Wedding Registry...Check

So, this morning we completed another wedding activity...registering for our wedding. We started at the Crate & Barrel wedding registry party at 9am this morning. I have a couple friends who suggested this party that C&B holds before hours and said that it is very helpful and fun. When I asked Andy if he wanted to do it he didn't look thrilled; however, when I gave him the option to not participate he said "No" because he felt I would register for some crazy stuff. I have to admit I do like unusual items, but I felt like Andy was over reacting. I did not argue with him because I really did want him to go with me and participate as this is another journey on our road to wedded bliss.

Crate & Barrel's party started with mimosa's and small breakfast items while you got checked in and received your scanner. Then a short presentation and tips on registering and then we were off to scan all the items we would like on our wish list. Of course we scanned a wide range of items to fit everyone's price points. After an hour and a half we called it quits. We finished up scanning and proceeded to the desk to receive our free vase for attending the party. I was exhausted and thought we were headed home, but Andy suggested we keep on trucking and head to Bed Bath & Beyond to finish up registering. I initially thought we would do it next weekend, but Andy did bring up a good point that we might as well register back-to-back to so we remember what we had already registered for. I agreed as long as we could stop for a lunch break because I was exhausted and knew if we didn't break I would get crabby during the scanning process. Andy doesn't want a crabby fiance for wedding registry day so we headed to Jimmy John's.

We got to BB&B and started the process all over again. Since we scanned a lot of the kitchen items at C&B we were merely interested in bedding and bath, such as towels and sheets. After another hour and a half we called it quits. Plus we knew we could go home and add more items from the website if we realized we forgot something.

We got home and decided to review what we scanned because in the three hours total it took us we couldn't remember everything anymore. Good thing we reviewed because there were items we needed to delete for various reasons and then we realized we forgot a few important items.

Andy agreed that registering for our wedding wasn't as bad as he thought it was going to be and I wasn't as bad as he thought I would be. When I asked him to elaborate Andy said he thought I would go crazy with the gun and just start scanning everything and he thought the items I would scan would be very artsy fartsy and he is not into that kind of unique look. I did inform him that these are the items we will have for a very long time so I went more for the clean/classic look that I like over the contemporary look that I also like.

Andy and I had a great day together and our wedding registry is complete and just another item checked off our wedding to-do list.

Guests, The Open and The Super Bowl

This weekend Andy and I were busy with guests, the annual Phoenix Open and the Packers! Andy's brother, Ryan, and his girlfriend, Lisa, arrived in town last week on Wednesday late night. Andy's dad and Shelley were also supposed to arrive on Wednesday; however, with the crazy snowstorm across the Midwest they were unable to get out of Madison. Luckily Ryan and Lisa did get out of Madison and they arrived only 12 hours later than they originally planned.

Friday was the annual Phoenix Open that we go to every year with a group of people. This is a golf tournament that is a good time had by all. We spent all afternoon there and then headed to the Bird's Nest for live entertainment and drinks. The Bird's Nest is a giant tent with live bands, food and booze. While at the Bird's Nest I ended up getting a huge ego boost when an under cover cop approached me. While we were all standing around our table staying warm under the heat lamp (as it was unusually cold for Phoenix) an under cover cop flashed his badge at me and said who he was and that he needed to see my ID because I didn't look of age to be there. I responded with "Are you serious?" I really thought it was a joke. He of course wasn't being funny and flashed his ID closer to my face and announced who he was again. I then proceeded to look for my ID in my purse while letting him know that I should take this as a HUGE compliment. He said "Well, what are you 3 years older than 21?" I said "No, I am 31" and he responded with "Well, if you are 31 then you must eat your Wheaties." As I was handing over my ID I informed him that I do not eat Wheaties and I am 31. He looked at my ID and said "Wow, you are 31, keep eating your Wheaties." As Mr. Cop walked away the rest of the table burst into laughter and made fun of me for the rest of the night. Hey, keep making fun, but you will be jealous when you are 31 and don't get carded. Ha HA! The Bird's Nest closes at 10pm and we responsibly headed home in a cab.

For Saturday's festivities with Ryan and Lisa we decided to head back to the Bird's Nest instead of heading to a bar. First, it's live entertainment, second, we don't have to think of anything to do and third, I will be home by 10:30 since the Nest closes at 10pm...I was a big fan of closing time. Hey, I am no spring chicken anymore. I did not get carded by an undercover cop again on Saturday as I only got carded entering the Bird's Nest just like every other individual. I didn't need to get carded again though as Friday's nights events boosted my ego for the next year. :)

Sunday was the Super Bowl and all I can really say is way to go Packers! What a way to get the job done. We went over to the Seifert's annual Super Bowl party; however, this year was much better than years past just because the Packer's were playing. It was a good time and I brought my pasta salad that I had made before. There was plenty of food to eat and everyone had a great time. Until next year...Go Pack Go!

Invitations...Check

Months ago at my monthly wine night my girlfriend's suggested us girls make our wedding invitations. I initially was not on board with them because it just seemed like a lot of work and I am very particular on how I like things and I wanted to make sure they are done right. After some convincing how much fun it will be to have a girl day and make the invitations I got on board. My friend, Kim, gave me an invitation idea from her husband's cousin's wedding and I thought the invitation was great and only needed slight tweaking to make it ours. The next step was to purchase the necessary materials and thanks to my friend, Amber, I was able to get the correct paper at the best price from the website she purchased all her paper from to make her wedding invitations. With all that said, we met yesterday to slice, tape, glue and assemble the wedding invitations at Kim's house. Thankfully I had help from my fabulous friends: Jessica, Amber and Kim because I could never have done this without them. I never even would have thought about making the invitations without them. I am glad I did make them because now I have memories of making my invitations with my girlfriends and that is way better than having the invitations made.

With having a destination wedding we only needed 61 invitations so that doesn't sound bad...right? Well, it took us 7 hours to make the 61 invitations...keep in mind we had four people doing this. I honestly had no idea how long it was going to take, but once we sat down and got started I knew I would be at Kim's house well into the night.

Here is the first photo of the day....we are all smiling because we have no idea we will be at this table for the next 7 hours.

While we were hard at work we were able to munch on my favorite appetizer ever...a pesto and roasted pepper cheese ball with crackers. This went well with the wine we were drinking. Kim made it as she knows that is my absolute favorite and I love when she makes this. It is so yummy!

Here is my workstation. This is where I sat for hours on end slicing paper.

Here is Kim hard at work.

Amber is also hard at work.

The last photo is of the group towards the end of the slave driving.

I am not going to include photos of the invitation that we all worked so hard to make as there has to be some element of surprise when you receive yours in the mail.

I did not take any pictures of Ella and Stella as they were there all day too and they were very good little girls...and adorable little girls, might I add. I am very glad us girls got together and made the wedding invitations as I had such a great time. I also appreciate their help as I could not have made these invitations without them.

Colors, Dresses and Invitations...OH MY!

So, this weekend I wanted to get all my paper needed to create my invitations and to get moving on the bridesmaid dresses. Let's just say I got very little accomplished. I started with the invitations and I listened to my friend Amber when she said we could have a girls day and make them together so all I needed to do was get the supplies. I already have one picked out that I really like and all I had to do was go buy paper and supplies. Mmmmm...I headed to Jo-Ann's to pick out the ribbon needed. While there I didn't find anything that was just quite right. I liked some of the ribbon, but it wasn't perfect...notice my obsession with perfection. Then I headed to Michael's and I found two ribbons but started to stress out just picking the ribbon I liked....Ahhh! Again, another example of my perfectionist self and another reason as to why we are doing a destination wedding. I am trying to avoid as many of these stressful moments that are brought on based on my obsession with everything being perfect.

Then I got home, calmed down and scoured the internet for bridesmaid dresses. I found many dresses that I just love; however, they did not include the colors of our wedding. I swear I must have looked at 1,000 dresses this weekend and it turned out to be a huge bummer for me. This dress searching has me rethinking the colors of the wedding. I might as well pick a color where I can have my girls where a beautiful dress over settling for a dress because it fits within the color scheme. I mean we are still early enough into this planning that we can change the colors. This color issue has put my paper purchasing on hold since I don't want to buy the wrong color. I am in luck as the color of ribbon I bought will fit into the new color scheme if that is the road I choose to travel. When asking Andy his opinion he said he doesn't care about the colors of the wedding as he knows he trusts whatever color I choose to look great.

So, my weekend of wedding accomplishments was pretty unsuccessful as I only made one decision this weekend...the color of the ribbon on the wedding invitations. There is always next weekend!

Pasta Salad and Hummus

Last weekend we went over to the Seifert's house for dinner and chit chat. We offered to bring the side dish to accompany Karen's chili. I also thought it would be nice to bring an appetizer to munch on since we were heading over there at 2pm for the Packer game.

For the appetizer I thought I would make homemade hummus since I love hummus so much and it's good for you. I eat it almost every day for lunch, but I always buy it in the store. This time I thought it would be fun to make it at home. It turned out a little watery, but I know next time not to use as much water as the recipe says. Here is what the recipe called for and besides the runny factor it turned out very tasty!

Ingredients

• 1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• 3/4 cup water (I used the water from the chickpeas; however, I would advise to add this at the end if needed so yours does not turn out runny.)
  
• 1/2 cup tahini
• Lemon juice from 2 lemons
  
• 1 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 clove garlic
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for serving
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves

In a food processor, combine the chickpeas, tahini, lemon juice, salt, and garlic and puree. While the motor is running, pour in the olive oil and process until fully incorporated. Add the water at the end if necessary. Season with pepper, to taste. Store in the refrigerator for 6 hours, for the flavors to come together.

I served the hummus with carrots, cucumbers and two different kinds of pita chips.

I also made a very light pasta salad for a side. It was my first time making pasta salad because I normally don't care for pasta salad as the dressing is usually too heavy for me. I don't care for the creamy dressing and a lot of times the clear dressing ends up being drenched on the salad that I really don't like it. I came across this recipe for the dressing in the Taste of Home Cookbook and thought it sounded light so I gave it a shot and it turned out amazing. If you are looking for a light pasta salad for a gathering I would highly suggest this one.

Ingredients

4 cups cooked spiral pasta
2 medium carrots, julienned
1 container of the tiny tomatoes
2 cups broccoli florets
Cubed cheese (as much as you prefer)
Chop a bundle of green chives

Dressing Ingredients

2/3 Cup vegetable oil
1/3 Cup red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons minced fresh basil (I actually used fresh parsley)
1/4 teaspoon salt
Garlic powder to taste

Once you have mixed all the dressing ingredients together toss it in with the dry ingredients. Chill for an hour and then serve. This was so light and tasty that I could eat this almost every day.

A Rosey New Years

So, as everybody knows the Badgers made it to the Rose Bowl this year and we of course had to go. As soon as it was announced that the Badgers were going Andy said he would be seriously disappointed if we did not go. Neither of us have been to a Rose Bowl game and we are only a five hour drive away, so it would have really bummed Andy out if we did not go. We got back to Arizona from Christmas in Wisconsin on Thursday, December 30th and then got back in the car with our friends, Mike and AJ, on the morning of Friday, December 31st to head to California.

We stayed at a nice hotel in Newport Beach, which was only a 35 minute drive from Pasadena. Staying in Newport Beach saved us a lot of money on the hotel. Here is a view from our deck.


We spent New Year's Eve out in Newport beach at a few of the local bars. This made it impossible to make it to the Rose Bowl parade. We never really planned to go to the parade since it started at 8am and by the news it looked kind of crazy at the parade area the night before. The news showed people sleeping on the sidewalk the night before...which by my terms is insane. It's a parade! Anyway, we made it to the stadium area about 11am to start tailgating before the game started at 2pm. Here is a picture of Andy and I from the tailgating area.


The introduction before the big game begins!





Well, as everybody knows the Badgers did not win the Rose Bowl. Even so, it was an accomplishment to make it to the Rose Bowl and it was an experience to be able to attend the Bowl game and support our Badgers. It was exciting to see all the Badger fans there fill the stadium. I would say the stadium was 75% red and 25% purple...what a beautiful sight. We had a great time and are looking forward to doing again...hopefully next year. Go Badgers!

It's A Doggie Dog Christmas

Hi blog followers, it's me, Izzy! Well, this past Christmas mom and dad took Madison and I on another journey to Wisconsin to celebrate with family. I am not going to lie it was a long car ride, but mom was a trooper and did her half of the driving both ways. I even started to get crabby once we hit Iowa as I did snap at my sister. Madison took it pretty well though. Once we got there we dropped Madison off at grandma Laura's house and I headed over to grandma Vicki and grandpa Jeff's house. I must say I really like their house as it gives me plenty of room to run like the crazy dog that I am. Once I arrived I was ready to play and let loose, especially after I was stuck in a car forever, but mom wanted to get some sleep. After much effort of convincing me to go to bed I finally gave in and laid down, but I was up bright and early to great everyone in the house.

Mom says I was a much better behaved dog this year. The only mess I made was when I turned grandma's white carpet pink, but that was not my fault. You see, mom gave me a pink bone to keep me occupied and she did not know it would bleed pink onto the carpet. Grandpa had to get his famous Bissel out and clean up the pink mess that I had unknowingly made. Hey, that is the only mess I made while visiting WI this year, which is pretty good considering last year.

Madison had a relaxing time at grandma Laura's house and dad likes to say that she enjoyed her time away from my hyperness...I beg to differ though. Here is Madison at grandma Laura's house. This is her favorite spot in the house to lounge. She likes to claim the ottoman as hers.


The next night mom went out to meet an old friend of hers while I stayed in to rough house and then snuggle with the grandparents and their dog Shadow. Mom says she met up with an old friend that she hasn't seen in five years, but it was just like old times as if five years never past. Now that is true friendship. Here is a picture of mom with her good friend Mindy.


I must say this year in Wisconsin it was not as cold as the past two years. I must give a big thanks though to mom and dad for buying me a sweater this year in preparation for the cold weather. The sweater was so mom could take me for walks to wear off some of my boxer energy while not freezing my butt off. Here I am prior to one of our walks and then mom and I after we got back from our walk.



One great thing about WI is all the kids I got to play with while I was there. I got to play with my cousins Kyle and Tayler quite a bit. Here is me with Kyle.


There were even plenty of more kids for Madison and I to play with up at dad's side of the family in Wautoma, WI. While Madison was planning her attack on the food in the kitchen I was running with the kids and figuring out how to get their little white fluff ball of a dog to play with me. Their dog does not like other dogs, but what dog wouldn't want to play with me? Also, while I was there I learned how to jump REALLY high as I jumped from behind the living room couch and landed on the top of the back side of the couch where I could see everyone. I don't know why everyone laughed and then mom yelled at me to get down, but before I knew it mom pulled me off the couch and told me "no." Mmmm...I am still unsure of what I did wrong. That was quite the day of playing as I didn't get one nap in that day, so once I got back to grandma and grandpa's house I was out cold. Mom thought this was great!


Before Madison and I knew it mom and dad had us back in the car to head back to Arizona for another 26 hour car drive. We were pretty lucky that dad is addicted to his iPhone so that he was aware of the bad weather northern Arizona was getting. We learned they had to close down major highways due to the bad snow storms, so mom and dad were able to go from Albuquerque, NM down south to Tucson and then up to Phoenix. It added on another two hours to our drive; however, we were just glad we made it home safe and did not get stuck in the mountains like so many other people did. I hope everyone had a great Christmas as I know Madison, mom, dad and myself did in Wisconsin!