I am addicted to Groupon. This amazing discount site posts "daily deals" for local businesses in your own city (check here to see if you're city is on it). I've bought mani/pedis, ballroom dancing classes, bike tune-ups and car details all at a fraction of the price. It's a great opportunity for local businesses to introduce their product to a new audience and for me to SAVE MONEY!
Today's groupon is not limited by geography and it's EXACTLY what I need! The coupon is $25 for $100 worth of photobooks from Picaboo! I plan to use a photobook of our engagement pictures for our guest book (leave blank space around the pictures for guests to sign).
And how much fun would a photobook of your honeymoon pictures be?
Check out today's deal and register for Groupn here.
Spring through fall, our favorite way to spend a Saturday morning is strolling through one of the local farmers markets. There are quite a few in Central Ohio, but our favorite is the Worthington Farmers Market. This year we bought a CSA share from PJ's All Natural Farms. The two-person share was an amazing deal. It works out to around $13 per week and we get a crate full of veggies, fruit and eggs. Yum!
This past week we had some beautiful produce. We got beets, green beans, 4 ears of corn, a tomato, a green pepper, blueberries, an onion, red potatoes and half a dozen HUGE eggs. So I started baking...
Modification to the original recipe: baked at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes for the muffins and 40 minutes for the small loaf.
Definitely some of the best muffins I've ever made! The recipe called for more sugar than I prefer to use, so next time I'll be trying some modifications to that. Otherwise, this recipe gets rave reviews!
Beet, Goat Cheese & Walnut Salad
As a child, I loved picked beets. My mom did too, so we had them around all the time. A few years ago I had a beet and goat cheese salad for the first time. I think beets and goat cheese are the PERFECT combination. And, since Matt does NOT like beets, when they showed up in our CSA, I knew they were all mine!!!
I scrubbed and trimmed them and put them on the stove to boil away for about 30 minutes.
Then I pulled off the skin (surprisingly easy!) and diced them up
I added them to a salad of mixed baby greens from my garden, goat cheese, walnuts and a vinaigrette made of evoo, aged balsamic and lemon juice.
So easy, and probably the yummiest thing I have ever packed for lunch!
We had way too much corn on the cob stacking up in the fridge, so I blanched and froze most of it to be used in the winter as needed. The rest I used to make a corn salsa. Another super easy recipe that I pretty much made up myself. I can't tell you how accomplished that makes me feel!
Easy Corn Salsa
2 ears of corn, blanched with corn removed from the husk
1 - 2 tomatoes diced
1 green pepper diced
1-2 onions diced
2 - 3 jalapenos to taste
juice of 1 lemon (lime would be better, but I didn't have any!)
evoo (splash)
rice wine vinegar (splash)
garlic salt & pepper to taste
Matt scarfed it down and completely ruined his dinner. Oh well! It must be healthier than the burger he was planning to eat, right?
Friday, July 16, 2010
There are only seven months and three days to go until our wedding. It sounds like an eternity, but I also said that with eights months to go and I have very little to show for the past month! So, I have officially started a countdown with a coordinating to do list. I hope it will be a great motivation to keep checking things off. I've been letting too much slide and it's time to get a move on!
Now that the girls are (mostly!) dressed, it's time to focus on the boys! Matt was pushing for a classic tux, perhaps something like this: Yum. Men's Warehouse
But then he actually had to fork over the money to RENT one for a wedding he was in. Ouch! I don't think he had a clue how expensive renting can be. Which means I have won him over to my idea: finding suits for the groomsmen to buy. Woohoo! It'll be something quite simple and sexy. Men's Warehouse
But even more fun, are the accessories. As you may remember the girls are in this:
turquoise necklace included, black shoes.
So for the guys, I'm thinking a funky red and turquoise tie would be perfect with the dresses and black suits. Tie Drake
My fiance and I bought our first house last summer and, although it's a lovely house, the bathrooms are desperately out of date. The sinks are a hideous peach color with a scalloped, seashell look to them - just ew! We've started shopping around and making plans for remodeling, but our master bathroom's size has been a serious challenge. It's TINY! The only space to fit a vanity and sink is just 18 inches deep and about 24" wide, max. That's why I was thrilled to find www.JustVanities.com! They have a huge selection of great vanities that would fit!
It's 18" wide, 18' deep and a beautiful espresso color - perfect!! So is this one:
A little lighter color, but still modern and only 17" deep by 18" wide! And there are tons more. Thank you www.JustVanities.com for providing such lovely designs in smaller sizes - yippee! Now if only I could talk my fiance into remodeling before our wedding. Yea, right....
JustVanities.com is one of over 200+ CSN Stores and I am very excited to offer my first CSN giveaway! I am giving away a $40 gift certificate to ANY of the 200+ CSN stores. Use it towards a bathroom remodel or maybe a smaller project - like a new pair of shoes! Or card stock for printing wedding invites (they have a great selection, seriously!). These stores have everything!
Main Entry:
-You must follow this blog publicly and leave a comment letting me know what your favorite item is at any of the CSN stores. Extra Entries (please leave a separate comment for each):
- Follow me on twitter @bridezillabecky and leave your twitter name in your comment
- Tweet about the giveaway and leave a link to the message in your comment (you can use this message: I just entered to win a $40 gift certificate to CSN Stores at http:\\bridezillatobebecky.blogspot.com)
- Blog about the giveaway and leave a link to your blog in your comment
This contest ends on Friday, July 16th at noon. Good luck and enjoy the holiday weekend!
miss fancy pants (the bride) posted the readings they are including in their wedding ceremony on her blog today and one of them really touched me. I hope she doesn't mind that I share it here as well.
I Like You by Sandol Stoddard Warburg
I like you
And I know why
I like you because
You are a good person
To like
When I think something is important
You think it's important too
When I say something funny
You laugh I think I'm funny and
You think I'm funny too
Hah-hah
You know how to be silly
That's why I like you
Boy are you ever silly
I never met anybody sillier than me
till I met you
I like you because
You know when it’s time to stop being silly
Maybe day after tomorrow
Maybe never
Oops too late
It’s quarter past silly
If I am a goofus on the roofus
Hollering my head off
You are one too
That's because
You really like me
You really like me
Don't you?
And I really like you back
And you like me back
And I like you back
And that's the way we keep on going
Every day
If you find two four-leaf clovers
You give me one
If I find four I give you two
If we only find three
We keep on looking
Sometimes we have good luck
And sometimes we don't
I like you because I don't know why but
Everything that happens
Is nicer with you
I can't remember when I didn't like you
It must have been lonesome then
I like you because…. Because….. because….
I forget why I like you
But I do
So many reasons
Even if it was way down at the bottom of January
Even if it was no place particular in January
I would go on choosing you
And you would
go on choosing me
Over and over again
That's how it would happen every time
I don't know why
I guess I don't know why I like you really
I guess I just like you…..
I guess I just like you…..
Because I like you
Thank you so much for sharing, miss fancy pants. It's a lovely poem and I would threaten to steal it for our ceremony, except that I'm pretty sure we are limited to scripture in a traditional Catholic mass. Too bad!
