Delicious Desserts - Macarons

If you read my previous post, you'll have seen that I was not 100% on the cake train. Although, if there were an actual train of cake, I could probably get on-board with that. Anyway, when we were still deciding whether or not to do cake, we decided to bring in another dessert option.

To preface this, I had the opportunity during college to live in Paris not once, but twice, during two different May Terms. The last time I was there, in 2009, I lived right off of La Place de la Madeleine. Big, beautiful Neo-Classical church, on a site line down La Rue Royale towards La Place de la Concorde. I know all of that might mean nothing to you, but the salient point here is that in the Place Madeleine is a pretty little shop called Ladurée, of macaron fame. It isn't their biggest shop, but that didn't make it any less tempting. I did manage to avoid eating macarons every single day, but definitely managed to make a few visits every week.

Left to Right: Raspberry, Coffee, Pumpkin Spice, Pistachio (2), Lavender White Chocolate

What all of that means for the wedding, really, is that I wanted macarons. And, luckily for me, there's a wonderful little French cafe in Des Moines called La Mie. My mom goes there quite a bit, uses it for informal meetings for work, and she raves about their macarons.

So, on Monday, BM S, Brother E, his girlfriend A, Mr. C and I met at La Mie to taste some macarons. As BM S is expecting a little bee in July, she abstained from any of the creme filled (aka raw egg) macarons, but she did get to help me taste my favorite, raspberry. We decided we're going to order 300 macarons (for 150 guests), in each flavor except the Lavendar White Chocolate. It didn't do a lot for me. The coffee didn't either, but Mr. C loves coffee so I figured I'd give him that one.

Mmm.....macarons

Now, two questions remain. First, we have to pick up the macarons the day before the wedding as the cafe is closed on Sundays, and find enough refrigerator storage to keep them all cold. This may mean spreading them out between bridesmaids, their parents, and some local family friends with the hope that they all get to the venue in time. I'm also going to try talking to our caterers to see if they have storage space for them in a big fridge somewhere.

The other question is, how do we want to display them? I'll come back to that, I promise. For now, I'm going to leave you hanging :)

Delicious Desserts - Cake

I will be perfectly honest, Mr. C and I are not huge cake people. I mean, if somebody sets a piece of cake in front of me, I will eat it, although that may be more of a statement of my willpower than my cake preference. Mr. C is pretty much in the same boat. Ice cream, pie, tortes, cookies, crepes, custards, you name them, we eat them. But cake definitely isn't our go to.

However, when we mentioned our thought of ditching cake altogether to our respective parents, they suggested that even if the tow of us didn't want cake, most people come to a wedding expecting cake. And, as much as we are okay with changing things up, we figured this was not the hill to die on.

So, on Thursday we found ourselves at the local grocery store, tasting cake. And, I will admit, as there were pieces of cake (mostly in cupcake form) set in front of me, I ate them and they were yummy. Because I'm a bad blogger, I didn't take any pictures. We tried four flavors; vanilla, chocolate, champagne, and red velvet. The vanilla and chocolate tasted pretty average. Not bad, but hey if we were going to have cake it may as well be delicious. And look pretty.

Imagine this, except two tiers and without the flowers on the side - via The Knot

Going in, I knew that we wanted to do a couple of smaller tiers, then the rest in sheet cakes. We chose two flavors; champagne and red velvet. In the tasting, the champagne cake was violent, neon pink. The baker said they actually tint it, and for our cake she'd have them tone it down to a pale blush. Perfect, non? So, we're doing that on the top layer, and the red velvet on the bottom. Then we'll do two sheets, one of each. Also, for no charge, they're going to add our monogram to the top of each of the cut sheet pieces.

For not having been thrilled about the idea of cake, I'm actually pretty happy with how it is going. Our initial plan is to have the florist drop off a ribbon for the baker to use, but after thinking about it for awhile, I want to see if they can do something that is edible. If not, ribbon is fine, but a little painted gold band would be lovely. We got a beautiful serving set as a gift from family friends of Mr. C, which was totally unexpected but that I am very happy to have. Now, the only thing is to find a cake stand!

It's not heaven...

It is our new cutting board!

Mr. C's mom is awesome, and gave it to me in an awesome cutting board in the shape of my beloved home state. Mr C. and I both decided that we'd prefer to keep it looking pretty, so he hung it up over our sink in a place of honor.

Awesome, right?

This is both a chance to show off my awesome gift, and also a lead-in to what Id id over my Christmas vacation. We started off in CT at Mr. C's family family for "Fakemas" and too much junk food, then headed back to my homeland from Christmas Eve to New Year's Day. It was awesome, and we also got SO much wedding planning done! Over the next few days, I'll break down the various appointments/tastings/trials that we had to catch you up, but for now, here's an overview:

Thursday
- Dinner at Rehearsal Dinner Option #1

Friday
- Cake Tasting
- Wedding Catering Tasting
- Venue Visit

Saturday
- Linen Rental Visit
- Bridesmaid Dresses Ordered

Sunday
- Engagement Photos
- Mom's Dress Ordered

Monday
- Hair and Makeup Trial
- Macaron Tasting
- Florist Meeting

Tuesday
- Lunch at Rehearsal Dinner Option #2

In addition to all of that, I also got my likely wedding shoes (yay!), got most of the work done on the wedding website, and have a design for our Save the Date magnets that is now awaiting a final proof of an engagement photo before heading off to the printers.

Bouquet Christmas Ornaments

If you'll recall from a few posts back, Mr. C and I recently attended the wedding of some friends in South Carolina, and the bride gave me her bouquet at the end of the night. I was determined to do something nice with it, but hadn't decided between a couple of options.

Well, the groom is in town this week and won't be again before Christmas, so it was now or never. I decided to start with the ornament, and if I had extra petals I'd talk to the groom and see if the jewelry is something his bride would like.

I've been keeping my eyes open for awhile trying to find clear ornaments. Hah. You'd think with all of the shops putting Christmas things out before Halloween that it wouldn't be tough, but after visiting three local big boxes I ended up driving to the nearest Hobby Lobby. I picked up the ornaments (50% off!) and honestly that's really all I needed. Initially I was thinking of doing one big ornament, but once I got started I realized I had plenty to fill four pretty decent size ornaments. I am going to try to get some ribbon to tie to the hooks so they can hang them a little more festively, but all in all this is a relatively inexpensive craft.

One nearly completed ornament

Mr. C was off at his second to last grad school class of the semester tonight, so I took some time to put everything together. Really it was pretty simple. I'd put her bouquet into a vase to let the flowers dry after the wedding, so I carefully broke it down. There were two colors of roses, some lilies, some sort of dark berry, these little green globes, and a couple of different sizes of leaves. She also had little red crystals in the bouquet, so I put one of each of those in each ornament. It took me about half an episode of Once Upon a Time.

Strips of invitation and curled hearts

I also saved their invitation, and cut it into thin strips to make into little hearts. Each strip I folded into half, then wrapped around the skinniest part of a mechanical pencil. Initially I thought I'd hot glue the pieces of the heart together, but I think they are staying together well enough on their own.

The Moose really enjoyed helping clean up the spare paper

All in all, I am very very happy with how this turned out. We're meeting up with the groom on Wednesday, and I can't wait to give this to him. Originally I was going to wrap it in Christmas paper as a surprise, but I want to make sure he knows what it is so he packs it carefully for the trip back home.

The end result!

November: A Month of Challenges

So I've been planning awhile (and talked in this post) about participating in NaNoWriMo this month. I'm three days in and only at 2,160 words, but my parents and Mr. C's parents have been here, so there hasn't been much time for writing. The good news is, when I do sit down, I'm able to churn out quite a bit of content pretty quickly. So far, we're flowing pretty well.

Mom & Dad P seeing the sites

This November I've also decided to try "No Spend November." I have a bad habit of letting little purchases sneak up on me; Target and CVS are the worst. I'm in no way in trouble financially, but I think taking the month to see what I really need will help. Basically, I'm cutting out all of my impulse buys and reexamining what it is that I really need. Hopefully this will help the holidays hurt a little less. Yesterday morning I went out and got the things I know I'll have to restock anyway; shampoo, conditioner, and toothpaste. Toiletry and makeup wise, which is an area I tend to splurge a bit, I should be all set. Here's a list of what I'm going to avoid and how I'm going to try to mitigate the purchase:

• Clothing - I refreshed a couple of months ago, and right now my wardrobe is in a good place. I could use another pair of khaki's, but those can wait until December. 
• Household goodies - Ugh, this is a tough one. I love buying new candles and little things to set around. If there's something I really can't live without, I'll see if it is something I can DIY. 
• Gifts - This is another hard one. I love buying little things for Mr. C, plus the holidays are fast approaching. I already have a couple of gifts for certain individuals, and hopefully can look at things to make for those who are left. Plus, no more little bottles of Coke Zero for Mr. C magically appearing in the apartment. 
• Toiletries/makeup - Like I said, I should be set here, and actually have a return to make to CVS. 
• Dinner - This is probably the easiest trap to fall in. Luckily, with our folks being here, we've got TONS of leftovers from the dinners out we've had, and they've been buying. So we'll live on those for a few more days, then I'll get back into cooking again. I also need to be better about getting supplies for lunches, instead of depending on leftovers that don't always happen. 

So, that's the plan. I know I have some expenses that I can't avoid; student loan payments, co-pays for PT and my dermatologist visit next week, gas, things like that, but I'm going to try to manage everything else as best as I can. I'll try to remember to touch base and fill you in on how it goes!

My boys

There are moments every now and then where I sort of pull up short and just feel so astoundingly blessed. A few weeks ago, it was running to Kmart to buy Mr. C a bottle of shampoo. I know that sounds like the silliest thing, really I do. But I have a man who loves me, who cares for me, and who I love and care for. And sometimes that means I buy him shampoo. And that sounds strange, but it just sort of caught me as being wonderful.

This morning I had another one of those moments. While Mr. C works a regular Monday-Friday work week, I actually work Tuesday-Saturday. Most days, Mr. C's alarm goes off at 6:30, and he feeds The Moose.

The Moose says hi

Ala Pavlov, The Moose knows that when Mr. C's alarm goes off, it is time for breakfast. This morning, I woke up a little early. I sprained my ankle pretty badly, and it was aching pretty badly this morning and woke me up before my alarm. I stayed in bed for awhile, checking email and trying to find the perfect wedding necklace. The Moose hopped up on the bed, climbed right over me, and laid down on Mr. C's chest. Mr. C was still asleep, but sort of groggily came to, reached up, and started petting The Moose. Then the cat would jump down, trying to get Mr. C to follow him, realize he wasn't, and hop back up on the bed to start it all over again.

After three rounds of this, I managed to snag a picture. Mr. C might kill me for posting this, but it just makes my heart swell. Right after I took this photo, The Moose actually leaned down and sort of bumped Mr. C in the head, trying to get him to wake up, and Mr. C reached back up to pet him again. These are my boys. They are my whole life, and I love them so much that it almost aches. Mr. C has never had a cat before, and seeing how much he cares about The Moose makes me so happy.

I hear people ask sometimes why you should eve bother to get married, especially for people in our situation. We already live together, so what's the point? The point is, that as much as we love each other, after we sign our names on that paper we are officially a family. We are a team, emotionally, spiritually, and legally. In all senses of the world he is mine, and I am his, and we have the start of a very happy family together.

Our Best Friends Wedding

This weekend, we had the pleasure and the honor of heading to Greenville, South Carolina to celebrate the wedding of GM J and his new wife. The wedding party was just the siblings of the bride and groom, so Mr. C was an usher. They were a gorgeous couple, and the wedding was so much fun.

Two things really came out of the wedding for me. First, I feel reinvigorated for planning our own. Mr. C went down to South Carolina on Wednesday, and MaidoH A and I followed on Friday. On the trip back up, she and I had a four hour layover in Newark, and we spent a good hour of it talking about our wedding. We also walked through the duty free shops testing out perfumes. I think I may fall prey to the wedding day scent trend. What was nice though, is that after a few months of a lot of frustrations with work and ignoring wedding planning to be excited again. Some of the guests at this wedding will also be at ours!

The other piece of it was a very touching moment. The bride surprised me and handed me her bouquet at the end of the reception. I was honored and thrilled, and definitely carried it around with me the rest of the evening. Now I have their beautiful bouquet and Mr. C's boutonniere, and I'm trying to find something special to do with them that I can send back to the couple. I have two ideas, and I may do both.

Option # 1 - Blossoms and Memories Jewelry

Bird Necklace via Blossoms and Memory

I found this option online this morning while I was browsing around, and I really like it. You send in dried flowers from the bouquet, and they are made into beautiful pieces of jewelry. The best part is that they keep any extra beads for awhile, so if the bride really likes it, they can have jewelry made for their mothers. It is something I think Mr. C's mom would like to have.

Option # 2 - Bouquet Ornament

Wedding Ornament via Shop Ruche

This one was my original plan, basically from the moment she handed me the flowers. I saw it on Pinterest quite awhile ago, but really like it. You take petals from the bouquet and very gently put them inside of a large clear Christmas ornament. I like this one too because she has some very pretty crystals intermixed with the flowers, and I think this would look awesome on their Christmas tree.

New York indeed.

PS - I know Mr. C can sing. He sings in the car, he sang in the choir back at reunion, when we go to church and stand next to each other, I hear him sing. But. BUT. Oh my gosh. They had karaoke at the reception, and the groom finally convinced Mr. C to sing "New York, New York." Gotta love my Yankee. But, holy bovine, folks. Here's a photo of me literally fanning myself off because of the waves of hotness pouring off of my crooning fiance.