Two years.

A neighbor told me once "The days are long and the years are short". She was referencing what it was like to raise her sweet boy when she said it. But the same could be said for a marriage. Today is my 2nd wedding anniversary. And while it feels like that day was a lifetime ago, it also feels like it just happened last week. Happy Anniversary, Mr. W. I look forward to sharing many more years with you.

My...Meme?

My friend Heather tagged me for this chain-blog where I am supposed to blog about 6 random things about myself. So, here goes!

1) I have used a boat as a mode of transportation to go to school. When I was a kid, I lived in New Orleans, and the canals would flood every now and again. Well, school was on a higher elevation than our house. And on very rare occasion, we would take our boat and my dad would "drive" us to school. It's the Cajun's equivalent to the Yankee story about "walking uphill both ways in the snow to school"

2) Some describe me a dare-devil. I personally don't. I just have an interesting idea of what fun is. I went skydiving when I was 18, studied abroad in Cuba when I was 19, I've held alligators down in the Everglades, I ski with abandonment (point them and go!), my wake boarding skills are a force to be reckoned with, I practiced cliff-diving one drunken summer...and I did it again this past summer in Mexico, and lastly this past month, my husband and I took a flying trapeze class on the top of a pier overlooking the Hudson River. Oh..and I have eaten Waffle House sober. Now that makes me a dare-devil in itself.

3) While I love to cook and bake, I grew up on pretty much these three dinners; andouille sausage with Kraft Mac and Cheese, Kid Cuisine dinners, and pasta with butter and parmesan. As you can see, I developed my delicate palette early in life.

4) I have a bit of a phobia with being alone in two scenarios; shopping and getting my nails done. I don't know why and I am certainly not going to pay to sit on a couch to find out. But, I just don't enjoy shopping alone. The nail situation...well....I just don't like making smalltalk unless it's with a girlfriend ;)

5) I grew up in the theatre and I secretly miss it still. I often think about auditioning for local plays to release the creativity and have an outlet for it. But I was never fond of serious plays or straits. I much prefer to make people laugh!

6) I had the most perfect engagement I could have ever asked for. My husband bought 20 tickets to Whole World Theatre , had a friend act like she won them, and invited all of our closest friends. At the end of the night, they asked for two volunteers and my husband and I went onstage. He had set it up so that in the middle of the improv skit, he would break character and propose. It was everything I had ever wanted in a proposal; something that we could share with our friends (since they are our family) and recorded on video (I knew I would blackout and not remember anything--sure enough, I was right!)

Flying through the air with the greatest of ease

I have so much to blog about, I know. But for now, a tease of my next blog post. My day adventure in NYC with Mr. W!

Summer Re-cap

What a summer I have had! I have been cooking, baking, shopping, traveling, etc. And have pictures of everything, but no time to sit down and actually blog about each. So, here is a quick re-cap of what I have been up to!

Travel:
We have been fortunate enough to be able to travel to not 1, not 2, but 3 destination weddings this summer. We are so happy for all of our friends that have found a partner in life and had a wonderful time at each wedding. And rather than posting pictures from each wedding, I have a photo highlight from each trip.

--First stop: Mexico! We went to Mexico where I was in a friend's wedding. It was hot, hot hot but the drinks helped to keep cool :) We had a great time at the wedding and then spent a few days traveling around the Yucatan, checking out the Mayan Ruins and local arts. The highlight of the wedding (other than the ceremony of course) was definitely the donkey at the cocktail hour. He carried buckets of Corona and gave sweet hugs.


--Second Stop: Minneapolis! We went to Minneapolis for another friend's wedding in early August. Mr. W and I have never traveled for vacation to the Twin Cities, so we decided to make a weekend of it. We went to a Twins game in the Metrodome (very different, but cool to see a baseball game played in a dome), went shopping, and toured the sites. Of course, I had to take a picture with the famed Mary Tyler Moor statue.


Third stop: Los Angeles! Our friends got married over Labor Day weekend in Orange County. Again, Mr. W and I thought it would be a great excuse to make a trip out of it, so we went to the west coast for 6 days to shop, see an Angels game, and visit friends! And while shopping leisurely on a Saturday afternoon, I ran into none other than my friend Heidi Montag from The Hills! ;)
At Home:
Again, Mr. W and I have been incredibly busy this summer when we have been home. We hosted a couple's BBQ for our friends Sandy and Steve who have a baby due in October! Also, my manager moved to Australia with her husband to support our company there, so we had a farewell party in their honor. Other than that, it's been the occasional dinners and Rock Band parties :)

In between trips and parties, we carved out some time to finally purchase a new sofa! It will be here in about two weeks and we are anxiously counting down the days! It was a big departure from sofas we have been dissecting and analyzing over all summer, but it's huge and comfortable and I can't wait to curl up on it with a blanket. We also ordered a custom upholstered, tufted ottoman that will arrive with the sofa. My project now is looking for pillows and a rug for the living room. We are making good progress on the room though!

And finally I got my food processor that I have been lusting over for months now! My birthday was last month and Mr. W surprised me by purchasing the food processor and also a knife skills class at the local Viking culinary school. Sadly, between the parties and travel, I haven't had time to use it. But that is about to change very soon!

Other than that, it's been your average summer :) We have had trips to the lake, Braves games, wonderful dinners with friends, and some great staycations with each other. When I first started this post, I was going to say "wow, where did the summer go?"...I guess I know where it went now!

Furniture Shopping = Unneccessary Stress

It's a sofa. At most 100 inches long and 41 inches deep. But why is it more complicated to shop for such a sofa than say... a house? Mr. W and I have decided it's time to have grown up furniture in our living room. While I am really happy about this decision, I know that this is a long road (one we are already 1/4 of the way down) ahead.

We went to look around a few Sundays ago. We visited four different furniture stores to brainstorm and see what Mr. W likes and dislikes. The verdict:
--It must have a "comfy" arm for him to rest his head
--The length of the couch is crucial for enjoying a movie together
--Even more important is the depth for the same reason
--It should be tailored, but not too stuffy looking
--No skirts. Whatsoever.

So, all in all, it was a productive day to learn what we both liked and where to go from there. But then the idea of price came out. Mr. W is convinced that all furniture is over-priced. I would totally agree with him, but I concede under the "if you can't beat them, join them" ideals. We did find one Club Sofa from Martha Stewart's Bernhardt line that we both liked. But then Mr. W challenged me to find it the same look for less money (honestly, it was very reasonably priced to begin with, but we'll let that be for now).

Well, a couple of weeks went by. We randomly stopped by an Ethan Allen store last Sunday and Mr. W was drawn to a sofa in the store. And it's gorgeous! And, much to my surprise, he wanted to go ahead and discuss sealing the deal on the awesome sofa ("But...honey...this one is twice as much as the other one...oh...nothing...just saying..never mind! We'll take it!")

So, there you have it. That is the 1/4 of the journey down this road we have taken. Mr. W is playing in Vegas this weekend, so hopefully I can get him into the EA store next week before he changes his mind and we can have a huge check off the list! After the sofa, it's all downhill, right? (Dear Blogging Lords, please don't let me regret typing that last part...)

My favorite salad

This summer I have been loving making my own salad dressing. I just started doing this, so my dressings have been pretty basic vinaigrette. One night though, everything came together perfectly and I created my new favorite salad.

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts

baby spinach

seedless cucumber

green pepper

grated Parmesan cheese

To prepare the chicken:

Brine the chicken for a few hours (you can prepare the brine bath before work and let it soak all day). Remove from the brine bath and grill (no need for seasoning). Once finished on the grill, let sit for 2-5 minutes to rest. Cut the chicken into strips.

To prepare the dressing:

When I started reading about vinaigrette, I read about how french chefs prepare the dressing in the base of the bowl first and then toss the salad in the dressing. It makes great sense because you can control the amount of salad dressing and it gives you a place to emulsify the dressing. So, start off by getting a large glass bowl. Pour one tbsp. of olive oil, 4 shakes of the balsamic vinegar bottle (this is very technical obviously), the juice of a lemon, oregano, parsley, and garlic powder, salt and pepper to taste. I say to taste because really this is just what I like and I threw in my favorite ingredients. Whisk all the ingredients together and you'll notice it takes on an entirely different texture and look!

Once the dressing is prepared, cut up the cucumber, dice the green pepper and throw the spinach and veggies into the bowl with the chicken and toss to coat. Top it off with some Parmesan cheese. It's so simple to make!

Just have fun experimenting. That's what life is all about :)

2nd Best Investment for the Garage

A year ago we were busying buying new gadgets and gizmo's for the yard and house. And the garage was quickly becoming a death trap of random stuff all over the place. We knew we needed to get it into check and quickly. Enter the Rubbermaid Fast Track system. We found it at Home Depot and not only is it incredibly affordable compared to other options in the store, it is so versatile and easy to install! Mr. W installed 4 tracks and we had started to organize the garage within 3 hours. It's a year later and it's still awesome. We've added another Fast Track on the 3rd wall and more stuff is off the floor now. We still have more organizing to do with the garage, but this was most definitely a very large step in the (now clear to walk through) direction.

FYI--The total cost for everything you see here was roughly $400 including the red tool chest and 2 door cabinet for storing paint and supplies.

Oh, and why is this the 2nd best investment and not the first? Stay Tuned...