Observations

Just found this in my drafts dated 12/28/12. It made me laugh, so typos and over shares and all I'm clicking publish.

Driving makes me sleepy. Or rather riding does. 10 hrs of driving, all but 10 minutes of it after the sun so gracefully set at 535pm in Michigan. I'm tires. So is my husband, but he's driving, and for once I'm trying to stay awake with him. So here are some probably very random observations of late:

Diet snapple is 10 calories, regular is 160. They taste exactly the same. How?

People in the mall are rude. But the puppies that are probably from a puppy mill are adorbs and I will never own one because my husband hates dogs. Like very, truly 100% kind of hate. The puppies don't make up for the rude people.

I want a fun party dress for New Years. Karsashian Kollection had two super cute ones. Might have to go back and get one. Yes, the Kardashians have cute clothing lines.

I have felt like I have hard, dry boogers waaaaaayyyy up in my nose. Overshare, no? I've blown, hell, I've picked. There's nothing there. Driving me crazy like a fox. Someone help me.

Old men love my red lipstick. They stare. They comment. They smile and flirt. Just kidding, no flirting. But I bet they want to.

On the same line, red lipstick makes me C.O.N.fident. You can stare people, I know its because my lips make my eyes pop and my new short hair just make me look even sassier. It's not because I have spinach in my teeth and spilled my cherry coke down my shirt. I'm hot!

But really, I do feel sassy.

Did I say I was tired? I get sassy when I'm tired.

Can not wait to get to Oskaloosa, Iowa and pass out. Over and out Mon amis. (incorrect French I am sure)

Boot Shopping

Last year I bought a wonderful pair of knee high camel tone boots (by the lovely Lauren Conrad and her Kohl's Collection) that I LOVE. I mean, I really love them; wear them almost daily, and heck I wear them with black and grey and every other color that's not supposed to match--but I say they do!

Only problem with 365 days of wear (well maybe not because when it was hot I didn't wear them) is that they are wearing out. And I will probably take them to our local cobler and have them re-heeled so that I can still wear them, my dear friend Kelly says I just need to buy new boots. Right, Kel? She even sent me the link to URBANOG.com which has boots galore with price tags that don't make your stomach drop. Check them out! But first, which ones should I buy?

Oh and an important note is that when Hubs saw me looking at the shoes he says, "you do need another pair." And he was serious. Love that man!

1. THESE

2. THESE

3. THESE

4. THESE

5. THESE

 

6. THESE black/brown combo are a  YES, PLEASE!

So which ones do you like? 1-6? And what are these models wearing with their boots??

ps I'm not a big enough blogger to have anyone compensating me for my words here, but darn do I wish I was because they have so much cute going on over there! check it out urbanog.com!

pps thanks Kelly Sue!

14 Days of Ruby Reds

Well, it's DAY 14 of the #31shadesofred #lipstick challenge. I missed posting two days (woops!) because, well, I'm allergic to lipstick and had chapped lips. Yes, yes I did know this prior to started the challenge. Yes I will continue along, I've just been over-hydrating my lips at night to compensate. And actually on Sunday, I did wear lipstick, just forgot a picture.

I'm really enjoying this challenge so far. I have three other ladies actively particpating: @kellysue & @aprilmarie on instagram and my seester on facebook. We've also had some "guest post" support too! I have a lot of thoughts about what wearing lipstick every day has meant for me, and I've talked to Kelly about hers too and they are different experiences. I need to get a hold of April as well to hear her thoughts.

But today, it's two weeks in the wrong order because I can't always work blogger very well, but two weeks of daily photos no less!

If you aren't playing yet, it's not too late! Just grab some lip color (red, pink, coral, purple whatever you like) and put on some lipstick! Even if you do it once, your support would mean so much, and I promise it's fun!

Truth Be Told

I'm a skeptic. A huge one. I have the hardest time believing what I can't see. And I don't buy into others' words at face value. I'm not sure when I started to see the agenda behind the "truths" I am told and when I lost my blind faith, or if I ever had it to begin with.
I guess this isn't just a religious thing but reading this blogpost (can't wait to read more of her stuff btw), lead me to this article today of a neurosurgeon who saw the afterlife just put me on edge this morning. It all sounds beautiful, spectacular even. I would want to go there when I die, no doubt about it. But, dang. It sure does sound like a crock to me.
And that bothers me a bit. Why do I get to decide that his beautiful description of a place where you can do no wrong and live where you cam taste beauty is a collection of really incredible fiction?
And why do I get rubbed the wrong way by religion when I grew up with faith, and even went to a Catholic college. Why does the certainty of others in their beliefs make me so uncomfortable.
I believe in doing good and being the best person I can be. I believe in being a good human not just for the pleasure of being good (though I have a serious problem with disappointing authority, Catholic guilt?) but because we are linked to one another and maybe theirs some truth to karma. I believe there is something bigger out there. I'm just not sure it looks like the carbon copy thing that these big box religions are selling.
I didn't intend to share these thoughts in this space. But it is real. It's what's heavy on ky chest not just this morning but for months. I've been searching, studying, seeking. Which means I'm growing and I appreciate that, I do. I would love to have some answers though. Guess that's why I call this trail and error, huh?

What do you think about he big questions? Do you believe in heaven or an afterlife? Do you remember learning about heaven as a kid?

#31shadesofred #lipstickchallenge

Good morning!! First, please ignore my virtual dust, I'm in the process of revamping my little chunk of the internet and right now it is pretty plain, boring, and ugly!
Second, along with the revamping I'm doing, I am also working to delevop more regular content here! First on my list is a little festive December challenge for the ladies :)
Last weekend our friends hosted a Mad Men themed party and after googling some images (I don't watch
!) I decided that I must wear lipstick! And so did all the other hot ladies there.
My love affair with lipstick hasn't always been so pretty, there was a tense work meeting that left me with unintentional barbie pink lips, and many a tube thrown out for bad color selection. But, I'm taking it back. Lipstick and I are BFF's this month and I think you should play along too!
All you have to do is wear liptick every day in December and snap a selfie to post on instagram or Twitter or Facebook. Don't forget the hashtags #31shadesofred and #lipstickchallenge so we can group.them easily.
That's it: lipstick and pictures each day in December. Or don't do everyday. Who needs rules? Actually I thrive on rules, so you decide of you do or don't. Play around with color. Buy a cute little compact mirror and carry it around so you can do touch-ups. (I am headed to Target after I finish my panera to get one!)
Also I'm brainstorming some additional posts like lipstick diary interviews to see how you feel about wearing lipstick, a how-to with a make up pro, and of course some inspiration so check back here to see how it goes!
Here's todays pre-challenge pic..I need to improve my self-portrait abilities too!

My cup runneth over

Today marks day number two of working as a married woman. I get to make Thanksgiving dinner for my coworkers and clients and while at first it seemed overwhelming I recognize it as a privilege.

I really can't even begin to express how incredibly blessed I have felt since getting engaged really, but especially since the Wednesday before our wedding. Family and friends travels hundreds of miles, just to witness our wedding and that meant the world to me, and Vince too. Walking into the theater I was quite literally overcome with emotions, searching last the faces if those dear to us to see Vince's at the end if the aisle.

I am thankful. Grateful. Overwhelmed with the love and support we have been shown in the last few months. Thank you.

And now I have an early thanksgiving with work family to spend an extra day reflecting in all that we have to be thankful for.

Sitting at the bar waiting to pick up the tab for a clients date I had the opportunity to people watch in one of my favorite locations: an upscale restaurant. The people here vary greatly but tonight and it is entertaining to imagine that they eat here regularly even though a drink and an appetizer tallies up a $30 bill. They must lead such glamour lives :)

Tonight there was one group in particular of about 8 business professionals at happy hour. All were dressed in nice suits, drinking the expensive wine or craft beers, and jovially interacting with one another.

Of the group, only one was female. And of the group, the only one who could be loudly heard using the "f-word" to make her points was said female.

It felt forced. Each time I heard it cross her lips it made me cringe.

Now, don't get me wrong. With the sailors I can sing some pretty dirty songs myself. But something about it came off so incredibly crass.

To the outsider peeking into her world I felt as though she was role playing the part of the young business executive we see on television shows. You know, the male one. The one who is trying to impress his buddies by the number of "ladies" he can bed. That was the part SHE was trying to fill.

Now, I could be wrong. I could be. However, I am rarely wrong. Just kidding! The real however is that there were 7 other men in this group. What they needed wasn't a woman pretending to be one of the guys. They needed her to be her. Why else should they have hired her at their office?

We as women pride ourselves at being adaptable and spreading ourselves thin. Acting like one of the guys doesn't need to be one if the areas that we stretch ourselves in. We can be strong, powerful professionals. Believe me I believe in that 200%. And we can let the perfect little lady charade down and cut loose.

But we don't need to impress others, let alone, our coworkers with outlandish stories filled to the brim with profanity.

We should feel at liberty to be us. Our true us, especially in a social setting. This is the time to show them how much we can accomplish and how incredible we are.

Or at the very least if you have to swear, do it quietly so the whole bar can't hear.

So easy a caveman could do it!

Today marks the first day of our new diet: The Paleo Diet.

I took a client out for breakfast and the best I could do was scrambled eggs and ham with a water to drink.

Not what I wanted to order. And his cinnamon French toast smelt damn good.

Alas, my food was tasty. And I am full. And it did not contain dairy or carbs.

I want to...

Be one of the awesome bloggers that I read. I am constantly inspired by what I read on a daily basis and some integrates into my life but a lot leaves me feeling that there is something more that I need to do. Something I'm not yet reaching.

My status as a soon-to-be Mrs has made my head spin and my heart settle. I feel so confident in my relationship and it grounds me in ways I never knew possible. It is from this base that I want to grow.

I want to be the best partner for Vince because he deserves it. Just like I do. And I want us to push ourselves. And right now I give the excuse that I'm busy, and I truly am, but I know that I always will be.

And the women (and a few men too) that pour their hearts onto the pages of the world wide web are busy too. Busier than me I am sure. They have and continue to push themselves and to push those that read their words. I feel it in me that I could be a person that gets that fire burning in the belly of someone else. And right now, I an not doing that. Mostly I want to act on the fire that I feel, be passionate about my work. I used to be, and now I just kind of do my job. I get a pass until December. December and the new year, you will see my flames.

Wedding Sounds

One of the more challenging wedding planning tasks for us has been choosing music. You see, Vince and I like some of the same music, but largely what we individually like the other dislikes. And the shared likes don't always make great wedding music. And we both want good sounding and feeling music and I care too much if some of the lyrics are off. Needless to say, we have a few more songs to settle upon. Both of us live the song below, and while it was a contender for our first dance for a long time, ultimately there's some lyrics that just make me twitch. But its beautiful, and this cover is incredible. And Vince's talented siblings will sing/play their cover of this cover during our ceremony. So here's our ceremony sounds sneak peek:
Watch "Make You Feel My Love - Bob Dylan (Dan & Kari Ballesteros)" on YouTube

Comparison

Growing up my family was always competitive. My sister and I always seemed to pit ourselves against each other. We compared, we wanted things even but in life things aren't even. And we were competitive. Watch out at a Feist game of Scrabble, we take that very seriously!

Since we now live across the country from one another I have a better perspective on this. What I didn't realize until recently is that I've replaced this comparison to my sister to my peers. Let me tell you a little story about me...

Vince and I met and started dating in April 2010. We quickly fell in love, however, V at first was apprehensive of titles and commitments but I stuck it out because I felt strongly that he'd come around (which he did) eventually. But what I may not have shared outside of a few people is how incredibly jealous I was when others, including V's younger brother, got engaged and married when we weren't. I was comparing US to THEM (not just the sibs, friends and complete strangers too!)

Fast forward to a few months before we got engaged, I was already reading the, albeit beautiful, garbage in the blogosphere about weddings. I created this glorified image of what our someday wedding would look like. I also dreamt of our married life, so don't think I'm totally shallow on everything, please.

I have had to let go.

Of the way I envisioned things before, but beautiful things have come from that. But lately. Lately I will be honest, I'm comparing again. I look at others' marriages that are wonderful and beautiful and something from the outside that I can never, ever, appreciate as much as they do. Much like they won't be able to for ours.
But here's the catch. I feel judged. We live together and aren't yet married and family members have made it very clear that they disapprove. But I don't. Vince doesn't. This may seem obvious because WE decided to live our lives this way, but I love to please authority and making decisions against it make me self-conscious.

It makes me compare.

Am I not going to be as good of a wife because of this? Is that what they think? It makes me spend hours researching being a wife who submits to her husband even though the whole time everything inside me is screaming THAT'S NOT US. It's just a bible reading, and there's a ton in there that I do not believe should be followed to the letter but as a guide to life.

It's not me. It's not what I believe. It's not what feels right and happy and joyful in this time of wedding planning. It's like wearing too tight jeans, they button and I can fit myself into them, but oh, man, are they uncomfortable. And I don't want people to tell me I'm wrong because I think about it plenty on my own. I'm thorough. Trust me I am. Don't make me where the tight pants.

So please don't judge. Don't assume that you know what is right for me, and my marriage and I will try not to compare my life to yours. Try. Try. With regular reminders to myself, of course.

2 More Months as Ms. Feist

Not that anyone calls me Ms. Feist on a daily basis but in just 61 days my name will be changing. 61 days to get several projects done, to coordinate two dinner parties in two days while trying to maintain my sanity. Luckily I have a lot of helpful hands.

Right? Right! So if you've offered help, please know I'll be calling you very, very soon too take you up in that offer!

61 more days, woot woot! Can't wait!

Gotta buy my dancing shoes and break them in!

The Nightmare is in the Details.

Details. Planning a wedding in todays society requires the completion of so many of them its not even funny. You'd think getting them all done, keeping them all straight, and not forgetting to remember to do them would be a real life nightmare. And you'd be right about that usually, but I've been quite organized in this process and so far it hasn't been bad.

Or so I thought until I started having wedding nightmares. Luckily in all of them we have still ended up married at the end (except a couple that I wake early from) so at least I know its not our actual marriage my subconcious is freaking out about. Oh no its not, its downright stressing about all of the details. I feel disorganized and as my sister described how she thinks I'll be on A-day, frantically bossy. The fun.y thing is I truly so not picture myself that way in my waking hours.

I will have a well informed bridal party and family members. I have timelines and spreadsheets in the works. Those who have offered their help on the day off, I am taking them up in it, and I'm a trusting person and these friends are super trustworthy. I'm not worries or stressed about the details now.

So why are my dreams worried?

Random Tidbits

Today I spent an hour and a half in JoAnn Fabric, bought a bolt if gorgeous charcoal fabric and a bunch of berry branches.

Vince spray painted our table number frames a slightly less mac 'n' cheese shade of yellow, its called Marigold. Here's to hoping in a room with dim lighting they will look mustard yellow.

I really want to go see a symphony orchestra. Like bad. Always wish I would have learned cello in school.

I also really want and need a pedicure. Hate that summer shoes make my heels look archaic.

I bought a few small gifts two weeks ago. Well, one just last week. Note to self: send them already!

I really have the most amazing man ever. He cooks, he cleans, and he loves to dance. What more could I ask for, oh that I get to marry him? See ya soon November 10th!

26 has been a wonderful year. 27 seems to be already creeping up on me but not in a bad way, I'm ready for it and actually excited for it.

Kaitlyn (my seester) should really nice to Michigan already. I know its nowhere near on her list, but gosh, I think she would love royal oak it ferndale and I would love to have her here to go to JoAnn Fabric with for 1.5 hrs. 

MargaRITA

How would to like to go to a rehearsal dinner at an awesome Mexican restaurant? Yea, I thought you would too! Cause I would. And its in our budget so that makes me want to dance. Which I did, after a "monster margarita" and listening to the mariachi band for a while. I mean check out this marg! And they band played the marcarena. Yup. Can't wait!

Driving Dreams

I drive a lot. To and from work takes about 45minutes. And then there's driving clients all about the metro area, sometimes they chat, sometimes they sleep. When they are silent or when I'm alone I have the best driving dream sessions.

No, I'm not really sleeping, just daydreaming. Or I'm working out thoughts and plans and hopes but mostly dreams.

Wedding dreams.
House dreams.
Baby dreams.
Professional dreams.

I'm at the threshold of a really exciting time in my life and there's really nothing better than imagining different ways that it may play out.

What are you dreaming of lately?

Traditions

As I have been on this wedding planning journey there have been many traditions that I have turned my nose up to and thus have decided not to incorporate into our wedding day. People may or may not agree with me on this but here's a prime example of why I am choosing not to blindly follow tradition.

The Garter Toss

I personally find it a bit creepy that the groom gets to out his (oftentimes) head up the brides skirt in public. Not for me, I would be a blushing bride, no doubt about it.

My parents may have done a garter toss, I'm not really sure. But my mom did get her garter back if she did have it taken and thrown to a male guest of theirs. And that's where you find out about a family tradition.

It may have just started with my mom and grandma, I'd have to ask of goes back further. In any case, ky mom wore her mothers garter as well as a new one of her own.

And now on November 10, 2012, I will wear both my mom's garter and my own that my sister is personally making for me.

And that's a tradition I can keep going with my hopefully future daughters that undoubtedly will find my dress out of style or that it doesn't fit them. But a garter is hidden and personal and a little bit of HERstory that can be shared through the generations.

Relearning

I'm relearning how to eat. No, it is not a diet. Yes, I hope to loose weight. But even more than learning how to eat I'm learning to listen. To question my reason for what I'm consuming. I'm eating to fuel my body NOT to satisfy bored, anxiety, or sadness that my mind wants me to. It's not easy to admit that I'm an emotional eater. Not easy to accept it. But it is what it is. I care about me. I need to care about my physical AND mental well being. That's what I'm learning to do.
Get the book Women Food and God by Geneen Roth. Read it with an open mind. Personally mine copy is rife with notes in the margins. I'm learning. Even if I forget to ask ky body before I start to eat that bad food, if I catch myself in the middle, maybe next time I'll catch myself in the beginning. Learnings a process and I'm taking the baby steps.
PS thank you Jess of Makeunder My Life for recommending this book!

Indecision

Lately I have gone back and forth and back and forth again on how I want to decorate our wedding. Our package at our reception hall includes basic, non-floral centerpieces. I'm all for candle light but originally thought I needed flowers. I also thought I needed floor length linens. I'm not over them completely, but they won't make me happier that day so I don't need them.

The bigger issue is all the inspiration online is RECTANGULAR tables not ROUND tables. Well at least the pretty modern blogerific tablescapes. Martha has some pretty ones. Mainly I want our reception to be unique and I'm a bit regretful disappointed in doing a regular ol' banquet hall and not some unique venue. HELP.

Our ceremony is unique. A theater. Also difficult to conceptualize decorations.

Also wishing my mom was here to go to JoAnn's and Hobby Lobby with to play around with ideas....

I'm indecisive about decor and I don't like it.

I did decide to enter project phase beginning with painting my Ikea frames aka table numbers as well as a dumpster-dived mirror that will be our seating chart. I just asked Vince if I should steer towards charcoal grey instead of mustard as planned. More indecision...perhaps tomorrow I'll feel more sure.

Engagement Pictures

Yesterday afternoon Vince's brother Trevor and his wife Michelle came over to visit us. I had asked Michelle to take our engagement pictures as well as design our save the dates. We ventured over to the Old Winery here in Farmington which has all kinds of gorgeous doors and windows and ivy loveliness to use as backdrops.

Here a couple of my fave shots:

Thanks Michelle!! Can't wait to see the final Save the Date's!!

Off Weekend

I actually have three whole days off this weekend. By that I mean I had today off and tomorrow and Monday but work Sunday.

Today was a frustrating day for wedding planning. Good vendors are soooo key to this process. One was sick, fine, but you asked me to call or text if something came up, can't you do the same? One just pissed me off royally continues to frustrate me but I'm choosing to grin and bear it this time; next time, beware, I won't be friendly. On top of that I've had a tender stomach and head ache all day. I restrained my bridezilla, but danngg I get why there is a show about it!

BUT my friend Heather of Heather Behrens Design saved my day when she sent me a sneak peak of the work she's doing on my invitations and I seriously COULD NOT BE HAPPIER with the way things are looking. She's a super talented graphic designer who does fair priced work and will truly work with your budget to get you what you want. Check out her work if you need invites or any type of publication as she has done it all! I can't wait to see more of my stationary from her!

And tomorrow we are heading to Saugatuk, MI to lay on the beach of Lake Michigan with friends, play some games, read some magazines, eat some grilled food, and have a few wedding dresses. My goal is to only talk wedding if someone asks me about it, and to then keep it brief. Hear that Kelly and Lia? Keep me OFF wedding brain. I need the break!

Oh and Monday it's a Todero family BBQ in Grand Rapids! Fun weekend! Let's hope my sunblock works :)

I don't need...

•  floor length table cloths
• chair covers
• super extravagant centerpieces
• anything the Wedding Industry tells me I do

saying this internally on repeat. I will convince myself.

Guess who...

said yes to the dress?

ME!!!

Floral Dreams

Like I said in my post yesterday, I plan to do my own flowers for the wedding...with the help of my ladies and mom that is. Here's some that I'm dreaming of (all pictures courtesy of WholeBlossoms.com)

Althea Spray Garden Roses

Burgundy Carnations

Orange Yellow Bicolor Dahlias

Burgundy Dahlia

Dark Yellow Spider Gerbera

As much as I love yellow I'm thinking I may just do the raspberry/cranberry/burgundy flowers with yellow ribbon and yellow table runners/overlays. Or maybe just do limited yellow flowers in the bouquets rather than on tables. Decisions, decisions. :)

DIY Wedding...

I want our wedding to be unique. I want it to be elegant with a hand-touched feel. I want to DIY at least something for our wedding.

I'm thinking of doing my own table overlays to put on top of grey tablecloths. Check out Mother Martha's  goregous examples:

photo courtesy of marthastewartweddings.com

I also found this image on Pinterest that after some searching seems to come from the Etsy shop FantasyVintageBridal. 

pinterest picture on WeddingBee forum but apparently custom order from  FantasyVintageBridal on Etsy.

another from FantasyVintageBridal

I will also be tackling my own flowers. Luckily this means bouquets and boutonnieres and limited centerpiece items since Laurel Manor supplies beautiful flower-less centerpieces. 

I'll probably also tackle a project for each of our bridal party members but I'm not going to mention it here yet as maybe two of them regularly check out my blog and I don't want to ruin the surprise :)

I think I'll limit it to that. Well the big one I guess is my sister is making my dress! But that's primarily here (thank you sister!!)

Look at me go now!

I clearly had a lot of downtown at work today with all of my posts! Really I just wanted to put a link up to our wedding website for anyone trying to find it! Here it is:

http://FeistAndTodero.ourwedding.com

Also, we have booked our ceremony location! Helloooo, Farmington Civic Theater, glad you worked out and that we can say our "I do's" with you!

Don't have to...

A Reminder

Bursting

Ever felt so overwhelmingly happy that you think your heart might explode? So overcome with excitement you can actually feel the energy moving through your body? Your heart pounding with joy as though a marching band is thumping out a cadence?

This is how I've felt for days on end.

It's pretty damn wonderful.

Location, location, location.

Turns out that where you locate yourself is not only important in home buying, but also in planning a wedding. During the four short weeks we have been engaged, Vince and I have struggled with the location for our nuptials. First was the debate between a local for us wedding or one that cuts down my Iowa family's drive time. I thought for sure I would be getting married in southwest Michigan at a rustic location. However, after an unprofessional meeting with a venue and several unreturned catering inquiry calls, we went with a local venue that is elegant and classic ans beautiful location. Not what I dreamed and envisioned. But I am in love with the service and price and everything about Laurel Manor and my vision has changed now.

Then it was about the location of our ceremony itself. I didn't love the pricetag of doing our ceremony at LM ($900 for the site only, Ouch!) and I also didn't want to be at the same place all day. I against my better judgement started perusing churches even though I've thought and told everyone I didn't want a church ceremony for months. But that's what you do when you get married, right? Wrong! Not if it doesn't feel right to you. As luck would have it.Vince's family church is unavailable and everywhere else OS astronomically priced so again I searched...

Now nothing is confirmed and I don't want to jinx it before it can happen for real but let me tell you, I am excited! Giddy even about this possibility. Let's all hope that it works out.

Fingers crossed!

As I said in my last post, we recently asked our friends and family to stand up for us on our big day. My baby brother will be standing up for us and we Skyped with him to ask since he was at school in Missouri at that time, though he is now home in Oskaloosa for the summer. He has his own personal musings blog and this is what he wrote our upcoming nuptials:

"Today, I got asked to be a groomsman at my sisters wedding! I am super pumped that she is getting married to a great guy! November 10th, remind me to mark that day down, as it is when the wedding will take place!"

My family is not great at communicating our feelings with one another, though as us kids have become adults we've gotten better. Charlie was also super psyched for us when I called to tell him Vince proposed and then when I read his post it just made me smile. Love you, brother. And congrats on finishing your first year of college! 

Why hello there!

It has been forever since my last post, almost a month! but boy oh boy have I been busy! My <i>fiance</i> and I have been busy dreaming up our wedding day and to be honest I pretty much have the wedding on my mind 24/7. Is this normal? I even wake up from dreams at 3am about wedding planning. We have set our date: November 10, 2012 aka we have 6 months to plan this shindig! Some people look at me like I'm nuts when I tell them. I have never been great at waiting for what I want though.
We will be having our reception at Laurel Manor and tasted their food this week and it is delish. Not to mention that the place is gorgeous and elegant and wonderfully priced!
I got all (SEVEN) of my bridesmaids officially asked and Vince is almost there! Our colors are charcoal grey, mustard yellow and cran/raspberry.
It is a but challenging planning ky wedding with my mom in Iowa, my sister aka Maid of Honor in LA and we are in Detroit. However my mom is coming up in a couple weeks so we can play dress up and send inspiration pictures to Kaitlyn so she can get to sketching as she's ddoing me the great honor of making my dress. How lucky am I? The answer is extremely, incredibly, and wonderfully!
I'm going to try to post more wedding info here, you know I will be doing at least a few projects. We will also link up to our wedding website once it gets a little more info on it!

How's that for rambling? And that's just the tip of the iceberg here folks!

I'm so excited, and I just can't hide it!

Tonight has been unexpected and exciting and that's all I'm going to say about it. Not that anyone regularly reads this (of you do, leave me a comment so I know please) but I want to remember today. This night. This moment of happiness forever. I don't journal except on here so this is how I can record it. Happy. Surprised. Content. But most of all excited!

(written on March 26, 2012 after going RING SHOPPING!)

Kayln's Balsamic Pot Roast + a Remix

Well it's been a while since I've posted anything too creative! This recipe I cooked months ago and took some pictures while doing so but never got around to posting. I first saw this on Pinterest (follow me here) and pinned it to try 10 weeks ago according to my boards. We have experimented with crock pot, pot roasts a couple of times and while we love our mother's recipe (at least I do!) I though, why the heck not?

So I clicked on through to find Kalyn's Kitchen and her very detailed recipe tutorial. Click on that link for all the nitty-gritty ingredients and directions and such. Now, when I find a recipe I seldom stick directly too it. Or actually sometimes I do if it seems tricky. But pot roast, you can change up a pot roast recipe pretty easy, right?

So I made some changes. I started out following Kalyn's instructions: Season and sear all edges of the roast. Check!

Next I chopped up (actually Vince did the onions, bless his heart. I love the things but I cry every time!) Here's where I veered from Kalyn's prescribed recipe. I'm not on the South Beach diet. I love me some potatoes and carrots so in they went!

Notice the lime green? Thanks MOM for the new bendable, colorful, awesome cutting mats!! 

Those puppies all went into the crock pot first to create a little platform for the roast to cook on top of. After searing the roast it went on top. Followed by this sauce which I also didn't follow to a T. I didn't cook it down as long, and I certainly didn't drain and cook it down into a thicker sauce to pour over the roast. I'm fine with all the fat and grease that remained after cooking, though I probably shouldn't be. Plus I wouldn't have been able to do the remix I talk about later if I had.

The sauce was STRONG to the nose as well. I forgot how strong vinegar smells and took a big, burning whiff of the stuff. At that point I had a moment of panic thinking this was going to be overpowering and disgusting, however, I had no choice and faith that this highly pinned recipe had to be good so onward we went.

I popped the lid on the pot, set it to low and headed off to gallivant around town on my day off. I didn't want to do this on a work day when I couldn't check in periodically on my meal. Turns out it cooked just fine without intervention so feel free to set it and go.

I forgot to take after pictures. So sue me. But I will tell you that the onions cooked down into tender lovelies, the potatoes and carrots were deliciously tender, and the roast? It was tender, like fall-apart-while-attempting-to-cut tender.

In full disclosure, Vince's mom tried the recipe as well and they all ate it but said it's not a recipe they'd repeat. We have made it a couple of times and really enjoyed it so perhaps I'm a better cook than her (j/k Terri, love you!) or perhaps our tastes are just different.

We have also used the tasty sauce leftover as a base for french onion soup. For that we simply caramelize another onion, add it to the pot along with some seasoning and cook it all for a bit. This isn't really a science, more of a taste experiment. We then use the broiler to toast up slices of french bread, add the soup to some over sized coffee mugs or to our new hand-me-down soup crocks, put the two toasted slices of bread, and top with a combo of Swiss and Mozzarella cheese and popped them back into the oven on a cookie sheet to cook up the cheese. Woo, that was a LOOONNG sentence! Sorry to all of my English teachers.

Before broiling (left), In all of it's cooked-cheese goodness (right).

This stuff is seriously good. And a fab way to use up all of the leftovers and make two delicious meals (or three or four) all from easy as can be crock pot recipes. We will be making this one again for sure.

Thanks, Kalyn, for a great recipe! Check out her site, there are TONS of good recipes there.

21 life suggestions.

Stumbled on this article full of wise nuggets. Nothing life-changing, nevertheless a good reminder.

hfeist11 sent you this page: Success: 21 Suggestions - Global One TV

En Route

Well it has officially been forever since my last post, if anyone reads this regularly I apologize. I have been working on some projects, namely a DIY huge poster frame from trim and getting art for all of my frames for the gallery wall. Alas, I am merely en route to completion on these things. Tends to be the way I function, especially when life gets busy with work and just generally living well.

I am also more literally en route currently. To FLORIDA! Vince and I along with his family (minus Trev & Michelle, miss you guys!) are headed.to Davenport just outside of Orlando for glorius weeklong vacation. The pictures below are of the blanket I'm smuggling with on this loooonnnggg drive. My Nana made it in the 90's for me and it folds into a pocket to become a pillow. I love it. The other picture is from mid-tennessee, so only a few more hours (12ish) to go. Also the mountains are pretty but they don't play well with my sinuses so I will anxiously waiting for stable grounds.

More vacation pics to come. We will be seeing the Detroit Tigers spring training game Monday, swimming with manatees bright and early Tuesday, and then doing Universal Studios and a trip over to visit my grandparents in Ockeechobee for a night. All that plus good food, pool and beach time, and some good old fashioned family bondig around the board games!

Visualizing Characters

You know how when you read a book you form a picture in your brain about how each character looks?

And the movie always ruins it.

Well I do this with bloggers.

No offense. You are all lovely. Truly. But when I'm reading a blog that doesn't have your picture on the header I often find that I create a completely made-up mental image of you. And I am almost always wrong. So maybe the movies don't ruin it.

 Maybe they are right and I am wrong?

Glorious, wonderful: Yellow!

Yellow is everywhere right now. And I could not be more tickled about that. I'd like to think that I was ahead of the yellow curve when my mother and I painted my bedroom BRIGHT yellow at my last apartment. Only when new furniture that was nearly black in color was purchased did I change the color because the room looked like a giant bumble bee and it wasn't cute. Still my love and affinity for anything yellow is near and dear to me.

I walked into Crate & Barrel today on my way to pick up a Starbucks on my break (my office is entirely too close to the mall!) I was enamored with so many things as usual but even more so because guess what their featured color is right now: YELLOW!!! Take a look:

Check out this cheerful espresso machine!
(Photo courtesy of Crate&Barrel)

Not a coffee fan, how about tea?
(Photo courtesy of Crate&Barrel)

All of the charming yellow products. Mama wants!
(Photo courtesy of Crate&Barrel)

Not to mention the throws (blankets and pillows), the art, and the way all of this beauty was displayed with wonderfully large canvas paintings. Ahh..yellow, you make my hear sing!

What Is Love?

Sooner or later we begin to understand that love is more than verses on valentines and romance in the movies. We begin to know that love is here and now, real and true, the most important thing in our lives. For love is the creator of our favorite memories and the foundation of our fondest dreams. Love is a promise that is always kept, a fortune that can never be spent, a seed that can flourish in even the most unlikely of places. And this radiance that never fades, this mysterious and magical joy, is the greatest treasure of all – one known only by those who love.

-Unknown

Freshly Cut

Last Thursday I cut 5 inches of hair off and I couldn't be happier. I hadn't had it cut since April and, while I was loving it long, I was tired of the constant knots I got along my neck from collars and scarves taunting my fine hair. I sat in the chair asking for a trim and layer shape up and ended up making a chop. I'm not really a stranger to this but its always fun to leave with a new look.

Don't you love how a new hairdo can make you smile for days?

Reverb 11: Wrapping Up (Almost) #18-24

18. Ordinary Sparkling Moments

Reflect on the ordinary moments that bring you joy (e.g., the tea pot whistling, the sun setting). What moments would you like to relish in the coming year?

The leaves, in all of their fall beauty, clinging disparately to their branches and then giving way to the inevitable.
Riding in the car with a client when all of a sudden they start singing along to the song on the radio.
Those first few minutes of the day, before my alarm has gone off and I'm awake enjoying the comfort of our bed and the handsome man I get to wake up next to every morning.
That first sip of a peppermint mocha latte or a pumpkin spice latte when they are just in season. Same thing with shamrock shakes. 
A warm shower on a cold day.


I want to relish all of the small things. I get caught up in the future and hustle and bustle of busy days and forget, but when I do stop and notice the small wonders of life I thoroughly enjoy it. So no specifics. Just enjoying a slowed down life.

19. Joy

What does a joyful life look like for you?

Before the last few minutes I hadn't really spent much time thinking of joy. Sure I grew up in church singing the songs, one of my bosses signed every email with "keep the joy!", and I'd seen it often in blog land. Lately however I started thinking about what joy means for ME. I'm just exploring my joy and I'll tell you what, finding myself happy every day, not just most days and not for every minute of every day, but feeling happy a least once every day has been quite joyous. And that's what a joyful life looks like to me. Sure not every moment is beautiful, but every day has some happiness in it. And that is beautiful.

20. Community

Where have you discovered community, online or otherwise, in 2011? What community would you like to join, create or more deeply connect with in 2012? (Author: Cali Harris)

For the past 3 years, and really all of my years before that I have taken community for granted. I lived on campus for 7 years and worked for Residence Life for 6 of them. Community was our lifeblood. It's what we taught our student staff to strive for and what we hoped our residents felt a sense of. Through this I had a strong community ready-made, something I loved and thrived on. After moving our of the residence halls and into an apartment, I have realized that community is much more difficult to achieve. I have been wonderfully immersed into the community of blogging and have really enjoyed creating a home here for myself over the last few months. I'd also consider Pinterest to be a form of creative community. 
Our little hometown is full of friendly people but we don't really know anyone here and or neighbors that we most talked to moved into a house, so a sense of community in our actual living area is something I desire. I also would like to invest more time to my online community. Doing Reverb was my first parlay into some sort of shared blogging experience and I've been posting to link-ups, but I'd like to start having dialog with other bloggers also. Let me know if you have advice for starting that! 

21. Space
Where do you feel most safe, most free to be yourself—where you let down your guard?

In our apartment. Oskaloosa, Iowa. At my best friends house. 

22. Mischief
What can you do to add a spark of mischief into your life?

I think I probably have a healthy dose of mischief in my life. I love to be playful with Vince and we're always teasing each other. Other than that perhaps I can do a little risk taking in trying new activities..I'll have to think more about that though :)

23. Magic
What do you consider to be every day magic in your life?

I love the morning time lately. I find that I wake up before my alarm goes off most days and then take a few minutes to wake up slowly. This time is quite magical. 

24. Creativity

What was the most creative thing you did in 2011? How do you plan to use your creativity in 2012? (Note: creative does not always mean artistic. Think outside the box here. Get creative!)

I've become a domestic goddess in 2011. Okay, that may be a little much. But this year I have done more creative projects than probably ever before. I've painted all kinds of things, I've cut wine bottles in half with fire, I've wrapped letters in yarn...I've baked, and cooked, and pureed. I've stepped outside of my box and loved it. In 2012 I would love to take some sort of artsy class, namely wheel throwing. I'd also love to explore photography and actually print some of my pictures. 

The Recipe Everyone Loves: Guacamole

I don't know about you but when I see the pre-made guac at the store (not the bagged kind, but the kind in the deli) marked at NINE dollars minimum for a small container at Whole Foods and only a couple of bucks less at Kroger or when I pay 6 bucks for a tiny little bowl of it at a restaurant I just want to make it myself so that I can eat all of the deliciousness without the huge price tag. 

Somewhere around the end of my time at St. Ambrose I learned from a fellow student the basics of making guacamole from scratch. Since then I have played with the recipe to make it mine-oh-mine and it always gets rave reviews whenever I take it anywhere. The best part is that it is: 1) EASY 2) quick and 3) you can modify it to suit your own tastes. 

Annndd since my wonderful boyfriend got me the best birthday gift ever the Ninja Kitchen System 1100 I have been experimenting with using it for things other than just my smoothies. Here's a picture of all of the goodies that come with the system:

Picture from ninjakitchen.com

For Thanksgiving 2011 (yes, this post originated more than a month and a half ago) Vince and I spent the day together, went to see the new Muppet's movie, and then his parents, brother, and uncle came over in the evening to visit. We wanted to have some munchies so we made our pretty much signature guacamole as well as a Velveeta-taco-delicious dip. 

I also thought since people are always asking for the recipe I'd just go ahead and put it here online so I can teach the masses (hehe, a girl can dream) how I make guac. So here goes nothing!

Gather your supplies! I'm going to be super vague here because it all depends on how much guac you'd like to have. I will tell you amounts I used for this batch, and you can judge from there.

1-2) I had seen these green avocados at Wal Mart several times and always meant to look them up because they seemed to have more bang for my buck than the black avocados I typically had seen. I decided to go ahead and grab three and try them. Luckily they are exactly the same and turned out to have more volume for less cash. 

3) Salsa. Any kind will do, but I have found that cheap salsa often=lack of flavor. Luckily this Great Value one is cost effective and tasty.

4) Salt, Garlic Powder, and Lemon (or Lime, I prefer Lemon) juice. You can also use fresh, but I just keep this on hand for all kinds of cooking needs. 

5) I didn't take pictures of these steps but I cut the avocados in half, scooped out the flesh and saved one of the pits. This keeps your guac from browning when you stash it in your fridge for later. This is where the ninja came into play, I put the flesh into the food processor and blended it until smooth. I put that in my Pyrex. Then I put about a cup of salsa in the mix.

6) I added about a 1/4 cup of lemon juice and 2-3 teaspoons of both salt and garlic. All of this is really to taste, start off light and add in unless you have extra avocados to add to balance out.

7) Mix it all up and taste test to see if anything is missing. Serve it up! This filled almost my entire 1.75 quart Pyrex bowl. 

Like I said, everyone always ask for the recipe for this and are amazed when I tell them it's as simple as this. I think they don't believe me that I made it at first, and probably still leave thinking I swung by a Mexican joint on my way to the party. 

All in all the cost really comes to about 5-6 bucks for significantly more guac than you'd get at the store or restaurant. 

An Open Letter to Drivers Everywhere

Dear Drivers of Michigan (and everywhere else too!),

Now that I am on the roads much more frequently than in the past I have noticed the terrible behavior going on between those sharing the road. I am quite certain that your Driver's Ed instructor did not teach you that the following are acceptable behaviors while driving:

1. Talking, texting, or singing to the point that you are unable to maintain your vehicle in it's current lane.
2. Honking while waiting at a stop light in the right turn lane. If  the sign says "no turn on red" you cannot expect someone to disobey the stated instructions.
3. Honking while trying to exit a parking lot because you think the person can make the turn when really they will be smashed by that semi truck that is going fast. Have some patience.
4. HONKING at all. The horn is for alerting others to danger or near accidents. It can occasionally be used to inform someone of a light changing, but please give them a reaction second. Nothing is so important to blare your horn behind someone because you're a jerk.
5. Limit hand gestures to signaling others to cross in front of you, signs indicating expletives are not friendly or appreciated.
6. Drive within an appropriate range of the speed limit. 10 below and 20 over are not great for the flow of traffic.
7. If you notice an accident, don't gawk, you'll never really know what happened in the pile up so why stare and nearly become an incidental accident yourself. Just keep moving, unless it's right in front of you and you need to call the authorities for assistance, you will not be helpful in staring.
8. Proceed with caution anytime inclement weather is a factor. Yes, yes, you do drive a huge truck with 4-wheel drive, but it's dark and I can't see you flying around in the left lane when my little Cobalt is slipping and sliding so be patient. Besides, slowing down is probably still a good idea for you.
9. Alternately, if the snow is not making the roads slick, don't drive like it's a blizzard.
10. Did I say not to honk or yell or have road rage? It's not becoming of you.

Sincerely,

Your Annoyed Fellow Driver

Great resolutions

Resolved

For a giggle and some truly wonderful new years resolutions check out Maggie's (from MightyGirl) list. Donuts, reading, and music. Sounds totally doable and fantastic.