Oahu-moon revisited!

I don't think I ever showed you any highlight photos from our last few honeymoon days in Oahu, so I thought now would be a good time to share!  After all, it's still too cold and I could use a little reminder of happier times without so much work!  So without further ado, some highlights of our time in Oahu-woo-hoo!

[caption id="attachment_2176" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="I check out the view of Honolulu after hiking to the top of Diamond Head crater!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2177" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Perfect. Rainbow. Perfect. "][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2178" align="aligncenter" width="210" caption="Pipeline surf contest, north shore.  For reals."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2179" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Another gorgeous Hawaiian senset, as viewed from our room!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2180" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Hitting the decks of the U.S.S. Bowfin at Pearl Harbor."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2181" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="And wrapping up our trip, paying respects at the Arizona Memorial."][/caption]

J. and I are so fortunate to have been able to start our new life together with such an incredible vacation.  In these times when so many people are going through so many real, heartbreaking problems, having the means and ability to take this trip is not something we take for granted.  Every moment is precious and we will certainly treasure these memories.

Girls Gone Wild: Post Rehearsal Fun!

After the rehearsal dinner, we were all pretty beat.  But that didn't mean we went to bed like the responsible adults we're not.  Nooooo.  My ladies and I stayed up, drank a little wine (or fancy bottled waters) and visited.  After all, so many good friends were here from out of town, and I knew our wedding day would be nuts, so it was a good time to get some visiting in.  And so those who had a little energy left headed back to the big suite for some fun... in the form of goofing off, as all good friends do!

[caption id="attachment_2138" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="C. shows off the water, bottled with love by J. and I."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2139" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="J. and B. unwind and laugh at the rest of the foolishness."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2140" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="M., B. and I smile and try to look like grown ups for the camera!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2141" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="E. and C. work on their goddess poses."][/caption]

Note, that at this point, there actually were quite a few guys in the room.  But they were sitting and talking and catching up like normal people.  Unlike we ladies, who are clearly NOT afraid to look stupid in front of boys.

[caption id="attachment_2147" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="S. and I channel our inner Carlton Banks by recreating the scene from the Fresh Prince of Bel Air where Tom Jones sang "It's Not Unusual."  I know you know what I'm talking about."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2148" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="C. and I show off our matching shirts; and later I show off my new pearls from J!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2144" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Meanwhile, lil sis B. tried to keep her big sis in line."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2145" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="While other bridesmaids finished opening up their swag bags... and felt just a little sad to have destroyed the wrappings."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2146" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="But eventually the time came for me to say goodnight to J... and so I did so via interpretive dance. As you can see, he was not taking my dance seriously.  So we said goodnight- and didn't see each other until I walked into that aisle the next morning!"][/caption]

It probably does not come as a surprise to you to hear that the next morning, despite our good intentions to get up and get a work out in, we did not do so. Oh but it was worth it!  A little silliness goes a long way to easing pre-wedding nervousness!

And speaking of silliness, that last picture, dear friends, is rock solid evidence of how much I love you all.  I look like a total nerd :)

And how did we get here?  Checking In;  Practice Makes Perfect: The Rehearsal!; The Rehearsal Dinner!; The Rehearsal Dinner Slide Show

The Brooklyn Bridge and My Bridal Shoot!

One of the things that kept me busy this past Sunday, other than making cake truffles for J., was that I met up with our photographer, the always mind-blowingly talented Jessica Morrisy, and we had a bridal photo shoot.  On none other than the Brooklyn bridge!  I had heard of doing "trash the dress" sessions before, but given my intense love for my own dress, hadn't considered it an option for myself.  But when Jessica offered to do a bridal session- a session where you have fun but don't ruin your dress- well, I was all for it!  I mean, who gets to wear their wedding dress two times?  Joy!

Given that it is winter, we had limited daylight on our actual wedding day for portraits- not to mention I was perhaps a tad emotional and overwhelmed by it all.  So doing a post-wedding photo shoot was really an excellent way for us to beef up some of the portraiture and have some fun playing with props, ideas, and backgrounds.  Jessica brought her boyfriend along (who was a great helper and super-cute) and we had the best time running around in the snow.  A huge, huge thanks to Jessica for yet another amazing set of photos!

And now for a teaser, courtesy of Jessica of course!

My Homemade Valentine

Happy President's Day everyone!  I hope you all have a lovely Valentine's day yesterday!  We definitely did!  I know I've mentioned before that this month we're on a "financial fast" which meant no gifts for V-day this year.  Frankly, for me, I find Valentine's gifts to be overpriced and overrated.  So rather than spin our wheels and spend our money, we aimed for the small and thoughtful this year... and for me, that meant making dinner (spinach salad, flank steak pinwheels, wild mushroom risotto and fresh, lemony asparagus- my own creation!) and yes, it was a really, really good dinner!  :)

J. is a big lover of chocolate so I didn't want to skip dessert.  But at the same time, I'm going through a particularly busy time at work (and an equally busy personal life) so I had to figure out something that wouldn't take too long.  The solution came to me last week during my daily blog review when I was reminded of Bakerella's recipe for cake balls!  Besides having a hilarious name, this recipe looked cute and simple so I decided to try my own spin on it- only I renamed them "cake truffles" so as to be taken slightly more seriously.

Bakerella's recipe calls for red velvet cake and cream cheese frosting which I ADORE- but J. loves chocolate.  So I did a devil's food cake with German chocolate icing (see Bakerella's link above for instructions).  I broke my cardinal rule and used cake mix and store-bought icing, because I was short on time (bad Sarah, bad!)... but I do think you could easily do this completely homemade.  Then I melted a good-quality semi-sweet chocolate for the coating, and added some sprinkles in red, while and gold (a bridal shower gift).  The result?  See for yourself!

[caption id="attachment_2246" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="mmmmm, yummy chocolatey cake goodness"][/caption]

Now, I'm a big believer that presentation is EVERYTHING so of course I also had to at least attempt some sort of V-day appropriate packaging.  Since I didn't want to spend any money, I ended up taking an old, standard gift box and turning it into a heart-shape.  To give you an idea of my approach, the below image shows (I hope) how I cut the box bottom.  I left the sides of the box intact and then shaped them to match the bottom, taping them into place when the new shape looked good to me.

[caption id="attachment_2248" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Try to pretend this rectangle is a gift box."][/caption]

Once my box was in the right shape I covered it with red and white papers.  Not being able to spend money, I downloaded these and these freebie printable papers, originally intended for dollhouses but perfect for my project.  I admit that it looks a little bit like a kindergartner did it, but I like to think it is kind of charming!

[caption id="attachment_2247" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="The box, pre-truffles"][/caption]

Once my box was ready, I decided to line it with waxed paper, to keep it nice for as long as possible.  I simply cut the waxed paper into a heart shape approximately 1 inch larger on all sides than the box, so the paper would line the sides of the box.  To get the paper to fit around the curves, I cut verticle slits into the paper's edge.  Easy peasy.

[caption id="attachment_2249" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Lined with wax paper"][/caption]

Next, I glued some red ribbon onto the bottom of the box, for tying later.  And yes, the ribbon was recycled, I didn't buy that either.

[caption id="attachment_2250" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="With the ribbon..."][/caption]

And finally I filled the box with my creations.  Voila!

[caption id="attachment_2251" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Just add truffles!"][/caption]

Before tying the bow, I added another layer of heart-shaped waxed paper, and then that was it!  A cute, homemade Valentine using groceries and freebies, something that still felt special despite the absence of big spending.  J. loved them!

[caption id="attachment_2252" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="A little more waxed paper, a bow, and we're in business!"][/caption]

I think this would make such a cute thank you gift for someone throwing a shower- or maybe even a groom's gift.  As for me, I'll be incorporating them into my traditional repertoire of holiday baking from now on!

How did you celebrate Valentine's day?

Happy Valentine's Day!

Sunday will be my first Valentine's day as a married woman.  And though some people think its just a holiday for presents, I like to treat it as an opportunity to get creative (do you like the double entendre there?)  J. and I are currently on a "financial fast" which means no discretionary spending, a la the proposed Obama budget, and it also means we can't spend money on romantic gifts for one another.  The solution?  Make a valentine for your loved one!

The Wedding Chicks, for example, offer these adorable downloadable cards which would be useful for so many great projects!

[caption id="attachment_2154" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="hummingbird valentine"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2155" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="love postcard"][/caption]

Or these freebies from Samantha Hahn:

[caption id="attachment_2156" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Adorable, no?"][/caption]

And don't forget to check out downloadables like these from the Vintage Moth!

[caption id="attachment_2157" align="aligncenter" width="255" caption="Victorian always wins me over..."][/caption]

Of course, if all else fails, you can also go the mix-tape route.  Who doesn't love those?!  I don't yet know what I'll be doing, but I think I've got a good start!

Do you have any cheap or free tips for romantic valentines?

The Rehearsal Dinner Slide Show

As promised, a post devoted solely to the highlight of the rehearsal dinner- a slide show of J. and I through the years.  I promise not to make you sit through 15 minutes of photos of the two of us as babies, toddlers, kids, teens, and later as a couple... but it was gosh darn cute.  J.'s brother D., our best man, put the show together so that photos of us were shown back to back in the same context- the "Sears baby photo", the "bathtub photo" and so forth.  And he set the whole thing to music.  I have seen slide shows of photos before, but never like this- even my brother A. got misty and it is nearly impossible to make that guy cry!

As an extra-special touch, D. made DVD's for our parents and for us, with a copy of the slide show on it to keep.  I cannot possibly emphasize enough what a great touch this was for our rehearsal dinner.  As an added bonus, it filled up some time so J. and I didn't have to give a long, boring speech (everyone hates wedding rehearsals with too much speeching, am I right?)  We just let the slide show do the talking.  I think everyone should do this.  I mean, look how cute we were!!

[caption id="attachment_2164" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="... as chubby babies!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2165" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="... dressed up and old enough to sit up too!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2166" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="... at the beach!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2167" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="... tub time!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2168" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="... with grandparents!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2169" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="... me just generally looking cute"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2170" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="... let's talk about how much HAIR J. has in this photo!  :)"][/caption]

Did you or will you plan anything special for your own rehearsal dinner?

And how did we get here?  Checking In;  Practice Makes Perfect: The Rehearsal!; The Rehearsal Dinner!

How to: Stay Entertained When Stuck in an Airport with Your Husband

Remember when you were a [noun] and you used to [verb] Mad Libs for [plural noun] with your friends?  And do you remember how they used to [verb] you laugh [adverb] for hours on end?  Well, let me make a small suggestion to help you pass the time the next time you're stuck somewhere bad with someone you love: bring this seriously awesome fill-in-the-blanks game!

I put some computer-themed Mad Libs in J.'s stocking for Christmas and we brought them, along with a sudoku book, thank you notes-to-be-written, and gossip magazines on the airplane to keep us busy on the trip to Hawaii.  And the thing we used the most and loved the best was totally Mad Libs!  When I was a kid, all we had to do to make Mad Libs funny was reference some form of human gas.  So I wasn't sure if we'd still think they were funny as adults.

But after reading about pornographic pictures of Mr. Miyagi in an airport and laughing so hard the other passengers were giving us the stink eye, I can say with authority that these are time well spent.

Bet you never thought you'd be reading the phrase "pornographic pictures of Mr. Miyagi" outside of email spam, now did you?

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