked up in 10 minutes, and we enjoyed several slices with roasted broccoli on the side.

White Pizza Slice

Roasted Broc

Dinner

Dinner was fast and tasty… Just the way I like it.

I’m off to read my book for a bit before hoppin’ into bed. See ya in the morning!

There and Back, There and Back

Today has been marked by many different trips to and from our hotel room.

There and back, there and back!

Breakfast

Our first adventure lead us downstairs for the complimentary breakfast offered by our hotel.

Let me just say there were sliiiim pickings. 😉

Apple Oatmeal

Thankfully they had some oatmeal on hand (I got the last bowl), so I sliced up an apple, added a bit of honey and made myself apple oats.

I ate the rest of the apple and a small muffin on the side.

Apple

Cheesy Muffin

While we sat around after eating, I also nibbled on a small bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios.

Honey Nut Cheerios

First Errand

Our first trip away from the hotel lead me and my sister to a bridal shop about 10 minutes away.

Bridesmaid Dresses

Unfortunately they didn’t have the dress I wanted to see in stock, but my sister was a good sport and tried on a couple of dresses just for fun.

I thought a long, yellow dress looked especially pretty on her. Very How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. 😀

My Model

We didn’t see anything that really called to us and headed home.

I think our visit to that bridal shop reaffirmed my love for the bridesmaid dress I found with my mom and sister back in April. I’m thinkin’ that’ll be the one! 😀

Lunch

We headed back to the hotel room for a quick lunch of ravioli with marinara and Parmesan cheese.

Ravioli

The Buitoni all-natural marinara sauce we used was really tasty! It tasted like homemade pasta sauce and we all practically licked out bowls clean.

For dessert I had a chocolate Jello mousse cup.

Jello Mousse Cup

These things are seriously rich and taste way more legit than a snack pack.

Errand Number Two

Our second errand took us to a print shop where we attempted to have my save the dates printed off. Apparently they couldn’t print on paper that wasn’t the standard 8 1/2 x 11 size, so we headed to another place.

Unfortunately our luck didn’t get much better. When we saw the proof, there was a big line from the printer cross the middle of the save the date. Needless to say, we high-tailed it outta there!

After stopping at the grocery store to get some items for my mom and some snacks, we returned to the room to enjoy some  freshly sliced watermelon.

Slicin' the Melon

Check out all the pretty flowers my mama got! 😀

Don’t flowers just make you want to smile?

Today my sister and I were talking about how happy it makes us when we see a man buying flowers. We know he’s about to make someone’s day a little brighter! We saw quite a few guys buying flowers today and I’m sure there will be some happy moms tomorrow. 🙂

What are  your favorite kind of flowers?

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.