Artichoke Rice Salad

Here's an old post from my Facebook "Notes" page that I thought I should also include here because the dish is so tasty :)  I no longer have a photo so here's one I found on Google Images:

June 15, 2010
We celebrated Grace's birthday at our house last night (Mark's mommy)...I tried out a new recipe to compliment Mark's amazing grilled, cedar plank salmon. The cold rice salad was very fresh and summery or as Mark said: "it's a burst of fresh flavors with every bite"

RECIPE (found this on CDKitchen.com):

2 cups cooked rice (I used minute rice)
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
4 medium green onions, chopped
1 small red bell pepper, chopped (I accidentally purchased yellow and it was still delish)
1 can (14 oz size) artichoke hearts, drained, cut into fourths

***Lemon Vinaigrette***
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon grated lemon peel
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 clove garlic, finely chopped

Directions:

Cook rice in water as directed on package.

In medium bowl, mix rice and remaining salad ingredients.

In small bowl, mix all vinaigrette ingredients with wire whisk until blended. Add to salad; toss to mix. Cover and refrigerate at least 3 hours until chilled.

 

Dinner in 15 minutes?! Vegetarian Taco Salad!

OK, so if I go to the gym after work I don't get home until late and by that point I am ready to eat ANYTHING.  But if I did that the whole hour at the gym would be wasted.  Now that I'm cooking I tend to have some random ingredients around from various recipes and I am starting to learn what goes together.  Today I knew I needed to get some protein and veggies in my system so I created this vegetarian taco salad:

Me Gusta Ensalada de Taco

INGREDIENTS
1 can black beans
1 tablespoon of cajun spices*
1/2 tablespoon red pepper flakes
A few good shakes of hot sauce
2 stalks/stems (whatever they are) green onions, chopped
1 sliced roasted red pepper
Romaine lettuce
If desired:
Ranch dressing
Shredded cheese (cheddar, colby, jack...)
5 or so tortilla chips

DIRECTIONS
Put the beans in a saucepan, juice and all--crank the stove to a 6 (medium to medium-high heat).  Add green onions and cajun spices, cover.  Take the Romaine lettuce heart/stalk/whatever it is, wash and chop then set aside.  Add the roasted red pepper slices, red pepper flakes and hot sauce to the beans then re-cover.  Eventually the bean mixture should begin to simmer (that doesn't sound very professional but it's true and hey, I'm not a professional).  Let this simmer a minute or so and with a slotted spoon dish out the goodness on top of the lettuce leaving the liquid behind.  Add a drizzle of Ranch dressing or a good grab of shredded cheese, crushed tortilla chips.

*Cajun Seasoning with Green Onions by Cajun Land is something I picked up in New Orleans when I was there for work last year. You can order using the link above but here's what is listed in the ingredients list; I have to think you could mimic at home:
-salt
-spices
-onion
-garlic
-red pepper
-green onion

Comforting food

T spent the weekend with us and since she likes both cooking and macaroni-n-cheese I thought this would be a perfect dish....then I remembered that most kids like Kraft or Velveeta Mac-n-Cheese so this might not be as big a hit as I first thought.  I was right but it was still fun to make!  This is slightly adapted from Patti LaBelle's recipe she made on Oprah forever ago, "Over-the-Rainbow Macaroni and Cheese." The result is a creamy, filling dish and the cheese combinations work well together without being overly fancy.

Sara's "Sitting-on-top-of-the-Rainbow-with-Patti-LaBelle" Macaroni and Cheese

INGREDIENTS:

1lb Elbow Macaroni or similar (I used Rotini this time but will likely stick to the ‘bows)
8 Tbsp (1 stick) Butter
1/2 Cup (2 ounces) Shredded Muenster Cheese
1/2 Cup (2 ounces) Shredded Mild Cheddar Cheese
1/2 Cup (2 ounces) Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese
1/2 Cup (2 ounces) Shredded Monterey Jack
2 Cups Half-And-Half (this is the same as one pint)
1 Cup (8 ounces) Velveeta, cut into small cubes
2 Large Eggs, lightly beaten
Salt & Pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:
 1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly butter (or Pam spray) a deep 2 1/2-quart casserole dish.

 2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Add pasta and cook until it is just tender, about 7 minutes. Do not overcook. Drain well.

3. In the now empty cooking pot, melt eight tablespoons of the butter. Return pasta to the cooking pot and stir thoroughly. In a large bowl, mix the  shredded cheeses (Muenster, mild and sharp Cheddar, and Monterey Jack). To the macaroni, add the half-and-half, 1 1/2 cups of the shredded cheese, the cubed Velveeta and the eggs. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to the buttered casserole dish. Sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup of shredded cheese.

3.5. If you desire a “crunchy top” as my husband calls it mix about 1/2 cup of bread crumbs with one-ish tablespoon of melted butter, then top the dish with this crust. I inadvertantly left the butter out of my creation (pictured below) so the crust was kind of lame.  I've also read about using corn flakes or potato chips as a crunchy top...will have to try that and let you know!

4. Bake until it's bubbling around the edges, about 35 minutes. Serve hot.

Here is a quick image...we definitely ate a helping or two before we stopped to take a picture:

Easy Vegetarian

Ha, that title made me laugh.

Since the wedding is done and there's no more planning I spend my free time using my sweet new pots and pans.  I've been doing some Google searches for a blog by a vegetarian. Half the ones I found had recipes with Chicken or Venison.  The other half featured 147 ingredients and an equal number of photos of actually making the dish OR ramblings about the "vegetarian lifestyle."  Obviously kind of boring.

So this blog will now morph to house my recipes, I have had lots of "friends" on Facebook try out the simple vegetarian recipes I make--most are variations of recipes I find in magazines or newspapers or online.  Maybe some other folks will too!

Updates and recipes are a-coming!

slacking on the updates

seriously behind.  thank you notes did go out though....woo....

Next blog button

I should stop hitting that "next blog" button at the top...I get sucked in to other people's writing...for WAY too long.  But today I found my way to this one and if I link my blog to theirs I am entered to win a delightful dress.  It's 100% impractical but it makes me want to get married (again) on a rocky beach.  Somewhere up north perhaps?  Is three months too early for a vow renewal?  Plus, I love seeing someone with innovative marketing ideas...a giveaway in exchange for free press?  Fantastic plan!

Updates of randomness

1. We hosted our first party in our new place, 41 family/friends came!!!  So far, there only appears to be one small brownish colored spot on the carpet.  Impressive considering Costco catered the whole thing so there was food EVERYWHERE.

2. Mark will be 29 tomorrow.  I took him "Outback tonight!" because he loves steak, chain restaurants and I had a coupon.  Man, I'm an awesome wife.

3. The completely written thank you notes are sitting in a corner of our office waiting to be addressed, sealed and mailed.  Uh....next week?

4. Have you been on MySpace lately?  I went on tonight.  It's not that exciting since most people I know are either no longer on the site or haven't logged in for more than 30 days.  Rather than scope out other pages I looked at old photos from the MySpace era of 3-5 years ago--or the 3-5 gym nights per week era.  I don't think I'm fat but I was definitely thinner in the MySpace era....so I'm going back to that era, who's with me!?!  Surveys and slimmer stomachs await.

Day of the Dad

I didn't buy Mark a Father's Day gift.  He's not my dad, right?!  Hmmm.  The more I thought about it the worse I felt.  He is a really great dad to T, which is amazing since that's not always easy to do when you're a weekend parent.  It makes me so happy to see what his presence does for her. Plus, I know how lucky our children, and myself, will be once we decide to make some.  Or adopt some, depending on whether my hypochondriac self allows for 9-months of major body changes or as Mark says, "depends on if you're too old."  I just turned 30 punk!!! 

So, despite the fact my husband is concerned I'm old already, I found this rad dude shirt in a dark blue color so he can rock it with jeans or dress pants:

Thank goodness Mark will wear it with a belt....

Score

Dear Husband,

Neener-neener I finished ALL my thank you notes...well except for how I confused the two Jan's gifts.  I will fix that and then be finished with ALL my thank you notes.

So sexyface, did you finish yours? .........You are the weakest link!  Oh good point, I didn't print out the list and Google Documents confuses you.  I get confused trying to set up our home printer so I guess we are even.  I'll print it before I leave work today!

LYL,
Your wife

Thank you notes. They aren't writing themselves

So far I wrote all the thank you notes for my family gift givers.
And I would say I'm more than halfway through my friend gift givers.
Mark wrote three notes for his family gift givers before he told me he doesn't "really want to write them."  DUH, it's time consuming and hard to think of different ways to say thank you over and over and over.  But you do it, especially when we have been blessed with so many GENEROUS friends and family!!!

Consider this one big "Thank You" and your personal note should be coming...soon!

Pro photos - sneak peek

I am literally in awe of these images and will let them speak for themselves!

Detroit Photographer:

Dionne & Joe at The Shooting Gallery

www.theshootinggallery.com

(side steps at Fort Street Presbyterian in Detroit)

(side steps at Fort Street Presbyterian in Detroit)

(Hart Plaza, Detroit)

unBELIZEable part 2

OK…I’m just picking this up again, thank goodness when I initially started trying to write I made a quick outline of the remaining days! Old age is a B.

Day five: After trying to sleep in a little we sunscreened ourselves up and rented a golf cart for a few hours to do some souvenir shopping. See, on the island transportation is a bit different. There are minivan taxis, a few cars/motorcycles/trucks, bikes and golf carts! Of course, tourists like us think, “neat a golf cart!” and shell out big bucks to rent them even when a free bike beckons. But you get less sweaty and let’s be honest it’s going to be fun zipping around in a golf cart. Except for the gigantic pedestrian bumps (two foot tall speed bumps) every 25 yards, those hurt like a mother in a golf cart. I was over it before it started. LOL. We seriously did so much touristy shopping I thought I would pass out but we ended up with a Belikin beer shirt for Mark, a tee & jewelry for Taylor and a new dress for me. It was almost worth the incessant walking around a different store with essentially the same stuff.

We finally had lunch on the beach at the restaurant Mark wanted to try, Wild Mango’s. It was good, we saw the owner heading to a water taxi with kids and wine, and the margaritas improved my mood and almost got rid of the bump induced headache. On our way back we explored the areas just south of our hotel by golf cart and saw an area where the molestation of crocodiles was prohibited. Mark was intrigued.


That afternoon we spent the rest of the day at the pool and Mark got the crocodile molestation scoop from a waiter. Apparently, a local teen had been feeding the giant crocs chicken and they became a bit tame. So tame, in fact, the kid would do tricks like place his hat/sunglasses in the mouth of the crocodile. Tourists would come watch and the kid collected some cash but then the government decided that this was too dangerous and shut him down. Then the waiter insisted we would see a crocodile if we went a dusk, telling this to Mark would be the equivalent of telling the hyper-hypo kid from SNL the ice cream truck swings through the playground at dusk. So along comes dusk and off we go on our trusty bicycles. I watched for them from the road, a good 30 yards away from water’s edge. Mark not only went to the water’s edge he went out onto a peninsula to investigate. Sure enough, he found one and then proceeded to THROW A STICK AT IT. I pretty much passed/flipped out yelling all my crocodile knowledge to him, “run in a zig zag! They rely on the element of surprise! Make eye contact! Get the Sam Hill away from there right now!!” I had to fake a seizure to get him out of there. Who throws sticks at crocodiles?!?! My husband…great.

No clue what we did for dinner, probably because I was still too freaked out from the crocodile incident. Assuming we went into town again with our favorite cabbie.


Day six: Adventure day! We had signed up to do a tour of some Mayan Ruins and go cave tubing. The ruins, Xunantunich, were so cool. I also can not only prononuce that word but spelled it right without looking it up.  I think I should clap it out....Anyway they are the second highest ruins in Belize and it only took us a few hours to get there by boat and then van. We used a tour company that our hotel set up for us, Searious Adventures. Excellent language pun and excellent guides! I felt like we learned a lot that day and we got to eat lunch off the beaten path. Then we went cave tubing which sounds awesome! Except you have to get down this river with zero current, and you must form a human chain with the other strangers on your tour. Add to that nerdy life vests and helmets (there were no rapids or any possible way to tip over) and it’s not quite all you think it’s going to be. Overall we enjoyed the trip but think the full day at a larger ruins location would’ve been better.

Since our day was so long and, of course, hot we wanted to do an earlier dinner close to the hotel. Enter the Hidden Treasure. We’d heard others say how great the food was and were eager to check it out. Everyone knows the US economy has tanked but it was particularly interesting to see how that plays out in an area that relies so heavily on tourism, specifically US tourists. On a beach walk one afternoon we saw what we thought was people building a palapa bar (beach hut style bar). Instead they were taking it down, no business. The owner was there supervising and she instructed us to fix the economy and return so she could reopen. We all laughed but it was an awful feeling! OK, so back to dinner, there was one other couple in this huge open air restaurant. Our waiter was young and super friendly. Seeing as how it was our one week anniversary we had an appetizer, bottle of wine and a fantastic dinner but it wasn’t cheap. Hidden Treasure was by far our favorite restaurant, the food was phenomenal and the location quaint—plus they pick you up and drop you off at Victoria House free of charge. After dinner the head chef even stopped out to give me instructions on how to make the coconut rice! Eventually a few more parties wandered in but they have to be hurting just as much as anyone else on the island.

We attempted a bar crawl by walking back down toward some other hotels but didn’t see anyone out and ended up back at the Victoria House bar for a nightcap.


Day seven: Sad, our last full day. We decided another long bike ride was in order, this time we ventured way beyond our initial ride up the island. In fact we went insanely far—probably about 10 miles up the island. And it was great! I did have to commandeer a resort beach hammock to cool off but we had a blast. We hit up the bar over the water (Palapa's) that was closed the last time we did a big bike ride and left our graffiti behind. Mark even took me to the now open Legends for a burger where veggie burgers make the cut. Just not that day.

We cooled off back at the pool and got ready for dinner which, again, I can’t remember the name of.


Day eight: Home again. Boo! Good thing Mark took the next day off too and got our vacation laundry finished.

unBELIZEable part 1

When I travel I’m a huge nerd and keep a journal. In all the chaos leading up to our honeymoon I didn’t even get a new one nor did I even think of it until the trip was almost over. I’m bummed so I’m going to try and remember it all now:


Day one: e-a-r-l-y flight. But we made it to Belize and waited about 40 minutes for our puddle jumper to San Pedro. There were a handful of other newlywed couples waiting for flights but no one was staying at our hotel. There was an older couple who was going to Victoria House—this made me nervous since we both had anticipated going out and doing something with at least one other couple one night…or more! The little plane was hilarious and hot. We flew over the like bay and pulled in on a concrete runway to a dilapidated shack and dirt baggage claim area. We jumped in a taxi with the other couple and giddily scoped the landscape until we got to Victoria House.

Once we got to the hotel we were given a delicious fruit drink and shown to our room. Gorgeous! Small but exceptional and we had a private balcony overlooking the grounds. We stripped down and put on bathing suits (dirty minded people!) and toured the hotel property. AWESOME! Then we napped by the pool.

Mark made a reservation for Sunset Grill, we were still on our wedding high and had a great dinner though the food was less than stellar. I had shrimp for the first time in ages and it was good. I think the bottle of wine was a help in eating that.

Day two: Pool day. All day, we ate breakfast at the hotel and we took a bike ride up over the bridge. It was so early that none of the restaurants/bars were open on that side of the bridge. The bridge was about 2 miles from our hotel and it was 86% humidity on top of being in the 80s. but it was actually pretty cool to just tool around like that. After the long ride we cooled off then got hot again and laid out while mapping out the rest of our vacation. Dinner was at The Tackle Box. Local joint by the water taxi station that was actually pretty good. Not sure if we were still tired from the wedding or not but we went back to the hotel, played some Rummikub (score! We saw this at lunch and were so pumped!) and went to bed. It was like 8:30.

Crap I’m on day two and not remembering—boo! Wait, I’m remembering (I went back and filled it in!)


Day three: Snorkel trip to the Hol Chan Marine Reserve. Absolutely amazing trip, we saw so many different fish and in pretty deep water. For some reason I was FREEZING while we snorkeled, maybe it’s because my back was slowly frying into a gorgeous shade of crimson. While in Shark Ray Alley we definitely saw lots of nurse sharks and when I jumped off the boat I managed to land on a Sting Ray that had been chilling UNDER the boat until the moment I decided to plop in. Mark got a big kick out of that. I should have reminded him that Steve Irwin was probably laughing about sting rays too!


The other couple on our tour, Kristin and Hamilton, was a super fun couple from Chattanooga. Hamilton’s parents were originally going to take the trip but couldn’t make it at the last minute so they left their four(!) kids with the neighbors and came down instead. They were very fun loving and so nice—so nice in fact we were pumped to find out they were going fishing the next day too and booked the same trip. Once back on dry land we decided some adult beverages would be nice. So we had a few and split a delicious blackened grouper sandwich. Then we met another newlywed couple who we decided were pretty fun. We made plans to go out that night after dinner with Wade and Betsy.

Tackle Box was the meeting point and also where somehow we decided to forgo dinner. Next stop was some bar, with no people at it. We took a drunken golf cart ride to hotel (thanks Betsy) while searching for food since we skipped dinner. Stopped at Karaoke bar near hotel hoping for food, again no clue on the name, and there was no food. Betsy sang that song by Four Non Blondes. I couldn’t tell you how it goes at the moment. But Mark was singing it in the shower the next morning and didn’t know why. HA!

Day four: Deep sea fishing day. I started with a hearty breakfast of Huevos Rancheros. My stomach wasn’t 100% since we were out late and drinking the night before. I wasn’t too sure how this boat ride was going to settle that at all. So I pulled the trigger. But after emptying out the Huevos Rancheros I knew there was more and it was only a matter of time before that wanted to come out too. I was seriously debating skipping the tour but I so, so, so wanted to go. So I did.


That “matter of time” turned out to be about 7 minutes. At that point I heaved so violently over the edge of the boat I couldn’t breathe. Awesome. Mark tried to give me some water, Kristin suggested Coke so the bubbles would settle my stomach and she kept saying, Sara I’m so sorry. I had to let her know it was 100% my fault as I can’t recall EVER being sea sick. Neat. I took a nap and laid down in the shade for about 94% of the trip. When I did try to fish I wasn’t quite ready and gave my seat to someone else. Hamilton then proceeded to catch four fish in a row. I then felt better and fished some more with no luck. Now my sweet groom fished for an hour while I napped and chatted with whomever was sitting out. Then he heaved for quite some time as he claimed to suffer from seasickness. Oh well, we had a blast anyway!!

I felt perfectly fine on our way back in and once we were on land, so did Mark. Light lunch and then some relaxing on our private balcony. The cool thing about catching fish on the trip is that the hotel chef would prepare it for dinner. So we ate in the restaurant which was quite good and it was fun to eat our catch of the day. Sort of “ours” anyway! We took the Rummy game up to our room and had the delicious molten chocolate volcano dessert sent up. SO delicious.

time to write

I want to write about Belize and all the rad stuff we did.  But I can see over there in the corner a box of thank you notes.  I literally just started pouting out loud.  You know the wheezy, huffy, stamp your foot, "Idon'twanna" thing?  I just did that.  Out loud, all alone in the apartment.  Oy vey.  Maybe I will wait until we finally open our gifts on Sunday and then I can tackle the whole giant list, bit by bit? 

Bomb-diggity Detroit Wedding Vendors

I'm going to crank out a list, if you want more info just email me (sara.heuvelman@gmail.com) and I will get you the specific contacts we worked with.  Please note I won't think you're a weird stalker because this is the best way to find a good vendor!  If you reach out to anyone PLEASE let them know I sent you--thx!

Dress:  Birmingham Bridal
Everyone here was beyond helpful and the selection was great.  Pricing was in my range and the alterations were decent (though mine weren't major).

Hair/Makeup: Todd's Room
Jan did my hair, it stayed all night and I thought it was the perfect mix of modern and elegant.  Loved how it turned out, we only did a minor tweak from the test run.  Marisa does my eyebrows and did my wedding makeup, again we just switched to black eyeliner and added lipstick under the gloss.  My face stayed on the whole day and I was amazed at how gorgeous I could look with the right makeup!!  Hand's down go see either or both of them.

Accessories: Nordstrom, Todd's Room, One in a Million & Simple Beauty
My cute Cole-Haan metallic gray shoes were from my old standby Nordy.  The flashy, dangly earrings were from Todd's Room:  stunning clear crystals and some smaller gray crystals--beautiful and less than $40.  Brooch was from One in a Million, the owners are absolutely lovely and BEYOND helpful.  My piece was actually a hair comb that they took to a jeweler and converted for me.  I had about 10 people ask me if my veil was passed down from a family member, I loved the simple lace detail at the bottom and it had a wonderful vintage look.  But nope, I got it for less than $60 from Simple Beauty on Etsy.

Flower Girl Dresses:  My Angelic Kids
There is such a creepy pagaent world out there!  But if you dig enough you can find very reasonably priced gowns for your little ladies.  This site had lots of options and we jazzed them up with poufy slips and yellow fabric rosettes.  Plus, Mark's mom made the pomanders they all carried by using these directions.

Bridesmaid Dresses: Miss Kate's Maids
Kate has an amazing collection of dresses.  Specifically the collections of Melissa Sweet, Vineyard & Priscilla of Boston--which is what I chose.  She has unusual hours and I would wager she works another job but she was super helpful and had great selections.  We had a mix up and she fixed it immediately and humbly.

Tuxedo:  Men's Warehouse, various locations
Everyone's worked out just fine. Enough said.

Stationary:  Various
Invites were ordered through Lasting Impressions, huge selection and they are very helpful.  We did our programs ourselves on Vistaprint.  Word to the wise: have your entire bridal party proof and then take it to 12 other people because it's not easy to proof online.  Place cards were from Papeterie, which is pricey but I found a great online deal.

Flowers: Westborn Market, Berkley
Nicole is a delight to work with and I thought my flowers were stunning.  Plus they were exactly what I wanted!  Westborn put together my amazing bouquet and all the girls.  The men's bouts came from there as well.  We ordered the stems and Mark's mom put the arrangements together for the reception.  There was a nasty snafu with that and Westborn graciously stepped in to assist.

Chiavari Chairs:  A Moment Forever
OK, I randomly found this vendor after search FOREVER to find a good price on these designer chairs.  Stacy is a sweetheart and you can tell she loves working with brides.  Plus they have beautiful chairs and a price you cannot beat in Michigan.

DJ: Mike Staff Productions
A wedding staple in Metro Detroit, we worked with Matt Candela and the dance floor was bumping even before Mark and I did the first dance.  It stayed jam packed the entire night.

Cake: Sugar's
Raquel recently left corporate life to run her own cake shop.  Thank goodness she did!  Hands down the most delicious cake ever. And I don't even like cake!  We had a lemon-lime cake with raspberry filling and chocolate raspberry cake with raspberry filling.  Both were topped with cream cheese frosting.  Mmmm. 

Limo: Grosse Pointe Coach
They have one stretch limo that worked perfectly for our small bridal party and Mark and I used a car to transport ourselves from reception to the Book Cadillac. Both drivers were prompt, knew where they were going and were SO NICE!  Plus it was the best deal we found in the area.  We were so pleased we added them to our day.



Reception Venue:  Grosse Pointe War Memorial
Gorgeous ballroom of a historic mansion.  Lots of rules and a few small extra costs but overall a reasonable price for an exquisite setting.  Cheryl is super helpful and the day of captain helps keep everything running smoothly.  It is a bit tricky to get a date if you're not from the GP but it's not impossible!

Church:  Fort Street Presbyterian
Another stunning historic place.  You do not have to become a member to have your ceremony there.  In all honesty the church is so beautiful but the only hiccups of the day were around the ceremony...which is sad because before we began the wedding process there we really enjoyed attending the services...

Rehearsal Dinner:  Vince's Italian Restaurant
Eat here.  It's the best food of all time.  The end.

And now MY TWO FAVORITE VENDORS!!!  Well in fairness to all my other helpful vendors I did spend the most time with these two :)

Coordinator:  Details by Laura
Laura, Laura, Laura...she seamlessly made the entire day perfect!  She was so organized, is an undercover comedienne and made herself available to me prior to the wedding to ensure we had all the i's dotted and t's crossed.  The day had scissors, bobby pins, straws for the drinks, appetizers waiting, stain remover for the dress and anything else you could possibly think of (those are examples of things I never thought of and definitely used!).  Her two assistants were hardworking and the reception venue looked beautiful.  I am so glad that I took the advice to hire a day of coordinator.  And like many brides, I truly wish I had worked with her from day one!

Photographer:  The Shooting Gallery
Yin and Yang. Cole and Haan.  Dionne and Joe.  Peanut Butter and Honey.  Some things just go together so perfectly.  Seriously, these two phenoms gave us minimal direction (well, we are practically models) and just went with the mood of the day.  They had scoped a couple of great locations and put together some very unique backdrops around Detroit.  Plus, it was fun.  Super fun.  I hate having my picture taken but I actually started to forget that was the purpose of the afternoon--I was too busy laughing and cracking jokes and nuzzling my beau while they worked around everyone.  From a few days before I met with Dionne to this day I stalk the blog and Dionne's Facebook on a regular basis.  Her work is breathtaking and so emotive. Actually, I'm a little in awe of her so maybe that's why I feel like a nerdy freshman and she's the cool senior with a bitchin' Sunfire convertible.  

Wedded bliss

I honestly cannot even begin to say how wonderful our wedding day was.  From the little details to the big ones, to all the family and friends who came in, to the dancing, to the laughing, to the tears.  It was perfection.  I grabbed some photos my friends/family had taken and am posting here for your viewing pleasure:

(credit: S.Hartman)

(credit: ??)

(credit: A. Bowles)

(credit: A.Bowles)

(credit: G.Patterson)

(credit: G. Patterson)

so much stuff!

Wedding day and everything that went with it was amazing!  I only look back with a huge grin...and I'm so thankful for all the friends and family who came or even just acknowledged with a Facebook note :)  I will add a photo or two soon along with some thoughts on the day and a list of my amazing vendors!

Belize was phenomenal.  We are beyond excited to go back...soon!  Again, photos and stories soon.

Today I found this site, MRS FOREVER, that outlines the enitre process surrounding the big name change.  I struggled with this more than I could have anticipated.  Mostly because I was a concerned that in the professional arena it would be confusing and a little bit because I've been Sara H. for 30 years.  But I'm pledging my life and my future with Mark and I think having a united family name, no matter how awkwardly it's spelled, will honor that.  Or honour.

feeling nervy

Not about the wedding.  About accidentally publicly following the blogs of strangers.  I read an interesting article in the Freep today about blogging.  So, while reading a friend's blog, I hit the "next blog button" at the top and one that popped up next was really well-written, very relatable (if that's even a word if not, shotgun! I invented it).  The next one made me laugh out loud twice.  Not a bellowing laugh but a brief and quality HA.  I think it's because she posts photos that she takes of people who aren't looking. When camera phones first came out my friend Ellen and I got them so we could dissect the outfits of strangers.   But now I'm nervous they will read my blog and think I'm lame.  I mean WE all know I'm not lame because WE all know me.  They don't.  I'm just a picture and some words.  Hmmm.  I wonder what those things say about me....

Single Monday

So far my last Monday as a single tax filer (egads, I have to send that in tomorrow before I forget) was spent snuggling and kissing Markers on the couch. We talked a little about our excitement and the fact that we really wrapped up the wedding planning this week. There are only a few minor items to finish: place cards and coding them with dinner selections, delivering items to our coordinator, handing over the cake topper and then it’s really just getting ready for Saturday. I have to say it was a good way to start a Monday! And then I had to go to work. Oh well, can’t win them all!



We spent Easter at church with Mark’s mom and Mike, then we busted out our seating arrangements for the reception and headed to relax in Grosse Pointe with my family. It was actually a pretty nice Sunday though picking seats isn’t easy. At all. Well, not at all but in some regards. We have one table mixed with Mark’s friends and mine but have also put our groups of friends in rows together…and we have one weird table. I imagine everyone will think their table is weird but only we know who that weird table really is :)

Tonight I’m running a quick wedding errand to the craft store and then delivering place cards to the calligrapher. Well actually just to Liz, who has graciously agreed to pen them all in. After that my goal is to run and start writing some thank you notes. I also have to pack up a box of some things to bring to our coordinator...one list down, another one developed...

Happy Thursday!

Despite the terrible Michigan weather today I woke up excited that it was Thursday…I have spin class tonight and I love the workout it gives me. It’s late enough that I can actually make the class and usually pump some iron before. I mean, have you seen these pythons other people call arms?

The best part about being a Thursday is that tomorrow is Friday, and the best part about Friday is that the next day is Saturday. I’m loving on my weekends lately. Last Saturday was double fun with a shower AND bachelorette bash. This Saturday it’s my friend Annie’s 30th and she’s coming up here to Michigan with her boyfriend to celebrate. It will be a nice distraction while Mark is enjoying his bachelor party downtown with his pals.

Interesting that I woke up in a stellar mood today and was in a completely different sort of mood yesterday.  The kind of mood that rhymes with abbey.


Lastly, GO GREEN! Here’s to a good game in the Sweet Sixteen :)

busy, overwhelmed and SO excited!

OK, this is going to be so brief.  I'm up to my eyeballs in work things and have I mentioned before this little thing called THE WEDDING!?!

Quick updates in my favorite form--list!
1. "Details by Laura" was hired to do our day of coordinating (ceremony and, the biggest help, reception)
2. Shower time was fantastical on Saturday, I am still in awe over the turnout and amazing gifts!!  Grace hosted us at The Victorian Rose Tea House in Rochester.
3. Bachelorette party was a blast, can't wait to do it again...for someone else!  We did dinner at D'amatos, drinks at Coach Insignia & dancing at Deluxe.  Special thanks to Caitlin and Liz for pulling it all together

But everyone likes pictures, here are a few of my favorites from the weekend festivities :)

SHOWER:

BACHELORETTE "double vision":

save me...from myself

Dude.

We're at 3.5 weeks until the big day!  AWESOME!!!!! 

I'm also like a schizo over here with, "oh yeah, email that to so-and-so, ooh, check the registry, ARGH, add sleeping bags...d'oh, research sleeping bags."  And all of this is during the work day.  No wonder I'm up until all hours of the night working on work and wedding stuff.  The schizo day appears to be helping but may in fact be eating a golf ball sized hole in my stomach (not really, I made that up for effect).

We're actually doing OK with the plans, everything is mostly nailed down for the BIG day.  Yippy!  And I'm slowly getting excited.  Not that I wasn't excited before, it's just that all the planning sort of took away from some of the excitement.  Fortunately I'm mostly done and this weekend is the bachelorette weekend. Boo-ya.  Talk about wrapping up the plans with a BANG.  20+ chicas are coming out to party!!  I am so geeked to have awesome friends and family coming to celebrate...even some pregger girls are going to shake their bellies.  Well fill them at dinner at least :)  Pictures to follow, I'm sure!

And if that wasn't enough of a BANG I have one more bridal shower.  Yay!  I've been peeking online to see what sort of gifts I may get.  Good stuff all around.  Oh yeah, I STILL need to add sleeping bags!

Oh wait, we totally got our marriage license and wrapped up our pre-marital counseling yesterday too.

33 days to go

But who's counting?!

I'm exhausted after a super fun weekend in Owensboro meeting all the Zuerners.  Well, a large majority of them anyway.  Mark's grandma (Mamaw as she is known) will be 80 in a month and her kids decided to throw a surprise party. There were lots of cards played and laughs shared.

Every 10 seconds someone was lamenting, "he's a Zuerner" or "it's a Zuerner thing" or "you're such a Zuerner," I'm not entirely sure it was always said in the best light but I think that goes with the jokester personalities.  I must say everyone was beyond nice and welcoming. 

No major wedding updates at the moment, I will definitely stick with the non skin cancer inducing spray tan (though I'm sure the chemicals, in the end, aren't that much better).  RSVP information is rolling in and, oh yeah!  I almost forgot.  We found someone to handle all the day of things.   Mark especially was feeling the pinch on the reception set-up and I was dreading all the final organization/planning steps.  We are happy to have that handled.  I will post up her information once she confirms the contract!

verdict so far: not orange

So, after showering this AM the streaks aren't bad (my ankles look like I spray tanned but that's about it).  Let's see if anyone notices I'm tan today at work.  My face has makeup that masks the color a little but my arms seem tan.  Time to roll up the sleeves! 

Well, how about YOU decide:

anaranjando, si o no?

Well, the true test is on.  After gathering feedback (70% negative, 30% positive) I decided the best way to determine if spray tanning would work for me was to try it myself.  I went to Club Soleil in Royal Oak (by the Value Center) and it was an OK experience.  "OK" in that if I had wiped off the drips on the backs of my legs I'd be just about fine.  Like, the streaks back there are no good.  Otherwise I think I'm OK; granted I could wake up tomorrow and start signing, "...what do you get when you guzzle down sweets..." I will let you know.   Earlier, I told Mark he gets to tell me if it's scary or not tomorrow (if for some reason I can't figure it out on my own). 

So here's the funny part, a 12-year old gives me the low-down and I neglect to read the posted materials.  I strip down, put on the "barrier cream" and push the green button.  Nothing.  Push it again.  Nothing.  Push it and HOLD it.  Nothing.  So now, I have to get dressed again, go back out and explain.  She resets and says, push the blue start button THEN hit the green button.  OK, you didn't say anything about the blue.  Jeesh.   WHOOOOOOSH, the sprayers go off.  And I think to myself, "self, hold your breath!" But it's too late, I had no good oxygen intake so I'm holding my breath in spurts, not taking in a deep enough breath to hold it any longer than the last time.  Now, it's time to rotate to the right 45 degrees and strike some sort of Egyptian pose.  Thank goodness for The Bangles, I was ready.  I wasn't, however, ready for the ridiculously slippery floor and nearly bit it (eyes closed and with no oxygen).  This continues until I've been sprayed on all sides.  I get out, look at myself in the mirror and am dripping with tanning solution.  Good grief.  I fix my face first, then my arms.  First mistake was to go to the torso next.  The drips were setting in on my legs.  By the time I get to the legs it's too late.  Oy vey.  I do the best I can and then I go seriously wash my hands.  Oh neat, there's no soap.  I still wash like a fool and surprisingly get that situated.  Alas my legs and, oh yeah, FEET. 

Bottom line.  I need to assess in the morning what shade I am.  And then re-assess after spin class Thursday.  And again on Saturday.  If, after all this, I'm feeling good (minus the streaks) I might do another blast in a few weeks to work out the kinks and again before the wedding.  Otherwise I'm back to the drawing board!!

45 days!

The countdown is really on now!

We have wrapped up all the major contracts and are going to look for someone to handle the set-up at our reception venue.  Originally we were going to handle (OK family was going to handle) but there is an event in the ballroom before our reception so we can't get in to set-up any earlier.  Oh well.  We interviewed some capable coordinators earlier in the process that we will circle back with.  Other than that we just have final meetings with our vendors and the never ending debate about transportation.

Had my hair colored close to what nature intended last night; Mark's friend Vanessa recommended Michael Raboir (sp!?) who did a stellar job.  And, as a natural salesman/seasoned pro, whipped up a few rough ideas with bobby pins to show me some ways to do wedding hair.  I already have someone booked but I really appreciated it.  Maybe if the person who I hired sucks I can ditch them...! 

The next wedding shower, a bridal tea, is a few weekends away.  I updated my registry a bit to beef it back up.  Target seems to have the most stuff left on the registry--which is GREAT because Mark and I have been receiving a lot of Target gift cards (Christmas, birthday, Valentine's), I want to use them toward registry items we don't receive.  Mark wants a flat screen...so if you want to come watch movies/games at our house buy us stuff at Target.  LOL!

Ahh vacation!

I slacked off a little with the postings. Sorry to anyone that actually reads this on a semi-regular basis. But Mark and I had a very relaxing trip to Key Biscayne where we stayed with the amazing Alison. Mark now understands when I say how cool she is that if anything I’m UNDER exaggerating her coolness. Thanks to her for hosting us during the chilly few days we were there.  Here's a fun photo she snapped of us sitting outside the lighthouse keeper's cabin:

One of our favorite jaunts was the day we spent at South Beach roaming around Ocean Drive and all the surrounding side streets. I wish we could go back and spend a little more time there. I won’t wear suntan oil though since it gave me a weird rash like reaction. That, coupled with low SPF, didn’t pan out all that well!


Mark and I got all the invites out in the mail and have been getting our replies! Super fun. In fact, Mark calls me when I’m at home and has me update him on who sent in their RSVP that day. I am now going to write a little note on my response cards because that is my personal favorite part! It never had crossed my mind before but it’s really that much more fun. Everyone has just over 20 days to get those all mailed back!!

penmanship and pizza party

My family, friends and family to be are so awesome!

This Saturday I hosted a penmanship party, well it was actually free use of other people's time and handwriting for invitation addressing time.  I had a posse of help: my mother, two aunts, a cousin, friends, a future sister, almost daughter, near niece, mother to be and soon to be husband (oh SNAP! a husband?!?! Insanity, that might be the first time I've said or typed that).  Thanks so much for all your help, we only had a few envelope casualties so I was impressed!

Got to the post office at around 5:40 tonight with all the invites in tow.  The line was too long so I commandeered the mail slot and started stuffing them in.  After getting 80% in I had a slight panic attack because I never weighed them to ensure I was using the proper amount of postage.  Now, with a pit in my stomach, I got in line with 20 people and tried not to get too worked up that I just messed up big time.  As I finally got up to a USPS representative I briefly flashed through every worst possible scenario and then understood why people "go postal."  The woman weighed the envelope and said, "oh."  I had one tear fall out and simultaneously almost barfed on her scale (today was like the last day I could mail these puppies and fall within proper etiquette for invitation arrival).  She obviously noticed my panic-stricken face and said, "It's good!!! It's one ounce exactly and it has the stamp on already, you're good!"  I was immediately relieved, no longer felt like barfing and after flashing a grin and saying thanks as I went back to my tiny mail slot and pushed through the last handful of invites.  Yay!

let them eat cake

Cake tasting starts this afternoon.  YUM.  Well I don't love cake but I won't mind eating some :)  Details to follow...

"I could make that"

I'm famous for saying this, and famous for definitely NOT being able to make it.  Well, that's not entirely true...I'm fairly adept at craft projects.  Maybe not for my age but I could still get an A for effort.  So where does a girl with a love for making it myself find someone to make it for me?  Etsy of course!  If you haven't gone on this site, please check it out. 

I found someone to craft together flowery headbands for the flower girls and I'm probably going to get a veil from the site as well.  The headbands are cute, I don't think they look too homemade, especially from the distance, HAHA!  I mean who is going to plop their nose in the flower girl's hair? I will inspect them again from home.  I think they might be OK.  Wait, oh man. Why am I just now thinking of this?!!?  I will pretend I made them.  Oh yes, yes I will.  That way no one can say anything except how crafty I am.  Noice.  Done and done.  So on April 10 if you want to see my handiwork plop your nose into the head of a flower girl.

Banned from the wedding: Jersey Shore tan

We are going to have a frank and open talk about tans.  I love them.  I look good with one.  I don't want any body parts removed or cut-off though.  Therefore I'm anti-tanning booth.  I've gone to them, it's so cozy and warm (and smelly) but they have music and you get a few minutes of honest to goodness alone/quiet/reflection time.  However the dangers outweigh and the last handful of times I've gone tanning I can hear my Grandpa Neal telling me how awful it is.  And then I picture the shot glass sized mass he had on his shoulder.  Ew.  So now I go to Florida for natural vitamin D during the cold, grey Michigan winters or hold out until June.  And I wear a higher SPF than I did in my tanorexic days.

So then how did this OOPS occur?!  My wedding is in April.  And from October 15-May 31 I make Casper look tan.  Hmmm....what to do?!  Spray tan!  That's the ticket.  In early March I am going to go do a practice run to see how this all works out.  And then I might do it again just to be certain we're all set on the proper shade: "sun-kissed" or "blazin' Brazilian!?"  I have to be careful not to get scary orange though...

Brooke Hogan example of said scary orange:

Here's the issue:  how do I, a former tanorexic, tell everyone to keep the Jersey Shore tan at the beach!?  By photo montage of course! Children, no one is this color naturally.  Stay away from tanning booths!  Look too tan lady now and at her wedding:

Here's a properly bronzed couple for the end of summer, perhaps a little tan for April still:

FOOOOOOOODDDDD

Score!

Mark, myself,  my parents and Mark's mom & stepdad all went to Vince's for dinner last night.  This place is amazing plus very special to my Shine family and I'm so happy to say it's the official site of our rehearsal dinner.  The food is stellar (if you like to eat baby animals I hear the veal is superb) and it's a ten-minute drive from the church.  It's a good Detroiter experience for anyone that hasn't been there before. 

Last night I had the spinach fettuccine noodles and arriabata sauce. MMMM, so happy I stopped myself and saved some for lunch today.  Topped it off with a delicious dark chocolate and raspberry frozen dessert.  Mark went with pizza; the rest of the meals consisted of two veal marsalas, a spaghetti & meatballs and baked mostaccioli.  And Morettis.  Yum.

Various dating of the ups

I feel organized!  Go us :)

Mark booked us a room for the wedding night and we will also use it to get ready before the wedding.  Who exactly gets to use it is up in the air.  I vote me because I'm the girl.  Sounds totally fair to me.

I also met with our florist (aka Mark's mom) and went over what sort of flowers I like and the look and feel.  I am 100% confident they will be great!!

Invite proofs will arrive this week, then hopefully we have the actual invites by the end of this month. Then time to address and mail.

What else, what else?!?!

Did I tell you about the honeymoon...?  If not, the hotel is amazing, breath-taking and I want to go right now!  Belize.  We're staying here, I almost can't believe how awesome it is!!  Mark spends many moments looking on You Tube for videos people have posted of their vacation to that hotel.  And it looks like we will find that perfect mix of beach/pool time and adventure.

In case you were of the myth that Belize was an island, see below.  The heart is where we are staying, Ambergeis Caye, a Belizean island east of the mainland and south of Mexico, or is it actually an isthmus?

Mark and Sara as Avatars

We went to the movies!! It's seriously been about 6 months since we have gone to the actual movie theater on a date.  So basically Avatar IS as good as everyone says. 

Here I am as an Avatar:

And here's Mark:

**Note the only movie Avatar site I found was McDonald's Europe.  Fortunately my vast and extensive knowledge of German allowed me to figure this out...or all websites are basically the same...either way.