I Don’t Like Manicures

I decided something today.

I do not like manicures.

Sure I think the end result is pretty, but I inevitably smudge at least one nail on the way home which frustrates me way too much.

Today I had an appointment for a manicure and the entire process took almost two hours.

I even made a point to ask how long a manicure would take when I made my appointment because Ryan’s mom and her boyfriend were coming into town and I wanted to be done by the time they arrived. The woman assured me it would take no longer than 25 minutes. I waited 40 minutes before the manicure even began.

What is this? A doctor’s office?

(Okay, I know I sound like a mega-brat right now, but I was really frustrated!)

The long wait gave me ample time to choose my nail polish color.

I actually flip-flopped back and forth between three different colors since I had so much time to think about it, but inevitably I chose OPI’s Pinking of You.

 

One hour and 45 minutes later, my flippin’ fingers were painted and I was super irritated. I’m not lying when I say I had three nails that were only pained 3/4 of the way down. It looked like I let a six-year-old paint my nails.

I left the salon, smudged a nail when I was trying to start my car and arrived back at our apartment in a huff. I felt like some uppity version of Reese Witherspoon in Legally Blonde complaining to Ryan about my experience but luckily he didn’t think I was too ridiculous. 🙂

Dinner

Fortunately I had some good company in Ryan, his mom and her boyfriend to make me forget about my not-so-fun manicure experience almost immediately.

They’re in town for the weekend because Ryan’s mom will be joining me for my bridal shower tomorrow. (YAY!)

The four of us had plans to enjoy dinner and headed to Maitland to eat at Antonio’s, a nice Italian cafe and deli.

The inside of Antonio’s is really neat. The restaurant is essentially located in the middle of a gourmet deli and you enjoy your meal surrounded by jars of olives and marinara sauce and packages of pasta.

To begin, we were served fresh bread.

 

I had three slices. It was warm, crusty and delicious.

For my entree, I ordered a create-your-own-pizza topped with loads of veggies.

I ate all but two slices… and then ate one more when we got home. 😉

Dessert

Even though we were all feeling fairly full, we still had room for dessert and headed to Jeremiah’s Italian Ice for a cold treat.

 

Ryan and I split a medium cookies ‘n’ cream gelati with vanilla soft serve.

It was fantastic, as always. Jeremiah’s is the jam.

Ryan’s mom and her boyfriend shared a strawberry gelati with vanilla soft serve and gave it good reviews as well.

I’m pretty pooped and hope to get into bed a little early tonight. I know tomorrow will be a big day with my bridal shower kicking off at 11 a.m.!

Hope you’re having a good weekend! 😀

Won’t He Look Handsome!?

Our weekend checklist included a slew of wedding-related errands, and this afternoon we got to check the final item off our to-do list! 

After lunch, Ryan and I headed over to Men’s Wearhouse to select the tuxes he and his groomsmen will wear on our wedding day. 

Another Day of Wedding Fun

We looked at many different options, including champagne colored vests and ties, but eventually settled on a classic black Calvin Klein tux with a crisp, white shirt, a black patterned vest, a solid black tie and a silk white handkerchief in the breast pocket. 

The Look

I should also mention that the pants they will wear will not  have any pleats, which made me a very happy girl. 

Ryan and his groomsman will all wear the same tux, but Ryan will have a different boutonniere to stand out a lil’ bit. 

Won’t he look handsome? 😉 

Dog Park 

Post-tux selection, Ryan and I headed home to pick up Sadie for a trip to the dog park. 

Earlier in the week I made plans with Meghann to meet her and her adorable dog Maddie at the park. 

Meghann + Maddie

Aren’t they the cutest!? 

I met Meghann for the first time back in May and it was great to see her again. She completed an olympic-distance triathlon today and I loved hearing about her race and playing with Maddie. Sadie really seemed like a total nut job next to Maddie, who has such a sweet demeanour. 

Bloggers and Their Dawgs

After an hour or so of puppy play time, we headed home, but not before giving Meghann a bag of starter dough for Amish Friendship Bread. 😀 

Dinner 

Once we arrived at home, we were ready for some dinner. 

Tonight felt like a no-think-no-fuss kinda night, so we opted for a California Pizza Kitchen frozen margherita pizza. 

CPK Margherita

Slice of Delight

CPK makes the best frozen pizzas!  

I think everyone grew up loving a certain brand of delivery pizza… Pizza Hut, Papa John’s, Domino’s or a local pizza joint of some sort. So, I ask you… 

Who makes your favorite brand of delivery pizza?

Off to California…

…Pizza Kitchen, that is. ;D 

California Pizza Kitchen

After a good workout yesterday, my sister, Ryan and I had some grumbly tummies. I suggested grabbing dinner at California Pizza Kitchen because I recently received some “pizza dough” from the company to sample their new small cravings menu.  

Apparently they got wind of my intense love for CPK frozen pizzas and figured I might enjoy some of their restaurant fare as well. 😉   

Smilin' Sisters at CPK

We sat down in a comfy booth and immediately ordered two items off the small cravings menu to share: the Mediterranean plate and the crispy artichoke hearts. 

Mediterranean Plate

Mediterranean Plate: Our original recipe of Tuscan white bean hummus, Feta cheese topped with extra virgin olive oil and a Greek salad with cucumbers, red onions, fresh Roma tomatoes and Greek olives in our homemade lemon-herb vinaigrette. Served with our traditional pizza-pita bread. 

Hummus + Feta + Greek Salad + Pitas

 Crispy Artichoke Hearts: Artichoke hearts lightly fried with Japanese panko bread crumbs, then sprinkled with Parmesan cheese. Served with our homemade remoulade sauce. 

Crispy Artichoke Hearts

Both small cravings items were light, flavorful and would pair perfectly with a bowl of soup for a light lunch. 

The Greek salad included on the Mediterranean plate was my favorite. The saltiness of the olives and the fresh, crisp flavor of the cucumbers and tomatoes really complimented each other. 

For dinner, the three of us ordered two pizzas to share. 

Margherita Pizza: The classic Italian pizza. Made with imported Italian tomatoes, Mozzarella and fresh Mozzarella cheeses topped with fresh basil and Parmesan cheese. 

Margherita Pizza

Cheesy

Greek Pizza: Mediterranean spiced grilled chicken and Mozzarella cheese topped with a chilled Greek salad of cucumbers, red onions, fresh tomatoes, Greek olives, Feta cheese and a lemon-herb vinaigrette. Served with our homemade Tzatziki sauce and chopped Italian parsley.  

Greek Pizza

Lots o' Veggies

Both pizzas were really tasty. I loved all the veggies on the Greek pizza and CPK’s homemade Tzatziki sauce was fantastic. 

The Margherita pizza was prepared on a thin crust with lots of cheese and fresh tomatoes. It tasted the way a gourmet classic pizza should taste. Very good! 

I had two large slices of the Greek pizza and one slice of the Margherita pizza, but still had room to share a dessert with Ryan and Leslie. 

We opted for the hot fudge brownie sundae, which, according to the menu is an old fashioned chocolate brownie, served warm and topped with Häagen-Dazs vanilla ice cream, CPK’s triple-thick hot fudge, fresh whipped cream, pecans and a cherry. Are you drooling yet? 😀 

Ryan's "I'm Full but Still Have Room for Dessert" Smile

Hot Fudge Brownie Sundae

I think the sundae lasted about 60 seconds once it was placed in front of us, and that includes the time I took to snap a quick picture. 

The warm, fudgy brownie was moist and perfectly sweet. When paired with the creamy, cool vanilla ice cream, hot fudge and whipped cream, we were all in dessert heaven. 

We all agreed our meal at CPK was a-okay! 🙂 

After dinner, we walked around the mall where the restaurant was located for about 10 minutes before heading home to relax for the evening. 

Today’s Plans 

Today Ryan, my sister and I are hoping to head out to some nearby trails with Sadie for some Memorial Day hiking. I’m hoping to bust out the grill for a classic Memorial Day BBQ when we return for lunch! 

What are your Memorial Day plans?

Blog Celebrity

Tonight I met someone I consider a blog celebrity. 😀

Meghann (of the fantastic blog The Inner Workings of a College Graduate) and I got together in Winter Park for a massage, followed by dinner at Mellow Mushroom. (Kind of romantic, no?)

Me 'n' Meghann

I feel like such a little dweeb-o because I get all giddy before I meet someone whose blog I follow daily. I know way too much about their life and almost feel like I am intruding by reading their blog, even though they post for the world to see! Odd, huh?

Massage

Meghann and I met up after work and I got to check out her sweet ride that she’s enjoying as part of a promotion with Chevy.

We drove over to Massage Envy in Winter Park for our massages,which Meghann received for free through Chevy and kindly shared with me.

Time to Relax

I love massages but I never buy them for myself because I can’t stomach the cost, so this was a special treat!

We both agreed that our massages were very relaxing. If I were a bazillionaire I’d get a massage every other day.

Dinner

Post-rub down, we headed to Mellow Mushroom for pizza!

Smilin' Pretty

Yours Truly

We decided to share a mega-veggie pizza.

Mega Veggie Pizza

The Goods

It was fun to eat with Meghann because I wasn’t the only crazy lady photographing her food. 😉

Blogger in Action

I paired my two large pizza slices with a small side salad.

Side Salad

It was fresh, filling and veggie-packed.

I really enjoyed getting to know Meghann better and was very grateful to her for including me in her massage excursion. I had a great time! 🙂

Foodie Friday

I’m now heading off to the kitchen to get to work on my Foodie Friday treat!

The Foodie Friday recipe winner will be revealed in the mornin’. Thanks to all of you who weighed in on which treat I should make.

I’m already drooling just thinking about it…

Question of the Evening

Have you ever met another blogger in person?

Portobello Pizzas

Since Ryan had jury duty downtown today, when he got off in the late afternoon we were able to meet up for a super-speedy date at Mochi.

Mochi!!!

Looks like frozen yogurt Friday came a bit early!

I knew we had to go today because word on the street was that they had red velvet *my favorite* fro yo on tap today. Who could say no?

Ryan and I shared a small cup of a swirl of red velvet and cheesecake soft serve with rainbow sprinkles, naturally. 😉

I was still a little full from lunch, so when we were making our bowl I kept our portion on the smaller side. Since the bowl was polished off in approximately 2.5 seconds, I think I could’ve handled a little more. We are seriously ice cream machines.

I get my love for ice cream from my dad. The two of us can do some serious damage to a carton of chocolate marshmallow ice cream. (That flavor is hard to find, by the way). Ryan is the only other person I’ve met that can hold a candle to our ice cream-eating abilities. And that is why I’m marrying him. 😉

Dinner

At the farmer’s market on Sunday, I nabbed several fresh portobello mushroom caps. I wanted to use them before they got all slimy and gross in the fridge so I decided to get a little creative in the kitchen.

Gooey cheese and savory marinara sauce sounded like a great combination to me tonight, so I figured I could incorporate both of them into my evening meal in a personal portobello pizza.

I used the mushroom caps as the pizza crust, and let them bake at 350 for 8 minutes or so after spraying them lightly with cooking spray.

I then topped the caps with sauce, cheese and olives and threw them back in the oven until the cheese was melted and slightly browned.

Portobello Pizza

I paired the portobello pizzas with a side of roasted zucchini.

Zucc

All Together Now

Dessert

After dinner, Ryan, Ross and I were in the mood for something sweet, so I whipped up a batch of flourless peanut butter cookies for us to nibble on while watching Jeopardy!

Three Ingredients... That's It!

Guess who had which cookie?

R + J + R

Just FYI

I added a link on my Q & A page for those of you who would like to ask me a question but are feeling a little bashful about emailing me directly. I know I love learning more about you guys, though I sometimes feel a little shy asking the questions I have for ya!

The link on the Q & A page will take you to a form that you can fill out anonymously. I’ll try to address your questions in a comprehensive post once a month or so… That is if there’s anything you guys want to ask that you don’t already know about me. 🙂

For those of you who are new to the ol’ blog, I did a series of Ask Me Anything posts a couple of months ago (You know, when everyone else was doing it? I’m such a bandwagon-rider. 😉 )… Anyway, here are links to those posts:

• Round 1
• Round 2
• Round 3
• Round 4
• Round 5
• Round 6
• Round 7
• Round 8
• Round 9
• Round 10
• Round 11
• Round 12

Of course, if you’re hoping for a fast or personal response to any of your questions, email (pbfingers@gmail.com) is always the best way to go!