Low fat chocolate mousse passes the fiance test

Valentine's weekend was supposed to be filled with 2 wedding appointments - cake tasting and meeting with our priest to start planning our ceremony.  Just as we were making our way out the door at 7:55 on Saturday morning for our cake tasting appointment, I got a phone call saying that the owner of the company who would be doing our tasting for us woke up in the middle of the night with the flu.  Jon and I were disappointed because we were both looking forward to cake tasting, but I had a hard time getting too disappointed, as I myself was sick with bronchitis the whole week before and I understood that its just that time of year when coming down with a cold or the flu seems to be running rampid.

We decided to get coffee and then get on the road to the lake so that we would have some time to stop by the house and go to the store before our meeting with the priest. The drive to the lake ended up being a "white knuckle" drive which was unexpected - it snowed the whole way and the roads were actually pretty bad.  We finally made it to the house as the snow stopped...figures.  We got out of the car and were greeted with great big wind gusts.  My parents have been spending some weekends at the lake and had been reporting back to Pittsburgh about how much snow Conneaut had and how the lake was completely covered but I was not prepared for such a huge climate shift - after all, it is only about 100 miles away from my house in Pittsburgh.    But it was full blown artic conditions out there! We only had about 30 minutes to kill before we had to get back in the car to go to the church but in that 30 minute time frame the wind blew a pile of snow on the driveway (which was plowed the night before) about a foot deep.  I sorta knew that it was going to be an issue when I looked at it but I tried to drive through it anyways.... welp, my car got stuck and after Jon trying to dig it out, basically in his socks (because I forgot to tell him to bring boots) we realized it was not going anywhere.  I called our priest and he suggested we just reschedule. 

Not being able to get anything on the "to-do list" done didn't turn out all bad - this day turned out to be one of the most relaxing days I have had in a really long time.  After we threw in the towel on trying to dig my car out, we built a fire and watched The Town (which I was little disappointed in...in case you want my opinion - I expected a little more from Ben Afflack).  It was so nice, there was no one around to bother us, no one to ask us to do anything and it was a gorgeous setting - something so different than what we are used to in the summer.  I took a few pictures - its hard to imagine that this yard is where our wedding reception will be in 6 months! 

So, as I write about everything except for the chocolate mousse.... I will get to my point.  I made dinner for Jon and I that night - a cooking light lemon chicken recipe followed by the low-fat chocolate mouse.  Yes, I am even forcing Jon to participate in the guilt-free pre-wedding dress meals.  He liked the chicken, but he LOVED the chocolate mouse.  I am pretty sure a bomb could have been going off and he was going to finish eating his chocolate mouse before he reacted to anything else.  So, nice work, weight watchers - your low-fat chocolate mouse passed the man-test with flying colors, its not just something that a chocoholic, like myself, would appreciate.

Chocolate for a Bride-to-be

If you ask anyone who knows me, they will tell you that I have never met a chocolate I didn't like.  Its a problem, and I partially blame my mom who ate big macs and chocolate while pregnant with me, but I fully admit that I am a chocolate addict.  Since the turn of 2011 I started a wedding dress count down to when my wedding dress will arrive in May.  3 and a half months seems SO close, so I have been trying to watch what I eat and step it up a bit at the gym so I can look nice and lean in my white dress.  I've been pretty good at sticking with my protein smoothies for breakfast, and high protein, low carb lunches and dinners but one thing I cannot and will not give up is chocolate.  The other day I came across this weight watchers recipe for low-fat chocolate mouse and I figured what the heck, I would try.  Well, it did not disappoint and it was all the chocolate-craving-fulfillment I needed all for about 150 calories!  I couldn't believe I could actually enjoy something so chocolately and not feel guilty... I am going to test the recipe out on Jon this weekend for our valentine's dinner and see if it passes the man-test but even if it doesn't, its a keeper in my book!

Recipe:

1 container of fat-free cool whip
1 package of fat-free, sugar free instant chocolate pudding mix
Hersey's dark chocolate syrup
Fresh Raspberries

Using an electric blender - mix the pudding mix with the cool whip until smooth (yep, its THAT easy!)

To serve - garnish a clear dish with Hershey's dark chocolate syrup (about a tablespoon), add the mousse mixture and then garnish with Red Raspberries on top.

"I can do anything if I have the right shoes"

These days "reception dresses" are pretty trendy - reception dresses are like your little black dress only they are white.  I guess it is for the bride who wants to wear a wedding dress for her ceremony and then be a little more comfortable in a short dress for her reception.  To each their own but I love my wedding dress and want to wear it all-day-long!  Haha I might even wear it after the wedding....Jon will come home and I will just be hanging out in my wedding gown for fun.  I have however realized that I might in fact wear 3 different pairs of shoes on my wedding day.

My wedding shoe shopping all started one day when I was bored at work - I was browsing all the major sites for shoes - Nordstrom, Piperlime, Macy's, DSW and Saks.  I happened to stumble upon this pair of Jimmy Choos on the Saks website and lucky for me they were on sale for like 60% off!  Oh, an they were only available in 1 size.... which just so happened to be mine.  It was meant to be. I was meant to have these Jimmy Choos.  I didn't even wait to have my parents buy them for me, (because you know, having Jimmy Choos for my wedding is an obviously necessity and should come out of the wedding budget) I bought them right away - it was such a rush - having a pair of Jimmy Choos was like a life goal of mine and what better way to accomplish that?  On sale for 60% off, in my size and for my wedding?!  It was a done deal.  I couldn't wait for them to arrive....I even got a pedicure before I tried them on.  Thank goodness they fit, I think I would have been heart broken if they didn't. 

So Jimmy and I were meant to be...but the more I thought about it....I don't think that Jimmy and my outdoor reception are going to get along very well.  Those stilettos are going to be sinking into the grass and I will be tripping all over the place, that is not going to be very elegant which is the look I am going for on my wedding day.  So, it was off to the Internet to do more shoe shopping....this time I was looking for wedges that had feminine details - like ruffles.  I still wanted some height because Jon is about a foot taller than me.  Thanks to Allie, Kathryn and Catherine who helped me search for wedges online...I found these guys - pretty much exactly what I was looking for!

The only problem with these guys is that the ruffles are made of suede and the straps are really flimsy so I am going to need some help getting them on.  I sound a bit pathetic, but last night when I was trying them on it took me about 2 minutes per foot to get them on.  So, sorry in advance bridesmaids....I am going to need some help getting my "after the ceremony" shoes on. 

Then, just to be safe, I am going to have a pair of reception flip flops in my arsenal just in case my feet start to hurt in the wedges.  There is nothing worse than a pair of shoes ruining your dance moves. I haven't bought my reception flip flops yet...but I am thinking something like this pair of JCrew flops.  I can't resist the gems...I just love sparkles :) And I guess if I don't need to make a 3rd shoe change on the wedding day I can always wear these guys on the honeymoon! 

Practice makes perfect

Everyone knows that the day before the wedding is the rehearsal.  When the bride, groom, bridal party and parents meet at the church - briefly run through the ceremony a couple times so that everyone can get an idea of where they need to be at each point in the ceremony.  But there are a few other things that you get to practice before the big day that are also pretty fun! 

Eating

When I first contacted my caterer to ask for some more information on pricing, menus etc.  they asked me to come out for a complimentary tasting.  They felt like that was the best way to sell their products - and let me tell you it worked!  Jody's Pantry catering prepared a great sampling for my parents and I - along with showing us videos and pictures of previous events they had done. (Special cheese display by Jody's Pantry pictured above.)  Everything was so good - and that was just the first of 2 more.  One for the final menu we decide on and one for cake. 

I seriously cant WAIT for the cake tasting.   Jody's Pantry offers 25 cake flavors and 25 cake fillings. Champagne white, wedding white, orange mimosa, chocolate fudge, dulche de leche just to name a few. I have never really met anything with sugar in it that I didn't like so picking out my favorite is probably going to be tough.  Luckily since wedding cakes are multiple layers I can pick more than 1 flavor.  I don't think I can have a 25 layer wedding cake - so I guess in this situation, Jon's nut allergy is kinda a good thing because it will help to eliminate some of our choices.

Hair/Make-up

How many times in your life do you get to practice getting your hair and make-up done?  Usually, its a special enough occasion to have your hair and make-up professionally done.  For your wedding you get to practice getting pretty....I have to admit it is very fun....

some pics from my hair/make-up trial runs....

Unfortunately, I didn't get to show off my hair or my make-up....after my hair trial run I did yard work, and after my make-up trial run I took a nap. 

Dancing

Jon and I have been discussing what kind of song we want to dance to for our first dance.  A few weekends ago we turned a song on and practiced slow dancing to it.... haha it did not turn out well - Jon and I only have 1 dance move- the twirl and dip, and that one took us about 2 years and many sorority formals to perfect.  I still remember the first time that we tried...ok, I tried, Jon wasn't ready - and I landed on the floor.



I decided that since we don't have 2 years to practice our first wedding dance, that we are going to enlist the help of professionals and take dance lessons....so I guess our "first dance" wont really be the first time we dance to our wedding song....we will have practiced before.  But I am confident that that option is better than Jon dropping me on the dance floor in my wedding dress :) 

Potty Wars

If you talk to my family and friends they may say something different, but I think that I have been a pretty reasonable bride - at least if TLC was trying to make a TV show out of me it probably wouldn't be very entertaining.  I have only had a few minor bridezilla moments and they mostly had to do with things that I am convinced that no bride-to-be can avoid- which is dealing with two different families coming together and trying to keep everyone happy. It doesn't matter if its a wedding or not, that is stressful!  Last night was probably one of the first times that my Mom, Dad and I have really disagreed on something in the wedding planning process and would you believe it was about Porta Potties?!  Yep, we are talking, yelling at each other, ended in the silent treatment disagreement....and I think you might be surprised to know that it is my Mom that wants to have porta potties at my wedding reception and that my Dad had the strongest opinion about not having them. 

I had mixed feelings about them....at first, I was open to the idea because I found out that you can rent trailer units that just look like a really simple bathroom - almost like if a new house was built with the most basic necessities - thin dry wall, small mirror unit, white toilet and thin carpet. These are called "executive units". I thought that an "executive unit" might still be an eye sore but we could try to make it blend in behind the tent so that the only way you would be able to see it is if you were actually going to use the rest room.  I also thought that having an extra 2 rest rooms (in addition to the 5 that we have in our house) would be a nice convience for once people started to drink a bit heavier after dinner and needed to use the rest room a bit more frequently ;)  Well, then I found out that not only were the "executive" units booked for my wedding date at the vendor we had been referred to but that they also came with a $2,400 price tag.  That is quite a hefty price tag for a giant white trailer that would have been stealing eyes away from me in my big white dress....and I think we can all agree that on your wedding day you do not want to compete with a porta potty unit for attention. The next option down from the "executive" units are really just normal porta potties that aren't in an obnoxious color like green and blue that you see at construction sites and community events.  The porta potty companies call these units "elite".  Im sorry but there is nothing elite about them, they look like you put an airplane bathroom in a box and stuck in on the lawn. 

My Mom is convinced that we need to have this at my wedding reception because she doesn't think that the 5 bathrooms that we have in our house will be sufficient enough.  My Dad and I think that it sends the wrong message to people that they aren't welcome in our house and they need to stay out of it even to use the bathroom.  (Which isn't the case at all - the reason why I chose to have my wedding at my families home is because I want people to see it and how great of a job my parents have done decorating.) When my mom and I have disagreed on some minor details prior in the wedding planning process my Dad has acted as Switzerland but last night it was clear that even he knew that there was nothing elite about the "elite" line of porta potties.

So....all in all we were not able to come to a conclusion on whether or not we will have porta potties....My Dad and I still think its appalling and my Mom still thinks they are a necessity.  So the outcome is TBD....but just know that if they do end up at my wedding reception that it was against my will.....

A Bride Themed Christmas

This Christmas was a very fun Christmas - it is bitter sweet because it is the last Christmas that I will spend with my immediate family and while I love our family taditions, I am also very excited to start new ones next year.  As I look back on 2010 there are so many things that I have to be thankful for but I really can't wait for what 2011 has to bring, I have a feeling its going to be one memorable year :)

I recieved so many great gifts this year for christmas that all revolved around being a bride-to-be.  I am so blessed to have such thoughtful gift giving friends and family.  Here are some of the wedding themed gifts I got this year for Christmas.

Gifts for getting pampered :)

A new cute apron for when I cook

Seeing my future name is so exciting - too bad I can't use this for another 9 months! 

A book and some tools to help eliminate wedding planning stress

And one of my favorites  - Ballroom dance lessons!!!

When You Know You Know

I knew from the beginning that I wanted to plan my wedding myself with my mom -- My mom has a knack for hosting really unique parties and I wanted the two of us to be able to plan everything together.  Planning a wedding to be at your own home though turned out to be a much bigger undertaking that I ever imagined.  Things that you would never even think of needed be done....for example my poor brothers were put to work all last summer to get our gardens 'wedding ready', we got new lighting, had trees taken out and are having the driveway re-paved. My parents claim that these things aren't "just for the wedding" they were all on the to-do list, but were expedited due to the wedding.   On top of all that maintenance that would have been taken care of for us if I had chosen a country club, hotel or reception hall, I had to find vendors to rent everything from big things like tents, tables & chairs to little things like every fork, knife, spoon, glass and dish.  Choosing vendors can be a stressful part of wedding planning, but once you start doing a little research I found it pretty easy to make decisions.   I pretty much made all my decisions based on 1. professionalism of their web presence  2. Timeliness in communication 3. First Impressions and 4. Referrals. 

Photographer -

I found my photographer through Whirl Magazine's semi-annual wedding edition -- and the reason why I chose MichaelWill to be my photographer was because I e-mailed him to find out some more information about his pricingg and packages and he didn't just respond back to me with an e-mail....he called me, literally 3 minutes after I hit the "send" button.  I liked this prompt communication because like I mentioned before, patience is not one of my strong suits.  But not only was he prompt to get back to me he was SO enthusiastic - I could tell he really loved photographing weddings and he had a great personality that I felt would spark some good candid pictures.  Each time I e-mail him or comment on something on his facebook page he always tells me how excited he is for my wedding and I actually believe him :)

Caterer

I thought that I had booked my caterer like a month after I got engaged....wrong.  My parents went to a restaurant in Meadville (that I wont name) which is right outside Conneaut Lake, and starting talking to the owner about my wedding -- he mentioned that he didn't run a catering business for a full time career but that he did catering for "select" people and would love to bid on my wedding since my parents were good clients of his.  He went on to say that he would also provide bar tenders and valet parking - I thought "sweet, 3 birds with 1 stone!"  About a week after my parents talked to him at his restaurant he came over to our house to try to get a lay of the land and talk with me about what I wanted.  I sort of knew what I wanted but I really needed a professional opinion to help me figure out a menu that would blend well together -- and he wasnt able to offer that.  After talking for about an hour he said he felt like he got enough information from me to get a good proposal put together and I gave him until September 10, 2010 to give us the quote, which was about 3 month (a really long time to work on a proposal...).   The week before September 10th he e-mailed my mom saying he needed an extenstion and would get us the quote by October 4th.  Not really a good first impression asking for an extention on a deadline you had 3 months to work on buddy.... but I didnt give up hope - I kept faith in him until October 12th when we had still not heard from him and I had made appointments to meet with multiple other vendors on October 23rd.  I e-mailed him and asked if he would be able to get me the quote by October 22ed so that we could get an idea of how much $$ we were looking at for food as a starting point and so that I could tell the rental company what supplies we would need.  Well, today is December 10th and I still have not heard from him....snooze you loose buddy.  Not only are you not getting my wedding business, my parents are never going back to your restaurant. 

I am so excited that I didnt end up going with that guy as my caterer because I came across Jody's Pantry catering again through Whirl Magazine and I am SO excited about the food and menu that they are going to provide.  Jody's Pantry answered my e-mails at lightning speed, had my parents and I out for a complimentary tasting and showed us videos and countless numbers of picture books of previous work that they have done.  Now this was the professionalism I was looking for!! 

And as an added bonus....Jody's Pantry is a Little Black Book vendor which means they are a vendor that has been featured on http://www.stylemepretty.com/ .....my FAVORITE website EVER, my "wedding dream" is to have my wedding featured on the blog.... Jody's Pantry is going to help me out :)

Check out some of their catering videos - I am so excited!!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39Szf5P5qLQ

Day-of-coordinator

Like I mentioned earlier, I knew that I didnt want a wedding planner because I am having way too much fun and I am way too much of a control freak to let someone else plan my wedding for me, however, when it comes to the day of the wedding I want to hand the reigns over to someone else....and that is why I decided I need a day-of-coordinator.  I got 2 names from Whirl Magazine (I love Whirl's wedding guide if you can't tell....anyone getting married in Pittsburgh, I would definitely recommend buying the magazine and using their website) - 1 was based in Pittsburgh and 1 was based in Erie --they both had beautiful websites but 1 had better communication.  I e-mailed Sumer Schmit at Simply Pefect Weddings to see if she had my date available and if she could give me some more infomation about her services and she not only got back to me in like an hour but she sent me the most adorable packet of infomation that was all outlined in pink swirls. I think Sumer is a girl after my own heart and she doesnt even know it....haha, on her "Top 10 reasons why you should hire me" # 3 was "we love spreadsheets....seriously!".  I am pretty sure this sold me before I even met her -I live by spreadsheets-  I made an excel spreadsheet outlining my outfits for my Las Vegas trip this summer....categorized by "daytime, evening, and night".   My mom and I went out to meet Sumer at a Starbucks and I got there about 15 minutes early...Sumer was already there, sitting at a table in an adorable pink caridgan holding a pink folder of information for me.  I knew from a 15 minute conversation with her that she was exactly what I was looking for, and that she would take care of anything I needed.  So far, she has proven to follow through on everything and anything I have asked her!  I needed hair/make-up recommendations....I had a list of them waiting for me in my inbox a day after I asked for them, same thing with a florist. 

Florist

Flowers are SO important to me....but I was having a hard time researching florists until Sumer referred me to Mocha Rose Floral Designs..... I only had to meet with 1 florist before I knew that April at Mocha Rose was going to be the best choice.  The flower appointment was so fun - my maid of honor came with me and my mom and we spent about an hour and a half talking about flowers and looking through pictures on April's iPad of other events that she had done.  I am excited to work with April because she only does weddings and corporate events, she doesnt do your typical birthday and funeral arrangments so I know that she is putting all of her efforts into my arrangements.