Our Once in a Lifetime

Home from our wedding and honeymoon!!

What an absolutely amazing two weeks - from the last week of planning and prep before the big day (lots of late nights with my mom - read: wedding planner extraordinaire) to the actual wedding which was just a surreal and incredible day, and then finally, the honeymoon in St. Lucia. Everyone warned me ahead of time that the engagement and wedding day would really fly by, and I swear I believed them and tried to embrace it all, but I still can't believe it's come and gone (though I am so loving being married and looking forward to the years ahead).

My appearances here might be few and far between for the next few weeks as we try to get our lives back in order, or in order at all (not sure it ever WAS!).

In the meantime, here are a few pictures of our past 2 weeks...

Rehearsal dinner video...

March 1, 2008 - our wedding...

And... St. Lucia for our honeymoon...

Too Far?

Might as well get this out in the open... I am 100% one of "those" people! Nope, not the people who dress up their pets (never, ever, ever... ), or who take their pets with them to the grocery store in their purse (though my mom might be able to provide some insight into the world of canine carrying cases).

But, after I was sent this link to Shine Pet Photos, a pet photographer... I'll admit it - I looked at the prices and thought "wow, that's not horrible... maybe one day!" Truth be told, though - I attribute that more to the talent of this photographer (who's a friend of a friend - so maybe I could work a discount!) than wanting a professional photo shoot for my sweet Annabelle... or maybe - well, she IS really cute.

Take a look for yourself and you'll see... I'm not so crazy!

It's Just a Game?

Ha!

In an emotional season, a win like this is just what we needed.

Way to go, Deacs! I'm so proud of you guys!!

Hometown Hero

So if it wasn't enough that one of my old hometown friends piloted a plane in this past year's Army-Navy game fly-over... another Atlanta-area US Navy big-shot has stepped up.

This past summer, a friend of my family's was named to the elite Blue Angel squadron. My high school's very own Lt. Frank Weisser!


It seems that this new-found status has afforded him some pretty neat and unique experiences... most recently, he took former NFL star, Terrell Davis, up for a 'spin around the block'. *Click on the picture below for the clip showing the football star passing out due to the g-forces.


If anyone knows what business some ex-NFL players have going up with the Blue Angels, let me know!

All This Time?

What does it say about your life when the most exciting event of the weekend is a trip to a grocery store.

But... this was no ordinary grocery store (though even visits to the "lessers" are exciting for me), it was my inaugural visit to the grand Wegmans!! Yes yes yes, someone who likes food and cooking as much as I do hadn't been to this mecca until yesterday.


It's official, too, that it was better that I didn't know this (see below) existed. (yes, I was the huge dork in the grocery store taking pictures and almost totally alienated my friends ) I have been assured (and I unprofessionally verified this to a certain extent) that the prices of the everyday items are very VERY reasonable, so there was no risk there... but when the first thing you see are the beautiful aisles of fresh meats and baked goods ready for my taking, it's just TOO tempting. For instance, who knew that I 'needed' flank steak rolled with layers of soft garlicky cheeses?!

My take on the whole experience? I used it as an opportunity to get new ideas... fresh salmon topped with a touch of soft cheese and sliced almonds, pounded chicken breasts rolled with fresh spinach, chopped tomatoes, and salty parm? Coming right up!


As if a visit to Wegmans wasn't enough... our hosts (Christina) Domazos and her fiance, Lee, then took us to their local Chocolate Lovers Festival! Who knew this annual event even existed just down the road in Old Town Fairfax?

We spent a great hour or two milling through the Old Town Hall making tough decisions on what we would purchase with our pogs (you have to go next year to find out what those are). Chris and I ended up with some peanut butter melt-aways, chocolate-covered graham crackers and marshmallows, 5 tastes of different flavors of fudge (including keylime - so yummy!), and he savored a cup of mint chocolate chip ice cream from Sweet Life Cafe!

The rest of the afternoon was much less fun... it was spent going between a number of different households either picking up or delivering furniture as we are in the home stretch of selling one house, and combining things in my condo with everything else in our new home! 4 weeks and counting!

Not EXACTLY...

Back around Christmas time, my boss mistakenly treated us to some (just may have been more than one!) of the absolute best cookies I've ever tasted. About a month later, I started dreaming about these ginger cookies so off I went to try and find a similar-sounding recipe in the hopes of re-creating the taste and experience of these cookies.

I found something that sounded like it had a chance (though I should have known these weren't the same when the recipe called for the balls of dough to be rolled in sugar before baking) on Allrecipes.com. I haven't always had tons of success with Allrecipes.com but I figured it was worth a try - plus, this one was rated 5-stars across the board.

Let me preface my reaction with the admission that I am 100% spoiled - unless one day I take possession of the "original" recipe, I don't know that any cookie or recipe will ever measure up. But with that said, these cookies were actually really good. And yes - they truly are (like the recipe states) - big, soft ginger cookies. I also liked that they are almost perfectly round, but I was sad when the cookie that had been nice and fluffy-looking right from the oven flattened out. So my search for the real thing will continue.

I have since been back on Allrecipes.com and found another soft ginger cookie recipe that got even more enthusiastic reviews, so I may continue "the quest" with that second recipe.

*Update - bosswoman Sara is going to get me the recipe for the "real thing"!! I suspect she might have some personal interest in doing so but regardless, the recipe will soon be mine! Stay tuned!!

The "Great" Debate

Go figure... recently that it seems like even the most insignificant things can spark a debate and necessitate a poll be taken immediately, often in an attempt to predict the outcome. This issue has been "swirling" around (and certainly came to light while I was sipping on my free cup of coffee this morning) - especially given the increase in number of coffee shops I continue to notice - so I thought I'd see which side of "the debate" you all fall on.

What type of coffee drinker are you?

• home-brewed, casual


• home-brewed, freshly ground only


• brand loyal (which brand?)
• Starbucks only
• office coffee - K-Cup anyone?


• not particular


• anything black *like my dad, or barely coffee? *like my mom


• tea only?
• other?
  
  

Just Talkin'

Just because I'm not doing much of my own cooking (and certainly am not inspired by what I actually have managed to throw together) doesn't mean I haven't been paying attention to anything food-related. I gotta do something while dreaming of finally getting into my cute new kitchen (5 weeks and 2 days, but who's counting?!).

This morning on the Today Show (haven't seen that show in ages and had forgotten why I love it so much!) a contributing editor from Bon Appetit (another of my personal favorites!) provided some tips on cooking delicious, gourmet recipes year-round while maintaining a level of frugality; I liked her recommendations of buying in-season (a tip that she repeated numerous times) ingredients and produce, and changing what you cook throughout the year according to those ingredients - and she didn't mean just the fresh fruit and veggies you eat but also what you make with them! Another tip she mentioned was not to be tempted by the first thing that you see right when you enter your grocery store because very often, the less-costly but equally tasty and beautiful produce lie just around the corner. *My two cents... you've probably heard this before: shop around the perimeter of your store and not the interior - though admittedly, this is more of a calorie-reducing strategy than a cost-cutting measure.

The nice lady from Bon Appetit also proposed a few recipes that she claims get you more "bang for your buck" - ways to eat fresh and healthy without going broke. As we like pretty much anything with avocados, I'll definitely give the spinach salad a try; this will allow us to take advantage of using in-season ingredients, too! Yet another to add to the "to cook" list!

And, as a quick 180 from the yummy food talk... did anyone catch the "Ice Man" feature on the Today Show this morning? Turns out that through an interesting mind over body-type exercise, he can withstand freezing temperatures for long periods of time! Tomorrow he will attempt to break his own world-record by remaining submerged in ice for over 71 minutes - a record I will go out on a limb and say will remain his for a very long time.