Thanksgiving

What I'm Thankful For 2010:

• My great and supportive family
• My incredibly Awesome Fiance
• That I have a job
• My three cats
• That my cat Talmadge's heart disease has not gotten worse
• All of my wonderful friends
• Strangers that have turned into good friends
• Food on the table
• Roof over my head
• Gas in my car

I Hope that Everyone has a Wonderful Thanksgiving!!!

7 Course Dinner

Okay, I have never ever had a 7 course dinner in my life and let me tell you that now that I have, i'm going to have to do them more often. For those of you who don't know, my little brother, Jamie, is in Culinary school at USC. For his exam this year, he has to make a 7 course dinner. So tonight he did a trial run and me and Jeremy were invited to help "taste" his creations before the actual test. OMG! it was Fantastic!! I'm so impressed by his culinary skills! I feel so lucky that he is my brother! I'm going to run down the menu for you so you can also see how awesome he is.

1. Appetizer: It was a shrimp/cream cheese/ yellow and red bell pepper dip with French Bread rounds.
2. Salad: Waldorf Salad on lettice leaves. (i've never had waldorf salad before and I loved it! It's sliced apples in this white sauce and cheese over lettice. yummy)
3. Soup: Butternut Squash soup with lentils with a spoon full of sour cream and parsley. (again, OMG! sooo good! I was very suprised when i took the first spoonful becuase it was sweet! not super sweet, but still sweet but then it turned very savory at the end. Mom informed me that there was also pureed apple in the soup as well. I got to take home some leftovers so i'm very excited)
4. Fish Dish: A salmon fillet with lemon, arugula, and white wine. (Melt in your mouth. very very good)
5. Sorbet: lime sorbet to clense the pallet before the main course.
6. Main Dish: Stuffed Beef Tenderloin (stuffed with mushrooms, onion, and spinach), grilled asparagus with balsalmic vinegar, and sweet potato rounds with blackened sage. ( i think this was one of everyone's favorite parts. The conversation stopped so you know it was good. The steak was so tender you could cut it with a butter knife. LOVED IT!)
7. Dessert: Banana's Foster. (O, M, G. this was my second favorite! First of all, I LOVE banana's foster. it's one of my favorite desserts. The way Jamie did his up in a glass was: bottom - vanilla icecream, middle - the bananas which he did over the stove with banana rum and regular rum, above that - choclate sauce (!!!!!), and then he topped it off with whip cream and a strawberry. just wow people, just wow)

So if you can imagine I am totally STUFFED! but it was sooo worth it! And if he doesn't pass with flying colors on this exam, i'm gonna go give the judge's a piece of my mind. I just can't wait for him to cook up something else. And i already told him that if he needs anyone to taste-test again to call us up immediately ! :D

My New List

I've been worrying and stressing out about alot of things lately for no good reason. And it's time for a change. So I wrote a list that I'm going to read every morning before I leave the house to help me get through the day. I'm really trying to do this with out drugs or doctors this time. I thought i'd share my list and hopefully it might help someone else out there that is feeling the same as i do.

• Leave Work at Work
• Family and Home take precedence over Career
• More Flies are caught w/ Honey than w/ Vinegar
• You are a Smart and Beautiful Person
• Positive, Optimistic Attitudes are a necessity of life
• Choose your Battles Carefully
• Laugh at Life's upsets and turn them to your advantage
• Learn from your mistakes
• Kindness and Compassion are enver out of date or out of style
• Don't Sweat the Small Stuff
• If it won't matter in 3-5 years, don't worry about it

i'm so slack

I Promise that I will post more as soon as i find my camera charger. I PROMISE!!

Mom says All Her Grandkids Have Paws

This is Our Family. The Orange Cat is "Talmadge". He also answers to "His royal Highness". He is very friendly and believes that he owns everything he sees. He was diagnosed with Hyper Cardiomyopathy this year. He is on lots of meds each day but it getting better.
The Black Cat is "Stinky". He is 11 years old and he is my baby. He is such a scardy cat. He runs from everything. His favorite spots are in or under a chair, on top of the couch, or cowered under the bed.
The Tabby Cat is "little Kitten". She also answers to "Pudgy Princess". She is the newest addition to the family. She is a complete and utter SPAZ!! She loves picking on the furniture and the carpet. She LOVES to EAT!!! And she loves attention and pets.

Paper Pin Wheels and an Art Doll Witch

So I had the day off today and i decided to do something very crafty. I made Halloween Pinwheels to string up in the windows out of Halloween scrap paper and I made an art doll Witch out of paper and an empty salt box. I hope you like them! if you want to know how to make them just leave a comment or email me! I'm so excited about Halloween!!!

Happy Labor Day!

Have a good day of rest. :)

OMG! had to post this! It's TOO FUNNY!!!

Hi People!!

Sorry I've been so slack in my blogging. Not much has been going on. I've been working a lot lately. The store i work for has opened their kiosk in the mall and we don't have enough people to man the kiosk and the store so i've been going to the mall to help. I really hope i've been helping my co-workers. They know that i will do anything to help them out. :)


Casey (one of my maids of honor) came over for dinner tonight and it was sooo great to see her!!! I had such a good time showing her all of the wedding details i have so far! I'm so glad she doesn't have to work 70+ hours anymore so hopefully i'll get to see her more often now!


I'm planning my 2010 Halloween Party!! its going to be GREAT!! I'm going to make some really yummy and creepy food and its going to be a costume party! This is what jeremy and i are going to be:

Its going to be really fun! I'll let yall know more details as they come!
Well until next time!!!

ENGAGEMENT PICTURES!!!

Our Pictures Turned out GREAT!! They were taken by Amy Prikazsky in Charleston, SC. You

can find her blog here. It was so much fun!!! Here are a few of our favorites!

This Weekend! :)

This weekend Jeremy and I are going to go to Charleston to get our Engagement Pictures done!! :) yay!!! I'm so excited!!! The photographer is Amy Prikazsky. Her blog is: http://www.apphotographyblog.com/ I really hope they turn out well!! I will post some pictures when we get them!! Until Next time!

Best Dinner Ever!!

So I decided to go on a diet to start losing weight for the wedding. That also means that Jeremy is on a diet. Last night i decided to try something different and it turned out to be FANTASTIC!!! I bought two pork chops and seared them before putting them into the oven @ 350 for 40 minutes. When you put the meat in the oven, make sure to add 1/2 cup wine and 1/2 cup chicken broth or water. (that way it will be very tender) Then i took the pan that i had seared the meat in and i sauteed some onion and garlic. Then i added some chopped asparagus. After the meat was done I put all the juices into the pan with the veggies and put the meat on a plate in the microwave to keep warm. Reduce the liquid in the pan until about 1 cup or so remains. Then add some Sour Cream (i'd say i put about 1/2 cup or so) and stirred everything together. Then for a final touch i put 2 tbls of rosemary in the sauce also. Put some on meat and serve w/ a salad or potatoes or whatever you want.

EVERYONE SHOULD TRY THIS DISH! IT WAS WONDERFUL! even Jeremy said he loved it!!

Toodles!!

Wedding Cake Topper!

The Promise Cake Topper by Willow Tree

Our Trip to Chuck Town

So for the past week we've been in Georgetown and Charleston for a little Getaway. We got to just walk around and we got to go to the Heyward Washington House. This house was built in 1772 by Daniel Heyward for his son Thomas Heyward, who signed the Declaration of Independence. This house was also historically important becuase George Washington stayed here in 1791. The Grimke sisters, Sarah and Angelina, also lived in this house for awhile. The Grimke sisters were early abolitionists in South Carolina. I Loved going there this week. I really just needed to get away from Columbia and everything for while. Can't wait to go again!

Wedding Plans so Far

The Ceremony:

The ceremony is going to be at Shandon Presbyterian Church in Columbia, SC at 5pm. This is the church that I grew up in.
Website: www.shandonpres.org


The Reception:

The reception is going to be at The Hall at Canal and Senate which is owned by Dupre's Catering.
Website: www.duprecatering.com

What we are thinking is that the colors are going to be lavender and green with kind of a 30s/40s vibe. We are going to hire a DJ to do the music and we are also going to have a really cool suprise for the guests as they first come into the hall from the ceremony.
Jeremy really wants an Ice Sculpture so we are going to make that happen too. All in all i think its starting to come together! Only 14 months to go!! :)

First Time!

Okay, So i decided to start a blog! I am getting married next year (Sept. 17, 2011) to thelove of my life (Jeremy) and am soo excited. I decided to start this to share all of my experiences about planning the wedding and i wanted to share all of our travels. Anyways, i hope to try to write about things every week. I hope yall have fun reading!