Baby, It's Cold Outside

Good morning!

Precisely.

I'm not sure about you, but where I live, it is getting cold. Don't get me wrong, I like the cold more than the excessive heat of summer in Minnesota, but each year it comes as a surprise. It doesn't gradually get cold here...one day it is 60 and you're prancing around without a coat, and the next day, you're donning boots and a scarf. ...Along with 3 shirts since the office is freezing year round but reaches its peak arctic temp during the winter months.

Peach tea in a Christmas mug!

That being said, a lot of tea is consumed during the day in attempt to stay warm.

I swear I drink about 4 cups throughout the day; at least it's better than 4 cups of coffee, right?

Saturday

Yesterday I woke up super early, rushed off to the gym for a sweaty strength + cardio session, and then headed to the grocery store before the rest of the world was awake and crowding the aisles. I love getting my shopping done early in the morning--it is so much less stressful since there are no lines, crying children, or lack of parking spaces. 

When I arrived home, I quickly unloaded and sorted all of the groceries before sitting down to some lunch with Andy. We made sub sandwiches and sometimes those just hit the spot--especially when extra pickles are involved!

I kept my lunch pretty light with my sides being fruit and veggies + hummus since I was headed out mid-afternoon for an appetizer date with my friend, Kara Lynn. I recently saw her at my bachelorette party and the wedding, but we didn't get to talk much so we decided a lunch date would be best. 

She just got married last spring, so chatter about weddings, married life, jobs, and future plans filled the 3 hours that we spent at a restaurant. It was so fun catching up with her since it has been so long! We were neighbors in the dorms during our freshman year of college so we shared a tight bond back in the day!

When I arrived home, Andy convinced me to make tacos and although they didn't sound good to me, as soon as the smells filled the air, I started getting hungry for them. Since I ate half a bowl of tortilla soup and a million chips at the restaurant earlier that afternoon, I wasn't super hungry. My solution? A taco bowl! I used homemade cilantro-lime rice as the base and piled on the toppings. A generous pouring of salsa followed this photo to top things off! 

After we ate, we set up Andy's Christmas tree that he had picked up from his parents' house earlier in the day. We decided to swap my mini tree with his since we have high ceilings downstairs. His taller tree filled the space much better than my fun-sized one. We moved my tree upstairs so we've got Christmas on two floors. Perfect!

Later on in the evening, I was telling Andy that I had heard good things about the game "Words with Friends." We immediately downloaded it from the App store and were instantly hooked! We played against each other for almost two hours--each of us laying on our own respective couches--the love seat for me, and the full-size for him. About an hour into the game, I texted my sister and got her hooked as well. I love that it is a continuous game and you can play whenever you have time throughout the day. 

Off to hit the shower--we're headed to church this morning for the first time in a long stretch! We've been so busy with moving, wedding planning, etc. that we haven't been regular about our attendance. Time to change that! 

Do you know of any other fun phone games that you can play against friends?

I'm looking for some new blogs to add to my Reader--what are some of your favorites?

Do you prefer taco bowls/salads or regular tacos?

Harvest Party, New Snacks, and The Photo Challenge Returns

Good morning and happy weekend! 

I woke up starving this morning so I made a bowl of pumpkin oatmeal with a big scoop of peanut butter on top. Seriously, don't knock it until you try it--it's so good! For the pumpkin oatmeal, I made oats on the stove using milk, pumpkin, brown sugar, pumpkin pie spice, and about 1/2 cup of oats. So good paired with some gingerbread coffee in my new Mrs. mug!

This week has been a crazy one! During our first full-week at home together, I somehow managed to break our microwave! 

I promise I've been using more than the microwave to make our meals! The other night I made white pizza with chicken--can you tell which side is his and which is hers? 

Luckily the new microwave will arrive soon so we can resume convenience cooking. It's crazy how much you don't realize how much you use the microwave. For example, last night we made baked potatoes to go with our turkey burgers; normally I pre-cook the potatoes in the oven for about 8 minutes, then toss them in the oven to get crispy since they will cook much faster. Well, last night sans microwave, I stuck the cold potatoes directly into the oven and nearly an hour (!!) later, they were done. They were still super tasty though! 

Harvest Party

Earlier in the week, on Halloween night, my friend Amy hosted a little harvest party for us. It was so fun to see some friends and kick back while catching up with one another. 

My contribution, along with caramel Chex mix! See the bottom of this post for the recipe! 

One of the girls brought a recipe and ingredients to make peanut butter caramel corn and wow, was it ever delicious! Recipe will be appearing on the blog when I make it sometime this winter. 

Last night around 8:15pm, we had the great idea to unpack the rest of our boxes and organize Andy's office. Two and a half hours later, we called it a night and we'll be wrapping it up today (hopefully!). I can't wait to get all settled in so that I know exactly where things are. Andy also suggested putting up our Christmas tree so I am way excited about that--whenever we get around to it. It'll be fun to celebrate our first married Christmas together! It's so hard to believe that it is literally right around the corner.

New Snacks

www.snapzcrisps.com

I recently tried these new apple crisps and thought I'd share my thoughts on them because I was really impressed. 

I've tried apple chips in the past and I feel as though they are either hit or miss; a lot of times they have a chemical-y aftertaste or just taste "off." However, these new snacks didn't disappoint! 

The flavor was spot on and the crunch was perfect. Each snack size bag is made from 1 whole apple, has 45 calories, and is 100% all-natural. Now those are stats to get excited about! You'd better believe I will be picking up some more of these soon! I'm thinking they'd be a great addition to my snack drawer at work--you know, for when you get the munchies around 3pm.

Photo Challenge Returns

Now that I'm almost back into my routine, I'm happy to reintroduce the 30 Day Photo Challenge that I started awhile ago. Looking back, I left off on Day 10, which brings us to: Something I made! 

The mix before adding the m&m's and candy corn

For our harvest party, I contributed a caramel snack mix that we soon dubbed as "Rot your teeth mix" since it was so sweet and addicting. I first sampled this yummy mix a few years ago when my friend Allie brought it over to my house--I remember not being able to stop munching on it--that's how good it was! I randomly remembered it last weekend while I was trying to decide what to make for our party and decided to give it a whirl. 

You may find the recipe below, which I snagged from a forum about cereal recipes. Although, I switched it up a bit by adding some candy corn to the mix--had to make it festive for the occasion, you know! 

Caramel Chex Mix

• 1 lg. box Crispix cereal (Rice Chex will also work)
• 10 oz. bag thin pretzel sticks (I used the pretzel rounds)
• 2 cups of peanuts
• 2 cups of m&m's
• 1 small bag of candy corn

Mix all ingredients except for the candy in a large mixing bowl and set aside.

• 2 c. brown sugar
• 1 c. butter
• 1/2 c. corn syrup

Boil 2 minutes. Pour over cereal mixture and stir. Bake in oven at 350 degrees for 8 minutes. Take out and stir. Bake another 8 minutes. Spread on foil to cool completely, then add candy, stir, and enjoy!

Saturday Plans

On the agenda for this weekend: unpack/organize, meet up with Krystine for a Starbucks design date, gym time x2, and maybe make some granola with my mom! 

When do you usually put up your Christmas tree?

Would you last long without a microwave?

Do you prefer sweet or savory Chex mixes?

Wedding Recap: Getting Ready

Hello friends!

Happy Halloween! Do you have any fun plans for a costume party or trick or treating? I'm headed over to my friend Amy's place this evening for a harvest party with a group of my favorite girls! It'll be fun to catch up, snack on treats, and make caramel corn together.

If you're just catching up from the weekend, my blog was back in full-swing since my wedding/honeymoon hiatus.

• On Friday, I featured a recap of the days leading up to our wedding
• Saturday's post was a random mish mash featuring a new coffee creamer, my new office, and reminiscing American Girl dolls
• Lastly, yesterday's post was a brief overview of heading to my parent's house to open all of our wedding gifts

Getting Ready
As promised, here is a recap of the morning of our wedding.

I jumped out of bed as soon as my alarm went off that morning to hit the shower before heading out the door. I quickly dried my hair, sipped a smoothie, and grabbed my duffel bag of cosmetics, shoes, and toiletries that I had packed the night before. I was a little tired but the excitement outweighed it.

I was dropped off at the salon at 8:30am and found Krystine, my personal attendant waiting for me with a Starbucks' double tall soy latte in hand. Oh yes--a great way to start the day! Heidi, the hair stylist that I've been a client of for the past 3 years, joined us soon after. I actually found out about Heidi through Allie, who also is a client of hers.

Kaaren arrived soon after as she had a hair appointment as well. Her undo turned out so cute! All curly and such!

My hair stylist, Heidi, always has Dove dark chocolates at her station in the salon. So delicious!

Please note the hair horn on the left side of the picture. Awesome. 

I knew that I wanted my hair up for my wedding so that it would not get tangled or in my face throughout the course of events. Heidi and I went over the style earlier in the week and discussed options for the style and what to bring to the appointment.

I found it interesting that she had me wash my hair that morning. I've always heard that slightly dirty hair styles better and holds curls much longer; however, I'm glad that she had me come with fresh hair since my hair is very thick yet fine--so it gets dirty very fast, especially when I apply product to it.

It's all starting to come together now--I love all of the twists she added!

What is that sharp object being pointed at my scalp?!

Tucking in the bangs

At first, I was going to have my bangs down, but after discussing it with Heidi, we decided to pull them up so that they wouldn't be in my way throughout the day for pictures and everything. Plus it was a little windy out and we planned to take photos outside later on that afternoon both before and after the ceremony.

Spray it down!

Andrea arrived about 45 minutes into my appointment so that she could do my makeup before Krystine drove me up to the chapel to change into my dress.

Checking it out--I was impressed!

When I went in for my consultation appointment the week before, she had mentioned that I might want to get a flower to pin in my hair for a cute detail. She pointed to another stylist in the salon and said "a flower like hers would be perfect--let's go ask her where she got that one." 

Well, long story short, the other stylist ordered hers online for a wedding as well, and when she heard that my wedding was just a few days away, she pulled her clip from her hair and handed it to me. 

"Here, this can be your something borrowed--just return it to Heidi after the wedding and she'll give it back to me."

Wow! I was so taken back by this kind gesture! I was so happy to have found a flower so quickly--without even any searching on my part! 

We tried pinning in the veil that my mom had made, but it just didn't feel right, so we all made the mutual decision to do without it. I was kind of relieved because I didn't really want to wear a veil in the first place but gave it a try since it is a nice tradition.

Ah, she is so great! It was such a relief to have a stylist that I know and trust do my hair for me on my wedding day.

We headed into the bathroom to primp. Lots of giggles ensued as 4 nervous girls were in a tiny bathroom and people kept knocking on the door.

It was so nice having my makeup taken care of by someone else so that I didn't have to worry about getting it perfect. Andrea does such a nice job!

After she finished my makeup, I quickly brushed on some mascara before we scooted out the door! Krystine, Kaaren, and I hit up Bruegger's for some bagels before heading to the chapel to get changed and ready; which I'll save that story for another day.

Have a great Halloween! Eat lots of candy!

Do you have a stylist that you always go to or do you request whoever is available?

Favorite Halloween candy? I think mine is candy corn but I pretty much love all candy...

Dove chocolates: do you prefer the dark or milk variety? Dark all the way for me!

Bachelorette Bash

Hi there!

Yesterday I promised you a recap of my recent bachelorette party for today! Here we go!

Saturday started out with baking some cookie bars while eating Rice Krispies out of a mug since my dishwasher was full again. This seems to be a common occurrence in my house... Before Andrea arrived, I hit up the gym for a sweaty circuit training session which always helps me start my day off on a good foot.

Andrea arrived around 2pm and after receiving the tour of our house, we unloaded her car and brought everything inside. We blasted the radio and chatted as we set up for the party--it was fun to catch up with with her! The theme for my party was a Fall candy bar which did not disappoint--this is only some of the candy and food that was set up! 

I was so surprised that my flowers from the bridal shower last weekend stayed alive long enough for the party! Having fresh flowers on your coffee table always makes the room look so much more cheery, don't you think?

My sister suggested that we play a game where each guest takes a clothespin and then throughout the party, there are two taboo words; if you say one of the words, you lose your clothespin. In the end, the person with the most clothespins won a prize. We chose "Andy" and "wedding" as the taboo words, but the guests were pretty good about avoiding these words--using phrases like "your fiance" and "your big day" instead.

Homemade pizzas were on the menu for the night! Before the guests arrived, I prepped a bunch of pizzas--some were white chicken pizza, while others were classic pizza with red sauce. Mmmm. Andy and I chomped down on the leftovers yesterday for both lunch and dinner!

We also played a fun toilet paper dress game where the guests broke out into groups of two and then had to design a wedding dress using toilet paper.

Trying different techniques

This game initiated lots of laughter

My dress that I designed for Michele! 

Danielle and Allie and the winning dress!

Jen and Jennifer and their creation

Krystine's stylish outfit...loved the headpiece, haha

After the wedding dress game and an Andy + Laura Trivia game, gifts were opened! 

I had such a great time and was so thankful for my sister throwing such a great party for me before I get married soon! It was so fun to see all of my friends--including some that I hadn't seen for many years as we celebrated my last few weeks of singleness!

Photo Challenge Day 5: Someone I love

Andy, of course! 

Time to go get ready and then grab some breakfast downstairs! Have a great start to your week!

Ever been to a bachelorette party? 

Favorite party game to play?

Do you ever eat cereal out of coffee mugs?

A Beautiful Bridal Brunch

Hello there!

This past Saturday was my first bridal shower! Attending this event definitely made the "oh my gosh I'm getting married" feeling much stronger! Now that we're getting closer to the date, things are starting to feel more real; for awhile, it felt like our wedding was so far away but now it is just around the corner!

After brunching, we moved to the living room for a fun dice game! We passed plates of dice around the circle, and if you rolled doubles, you grabbed a small gift from the middle. After all of the gifts were gone, if someone rolled doubles, they could snatch a gift from someone else. It got pretty intense rather quickly! 

After that game, we played another one in which everyone was given a sheet of paper with questions about Andy and I. My mom and sister both tied for first place (go figure! They're a little biased...) but my Aunt came in pretty close!

Next, gifts were opened! We received so many great things from our registries and we can not wait to use them! One of my favorite gifts that wasn't on a registry was this neat bike that one of the guests gave us. She also included a little poem about how riding a tandem bike can be related to our relationship with God. It was such a unique idea! I am looking forward to displaying this bike in our new home! 

I was so excited to receive such useful gifts! It will be so fun to have guest over and be able to use all of these new kitchen gadgets and serving dishes. Plus, I'm sure that many of them will make their grand appearance on the blog, as well! :D

My grandma assembled a cookbook for us with all kinds of great recipes all categorized and organized into a neat little book! This will be great for meal ideas! 

A Vera Bradley bag from my aunt! A new Kitchen Aid toaster was hiding inside! 

Lots of cards! 

The whole group that came to celebrate with me! I am so thankful to have all of these wonderful women in my life! 

Relatives from my mom's side of the family. Left to right: 

My cousin, myself, my other cousin, my mom, my sister, grandma, and my aunt!

2 of my bridesmaids and my personal attendant! 

Andy's sister Jen, myself, Andrea, and Krystine! You might recognize Krystine from a previous post since we are coworkers now! 

My two moms! Andy's mother is on my left, and my mom is on my right!

The wonderful ladies that thew the shower for me! Aren't they adorable?! My mom has such great friends--they threw a shower for my sister last winter too.

They had decorated the house both inside and out! I was so touched by their generosity and thoughtfulness!

After the shower, I headed back to my parent's house and chowed down a bowl of cereal since I hadn't eaten since earlier that morning! My sister and I sat down to plan my bachelorette party before my mom and I headed out to run a few wedding errands. Our first round wasn't too successful on the wedding front since my mom purchased a dress and a purse, and I came out with a pair of khakis and some new jeans. Oh, and a pretzel from the shop in the mall was also bought and consumed as well. 

After  the mall, we headed to another store and finally crossed some items off our our list! I found my bridesmaids gifts and I can't wait to give them to my bridesmaids for being a part of my special day. We also ran into one of my mom's neighbors at the store and it was so great to catch up with them! 

The next day, Andy and I met with our musicians to choose our ceremony music! Things are really coming together! I am so excited for the song that will be played when I walk down the aisle with my dad. Rather than doing the traditional route of canon in D, I chose "Interlude" by Shane and Shane after hearing it at a friend's wedding last Fall. I loved that we added this twist to our ceremony music and that we were able to incorporate an artist that has a special meaning to the two of us since we attended a Shane and Shane concert when we first started dating. 

After choosing our ceremony music, we went out to lunch with Andy's parents before checking out another place to live! We even got root beer floats--I haven't had one of those in so long! It definitely hit the spot as summer comes to an end.

Andy was so sweet and scanned in all of my pictures for me so that I can start working on our wedding slideshow! I can't wait to start on this project--it will be fun to watch us grow up on the video! Okay, and just to prove that I wasn't that strange as a kid, here's a normal one:

Those were the days!

Time to go blow dry my hair and head into work! Have a super day!

What special songs did you have in your wedding? Or, what songs would you like to have in your wedding?

Do you remember what your favorite age was? I'd have to say 7 or 8 was mine!

Best/worst bridal shower game you've played?