On Friday, August 7th, 2010, I had the pleasure of attending the wedding of one of my oldest and dearest friends – Chelsea. We’ve been through so much together over the years. Without boring you guys with pages and pages of details, I can say that truly….

Love conquers all

Here are some photos from the event:

All married up! Cutest couple!

The reception room was gorgeous!

Loved their ice display for snacks. The containers holding the fruits were made of ice, too!

We were table 2.

Hilarious cake topper!

For later.

They had a fun photo gallery running in the background. It was fun to look at all their photos from over the years.

First dance! They did a choreographed dance. It looked sort of like a waltz or something, but I’m not sure exactly what type it was. It was beautiful and graceful and a perfect first dance.

Father daughter dance.

Mother Son dance.

Wedding party table.

Since the wedding was Jewish, they had a special tradition with bread. One of the family members actually baked a loaf of this special bread for every single table. What a rock star!

This stuff was no joke. It was so good I had FOUR pieces! And enjoyed every bite.

The kiddos danced in another room.

At the buffet.

I had a little bit of everything including a large salad with tomato and cucumber and balsamic vinaigrette.

Chicken, roast beef, mashed potatoes, veggies and spicy green beans. All the food was super yummy.

Cake cutting!

Champagne toast.

Beautiful, beautiful wedding cake.

Piece #1

Piece #2 – A guy at my table said he didn’t want his cake so I happily ate it. We can’t let good cake go to waste, can we?

Loved their floral decor.

Kiddos playing on the tracks outside.

Dancing inside. I even got to dance next to Chelsea for a bit, which was really fun. She was one of the first people to get me into dancing back when I was super shy.

And before we knew it, it was time to light sparkles and bid adieu to our happily wedded couple.

Congrats to Chelsea and William!

Why didn’t I run? Well…as most of you know, I’m not really into running. I’ve considered doing Couch to 5K before, but never actually started it up.

And another confession: I’m afraid I won’t be able to finish a race…of any length! Not a 5K, 10K…who knows? I’m worried I’ll tucker out…or be the last one. Eek! Races are scary to me.

Not to mention thanks to my injury last year, I’m also slightly concerned I may hurt myself if I push myself too hard.

Reading all the running blogs makes me wish I was a runner, but I’ve never actually tried it out because of FEAR!

Anywho, today I was more than happy to offer my moral support and photography skillz.

Everyone was geared up in their Operation Beautiful signs Caitlin and I made the other night.

I paired up with Matt to take photos and cheer everyone on.

We waited at the start and next thing we know…they were OFF!

We got pictures of almost everyone. Here’s Casey – the first to pass us.

Jen + Jeff

Kath + Caitlin

Michelle

Kelly

Emily

Matt and I held signs of encouragement for the runners. We got great response to our signs and lots of smiles!

So glad I was at the race today to share my support and take lots of photos!!

After checking stats and getting snacks, we headed back to Caitlin’s place for brunch.

We got to hang out with Maggie and James.

They set up their tailgate tent.

Eats

I had a bagel with some peanut free nuttzo and some mocha naturally nutty, plus a bar that Emily and Casey made (I believe they’re posting their recipe soon) and some fruit salad.

Guess who saved me some of his pecan sticky bun when I got home? Hubby did! So sweet of him. It was really tasty. He picked it up when he went to the farmers market all by himself! I’m so proud. I don’t think he’d ever been to a farmer’s market before meeting me and now he’s off and shopping their on his own. Too cool!

***

As for the race, if reading running blogs and hearing all the stories of the 5Ks, marathons and other running events didn’t make me wish I was a runner, today surely did!

I’m big on doing things that scare you. I think it’s true what doesn’t kill you will only make you stronger so I always like to tackle things that terrify me. Even zumba scared me when I first started! I have a feeling I may be signing up for a 5K or something in the next year-ish. Who knows?

First, I’ll try running with the girls tomorrow. Eeks! I’m scared! lol

Any first time running tips for me?

I enjoyed my last breakfast at the lake with my Martha Stewart Living. It’s so nice to leisurely enjoy breakfast instead of scarfing down my eats in a rush to get to work. I really should take my time more often, not just when I’m on vacay.

Gonna miss this view.

All the tall trees.

Maybe even the bugs and bees.

The flowers

The outdoor seating.

Mismatched plateware and silverware.

The butterfly bush outside the house, just in front of the porch swing and all the beautiful butterflies that flocked to it.

The wooden porch.

Patches of shadows from the leaves.

Bathing suits strewn about.

The kiddos playing with Bailey.

Bailey running around.

I made more mocktails today, which I enjoyed lakeside whilst snapping some photos of the fam swimming.

Hubby’s sister and fam went for a dip today.

Hubby brought Bailey out for some fresh air.

I think he wanted to go for another dip.

Duckies!

Last meal al fresco!

Hubby’s “Uncle Bob” stopped by last night with a pork roast in tow. He roasted it low all night and it was perfectly tender for lunch today. I enjoyed it with some mac and cheese and a large serving of salad with cherry tomatoes from our garden and sunflower seeds.

Post lunch we finished packing up and hit the road.

One last view of the lake before we left.

Soon enough we were home sweet home! Bailey was ready to sleep on his own bed…or…couch. lol

I’m sad to leave the lake but happy to be home. Here’s to sleeping in your own bed!

I definitely brought my own oatmeal pot to the lake.

I brought lots of oatmeal supplies:

• non-stick pot
• 1/4 and 1/3 cup measuring cups (the usual sizes I use when I make oatmeal)
• bamboo stirring spoon
• old-fashioned rolled oats
• chia seeds
• bananas
• sliced almonds
• Barney Butter

All the materials to whip up a great bowl of oats.

Which is exactly what I had this morning along with some scrambled eggs and cheese my MIL made.

Todays bowl was made with 1/2 milk, 1/2 water, oats, sliced banana (stirred in at the end) and topped with: slices almonds and a spoonful of Barney Butter.

We enjoyed breakfast on the screened-in back porch.

Bailey loved the view.

I’m loving the view myself. I’ve actually got my laptop out here and am enjoying the fresh mountain air and beautiful scenery. In fact, a breeze just blew through the porch, rustling the leaves like  someone strumming a harp. Ahh…if this doesn’t help me de-stress I don’t know what will! lol

Hubby’s sister’s two kids are playing outside – they’re catching tadpoles!

They just brought one up to show us. I love the curiosity of these guys!

More lake fun up ahead I’m sure! Cheers!

Remember those brown bananas from the other day?

I used them in the kitchen on Saturday. I did my baking in the fabulous apron that Katie of Sweet Tater gave me for our housewarming gift.

Pre-baking.

I turned those brown bananas into homemade banana bread using this recipe, but with some substitutions. We were out of spelt flour so I used all whole wheat pastry flour. Plus I subbed almonds for pecans.

Hubby whipped up a fabulous lunch using one of the books we received from our housewarming party.

We had grilled, seasoned shrimp with a roasted pepper/avocado/creamy sauce, plus micro-ed frozen veggies and deeeelicious, tender, wondrous Virginia roll (gosh these things just melt in your mouth!).

I had most of our stuff laid out in advance: books to read (In Defense of Food, Thrive, The Gentle Art of Domesticity), magazines to leisure over (Real Simple, Martha Stewart Living, Grill It), plus snacks and eats: Kashi crackers, Larabars, fruit & nut mix, Barney Butter, chocolate cookies, bread, and Virginia rolls.

We ended up bringing a lot more food for the dinner we offered to cook for our family, plus 3 bottles of wine, cheese and other goodies.

The lake is really nice. There’s a little creek near us that I can hear from some places around the house.

The music of the creek meandering away is so relaxing! I feel like maybe I should record it and slap it on a CD that I could sell for millions!

Yea, I’d call it “Sounds of Relaxation from the Lake”. C’mon, you know you want the CD already.

Bailey is having  a grand time exploring.

Turns out our lakehouse does not have wi-fi. *sad face* So, hubby and I took his laptop to the local pub where they do have wi-fi to download Windows LiveWriter. I must admit, I’m an apple girl myself, but I do love LiveWriter for blogging – it’s the best tool I’ve used.

Hubby and I enjoyed a brewskie to kick off our vacay. Yuengling was our choice brew.

We headed back to the lake house later for dinner. We were actually supposed to cook dinner the first night but we ran into 2 fatal flaws with our plan:

1. We needed aluminum foil, which was in hubby’s sister’s car (since we forgot to bring our own).
2. The dinner I planned was vegetarian since hubby’s sister and her fam are all vegetarians. They were a few hours behind us and wouldn’t be there in time for dinner.

Though the local pub was actually kind enough to give us a piece of aluminum foil, we decided to save our vegetarian dinner for Sunday night when our vegetarian side of the family could really enjoy it.

We ended up having some arugula and baby spinach salad.

Tortellini with red sauce and a mini meatball.

Plus hubby and I split one of those irresistible Virginia rolls.

My banana bread made a guest appearance for dessert.

PS Note almond and flaxseed topping. I took a cue from Mama Pea and added the flaxseeds and subbed the pecans for almonds. (Last time I just used pecans).

I must say, I think I am now addicted to zucchini bread. I remember the first time I heard someone say zucchini bread. I was a kid and I didn’t like vegetables, so of course, “zucchini bread” sounded quite “gross” to 8 yr old moi. When someone told me zucchini bread tasted like banana bread, I decided to give it a shot and I found out that zucchini bread, though made with “icky” vegetables was actually quite tasty. Of course, it wasn’t until I made my own loaf several days ago that I really fell in love. And now…I think I actually prefer zucchini bread over banana bread! Who knew!

I had a giant piece.

Which I enjoyed with some of my magazines. Ahhh…the simple pleasures of vacation. Enjoying homemade eats at a cozy lakehouse whilst perusing the magazines I never have time to read. Yessssss!

What kinds of food do you bring to your vacations (where you rent homes and have space to bring food)?

We made it to the lake! I left the lake photos on my good camera but will share them tomorrow! There’s no wi-fi in our lake house, so I’ll have to blog tonight but upload tomorrow. Check it though – we’re already seeing wildlife! There were a bunch of deer just in front of our lake house when we pulled in!

Have a great weekend everyone!

My bathroom door is still dedicated to my fave – Michelle Kwan!

An old schedule. Yep I used to skate 5-6 days a week and twice on Tuesday! Note Tuesday start time – 6:45 am – yikes!

A schedule for a rink in Orlando – because even on vacation I wanted to skate!

Print-outs from some old skating tests I had to take.

You don’t see the tests on TV like you see competitions, but all skaters must pass tests to advance from one level to the next. Much like in competition, you’d get all dressed up and rehearse particular routines – some to music, some not – which you’d perform in front of judges.

The judges grade your performance.

Not sure which terrified me more – competitions or testing!

And here’s an old skating calendar – Michelle Kwan is on the cover! This is her in one of my fave routines – Salome. Gosh it’s so good!

Here’s the routine in case you missed it. It’s a goodie!

More faves – Kristi Yamaguchi, Ekaterina Gordeeva + Sergei Grinkov, Paul Wylie. Ahhh…makes me want to bust out my VCR and watch all the programs of theirs that I recorded!

And check out some of my old skating dresses:

Guess I forgot how many dresses I had! Maybe 27 dresses?

They told me when I’d spin in this butterfly dress that it looked like the butterflies were flying!

My parents’ gas grill died awhile back.

So, they got a new, portable charcoal grill.

It worked pretty well and cooked up a mighty fine lunch – burgers, chicken, zucchini.

Plus we had more eats inside – steamed veggies, saffron rice. Totally fab lunch! I need to make this grilled chicken again soon. It was a nice savory-sweet teriyaki chicken.

***

Hubby and I took off for home after lunch. Mom gave us 3 loaves of her whole wheat fruit and nut bread to take with us! Score!

I enjoyed a slice on the way home for a road-trip snack. Nommmm.

***

Then, it was time for ZUMBA! I was a little out of it after having done basically nothing all weekend but relax and eat, but I snapped back to it. You sort of have to do that when you’re announced as an instructor at the beginning of class. People don’t want you to look tired – they want you to inspire them!

Post-workout, it was time for dinner.

Mom sent me home with lots of veggies from their garden, including some beautiful roma tomatoes. I knew just the thing to use them! Capellini Pomodoro (click for recipe)!

Made better with fresh pasta!

Another bonus of this dinner – the fast prep time! I mean, the longest time spent was just cutting up and seeding the tomatoes! The cook time is less than 5 minutes! Gotta love that.

Plus oven-toasted rosemary foccacia bread, drizzled with EVOO and sprinkled with salt.

Totally awesome dinner!

So you guys know I love Michelle + Kristi. Who were some of your childhood heros?

Bailey always loves a good trip to visit “grandma and grandpa”.

I love the area behind their home. There’s always so much growing.

My mom took me on a tour of their garden to show me updates from the last time I saw it.

Baby okra.

Zucchini.

Baby bell pepper.

Eggplant.

Yellow bell pepper.

Green beans

And quite the assortment of tomatoes.

After a simple breakfast of bacan and egg sammies on WW rolls, we headed out for some more home-grown food adventures.

First up – the farmer’s market.

They had quite the assortment of dried beans, most of which I believe are local.

Mom and dad did the shopping and I just wandered around scoping out stuff.

Sis bought boiled peanuts for us to snack on as we headed out to our next destination – the peach farm!

My parent’s found a place that grew Red Haven peaches.

The farm was pretty busy with people picking their own fresh peaches.

Squashed peach.

The weather was perfect for being outdoors – warm but not too hot and with a slightly cool breeze. It felt like heaven outside.

Unlike last year’s blueberry picking adventure, it took us no time to fill up a basket with farm-fresh peaches.

And then we headed off the farm for lunch.

Not before checking out at the peach stand of course.

Have you been to a local farm this year? What did you get?

Sloppy-scrambled egg sammies and a whole wheat roll with a local honey drizzle. I toasted the rolls in the oven so they were nice and hot.

Gold amber tea later – a combo of Matevana and Rooibos Macadamia, sweetened with honey.

A Sunshine Burger (veggie burger) on a WW roll with monterrey jack cheese and green bell pepper from my family’s garden and steamed broccoli.

and what do you do with a whole bunch of blueberries that are about to go bad – especially when you’re headed out of town for a day or so?

Make an individual berry crisp.

It’s not just for breakfast

Nommmmmm!

The blueberries turned my tongue blue!

***

A year can change a lot…

Have you ever thought about how much can change in a year? As I approach 30, I’m started to reflect back on the last 10 years of my life, but even in one year, so much can happen!

In fact, this time last year…I was trying out to be a zumba instructor with a local company…and failing miserably. June 28th, 2009 was the day of my audition.

My try-out songs were:

• Jai Ho
• Whatever You Like
• The Way She Moves

I thought I did pretty well, but I didn’t get the job.

Fast forward to just a few short weeks ago and my second time at auditioning (I’m persistent, no?) was a totally different ball game. In May 2010, I auditioned again and this time, I got it (click to read)!

But, the reason I’m thinking about this again is the whole June date. See, June 28th, 2009 I auditioned to be a zumba instructor and failed. Almost a year to the date, June 29th, 2010 I led my first ever zumba class completely solo. What a change?! From not being able to lead a class by myself to doing it! Amazing! My point is…if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. A lot can change in a year, especially if you put your mind to it.

At the Friday class, our largest class of the week, they announced a couple instructors-in-training as just “instructors” just before class started! Here’s Alicia, who graduated with me this week from our training, and me just after class on Friday. They announced us to the cheers of about 50 participants and boy did it feel awesome to reap the rewards of a year of hard work towards my goal of being an instructor!

I’m liking these year ago look-backs…I think I’ll keep it up.

In the meantime, have you had a 360 degree turnaround experience? What changed for you in a year? Tell me your story – long and short comments both welcome. Who knows, maybe you’ll inspire someone with your story?

I’ll tell you in a minute.

***

Wow! You guys have made some great changes in your eating styles! Check out some of your “I Can’t Believe I Like Eating This Now!” foods:

• Seitan
• Tofu
• Oatmeal
• Carob Chips
• Peanut Butter
• Mushrooms (this is one I wish I could learn to like – I will keep trying!)
• Green Monsters
• kale
• curry
• unsweetened yogurt
• lentils
• tempeh
• hummus
• vegetables
• cranberries
• tomatoes

Fabulous eats guys! I’m so impressed!

***

On to Friday…

Hubby tried to make fried eggs. This is what happens if you don’t use enough non-stick spray. Guess his expertise stays in the Sloppy Scramble area.

We salvaged enough for breakfast with buttered toast.

I made kale chips…

…and toasty wraps for lunch.

Inside: chicken, muenster, spinach on WW tortillas.

Pretty tasty stuff! I love the crispied outside of pan-fried tortilla wraps. And the kale chips were the perfect side – an easy way to get my salty and my veggie in one.

I was going to have it for breakfast, but ended up having it as a lunch dessert – my leftover berry crisp dessert from the night before. I re-heated it in the oven for about 25 minutes so it had that fresh-baked taste still. I ate it right out of the baking dish (after letting it cool a bit) so it would stay nice and hot while I slowly enjoyed it. Noommmmmmmm!

Post work, I did another DIY cut Zumba tank top project. I wanted one just like the one in the Z Life mag – note photo.

Not bad! I think I came pretty close to the original. I’ll be posting a tutorial later, plus a recipe for my kale chips! They are so fast and simple, you MUST try them sometime!

Anywho, I def rocked out my new top to class tonight…cut zumba tops are so much more fun to wear than the straight-out-of-the-box kind!

***

Post-zumba class tonight, I got an impromptu invite to see a concert.

The artist? Brandi Carlile!!! I freakin love her! Her voice is amazing and so different! I wasn’t sure if I could go or not at first, but I figured it’s not every day you get to see an artist you really like live, so…why not?!

Big Megan, Middle Megan, Erica and moi road-tripped it about 1 1/2 hours away just to catch the show and it was so worth it!

Here’s Megan getting ready to defend herself after the show against a chick who threatened her.

Luckily, we made it out safely!

I leave you with one of my favorite Brandi Carlile songs, which I had the pleasure of enjoying LIVE last night! Still can’t believe I got to see her in concert! So awesome!

Get it Brandi!

Have you seen any good concerts lately?