Marshmallow Fruit Dip

Ok, first, I need to admit that I had every intention of blogging last night but instead, I ended up falling asleep at 8:30 p.m. on the couch - whoops!

Back to the BBQ we hosted over the weekend, this was one of the simplest dishes that we featured. To tell you the truth, my sister put in all the work of washing and chopping the fruit. I love that it's easy to make, highlights one of the best things of summer (fresh fruit), and is relatively healthy (depending on how much dip you pile on).

First, start off with a simple fruit salad - we went with blueberries, strawberries, grapes, cherries and kiwis but you could toss anything in here.

Whip up the most INCREDIBLE topping in the world. Bring an 8 oz bar of cream cheese (you can even use the low fat stuff) to room temperature and mix until blended with a container of marshmallow fluff. That's it.

I know it doesn't sound very revolutionary but this fruit dip is amazing. It has the perfect light consistency and the right balance of flavors. It's not as sickenly sweet as straight marshmallow fluff since it's balanced out by the tang of the cream cheese. On fresh fruit, it's out of this world. You should try it as soon as you can!

In case you were wondering, it was a huge hit with everyone at the BBQ as well.

Good Housewarming Gift?

Imagine if you were hosting a party (or in our case, a housewarming BBQ) and someone came up and handed you detergent as a gift? How would you react?

In my case, I laughed out loud and offered thanks to my sister and the only other guest who was of Korean descent. It's a traditional Korean custom to give detergent as a housewarming gift, something I had forgotten about until I saw them walking in with it. Note to self, I must remember to ask my mom about the significance of it, I'm sure it's supposed to signify luck or something along those lines. Plus, I love the fact that it's just plain useful. I think toilet paper is also a traditional gift, so I'll have to try doing that for the next friend that moves into a new place.

Straight Out Of A Catalog

The past couple of days - who am I kidding, the whole past week - has been consumed by preparing for a housewarming BBQ where we would introduce our friends to the house for the first time. While family and a few select friends were able to see the house from the beginning (in really rough shape), we decided we were ready to show off the house to the world and were using it as motivation to finally unpack some of the last boxes that were lingering around.

So while my camera was fully charged and ready to take pictures, I completely forgot to take any in the craziness of the day while fulfilling my hostess duties.  However, I did manage to snap this photo in the calm before guests descended. Andrew had been consumed with getting our three season porch ready for the party, which included moving boxes out of it (since we had been using it for storage space), building our patio furniture and locating lights for it. I'll take credit for finding new pillows to replace the dreary pillows that came with the set. The end result was something that looked picture perfect, like something out of a Pottery Barn catalog:

It's the perfect place to sit and enjoy the summer weather, catch breezes from outside and the overhead fan while enjoying a cold beverage.

Andrew's parents were the first to enjoy the room the night before our BBQ for a quick drink and then I had a group of friends spend most of the day in it on Saturday. As one of them put it, "I could spend all day in here - in fact, I think I just did!"

I know this is a bit of a no-brainer statement but it was incredibly exciting to show off the house to everyone and hear how much people liked it. Four months after buying the house, Andrew and I still have no regrets about our decision and we take a lot of pride in finding new things (at bargain prices) to turn the house into our home.

Favorite Moments From The Fourth

You've already heard about my third of July but what did we do on the actual holiday? Enjoy a small family BBQ with Andrew's parents, aunt and uncle, and cousin.  It was another HOT and sweltering day, so we spent most of the day lounging around the pool, eating and enjoying the antics of Andrew's cousin's little girls.

The other main attraction of the day was Andrew's parents' grapevine - this thing is a monster compared to our two little plants. I was pleased to see grapes forming on their vine...

...and was even more charmed by what was hidden within. Andrew's dad told us that a robin had built her nest in the vines. While this was a bad decision on the robin's part, because each time someone would go on the deck, it would alarm the robin and she spent most of the day flying in and out of the vines all day, it was good for us because we go to see this:

As I told Tom, this was the first time I had seen robin eggs in person "other than the candy ones that you eat for Easter."

I'm also happy to report that the neighbor's cat Smokey made it down from the tree, and spent most of the afternoon resting in the shade of the grapevines. I swear she wasn't even aware of the robin and was just looking for a cool place to relax.

Three Months To Go

Ok, I can't say that much else has been accomplished since the 100 day milestone a week ago. I'm now past my sixth draft of invitations, and I'm hoping desperately that I haven't annoyed my designer so much that I won't be receiving a seventh draft! I think part of it was due to the fact that I didn't fully understand the limitations of letterpress invitations (less is more, in case you were wondering) and I needed to separate what I admire in general to what I actually want to represent us and the wedding. Plus, I work with designers on a regular basis at work and I'm used to going through multiple drafts of projects at work and making changes left and right. I'm hoping that the seventh draft is a charm, especially since I want to get the invitations out by early August at the very latest.

The other big thing that got accomplished, with help, was getting the ball rolling on getting my Uncle Rich approved as our officiant. The state of Massachusetts will designate a person of your choice as an officiant for one day and for one wedding, but they won't let you apply for the designation until the wedding is three months out. Rich was the one that actually reminded me over the 4th of July weekend that we could think about applying for the designation. I filled out a portion of the one page Marriage Designation form and forwarded it to Rich, who filled out the rest and secured a letter of recommendation. For only $25 and a complete form, Rich will hopefully receive an official letter of approval in the coming weeks to serve as our officiant.

As for the marriage license itself, Andrew and I will be getting that sometime in August, due to the timing constraints around that as you have to get married within a certain amount of days of obtaining it.

Now I just need to get cracking on some of the DIY stuff and small details.

Third of July Recap

The Third of July has always been a big part of the holiday weekend for my family because it serves as a mini-reunion of sorts. We all gather at a cousin's (technically my Dad's cousin) house on the beach in Plymouth and stuff ourselves with good food and beer. Once dusk falls, it's time to head down to beach en masse with the rest of the neighborhood:

The Third of July is celebrated in this neighborhood with bonfires along the shoreline and ordinary people shooting off fireworks:

Once the bonfire on our stretch of beach was lit, you could feel and see the difference:

It was nice and mellow hanging out with family and friends in the light from the bonfire, digging toes in sand, watching fireworks and looking at a clear sky filled with stars:

Reviving another tradition, a Santa Claus look-alike named Patrick initiated group sing-alongs of patriotic songs. Once he started singing, everyone approached the bonfire to join in the singing and it looked almost pagan:

The long walk up the stairs (with roughly 139 steps) was made easier by the fact that we knew dessert was waiting for us back in the house.

I'm Back...

Apologies dear readers. As life gets even busier in these final months to the wedding, I feel like I have less energy to write posts although my pile of photos gets bigger and bigger!

Bear with me. I'm still pledging to write on a regular basis but I don't think I can manage daily until we're back from the honeymoon. :)

Happy Birthday Pete!

(I know this is late, but let's pretend it actually got posted the night it happened!)

Happy Birthday to a swell guy...

So swell that the rounds of shots seemed never-ending... 

Which may have caused your field of vision to look a little like this...

And caused you to sing as enthusiastically as this...

Here's hoping your hangover wasn't too severe for the Fourth of July weekend!

Eek! 100 Days To Go

It's funny, typing this post now, I feel pretty calm about it being 100 days out to our wedding.

This morning, I was feeling panicky and frantically thinking about what else needs to get done right away. Coupled with a busy day at work, I was walking around with a stressed look on my face that even coworkers commented on.

However, we have gotten a few things checked off our list in the past week:

• Getting our flights to Rome booked for the honeymoon
• Finalizing our menu for the reception
• And as of today, I've got a traveling stylist booked to do my wedding makeup and hairstyle and that of my bridal party's! This was something that a bit intimidating for me at first but I love who I booked and I'm glad she was reasonably priced enough to include my bridal party.
• Ordered my earrings and my veil. It's funny, I was anti-veil at first. Then I was thinking something simple and plain. And then I saw a picture of my wedding dress with a mantilla veil. You'll have to wait until the wedding day to see what I decided on (but I don't think it's hard to guess)! :)

Also in progress:

• FOUR drafts of my invitations down, hopefully the fifth to come soon - it's been hard to describe what I want but I know when I see the right version, I'll feel it. I've poured a ton of time into this in the past two weeks, researching graphics and other invitations to see if I can find an example of what I want to share with my invitation designer. It's been a collobrative but frustrating process, and thankfully, the designer is patient and optimistic.
• Wedding bands (as in the bling, not the music) - we checked out bands at Longs last weekend, and hope to squeeze in at least another jewelery store visit this weekend.
• Table linens - so many choices and combinations to ponder

Wanted: Wedding Earrings

I'm pretty sure I want to wear this style of earring with my dress - squarish shape with a pave border and a honking piece of cubic zirconia in the middle:

This pair is $58 and I'd have to find a person that sells the vendor's jewelry, as this brand is sold at tupperware-like parties. I'm just convinced that I can find something similar at a department store for half the price, but haven't seen anything yet in my travels. So dear readers, if you happen to run into my dream wedding earrings somewhere in your travels, let me know! As my sister would say, kthxbye.

UPDATE: Um, stupid me. I typed in the name of the earrings into eBay and they popped up for $10! Done and done, unless I hate them in person.

Then and Now - Our Garden

Planted on Memorial Day, we had high hopes for our little patch of garden:

A month later, our plants are flourishing! I'm proud that we haven't killed a single one yet. Although the same can't be said for some of the flowers I've been trying to cultivate indoors. But let's focus on the successes.

One tomato plant is growing furiously and it's got two other tomato plants close behind it:

I know it's hard to get the perspective of how big this zucchini plant is, but I think it's going to end up taking over my garden plot! And if you look at the original picture above, the tiny little plant in the bottom row, second from left, was indeed the same plant:

The yellow pepper plant actually has a decent sized pepper growing on it (green at the moment) - the red pepper plant is still lagging behind it in growth, but I still have hopes for it:

Two of the strawberry plants are surviving but haven't grown much - while this strawberry plant (transferred from a hanging pot originally) is doing pretty well - especially if all those white flowers turn into berries!

And finally, I feel a little foolish about being so proud about this, but this is the blackberry plant. Those wee little green berries on the left are the first signs of fruit. I know chances are low that they will 1) ripen and 2) not get picked over by birds and animals but I still have visions of luscious blackberries dancing in my head!

Gloucester Continued

More pictures to highlight my lovely afternoon on the water, courtesy of my coworker Bill.

Remember my feet in the water? This is the other perspective of me sitting on the edge of the dock, admiring the view:

My expert kayaking skills in action with my coworker Karen (again, yes I know I'm pale):

Getting rescued by my boss's husband - one must maintain a sense of humor about such things!

On a hot and sticky day like today, it would be heavenly to be on the water again!

Summer Job Perk

A summer work outing today at my manager's house in Gloucester gave me a ridiculously nice summer day in the middle of the week!

I knew I wouldn't be disappointed when I rounded the corner of the house and saw this view:

The deck below was big and fabulous and there was plenty of cold drinks (and coworkers) awaiting:

While enjoying the view of the sand bar at low tide, the sky started to turn gray and we knew a series of severe thunderstorms were upon us:

It was the perfect time to go inside and pig out on delicious catered food - including lobster! I pigged out shamelessly on lobster (two claws and three grilled half-tails) once I realized that there was TONS of lobster to go around:

Strawberry shortcake with the most incredible shortcake I've ever tasted (reminded me of a sugar cookie with more of a cake/scone texture) and fresh whipped cream for dessert - yes please!

While we were eating, there was a lot of heavy rain, high winds and lightening. Then the sky miraculously cleared up and it was sunny and warm again, which gave us time to lounge outside and digest:

I ventured down onto the dock and dipped my feet into the water (the tide had come in during dinner, completely covering the sandbar you could see in the earlier pictures).  And yes, I know my legs are pretty darn white:

Everything looked so tranquil that a coworker and I decided to take the kayak you can see in the corner of this picture out for a spin in a calm lagoon you can also see in the picture. We also may have been stuck in a wee bit of a current and required a tow back from my manager's husband in his kayak, but you're not getting any more of that story!

The beginnings of a beautiful sunset. Unfortunatly, I had to leave while it was still light out (which was still past 8 pm, yay for summer light) but I can't help but think how nice the full moon must have looked tonight shining on the water.

I wish all work days ended like this!

Before and After

Thanks to Andrew's handiwork, we now have a nice new TV stand to replace the $8 Ikea table that was previously serving in its place.

Congrats To The Grad - Part Two

The second graduate in the past week was my cousin Jimmy. As a part of a special program in his high school, each student graduates on their own when they are deemed ready for the workforce. So Jim got to graduate all by himself. As a sign of how beloved he is, there were over 40 people crammed into the library to see him graduate, including former classmates and parents, coworkers from his job placement, teachers and family.
Here's Jim giving a speech that he wrote himself on the progress he had made during school - he was cool as a cucumber during the whole thing!

Jim posing with his proud parents, Barry and Judy.

We headed down to his classroom afterwards to enjoy cake and snacks with Jim's teachers and classmates. I was touched to see that the food table featured a plate of sliced peppers - Jim's favorite snack. He is not known for his sweet tooth and often chomps on peppers instead. Surprisingly enough, these were also popular with the crowd.

I also LOVED the handmade decorations like this banner - they really added a festive air to the room:

Finally, a shot of me and the happy graduate, proudly flashing the button that Amy and I surprised him with:

Words can't express how incredibly proud I am of Jim - his graduation ceremony really emphasized the fact that he has grown so much over the years and I'm looking forward to seeing what he'll be doing next in his life.

Congrats To The Grad - Part One

It's been quite a week in my family, with two of my cousins graduating from high school.  As I mentioned in an earlier post, my cousin Andrew was feted last Sunday and was the motivation for my graduation cupcakes.
Here's the guest of honor himself, posing for an endless series of cake cutting pictures.
 

I must add that he's newly shorn due to his senior prom (take a look at the before hairstyle in the Memorial Day weekend posth here).

I must apologize for the dirty lens on my camera - it's causing the hazy glow around our faces! Look past it to see a lovely picture of Amy, my lovely cousin Andrea and myself:

One of the best things about family graduation parties is quite simply, family! All of the young'ens at the party (of which, I'm the oldest and almost 30 to boot, yikes) gathered for a group shot. It made the "grown-ups" sentimental as they recalled a similar picture from a family vacation in Maine that happened roughly seventeen years ago, since my cousin Andrew was in diapers in that picture! Time flies. I also had to laugh at how bright and perky my clothing seemed in comparison to my hipster cousins and sibling!

In fact, I have to give a shout out to my cousin Jaimi for her outfit - as a recent (college) graduate herself, I felt her outfit embodied that whole spirit of being young and hip and she rocked it!

Finally, the camera was turned on some of the grown-ups and parents in attendance - looking pretty good themselves.

Yay for summer and celebrating good things with family.

Happy Birthday Amy!

Karaoke queen at 28 years young!