wedding fever

Wedding Central question of the day: Where to tie the knot??
Under consideration: Red Rock Resort (& casino!) Franklin Park Conservatory (close to home=good).

Also in the running, the 55 acres of the Bryn Du Mansion (close to home too!) or the lovely Palmilla Resort in Cabo San Lucas (swine flu=cheap prices?).

Advantages to staying close to home:

More friends & family to celebrate.

More control over flowers, music, cake ect....

Disadvantage:

COST!!

Smaller Honeymoon

Advantages to going away:

Cheaper (i think!!)

Less stress?? (damon happy)

Exotic/beautiful setting

Disadvantages:

Less friends & family at wedding

Less control over ceremony/reception details

So how will we ever decide? Speaking of deciding, thanks to my mom & my brandi for watching me try on 20 dresses today. SO MUCH FUN, for me anyway!!!! Brandi found Jillian's, a small shop in Zanesville. We were a little worried at first, but it only took 5 minutes to start weeding thru their great selection! i felt beautiful in every gown we tried!

In case you think i have a one track mind while i'm flipping thru bridal magazines, Night at the Museum is on in the background. It's pretty cute!!!!

dream dress?

WARNING: Excited Bride Post. Future Husbands don't read!!!!

i like these!! i think i have a thing for the mermaid look!!

clipper

Wednesday we cashed in my mom's Mother's Day Gift, 4 Clipper's tickets (look closely & you will see damon's finger near the camera lens). The new stadium is beautiful!!!! Buckets of rain couldn't dampen our spirits. We just hid in the gift shop with my dad holding up clipper onsie's for our inspection (i think he was hinting at something!!)

Love you mom!! Your kind & your good. You keep us grounded. Your extremely business savvy, you love your dogs & you think i am the best!!! DITTO

your daughter lizbonj

ace

did you know i am marrying a pet detective (sort of) ??? EVERYWHERE we go damon spots wildlife that i would otherwise not see. It's not like he is scanning for them either. We will be driving along and he will casually point to a slow, camouflaged turtle, moseying along. I can remember him pointing out eagles, snakes, fish, rabbits, deer, turtles, ground hogs, and a morning dove. He spots a new animal everyday.

i think lizbon j ventura has a nice ring to it!! Finkel & Einhorn Finkel & Einhorn Finkel IS Einhorn!!!!!

YUM

I want these for my Memorial Day bbq please. Check out more fun stuff on Whole Foods' delicious site.

4 (5-inch) portobello mushrooms, stemmed
1 (20-ounce) can pineapple rings, juice reserved
3 tablespoons soy sauce or wheat-free tamari
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic
1 tablespoon grated ginger
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
Canola oil
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon cornstarch
4 whole wheat hamburger buns, toasted
Green or red leaf lettuce

Method

Using a small spoon, delicately scoop out and discard the dark brown gills from the underside of each mushroom. Wipe mushrooms gently with a moist paper towel to remove any remaining debris then transfer to a wide, shallow baking dish along with the pineapple rings.

Put 3/4 cup of the reserved pineapple juice (save remaining for another use), soy sauce, sugar, garlic, ginger and sesame oil into a small bowl and whisk together to make a marinade. Pour marinade over mushrooms and pineapple, cover and set aside, turning occasionally, for 1 to 2 hours.

Grease grill grates with canola oil and preheat to medium high heat. Meanwhile, drain leftover marinade from mushrooms and pineapple and transfer to a small saucepan; bring to a boil over medium high heat. In a small bowl, stir together water and cornstarch then whisk into marinade and boil until thickened, about 1 minute more; set aside.

Working in batches, grill mushrooms and pineapple, gently flipping once, until hot throughout and tender, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer to buns, top with lettuce and serve with teriyaki sauce on the side, if you like.

For dessert?? 2 LONG hours of The Bachelorette!!!!!!!!!

caribbean queen

We have been away enjoying our 5 day Carnival cruise thru Grand Turk, Half Moon Cay & Nassau, Bahamas. This being our first cruise experience, it rocked. The food was amazing!! All you can eat buffets, a sushi bar, 24-hour pizzeria, carrot cake as big as your head, soft serve on a cone ANY time you like it..I mean it was incredible. Every time we went to eat i got a little giddy!!! The Caribbean was under a storm cloud pretty much the entire trip, but it was still lovely.

Our first stop was Grand Turk, Turks & Caicos. Here we took a catamaran out to The Library, a teeming coral reef over a 6,000 foot drop. Damon had never snorkeled before but soon he was free diving 15 ft. down! As we were sailing away from the reef 2 dolphins danced & played at the front of the boat. i literally could have reached out & touched them. After a few cannonballs off the side of the catamaran we came back to the port which houses the largest Margaritaville. We bought the much sought after rum cake & OF COURSE some magnets/post cards/t-shirts/hat!!!!

Next stop, Half Moon Cay Carnival's private island in the Bahamas. Here there are really no touristy shops,just a beautiful, natural beach. It felt so good to swim around in the clean, clear water. They also had sting ray feedings, horseback riding, and lots of water equipment to rent.

Nassau was EXTREMELY touristy. Everywhere you turn the shops are filled with handmade straw fans & knock off coach bags. We took a historical sights tour, seeing the Queens Staircase & Fort Charlotte. Finally we stopped at the Pirate's of Nassau Museum, d & i both have a thing for pirates!!!! We discovered a really YUMMY Mediterranean cafe called Olives, where we had some awesome conch fritters!

On the ship we played basketball, drank the daily specials, gambled in the casino (yeah for jackpot party), went to the comedy show (Fat Cat was hilarious), laid by the pool, read the carnival capers, & GOT ENGAGED!!!!!!!!

As we were cruising towards Nassau on Thursday night Damon grabbed my hand & said lets go to the top deck. It was dark, windy & beautiful looking out over the waves crashing. We kissed ( a DREAMY ONE) & i told him that i thought our first kiss had been a 10. (we had just been at the Love & Marriage show where the couples had to rank their first kiss). He said,"i hope so," and reached into his pocket. I turned towards the water & asked if he was getting his camera. He said "i have something better." i turned & he was on one knee with the most beautiful, sparkly (highly coveted) ring. I was so excited i think i forgot to say yes for a few minutes. I have NEVER been so surprised. It was an amazing moment. i LOVE THIS picture!!! Look how happy & excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

sing to me

Only when i'm dancing

Can i feel this free

At nite i lock the door

So no one else can see
I'm tired of dancing here
All by myself
Tonite i wanna dance
With someone else

i miss 80's Madonna. I lived for the Like a Prayer album & the Immaculate Collection. My favorite movie was Who's that Girl, & i danced to Vogue in my fifth grade talent show (i wore all black spandex & slicked my hair back w/ baby oil-my dad swore i looked just like her!)!!! I roller skated to Keep It Together on repeat in my basement. My best friend Allison & i played a game called Oh Madonna. It involved chasing after each on our hands & knees, bowing saying "Oh Madonna." I wore many holes in the knees of my jeans worshiping Madge!!!

"Oh Eighties Madonna" i miss you!

no, i haven't packed for vacation & yes we stayed out until 2:30am last nite dancing downtown!!!

twopeas love

i LOVE getting packages in the mail. Especially when they are from twopeasinabucket!

1. maya road sheer owls

2. jenni bowlin die cut mini calenders

3. AC craft fair flair

4. jenni bowlin die cut journaling cards

yeahs

Yeah for playoff basketball (lakers vs. rockets)!!!
Yeah for every ingredient on the sundae bar (esp. the crushed andes mints)
Yeah for playing football in the field.
Yeah for melting when i see d taking care of kyle
Yeah for lots of referrals
Yeah for shaggy running in happy circles with a spiderman nerf football in his mouth
Yeah for d in his new glasses
Yeah for my secret package from twopeas filled with scrappy goodness

i heart today:)

blackberry hell

Once upon a time i had an excellent phone. It was a super duper extra durable flip phone fondly nicknamed "the tank". The tank even came with a carribiner clip in case i ever decided to climb mount everest. After two years of being dropped incessantly the tank died. i replaced the tank with a blackberry pearl only to discover, tank is NOT replaceable.

Today's post was supposed to be a really cool email i received from Marleen of Simply Healthful about the pros & cons of choosing a multi-vitamins. Unfortunately, the evil pearl deleted that email. Then last Friday the pearl jumped into the toilet. 5 visits to Verizon & 2 more blackberry pearls later, i miss my tank.

Here i am in Blackberry Hell with a giant coldsore brewing......

window shopping

i heart etsy!!! 1.Super cute purse at THIS etsy shop 2. Teal bird hair pins HERE 3.Pink flower hair pins HERE 4.Picture frame HERE.

innovative

when i was little i tried to build a time machine using some blue play dough, a bucket filled with water, & a giant stick. i wish i would have thought of this instead.

i LOVE friday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

double demise

These are the remains of my Chia Herb Garden. My dreams of fresh cilantro whenever i please have been dashed by the RETURN of my own black thumb. i think i need to take a plant care/gardening class before i murder anymore innocent greenery......including my Topsy Turvy Tomato Planter..

The second death of the day would be my new blackberry pearl.. I dropped it. In the toilet. The best part is that i was in the shower when i dropped it. In the toilet.

So i am escaping to a work meeting in Detroit for a couple days, to avoid killing anything else!!!!!!

HAPPY NSD

Yesterday was National Scrapbook Day!!! No laughing it is a holiday to be celebrated!!!!!! My Grove City Sarah (all 6 months gloriously pregnant of her) came up & we scrapped away the afternoon. We snacked on strawberries, blackberries , listened to the Tim McGraw lastfm station, and made baby logan his first scrapbook page. Some how i ended up with the needle from my sewing machine (it snapped) embedded in my shoulder like shrapnel. At least i have this cute layout to show for it.

Used American Crafts moda bella paper, thickers, Heidi Swapp flowers..Only missing one teal journaling strip..There will be 3 instead of 2 when i figure out how to get our printer working.....

We ended the nite with an Amy's cheesless veggie pizza, SO DELICIOUS ( i had to add a pound of shredded cheddar!!!) & Slum Dog Millionaire.

a good day for

these new jcrew rainboots i found for $20!!!!

a yummy green tea frappachino, blake shelton's album Pure BS, dog sitting (that's one of my mom's dogs, isabelle, watching this on dvd .....

it's a good day for FRIDAY!!!!!