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! 😀

All-Inclusive Honeymoons

Today’s lunch was suuuper simple.

I’m a huge fan of fruit, bread and cheese platters at parties, and recreated a little platter for myself for lunch today.

I made an apple and cheese quesadilla on a whole wheat tortilla.

Apple 'n' Cheese Quesadilla

Hello 'Dilla Insides

On the side, I had a mini-fruit salad with chopped apple and strawberries.

Apple and Strawberry Fruit Salad

Dessert included two pieces of Easter candy.

Dessert

Post Suggestions

Thank you for your post suggestions! So far on my “to do” list for posts I have:

• BodyPump Overview
• A Day in the Life
• Songs of the Day
• Wedding Posts (This should really pick up soon as I have quite a few wedding planning “to dos” coming up!)
• Tips for New Runners

Feel free to send any more suggestions my way at pbfingers@gmail.com or comment on this post. 🙂

All-Inclusive Honeymoons

Ryan and I are in the process of selecting our honeymoon destination. We’re really intrigued by the all-inclusive resorts since it makes vacation planning easier and can help save money on food and drinks. We don’t want to go on a cruise since we live in Florida and can do that anytime for pretty cheap, so we’re looking into Caribbean all-inclusive resorts.

Have you ever stayed at an all-inclusive resort? Thoughts? Recommendations?

At my Invisalign appointment this morning, my orthodontist recommended Excellence Resorts with locations in the Dominican Republic and Mexico. The website sure makes these resorts look breath-taking!

Excellence Playa Mujeres Resort and Spa

My main concern with all-inclusive vacations is the added fees associated with activities or spa services. Both Ryan and I like to explore on vacations, and I know we’ll want to do fun activities like scuba diving. We don’t want to pay an arm and a leg for the added adventures.

Decisions, decisions…

Overflowing

Not only were the empty boxes we brought to fill up with the stuff remaining at our old apartment overflowing (We need more boxes!), but so was a toilet at our new apartment! Gaaah.

Our new landlord is amazing and got a plumber out to our place within 20 minutes. Apparently roots grew into the pipes, causing the water to get backed up and the toilet to overflow. Luckily we already moved all our towels, so we had a bunch of old towels on hand to contain the water.

The plumber arrived quickly, and our toilet is back in commission! Phew.

While the plumber was working away, Ryan and I took a break from loading and unloading the car to enjoy a yummy lunch.

Taco Meat + Cheese

I made us a big quesadilla to share using leftover taco meat from Wednesday’s dinner and mozzarella cheese.

'Dilla

I also enjoyed a big ol’ veggie wrap with roasted red pepper hummus, portobello mushrooms, yellow squash and broccoli.

Hummus

Veggies

Lunch Time

I was really hungry and we both polished off our respective lunches quickly.

We weren’t quite ready to get back to work, so we hung out in the backyard, enjoying the sun for about 45 minutes.

Mission

The mission for the rest of the day is to get every last thing out of our old place.

Where is all this stuff coming from!?!?

I Bought THE Dress!

I did it!!! I officially placed a down payment on my wedding dress. 😀 I am beyond excited!!!

Today at Something Blue Bridal‘s veil and headpiece trunk show, I saw my dress in person for the fourth time. It is so beautiful and finally, after four separate appointments to see and try on this dress, I feel 100 percent positive that I found my perfect dress. (Can you tell I am a very thorough person? 😉 )

The women at the boutique said the designer of my dress, Jim Hjelm, will be in town in April and I will get to meet him in person. My dress is actually designed by James Clifford, but he is  Jim Hjelm, so I cannot wait to meet the man behind the masterpiece in couple of months.

Though the trunk show for my dress’s designer isn’t until April, the women still offered me the trunk show discount on my dress, which saved me around $160. For a frugal gal like me, this made my day!

Since I cannot post pictures of my dress since I don’t want my hubby-to-be to see ’em, I hope you’ll enjoy these pictures of me trying on veils today. I want my veil to be a combination of these two veils… long, but with lace trimming that starts around my fingertips and goes to the floor. I love the cathedral veils!

Long Veil

Short Veil with Lace Trimming

Does anyone out there have any tips as to where to look for a less expensive veil?

Any advice is appreciated!

Errands and Eats

Oookay, let’s back up a bit. (I got a little too excited to share my wedding dress news with you!)

After breakfast, Ryan and I headed to Home Depot to pick up a new air filter before stopping by IKEA to check out furniture and brainstorm decorating ideas for our new apartment.

Ryan ❤ Home Depot

We forgot what size air filter we needed so we bought two, figuring one would work. Turns out neither were right! Such is life. 🙂

Ryan and I had a good time in IKEA and found several pieces of furniture (a chair, dresser and bed frame) that we definitely think would make a wonderful addition to our new home. We wrote down all the details and are planning on stopping by again sometime soon.

IKEA

Lunch

We came home and immediately wanted lunch. I made two hummus sandwiches… mine with zucchini and Ryan’s with turkey. I used roasted red pepper hummus and it was so tasty! I think I had several servings while I was making the sandwiches…

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

Zucchini

Lunch

I also enjoyed a cool and very crisp Jazz apple.

Apple

After lunch, Sadie needed some lovin’, so we took her to the dog park.

Sadie Girl

The weather was gorgeous today! Ryan and I both commented on how wonderful it felt to feel the sun on our skin again.

After the park, it was time for me to head out to the bridal trunk show, so I made a quick quesadilla to snack on in the car. Sadie was very intrigued…

"Gimme the 'Dilla"

After the trunk show and officially placing the down payment on my dress (YAY!), I stopped by Fresh Market to browse for a bit.

That store is gorgeous! I was most impressed with the bakery and the large selection of desserts. YUM. I bought a piece of peanut butter Ghirardelli chocolate and some honey roasted nuts to munch on while I drove home.

Peanut Butter Chocolate

I think I ate more nuts than I should have because I wasn’t all that hungry by the time I got home.

Ryan was ready for dinner and talked me into swinging by Chipotle for some grub. I kept my dinner relatively light with a burrito bowl, topped with lots of guacamole.

Chipotle Burrito Bowl

Stirred Up

Guacamole makes great salad dressing!

Ryan and I both also shared a bag of chips and more guacamole. Olé!

When we came home, we took Sadie on a short walk to the grocery store where I bought mix for Jello Oreo pudding. We’re currently waiting for the pudding to set before digging into our dessert. 🙂

Ryan and I are taking it easy and staying in tonight. Today was a go-go-go kinda day and Ryan has a soccer game early tomorrow morning, so an evening of relaxin’, move watching and flipping through our never-ending stack of magazines sounds perfect.

See ya in the morning! 😀

Gouda ‘Dilla

I am convinced that cheese can make any dish taste even better. Spaghetti = better with cheese. Tacos = better with cheese. Ice cream = better with cheese. 😉

Okay, maybe cheese doesn’t enhance every dish, but it is gosh darn delicious!

On Sunday I bought a pack of Gouda cheese to broaden my cheesy horizons. I love the intense flavor of this cheese. It really does add a lot to a sandwich, or in the case of my lunch, a quesadilla.

Quesadilla

I made a microwavable quesadilla with the following items:

• Whole wheat tortilla
• Gouda cheese
• Kidney beans
• Broccoli

Pre-Folded 'Dilla

I meant to pack salsa, but I forgot. Boo! Even salsa-less, it was quite yummy.

For dessert I enjoyed a small box of the traditional Valentine’s Day candy, Sweethearts!

Sweethearts

What’s your favorite color Sweetheart candy?

My favorite hearts have always been the pink and the white hearts. They’re the best! (Oranges are pretty good, too.)

Snack in a Snap

Today’s mid-morning snack came together in a (ginger)snap!

Gingersnap Yogurt

I topped a cup of Fage Greek yogurt with four small gingersnap cookies and added a little sweetener before digging in. So delish!

Time to pack up my work station… We’re moving floors today! So long window view… 😦