Showing posts with label ideas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ideas. Show all posts

7.05.2013

Bridal Shower - Bridal High Tea

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This past weekend, my sister threw me an amazing bridal shower. The theme was "Bridal High Tea," in honor of the ever fabulous afternoon tea.

Before tea, however, there was a little mimosa drinking...


When our guests arrived, we had mimosas on the patio. My mom made a beautiful set up of champagne and orange juice.


My mother had wedding albums from her wedding as well as my grandmother's wedding out, so some of the guests looked at that as we talked and drank mimosas on the patio.


It was really fun seeing what everyone chose to wear for their "tea party" attire. Many strands of pearls and floppy hats were donned. 



My aunt totally took it to the nines with her get up and hat. We all agreed that she was channeling Jackie O.


Once all of the guests had arrived and had a chance to mingle a bit, we moved into the living room, which my sister had decorated for an elegant tea party.


I was truly amazed by her ability to transform our living room into something light and girly. 



Our guests were spread out among 4 tables, and everyone was able to sit by some people they knew well, and some people they didn't. 


My sister hired High Tea with Gerri to cater the shower, and the experience was truly unforgettable. She brought with her endless amounts of silver and mis-matched china. It was delicate, girly, and wonderful! 

Check out Gerri in her Victorian garb in the back!
We started with some tea that was steeped and poured the traditional way: through a tiny strainer that Gerri transfered around with her. She made her way around the shower and poured everyone's first cup of tea.




We began our meal with a number of beautiful mini sandwiches. Everyone got to try lots of different flavors and tastes, and we were all excited to be able to pass the plates around and experience the various flavors. I was given a plate of gluten free bites to sample.


After the sandwiches, we moved on to scones. The table had a basket of scones as well as a few different types of homemade jellies and jams.




My gluten-free scone was delicious. I finished the whole thing, which is impressive, as I'm not typically a fan of bread in general. It was just a bit sweet and paired perfectly with the lemon custard jam.


After scones, we had our first taste of dessert. There was a strawberry rhubarb pie that Gerri and her daughter made. It looked delicious, but I couldn't eat any because it wasn't gluten free. Everyone else seemed to enjoy it, though!


As if we needed any more sugar, we then moved on to a second dessert course! What is a girls-only event for, if not to justify two rounds of dessert?! :)


We had a number of gorgeous petit fours that were so beautiful and elegant, it almost hurt to eat them. Until your first bite. When you realized they were delicious!



As we finished dessert, my sister passed out the first game: Bridal Bingo. Each guest wrote down the gifts they thought I might get, and they were able to track the gifts as I received them to determine if they got a Bingo!




When we got outside, before opening gifts, we played another game: Purse Raid! There were designated numbers of points for each object we could find in our purses. It was funny to be awarded points for having things like pennies and library cards!





After that, we moved on to gifts.



I was so truly blessed by all of my friends and family. They truly did "shower" me with seemingly endless gifts!



About thirty minutes into gift opening, my fiance showed up with three dozen roses! He looked so handsome as he walked out onto the patio. Everyone swooned and it was a perfect moment.


For the next hour, my fiance helped me open the rest of my gifts. 





As we finished opening the gifts, my sister and cousin put them through a paper plate to be my rehearsal dinner bouquet. Here was the finished product:


We also made sure to get in a picture of my bridal party. We're missing one girl, but this is the rest of us! I love these girls!

As the women left, they were given a jar of loose-leaf tea from Teavana. There were two options, and everyone seemed to love the favor!


My sister was the mastermind behind these beautiful favors. She even attached tags on which she had written, "Love is Brewing." How cute is that?!



Many, many thank yous to everyone who came to my bridal shower... as well as my sister and mother, who worked so hard on the details! I love you!



8.27.2012

Working Out & The Best Laid Plans of Mice and (Wo)Men

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It's that time of the week! Time for you to congratulate yourself on a week of workouts well done (and find some inspiration for next week!).

In this post... 
  1. FitTip (fitness tip)
  2. my week in workouts (and how on earth I allowed myself to skip 4 days)
  3. WOW Workout of the Week --> Stairmaster Sprint
  4. workout ideas

1. FitTip                                                                  
Have you ever heard the phrase "Great abs are made in the kitchen?" Well, they are. It's true, and yes, I've actually tested it. Unless you're working out like an Olympic athlete, you can't go around eating whatever you want. You can "eat through" any exercise routine, in a sense, meaning you can negate all of the positives of all your hard work. Stop doing that!

From now on, when you go grocery shopping, keep telling yourself that "Great abs are made in the kitchen." As you fill your cart, steer clear of anything that is too high in sugar, fat, or sodium. Stock up on fruits and veggies. When you're waiting in the checkout line, snap a pic and tweet it, facebook it, or instagram it with the hash tag #inmycart so we can all keep each other accountable!

2. My Week In Workouts (Since the last update)      

Lesson: Skip Working Out When You Feel Like Crap!
You'll notice I skipped four - yes, four - days of working out this week. I have mixed feelings about this. On one hand, I was pretty darn sick. I started getting a really nasty head cold on Thursday, so I told myself I shouldn't work out in an attempt to convince my body not to get any sicker (because doing lots of cardio can lower your immune system - something you definitely don't want to do when you're feeling a sickness coming on. Then, I just kept getting sicker and sicker. Generally, I try to never skip more than one day in a row, but I allowed it. Still wish I'd been healthy enough to work out, but... the best laid plans of mice and (wo)men, eh?

WOW!! --> Workout of the Week!                      

Try out the above "Stairmaster Sprint" workout. While I've given you a suggested speed/setting and heart rate, try your best to prioritize the heart rate. Most machines will give a fairly good estimate of your heart rate if you keep your hands on the metal heart rate monitors during your workouts.

Also, keep in mind that age plays into your heart rate zones. To find out your target heart rate zones, review this post (which is also the post that explains the Stairmaster Sprint workout).


Fitness Ideas                                                             

Got questions? Check out this Workout FAQ for some of the most common questions I've received via email, facebook, and blog comments about fitness.
If you're looking for workout ideas, check out my fitness page, buy some new workout videos, or try one of the following FREE workouts...

  • Cardio - Intervals/Tabata/HIIT
  • Cardio - Basic
  • Other Workouts
  • 8.08.2012

    Wicker Park Picnics, Wine, and Cheesecake In a Jar

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    Believe it or not, with all of my creative planning blessing suffocating people around me, I hadn't yet started a creative date night tradition. Shame on me! 


    It finally hit me last week when Justin and I realized that, after a week long vacation with my whole family, a work Summit, and a visit from my girlfriend, we hadn't been able to have lovey time focused on each other in weeks. I'm not a fan of this way of life, friends. Where is the love?!


    So, I decided to plan a Date Night. A secret one (of course!). I made Justin a picture frame and started a Composition Notebook in which I wrote him a letter about the things I love about him and then explained our date... which started with a VERY heavy Under Armor bag that I needed him to drag to Wicker Park.


    Why?! Because it was picnic time, of course! Enter beautiful paper plates from Target, some plastic silverware wrapped in napkins wrapped in leftover tissue paper from my Birchbox arrivals!


    And this guy. Look how happy :)


    Oh, right. And a bottle of Kendall Jackson Chardonnay that we pre-corked and brought in mason jars. You see, apparently (I should have thought of this but didn't), you can't just haul alcohol into public parks. You have to be sneaky. And since a wine bottle and wine glasses were obviously out of the question, I was still determined to find a classier, more romantic way to guzzle that KJ. A way that didn't involve Red Solo Cups.


    And so, in these times we live in, it seems that everything is more romantic with mason jars. Thus, it was the perfect way to go! Sneaky sneaky. Looks like apple juice, doesn't it?


    The entertainment, so to speak, consisted of a fairly lively baseball game. Here's how Wicker Park goes: before dark, baseball. After dark, basketball. Despite the fly balls, I'm a fan of the baseball crowd. If you catch my drift. Hipsters sitting on blankets with their shoes off. I'll take it.




    I'm also a fan of diagonal pictures. Diagonal pictures of my cute as heck boyfriend with his cute as heck Target plate, his cute as heck mason jar chardonnay, and some to die for picnic dinner.


    Quinoa salad. This one is delish. Quinoa, red pepper, corn, black beans, feta, onion, avocado, and a hefty serving of spicy as heck pico de gallo. Mix it up and serve. It's pretty perfect for picnics because it's not too temperature sensitive and can be prepared entirely beforehand.


    Plus, it's darn filling.


    As was dessert. This delicious cheesecake in a jar. Blueberry cheesecake. Mason jar. Agave toasted granola.


    I know, you're drooling all over your keyboard. It's okay, I am too. We're in this together! And don't fret, because I'll hook you up with the recipe tomorrow! I know the girl ;-)


    She happens to be a mason jar aficionado (seriously, read the About Me page on her blog. It's on there). She fills them with Kendall Jackson and Blueberries and Cheesecake, Oh My!


    She also happens to be semi obsessed with reading. And feels exactly the opposite way about bugs. Which is why she ran all over town the day of the picnic looking for a big tarp to lay down at the park. Because having a blanket between the ground and you just isn't enough. You need a tarp, people, a tarp!


    Back to speaking of myself like a normal person would. I also bought us some reading and writing materials. The Composition Book, with Justin's name on it, is now the official Date Night book. We started with the letter from me to him, an explanation of our date and geocaching (which we tried - and I met the hugest rat I've ever seen in an alley), and a challenge to each draw one scene we saw at the park. Hopefully we'll keep the tradition alive and end up with a whole book of letters, dates, and random pen sketches of people and things around us.


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