Challenge Inspiration

I've been browsing through a lot of recipes as a prep for next week. It's hard to recipes for budget meals. This morning, Good Morning America featured a the story of Clara Cannucciari, who has become a recent YouTube sensation.

She's 93 and her great-grandson has taken videos of her preparing meals she learned to make during the great depression. The meals are budget-friendly, and got the stamp of approval from Emril Lagassi. I'm going to try and watch her videos later today to see if there's anything I can work into next week's menu, but so far it looks promising!

Check out Depression Cooking with Clara on Youtube.

Challenge Prep

Since Mark and I usually spend more than $1 on our meals, we’ve been making plans for next week’s hunger challenge. We usually do some meal planning, but we’ll be doing it even more this coming week to make sure we stay on-budget.

Obviously, we don’t have the budget to buy lots of ingredients for every meal, so one of the big challenges is going to be mixing the same few ingredients into several different meals. We’re going to be doing our shopping at Shop Rite, as usual – but we can’t make a definite shopping list until the new sale flier comes on Friday. Until then, it’s just a guessing game of what we’ll be able to afford to make next week.

We have decided a few things, though. Bottled water won’t count towards our total. We also won’t buy things we already have in the cabinets – we’ll just use the shelf price next week to figure out our total. We’re also going to try to work in whole grains, fruits and vegetables whenever possible.

The question doesn’t seem to be, Can you eat for $1 per meal? The answer to that is an obvious “yes”. Between our apartment and Shop Rite, there are a McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Burger King, Taco Bell and Dunkin Donuts – all of which have items for $1 or less on their menus. The question is more, Can you get three decently nutritious meals on $3 a day? We’re hoping for a yes.

Hunger Challenge

In September, a bunch of Bay-area bloggers got together for a “Hunger Challenge” to support the San Francisco area food banks. The purpose was to call attention to the fact that people receiving food stamps had an average of $21 to spend on food each week. The bloggers participating (all foodies, just for the record) tried to see if they could make nutritious, filling meals while staying in the allotted budget. They encouraged people to make donations, and tried to come up with recipes that the food banks and their patrons could use in the future. There were varying degrees of success.

One area where I felt that the food bloggers really fell down was in making things that were accessible to the rest of us. You can tell by their blogs that they really did try, but they’re so used to being surrounded by high-quality ingredients that it was a big struggle. Yes, the mushroom-barley risotto costs less than $1 a serving, but how many people really have time to make something like that from scratch everyday? I know I don’t, and I’m only working one job and don’t have kids. I’m sure most also don’t have the luxury of scouring the internet for recipes and cheap meals, nor traveling around to several different stores.

Mark and I have decided to see if we can do it, so we’ll be having our own Hunger Challenge March 1-7. We’ll be using the loose guidelines set up by the bloggers that previously did it, and seeing if we can make it work without much culinary expertise. At the end of the week, we’ll be making a donation to one of our favorite local organizations – the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen.

With the current state of the economy food banks and soup kitchens are facing an influx of people that need help and a decline in donations, which is part of the reason we’re doing this now. We’ll be blogging about how our week goes – and we hope the posts will encourage you to donate or get involved with an organization fighting hunger in your area.

Gym, Take 2

After the sudden gym closing last Monday, I took some of my aggression for a run. Which lasted all of two laps around my apartment complex (1.2 miles - I clocked it the next day) before I admitted to myself how much I really hate running. I told myself I'd start looking at other gyms, but I was going to take the week off to get some other stuff done.

On both Wednesday and Friday, the other days I would have been working out, I found myself driving past the gym to see if anyone was there. Both times I was on my way to run other errands, but it was still on the pathetic side. I decided I needed to speed up my gym search.

The search ended up being not a search at all - I just called the next closest franchise location and they said they'd honor my contract there. It's a little further, but not a bad drive. I finally made it down there today - I think this is in part a blessing in disguise.

The new location is much nicer- the machines are newer, the place is cleaner and (shock of shocks) they clearly have an owner that takes pride in the place. I'm hooked.

For the last week or so, I've been feeling kind of blah - I thought I was fighting off a cold. I think my body was just rebelling against missing workouts, though. After today's trip to the gym and a hot shower I'm feeling good again. And I'm proud of myself for getting my butt back in the gym so fast - I think I'm growing more than I realize during this wedding planning.

Perona Show, Take 3

On Sunday, Mark and I trekked up to Perona for yet another bridal show. It was the last one they would be holding before our wedding, and we wanted to use the opportunity to show the Dads around since they hadn't seen it yet.


We met up with both sets of parents, Andy, Laura and Michelle, and did our regular rounds of the food tables. It was pretty funny to see how everyone reacted to the food - with such a large group there were a lot of opinions. There were several times someone would be raving about a food, and another person in the group would be like, no way, this is gross! Pretty funny. Overall, everything went over pretty well (except for the trout mousse cups, they got a unanimous "no") and we did manage to add to our list of appetizers to request though.


The vendors were pretty much the same as they always are. At this point we have everything booked so we didn't even bother to look around - one did catch our eye though. Perona includes a cake in their wedding package, and the bakery they get the cakes from was there. Mark and I got a chance to talk to the owner and get a better idea of what kind of cake would be included, and what would up the price. They also had cupcakes there to sample - everyone loved them! We're feeling a lot better about the cake choices now.


After eating our way through the show, we took the Dads to walk around. Tracey let us crash the Sunday Brunch in our ballroom so we could show them where the reception would be taking place, and then we went outside to show them the cocktail hour patio and the surrounding grounds. It was one of the warmer days, so it was okay to look around, but I'm hoping we'll look less frigid in the pictures in July!

Our Cold Crew: Back Row, from the left - Me, Andy, Mark's Mom, Mark's Dad, my Dad
Front Row, from the left - Michelle, Laura, my Mom

PS - Shoutout to Maggie from Wedding Bash with a Bang for getting the blankout right - Once Upon A Time!

Blankout

I had a Cranium page-a-day calendar on my desk that I won in a holiday grab-bag. Each day it gives me another Cranium puzzle to solve.

I thought today's was applicable, so I thought I'd post it.

Complete the puzzle by filling in the blanks.

Hint: before ever after

_ N _ E

U _ _ _

_

_ I _ E

Bonus points if you can figure it out!

Mourning the Gym

It seems that part of the bridal experience is dragging your ass to the gym. Anyone that knew me in high school or college will be happy to tell you that I avoided the gym at all costs - so not my scene. Yet, as soon as I had a rock on my left hand, I felt obligated.

I joined an all-women's gym that is roughly two minutes from the apartment back in November, and I've been going regularly since. I quickly shook the intimidation factor and learned to love it. The women there were great, which made it a nice atmosphere - and subsequently the workouts went quickly.

And work was picking up 60% of the tab. What more could you ask for?

Apparently, the answer to that is a decent owner. I'm not going to name the franchise here, because I believe this is the fault of one sketchy person, not a reflection of the company.

When I got to the gym today, it was empty. Not as in, nobody was there - as in, the machines and everything else in the place had been cleared out. There was a note on the front window explaining it was closed for good. Not only were the members not told, the people who worked there had to find out via the note too. So not cool.

Besides the headaches of now making sure the autodraft for gym dues gets stopped and trying to get benefits to reimburse for January without a receipt, I know have to decide if I want to join another gym. And if I do, which one.

I was doing really well at this gym, and to be flat-out honest, I'm intimidated to try another. I guess we'll see if I can work myself up to join another.

Hair and Makeup Trial Pictures

I had a hair and makeup trial yesturday with Adrianne from Gab & Company. It went fantastic, and I'm so excited to have them do my hair and makeup for the wedding!

The obligatory "before" shot:

The hair after:

With the headpeice:

With the veil:

The makeup after at the salon, and then at home in better lighting:

Roughly nine hours later, after a party. I think most of the trama to the hair was my own fault because I pulled my jersey over my head:

I'd love to hear what you all think of it!

Thinking about the Bridal Look

Tomorrow I have a hair and make-up trial to test-run a look for the wedding. So far, I really like the girl based on a) how nice she was on the phone and b) the fact that her prices are great. I'm hoping that it all goes well and I can book her for the wedding.

Prepping for tomorrow, though, I've been looking through lots of pictures on the Knot and Project Wedding trying to decide what kind of hairdo and makeup style I want. So far, this is what I've come up with:

Hopefully she'll be able to take these pictures and make something work!

Pick up the Phone

I’m not a fan of picking up the phone, especially when I don’t recognize the number. Since starting to plan the wedding, though, I’ve been doing it more often. It’s hard to keep track of which vendors I called so when the area code is 973, it’s usually something for the wedding.

Last week, I got a surprise call from the tuxedo store we were planning to use. We had met them at the Perona Farms bridal show and were already planning to go up on Saturday to look at tuxes for the wedding, but hadn’t made an appointment – we were planning to just show up. I let the guy do his sales pitch, and then asked to set up an appointment for Saturday. He was so thrilled he offered us a bigger discount. Score!

Yesterday, I got another wedding-related call. It was a representative from Mary Kay telling me I won the door prize at the last Perona Farms show. I know another sales pitch is coming, but I set up a home make-up party for later this month. So far, Janel, Michelle, Laura and my Mom are all going to join me for that – should be fun!

There’s another bridal show at Perona Farms this weekend, and we’ll be meeting up with a bunch of people to go – maybe it’ll bring on some more good phone calls!

Dressed to the Nines

Yesterday, Mark and I met up with Trevor, Andy and our Dads to pick out Tuxedos. Getting five of the six guys that needed tuxedos together at the same time seemed like a bit of a miracle. Mark’s Mom and I went along to consult on color and make sure that no one was picking anything too weird. (I got a frantic call from my sister while we were on our way there, “Mom said don’t let Dad get tails!!”)

We went in with a general idea of what we wanted the groomsmen to wear, but Mark had no idea what he wanted for himself. The Dads could pick anything they wanted, as long as they weren’t matching Mark or the other boys.

Mark and 2/3 of his groomsmen, all ready to go.

We went in with a general idea of what we wanted the groomsmen to wear, but Mark had no idea what he wanted for himself. The Dads could pick anything they wanted, as long as they weren’t matching Mark or the other boys.

The tuxedo for the guys ended up being an easy pick – they had one that was lighter and would therefore be better in the July heat. We picked a nice vest and tie set for the groomsmen out of the swatch book The tie has faced stripes on it, and the vest has very light pin stripes – all in a light celery-ish green. Mark liked the combo so much that he picked the same design in very light silver.

Andy was a big fan of the hat. He also wanted a cane and gloves.

Mark’s Dad picked out a pinstriped tuxedo and will be getting a blue vest and tie to match Mark’s Mom dress. I thought it was funny that my Dad picked out the most fashion-forward tuxedo out of everyone – he’ll be wearing a Calvin Klein tux with a paisley, champagne-colored vest and tie combo. They had a sample on one of the manikins, and it looked really nice.

I’ve never seen my Dad in a tuxedo before!

Everyone got measured, and my Dad is going to see if PJ wants to go sometime next week and get it done. It was, by far, one of the easiest wedding things to set up so far, which made it super enjoyable. Next weekend should be good too – most of the group will meet up again for another Perona Farms bridal show.

Honest Scrap

Laura of When California Meets Texas passed along Honest Scrap Award to me, so here goes!

The rules:
1. Chose a minimum of 7 blogs that you find brilliant in content or design.
2. Show the 7 winners names and links on your blog, and leave them a comment informing them they were prized with "Honest Scrap." Well, there's no prize, but they can keep the nifty icon.
3. List at least 10 honest things about yourself

10 Honest Things...
1. I’ve passed the trivia test to get on “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” – I just wasn’t TV enough to get on.
2. I’ve written two books so far, but I haven’t let anyone else read them yet.
3. I made a gmail address using my married name nearly three years ago.
4. I love to cook (and I’m pretty good) but I’m a picky eater.
5. I watch the Disney channel more than any other channel.
6. I think bitter cold weather without snow is a waste.
7. I can’t swallow pills.
8. I keep every card I’ve gotten from Mark in a fireproof box. Just in case.
9. My favorite color is pink.
10. I’m a huge fan of sticky notes. They end up all over my desk.

And 7 People to Pass to…
Ashley @ Lost in the Moment
AshLee @ In the Life of an Upcoming Bride
Amanda @ My So Called Life
Bekkah @ Semi-Coherent Ramblings
Annie @ The Doctor Takes a Wife
Dina @ Insert Witty Wedding Title Here
Tasha @ Wedding Shmedding

Uber Amazing Blog

I’ve been slow to post this but Maggie at Wedding Bash with a Bang passed me The Uber Amazing Blog Award!

The Uber (synonym to Super) Amazing Blog Award is a blog award given to sites who:
- Inspire you
- Make you smile and laugh
- Give amazing information
- Are a great read
- Have an amazing design
- And any other reason you can think of that makes them uber amazing!

The rules of this award are:
* Put the logo on your blog or post.
* Nominate at least 5 blogs (can be more) that for you are Uber Amazing!
* Let them know that they have received this Uber Amazing award by commenting on their blog.
* Share the love and link to this post and to the person you received your award from.I pass this honor on to:

- Nicole @ Photography by Nicole Marie – She doesn’t have comments enabled on her blog so I can let her know, but I wanted to give her a shout-out anyway. Nicole is our wedding photographer, and I love looking at her blog for inspiration. She’s also started adding posted about wedding tips and trends – so helpful!
- AshLee @ In the Life of an Upcoming Bride – I love AshLee’s blog because she posts just as much about life as she does about wedding planning. It’s a nice reminder that we’re supposed to do other things than decide on dresses and invites.
- Amanda @ My So Called Life – Unlike many of the rest of us blogging brides, Amanda was blogging before she got engaged.
- Caragh @ My Kaleidoscopic World – Caragh posts scrapbook projects on her blog. It’s great inspiration for DIY brides!
- Dina @ Insert Witty Wedding Title Here - You can tell by Dina's posts that she has a real vision for her wedding, and it's coming together so nicely!