.eat. .drink. .be merry.

There are only so many things that people will remember from your wedding- the bride’s dress and the food. Our tasting was last month and we are delighted with our menu options and our signature drinks. Our reception package included two signature drinks and we had to give them four options, which included:

Purple Haze Martini:

* 1 oz. freshly squeezed pomegranate juice* or
POM Wonderful 100% Pomegranate Juice
* 1 1/2 oz. Hpnotiq
* 1 1/2 oz. pineapple juice
* Orange rind and apple slice for garnish

Blushing Bride
1 oz peach schnapps
4 oz Champagne
1 oz grenadine syrup


Romeo and Juliet Cocktail

1.5 oz Absolut Apeach
1/2 oz Gran Marnier
1/4 oz cherry or Chambord raspberry liqueur
2 oz chilled peach juice
maraschino cherries
orange spiral

And one other drink that of blueberry vodka, pineapple, Curacao and a few other ingredients. What did we select? Well, we loved the purple haze and the mystery blue drink! Now, we just need to name them….

The food menu, sooo yummy, I can’t wait for this food:
Cocktail Hour, Passed Hors D’Oeuvers:
Tomato and Mozzarella with Basil and Olive oil on Bruschetta
Minted Mandarin Shrimp on Buttered Brioche
Coconut Shrimp with Sweet Chili Mint Sauce
Mini Beef Wellington

Two Hour Dinner, served Buffet Style:
Live Action Pasta Station:
Cheese tortellini and Penne with sauces of Bolognese and Garlic and Wine
With toppings: shrimp, grilled chicken, baby scallops, mushrooms, scallions, onions, peppers, tomatoes, parmesan, garlic, fresh herbs and fresh focaccia bread

Carving Station:
Steamship round and Roast Brest of Turkey

Mashed Potato Bar:
Red Bliss and Yukon Potatoes served with: cheddar cheese, bacon, sautéed mushrooms, caramelized Onions, Parmesan cheese, Goat Cheese, roasted garlic, roasted pepper pesto, basil pesto, sun dried tomato pesto

Mixed greens:
Caesar Salad
Mesclun greens tossed with crumbled blue cheese, toasted pine nuts, and dried cherries with balsamic vinaigrette

.cheers and jeers.

Whew…. There are things that you know about wedding planning via checklists in all of the magazines, advice from your friends, shows on WeTV and more. What no one tells you is that you will want to elope several times. You will reconsider every decision you ever made. Your fiancé will drive you nuts about something minor like the font of a DIY sign. You will have high blood sugar from cake tastings. Friends will be offended that they aren’t in your wedding or providing you a wedding service. Everyone will offer a piece of unsolicited advice to you. People will let you down, you will let yourself down. You will re-reconsider your choices, again. Your other will hurt your feelings; your future mother-in-law will hurt your feelings. You will hurt someone’s feelings. Your bridesmaids will drive each other crazy. They will drive you a little bit crazy and forget to order their dress.

There isn’t a guide or magazine to help you deal with these things. It is called life. Life teaches you how to handle setbacks and disappointments.

I think of this today when I look at my phone and realized that not one friend texted me today. What is so bad about that? Well, today is the annual HUGE food festival in Las Vegas. An event that I haven’t missed in years! My dear M-Zilla works for the title sponsor and is at this event every year, all day long. Up until I got lazy, I was looking forward to finding her and having a drink and some eats with her. This was one of the first places that I met her- when I was just a mere fan of hers. Since then our relationship has grown into something special enough for her to be standing up with me at our wedding. We’ve been all of the above to each other and in the end; it has made our friendship grow into what it is now! Too bad i am lazy.... but it is also 90* and parking is a biotch there. And I had a cake tasting today and my sugar is high. Shocking.

But today, none of my usual suspects ever reached out to see if flo and I were going to this Festival. And why it bothers me is because I am generally the planner. K-Zilla and I are usually the planners. Last year I was at this festival with a group of 10-15 friends. K-Zilla waas not one of them because, as diabetics, this is a difficult place to watch ourselves! She has already informed me that she will pass this year too. And today, not-a-one messages or texted to see if we were going. Some of these friends pull the “I never see you anymore” woe-is-me with me and this makes me question why?? Is it because they rely on me/us to plan and keep us together or is it because they generally could give a crap less and just sit back and wait for me to take action.

In my world of being a bride, a blogger, an aunt, a fiancé, a daughter, an employee, a friend and a diabetic, being the planner is an added stress to my life.

Cheers to those who I can connect with here and there all randomly and then it feels like we saw each other yesty! Cheers to those who are on the guest list because they care and they genuinely keep in touch and ask about me- not just the wedding but how I am. Jeers to those who don’t. We may just have to reevaluate our guest list. Again.

It just goes to show you that in this world, you have yourself. I am blessed enough to have myself, my family and friends who are my family. Remember to put your wedding & wedding planning in perspective—life is short, enjoy the moments. Don’t sweat the small stuff.

.bridal body in the making.

It is neither a secret nor a wonder that I've been feeling rather blah since trying on the dress. The dress trying on comes with some funny outtakes too, which need to be posted. Anyway, to kick start the bridal body into motion, we started Phase 1 of the South Beach Diet. Yesterday was Day #1.

Three summers ago, I did this "diet" with great success, but it was HARD, and still is. Matter of fact, I am already dying for a glass of wine. I won't try to educate you here about the diet, you can read up on it. It actually is a little variance from the way that, as a diabetic, I should be eating.

In order to not be wasteful, I took my Omnipod off and went back to good ol' insulin pens. Yesterday, I took about 4 unites of insulin, compared to my normal of 15-20. My concern with that is going back on the pod, if it will just put weight on again.

Being a diabetic bride is not good times!! I was really digging my cute little bod that I had in January when I ran through the snow in tube socks and a bikini in Big Bear. No, no photos of that will be posted, but thanks for asking.

So onto day #2 we go! We both finished day #1 with flying colors.... let's see how the next 13 go!

Our goal is to turn this into a lifestyle change. Will there still be nites when we have smores for dessert? Yes. Nachos for dinner? Of course, it IS football season. Are there nites where I will have three glasses of wine instead of one? Yes- have you seen my life?! I need it.

I will update you after five days on how many pounds we've dropped. So stay tuned for that post to come Tuesday AM.

Be healthy.

.let them eat cake.

Since the beginning of time, I always thought that cake tasting would be my fave task of the wedding planning. So far, so right. Now, with the aid of insulin, I can freely taste away. This was something that had worried me while my pancreas still functioned slightly. Now, no worries! Just take my doses and eat, eat, eat!

We did our first tasting last nite at a new, cute little place called Gimme Some Sugar. Both Kristen and Miranda are fun, creative and full of energy! There are people that you can instantly click with and there are those where it takes time. This was instant! We tried three flavors- a chocolate, a white and a red! J But they are more than just white, chocolate and red… however, I am keeping the flavors a surprise. We may want to do one more tasting and change up the white, I am not sure.

Cake tasting is awesome, so is Gimme Some Sugar….but I hope it’s not the last tasting that we do!

Here is the inspiration for our cake. The realization will be kept secret until after the wedding! SUSPENSE!




.photos were taken fromvarious websites, my apologies for not listing proper credits. If this is your cake or work, please let me know.

.foodie, part 1.

One of our first “official” vendor meetings occurred yesterday. Catering. F&B. The Grub. We’ve selected a vendor who caters most of my work events. I know their style, their quality and service! It is comforting to work with a vendor who you know will not rake you over hot coals, leaving you with financial scars for the remainder of your happily ever after.

Flo and I are staying away from tradition and going with a “cocktail style” reception. My main concern is making sure that people don’t walk away hungry and dissatisfied. The secondary concern is that guests don’t get over stuffed on the first canapé that they see, thinking it is all they get. No menus have been decided; we tossed around a few themes, ideas to introduce the food by the hour (sounds racy) and how to cap off the evening with something memorable and delicious. I await her price quote and ideas.

Something to ponder-which I hope can fit into our budget- is wine pairings stations. If you are a new follower, you may not have read my post about favors. My dad makes wine and will be making wine as our favors. Soirees idea is to select and pair wines to compliment each canapés station. LOVE IT! Brilliant. So edgy and event forward. We can serve wine is 2 oz pours to perfectly compliment the food, sounds fabu to me. Sounds elegant, classy, interactive, fun, intriguing, etc., etc. Let’s hope that it fits into the budget.

Next foodie post will determine how well my foodie dream fits into my reality budget. Until we meet again....something to tempt your eyes:

{the first two photos are courtesty of Project Wedding, I apologize for not having proper credit}

{this photo is from the fabulous blog With This Ring, I Thee Obsess}