Matt and Alissa's Summer Wedding

On Saturday one of the couples in our close group of friends got married.  It was a special event for all of us, and the wedding was full of familiar faces.  It was also full of many special touches that made it extra-beautiful.

Matt and Alissa married in a grand, ornate, Catholic church.  

How cute is Matt's mom!?  

Oh, and the bride - absolutely breathtaking!

The reception took place in a little, yellow banquet room in a hotel.  

It was the perfect size for an intimate wedding reception, with a balcony and a bunch of windows.

The couple had purchased flowers from Costco for the center pieces, and they turned out beautifully.  Each centerpiece was slightly different.

 

The bouquets and boutonnieres however, were all similar, and pretty much the coolest things ever!

They had found out THE DAY BEFORE THE WEDDING that their florist was bailing on them, and were able to get a new florist to pull together all the wedding flowers with one days notice!

The favours were so perfect, because my friend Matt is a tea guru, with a famous tea blog.  I was so happy that they chose an incredible Indian tea for their favours.  They stuffed the tea bags themselves, and went to all the trouble to make these for their guests.  

 

The dinner was Caesar salad, stuffed chicken with potatoes and veggies, with cheesecake for dessert.  

Another friend, Tara, made four different cakes - lime, coconut, double chocolate, and red velvet.  I was lucky enough to try at least a bite of three of the flavours over the course of the weekend.  They were among the best cakes I have ever tasted in my life - Ridiculously moist, and full of flavour.  Even the fondant was superb, and that is not typical for fondant.

The couple cut into the coconut one, and I made sure to get up close and personal with the work of art.

I made cake pops for the wedding as well, so the guests had plenty of sweetness to choose from.  Matt and Alissa wrote little notes thanking and recognizing both Tara and I for the cake/pops, and I thought that was really thoughtful of them.

I love weddings, and am so excited for my sister's wedding in 30 days!

What is your favourite personal or unique little touch that you have seen at a wedding?

What is your favourite part of a wedding?

I love the first dance. 

Life Lesson Re: Weddings

When your two craziest, zaniest, most fun-loving friends get married ...

Good times will be had by all.

The special touches and little details helped to make Saturdays beautiful wedding what it was ... but those will be saved for tomorrow ...

Congratulations on your marriage Matt and Alissa!

Do you have any crazy, ridiculous friends that make you laugh until it hurts?

I am lucky enough to have quite a few, and it sure makes life happier :-)

Meat Cookies - Because Chocolate Chip is soooo Last Year.

On Friday I felt like some bacon.

I didn't put it in the baked eggs that I had for breakfast ... although, clearly that was a mistake.

Instead, I covered it in 3 T brown sugar and 1 tsp cinnamon and baked it for 20 minutes to make cinnamon sugar candied bacon.

Then, the cinnamon sugar, candied bacon somehow happened to fall right into a bowl of melted chocolate! 

I have absolutely no idea how that happened.

Then, when I wasn't looking, that sneaky, chocolate covered, candied bacon, jumped right into my peanut butter cookie dough!

I was left with no other option other than to stir it in and hope for the best.

I was quite pleased with these meat cookies.  You would be too.  Unless of course you are a vegetarian/vegan, in which case - I am sorry.   

The bacon made me do it.

Check out Jessica's blog for the recipe.

What is the strangest thing you have eaten bacon in?

Do you like the combination of sweet and salty?

Backyard and 150 Cake Pops

The last couple of mornings I have spent some time in my backyard either drinking my green monster ...

Admiring my flowers ...

Marveling at my cilantro that is growing like a weed ...

Or simply photographing my food ...

If it wasn't for the class I am taking, I would spend the whole day outside.

My dinners have been really good the last few of days.  On Tuesday we had sweet potato/bean burritos.  These are one of my favourite easy, vegetarian meals.  I had leftovers for lunch the next day.

Last night I made white wine coq au vin, and it was fabulous.

This evening I threw together a new salad.  I chopped up and then fried 2 slices of bacon until crisp.  I removed the bacon and then carmalized some red onions in the bacon fat.  I then removed those, and tossed pecans and strawberries into the pan for a few minutes.  I threw it all together with spinach and arugula, some balsamic and a fig goat cheese. 

 

My other eats have looked a little something like this ...

Yes, that is cheese whiz on the celery.  I eat all the healthy stuff folks.

On another note, this evening I made about 150 cake pops.  

The first step was making a bunch of cakes (which I did yesterday) ...

Then I made the pops, dipped them, let them dry and bagged them ...

Then got to work on the ribbons ...

I ran out of ribbons about a 1/4 of the way through, so the rest will have to wait until tomorrow.

The cake pops are for our friends' wedding on Saturday. 

Do you ever eat outside?  Photograph food outside?  

What time of day is your favourite time to be outside? 

Have you ever made something for a wedding?

Getting in the summer groove ...

y holidays have started out quite busy.

First of all, I think the sushi that the hubby and I ate on Friday made us sick, because neither of us felt great this weekend, and I had severe stomach pain all day Sunday, resulting in being very sick Sunday evening.  

Saturday night we toughed through the stomach pain and headed out to our friends' bachelor and bachelorette parties.

I donned my little black, leather dress that I bought the other day (Calvin Klein, from Winners):

I actually did something with my hair for once ...

But nothing too special.

We started the evening at a restaurant called Crave.  

I had a shrimp appetizer, and then the trout with potato salad.  It was all pretty good.  

We laughed, visited and had a nice time, before heading to a club.  

I still wasn't feeling great, so I has pretty mellow for the remainder of the evening.

Sunday morning I still wasn't feeling well, and could barely eat anything.  I went to the my friend's bridal shower in the afternoon and tried to nibble on the delicious spread, but just wasn't feeling it.  I ended up getting quite sick later in the evening, but am finally feeling much better today.

Yesterday, Monday 4th July, I started my summer grad class.  

Today we had our first exam.  

Tonight I have to read a couple hundred pages.  

I have a paper due on Thursday.  

This is going to keep me pretty busy!

My summer eats have looked a little something like this so far ...

My summer meals usually include a lot of fruits and veggies.  I snack on them throughout the day, and also drink a LOT more water in the summer than I do throughout the rest of the year.  I think it makes a big difference that I am home and have more time.

How is your eating/drinking different in the summer than the rest of the year?  

Or does it stay the same?

Mid-Year Goal Review

Today is the official middle-of-the-year, with 182 days already passed and 182 left.

I thought this would be the perfect time to review my goals for 2011.

Mid-Year Goal Review: 11 in 2011

1) Finish 4 more grad classes.  I am starting my 3rd of the year on Monday, and am taking my last two in the Fall, so I am on track to surpass this goal.  I learned yesterday that I earned 94% on both of the classes I have finished already in 2011 - I was pretty pumped about that.

2) Decide on a thesis topic and begin thesis research. I plan on doing this throughout the summer and into the Fall.  I need to find myself a supervisor first.

3) Make one new recipe per week (most weeks). I have already made 47 new recipes this year, so I have surpassed this goal. Maybe I can get to 100 by the end of the year!

4) Read books for me (not just for school). I have been reading books for me (The China Study, Pioneer Woman's book, and a few others recently, and plan on reading many more this summer).

5) Take a class just for me (not school related).  Haven't had time for this.  Maybe I can sneak in a cooking class this summer, but my schedule is pretty jam-packed!

6) Host some new types of parties/ meals. I hosted a bridal shower, wine and cheese party and three dinner parties so far this year.  I plan on hosting a lot more in the next 182 days.

7) Give running one last fair shot.  I tried this in the spring, but my training plan got interrupted. I might try again this summer.

8) Be productive this summer.  I have so much going on this summer, it shouldn't be hard to be productive!

9) Go on 2 out-of-country trips. We went to New York for a week in April, and have a trip to Vegas planned for September.  Done.

10) Do some home renovations: We plan on doing some painting and installing new basement windows this summer.  We might put new flooring in the bedrooms and hallway, if we have time.

11) Make sure my hubby's 30th birthday this year is memorable, as well as my dad's 70th, and my sister and her fiance's wedding.  We had a nice night out for my husbands 30th, and we threw my dad a little surprise party for his 70th.  I know my sister's wedding will be incredible, and I can't wait!

How are you doing on your New Year's Goals/Resolutions?

Summer Holidays ...

Yesterday was my last day of work for the school year, and I am officially on summer holidays!  The end of the year was stress-free and fun, and I whipped up some cake pops for my colleagues to help celebrate the end of another great year.

Summer holidays means ...

Drinks on outdoor decks whenever I want.

Fresh dinners, photographed outside in the sunshine.

Opportunities to stop and smell the flowers and watch nature take its course.

Last night some girlfriends and I went out to celebrate.  We sat on a rooftop, sipped beverages, and laughed.  I ate some udon soup, and then danced the night away at a concert of a local band.

I love summer.  

This morning the hubby and I celebrated Canada day with sushi!  

There are fireworks tonight in the park, but we might opt out and have a night in.  

Tomorrow is our friends' stag and stagette parties!

What are you doing for the long weekend?

HAPPY CANADA DAY to my fellow Canadians!