Showing posts with label manda. Show all posts
Showing posts with label manda. Show all posts

Monday, July 25, 2011

bridal shower weekend (in NY) recap

apparently, 2 screaming children at 6:30 in the A.M in the midst of a heat wave = an effective form of birth control.

obviously not for us, but i was glad to be able to perform this service for dear friends who are embarking on forever together.

"we want babies!"

::enter my children::

"holy shit. i don't think i can do this. never. ever. wtf?!"

you're welcome.

i mean honestly- the girls did pretty good. but a 6 hour car ride, being away from home in a strange house, with temps in the 100's & mommy not at the ready...that's a recipe for true colors to come out.

the husband really stepped it up & did what i needed him to do. wrangle the girls for 2 days while i slaved away in the kitchen.
they may have ingested handfulls of dog hair & come away with more than a couple decorative bruises (thanks to dive bombing off the bed) but all in all it could have been a lot worse.

we arrived in NY around 3am on friday (after driving all night while bebes slept to ensure a little sanity) and i was promptly awoken @ 6 am by brynn head butting me in the face.
good morning.
i got up & got to work. mixing, beating, cracking eggs, sifting flour, measuring butter, pouring batter, whipping egg whites- etc etc etc

by 12 noon i'd churned out 30+ cupcakes & 4 layers of cake. chocolate & white. in the hottest kitchen ever.

thankfully the rest of the kitchen duties were completed at another house that blissfully chilled with central air.
thank you God.

french macarons, marshmallow frosting, cupcakes in jars, s'mores on a stick. basically- enough sugar to make a dentist cringe.

the rest of the ladies also got to work making Sangria & mojitos & decorations & sliders & putting up tables/chairs, tissue paper pom poms- and more.

we wrapped up the day by going out (girls only) for sushi & gelato.
i usually stay away from sushi- but i decided to be brave (somewhat- i didn't touch anything with raw fish) & go for it.

wow. i want to be rich & eat sushi on a daily basis. thank you very much.

i also had my way with some scallion pancakes & a plate of Pad Thai. heaven.

back to the house (thankfully the room we stayed in was kindly fitted with an AC unit. omg. it was like out own personal arctic vacation) where i fell into bed & snagged 5 hours of shut eye.

back up @ 6:30. banana waffles made. fruit & coffee consumed.

stepped out into stifling heat & immediately became drenched in sweat. quick stop at Wegman's (omg NY people. i am ever so jealous of your Wegman's. i need one. it made me ridiculously happy)

back to the central air house ::queu angels singing::

3 hours & way too many egg whites & pounds of butter later- bridal shower cake = completed.

everyone came together & wrapped up loose ends. food prepped & decorations done. flowers sorted & drinks full of ice.

we (myself & tiffany- the bride to be's sister) rushed back to the house to change & grab the guest of honor.

back to the party (i must mention that it was outside. and it was hot. but it was still awesome)

everything was in order. she cried. we laughed. she hugged. we said "hooray!". everyone ate, played shower games & "oooh'd & aaah'd" over gifts.

squeals of joy were heard when i brought out the cake.
manda's reaction made it all worthwhile.
she loved it.

dessert consumed. favors passed out. people saying their goodbyes. cleaning up. bridesmaids jumping in the pool. drinks being consumed.

it was wonderful.

i had to skip out early & head back to the house. the husband & i quickly packed the car & bundled the girls into their seats. with the AC blasting & alex happily zoning out with a movie, we headed back to our home state.

somehow the husband managed to let the GPS get the upper hand & we found ourselves in Vermont. at 12 am. bendy roads & numerous deer are not a recipe for an awesome trip back home.

there were some choice words (uttered by the husband- not me) and some passing of slow Vermonters on yellow double lines (don't judge. we had no choice. pass or die) but we made it home in 1 piece.

we got the girls settled in bed & unpacked the car.
i threw in a load of laundry, put away food, packed up extras & washed dishes.
and we were in bed by 3:30. not too shabby.

..however, i was once again awoken at 6:30 in the AM thanks to my head butting child.

thankfully the day was cooler (plus we have AC) and a trip to the in-laws, to pick up the dogs, resulted in lunch.
we spent some time hanging out & then baths were given & bedtimes came early.
i then sat my behind down for several hours of picture editing ::yawn::

11:30 = bed. finally. the end.

and now i'll overload you with pictures. because i know that's why you keep coming back to my corner of the internet. enjoy.

the cake & cake bunting (both made by yours truly)

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the other desserts (also made by yours truly)

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drink table

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food

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pretty tables & decoration

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a crucial piece of technology

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s'mores cupcakes in a jar (also made by yours truly w/layering assistance from the girls)

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(i painted the lids with chalkboard paint)

the bride to be

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crying after she saw the adirondak chair set we(the bridesmaids) got for her

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we used a wood burning tool to sign our names!

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the ladies

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randoms

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and etc et. the rest of the set is here: Flickr Set

i did snag pictures of the girls & the husband but i'll share those later. i fear that any more pictures might = loading issues.

happy monday!
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Monday, May 17, 2010

weekend in review

so last week i got to meet a bumpie. most of you know of http://www.thebump.com/

i've met a ton of great ladies on there & the boards provide endless entertainment- well, i met another bumpie last week & i got a few pics of us, her daughter- etc etc.

i had every intention on showing them to you today- but i somehow managed to delete said pics off my flickr- so, i'll put them back on tonight & show you on Wed (not tomorrow since it's giveaway day!)

so until then- i'l leave you with pics of this past weekend.

on thursday night we piled into the car & set off on a 6 hour trip to NY for one of my best friend's graduations from nursing school.
the trip went smoothly (ie: alex slept the entire time) and the weekend was a blast.
so here you go:

first off- her cat Murray. he is probably the most awesome cat in the whole world (sorry gary!) seriously. he's had a rough life on the streets- so he's missing a few teeth- but it only adds to his charm:



i think he chilled like this for 20 min. no lie.
manda had to cut his nails- he was none too pleased.

moving on- the graduation. manda did the 1 year accellerated R.N. program- talk about hard work. major kudos because i know i wouldn't be able to do that and keep my sanity:

manda & scott (boyfriend)


next- alex at play:


she spent a great deal of time licking this table.
then manda's future MIL brought over a slide:

after her initial trepedation- she was in love. she pitched a small fit when slide time was over.

after the graduation it was time to eat. manda's boyfriend's parents smoked some ribs (omg) and made homemade baked beans (OMG) and manda & scott provided a shit ton of food. i ate and ate and ate. horrible. but so good.
and the best part? :


SMORES!!! one of my absolute most favorite things ever! i've been craving them for 2 summers now- so finally!
and last but not least- The Lilac Festival! due to the random ass cold weather that NY has been having (hello, they had snow last week!) most of the lilacs were looking pretty sad....sigh. however, there were a few good bunches & a lot of the other flowers looked awesome- so we had a great time:
white lilacs
flowers from the coolest tree ever:
see?
and see again:
manda's sister & her boyfriend
some dying lilacs- but a nifty butterfly
the "Love Tree"
no idea what these are
the next 2 pics are my fav from that day- i just LOVE how they turned out:
pretty- no?
manda & alex (manda carried her around for basically the entire 3 hours. bless her)
and lastly- not flowers, but still pretty:
the http://www.ripegoods.com/ necklace that i had made for amanda. it came out so freaking perfect. kudos to the ladies over at ripegoods for working with me!

and that's that. the rest of the pics are on my Flickr
feel free to take a gander
a perfect weekend!


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