Monday Musings

Source: vi.sualize.us via Emily on Pinterest

 

10 Years Later – 9/11

10 years ago I was working on math exercise in Mr. Lecce’s Algebra II class, when our principal, Mr. Mathieu, made a startling announcement that two World Trade Center towers had been hit.  It was very surreal and I didn’t understand what was happening until later that day when we were allowed to watch the news in French class. 

To be honest, I’m not sure how 9/11 affected my life back then.  I knew no one who died or anyone who was related to someone who died in NY, PA, and D.C.  I remember watching the videos of the second plane crashing into the tower over and over again, but it was like a movie, like it never happened in real life.  I was incredibly naive then and had no idea over the impact these terrorist attacks had on our country.  This past week, a lot of the television networks have made various documentaries, including lots of interviews with family members of those who lost someone that day, and it finally hit me.  How horrible that day was and how it changed the lives of so many people.  Sometime in the near future I would like to visit the 9/11 memorial in NYC to learn more about the survivors and those who tragically lost their lives that fateful day.

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Always remember, never forget.

It’s Friday…let’s have a drink!

Cinnamon.  Nutmeg.  Pumpkin.  LOVE SHIPYARD PUMPKINHEAD.

Above picture is a poster at the Shipyard Brewery in Portland, ME…I was really tempted to buy the sweatshirt that had this design on it, but I thought it might be a bit obsessive.  It’s definitely one of my favorite beers – close tie with Sea Dog Blueberry and Leinenkugel’s Berry Weiss.

We may have bought a case or two of Pumpkinhead when we were in Maine.  Or 3…anyways, it’s very flavorful and represents everything good about fall.  Since it’s only available for a couple months, you gotta get it while you can.  Best is when it’s on draft and rimmed with cinnamon sugar.  I gave this tip to all the guests sitting at the Pumpkinhead table at our wedding:

Plans for the weekend…drinking a few of these, going to Ikea to finish my dream craft desk, and dragging my hubby apple pickin’!

A Maine Wedding: Ceremony Part 1

I haven’t shown any pictures of the invitation or programs yet, so here are a few teasers.  I will do a more detailed post on these at the end since everything was DIY.

To set the scene, next up are some photos of the ceremony location and details.  We first saw our venue in February 2009 and even though there was dirty snow all over the ground and boats in the parking lot, we knew this was the perfect setting for our coastal Maine wedding.  I did not do a ton of ceremony decorations as the beautiful views were plenty to take in and I didn’t want to distract from them.

Guest photo – York Harbor, Maine

 

Guest photo – ceremony location overlooking the harbor

A couple of Sista’s friends helped passed out ceremony programs

Our florist used small silver pails filled with hydrangea and roses to line the aisles.

The DIY unity candle waiting to be lit

 

I remember anxiously waiting in the main house of the inn for our officiant to let us know it was time.  I drank a small cup of water but decided not to have anything more since I already had the nervous pee dance going on.  I heard the music start for the grandparents and Hubby’s parents to walk into the ceremony and realized that this day was finally here; everything we had planned and worked on for over a year was finally coming together.

  

And then the song changed to “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” by Israel Kamakawiwoʻole.

 

I watched each one of my girls slowly walk out of the house and down the stairs, being careful not to fall :)

After Sista MOH walked out, a guest closed the doors to the inn so my parents and I could make a grand entrance.  I waited for what seemed like forever for the song to change over and as soon as I heard the acoustic guitar melody start, I knew it was time.

Next up: Ceremony Part 2!

Baby Girl Subway Art

Our friends had their baby last week and we finally got to meet her this past Monday (she is precious!).  We bought baby girl a couple gifts while we were in Maine but I knew I also wanted to create something personalized for her and her parents.  I still love my wedding subway art in our room, so I decided to try making a baby girl themed piece.  It always takes me hours to find the perfect fonts and sizes for subway art, but I think it’s so worth it in the end. 

Obviously I blurred out her middle and last names, but hopefully you get the idea :)  I went with lots of pink and some accents of green and brown to go with the color scheme of her bedroom.  The frame I picked actually has four 5x7 spots for photos.  I decided to put scrapbook paper into 2 empty spots for now so they can fill them with pictures eventually.  For the fourth spot, I made another art piece inspired by a quote.  Here’s the entire frame first:    

 

And here’s the quote that inspired my art in the left top corner – I found it on Pinterest. 

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This quote instantly made me tear up and I’m not even a mommy!  I knew I had to include this as part of my gift so I designed it using some of the same fonts and colors that were included in the subway art.  My favorite part is the hearts instead of the periods at the end of the sentences :)

 

If you are interested in either print I’ve shown above, please visit my Etsy shop – I’d love to create something for you!

Sharing at: Someday Crafts, Tatertots & Jello, I Heart Naptime, Be Different…Act Normal, Seven Thirty Three

2 Years!

This time 2 years ago I was getting my hair curled and teased since I would be a bridesmaid in my college roomie’s wedding later that afternoon.  I remember that day as being mostly calm as all the details were pulled together pretty well by their venue.  The weather was absolutely perfect as it was still warm out but definitely not humid.  And the reception…so much fun!  It was just like going to a semi-formal at college but there were just some other older people there :) 

Congrats guys – it was such a great day and I was so happy to be a part of it.  I’m sure you guys are wondering where did 2 years go, too!

 

Welcoming Fall

I still can’t believe it’s September!  Labor Day weekend is always one of my favorite holidays as it celebrates the ending of summer and welcomes in the new season of fall.  We just got back from our beach rental yesterday and I have tons to do, like unpacking all the kitchen stuff, loads of laundry, cleaning, etc but all I want is to go apple picking :)  Fall has always been a time of the year I look forward to, though spring is still my favorite season.  

While it’s sad summer is almost done, I am excited for autumn to officially be here.  Lots of things to look forward to:

• Home-made apple Crisp
• Pumpkin flavored EVERYTHING
• No more air conditioning
• Leaves changing color
• Sweatshirts and jeans
• Shipyard Pumpkinhead
• Weekend getaway to D.C./Baltimore
• Homecoming Weekend at FSC
• Crisp air and no more humidity= better hair days
• Comfy sweaters
• Halloween parties
• Warm apple cider
• Thanksgiving

image source found via Be Different…Act Normal 

Things I need to cross off the 101 in 1001 list…pumpkin picking, wine tasting, and buying a nice pair of boots (random, huh?).   We also will be completing a few other items soon as we’ll be taking a short weekend trip to D.C/Baltimore later this month.  I’m excited to go to the zoo :)

Cuteness – Cheese & Cracker Inspiration

Planning to serve cheese and crackers at your next party or get-together?  Why not dress them up a little?

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I found this image via Foodgawker on Cute Food for Kids.  All you need is a Laughing Cow wedge (my fav!), crackers, and an olive.  Apparently you use a straw to poke out little buttons and scissors to cut out the bow from the olive.  I’m curious to find out how long this really takes and if it’s worth the time, but the overall effect is pretty charming :)

Cute Food for Kids is a great site and includes a ton of ideas that you can easily modify so they’re not so kid-ish.  I also love her ideas for a Melted Marshmallow Snowman and an Apple O’Latern.  Check them out!

Recipe Review – Nutella & Strawberry Crepes

I made these crepes a couple months ago and I completely forgot to post about them.  When Hubby and I were in Mexico for our one year anniversary trip, I ordered Nutella crepes at one of the restaurants for breakfast one morning.  I usually would order pancakes but it was such a good switch getting those crepes – they were light, full of Nutella and cream cheese, and the whipped cream on top was heaven.  I know their crepes definitely were not healthy, so once we got home I went on a search to find something a little less fattening :)

I know strawberry season is almost over, but I definitely recommend trying these ASAP!  They are actually pretty easy to make once you practice.  I think the key is just to using a small frying pan so your batter fills the entire surface area of the pan.  The Nutella is an amazing addition for the filling and I can’t believe I had never tried Nutella before trying out this recipe.

Anyways, head over to Handle the Heat for the full recipe and how-to’s on making a perfect crepe!

Monday Musings

“A vacation is having nothing to do and all day to do it in.”  ~Robert Orben

Spending the week in my favorite place with my favorite person…

doesn’t get better than this :)

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Recipe – Margarita Cupcakes

I’ve seen a ton of recipes for margarita cupcakes this summer on many of the blogs I frequently visit.  However most of the recipes I found were making the cupcakes from scratch and since I was planning on making these for a co-worker’s birthday, I wanted something that could use a cake box mix.  I always use the cake box mix and diet soda recipe when making things for work because it uses less ingredients (I usually need to stay under $30 when making cakes/cupcakes for work since I get compensated for whatever I spend on ingredients).

 

While the actual cupcakes don’t taste exactly like a margarita, they are full of lime flavor and are very light which is perfect for a summer dessert.  The frosting is a buttercream with lots of lime juice and zest added in and a hint of tequila.  I think next time I would actually add in even more tequila to both the cupcakes and buttercream to amp up the flavor a bit :)

Easy Margarita Cupcakes

Ingredients:

• Box of white cake mix
• 2 egg whites
• can of diet Sprite or 7-up (you will only need about 10 oz, though)
• 1 tablespoon of lime juice
• 1 tablespoon of lime zest
• 1 tablespoon of tequila

Let’s get baking!

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Prepare muffin tins with cupcake liners.
• In a large mixing bowl, mix cake mix, egg whites, and 10 ounces of diet soda together for about 2 minutes on medium speed. 
• Add in lime juice, zest and tequila and mix well until completely blended with cake mix.
• Pour mixture evenly into cupcake liners, filling about 2/3 up.
• Bake for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
• Let cool for at least 30 minutes before frosting.

I feel like everyone has a different recipe for buttercream – some use more powdered sugar while other use more butter, so just make whatever buttercream you are most comfortable with.  To add the tequila flavor, mix the buttercream with 2 tablespoons of tequila, 1 tablespoon lime juice and 1 tablespoon of lime zest.  I added even a little more lime zest after so you can see the little green flakes once you are decorating the cupcakes :)  After frosting, use lime slices for garnish. 

A Maine Wedding: Some Bridal Portraits

I’m never a fan of pictures of just me.  Whenever I choose pictures for my Facebook profile, it’s never a picture of only me; there has to be at least someone else in the photo.  Needless to say I’m not totally comfortable with the below bridal pictures, but it is nice to look back on them and think “wow, all the details and inspiration pics I searched for months finally came together.”  These were taken before the ceremony, and strangely enough I do look calm even though my stomach was doing flips. 

    

I chose a half up, half down for my hairstyle to showcase my long curly hair.  I had kept it long for a few years at that point but once we were engaged, I knew I wouldn’t be cutting it until after the wedding.  My hair holds curls extremely well, so they lasted basically all night and didn’t get too frizzy until the end :)

For my make-up, I was originally thinking of doing more purple and pinkish tones for the eyeshadow and blush.  However my make-up artist went with neutral peach and brown tones for my rehearsal I did about a month before the wedding.  I loved the outcome and she did an even better job the day of.  The peaches really made my blue eyes pop, and I appreciated how the make-up was subtle but very polished.

  

It was time to double-check the hair and make-up one last time and ensure everything was in its place.  At this point my parents joined my bridesmaids in the room so we could all walk together to the main house of the inn.  My girls grabbed their bouquets and off we went to get ready for the ceremony.

 

See the building I came out of? So our bridal suite for the night was on the bottom and Hubby and his groomsmen were actually getting ready in the room right above us.  Hubby was SO adamant about not seeing me until I walked down the aisle and I was fine with this, but it was a little tricky maneuvering us in and out of rooms at the small inn to make sure we didn’t see each other that entire day:)  Shortly after I left and made my way to the main house, Hubby was given the okay to finally come out of his room and head down to the ceremony.

   

Next up: Our Ceremony - Part 1.