Andy's Birthday Weekend

Last weekend was Andy's birthday and anyone that knows him understands that he does not make a big deal out of his birthday so it's me who is saying he got the whole weekend and it's me that got everyone to go out for his birthday. On Friday night I took him out for his birthday dinner and then a relaxing night in watching a movie with drinks.

Then on Saturday it was Culinary Fest. It just so happened this year Culinary Fest landed on the same weekend as Andy's birthday...lucky guy! Yes, I have blogged about this event every year since I have been blogging because we have been going every year since we moved to AZ..and this year was no different. The only difference this year was the weather. Normally every time we go it's really hot and everyone is sweating and trying to stay hydrated, but this year we had some crazy weather. It was barely 50 degrees and ended up raining in the evening. This was perfect drinking weather and did not deter us from whooping it up for Andy's birthday in the vodka tent.

Just after 7pm it started to rain hard so they closed down the festival and we were booted out of the vodka tent. This was not going to ruin Andy's big celebration so we went to a local dive bar called Rusty Spur to keep the festivities going. At the Rusty Spur we got the bar to sing Happy Birthday with us to Andy. Then AJ got the band to do the same. You can imagine how thrilled this made Andy since he does not like to draw attention to himself.

After the Rusty Spur it was time to "feed the beast" so we all headed to Los Olivos for our annual meal to end Culinary Fest. Here is a group photo the waiter took of us. We then hopped in a cab to head home.

On Sunday, it was present opening time. I will only post one of the photos because Andy was not thrilled that I took many pictures of him opening all the presents like he was a little kid.

Happy Birthday Anders! Until next year.

Happy 30th Birthday Anders!

More to come later as I am extremely exhausted from the crazy weekend!

Arizona Bridal Shower

My parents were in town this past week and the main reason for their visit was my Arizona bridal shower. My mom really wanted to be here to share in my special day and that was awesome to have my mom attend my first bridal shower. To be honest I was unsure about a bridal shower since I am not your typical bride and not a fan of traditions, but once I got there I had a great time. My friends, Amber and Kim, put the shower together and they did an amazing job. The decorations were awesome as the theme was around the wedding colors and wine...my favorite thing! My friend Kim always says how she is not crafty and lacks the ability to create anything...after this bridal shower I am going to call her bluff. Every detail was absolutely perfect and unique. I couldn't believe these girls did all this just for me. I just loved it. Here is a picture of my mother and I at the shower.

Here is a picture of my Arizona girlfriends...aka monthly ladies wine and sushi night.

For more on the bridal shower please see Kim's blog as she detailed it perfectly with great photos that I was unable to capture. I am looking forward to my shower in Wisconsin; however, I am going to have to be better about taking photos at that shower for my blog.

Wedding Dress and Shoes Update

My wedding dress arrived this week and last night was the time to go in and try it on. It was finally the time to find out if I still had the same love for that dress now as I did six months ago when I bought it. As my blog followers know this is something I have been completely worried about. I was having nightmares that it's the wrong dress and I have been stressed out that I am going to hate the dress when I see it and there is no room in the budget to get a new dress. Even if there was room in the budget we are out of time since these dresses take so long to get in. I was worred that I would have to settle on a white dress that I found at the mall. And by worried I mean stressed, anxious and freaking out. I am not an outward emotional person so all this has been kept deep inside me so Andy wouldn't know the true level of stress over this dress. If he knew he would just tell me to stop watching Say Yes to the Dress. I do agree that I need to stop watching that show, but it's like my crack because it is very addicting. So, I arrived nervously to the dress store and my parents met me there. Yes, my parents are in town this week and I am very glad because then they are able to see the dress before Mexico since they were not there with me when I bought it. Once I got the dress on I wondered why I was so stressed out about it because the dress is aboslutely perfect! I just love it and I am happy with my dress choice. I was also very pleased with how well it fit me. The only alterations I need are "up top." Basically I can't gain a pound or lose any weight from now until then since the dress fits so perfect! I told my mother that if she would have blessed me more with my top half then the dress would be perfect with no alterations needed and that means savings in her pocket. So, yes, the top of the dress not fitting snug is my mothers fault for providing me with "little genes." HA HA! Just kidding, but my mom did find my comment funny and so did the bridal consultant. My dad didn't say much about my joke; however, he did provide opinions and ideas. I was shocked because my dad is not one for words so I really liked to hear what he had to say. I had my shoes (more on the shoe drama to come) and they look amazing with the dress. The shoes are perfect and thanks mom for finding them because I love them. My dad didn't understand all the drama over the shoes since you can't see them under the dress, but that's ok because he is a dad and they generally don't understand that stuff anyway. The Shoe Drama: In my last post I discussed the anxiety over getting the perfect shoe. I first ordered a pair and they were not the right shoe. Then my mom found a pair for me, but JCP didn't have the right color or size and it was back ordered on their website. That caused my mom to run to the JCP in Madison to pick up the right color in a size 7 and bring them with her to Arizona this week. Ok, we are up to speed. When they got here on Wednesday night we were talking about the shoes and how she brought them out, etc. She went to get them so I could try them on and make sure I still like the them. I put one shoe on and immediately loved the shoe so I reached in the box for the left shoe and it wasn't there. I immediately thought maybe my mom was looking at them in their bedroom and it was just in the other room. Then my mom was shocked when I asked for the second shoe. We realized it was probably the shoe on display back in Madison. This was a tad bit stressful because I really wanted the shoes for the dress fitting the following night. Of course my mom was on the phone to JCP in Madison to explain what happened and asked them to fix the problem. After much discussion we found out there are only two stores here in the Phoenix metro area that had the color and size in stock. One was pretty far from our house and the other was in the ghetto of Phoenix. The JCP of Madison contacted the JCP in the Phoenix ghetto ensure they would hold the shoes for us. So, the plan was my parents were going to head to the ghetto to pick up the much needed shoes for my dress appointment the following day. My mom will take the one shoe back with her to the JCP in Madison next week. This story was too funny. I wasn't mad because I figured I had at least one shoe with me to see if it would work with the dress, but JCP came through and solved our problems. So, I LOVE the dress and the shoes. Now, if I can only figure out how to calm my stress and nerves so I don't lose any weight from now until then everything would be perfect!

Crazy - Busy – Weekend

This past weekend consisted of a lot of running around for, of course, the wedding. On Friday night our first stop was Tommy Bahama's to look at shirts for the guys and yes Andy did find a shirt that he really liked. Since we were in Kierland and one of my favorite shops was a couple stores down I had to stop in. Ok, this was not for the wedding, but I had to stop and good thing I did because I found a super cute summer dress. After being in the store for a while I exited to a very crabby looking Anders as he stood on the sidewalk waiting for me. His response was "I thought you were going to be quick?" Really, did he actually believe that I would shop quick in one of my favorite stores? Ok, after that we were on our way to Michael's to pick up some must needed items for the wedding. Then it was time to "feed the beast" as we were both getting hungry. After dinner we had to call it a night as we were both getting pretty tired. Saturday morning approaches and we headed to Toys R Us to pick up a special little girl a birthday present. I was looking for an educational toy and Andy was looking for a more obnoxious toy that will annoy the parents. My thought is that paybacks come much worse...if there is ever a day where a payback could happen. We opted for a compromise between learning and obnoxious. After some good times roaming in Toys R Us we headed across the way to JCPenney so I could try on a pair of shoes for my wedding dress that my mother found for me. They had the shoe, but not in my size in the color I wanted. No biggie, I thought I would just go home and order online...wrong! They were back ordered! So, I frantically call my mother in WI and she runs to the JCP in Madison to pick up the shoes since they had them in my size and the color I want. Phew! Glad I got the shoes I want. Another item checked off the wedding list. Ok, after JCP we took a road trip to Christopher's in Chandler to get a wedding band for Andy and to get a quote from them to make matching bands for my ring. I am glad Andy found a ring he liked and it is in titanium. It looks great! It also looked odd to see a ring on him when he was trying them on. The ring will come in about 10 days from now, so he can start wearing it ASAP. Just kidding! Grooms ring...check! Next up we went to Sports Chalet to sign up for scuba diving certification only to find out that our calendars are way too full for their scheduled classes. So, we went home and contacted other places and we are baiscally out of luck. Our schedule is way too full from now until the wedding to get certified. Ugh! Oh well, we can do it for the honeymoon. After our long day of running around and frantically getting the shoes I want, we ordered Chinese food, watched our Netflix movie and called it a night. Then Sunday morning we woke up bright and early for the last Cubs Spring Training game of 2011. I am not going to lie, I am actually not sad that it is the last weekend of sweating out in the sun for hours on end only to be completely wiped by the time we get home at 4:30 in the afternoon. We were so tired that we went to bed at 8:30 on Sunday night. We felt old for doing that, but hey, I definitely appreciated it on Monday morning. So many wedding items checked off our list, but so many more to go. My dress arrived at the bridal store yesterday so I have an appointment on Thursday evening to go and see it. Hopefully none of my nightmares come true. Stay tuned for more wedding updates.

Easy Panko Chicken

This recipe is a regular in our household because it tastes so good and is so easy to do. I believe I got this recipe from a Panko commercial and I am so glad I did because it's so good. Here is what you need to make easy Panko chicken.

Ingredients
4 Chicken drumsticks (you could do a whole chicken, but I like drumsticks)
1 Egg
3 Tablespoons of Soy Sauce
1/2 Cup of Panko Italian bread crumbs
1/2 Cup of grated Parmesan cheese
Cooking spray

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. In a plastic bag you will want to combine the panko bread crumbs and the Parmesan cheese - shake until all mixed together. In a bowl you will want to mix the egg with the soy sauce. Once your chicken is cleaned you will want to soak it in the egg mixture for a few minutes and make sure it's coated really well.


Then put one chicken drumstick in the panko mixture and shake the bag until your chicken piece is coated. Do this until you have all the chicken covered in the panko mixture.


Place the chicken in a baking dish that is coated with your cooking spray. Bake in the oven for 35 - 45 minutes until the chicken is cooked through. Halfway through bake time you will want to turn the chicken over so as to ensure crispness all over. You do get a nice crispy skin with this chicken. I served this with spinach noodles and corn. A very yummy staple in our house!

Pesto Chicken Panini

We received our first wedding gift a couple weeks ago and it was the Cuisinart Griddler to make panini's. This is what Andy really wanted so he was glad to receive it. I am not familiar with panini's but I was excited to receive our first gift and use it. I went online this past weekend and found a great recipe for a pesto chicken panini.

Ingredients
1 package of chicken
1/2 cup of pesto (Andy made his fabulous pesto)
1/2 cup of mayo
Slices of mozzarella cheese
Ciabatta bread (we used panini bread)
Baby arugula
Tomato
Fresh basil leaves

Marinate the chicken in a 1/4 cup of the pesto for at least an hour and then grill the chicken until cooked all the way through. In a bowl stir the remaining pesto with the mayo and then spread the pesto mixture on each side of your bread. Place the sliced mozzarella on each side of your bread. On the top bread add the arugula, tomato, and basil leaves. On the bottom half add your chicken breast.



Put the top on the bottom and place on your griddle or panini maker. Grill for 3 - 5 minutes. This is yummy.


This is what I learned:
Next time I won't slice the chicken breast and stack it on the bread high. This made the sandwich very thick and hard to grill. My ingredients started sliding everywhere and it got really messy. Also, I didn't let it grill long enough as my panini bread didn't get very crispy. Oh well, I have plenty of chances to make a lean mean panini sandwich and we look forward to using our wedding gift many more times so I can get this down right...until next time.