I'm baaaack...

I know I said I wasn't going to blog at all until after we get back...

But I had to sneak on here to share with you what we got in the mail today...


Isn't is fabulous?! I just love it!!! I had seen something similar on Etsy and was thinking about making one...

But now I don't have to!!! I love it!!!

Things are pretty smooth around here. I just finished up with our ceremony programs and went with my mom today to get a manicure and pedicure...

My pedicure is already ruined...go figure...

OH well...

Time for me to relax and do a few other things...

I can't wait for Saturday!!!

Only 2 MORE DAYS!!!

I leave you with this...

Well, today is my last day blogging until we get back from our Honeymoon.

I'll miss you all! ha!

No offense, but YEAH RIGHT! :-)

We will be traveling to Sunny Jamaica for 5 glorious days.

OH yeah, and we'll be tying the knot! This Saturday!

I leave you with this wonderful, deliscious, mouthwatering picture. Eh, I'll even give you a recipe! I might just have to try this when we get back... Doesn't it look so awesome?!

Unfortunately, I'd have to eat it all by myself (ooh la la!) because my soon to be Husband isn't one for sweets.

Gasp...I know...

source

Chocolate Souffle

the article says the best way to do this is to make it ahead of time and then just pop it in the oven when you're ready for it

2-1/2 T. Unsalted Butter
5-1/2 T. Sugar, divided
1 t. Cornstarch
1/2 cup Milk
1/2 cup Semisweet Chocolate Chips
4 Egg Yolks
7 Egg Whites (6 if baking immediately)
Confectioner's Sugar

Chocolate Sauce:
1/2 cup heavy cream
3 heaping tablespoons of chocolate chips

Prep:
Butter a 1-1/2 quart souffle dish. Make a paper collar about 3" high. Butter and sugar it slightly then press to the buttered rim of the souffle pan. Now sprinkel a little sugar coating in the souffle dish.

Base:
In a heavy pan, slowly add milk to cornstarch, stirring constantly until smooth. Keep stirring and bring to a boil. Remove from heat. Stir in chocolate, 2 tablespoons butter and 3 tablespoons sugar. Stir until melted. You can put the pan back on low heat if necessary. Remove from heat. Stir in egg yolks one at a time. Cover in plastic wrap. May be kept refrigerated up to two days in advance.

Whites:
Whisk egg whites until soft peaks form. Fold in 2 tablespoons sugar, and beat to stiff shiny peaks. Stir 3 or 4 tablespoons into the base to lighten it, then using a spatula, gently fold (not stir!) the lightened base into the egg whites.
Pour into the prepared souffle dish. Smooth the surface with your spatula. Refrigerate up to six hours. Bring back to room temperature before cooking.

Baking:
Place the souffle on a cookie sheet in the lower third of a preheated 350 degree oven. Make sure it has enough head room to rise! Bake for 25 minutes for a soft center. No peeking! Be sure not to bake more than 30 minutes as an over-baked souffle will fall.

Sauce:
Heat the cream in a heavy pan. When hot (not boiling), add the chocolate and stir until melted and smooth.

Serve:
Serve the souffle straight from the oven. I place my souffle dish on a folded towel to protect my serving plate underneath. Sprinkle with confectioners sugar or cocoa powder as shown. Serve the warm chocolate sauce on the side.

Wedding at Work

Last Thursday at work, we had our monthly department lunch where everyone makes something and we combine and make a meal out of it.

This past Thursday we had some ohsoyummy chili, soup and salad. It was soooo good!

I went out on my break and came back and spotted a cake on my way back to my desk. I was actually thinking to myself, ugh...cake too...I'm so stuffed already!

Then as I got closer I read it and this is what it said...


I was so caught off guard! It was so sweet!!! I would have never expected it.

I thought it was so thoughtful that they thought of me. I'm not that close to most of them.



This is the display from the top. I still haven't figured out if it's made out of sugar or if it's plaster or something.

I just had to share, I thought it was such a great surprise!

Our Silhouettes

Because we aren't really in a 'holiday season' right now...I am lacking decor on our end table. I have a three pillar candle holder thingy on there with nothing on it, but that isn't all to decorative.

So...after seeing these on other blogs, I decided to make our own!

I found these two cute frames at Michael's in the clearance aisle for $0.99 each!!! Isn't that lovely?!

Then I took side profile pictures of us. Nothing too fancy just a nice profile!

Then I printed them out on regular printer paper. I ended up coloring them with permanent marker. Two coats to be exact.

I tried painting them at first (on picture paper), but that didn't turn out too good. The paint kept chipping and wiping off. The permanent marker works really well though.



And then just glued them onto a piece of card stock. I LOVE how they turned out and find myself looking at them frequently.

A new DIY decoration

I've been wanting to make something to put right above the stove and under the hood of it. I decided to go through my scrapbooking supplies and see if there was something in there I could use.

I came up with this.

I think it turned out pretty good. I love hanging things with ribbon...I have this new obsession with it. However, I need to invest in some upholstery tacks.

I also kind of wish it was in a smaller frame. This is an 8x10.


So cute...it was actually a clear sticker. I stuck it on some white card stock and then glued it onto black paper. Then I used some punch out corner frames and glued that entire thing onto some more scrap paper and then all that onto a black piece of card stock cut out to 8x10.

Did you get all of that?!

A slight change in plans

Little Miss Ava (our cute little flower girl and my niece) came over last weekend and decided to try on her flower girl dress.

Good thing. It didn't fit!!!

I didn't freak out or anything and didn't pay much for the dress. I was just worried that I wouldn't be able to find something reasonable that I really liked.

I headed out to Burlington Coat Factory in search, not sure if I'd find what I was looking for.

Well...

I did. and

I FOUND SOMETHING EVEN BETTER!!!

I love it so much and I just can't wait to see Ava in it!!! It even came with a matching little dolls dress! It is so beautiful and it's simpler than the other dress I had. I'm so happy that this happened. It happened for a reason!





What a cute little doll dress!

What will YOU do to make a CHANGE?

We are thinking about volunteering at a local PADS shelter.

What about you?

Any ideas or suggestions?



p.s. Sorry I haven't been blogging much...I will be back in three weeks (hopefully with some really yummy pictures to show you all!). Until then, you will have to suffer my randomly posted antics :-)

Please Pray

I'm jumping on the band wagon, but for a good reason.

I met Kelly through her blog maybe a year ago. Even though I don't know her personally, through her blog I have learned that she is just one of the nicest, sweetest, God loving, giving kind of person.

Kelly and her husband Scott have been waiting on a baby for so long. About nine months ago, they were blessed with the knowledge that they would be having a baby.

Little Harper was born last night around 7pm and because of complications has been taken to Tulsa.

Even if you don't know Kelly or her family, please say a small quick prayer for her, Scott and Harper. If anyone deserved a baby, they do. Please pray that their sweet little Harper has a quick recovery and can go home with her mom and dad.

Thank you.

For updates or do visit her blog...go HERE.

Long time no talk

I know I have been horrible with posting (*ahem, zizi nikki and jordan) but it might just have to be sporadic from here until mid February...sorry peeps (Ava kept saying that yesterday...ha!) but I have a wedding very rapidly approaching.

One I may or may not have had a minor freak out about just tonight.

Any who...I leave you with two pictures from my Bachelorette Party Night. A night that I had so much fun with...it's almost sad that it's over!

Don't worry, we were good. No strippers. Only men dressed as women singing pop songs and dancing choreographed dances. And singing and dancing on a stage. Fun times, maybe even the best of times!

I promise I'll share more about the night very soon. For now...I have other things on my mind...such as I have to refigure the seating chart and have that and money to the reception hall by Saturday.

I know it's really nothing I can't handle. Heck, I'm sure I'd even finish it rather quickly (considering there is a rough draft), but that is how this little mind of mine works. It freaks out over irrational things (i.e. cleaning, dirt, my inbox?!...do you see a problem here?!).

Isn't she lovely...isn't she beautiful! ha! I had a great night and was even all decorated. Bless all my sweet friends.
The group minus Anita - she met us out...so good to see her!

Not to rub it in or anything...just my peace of mind - BUT, three weeks from now at this very moment, me and my husband (love it!) will be in sunny warm Jamaica (knock on wood it doesn't snow us in and keep us here...). I simply can't wait!

T minus 21 days

I was going through my 'ring shots' and came across this one. I don't know why I didn't post it with the rest. I simply love it. You can tell that it's on a ruff surface. I hate the top of that table...but it gave the picture some character. Hm...me likey!

Now that it is after midnight...we officially have 21 days left until our big day!

I can't wait for the day to come! Now that it is so close, it's almost like...get here already!

Tonight (Saturday - it is past midnight!) is my bachelorette party! Yay! I can't wait...it should be a great time! I'll be sure to post pictures!!!

Hope you are all having a great weekend.

Sorry nothing is all too interesting! :-)

It comes in three's

Saturday was a fun fun day for me!

I got to have my make up trial for our wedding day. I have to say, I felt kind of weird going out in public with my face all done up! I wear make up usually every day (except for weekends sometimes...), but this was the entire package of make up.

I got it done at O Salon in Mundelein. I have to say - I love that place! It's really cute in there too! The walls are a really dark shade of purple and they have various animal print antique stools and reupholstered chairs! So cute...maybe even a concept for a room in our future house?! I think maybe!

Here I am...


My friend and maid of honor, Jessica went with me for moral support...ha! I like it a lot though. I even bought the lip liner and gloss for touch ups on the day of. I have to say - not used to wearing that all the time, but the color is neutral and very flattering on me if I say so myself! I may even be sporting it outside of the wedding! I just felt so pretty!!!

After that, Jess made us (her bridesmaids...because she is getting married on June 26th! Hence my title of this post...me, my friend Jenny and Jessica are all getting hitched! I'm planning on throwing my bouquet at Katie - another friend almost there - so we can make it four!!! I'm getting off subject here...story of my life...) appointments to try on dresses at David's Bridal.

She was going to pick a color and let us all pick out what dress we wanted to wear. We ended up deciding on two different dresses and the girls could pick which one they wanted to wear.

The first was a strapless dress. I loved it and the material is a cotton - you definitely can't tell from the pictures, but it is SO comfortable!


Then we tried on a strapped version. Of these two, I felt most comfortable in the one below. Which is the one I and two other girls picked! So we get to pick from the above picture and the below picture! Bonus?!...they both have pockets!!! How awesome is that?!




The dresses will be in the color below. Jessica's mom (who is like a mother to me, love her!) took us to TGI Friday's afterwards. What a fun time!!!



My Mister was gone for his show by the time I got home - so I decided to return some things that needed returning and shop for an outfit/top for my bachelorette party that is coming up next weekend! I had much luck while I was out and even found a handful of things for five bucks each on the clearance racks at Target...oh how I love their clearance racks!!! I may have even found my dress for our rehearsal and dinner! Yay! So many tedious shopping things crossed off my list!

Today is a day of relaxing and trying to check some things off the list of to dos.

Hope you all had a great weekend!

Project 365

I am embarking on a journey today.

And I am making myself stick to it.

I'm even about to make a pretty sign on the computer to hang on our fridge as an every day reminder for my project.

The project I am about to start is called Project 365 (click here for the article). I'm not quite sure where it originated from, but I read about it on this blog.

I will have to take one picture a day (or pick just one) and make it into a book of some sort (scrap, photo, etc).

I was having trouble deciding how I would go about this in order to make sure I know which day is which. I also wanted to be able to write a little something about the photo in order to make it even more memorable.

I originally wanted to make my own scrapbook, but then thought that might take a LONG while to complete. Unless I religiously did it every single (or couple) days. Like that would happen. So, I decided to use Shutterfly because I've been using it recently to create a special somethin' somethin'. I really like how easy it is and I can put more than one picture on each page. Better yet...when the year is over and it is all done...I can order it and have it shipped to me! No scrapping (even though I love doing it) or cutting or deciding what I should use to decorate the page.

I can't wait to see the finished results and hopefully continue to do this every year. It would serve as a nice memento for us and our own little family in the future and even years down the road.

Here we go! It's going to be a great year!

One year ago, on this night

As I write, it is 2009.

Is it me, or did 2008 just fly past us while we weren't looking?

Is it me, or did I say something similar last year?!?!

One year ago, on this night Ryan and I went out for a dinner. The entire thing was a suprise for me. When we arrived home, there was a special set up and Ryan asked me to marry him.

Last year, on this night, my entire life changed.

In one month, my life with change again. And I wouldn't have asked for any of this to happen any other way.

For the whole story go HERE.