Cocks & Hens!

Enough is enough! Let’s get to the fun stuff!

So on September 21^st Mr. Tan Lines and I had our bachelor/bachelorette parties, or as I affectionately called it, our “Cocks & Hens” party. We invited all of our closest friends and their significant others to join us on a party bus ride into downtown DC. I asked the girls to wear their favorite LBD’s and the boys to wear jackets. We loaded up the bus with plenty of alcohol and my party playlist! It happened to be straight down pouring that evening so we weren’t able to take any pictures outside, but the bus was pretty sharp looking! It took us into a little village called Adam’s Morgan. It’s really just an assortment of bar after bar after bar intermixed with the best big slice pizza. It was pretty quiet for a Saturday night but everyone had such a great time!! Here is a picture of the whole gang and then just the girls and then the boys! :)

Here we are on the bus and then at one of the bars! 

And then here's a picture of me and Mr. Tan Lines! I purchased my veil and sash from an Etsy shop (go figure!)

Mr. Tan Lines' best man and wife came up to visit all the way from Alabama for the weekend as well! We took them sight seeing in DC, here is a picture we snapped outside of the Lincoln Memorial, as I mentioned, it was a very wet weekend!

The following weekend we ran in the 4.7 mile race for wounded vets! It was held at a local park and it was a beautiful morning! We had so much fun getting out and running the trails! 

And as far as a Miss Lily update goes, she was entering her "terrible twos" phase. It was quite comical but A LOT of work!

What A Wonderful Weekend!

So if you look back in my earlier posts you’ll notice that I read and rated The Fault In Our Stars. Looks like they’re gearing it to be this decades The Notebook, but I just don’t see it. The book was good, but I didn’t shed one tear. I felt the emotions and I fell in love with Hazel Grace & Gus, but the tragic ending just didn’t hit home for me. I think I’ll have to re-read the book before the movie comes out. I can say that I can already see thousands of teenage girls swooning over the tragedy and heartbreak and it makes me sad for the next generation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ItBvH5J6ss#t=137

Anyway, I have been busy at work so here’s what happened this weekend! As I mentioned I had some fun things planned out to celebrate Mr. Tan Lines' birthday. On Saturday I surprised him with a romantic dinner at a yummy French restaurant. There are locations in Vegas, Chicago and Bethesda, MD. The restaurant is called Mon Ami Gabi and it was delicious! We met some friends for drinks first, they had a fabulous HH special. We drank two different varietals of pinot noir to start. We were seated at our table right on time and ordered the warm baked brie dish and the french onion soup. We enjoyed both thoroughly. We then both ordered steaks, I got the hanger steak with a pinot noir butter sauce, what? YUM. Mr. Tan Lines ordered the Béarnaise, which was a classic French cut of meat with a sauce similar to a hollandaise. Both steaks came with thinly sliced potatoes, or aka steak frites. We also ordered a bottle of the Bordeaux Superieur, Chateau Cadillac from 2010. It had a wonderfully nutty flavor and paired excellent with our steaks. After we devoured our meal we were too full for dessert, however the waiter brought over two complimentary profiteroles that were delicious! They had creamy, vanilla filling inside of them and were covered in melted chocolate. We had a wonderful and romantic evening and Mr. Tan Lines loved it! :)

On Saturday we spent almost the entire day cleaning. I, also spent almost the entire day cooking! We invited five of our friends over that night to enjoy some delicious food and play some board games. The meal I had planned for that evening was a cheese/meat platter to start, Mexican shrimp cocktail and chicken fajitas! Dessert was going to be guiltless brownies and low-fat vanilla ice cream. Here is a picture of my cheese board, I purchased the meats and cheeses from my local Trader Joe’s, along with my guiltless brownie mix and ice cream :)

The chicken fajitas required very simple treatment. I used our new Emeril indoor grill pan and got great color on the green, yellow, red peppers and the yellow onions. I seasoned the chicken with chili powder, salt, pepper, cayenne and garlic salt. We then made a large platter with lettuce, tomato and onions. We then let our friends top off their fajitas with sour cream and guacamole. I did not home make the guacamole this time, we purchased it from Whole Foods because it is our favorite! Sorry, I was wayyy to busy for pictures! After everyone ate we played around 50 rounds of Cards Against Humanity, an adult card game that is truly entertaining. We had some good laughs, even a few tears were shed from laughing so much! After a while we switched over to Taboo which was a lot of fun too!!! It was a great evening and we all had so much fun. I cannot wait to do it again!

The recipe for the Mexican Shrimp Cocktail I got from here:

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/mexican-shrimp-cocktail/detail.aspx

Last but not least I spent Sunday night in a flurry of excitement getting ready to watch Sean and Catherine’s wedding!! I loved his season of The Bachelor and thought they made a great match! The wedding was stunning and they both looked so happy! Bridal Guide Magazine put some behind the scenes pictures, check them out! They are soo cute! 

http://bridalguide.com/planning/bachelor-sean-lowe-wedding

The Countdown Continued!

So after my return to Virginia from Alabama in August I had a great sense of accomplishment and readiness for the wedding. Almost everything was finalized and it was now time to sit back and relax. This was how I timed my planning all along; I wanted the last few months to be spent in complete relaxation and excitement for the big day! We were down to just 60 days :) I purchased a delicious white chocolate and coconut cake from our local grocery store and added some candles to it! I surprised Mr. Tan Lines with it when he got home from work :)  The picture in the background was taken in May 2011 at Virginia Beach. We had been dating for only a month and Mr. Tan Lines swept me off my feet and took me away for the weekend to celebrate my birthday. We had a fabulous trip and it brought us even closer together!

I also purchased a coloring book, I find coloring to be so so relaxing! Mr. Tan Lines thought it was very elementary school but I thoroughly enjoyed it! There’s nothing better than hanging out with a glass of wine, a coloring book and your favorite music. Here is one of the master pieces I created!

Around this time too I was leaving work and spotted this amazing sun/cloud picture. I felt like it was God looking down on everyone and saying Hello :)

And lastly, you know there has to be a Miss Lily update! Here she is at a little more than 5 months dancing with dad! She had gotten so tall by then, she also started what we called “counter surfing.” Meaning she was now tall enough to reach the food on the counters, causing us to purchase baby gates to eliminate the threat to our dinners!

Well Happy Friday everyone! I am so excited for this weekend, we are celebrating Mr. Tan Lines 28th birthday! It was technically last week but I don’t feel like he got the proper celebration since we were traveling. I am taking him to a romantic French style restaurant tonight and tomorrow we are having friends over to play games and hang out!  I will be cooking up some fabulous meals so I will be sure to share the recipes on Monday! Talk you all then! 

They Always Come Back

Well, well, well. Look who decided to join the party again! I cannot believe it’s been 5 months since my last blog post. Where did the time go?? Well, a lot has happened in those 5 months. I of course, got MARRIED and it was the most perfect day! We had an amazing honeymoon in Antigua and we have traveled to a few places since then too.

But, alas. We must start from the beginning. So let’s go back to where we last left off, shall we?

In late August I made a solo trip down to Orange Beach, AL to finalize our wedding plans. I met with the event coordinator for the reception and revisited the flower shop aka the local Publix. I also had dinner at the reception site with my (then) future in-laws where I was able to capture this gorgeous picture of the sunset. It must have been an omen :)

It was a cloudy Saturday but my (then) future mother in law and I drove up and down the beach looking for weddings and examining our wedding site. We were lucky enough to find a protected sea turtles nest which I thought was so cool!

It was a fabulous trip and I got SO MUCH done. There were 62 days left, yet the wedding still felt years away. I was calm and just ready at that point for the big day to arrive! 

Here was Miss Lily at 5 months with Mr. Tan Lines :)

Icebreaker - What Would Your Last Meal Be?

Happy Thursday everyone!

I cannot wait for the weekend! We don’t have big plans made, so I am so excited to lay around and lounge with Mr. Tan Lines and Miss. Lily!

A few weeks ago I read an article about some of the most famous murderers on death row and what they requested for their last meal. I found it pretty interesting and weird at the same time. Today I came across a different article regarding the same topic and of course I never plan on being on death row but it causes for a good ice breaker…what would your last meal request be? So I thought about it long and hard today, and here is what I would request. Please keep in mind that I am an inner chubby person and I love food...get in my belly! I put a link to the article below in case you want to check it out! Compared to the guy who ordered 18 tacos and 18 enchiladas I’m not looking too bad!

http://hellogiggles.com/id-die-before-id-eat-that-8-unappealing-last-meals-of-death-row-inmates#sl=1

First, my favorite food ever. One Chipotle salad burrito bowl, with chicken and black beans. Medium salsa, sour cream, cheese and guacamole and..oh heck let’s throw in a bag of chips too. Nom nom, so good!

Second, I would have an order of the Crab and Rock Shrimp Fritters from Coastal Flats, they are the most amazing things on the planet! Not a smart thing to blog, my tummy is getting antsy!

Third,  I would have a small order of hot wings with ranch from Hooters, don’t forget my curly fries!! Seriously though, I really do go there for their wings!

Fourth, I would have a medium pan pepperoni pizza with bread sticks from Pizza Hut. You just can't go wrong with pizza!

Lastly, this one is probably the weirdest one, but for some reason I have this strange addiction to them, but I would have a hot dog from 7-11 covered in their always free “chili” and “cheese” …I know what you’re thinking, I am that person, the person that actually gets food at 7-11 but I’m not ashamed, I love those hot dogs and I’d probably have one everyday if I wasn’t afraid of growing a third arm out of my forehead! 

I'm sure many of you reading this are wandering if I live under a rock, weigh 400 pounds or have never traveled outside of Nowheresville, USA..the answers are no, no and no...I just love what I love! :) Like I always told Mr. Tan Lines...I'm a cheap date...dollar beers and burgers sound like a perfect date night to me! :)

Build Your Own Pizza Party!

Happy Hump Day everyone!

Last night we attended a wonderful dinner party! Our friends S&C hosted a surprise birthday dinner for our other friend Sugar that turned out to be a great success! They did a “build your own pizza” party and it turned out so delicious and fun! They told us they got all of the ingredients at Trader Joe’s…seriously, who doesn’t love that place?! They had two types of pre-made dough, wheat and Italian herb. Then they had a ton of toppings! They had a spicy salami, three different cheeses, peppers, spinach, a white sauce and a red sauce, an aioli, onions, Mediterranean flavored chicken, mushrooms, bacon and more! It was so fun to pick out your toppings! Here are Mr. Tan Lines and I’s pizzas below that turned out delicious!

I just think this is such a great idea, then it got me thinking what other fun dinner party ideas could I do where there is interaction and I came up with a pretty good list! 

Mashed potato station, prepare a large amount of plain mashed potatoes then have multiple toppings for people to choose from, such as: bacon, different cheeses, chives, tomatoes, sour cream, onions, mushrooms etc.  Obviously this one would be a side dish to a fun menu!

I think everyone’s go to is a taco bar, I like that idea…its just been done before! However it’s so delicious so I tried to think of a few ways to jazz it up, for instance prepare various meats, like chicken, ground turkey and beef. I think multiple cheeses and topping options-out of the ordinary would go a long way. You could also do taco pizzas, get crispy tortillas (or crisp them yourself) and have guests build their own taco pizzas! Baked tacos are also a growing trend, just place all of the hot items in your tortillas and bake away, everything comes out gooey and delicious!

I think another easy one is a dessert bar, buy frozen yogurt in a few flavors and give guests the luxury of topping it with whatever they want!

If you want to get really fancy you could do a make your own paella station. I’m envisioning preparing the rice in advance, then having the guests place rice and their selected seafood into a bowl, then each person’s selections are placed into oven safe bowls and cooked off!

Who doesn’t love breakfast for dinner?? Omelet stations are so much fun, similar to the paella, have guests pour eggs and their favorite add-ins into a bowl, then cook each one. Oh my goodness breakfast opens an entire new menu! You could do the same thing with waffles/pancakes, have guests mix their favorite mix-ins with the premade batter and fire away!

I think this list really could be endless!

I also made that dip I mentioned yesterday…I was late on taking the picture but it took all of five minutes to make and it was a huge hit, as you can see it as almost all gone!

Here is a picture of me and the girls :)

Last week I also made Mr. Tan Lines a cake just because :) I bought the sugar free versions and you 100% could not tell the difference! It was so yummy! But I think it’s safe to say my cake decorating skills might not ever improve…

Wedding Things, Earrings & Miss Lily!

Hello Everyone! Happy Tuesday! Sorry I have been MIA, it’s been a busy week! I have a few things to share!!

I hope you’ve all had a great week! I’ll start us off by saying EIGHTY DAYS!!! 80 days until our wedding day!! I cannot believe it is so close yet so far away!! Woohoo! I received my recently purchased wedding earrings today :) I found them on Etsy (shocker!) and I am so in love with them! I wanted big, beautiful, diamond earrings that would really sparkle in the sunlight and I found the perfect pair! I purchased them from the Etsy shop called treasures570 which has a ton of other really pretty things! The shop owner Agnes was so sweet and my earrings came within a week of placing the order! They came in this cute little box too! Aren’t they amazing?!!

I also wanted to share a new recipe I found! I love this girls blog LouisanaBrideBlog and she has posted some yummy looking recipes! I can’t wait to try this one out!! Her recipe is super simple and healthy!

Ingredients:

2 11oz  Mexicorn

2 cups fat free sour cream

3 chopped green onions

2 cups shredded reduced fat sharp cheddar cheese

4oz diced green chilis (optional- I don't always add it)

Directions: 

Combine all of the ingredients and chill. Serve with corn chips. 

And lastly, can you believe Miss Lily’s growth?! She now weighs 21 pounds!! At almost 14 weeks she has grown so quickly so fast!