Wedding Showers

The return of the wedding series I started 8 months ago... our wedding showers!

One of the things I was so thankful for during the time leading up to our wedding, was how generous and loving our friends and family were to us.  It is incredible the amount of love that people pour out on you during such a special time.  We had two miscellaneous showers about a month before the wedding.  My family hosted the first one at the church I grew up in my whole life, the place where we were married.

It was such a fun day, not only because of all of the amazing gifts we got, but because we got to see so many wonderful people and spend time with them.  The color theme for the shower was light pink, gray, black, and white.  Originally, those were the colors for our wedding, but we had to change... look forward to the dramatic story later on :)!  My family was so helpful and we pulled it together really quickly.  I cannot say enough about how wonderful the food was as well!  There is nothing better than shower food!

Pottery Barn dinnerware... Thank you Stacy we LOVE it!

Our second shower was hosted by Daniel's family and it was just as wonderful as our first shower!  The color theme was tiffany blue... Mrs. Jan knows how much I love Tiffany's!

very, very, very funny story 

My sister-in-law and I 

YAY COOKWARE! 

I have heard so many horror stories from brides about dealing with the stores that they choose to register with.  Daniel and I looked around at our options and we decided to go with Target, Bed, Bath, and Beyond, Pottery Barn.  We had great success with registering with these three stores and there was a no hassel return policy for all three.  I really I cannot recommend these three enough!

Kreacher's French Onion Soup

I hope the name of this post didn't send you running... you should stay I promise!  When Daniel and I went to Disney last August, one of our favorite purchases was The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook.  It might be one of Daniel's favorite books!

We had not had too much time to dive into the recipes, but back on Valentine's Day I got a little adventurous and tried a recipe: Kreacher's French Onion Soup.  One Word: DEVINE!

Kreacher's French Onion Soup (Serves 6)

4 medium onions

1/2 stick butter, melted

1 baguette

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon sugar

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

6 cups beef or chicken stock (I used beef)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Peel the onions, cut them in half from pole to pole, and slice as thinly as possible.  In a heavy soup pot, heat the butter.  Remove the pot from the heat.

Remove one end of the baguette and slice six 1-inch-thick slices for the croutons.  Dip pastry brush into hot butter and brush onto one side of bread.  Place the slices butter-side up on a baking sheet and sprinkle with the cheese.  Toast the bread in the oven for about 10 minutes or until browned. (I waited until the soup was almost finished)

While the bread toasts, return the pot to the heat and add the onions.  Season with salt and pepper.  Stir in the sugar and continue to stir over medium-high heat until the onions have browned, about 15 minutes.

Blend in the flour.  Gradually, add the stock while stirring and bring the soup to a boil.  Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook uncovered for 30 minutes.  

Ladle the soup into bowls and float a cheesy crouton in the center, then sprinkle cheese around the crouton.

Along with the soup I found a Garlic and Herb Marinade beef filet loin at the grocery store and it was out of this world.  I served it along side Sautéed Green Bean with Butter and Brown Sugar and Garlic Mashed Potatoes.  I think Daniel ate fourths it was so good! 

Treasuring Hunting

Yesterday's lunch date turned into shopping for treasures at a local antique store.  My friend Jessica was mentioning some ideas she had for her wedding that required some vintage touches and I suggested we hit up a local antique store near my house.  So off we went... let's just say it was an experience.

This place was a two story conglomeration of ancient artifacts who's value was very much up for debate.  They had some nice pieces of furniture I could see myself refurbishing, but there were also random items that I think someone just called "vintage" rather than "old" and decided they could sell them at an antique store.  

Just one section of the store!

Jessica found some exciting travel supplies... all her bags are packed and she's ready to go (cheesy... but I watched Armageddon last night, so Ben's sweet serenade is on my mind).

Oh you know, we all need a bucket of rusty railroad spikes... only $2 each. I guess I could use these in my classroom when we talk about the Transcontinental Railroad.

 Julia Child wannabe...

              

 


The big find of the day was an old Polaroid camera, which Jessica really wanted!  However, the rude sweet gentleman and lady working at the front could not sell it to us, because there was no tag on it.  Oh, well it's their loss of a sale.  So we left empty handed, but it was a fun place to explore.

Tomorrow morning I'm off bright and early with the some of the ladies in my family for a little vacay road trip.  It will involve lots of shopping (outlet malls!), eating, and maybe even a fun show! I'll be back on Friday with a recap, so enjoy the post I have set up for you guys while I'm gone!

Spring Breaker

Happy Easter

Daniel and I had a wonderful Easter celebrating Christ with our friends and family!  We headed home Saturday when Daniel got off work and spent the afternoon with his friend visiting their sweet newborn baby.  Sunday was a full day with church, lunch at my grandma's, a pitstop at my mema's and then the afternoon at Daniel's parents.  It's so nice to see everyone, its just too short of a time period to do it all in.  Nevertheless we dyed Easter eggs, Mr. Bunny came for a visit, and we were sent home with really full bellies!  I hope your Easter was just as special!

I was lovin' this skirt... looked like an easter egg!

In other news, I have officially finished my project that had to be submitted so now all that stands between me and graduation is two and half weeks of student teaching!  I am so pumped that I have made it this far and its been sweetened a little bit by Spring Break!  I am headed out Wednesday morning for a little overnight girls trip that should be a blast.  Check back for details.

Today, I'm meeting up with a friend for some lunch and its such a beautiful day.  You should check out my friend Jessica over at her blogs Beautiful Adventure and Twisty Twig.  She is an amazingly talented crafter and calligrapher.  If your in the market for some fancy work she does a great job!  We are finally celebrating her recent engagement!  I can't wait to hear all about the wedding planning... (oh how I miss that...maybe not all the stress though)

Happy Monday!