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! 😀

Amish Friendship Bread

Lots to post about tonight!

Let’s go in chronological order, shall we?

I arrived home to find four packages on our front porch… along with our garbage can. 😀 I think the FedEx guy put our garbage can in front the packages to prevent anyone from seeing our goodies, but it was quite a strange sight to see!

Package number one included our first wedding present!

First Wedding Gift!

The present was from quite the unique gift giver.

Love, Lily

The gift was from Lily, my orthodontist’s dog who some of you may remember I found wandering around the streets near our apartment when she escaped from my orthodontist’s backyard. I had no idea Lily was her dog when I brought her home to call the number on her dog tag and get her back to her owners! It was quite a crazy coincidence.

Lily did a great job selecting our first wedding gift and bought us a cookie jar filled with cookie cutters that we registered for at Williams-Sonoma last weekend.  Thank you Lily! 😉

Sadie’s Package

The next package made Sadie quite happy!

A new frisbee toy!

"New Toys are the BEST!"

Yes, the blue frisbee in the picture above was brand new. Sadie is a toy destroyer!

"THROW IT!"

In my feeble attempt to play with Sadie and throw the frisbee to the farthest point of our backyard, I accidentally threw the frisbee on the roof!

"Uh oh."

She was devastated. We cannot open our bedroom (it’s sealed shut), and we tried stacking chairs and using broomsticks to get it down without luck. A ladder sure would’ve helped. 😉

Dinner

Since playtime was cut short by my frisbee faux paux, dinner was served a bit early this evening!

Before I left for work this morning, I placed a pound of ground chicken in the crock pot with a packet of reduced sodium taco seasoning and 2/3 cup of water. The forethought made assembling slow cooker chicken tacos (one of the first recipes I ever posted on PBF!) a breeze once we were ready for dinner.

I used the chicken to create a big taco salad with shredded lettuce, salsa and two crumbled hardshell tacos.

Taco Salad

Chicken + Taco Shells + Lettuce + Salsa

Fiesta in a Bowl

 This taco salad was cool and crisp… perfect for a summer night!

Dessert

As Tina would say, HOLY YUM.

This evening’s dessert was a long time coming. Seriously.

I’ve been waiting 10 days to make it!

Ten days ago my sister gave me a bag of dough and a piece of paper with instructions. The paper informed me that the dough I received was the “starter dough” I would need to create Amish Friendship Bread.

I absolutely love the concept of Amish Friendship Bread. Once you receive the dough for Amish Friendship Bread from a friend, it becomes your duty to make the bread and pass along your own “starter dough” to three of your friends.

Tonight I finally got to make the yummy bread.

Amish Friendship Bread

Cinnamon Sugar Bready Carby Goodness

As the bread was baking, the smell in our apartment was unbelievable. It smelled like coffee cake and cinnamon!

I enjoyed one small slice fresh outta the oven!

Moist. Sweet. Perfect.

Okay that was a blatant lie. I definitely had three pieces. And the piece pictured above was definitely the smallest of the three. 😉

I am planning on passing along my starter dough to two of my friends but thought it might be neat to pass it along to a blog reader, too! If you live in the Orlando area and would like a bag of starter dough to keep the Amish Friendship Bread chain going, shoot me an email at pbfingers@gmail.com and I’ll pass it along to ya! (First come, first serve, to be fair. 😉 )

If you want to create this bread and pass it along to your friends you may click here for instructions!

Now I’m off to watch the second half of So You Think You Can Dance before hittin’ the hay! (How good was Robert’s dance about Travis’ mother? Eeeeemotional!)

G’night all!

Our First Registering Experience

It’s amazing how three days away from the gym can feel like so long! 

My body was seriously craving a work out this morning. 

If you just aren’t feelin’ the gym these days, try taking a few days off (more than one!). It may be just the thing you need to get your mojo back. 😉 

Ryan and I hit up the gym for a good workout a little before 9 a.m. I did a total-body workout, similar to the weights routine I did last Monday. I had a yummy breakfast bagelwich before my workout to help me power through. 

Breakfast Bagelwich

To make my bagelwich, I toasted a sweet wheat Alternative Bagel and topped it with a wedge of Laughing Cow light original Swiss cheese, MorningStar Farms veggie bacon and an egg white. 

I actually cooked the egg white in a mug in the microwave, which worked really well. I just sprayed a mug with cooking spray, added the egg white and cooked it on high for around 40 seconds, or until I heard a little “pop.”    

Egg + Bacon + Cheese

Fast food breakfast sandwiches ain’t got nothin’ on me! 😀 

Registering at Williams-Sonoma 

After taking Sadie for a walk around the lake near our apartment, eating another snack (hummus & cheese wrap for me) and showering, Ryan and I headed to Williams-Sonoma to register for our wedding!    

What a Lovely Sight

 My hubby-to-be in front of Williams-Sonoma??? I may have just died and gone to heaven. Would it be weird if I framed this picture? 😉    

A Glimpse into Heaven

Registering at Williams-Sonoma was a breeze.    

Ryan and I both thought the employees struck the perfect balance between helpful and aloof. Neither of us like someone breathing down our back, but whenever we looked especially confused, someone seemed to magically appear. 

Guess who was quite a big fan of the registering gun?   

Man and Machine

We agreed going into the experience that we would both have to like anything we scanned, but that we could each get one “freebie” item that the other person didn’t really care for. Neither of us ended up using our “freebie” item and we seemed to see eye-to-eye on almost everything! Maybe we’ll use our “freebies” when we register at Bed Bath and Beyond next weekend.     

Post-Registering Smiles

Ryan and I listened to the advice of former brides and those of you who commented on my blog before about creating a wedding registry, and registered for a couple of “big ticket” items like a set of Caphalon pans and a Wüsthof Classic 12-Piece Knife Block Set. I can’t quite imagine anyone going all out like that for our wedding, but a girl can dream! 

Wedding Band Selection   

Once we were done registering at Williams-Sonoma, Ryan and I headed down the street and picked up a grande chai tea Frappuccino from Starbucks. 

Chai Frapp

We then walked down to a nearby jeweler to check out wedding bands. 

I think we pretty much selected Ryan’s band today! 

He loved a thick platinum band with light etching on the top and bottom of the band. I’ll definitely post a picture when it comes in and we fully commit. 

I really liked a band with several princess-cut diamonds on it. I am not sure how many diamonds or what size diamonds I prefer, so the woman we were working with is going to shop around and give me a call when she gets some possibilities in the store. I’ll keep you guys posted!   

Lunch 

We swung by the grocery store on our way home from the jeweler and picked up food for lunch and for the rest of the week.   

When we arrived home, I got to work in the kitchen making a childhood favorite for lunch. 

English Muffin Pizzas

Pizza, Pizza

English muffin pizzas are the jam! 

To keep the “crust” crispy, I toasted the English muffins before topping them with tomato sauce and cheese and broiling them until the cheese melted.   

Oh-so-good! 

Now I’m off to unpack and CLEAN! Please try not to be too jealous.   

My goal is to clean, take Sadie for another short walk and make a homemade dinner before the Bachelorette tonight. 

Aaaand I’m off!