A Blog by Shannon

Where you can find me....

2010-11-18T12:01:00.005-05:00

I am so sad to admit that I have totally abandoned my blog here at A Blog by Shannon. The truth is, I took a break, while going through some major life changes. I got married!!! Quit my job in D.C! And moved to Richmond, VA! That is a lot of stuff.

I can not say that I will be back just yet, but I am still blogging. You can find me here:

Hats in the Belfry

Shannon and Evan's Wedding Blog

Thrifty Richmond

The New Ride

2010-08-07T09:19:00.004-04:00

This week the word overextended would be an understatement when describing my schedule. I have a tendency to pile things on and if I wasn’t busy enough, we decided that this would be a good week to do some car shopping. Evan has been driving my old Mercedes that my Dad gave me in college. The car had a lot of miles on it, some of the electric gadgets had stopped working and we were just waiting for the day that it wouldn’t start in the morning. We could have taken it in to be serviced, but the cost of fixing it up would be astronomical. So, we decided it was time for a trade in. We went to Carmax right near where Evan works and they gave us $2,000 for the trade in. Way more than I thought we would get. We really didn’t know what kind of car we wanted, but after walking around their lot, Evan picked out Ford Ranger truck. It was just about as simple as that. Sometimes I am amazed at how decisive we are. It was a little sad to say good-bye to the Benz after all these years. The car didn’t seem to want to say let go either as it took 3 guys to get the plates off. The salesmen asked me if I wanted a few minutes with the Mercedes before they drove it away, which I thought was pretty silly, but a little part of me did want to take a moment to reflect on all the good times I had with that car. In the end, I declined the private parking lot moment. So last night, they pulled the Benz away and we became proud owners of a shiny white truck!

Tomato and Mozzarella

2010-08-02T20:53:00.002-04:00

This summer we have been absolutely spoiled with fresh produce. Evan has been going to our local Farmer's Market every Sunday and coming back with fresh tomatoes, zuchinni, basil, corn, peaches and other deliciousness. We treated ourselves with fresh mozzarella, tomato and basil one afternoon as a little tasting before dinner. Add a little balsalmic drizzle = a happy Shannon.

My New Website

2010-07-26T19:47:00.003-04:00

I have heard that many Brides go through a period of withdrawal/depression right after their wedding. When you spend a year planning all the insane details of your wedding day, it is easy to feel like you don’t have anything to do when the wedding is over. Fortunately for me, I jumped right in to a new project that will definitely keep me busy. A new website, called On the Town On a Budget, Annapolis. The idea is that I will find things to do in Annapolis for under $20 and review them on the site. I hope to review activities like happy hours, music performances, sporting events, arts events, places to eat and much more.

The inspiration came about one Wednesday night. I was having a glass of wine at a local bar in Annapolis with my good girl friend, Jill. We were talking about out money woes and other things and she casually said to me, “Just because we’re broke doesn’t mean we can’t have a life.” This comment struck me like a lightening bolt. She is absolutely right! I could sit home and cry lonely tears in my glass of Maryland tap water while I eat Dollar Menu drive-through, OR I could go on a mission to find something fun to do for cheap and write about it!

The site is still very much a work in progress, but I hope you will check it out!

Dragonfly Video

2010-07-25T21:58:00.008-04:00

This Saturday was a really great Dragonfly Rehearsal. Not that all rehearsals aren't great, but this one was caught on video. We are working on a new piece to be performed at a TBD time and place that will be called Thread 2.0 I believe. The first version of this piece was performed with the AACC Symphony Orchestra while I was away on my honeymoon. I am so happy that I am getting to be a part of the new version of the piece.

I'm in the blue :)

Photos from our Coffee Table

2010-07-24T21:30:00.006-04:00

Hello my long lost blogger friends. I have been trying to be disciplined and keep the wedding updates flowing on the wedding blog, which has sadly distracted me from posting here. We are still recovering from the amazingness that was our wedding and honeymoon, trying as hard as possible not to let reality set back in, if we can help it. I do have some new ideas brewing of things I would like to share here, one of those being "Photos from our Coffee Table".

Like many young couples, we don't eat our meals at the dinner table. We have a dinner table, but it is usually piled with mail and dry cleaning and other non-food items. We usually have the television on with both laptops going while we eat dinner on the sofa. I know it may not seem the most romantic thing, but sometimes we get try to get fancy in our own way. So I am going to try to make a weekly habit of posting, dinner from the coffee table. Although the event is casual, the food can be elegant, especially since we are attempting to pair our newly acquired California wine with our meals.

So I leave you with a little sampling we did last weekend with my Mother and Michael. We opened the first bottle of white from the trip to California. It was the Chardonnay from Summer's Reserve in Calistoga. We paired it with a Camembert cheese, baguette and fresh strawberries. A great bottle of wine enjoyed not at a fancy French restaurant, but on the couch with family.

Thursday Night Dinner

2010-07-08T20:10:00.001-04:00

Who do we think we are?

Thursday night dinner looks very fancy thanks to the generous wedding gifts including the plates, silverware, serving bowl and wine opener, but believe it or not, these are left-overs. Pesto pasta from last night (which Evan lovingly refers to as $2 dinner), tomatoes and cucumbers left-over from our vegetable tray from yesterday thrown on a bag-o-salad with turkey lunch meat and the wine. Well, the wine isn’t leftover. It is actually the first bottle we opened from the bottles we picked up on our honeymoon in Napa.

Married life is sweet.

Day of Dance

2010-06-14T16:24:00.012-04:00

I have been hearing some complaints that I am slacking on my blog posts, so I am here today to update on some of the exciting things that have happened recently.

Yesterday was a beautiful 90 plus degree day downtown Annapolis. The sun was high and scorching, the ground sizzled like hot sand and a breeze blew every half hour. It was a beautiful day for dance.

Brigid Myers

Although Mother Nature didn’t change her plans to give us a nice 75 degree day, at least she didn’t rain on us! Dragonfly Dance Experiment had a wonderful performance at the City Docks in Annapolis.

Megan Morse Jans and Stephanie Yezek

We performed an hour show to a very warm audience (pun intended). The show started with a duet, “Before Bed” choreographed by Dragonfly’s director, Megan Morse Jans and guest choreographer, Stephanie Yezek. Jans and Yezek recently performed the piece at the Oxford Fringe Festival and the British influence was a light hearted and fun start the show. Next to perform a self-choreographed solo was Dragonfly, Sarah Keller. The feeling of falling in love was represented by her sweet choreography that melted the hearts of our audience. Following was the Dragonfly premier of “Build, Run, Speak” a piece choreographed by guest artist, Becky Radway, artistic director of Becky Radway Dance Projects based in New York, New York. The three section piece performed by six of the Dragonflies is based around the creation of a working machine. Remember, “If you build it, he will come.”? Well, we built it and the audience flocked to see.

The second half of the show included some Dragonfly favorites and a new duet. “In Her Hands” choreographed by guest artist Stephanie Yezek was performed by four Dragonflies. This intense performance of powerful movement was a great addition to the works presented at the Docks. Dancers jumping for their lives as it would seem, didn’t give up even in the heat. To cool things off (and not in a temperature sense) a duet featuring Jillian Barber, Dragonfly Rehearsal Director and Megan Morse Jans was a light hearted petite allegro. The dancers seemed to be playing a bit of cat and mouse as they tried to one up each other in a friendly and delicately choreographed competition. It was a fun piece that brought smiles to the glowing (hopefully sunblocked) faces of our audience. Closing the show was “Like a Peach” a sweet and thoughtful piece in Dragonfly’s repertoire. The piece represents the challenges of adapting to mother-hood and closed the show by putting the baby to bed.

Dock Side Dance was yet again a fantastic evening of dance offered to a wonderful community of supporters. Anyone who would sit on the 100 degree brick for an hour is a lover of dance and we are so very thankful for that! Next year bring your beach umbrellas because we will be there shine or shine!

A group shot of the Dragonflies looking beautiful is what I have decided to post in the place of an action shot of myself with a red face. :)

Checking In

2010-05-10T12:05:00.005-04:00

This past weekend was a very busy one. Friday night, I went to see my best friend, Jill's high school dance company perform. One of the pieces was student choreographed and featured music by Santogold. I had not heard of her before, but her sound reminds me of the Yeah Yeah Yeah's. I am totally diggin' her.

As you have probably figured out by now, I am spending most of my time wedding planning. Updates are on our wedding blog, http://www.shannonandevan.blogspot.com/. We have 7 weeks to go until the big day!

Front Row

2010-02-15T18:50:00.003-05:00

Look closely at the shot of the front row from my brother's fashion show at New York Fashion Week. Recognize anyone?

I don't know, maybe Kristen Johnston, Mena Suvari, Amber Rose, Caridee English, Shannon and Evan and Mom, etcetera...

The Runway Shoes

2010-02-14T19:41:00.006-05:00

It is that time of year again. This past Friday, my brother, Christian Siriano, showed a collection at New York Fashion week. I am so furious with myself! I did not get a single picture of myself in two of the three dresses I wore at fashion week. I made three costume changes throughout Friday’s events, one dress for the runway show, one dress for the after party and another dress for the after after party. I was too busy having fun to think to take pictures. Ahhhh! Although I can’t share pictures of my full looks, I can share pictures of the three different pairs of shoes I wore to compliment these looks.

Again this season, my brother worked with Payless to create the runway shoes and translate them into wearable fashion for sale in the Fall. I just love the Payless people. They are so nice and always let my brother make one of each style in a size six for me to try! This season I went from stiletto to platform to boot, a good transition for wear-ability. The stilettos were the most beauteous, but they were killing me by the end of the show (mostly because I don’t sit down until they make me), the platforms were the best for wearing outside in the cold and the boots were perfect with black tights and my mini dress.

Here are the runway models in the shoes!

Stiletto Flounce

Platform Boot

Gladiator Boot

I do have other exciting news to share about these shoes…my brother had Payless make the stiletto flounce shoes in white, ivory and orange (my wedding color) to have to wear on my wedding day! He made three different pair since I haven’t completely decided on the dress yet. Am I the luckiest bride ever, or what?

Snow Days

2010-02-07T19:28:00.006-05:00

It was a nice change of pace to be snowed in this weekend. We watched movies, worked on wedding craft projects and just enjoyed each other's company. Today, we did venture out to see how the snow was piling up as people started to dig out, but our snuggling kitties stayed nice and warm inside.

Hope everyone had a nice weekend!

New Music - Melody Gardot

2010-01-27T20:45:00.000-05:00

I am absolutely in love with Melody Gardot. They did a little promo on her on CBS Sunday morning this weekend. She is a Philly girl, which automatically scores points for me. The story on CBS can be found recapped at this link. Her story is a pretty striking one. She suffered very serious injuries in a crash with a Jeep Cheroke while she was on bike at a Philadelphia intersection. Music was a big part of her recovery and she still deals with constant pain, sensitivity to light and sound as well as additional symptoms of her brain injury. Her story is an amazing one, but so is her music. Her voice is just beautiful. You can see her music video here.

Cupcakes are Back!

2010-01-25T20:42:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the horrible picture. I finally had some time this weekend to bake after I don’t know how many months. I also got to try out my new decorator that Evan bought me for Christmas. It is very fancy and I am looking forward to practicing some more advanced frosting techniques. These are just a quick box mix of Devil’s Food Cake and canned Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting. Nothing fancy, just a little sweet to get me through the week.

Dance Performance

2010-01-23T19:49:00.009-05:00

As promised, I wanted to share the details for my upcoming performance with the Dragonfly Dance Experiment modern dance company. I never in a million years would have thought I would be performing in a dance show. Last summer, after a gracious invitation from the amazing Megan Morse Jans, I started taking class with the Dragonfly Dance Experiment dancers. I thought that would be enough, but after Megan asked me to rehearse for their upcoming show, I couldn’t say no. If you would have asked me even then if I thought I would ever participate in an evening length dance performance, I would have told you, “Never”. Never say never, my friends. Hope you can make it to the show!

Sunday, February 21st @ 2:30pm

Pascal Center for Performing Arts

101 College Pkwy, Arnold, MD 21012

Happy New Year!

2010-01-11T11:13:00.005-05:00

I know it is a little late to be wishing Happy New Year, but time is just flying by in 2010. I'm sorry that posting has been so light over here. I have been busy wedding planning and blogging about all things wedding over on the Wedding Blog.

If you are interested in wedding details you can catch up on recent posts:

Honeymoon Flight BOOKED!!!
Hotels
Things to Do: Go to Canada
Orange-spiration

In other exciting news...I have started blogging for Dragonfly Dance Experiment, the company that I dance with. I post every Sunday, so you can check out what is going on with the best Modern Dance Company in Annapolis on their site: http://www.dragonflydance.com/. We have a show coming up in February, check back for more details!!

The Shoes

2009-12-28T16:18:00.009-05:00

The holidays have been quite hectic, but now that things are winding down, I am realizing how incredibly lucky I am. Not just because of the generous gifts I received this year, but because I am so fortunate to have a loving family, a wonderful fiancé, adorable kitty-cats, a nice place to live and a good job. Evan and I were talking after Christmas Day that we can’t think of anything that we want or need. That is a pretty amazing realization.

One of the reasons that I can’t think of anything that I want or need is because of these babies….Yes, they are Dior, and yes, my brother gave them to me for Christmas…and yes, you should be very jealous. I promised I would include these on the blog for all to drool over. He bought these to go with an outfit he designed that was worn by actress, Alexis Bledel famous for her role on Gilmore Girls and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. She wore these for a few hours at a Saks event and now they are mine mine mine! I don’t know where I will wear them just yet. Probably with one of the Christian Siriano outfits I got for Christmas. 2010 is a year I will be stylin’.

Holiday Party Dresses

2009-12-14T14:23:00.007-05:00

I am absolutely in love with every single dress currently on the racks at White House/Black Market. I couldn’t contain myself and ended up buying not one, but two holiday party dresses this year. I know I am supposed to be saving for a wedding, but these dresses are reasonably priced and the store is always having some sort of deal.

The first dress I purchased to wear to Evan’s work party. It is classic black, strapless and fits like a glove. I really feel beautiful in this dress, and isn’t that what it is all about? I am probably going to freeze in it because I’m not wearing tights. I will be wearing a spray tan to show off the shoulders, but probably no jewelry to keep it basic.

The second dress is a little more flashy and I will be wearing it with black tights and the heels pictured here. (The sales girls always bring you shoes to try on with the dress which suckers me every time! And their black tights are awesome!) I will be wearing this sparkly number to a House Warming/Birthday/Holiday party this Saturday. I don’t think that this event is formal, but I don’t mind being a little overdressed. If we decide to go out on New Year’s I could wear this again, or I use the occasion to justify getting this one-strap loveliness.

December New York Trip

2009-12-08T14:21:00.009-05:00

After my nightmare about my wedding dress, I decided that I really needed a consult with my designer. And if my brother can’t come to me, I would have to go to him. Mom and I booked a ticket on the Bolt Bus and planned a two day get away. The bus ticket was $34 ROUND TRIP. My brother put us up in a hotel in Brooklyn and took us out to dinner. You can’t beat that!

Our two day NY trip was tons of fun. The bus ride was a breeze, it was a clean and nice and a really simple ride. I definitely recommend it. Once we got in to Manhattan we thought we would walk around, but after walking around in a two block circle with our bags, we decided to just get a cab to Brooklyn. I hadn’t been to my brother’s apartment since last Thanksgiving, so it was great to see how he had it decorated. We visited and watched the end of Harry Potter and then headed to dinner at Sea, a Thai place down the street. After dinner we headed back to the apartment and watched “Four Christmases”. Not exactly what you would call a luxurious New York vacation, but it is exactly what we wanted to do, spend time with my brother and Brad and Topper at the apartment and have a nice family dinner together.

On Monday, we woke up in our hotel in Brooklyn, my brother picked us up with his car service and we rode in to the city to his studio. We had our wedding dress consultation and then browsed through his racks. Mom took home a sweater and I got a new winter coat! Mom and I went to do a little shopping, bought Christmas presents for each other and headed back to the studio for lunch. It was fun to be a fly on the wall in his office watching his team run around. We stayed for a bit and then went to our bus stop to catch the Bolt Bus back home. It was quick, but a really nice trip. I can’t wait until Christmas when the family gets together again.

Buttercream Frosted

2009-11-29T11:52:00.007-05:00

I have been really inspired after my trip to the newly opened Bethesda location of Georgetown Cupcake. Although I make cupcakes often, I rarely make my own frosting from scratch. So this morning, I was feeling motivated and made a cream cheese buttercream frosting to go with my spice cake cupcakes. I still have to practice more to get them looking as professional as the GT Cupcakes, but it is a delicious project to work on.

Cream Cheese Buttercream Recipe

1 package Cream Cheese, softened
1 stick of Unsalted Sweet Cream Butter, softened
1 lb of Confectioner’s Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla

Mix cream cheese and butter in mixer using the paddle attachment. Mix in sugar scraping the sides occasionally. Add in vanilla and mix some more!

Pumpkin Roll

2009-11-27T08:05:00.008-05:00

A couple years ago, while living in Arkansas, I hosted an October Bunco party. I planned my menu for weeks. I chose foods that would fit with a Halloween theme, witches fingers (vienna sausages wrapped in puff pastry), coffin dip (pumpernickel bread cut like coffins with dill dip) and a blood ball (shrimp ball drizzled in cocktail sauce). I made sugar cookies in the shape of pumpkins and witches hat cookies. Everything fit my theme and my only stress was the “day of” execution. I always get stressed on the “day of” and once in a while, Evan and I will get in a tiff because of it. Evan had made a Pumpkin Roll and wanted me to serve it at my party. I was irritated because it didn’t go with my theme and I wanted the menu to be things that I had prepared. I had worked so hard to plan it out and prepare everything. And to be perfectly honest, I wanted the credit when the guests oohed and aahed. By the time the first car pulled in the driveway, I had kicked Evan out and let the Pumpkin Roll stay. Big mistake.

Guests arrived and grazed through the spread of food with the regular, “how cute” type of polite comments. That is, until they came to the Pumpkin Roll. These ladies went crazy over this Pumpkin Roll! There were extraordinarily loud “MMmmmms” and they were all dieing over the filling. Three people asked for the recipe and one woman suggested that I email it out to the whole Bunco listserv. Then the conversation went on and on about how difficult it is to make “rolls”. It was everything I could do not to lose it when I had to announce that I didn’t make it. I think some of the crowd was genuinely disappointed or worried that I didn’t have the recipe to give. So the party went on and I didn’t mention much about it. The week following the party, I received two phone calls asking for the recipe since I did not send it out.

Fast forward a couple weeks to Thanksgiving and I was planning a potluck with two couples in Arkansas. Both women were in the Bunco group and asked me to ask Evan to make the Pumpkin Roll. That stupid Pumpkin Roll would haunt me forever. I swallowed my pride and told him to prepare it, but I could no longer keep my feelings to myself. I had a couple glasses of wine and spilled my guts about my Pumpkin Roll animosity. That only set the stage for everyone to moan loudly and go way over the top when he served it as the finale of our Thanksgiving feast. And now looking back, I can’t even remember what I brought to that potluck.

The teasing is ongoing, but these days I have come to terms with the Pumpkin Roll. I know I can’t compete with it and have just accepted the fact that it is the best dessert at every party we take it to. This year was no exception. One of the guests at our Thanksgiving dinner had, not one, but two pieces of Pumpkin Roll, leaving no room for a piece of apple pie that his wife made special for him. Another women defeated by the Pumpkin Roll. I know her pain so well.

Siriano Head to Toe

2009-11-23T20:50:00.009-05:00

Every year the owner of the company I work for throws a huge holiday party the Sunday before Thanksgiving. Every salon employee, from stylist to shampoo assistant, is invited from every Bubbles, Salon Cielo and Colorworks salon. People come from Florida, Philadelphia, Virginia, Maryland and DC to celebrate and it is always an event. This year’s theme was Brazilian Carnivale, so the dress code was “flashy.” I thought about going in full body paint, but then decided that this was the perfect opportunity for me to wear the dress that didn’t make it to the engagement party. Everyone’s outfits are always over the top, so I knew that it would be perfect. I wore head to toe, Chrisitan Siriano. I had the VS make-up, the Payless runway shoes and the dress from his most recent line. It was pretty show stopping. I even got a mention in the CIBU “Holi-do of the Day” video from the famous Jenn Mapp-Bressan.

Martin + Osa

2009-11-18T20:50:00.003-05:00

This may not be a new brand, but it is new to me. I am a fan of this store. I bought this dress a couple months ago and thought it was the perfect summer to fall transition dress. I wore it with sandals when the weather was warm and dressed it up with cowboy boots and a cardigan when it started to get chilly. I planned to wear this into winter with tights and a sweater, but to my dismay, I got in a little accident. I tripped (over my cat) and split the dress right up the back. I was embarrassed and obviously bummed since I love this dress. My cat was ok, don’t worry. I put the dress back in the closet because I couldn’t bare to throw it away. Weeks later, I needed a dress for my engagement party and I immediately remembered that my favorite dress also came in a print. I bought the print dress and while I was in the store, I asked if there was any chance I could exchange my torn dress. I explained how it got torn, that I tripped over my cat, and they said, “No problem!” I was so happy that I asked. Last week, I took my dress in and they didn’t have my size. I was worried, but for no reason. They called another store and sent it to me at no charge. Isn’t it nice when a store goes out of there way to make you happy?

Flash Mob Part 2

2009-11-12T08:02:00.000-05:00

I am participating in another flash mob project with Dragonfly Dance. This one is recreating a Flash Mob from Oprah’s 24th Anniversay Concert. We will be teaching the dance to 200 non-dancers at a corporate event in downtown DC. I had rehearsal with 15 other dancers on Tuesday night to learn the choreography to the Black Eyed Peas song. Wednesday and Thursdayare the performances that will be taped. I don’t know if I will be able to get a recording of our actual performance, but here is the Oprah/Black Eyed Peas performance. Pretty stunning.

If you want to learn the dance yourself, there is a video on Oprah’s website that shows you how to do it!

Back From Michigan

2009-11-10T23:26:00.003-05:00

What a whirlwind trip! Do you know the feeling when you need a vacation from your vacation? We had such a great time wedding planning, visiting family and exploring Detroit city. We ended up making adjustments to our original itinerary and by adjustments I mean we were late to almost every appointment, rescheduled a floral meeting and cancelled the photography meeting because there was no way we could make it. Even with all that I feel like we had a very successful trip and now I know I need to plan more conservatively.

I am so happy with the decision to have our wedding in Detroit. We only spent one night in the city and I wished we had planned for more. Evan, his mom, his sister, his sister’s friend (and native Detroiter) Michael, me and my mom all took the hotel shuttle downtown to Greektown so that we could check out the scene. My Mom wanted see the casinos so we did a quick walk through and spent a few minutes at the quarter slots. After the casino tour, we went and sat at the bar at Pegasus. They served flaming cheeses, hummus and other delicious appetizers, so we ate and drank and enjoyed the show. After appetizers and drinks, Michael said that we had to go across the street to a famous Greek pastry shop. We all picked out our own delicious dessert and jumped back on the shuttle to our hotel. We stayed at the Omni Hotel, right on the Detroit river. Our room faced the water so we woke up looking at the Windsor Canada skyline. Michael recommended some other places that I really wished we had time to see, the Renaissance Center, the Greektown hotels and the people mover. I guess we will have to schedule those in our next trip.

Off to Michigan

2009-11-04T13:10:00.005-05:00

Be back next week with lots of wedding planning news to share...

"We don't wancha goin' out for hockey!"

2009-11-02T19:22:00.004-05:00

If you don't know this quote, it is from one of my favorite movies, Fargo. Hockey is such an interesting thing to me. I know there are hockey fans all over and even California has a hockey team, but nobody loves this sport like a Northerner. Texas and the southern states have their football, California their surfing, Maryland their sailing (yes, my high school had a sailing team) and Michigan/Wisconsin/Minnesota/etc. has hockey and that sport with the brooms kind of like shuffle board.

As you probably know, Evan, my fiance, is from Michigan, which is pretty North by most standards. I figured it was only a matter of time before I was dragged to a Capitals game. Not that Evan is a big sports fan, but his cousin who lives in Salisbury, Maryland is a season ticket holder and had two tickets that he wasn't using. So we found ourselves headed to DC to support the Washington Capitals.

We had a really nice dinner at Asian Spices, since the Verizon Center where the Caps play is right in the middle of China Town. Then we headed up, up, up to almost the top row, where the real fans sit. Evan got a beer and I got peanuts to keep me occupied. There were drunken rowdy college kids behind us, hockey Moms to one side and the women next to me was literally knitting a sweater. Unfortunately, the Caps lost to the Islanders, but we had a nice time. GO CAPS!

Halloween Cookies

2009-11-01T09:45:00.007-05:00

It has been quite a busy and rainy Halloween weekend, and it's not over yet. We didn't buy candy this year. Last year we didn't have any trick-or-treaters. So in place of our left over snickers and butterfingers, we will be enjoying Halloween cookies today. Happy Halloween!

Flash Mob

2009-10-30T08:21:00.008-04:00

A little while ago I posted about starting to dance again. I have been taking class with a company, DragonFly Dance Experiment, for a couple of months. A few weeks ago, the director asked me if I would want to perform with them. I, of course, said “Yes!”, but I am (for obvious reasons) really nervous. It has been a long long time since I have been on a stage. Really my last performance was on the court. The basketball court with the Diamond Gem Dance Team. That is not exactly what I would compare to improving modern movement. But I am just going to have to get over it and jump in.

The first piece I started rehearsing with the company is a Flashmob piece. For those that do not know what a Flashmob is (I had to look it up myself) here is the Wikipedia definition:
“A flash mob (or flashmob) is a large group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place, perform an unusual action for a brief time, then quickly disperse.”

So for our purpose, we come together and perform an improv and choreographed work in a public place and then go our separate ways. We did our first “performance” this past Wednesday, downtown Annapolis. This is going to be an ongoing project and I can’t wait to see how it develops. Maybe you'll be lucky enough to be where we are one day...or you can watch it on youtube.

(Unfortunately, this video is cut off on the right side which is where I am standing most of the time, so you can watch it on youtube here.)

My Brother on Oprah!

2009-10-29T17:21:00.003-04:00

If you didn’t catch it today, I hope you set your DVR! My brother is a super star! He was on Oprah this afternoon and he did amazing! (Yes, I recorded it on a VHS tape. I am old school.) I was so proud to see him so confident and witty holding his own with the Queen of day time (or any time) television. Did you see her hold his hand?!? He talked about Project Runway, his book, showed some of his new gowns and plugged his Payless Shoe line. If you haven’t seen it, check out Oprah’s website for a link to the 50% off Payless offer and see his behind the scenes video. It is pretty funny. This kid is blowing up! He is also going to have a new show on Bravo TV. I don’t have details yet, but I saw this blog on the Bravo website. (Yes, I have to google his name to find out what is going on.)

I am a very proud sister. What do we think of this, in white, for June?

Wedding Website

2009-10-26T20:26:00.002-04:00

I am having a lot of fun starting to put together the details of our upcoming wedding. We have confirmed our venue which is the biggest step so far. Detroit, here we come! I have started a wedding website to post info for our guests and anyone who is interested in our details.

Wedding Weekend: Part 2

2009-10-22T21:02:00.008-04:00

Unfortunately, I did not get a single picture of the bride and groom at the second “wedding” this weekend. This is the best shot I could find of Evan and the groom, our good friend, Kevin.

The second "wedding" last Saturday was actually a reception only party for our friends in Richmond who tied the knot in a private ceremony this summer. They invited friends and family to celebrate with them at a restaurant/bar, the Bank, in downtown Richmond. We drove right from the Charlottesville wedding to our hotel, dropped off our bags, I changed my shoes and we headed to the Bank (which was fortunately only two blocks away because I was wearing runway shoes). It was really nice to see all of our Richmond friends. We have kept in touch with a few of them, but hadn’t seen most of them in three years. It was nice to see who had moved and who was still in their post-college apartments, who had changed jobs and who were back in school. We fell right in to where we had left off and partied like we were in our early twenties. :) After the celebration, we headed to our hotel room and ordered Dominos, since we missed the food at both celebrations. Evan was asleep before the pizza came, but I chowed down and he had a nice pre-breakfast for his hung over self the next morning.

We dragged ourselves out of bed on Sunday both with big headaches, but we dusted ourselves off to meet more friends for brunch. When I first met Evan, he lived in a split Richmond house, one apartment on top and one below. The apartment above was Evan and his roommate Shawn and the apartment below was Fletch. Fletch is absolutely a character and those three boys had some bachelor times, most of which are unmentionable. I was so glad we were able to catch up with him and his girlfriend, Carter. We are all a little more grown up now, but I’m pretty sure we all showed up to brunch with hangovers. Richmond is just that kind of city.

Wedding Weekend: Part 1

2009-10-21T21:59:00.006-04:00

Now that we are engaged it seems like things are all wedding all the time, but I couldn’t have planned that we would have not one, but two, weddings to attend this past weekend! I did, however, RSVP that we would attend both and Evan was along for the ride.

The first wedding was the Mapp/Bressan wedding in Charlottesville, VA. My friend, Jenn Mapp, famous for her CIBU videos on youtube, wore a Christian Siriano original gown at her outdoor ceremony at Ash Lawn Highland. She was absolutely stunning and the ceremony (although quite cold) was beautiful. We walked down a cobblestone path through a garden maze to the intimate ceremony site. (Side note: You know a bride is a fabulous woman when most of her guests are in stilettos at an outdoor wedding.)

The couple wrote their own vows, which were sincerely beautiful. The groom could hardly keep himself together when reciting his, and I think that even Evan was a little teary. The couple exchanged a romantic first kiss and we all headed to the tent for the reception. We warmed up at the cocktail hour with their signature cocktail, hot rum cider. Well, I warmed up with hot rum cider and Evan did his duty and ordered a soda since he would be driving us to our next wedding reception in Richmond, VA. We waited as long as we could for the bride and groom to make their entrance so we could get a good photo, but finally agreed we had to go if we weren’t going to be too late to the next reception. As we were leaving we ran into the bride and groom on their way back to the reception. It was perfect timing for us to get a picture and give our personal congratulations to the happy couple.

Engagement Party - Part 3: The Dress

2009-10-20T18:32:00.006-04:00

My little brother is the best brother in the entire world. He has really taken care of me and mom in the fashion department since he hit it big. Our party weekend, he sent me beautiful white roses, provided drinks for all our guests with blue champagne glasses and gave us two wonderful engagement gifts. The only uh-oh moment was when we realized the dress he had for me to wear wasn’t coming. Here is a quick refresh from my previous post about the dresses I tried on for his most recent fashion show:

“I tried on two dresses, the one I wore (to the fashion show) and another strapless short party dress, both in the red print. I was in love with both dresses but went with the halter style since the strapless was on hold for another celeb. The strapless dress may end up in my closet eventually since no one ended up wearing it.”

This strapless dress was to be my party dress for our engagement party. I had been planning on this since the day after his runway show. He had his assistant priority mail my dress, but unfortunately she forgot to put “Saturday Delivery” on the box. I’m sure her life/job is crazy, so I don’t blame her at all. But you bet I was having a panic moment at 2pm the day before the party when we realized, I had nothing to wear!! Fortunately, I was able to find a dress that I liked at Martin + Osa (a new favorite store of mine) and everything turned out fine.

My party dress came perfectly packed the Monday after the party along with a winter jacket with a sticky note on it that read, "Do Not Sell, Shannon's Jacket". I really can't complain, I am one lucky sister. I will just have to find another party for my party dress, or make Evan take me on a hot date.

Engagement Party - Part 2: My Sidekick

2009-10-19T17:34:00.005-04:00

I have a four year old niece who is the daughter of my stepsister, Melody. She really likes Evan and me because Evan almost always has a present for her when we see her and I give her ballet lessons in the living room. She was my sidekick for most of the engagement party. She followed me while I mingled with guests and posed for pictures. She sat with me while I attempted to eat and helped me pick out which dessert I should try first. she told all the guests, "what are we going to do with all these babies?" since there were three babies under the age of 1 year also in attendance. I really loved her company, but her mother was worried that she was bothering me. For a little break, we asked her if she could "guard" the presents. My niece took this task very seriously and "helped" by taking all of the cards and organizing them in a nice neat pile on the coffee table. That's right folks. All the cards were pulled off their gifts and put in a pile! We were able to figure out where most of the gifts came from, with the exception of a couple bottles of wine. Melody suggested that we address our cards, "Thank you for the lovely gift." for those who we weren't sure about. I appreciate that my little partner took her job so seriously. She can do no wrong in my book.

Our First Wedding Gift

2009-10-16T22:19:00.005-04:00

Our wedding is not until next summer, but Evan and I got an early start on our registry because it is just plain fun to start a registry. I really didn’t expect to receive any gifts for a quite a while, so I was super surprised when two huge Crate and Barrel boxes showed up at our apartment the beginning of last week. Evan and I so excited to open our first wedding gifts barely got them up the stairs before popping open the tape. To our immense surprise the card read…

“Congratulations on your engagement! May your life together be full of many reasons to celebrate. Wishing you the best: LuAnn, Eran & Payless Team”

Amazing! The Payless people are so incredibly thoughtful. They keep me and my mother stocked on shoes from each season. And now, they have gone out of their way to find our registry and send beautiful gifts. They sent a punch bowl and a cake display that we used at our engagement party this weekend! Every time we see them at my brother’s runway shows they are always so friendly and nice. This is such a thoughtful gesture I just had to share the excitement.

Engagement Party

2009-10-14T21:17:00.008-04:00

This Sunday, my mother hosted a brunch at her house in Annapolis to celebrate our Engagement. It was a party we had been planning for months and I was so excited how things came together. My father flew in from Florida, my brother came down from New York and Evan’s parents traveled all the way from Michigan. All of my bridesmaids, family friends, coworkers and neighbors were there to celebrate with us. It was a perfect day.

My mother opened her home and prepared the food: She did a wonderful job putting together egg casseroles, honey hams, cooked vegetables and fruit along with appetizers of tomato and cheese and raw veggies. Mom’s friend, Candy, prepared a delicious Italian sausage bite in a baked wonton cup. The house and yard looked absolutely beautiful.

My father and I made the desserts: We spent Friday evening and Saturday morning, baking up a storm. He made an almond cheesecake, chocolate marble and Oreo bunt cake, peanut butter and chocolate cupcakes and spice cake cupcakes. I made white chocolate macadamia nut cookies and two batches of my strawberry frosted, white cake cupcakes. Evan’s father, Bob, and our friend Shawn helped frost the day of the party. Yes, we have some sweet lovers in the family.

Evan’s parents provided the flowers: Jane and I made a stop at Whole Foods the morning of the party and picked out some flowers to go on each table. Jane (with the help of our friends from Richmond) put together absolutely beautiful arrangements.

My brother supplied Champagne: He knows what makes a party (for obvious reasons) and searched online to find the perfect party champagne glasses. He ordered these beautiful blue (plastic) Champagne glasses that went perfectly with our Bluebird theme I had posted on my blog months ago. He also made sure we would have enough Champagne for many many mimosas.

Evan and Michael did the yard work: For weeks leading up to the party, my mother planted grass, Michael trimmed and mulched. Evan help mulch arranged mums and put down pavers. The yard looked more beautiful then ever before.

The whole day was truly a family affair. The party was absolutely beautiful and I was so excited to get everyone together to celebrate with us.

Book Signing

2009-10-13T18:33:00.001-04:00

I have been a bad bad blogger lately. I will post wedding, weekend and other updates this week. I promise…

If you haven’t already bought your copy of Fierce Style: How to be Your Most Fabulous Self, it is in stores now! I had the pleasure of catching up with the author this past weekend at a signing at Borders in downtown DC. He even posed for a picture with me. :)

Apple Pie (from scratch!)

2009-09-23T19:09:00.003-04:00

Everyone knows that I love to bake, but did you know that Evan does some baking? Well, he does! This weekend he made this apple pie from scratch! He came home with a half dozen apples from the farmer’s market and announced, “I’m making an apple pie.” It was absolutely delicious!

New York Trip Sept 2009 - Day 3

2009-09-20T19:02:00.007-04:00

It has taken a full week to get all my posts up from our NY trip. In reality it has taken me this long to get back to normal life. I still think I’m in the Marriott hotel when I get up in morning, but once I open my eyes, I realize, no, I’m at home, bah.

Our last day in NYC was the only day that it didn’t rain. It was absolutely beautiful, sunny with a cool breeze. We had plans to have brunch with my brother and Brad, so my mother was anxious all morning. She didn’t want us to be late meeting him, so we had to make sure we were packed up and checked out of the hotel. I hate packing at the end of a trip. I can never fit everything back in the suitcase and with the two pairs of stiletto platforms, this pack up was specifically challenging.

After we checked out and checked our bags, we went on a little adventure to find a place to eat. We settled on The Bryant Park Grille. They have a beautiful patio with tables outside next to the Fashion Week tents. We had a really nice brunch, caught up on celebrity gossip and relived my trip and fall moment with good laughs. It is nice that my brother can still find time for us during these crazy weekend trips. We got to have good meal with just family, nobody buzzing around with cameras or clipboards. At the end of brunch we had to do our goodbyes and then headed to do some more sight seeing.

We jumped in a cab and headed towards Central Park. We drove past the MTV set up for the MTV Music Awards that were scheduled for that night. Tons of teens were already lined up on the sidewalks waiting to get a peak of their favorite rock stars. We got dropped off in front of one of the entrances to the park and were immediately approached by a rickshaw tour guide. We had to take two rickshaws, so Evan and his Mom rode together and I rode with my Mama. The tour guide was very nice, but had a small obsession with the movie Home Alone 2. He must have mentioned it at least 10 times on the tour. We learned about some other movies filmed in the park and saw the elite buildings over looking the park where different celebrities have apartments.

After the tour, we made it back to the hotel, collected our belongings and caught a cab to the train station. As our trip was winding down, we had time to review all the exciting moments from the previous two days. We talked about how amazing it was to see my brother’s name on the window at Saks. My Mom relived her encounters with Tim Gunn, Fern Mallis and the CEO from Payless. We all agreed that we were so glad that we ended up at Rock of Ages. We had such a wonderful time and I can’t wait for the next trip in February.

New York Trip Sept 2009 - Day 2

2009-09-16T20:31:00.003-04:00

The day of the runway show is filled with anticipation from the moment I wake up. Fortunately for me, I got to sleep in this year! It was great that our travel day and the day of the show were not one in the same. That meant much less anxiety for all.

Evan and his mother jumped right out of bed with plans to see more of the city. They headed over to Rockefeller Center and even made an appearance outside the Today Show. If I was a morning person I would have gone with them, but I’m glad that they got to go exploring so that Jane could get to see more of the city.

Read more and see more pictures here…

New York Trip Sept 2009 - Day One

2009-09-15T20:15:00.001-04:00

I am still reliving every moment of our New York Trip over and over in my mind. We had an absolutely amazing time and I wouldn’t have done one thing different.

Day one is always a whirlwind. We took the train up from BWI to NYC Penn Station and immediately headed over to my brother’s studio. On the way to the studio (which was only two blocks away) we passed by a Payless Shoe Store and had to stop to take a picture of the window. My brother’s entire line was displayed right up front with a picture of him and info about the shoes. My mother was so proud.

Once at the studio, it was a fun reunion, but it was also obvious my brother was incredibly busy. He really only had a few minutes to get us situated and get us out of there. His crew was having lunch when we arrived which was nice so we could chat with them for a few minutes before they were back to work work work. As I mentioned before I got to try on a few dresses, took home one and picked up the two pairs of shoes Payless had made for me. At that point, my brother called his driver to take us around the city.

It was a lot of fun to have the driver waiting for us. We are definitely not used to that kind of treatment. The first place we wanted to go was to Saks 5th Avenue to see my brother’s clothes on display on the exclusive designer 3rd floor. We were dropped off right in front and made a loop around the building to check out the window display. In the window were dresses by the likes of Roberto Cavali, Dolce and Gabbanna, Oscar DeLa Renta, Zac Posen and my little brother, Christian Siriano. We almost died as we walked around a read all the names. I thought I might fall over right there on the sidewalk and my mother got tears in her eyes. We posed for a picture at the window and then went inside. We took the elevator to the third floor and found his rack. The rack had been picked over quite a bit, but we each posed for another photo in front of the sign with his name holding a piece of this clothing. Then my mother told a few of the associates that she was his mother. After loitering in the designer area for a while, we went upstairs and Evan bought us each 2 pieces of chocolate from the chocolate counter. We went back one more time to look at his display and then called our driver to come pick us up.

Fashion Week Outfit

2009-09-14T20:01:00.004-04:00

It is that time of year again…FASHION WEEK!! This past weekend, Evan, Jane, my Mom and I had the best New York trip ever. The whole trip was absolutely awesome! I hope to post updates like I did last season, but I am trying to catch up with work and don’t have a ton of time to blog (hence my blogging absence the past few weeks). So until I can sit down and pour out our trip in written form, I wanted to post a quick update about the outfit I wore to my brother’s show. Of course my brother designed it! We stopped by his studio right when we got off the train on Friday. He had been doing fittings all day for celebs who wanted to wear something of his to his show. I tried on two dresses, the one I wore and another strapless short party dress, both in the red print. I was in love with both dresses but went with the halter style since the strapless was on hold for another celeb. The strapless dress may end up in my closet eventually since no one ended up wearing it. The shoes were also designed by my brother and produced by payless. I ended up wearing the gladiator platform boots that were worn in the show. I wore them all night and only fell once! More to come later this week...

Sewing a Tablecloth

2009-08-31T16:58:00.006-04:00

I am hosting a Bunko Party at my apartment next week!! I decided that it would be themed “yellow”, inspired by this yellow party. Part of this theme will include yellow tablecloths that I planned to sew from fabric I bought at Ikea. (Evan gave me a sewing machine for my birthday two years ago and I’m sorry to say, that this is the first attempt to use my machine.) My mother said that she would help so we set up the machine at her house. Believe it or not, we started this project two months ago…

Attempt #1: We broke the needle by sewing glittered fabric, so my Mom had to take the machine to a service store to find out what was wrong and how to fix it.

Attempt #2: I successfully sewed two sides of the four for one tablecloth and then got tired and had to go home. It was a work night :(

Attempt #3: My wonderful mother ended up finishing them because she wanted every off her dining room table. She ended up doing part of it by hand because the machine wouldn’t re-thread, but they are finished and they look beautiful.

I’m very glad that we got an early start otherwise we would have no tablecloths for the party. I am also very happy that now that my Mom is retired she has plenty of time to “help” me with these types of projects. I will (eventually) learn to sew and hope to have a successful sewing project to share in the next year. (I have to give myself a realistic time frame.) I will definitely post more pictures after the party, but just imagine this trifle bowl filled with lemons and delicious yellow inspired food displayed and a vase of yellow daffodils. I can’t wait!!

Cake Project

2009-08-13T20:22:00.004-04:00

Although I probably won’t make my own wedding cake, I thought it would be fun to try. My beautiful blue cake stand was sitting on my kitchen counter just wishing for a cake to hold. I am on vacation this week, so I had nothing but time to attempt this project. I don’t have any experience making layered cakes, especially not from scratch. I found a red velvet cake recipe that looked pretty straight forward and decided to just use canned cream cheese frosting. I did find simple cream cheese frosting recipe, but I didn’t want to overwhelm myself. I had to double the cake batter recipe to get all of my layers. I was also working with two different round pans, but the sizes were almost the same. (If I decide to make my own wedding cake, I will invest in matching pans.) Looking back, this project was not set up for success. I had mismatched pans, a brand new recipe and had to make several visits to the store to get more frosting, extra food coloring and new buttermilk. I am on vacation this week, so I didn’t mind the three trips to the store and it didn’t matter that it took me two days to finish the cake. The final result turned out pretty impressive if I do say so myself. We haven’t cut it yet, so I don’t know what it tastes like, but I want to savor the look of it for a few more hours.

(this is what I look like when I'm baking)

Shout Outs

2009-08-12T15:09:00.007-04:00

I am very excited to report that my brother is getting a lot of media exposure for all of his new projects! Last Friday, I was sitting in the nail salon flipping through the August issue of In Style Magazine (with Katherine Heighl on the cover) and came across a little snippet about his lip glosses from his Victoria Secret make-up line. I wanted to tear the page out, but since I was getting a pedicure, I thought that might be inappropriate. I did, however, run down to the Victoria’s Secret shop immediately after my nails dried to pick up a few items for gifts (since I already had a set for myself). The girl working cosmetics said that they had already sold out of a few items. The display wasn’t very big and easy to miss if you weren’t looking, but with all the buzz, I'm sure people are looking for it!

Yesterday, I received my September issue of Glamour Magazine (substitute for my Domino subscription since they stopped printing, so sad). I was going through the pages, not really reading and there was his face at the bottom of the page. He was included in the “Stylish Reads” section. As I’m sure everyone knows by now, his book, Fierce Style: How to Be Your Most Fabulous Self, is coming out in October. The magazine had a little mini interview at the bottom of page 80 in case you want to check it out. But for those of you who are not running out to the store to get it…here is one of the Q&A’s:

GLAMOUR: Who inspired you to be fierce?
CS: My sister. She didn’t look like anyone else-she’d go to school dressed like Snow White with lace-up boots!

I got a shout out in GLAMOUR! I am a little embarrassed to admit that, yes, I did wear a Snow White dress with black lace up boots to school in middle school. Thank goodness I can’t find that picture as it was during my “awkward” phase. Even if that is an outfit I would like to forget, I am so proud of my little bro! If you follow him on twitter, he has posted some pics from his line that is on display at Saks. And don’t forget his shoe line is coming to Payless in a few weeks!

Something(s) Blue

2009-07-28T20:13:00.003-04:00

My excitement about our engagement has not faded one ounce since it became official on July 4th. And although we still have no date or place that doesn’t mean the wedding planning process is on hold. I have made some important moves in the last month. I got my little brother to agree to make my dress and the bridesmaid dresses and I opened a wedding savings account! These are big moves.

One of the first fun decisions Evan and I have made is that we want to incorporate the Bluebird of Happiness into our décor/theme. We collected these figurines when we lived in Arkansas and took Evan’s sister, Jessica, and my friend, Sarah, to the shop when they came to visit. We sent bluebirds to our family as gifts and came to find out that Evan’s Grandparents were already collectors. We are not sure how we will include the birds in to our day, but it will be nice to use them to tribute family that won’t be with us and the place where we became a couple.

With this trend in mind, today, I was doing some eBay browsing and came across this cobalt blue cake stand. I realize that I am doing things way out of order, but I couldn’t help myself. I bid on it and the bidding just happened to be closing. Needless to say, I won the bid. If I don’t end up using it for the wedding, that is ok, it is a beautiful stand.

Wish List

2009-07-24T14:11:00.010-04:00

I know it is not christmas time, but lately, I have been accumulating a list of "toys" that I am dreaming about buying. I've been a good girl this year. I'm sure I am on the "nice" list, but with a wedding on the horizon, I will force myself to hold out and wait for a visit from Santa.

The first item I am drooling over is a Mini Notebook Computer. I don't have an iPone, so I feel like this would be my mobile device. After researching, I have found this notebook that is less than 3 pounds and would be perfect to tuck in my bag in the event that I have a party planning epiphany that I need to document immediately. I am also looking for a computer I can use on my lap on the couch so that I am not stuck at my desk. It would be nice to be able to keep all of my wedding stuff in one place, but I'm not sure the memory on this little guy could hold all my inspirations.

The second item on my wish list is a Scoother like this Vespa. My Mom's next door neighbor has a little scooter and I think it would be so much fun to ride around the neighborhood and downtown Annapolis. I need to do some more research before I consider this purchase because I think you have to have a motorcycle license to drive one of these in Maryland. Also, the prices go up considerable when you get a scooter that can be driven over 40 mph. Maybe I should try to find a place that I can rent one rather than buying.

The final "toy" I am coveting is the Cricut craft machine. I saw an infomercial the other morning and I've been dreaming about it ever since. I've been thinking of all the DIY projects I'd like to do for upcoming parties and of course the big day. The Cricut would be the perfect thing to have. I do realize that the infomercial glamorizes how easy it is to use and the machine is quite expensive. I also know myself and I have purchased many a craft accessory that is all the rage for a few weeks and then finds its place in my craft closet.

I will continue to adore these things from afar since I know that I don't really "need" them. I do find it funny that my wish list is full of a bunch of gadgets instead of shoes and handbags. Maybe my tastes are changing...

Mini Planters

2009-07-20T19:27:00.002-04:00

This weekend Evan and I were inspired to bring some “green” in to our apartment. While Evan worked on potting some house plants, I went to work on these little guys. If you look a little closer, you will see that these are actually cupcakes! I don’t have what you would call a green thumb, but I have been in a baking mood. I found these on marthastewart.com and thought they looked like the right amount of challenge for a Sunday baking session. I used her cupcake recipe, but used canned frosting and they turned out adorable and delicious. The green “plants” are mint sprigs, but beware if you make these, they wilt pretty quickly, so don’t put them in until the last minute.

The Martha directions can be found here, but just for fun, this was my process:

1. First, I prepped my 6 oz. unglazed terra cotta pots by soaking them in soapy water in the sink and then rinsing and drying them. I then cut little circles of parchment paper to put in the bottom of the pots so that the batter wouldn’t drip through the bottom. Then I brushed the inside of each pot with vegetable oil and dusted with cocoa powder.

2. I prepared by batter and then evenly divided it in each pot and set them on my baking sheet. I had a little batter left over, so I filled 6 regular cupcakes and stuck them all in the oven at 350. The regular cupcakes were done in 20 minutes, but the pots had to stay about 10 minutes longer. I opened the oven a bunch of times to look at them because I don’t have an oven light, so you probably won’t have to bake them this long if your oven stays at 350.

3. After the cupcakes were baked and cooled, I crushed up a bunch of Tuxedo Penguins Safeway brand chocolate cookies (they were on sale for $1.99). I frosted each cupcake with chocolate frosting from a can. Then I sprinkled the crushed cookies to cover the frosting and inserted my mint sprig.

Gift Cards and Exchanges

2009-07-19T20:10:00.004-04:00

I read somewhere that most people have at least $20 of unused gift cards in their possession. I know I am guilty of keeping gift cards with tiny balances, in my wallet at all times. My mother must do the same thing because last week when she was cleaning out her spare bedroom she came across a Banana Republic gift card. She immediately went to the store and bought a dress for me, so that the gift card wouldn’t sit in her wallet. She didn’t specifically pick out a dress for me, but just got something so that I could return it and get something that I like. She is one smart Mama. I went this weekend to exchange the dress and found this little number on clearance. I absolutely love it and can’t wait to wear it to my meeting on Monday.

Mustaches and Non-Matching Bridesmaids

2009-07-18T17:11:00.003-04:00

I have been on a million and a half bride/wedding/party planning websites and have found a couple trends that I absolutely love!!!

The first being mustache pictures. I have come across pictures from all different kinds of sites, alternative bride sites, traditional bride sites and party sites all featuring these adorable mustache pictures. Martha Stewart has this mustache template on her website and calls it “Party Mustache”. I first came across this mustache on Party Perfect blog featuring a yellow party by Simply Radiant. (I am also going to be using this yellow theme for an upcoming get together.) I can see how this has become a trend. People don’t want to take themselves too seriously. Taking wedding portraits (in my experience) can be forced and uncomfortable. It’s nice to see how much fun these bring to the wedding photos.

The other trend that I have for a while decided I’d like to follow is bridesmaids in all different dresses. My bridesmaids do not all have the same figure and I want them to all look and feel beautiful. I couldn’t decide if they should be a version of the same dress in the same color or completely different dresses. I think I am leaning towards completely different dresses in a similar color palette.

Brother, are you reading this? You may have a busy season coming up, but plan to squeeze in some fittings. xox

The Uniform Project

2009-07-15T21:39:00.004-04:00

I just came across this site and am totally inspired. This fashionista has challenged herself to wear just one dress for a year and to accessorize daily in order to raise awareness for the Akanksha Foundation. This organization funds education developments in India. Not only does this generate some buzz for this great organization, you can donate right on the site. So far she has raised almost $6,000 and she is only in day 76. Here is the quick synopsis from her site:

“Starting May 2009, I have pledged to wear one dress for one year as an exercise in sustainable fashion. Here’s how it works: There are 7 identical dresses, one for each day of the week. Every day I will reinvent the dress with layers, accessories and all kinds of accouterments, the majority of which will be vintage, hand-made, or hand-me-down goodies. Think of it as wearing a daily uniform with enough creative license to make it look like I just crawled out of the Marquis de Sade's boudoir.”

I am extremely impressed with her accessorizing skills and will be checking in daily to see what she does. A lot of her accessories come from etsy, ebay and other second hand type of retailers. Her statement with this site is also about sustainable fashion. I have to admit that although moved by her efforts to promote some wonderful issues, I am just excited to see what she is wearing each day. And in the end, I guess that really is the point. If I’m on this site 289 more times (checking in daily), that is a lot of opportunity to learn more about and possibly donate to this Foundation.

Server Inspired Cupcakes

2009-07-12T14:42:00.005-04:00

It is not often that a chef’s food is inspired by their serving pieces. I am in no way calling myself a chef, but in this case my cupcakes were totally inspired by the dish on which they would be displayed. During her visit last week, Evan’s Mom, Jane, brought us this Pink Etched Depression Glass server that belonged to Evan’s Grandparents. It goes beautifully with my Great Grandmother’s china that we recently unpacked. It just happened to work out that I had a can of Strawberry Mist frosting sitting in my cabinet that I was planning to try out. I just used my box mix of white cake and then frosted the cupcakes in a manor inspired by a post I recently saw on Bakerella. Her cupcakes (below) were from Retro Bakery, a professional cupcake bakery in Vegas. My cupcakes are store bought mix and frosting, so they do not compare, but they sure are adorable.

Wedding (Web) Sites

2009-07-12T08:33:00.005-04:00

Now that we are officially engaged there are magazines pilling up on the coffee table, new folders on my desktop and new favorite sites adding up like crazy. It has been a lot of fun researching and reading wedding stories of do it yourself brides. At first, Evan and I were having anxiety about the cost of a wedding, but after a week of research I think we can get creative, have the wedding we want and not go into debt. Still no date, place or anything really, but it has been a lot of fun looking for inspirations and new crafty projects. I am going to use my side bars to keep track of my wedding finds and crafty projects, but here is a list of the favorites so far:

Style Me Pretty

One Lovely Day by Project Wedding

Wedding Bee

Martha Stewart Weddings

Hostess with the Mostess

Moving Again

2009-07-09T17:33:00.005-04:00

In what feels like a former life, I used to be a dancer. I danced ballet with the Ballet Theatre of Annapolis (now the Ballet Theatre of Maryland) until high school. Once I got to high school I participated in my high school’s dance company, expanding into modern dance and contemporary styles. In college, I joined the Dance Team and performed at football and basketball games where I learned to do Russian jumps and switch leaps. I took ballet class my freshman year, but then dropped it because it was at 8:40am and once in a while I was lucky enough to be invited to dance in a piece for one of my dance major friends. I thought about changing my major to dance a few times, but never had the courage to do it. And after college, I started working and stopped dancing.

Yesterday, I took a dance class with a local dance company, Dragonfly Dance Experiment. The director of the company is a girl I went to high school with, Megan. I ran into her at the performance last week and she graciously invited me to come to her class. I couldn’t believe how strange it felt to move again. I knew it would be hard to get back in to dancing, but I had no idea how foreign the movements would feel. I had a wonderful time, even though my feet were cramping and I couldn’t pick up the combinations as quickly as I used to. All of her dancers were so nice and welcoming. I think that I faked it pretty good, but it was a struggle not to look like a complete fool.

Megan kindly told me that I have an open invitation to keep coming to class and watch their rehearsal. I will definitely take her up on her offer. I loved watching her dancers rehearse for their upcoming performance and I would love to just be part of their warm up as long as I don’t get in the way. It feels good (and a little sore) to be moving again.

Engagement Story

2009-07-06T16:23:00.004-04:00

I didn’t know how I felt about putting the very personal story of Evan and my engagement up on the internet for all to see, but I am being harassed by most of the people I know…so here is the story.

Last week was a very hectic week for me and Evan. We had my Grandfather’s birthday Monday, my Mom’s birthday Tuesday, the birth of my nephew, Owen, on Wednesday, a performance on Wednesday night, Evan’s birthday on Friday and Evan’s Mom visiting us for the 4th of July weekend. We both had a four day week last week, so we were trying to fit 5 days worth of work in to 4 days. That’s a lot of stuff going on. We have both been exhausted and stressed, so I didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary when Evan said he’d been nauseous and anxious.

On the 4th of July, Evan, his mother and I went to Bay Ridge to watch the neighborhood parade with my Mom, Michael, Miah, Eric, Debbie and their two kids, Alena and Aiden. It was quite a family affair. The highlight of the day (up to that point) was the Bay Ridge races. We had family in all the speed races and the egg toss. Evan ran the 25 and over race (with my ring in his pocket.) The kids won some of the speed races. Eric won 1st place in the 50 and over men’s race and my mother won 2nd place in the 50 and older women’s race. She competed against one other woman and they both were given 1st, 2nd and 3rd place ribbons! It was a hysterical event.

After the races, we all went back to our next door neighbor, Rick’s house as he was having a party with tons of food. We ate and drank and relaxed in his backyard, then moved to our backyard and were just resting up for another party and fireworks that evening. Evan asked me if I wanted to walk down to the end of the street. This is nothing out of the ordinary because we always walk down to the end of the street to look at the water and get a moment away from the family. We got to the end of the street and Evan asked if I wanted to walk down on the beach and I said, “No, I don’t want to get all sandy.” Then he said ok, let’s just walk a little ways down the road. Then on a grassy spot overlooking the Chesapeake Bay, Evan fished in his pocket and pulled out a ring box. When he pulled it out of his pocket something else fell out with it and I saw panic on his face, but it wasn’t the ring that fell. He got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. I kissed him and said yes!

After our engagement was official, we went back to my Mom’s house and the family freaked out for a few hours. Debbie went and got a bottle of Champagne and we toasted in the backyard. Then all the girls told the stories of their engagements and we got ready to go to the next party.

The last party of the day was at a beautiful mansion overlooking the point of the Chesapeake Bay. They had a band, a bar and delicious appetizers. They house is located in the perfect spot to see fireworks. We ran into neighbors and were excited to share our news with anyone who would listen. We danced the night away and then spent the night at my Mom’s house.

I am pretty amazed how excited I feel. We have been dating for 3 years and have lived in 3 different states in 6 different apartment/houses. We have been through a lot and I always knew we would eventually get married, but now it is really real.

Evening of Artistry

2009-07-05T14:42:00.002-04:00

This past week was jammed packed with exciting events and Wednesday night was no exception. My good friend, Graham was in town doing a dance workshop and a performance in Takoma Park. Graham and I danced together in high school and became close friends, but I hadn’t seen him in years. We had a quick visit in Philadelphia 6 years ago and his wedding in Salt Lake City the year before that. It was so nice to get to pick up right where we left off and hear about all the “where are they nows” of his family and people we knew from high school. I went to the performance with my friend, Jill, who teaches dance at Annapolis high school. Graham performed with his brother, Joel, a series of improv pieces, choreographed works and music. Graham performed a solo improv piece, a dance with his brother and a choreographed work in a modern style. Graham has always had a very unique movement and it was really fun to recognize it right away as something familiar. His brother’s story is a pretty amazing one. Joel was in a car accident with Graham and the rest of their siblings when we were in high school and Joel was 9. As a result of the accident, Joel is paraplegic. Joel performed a dance with Graham and did three of his songs from his band, Seriously Evan. Joel has grown up to be a very cool guy and it was fun to see how he has found to express himself in this family of dancer artists. It was a pretty emotional display of art followed up by dinner at an Olive Garden in a rough part of town, but it was a really great night.

On an unrelated note, Evan proposed to me this weekend and I said yes. I am going to try very hard not to turn this into a bride blog, but we are very excited. More details to come soon.

Birthday Dinner Round II

2009-07-02T22:12:00.003-04:00

Tuesday night, Evan and I went to dinner with my Mom and Michael to celebrate my Mom’s birthday. Yes, this is the second celebration of the birthday and there will be more celebration this weekend for Evan’s birthday. (We like birthdays in this family.) My Mom decided that she wanted a proper steak dinner, so we did dinner at Lewnes’ Steakhouse and drinks and dessert at the Chart House, both in Eastport. Lewnes’ is rumored to be one of the best steak houses in Annapolis. Mom and I both ordered the petit filet. It was by far the best steak that I have ever had. I ate the entire filet before anyone else could finish their plate and that says a lot. Evan had the prime rib and Michael had the rib eye. Both pretty impressive to look at, but it was voted unanimously that the filet was by far the best. The sides were very good as well. We had the hash browns and mushrooms. The quote of the night was “This is out of this world!” After the steaks we headed over to the Chart House and ordered the famous lava cake and a piece of key lime pie. For cocktails, I had a glass of Moet & Chandon, Mom had a Granny Smith Apply Martini and Evan a Grand Marnier Snifter. It was a fancy party! After the cocktail, the conversation got fun. Mom told Michael that he was delightful; Michael announced that the key lime pie was “out of this world” and we all had a good laugh about Dale’s brother’s house in Bay Ridge, which famously has a pool in the back. At the end of our cocktail hour it started to pour buckets of rain, so the boys did the gentlemanly thing and went to get the cars. On our way out, another couple was leaving and the women waited with us for her man to get their car. While we were standing on the deck under cover, she told us that this was her third anniversary and she was planning to be proposed to and because he did not pop the question, she would have a headache once they got home. A lot of information to share with two strangers, but it was a funny end to the evening.

In even more exciting news…yesterday, Michael’s daughter Melody gave birth to my new nephew, Owen. I haven’t gotten to see him in person yet, but this picture is absolutely precious. I might be a little bias, but I think he is out of this world.

Weekend Celebration

2009-06-29T19:32:00.003-04:00

This weekend, we celebrated two birthdays, my mother’s and Evan’s. Both are this week, but with all the 4th holiday festivities we wanted to do something special with just family.

For the special event, we brought out the turkey fryer to do chicken wings in mom’s backyard. (Nothing like a 10 gallon pot of oil to get a party started.) Evan and I went to 5 different places looking for peanut oil, but had no luck and finally settled for corn oil from the grocery store. They must only sell peanut oil in bulk during the holiday season. I was on prep duty and Evan on the fryer execution. I did a quick prep, just rinse and dry the chicken wings, dip in egg and roll in flour with seasoning. Then 5 minutes in the oil, 1 minute drip on a paper towel and serve. The wings were a total hit and one of our guests (4 year old Elena) almost fell asleep in her seat with a wing in her mouth. They were so good that even though she was exhausted, she couldn’t put it down. That’s how you know your dinner is a hit!

After dinner the mosquitoes had a feast on me, so we walked down to the beach hoping the wind would save me from more bites. Some neighbors were having a get together with a group of Danish friends. They were having a classic Danish midsummer celebration including a bonfire and a traditional burning of a witch. When I asked what the burning of the witch symbolized, one of the guests said simply, “witches are bad and need to be burned.” Although this was a perfectly suited response, I did a little googling and found this little snippet from a flikr stream from Mace2000.

In Denmark the people celebrate Midsummer´s Eve with large bonfires, it´s called Sankt Hans aften ("St. John's Eve") and takes place on the evening of June 23. The celebration of Midsummer's Eve was from ancient times linked to the summer solstice. People believed that at midsummer plants had miraculous and healing powers and they therefore picked them on this night. Bonfires were lit to protect against evil spirits which were believed to roam freely when the sun was turning southwards again. In the 1920s a tradition of putting a witch made of straw and cloth on the bonfire emerged as a remembrance of the church's witchburnings from 1540 to 1693. This burning sends the witch to Bloksbjerg, the mountain 'Brocken' in the Harz region of Germany where the great witch gathering was thought to be held on this day.

Life Coach

2009-06-18T23:36:00.003-04:00

Recently, I had done some research in to the whole concept of Life Coaching. A listserv I follow posted a bunch of Life Coach contacts in my area and I was curious to see what they were all about. I went through the website links and came across this site belonging to a woman who is a Life Coach in the DC area. From what I gather, she specializes in professional women who want to have it all. That would be me, I guess. On the site there is a free assessment to evaluate your effectiveness. I took the assessment and it automatically emailed me my score of 5 of 15. Bummer. The next day, the Life Coach sent me an email to make me feel better about myself saying that the score isn’t always what it seems and that I’m doing great. In her email she attached a list of 10 Tips to Improve Effectiveness. I won’t list them all here because I’m sure she would like you to visit her website to get this information. I did want to share three of the ones that really struck me.

SLEEP – She is absolutely right on this one. How often do you get a full 8 hours? I actually do this one pretty well, but I often feel guilty that I sleep too much. It is funny to me that sleeping a full night is something that most people wish they could do, but I feel like I’m being lazy because I do.

IMPLEMENT ONE NEW HEALTH HABIT – This one speaks to me very loud, especially after my recent Dentist debacle. I admit that I do not take as good care of my teeth as I should. As a result I will be going in for three procedures all of which require a needle in my gums. This is my penance for not flossing and I accept it. A good health habit for me to implement would be to floss every day.

HIRE A COACH – I don’t know what kind of investment this is, but I’m going to find out. I work as a District Manager and most of my days consist of helping other Manager’s identify goals, focus areas and ways to make their business stronger. We bounce ideas back and forth and then come up with an action plan. It would be great to do that with someone about my life.

I feel like most of the concepts, such as sleep more and take care of your health are things we know we are supposed to do. I think of a Life Coach as someone who helps you get a plan together to make sure you can do them. I guess I’ll find out if I’m right.

I hope everyone has a great weekend. I am off to Florida to visit my family!

Chocolate Covered Strawberries

2009-06-14T16:53:00.004-04:00

I wanted to put up this quick post to remind everyone how incredibly easy it is to make chocolate covered strawberries. I whipped these up in less than 10 minutes. All you need is 1 cup of semi sweet chocolate chips and a handful of strawberries. I washed and dried the strawberries, put the chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl and put them in for 1 minute, stirred, and 30 more seconds. Then I dipped each strawberry, stuck them on my cutting board covered with parchment paper and stuck the cutting board in the freezer for 5 minutes. That’s it! They don’t look perfect, but who really cares. Now that strawberries are in season, I have to remember to make these more often.

I hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Hair Tutorials

2009-06-12T18:06:00.003-04:00

I have never been creative when it comes to things like hair and make-up. I always rely on my fabulous stylist, Jamie at Bubbles Annapolis, to give me a great style and then I don’t mess with it. Lately, I have been getting bored of my every day look. Don’t get me wrong, the color and cut are fabulous and I get compliments all the time. It is just that my big round brush and blow dryer are just not doing it for me.

The past few weeks, I have been totally inspired by Jenn Mapp of CIBU and her “Do of the Day” videos on youtube. Jenn is an awesome girl anyways, but these videos are really motivating to me because not only does she have short hair and rocks it, but she also works like a slave and I know she gets up early just to make these. If she can get up, do her hair, make a video, drive in Northern Virginia traffic and slave away spreading CIBU love until all hours of the evening, the least I can do is try a different hair style once in a while.

Below is one of my favorite videos. I just got a new set of hot rollers and have been trying to master a voluminous style. She has a ton of other great videos on her youtube channel, www.youtube.com/cibu17. Lot’s of fun!

Cheese Sampling

2009-06-10T18:23:00.001-04:00

One of my favorite things to order in a nice restaurant is the cheese sampling. I even order a cheese plate in not-so-fancy places, like the VFW. (I recommend the first option, but the second makes for good laughs.) Two nights ago, Evan and I went to the new Whole Foods store in Annapolis and I decided to get the advice of the expert to pick out cheeses to make my own cheese platter. I really don’t know a lot about different types of cheeses and am still learning the difference between pasteurized and unpasteurized, which cheeses should be served at room temp and which should be chilled, or what is different about cheeses from different regions. I can’t say that I learned all of that at the cheese counter (I probably could if I was there longer), but I did get some great recommendations to start experimenting.

I told the cheese advisor (not sure what is her official title) that I know that I like brie cheeses and I also have a fancy for a hard salty cheeses. Evan is a big fan of blue cheese, so that gave her a great place to start to make some suggestions. We ended up taking home 5 different cheeses to try. For Evan, a super moldy blue cheese from France and a Pecorino pasteurized sheep’s milk cheese. For me an Aged Mimolette, pasteurized cow’s milk cheese and a Murcia Curado Raw Goat Cheese. And for both of us she chose, Fromager d’Affinois, double-cream specialty brie from France. I never knew that Brie is named after where it is made much like Champagne. I almost found that hard to swallow (pun intended) because you can buy Brie in almost every grocery store in America.

The only cheese we didn’t care for out of the 5 was the blue cheese. I’m not a big fan of blue cheese in general and the one we got was particularly pungent. We decided to replace that cheese with a dollop of port wine cheese we had in the refrigerator. The other four were all cheeses I would buy again. The Pecorino had a stronger scent and a really nice flavor. I would say that it almost tasted like a goat cheese, but a little saltier. The Aged Mimolette was two thumbs up for me and one thumb up for Evan. It was a really salty cheese almost like cheddar that I would imagine would be really good with beer and pretzels. The Murcia Curado, goat’s milk cheese, was a light version of goat cheese. Not too strong, but definitely flavorful. The favorite by far was the Fromager d’Affinois. It was a buttery brie, that melted deliciously over a cracker or right off the knife. I would definitely recommending seeking this one out in your local stores’ if they carry a cheese selection.

It was a lot of fun to have our own sampling with a glass of Cabernet on a Tuesday night. Next time maybe we will have to add a sampling of meats, like prociutto and salami, or add in some olives for Evan. This could turn in to a decadent weekly tradition.

Black Box Wine

2009-06-04T18:04:00.003-04:00

I know it isn’t Friday yet, but I am longing for it. My Friday night ritual (after all the emails are done and my phone stops ringing) is to have 1-2 glasses of wine to let go of the week’s stress. I am no wine snob, but I usually go for the $12-$15 bottle of wine from the liquor store down the street that has a pretty large selection so-so dusty bottles of wine. This really is a waste since I usually only make it through two glasses of wine before I pass out on the couch. I end up dumping the rest of the bottle the following Friday and starting all over. A couple weekends ago, Evan went to the liquor store and came home with the best thing ever, Black Box wine. I know, I know, box wine doesn’t have the greatest of reputations, but this stuff is as least as good as the $10-$12 bottle of wine if not better than some of the more expensive bottles I’ve had lately. I was introduced to Black Box in Arkansas during our Bunko nights. It stays fresh, unlike my bottles that I dump every Friday and it tastes good. Plus, he picked this up for $20. It is equivalent to 4 bottles of wine. That’s a deal if I ever heard one. If you are like me and need your bottle to last a little longer than a day, I definitely recommend trying out the Black Box. I am working on the Cabernet at the moment, but the white wines are pretty good, too. These are great for upcoming summer entertaining and I am so looking forward to having my glass tomorrow after work.

Summer Reading

2009-06-03T17:53:00.004-04:00

I don’t know how this happened, but I just realized that I am in the middle of reading three books. I bought a bunch of books on a buy 2 get one free at Barnes and Nobles. I couldn’t wait to read them all and the end result, I’m reading too many at once. The first book I started isn’t quite holding my attention, so I’ll probably go back to that one last. That book, A Death in Vienna by Frank Tallis, is a murder mystery, but for some reason I can’t get in to it. The second book, Island of Lost Girls by Jennifer McMahon, seems like it is going to be really good. The last book I started is Stori Telling by Tori Spelling. I know it’s a little off the wall, but I watched a marathon of the Tori and Dean show on Oxygen and I just had to get it. I’ve only ready the first few pages, but it is absolutely fascinating and written well. I wonder if she wrote it herself or had a ghost writer. I just can’t tell. I hope to get through them all and more this summer. I have a whole summer reading list that I’ll share once it is finished. I keep hearing about all these interesting books coming out this summer, so it is still a work in progress. And speaking of books…I am excited to announce that my brother’s book, Fierce Style: How To Be Your Most Fabulous Self, is coming out this October! It is available for preorder on Amazon and I hear that there is some great content about Christian’s lovely and beautiful big sister, ME! I haven’t actually seen it yet, but it is all so exciting!

Weekend Visit

2009-06-01T19:06:00.005-04:00

This past Saturday, we went to see the Baltimore Orioles play the Detroit Tigers with some friends that were visiting from Richmond. It was a beautiful afternoon, so we went to dinner at Tir Na Nog overlooking the Baltimore Inner Harbor. Dinner wasn’t great (as Irish Food isn’t always too impressive), but the restaurant had Hoegaarden on tap and a great view of the Harbor. It was nice to spend time catching up after years of being away.

The game started at 7:35pm and we arrived just a little late. Our seats were great for $27. We were down on the first level not far behind third base. Right as we were sitting down, a kid a few seats over caught a foul ball. I don’t have very good reflexes, especially after a few beers, so I was afraid of getting hit by a ball for the rest of the game. That didn’t stop me from having a great time. The game was entertaining, the Tigers won and I ate tons of peanuts. All in all, it was a great night.

It was really strange to realize that we haven’t lived in Richmond for 2 ½ years. I know it is cliché, but time sure has flown by. It was nice to reconnect and get the gossip of what is going on with the group we used to hang with in Virginia. Two couples are getting married this summer and people have bought houses, a few have gone back to school for a Masters and people’s lives are moving in to the next stage of life. Next thing you know we’ll be getting Christmas cards with baby pictures on them.

St. Louis Trip Part 1

2009-05-29T09:09:00.004-04:00

I apologize for the delayed post. It has been crazy getting back on schedule after a three day weekend. It didn’t help that Evan and I both have sore throats and stacks of work to get through by this weekend on top of getting our place ready for guests and Evan’s last minute trip back to Michigan. It is safe to say that we are a bit scattered this week. It is all worth it, because we had a wonderful trip to St. Louis last weekend. I posted our shots on Flickr if you are interested in pictures of my friends (not a whole lot of scenery shots).

Vin de Set
We had a delicious dinner on Friday night at a rooftop French restaurant called, Vin de Set. We got a bottle of Garnacha (red wine from Spain) and a delicious cheese platter. I can’t resist a gourmet cheese selection at a restaurant because I’m still learning about cheese and this is the best way to sample different types. Unfortunately, none of the cheeses impressed me enough to remember what types we had. Evan ordered a pasta dish and I had the steak special that was prepared in what tasted like a blue cheese on top of golden potatoes. I would definitely recommend this restaurant if you are looking for fine dining in a more casual atmosphere in St. Louis.

Schlafly Bottleworks
Day 2 in St. Louis we went to lunch at Schlafly Bottleworks, the largest locally owned brewery in St. Louis that just happened to be walking distance from our friends’ house. The Brewery was hosting a BBQ Pork Steak competition in the parking lot with live music, but we opted to eat inside because it was pretty hot on the pavement in the blazing sun. The brews were really good. I had their Hefeweizen. Evan and I both ordered the pulled pork sandwich, but I traded up my side for their Smoked Gouda Gratin, thinly sliced layered potatoes baked with a Gouda cream sauce. Heaven.

Anheuser Busch Brewery
We went from one brewery to the next so that we could tour the huge Anheuser Busch Brewery (not locally owned anymore, therefore the largest foreign owned brewery in St. Louis). I was hoping that this tour would be a little more “history of Budweiser and other Anheuser Brands” and less “this is why you should drink Budweiser”. I’m not a huge fan of Bud, but I am a fan of learning about brewing. It didn’t help that there was a group of 3 people who were clearly already drunk before the tour began that were talking through most of the lecture and being pretty annoying to everyone else on the tour. At the end of the tour, you get 2 free beers, so I guess that draws a drunk crowd. We only had time for one sample because we had to be at the Arch. I had a Shock Top, which tasted like a wheat beer, but I really don’t know anything else about it because it was never mentioned on the tour.

(I had to do this in two parts because I couldn't get it to format.)

St. Louis Trip Part 2

2009-05-29T09:01:00.003-04:00

The Arch
I was totally fascinated by the Arch from the moment we landed in St. Louis. I was amazed that you can see it from almost anywhere in the city. St. Louis is a big city, but you could see it from the airport, from our friends’ house, from the rooftop restaurant and from downtown. It is really larger than life and I can’t think of any other monument that dominates a city like the Arch does. I was really excited to go up in it, and I’m glad that I did, but I would never do it again. If you’ve never been, it is truly an experience. The first thing that turned me off was that we had buy tickets for the 6:50pm lift off time, but ended up not getting up in the arch until well after 7:30. When it was finally our turn to go up, we lined up and watched a 3 minute video with bad sound quality that explained very little about the designer of the “Gateway to the West”. Maybe my attention span for the historical significance is much longer than the average visitor, but I was really hoping to learn something about the Arch during our visit. Finally, the little doors open to the “elevators” that take you up. It was more like sitting in a rattling washing machine that lifted sideways and abruptly adjusted up the inside of the Arch. If you are claustrophobic or afraid of heights, this tour is not for you, but at no time did they every mention that. I am neither of these two things and I was really uncomfortable. Once we got to the top, it was too much for me to handle. I looked out the window a couple of times, but felt really nervous because there were a million loud people and kids running wild in this small overlook area that literally looks straight down. I caught the next spin cycle down and ended up sitting with two older couples from South Dakota. It was an odd experience that I don’t need to repeat.

The Cardinals Game
Day 3 we had breakfast at our friends’ house and then headed to the Cardinals Game. It was a pretty hot day. Overcast, which I think helped, but we were all feeling pretty sticky. We had good seats, so we could see all the action. I had some peanuts and a soft pretzel. Evan bought an $8 beer and immediately spilled the whole thing, so had to get another one. I would guess we spent about $60 on food and drink at the game if not more. The game was against the Royals and unfortunately the Cardinals lost. The last inning was pretty exciting. We thought we might make a comeback and win, but alas they walked the best hitter. I’m not much of a baseball fan, but it was still a nice time.

Our Friends!!
The highlight of the trip was definitely spending time with our friends. Aaron and Leah, our hosts, shared their beautiful house with the three other couples plus one baby. Their place is beautiful. The paint and décor really made the place look great and feel homey. The space was perfect for hosting guests with lots of living space and nice large bedrooms. My friend Cheri surprised all of us who hadn’t seen her recently. She lost 62 pounds and looked absolutely fantastic! Her and her husband Justin got married in October, so we hadn’t seen them since their wedding. It was really great to get to spend time with baby Austin and of course his parents Nicole and Tommy. We had a lot of fun with them and were very impressed at their mommy-and-daddyness. Austin is 9 months old and unfortunately we have missed most of his little life, but we have also missed his parents becoming parents. We remember them as Nicole who never turns a happy hour invite and Tommy who was always up for a shot of tequila. Now they are diaper duty, baby bag, bottle toting parents of a baby. He is absolutely precious and a very easy to be around baby. No crying, just cute smiles and naps.

We had a great time just hanging out at the house, drinking beer, grilling outside and playing a few killer rounds of catch phrase. We always play boys against girls. The girls team is called the B**ches and the boys team is called the Dudes. For most of the games, I was the score keeper, aka Head B**ch. It was a lot of fun and of course the girls dominated. On our last night we went to dinner a local Italian Restaurant and had the waiter take a group photo. We plan to have more reunions and take a group photo each time. I’m sure more kids will get added to the group and it will be really fun to look back and laugh at our outfits and our hairstyles in a few years. Evan and I hope to host the next one on the east coast. Hopefully sooner than later.

Memorial Day Weekend

2009-05-21T16:39:00.004-04:00

Evan and I are so excited for Memorial Day weekend this year! We never make big plans for 3 day holidays, but we have had a trip planned for Memorial Day since October of last year. We are getting on a plane and going to St. Louis! We are going to have a reunion with 3 other couples that became really good friends while we were living in Arkansas. Two of those couples are still in Arkansas and the last time we saw them was at the October wedding of Cheri and Justin. Our Arkansas neighbors, Aaron and Leah, moved back to St. Louis a couple weeks after we moved back to the east coast. The last couple, Tommy and Nicole had a baby boy who is also coming to the reunion, so it will be so fun to see how big he has gotten since last fall. I am so excited to see our friends and spend some time away! We already have plans to visit the Budweiser brewery, attend a Cardinals Game and stop by the Rib Festival! I’m sure we will squeeze in a trip to the Arch as well. I’ve never been to St. Louis, so I am ready to do it all.

Also, I just started a twitter, so I'll be posting updates if you can't wait until next week to find out about our trip.

Have a great weekend!!

High School Arts

2009-05-20T20:35:00.004-04:00

One of my best friends from high school, Jill, is the dance teacher at Annapolis High School. Jill and I danced together since we were 6 years old and some of my best life memories were when we danced together in our high school dance company. Two weekends ago, I went to her end of the year performance. She has done an amazing job working with her students and developing a dance program from nothing. Annapolis High School pulls from some of the low income neighborhoods in the area. It is not easy to get students involved in arts in any high school let alone in an area where the families can not always financially support extra curricular activities. She not only got students involved, but motivated them to excel and choreograph their own pieces in the performance. She has been there for four years and now has a company, junior company and dance classes during the school day. To me, the most amazing part of the performances was the end, when her group of seniors got to the microphone to say their goodbye. They thanked her for inspiring them and said that they will always remember what they had learned from her. She is really making an impact on those girls’ lives. She is just like our high school dance teacher who will always have a place in our memories of someone who inspired us to be more than what we were.

This past Saturday, I went back to Annapolis High School for the Drama Club’s Murder, Mystery Dinner Theatre. It was so great! The students worked the crowd, improvised their lines and had a super fun time. It was three hours long and they served a salad, hot dinner and dessert. The drama teacher, Eddie, also a good friend of Jill’s, did a spectacular job putting on a really fun show for the actors to play and for the audience to enjoy. Here is the description that was on the invite, so clever:

Rich (and slightly evil) hotel entrepreneur Ricardo Gough cordially invites you to the grand opening of the “Gough Hotel & Restaurant”. He promises you a night of food and fun, but after a murder happens nothing will ever be the same. Come join the colorful cast of characters in this musical interactive murder mystery– dinner theater show. Featuring songs from musicals and pop culture this show is sure to get you on your feet and dancing and begging to solve the whodunit of the night!!!!

When I was in high school, it would have been crazy to think about going to an arts event at Annapolis High School. That school had a really bad reputation for violence, drop outs and low rates of kids going on to advanced education. Now there are talks about it becoming a magnet school for the Arts and a big part of that must be from the success and great press they have received because of these two amazing teachers.

It is so important that we have arts in our schools. It completely changed my life and the lives of every person who performed on the Annapolis High School stage and in the Annapolis High School Cafeteria.

Shopping Spree

2009-05-18T16:33:00.006-04:00

A couple weekends ago, I went on a shopping spree for a new spring/summer wardrobe. I was on the hunt for deals and I sure found them. I spent about $450 and got 5 dresses, a skirt, a cardigan, a pair of shoes, a belt, two headbands, a necklace, a shirt and new undies and bras. Impressive, right? I had some gift certificates and returned some things, which is how I got so much. Plus, all the stores have deals because of the “economy”. Who knew the economy would help my wardrobe. Banana Republic is always my go to store at the mall. I got a pale blue high waste pencil skirt on clearance for $50 and everything else I got was 30% off. My favorite purchase is this pair of fabulous wedges
I also picked up two adorable headbands and an orange cardigan. I am probably going back to get another cardigan in black. A nice black button up cardigan is a staple in every girl’s wardrobe. Another deal of the day was the dress and belt I got at The Limited. I never shop there, but this dress caught my eye in the window. Everything in the store was buy one item and get the other 50% off. Hello!

I found two adorable dresses at Express for $30 with one of those coupons they send in the mail. I got a dress from Bebe for $6 because I had a store credit from Christmas. I picked up a white v-neck undershirt and some delicates from Victoria Secret for nothing because I returned a bathing suit that was not going to work. I picked out a dress on clearance at Anthropologie and found a really pretty long necklace for almost nothing because I had a $100 Amex Gift Card from the holidays. I read somewhere that people have on average $100 in unused gift cards and store credits taking up space in their wallets. I sure got the bang for no bucks in many cases on my shopping trip. It was a lot of fun.

The Front Row

2009-05-16T16:41:00.006-04:00

We had such a blast last night at The Front Row event at Bethesda Row. They held a reception at the Redwood Restaurant, which is just beautiful. There was a really great group of people there, Jenn Mapp, CIBU Diva, Diane and Joan also from the Ratner Co., a beautifully dressed Betsy, from the Washington Post, a writer for Bethesda Magazine, Karen, Whitney Phelps and her friends who were really fun, two really friendly girls from One80 Salon in DC and a beautiful group of people dressed for a really fun night. I had a couple of the “Fierce” cocktails that were sparkling wine and cranberry liquor, just enough booze to make me talk too much.

The event coordinators at the restaurant and Barbara and Kristin who helped coordinate my brother’s participation were just fantastic. My mother doesn’t drive the Washington Beltway in rush hour traffic (and who can blame her), so they sent a car to pick her up so that she could attend. I would definitely recommend Barbara to coordinate your event/promotions if you ever do an event in the Bethesda/DC area. From the handful of times I’ve been to the Bethesda Row shopping center I would say that there were more people at this event then have been through Bethesda Row since it opened. They did an amazing job.

The fashion show after the reception was a lot of fun. All the stores donated items from their summer and upcoming fall selection. Salon Cielo did all the models hair. Way to go Cielo! After the runway show we stayed and had dinner at the Redwood Restaurant. I sampled all their cheeses, which were delish, and ordered the prociutto. After those cocktails I wasn’t ready for a full on dinner, so after the appetizers, I just had the French fries. They were awesome! My brother had a scallop dish that he really liked and my mother had the chicken. I know that the restaurant received some not so great reviews when they first opened, but our meal was fabulous and I would definitely go back.

Christian Siriano for VS Makeup

2009-05-14T09:16:00.006-04:00

It is so nice having a brother who is a celebrity, especially when he sends free stuff! I have to say that he really takes care of me and mom and hooks us up with plenty of goodies. This fall, my brother is launching a line of cosmetics with Victoria Secret. This weekend, mom and I got his line in the mail! It is still surreal to see his name printed on packaging of things that I would buy in a store, but I guess I’ll get used to that in the coming months since his name is going to be all over the place. He has his line of shoes coming out for Payless in September, his clothes in Saks and other stores for fall, the VS cosmetic line in August and his book coming out. This kid is blowing up! It couldn’t happen to a more deserving and hard working person. I am so proud of my little bro and thrilled to wear his cosmetics. I can’t wait for someone to comment on my lip gloss shade and be able to respond with, “It’s my brother’s cosmetic line. Coming to a Victoria Secret store near you.”

Bethesda Row - The Front Row

2009-05-14T08:57:00.004-04:00

I am so excited for this weekend. My little brother is coming home because he is doing an event in Bethesda this weekend called “The Front Row”. Friday evening he will be at the Bethesda Row shopping area for a fashion show and meet and greet. Bethesda Row is a really nice new shopping area that has a beautiful Salon Cielo. Salon Cielo is part of Ratner Companies where I work, so it is nice when work and life comes together and I have a reason to not drive home in rush hour on the beltway. If you are in town, we would love to see you there!

I had to throw in a family photo

Carpaccio Tuscan Kitchen

2009-05-04T17:09:00.008-04:00

Two weekends ago, I went to dinner at a fairly new restaurant in Annapolis, Carpaccio Tuscan Kitchen and Wine Bar. It is a lovely spot at Park Place at the West Street Circle near the new Westin Hotel (where there used to be nothing). I love an upscale Italian restaurant and this place was just that. The restaurant décor is very modern chic and everything still seems very new. I didn’t have the Carpaccio that evening, but I did love my meal. I had Pappardelle Bolognese, extra wide egg pasta with a creamy Bolognese meat ragu. It was very good and beautifully presented on the plate.

I liked the meal so much that I took Evan there for lunch the very next day. At lunch we sat on the patio an overlooked the fountain. We split the Amalfi Brick Oven Pizza and a Carpaccio-like appetizer, Carpaccio di Prosciutto & Melone. The appetizer was very interesting. The cantelope was sliced in very thin cirlcles and drizzled with an orange infused olive oil which Evan loved, but I didn’t care much for. The Prosciutto was wrapped around tiny breadsticks (thinner than a pencil) that were sticking out of a thicker circle of melon. It was definitely interesting, but next time, I’ll have to get brave and try the real Carpaccio. I’ve never had it before, but with my sensitive stomach, I want to make sure I don’t have to go anywhere afterwards. I’m not scared about the raw meat, but anything too rich does me in and I have a feeling that raw filet minon could be pretty rich.

If you are ever in Annapolis, I would definitely recommend this little spot. Their website is pretty fabulous and has their full menu listed.

Batter Blaster

2009-05-04T17:03:00.005-04:00

Evan picked up an amazing invention at the grocery store the other week. Batter Blaster! It is organic pancake mix that comes in a can like Reddi-wip. It is already mixed pancake batter, so you just pour in the pan and cook. The pancakes turned out light fluffy and amazing! I don’t know if we will ever go back to regular pancake mix. The package is really fun and I also like the whole branding of the Batter Blaster, like a spaceship blast off at breakfast. Their jingle is “Make a Better Breakfast Faster, Batter Blaster.” If you go to their site, you will hear it. It’s cute.

Just this weekend, Evan and I were at the liquor store and saw a guy wearing a Batter Blaster t-shirt and I just had to take his picture. He said that he worked at Whole Foods and the vendors give them t-shirts and other fun stuff. He said that the propellant for the “blast” isn’t nitrous oxide like a Reddi-wip can, he said it was fermented brown rice, or something like that. I looked at their website and one of the ingredients is Organic rice bran extract. Maybe that was what he was talking about. Either way, it is a pretty cool product and yes, the packaging can be recycled for all your greenies out there.

Wolverine

2009-05-03T13:59:00.004-04:00

I have been a Super Fan of the X Men movies, since the first one came out in 2000. This surprises some people that know me. I guess I must seem like a romantic comedy kind of girl. Not the case. My little brother collected X Men cards as a kid, so I knew some of the characters, and was absolutely in love with how all fit together on this team of heroes fighting against discrimination from regular humans. My favorite of the three X Men movies has to be X2. That is where we learned a lot about more about the ever mysterious Wolverine (everyone’s favorite hottie mutant.) This Friday, Evan took me on a date to see the new Wolverine movie. I absolutely loved it. I had heard that the movie got mixed reviews, but I was absolutely satisfied with a good mix of story and action with a little love story mixed right in. I also enjoyed a quick glimpse of a younger version of some characters that I love from X Men including Cyclops and the Professor. Hugh Jackman was great as always. He is, in my mind, Wolverine no matter what other role he is playing. I was pleasantly surprised by the performance of Liev Schreiber. I like Schreiber as an actor, but hadn’t seen him in a role like this. He usually plays a pretty tightly wound character, nothing like the evil brother of Wolverine. He almost stole the show and was truly terrifying. I almost hope that the next Origins X Men movie is based on his character, Sabertooth, Victor Creed. I feel like the Wolverine movie could have a sequel of it’s own. That might start to get complicated. A sequel to a prequel, can you even do that? Whether it is more Wolverine or the back story of the other characters, I am just hoping that the remaining X Men Origins movies are as good as this one. I plan to see them all.

Ballet Memories

2009-04-28T19:18:00.005-04:00

This weekend, my best friend, Jill and I attended the 30th Anniversary Repertoire of the Ballet Theatre of Maryland (formerly Ballet Theatre of Annapolis, BTA.) Jill and I took ballet lessons with BTA from the age of 6 until we were in high school. We took classes 5 to 6 times per week and spent many many hours roaming the studios and art spaces in Maryland Hall. We danced a different role every year in the Nutcracker from mice to soldiers in the battle scene to sweets and gingerbread men in the land of sweets. I played Grumpy and Jill played Doc in Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. We were dolls come to life, flowers, snowflakes, fairies and much more. We had several different teachers and many company ballerinas to idolize all through our childhood and preteen years. Neither Jill nor I ever joined the company, but I’m sure I speak for both of us when I say that we are alumni of this great organization. I have many memories of the former artistic director and founder, Edward Stuart. He rehearsed us in every ballet from the time we were 6. I remember when he dropped cigarette ashes on one of our fellow dancers when you used to be able to smoke in the studio. I’ve never seen him so embarrassed and can’t think of how crazy a parent in today’s time would react to this. At that time, as long as no one was hurt, no big deal. He treated us like professionals even as children and made us all excited about his ballets. I remember fondly my ballerina years and was happy to see all the staff who supported each performance year after year, ballerinas that I wanted to be when I grew up, grown up themselves with families and real world jobs and dancers that I idolized looking pretty much the same with a few grey hairs. It was a nice night to reminisce and enjoy some local ballet.

Fringe Necklace

2009-04-20T18:34:00.002-04:00

Today I received my Maximum Fringe Necklace from Norwegian Wood’s shop on Etsy. I am absolutely in love! This will definitely be my “go to” accessory for the summer. Especially, since I lost my other favorite necklace this Saturday after too many Blue Hawaiian Cocktails at a friend's going away party. (That’s a whole other story.) Angie, the artist who made this necklace, is so super nice and sent me a great follow up email right after I placed my order. I found her shop through stilldottie who always puts up great posts of Etsy finds. I am terrible at searching for fabulousness on Etsy. Thank goodness for the bloggers who highlight these great artists.

To Keep or Not to Keep

2009-04-16T14:09:00.004-04:00

I bought these sandals a few weeks ago. I am longing for nice weather, even though it is not quite here yet. I can’t decide if I should keep them. They are pretty fantastic in this photo, but I’m not sure if they are flattering on my feet. I know the Gladiator sandal is VERY in right now, but I just don't know if I'm a fan. The sales women said that people have commented on the comfort of these wedges. I don’t buy shoes for comfort, but if I did, I wouldn’t pick these. I got them at Nordstrom, so it is no problem to take them back. I’m just not sure these are “the ones” for me this summer. I think I will wear them around the apartment this week and see what my cats think about them.

Easter Candy

2009-04-13T15:57:00.000-04:00

My all time favorite candy is Cadbury Mini Eggs. When I was in college, my college roommate and I used to buy a whole huge box of Mini Eggs and keep hidden stashes from our other roommates. This was a big expense at that time, but totally worht it. We would stalk the drug stores in early March and call each other with the first sightings of Mini Eggs. I’ve got a whole unopened bag that should take me through the next few weeks and then I’ll just have to wait until next year.

Bunnies, Bunnies Everywhere

2009-04-11T12:19:00.000-04:00

I haven’t done a lot of holiday decorating, other than Christmas, since we moved back into an apartment. Today, I figured I’d get in the spirit and put up this bunny garland inspired by this post on Hostess with the Mostess. It was a good use of the leftover paper from previous projects and something to keep me occupied today since it is a yucky rainy Saturday. I hope everyone has a very Happy Easter.

A BIG Happy Birthday to Jane!

(Please, excuse my horrible picture)

Mom Emails

2009-04-09T18:13:00.001-04:00

I received my copy of Love, Mom Poignant, Goofy, Brilliant Messages from Home in the mail a few weeks ago and it is just hysterical. I have really enjoyed reading it and love the excerpt from my mother in the book.

“Victoria Beckham has a brother named Christian. Can you believe it? The gods are with us!!!! Love, Mom”

If you know my brother’s story, this is really a good chuckle.

My Mama had cataract surgery yesterday, so I hope she is feeling better and isn’t bothered that I posted this blog.

Love You Mom!!

The Perks

2009-03-15T16:39:00.000-04:00

One of my most star struck moments was at my brother’s most recent fashion show. I almost melted when I met the CEO of Payless ShoeSource, LuAnn Via. My brother’s has designed a collection, Christian Siriano for Payless, and it is coming out this September. At the New York Fashion Show all the representatives from Payless sat in our row. We had the chance to mingle with them for a while and LuAnn told me and my mother that she would send us the shoes in the line when they come out. I thought that was a very nice offer and imagined that she would have an assistant make a note of it and we would get a package in September. A few days after the show, my brother’s manager emailed my mom, saying that LuAnn had asked for both of our shoe sizes. I was surprised to hear something so quickly and through such an official channel. My brother’s management office was asking for this information, not my brother. A few more days later, my mother gets a box on her doorstep. She opened the box and there were four pairs of shoes, two pairs of heels in a size 6 and two pairs of flats in a size 8. Also included was a hand written note, from the CEO.

“Joye and Shannon, It was a pleasure speaking with you at Christian’s very successful show. We love working with Christian and are very excited to see his designs come alive in our stores this fall! We thought you might enjoy a few Payless styles while you wait for Christian’s much anticipated collection. There are amazing flats and heels in this forthcoming line for each of you! Until then, LuAnn Via”

Is that not fabulous!?! A hand written note from the CEO! I don’t care if she, personally, didn’t write it. It was extremely thoughtful. I have a strong feeling that she did write it. I just got that feeling from her. She sent some of the styles from the already available collections done by designers. I received alice + olivia for Payless black peep-toe sling backs and tan strappy heels by Abate for Payless. Mom got these adorable plaid flats by Lela Rose for Payless and Dexter silver flats with a buckle. It was a really nice surprise to receive these shoes. We are definitely excited for his line in the fall and these are the perfect styles to hold us over until then. Doesn’t it feel good to pay less (or nothing)?

Movies and Books

2009-03-11T19:46:00.000-04:00

Now that the Spring weather is upon us, I hope to get out an about much more than I have during these long winter months. In the last few weeks of cold and darkness I have been able to finish a couple good books and see some beautiful movies. I am not a very good movie/book reviewer, but wanted to share some of my favorites if you are looking for something to see/read.

Vicky Christina Barcelona – When I first saw previews for this movie, I thought that it would be a very sexual. After all, Javier Bardem suggests a threesome with the two leading ladies. I was pleasantly surprised by how thoughtful and entertaining (and not pornographic) the movie was. It’s rated PG-13 after all. I could identify with every character and their struggle to find the meaning of love and find themselves. Javier Bardem is perfection and I though Penelope Cruz was fantastic as well. I usually am not a big fan of hers, but loved her in this role. Evan really liked this movie which was a surprise to me as he is not really in to movies. To convince your boyfriend/husband to watch it with you, just tell them that Scarlet Johansen and Penelope Cruz makeout. They will be up for it.

Slumdog Millionaire – I am so happy that Slumdog won the Oscar. This is a wonderful movie. If you haven’t seen it, GO. The soundtrack is pretty fantastic, too.

The Other Boleyn Girl – I know this came out last year, but it was On Demand this weekend and I have wanted to see it for a while. I never really knew the story of Ann Boleyn and am not exactly sure if the movie depicts the actual events as they happened, but I absolutely love Natalie Portman and thought she was great.

The Reader – I haven’t seen the movie, but picked up the book, by Bernhard Schlink, a few weeks ago. I am not usually into war time stories, but with all the fuss about Kate Winslet’s performance in the film, the book caught my eye at the bookstore. It was hard for me to relate to the beginning of the story because I’m a girl and don’t understand how adolescent boy’s minds work. Even though, I couldn’t really relate to either character, I was still curious about their relationship. Once I got to the Part Two, I stayed up all night to finish. This is very out of character for me. I wouldn’t consider it a “page turner”. I was just so interested in how things were unfolding that I wanted to know more about the characters. Plus I couldn’t wait to discover what her secret was.

Gang Leader for a Day – This book, by Sudhir Venkatesh, I picked up in the train station in New York and am so glad that I did. It is an incredible account of life in the Chicago Projects told by a Sociology student who befriended a gang leader while attempting to conduct research on poverty. My favorite course in college was my Anthropology course where I got to read about indigenous cultures and how other people live on this planet. To me, an upper middle class white girl in the suburbs, the life of poor people in this country is almost as foreign as the lives of the indigenous Tongans. I loved this honest portrayal of how people survive in the projects and how difficult it is for those people to make their lives better even when they have the will to work and the brain power to run a successful business. It really made me appreciate what I have and understand a little better how difficult life is for those who do not have opportunities that I have had.

Next on my list to read is Her Last Death a Memoir by Susanna Sonnenberg.

Next on my list to see is Milk. I think it comes On Demand in a couple weeks.

Love, Mom

2009-03-09T11:27:00.000-04:00

I just came across this blog that I’m sure everyone has already heard of. I thought I would share it anyways in case anyone hasn't seen it. This is the funniest blog I have ever read. Postcards From Yo Momma, is a collection of emails, text messages and IM chats between mothers and their adult children. I sat reading this site on Friday afternoon for about an hour and was hysterically laughing aloud to myself, trying not to fall out of my seat. I can see my mother in so many of these messages.

The ladies that put together the site are publishing a book coming out in a few weeks. You can preorder on Amazon.com. I just did. Brad did the author’s photo for it and I think my brother shared some of our mom’s notes. I can not wait to see it. I spoke to my mother about it and she had a guess of what email he would want to share with this site. A few years ago she sent my brother a message something like this, “I am so incredibly proud of all that you have accomplished and am so thankful for such a wonderful daughter.” The actual message was much longer and intended for me. She accidentally typed in my brother’s email address. Oops.

I sent in one of the emails that Evan’s mother sent a week or so ago. The email was quite clever and perfectly accurate of how she conducts day to day life. Now it is immortalized online. (I hope you don’t mind, Jane.)

My Birthday Cake

2009-03-01T10:08:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was my birthday. I didn’t have big plans. I really just wanted a day to relax. I woke up uncharacteristically early and Evan was busy in the kitchen making me a birthday cake. It turned out just perfect and I had a really nice day.

New York Trip Feb 2009 - Part 3: The Day After

2009-02-24T20:59:00.001-05:00

Needless to say, I had a hangover the day after the show. Thankfully, we did not have grand plans for the day. It was absolutely freezing outside and everyone agreed that we could not spend the day wandering the streets. We had breakfast on the third floor in the hotel and my mother went to talk to the concierge about the museums. We stayed at the Residence Inn by Marriott and the service was absolutely awesome. The staff was really friendly and helpful and the room was a suite, so it was spacious enough for three people to share without trying to kill each other. This is an important statement considering that these three people were me, my mother and Evan. Not exactly the Three Musketeers.

We agreed on the Guggenheim Museum. None of us had ever been and it seemed like a good alternative to sitting in the hotel or braving the cold. We took a cab through Central Park to get to the Museum. It was really nice to drive through since I’ve only ever driven on one side. I did long for it to be spring since the park was pretty bare. There were quite a lot of people in the park considering it was a weekday (Friday) and absolutely frigid cold. While we were enjoying the scenery on Park Avenue, from inside the cab, we noticed that schools seemed to be letting out. A bunch of elementary aged children in school uniforms were swarming the sidewalks being greeted by Nannies and family members. It was a quick glimpse into the every day lives of wealthy New York families. We all enjoyed guessing where they were going and what their lives must be like living in one of the most expensive and exclusive neighborhoods in the US.

Once we arrived at the Guggenheim, I was pretty hungry (and hung over, did I mention that?). We wandered in the café, but they only have, what Evan and I refer to as, Starbuck’s food, prepackaged sandwiches and salads. Nothing looked appetizing. We all realized that we were pretty tired so we decided to split up and meet in an hour and a half. The architecture of the Guggenheim is part of the art. It is a big winding ramp that goes around the outside perimeter of the building and each floor has rooms that branch out. The smart thing to do would have been to take the elevator to the top and walk down, but I didn’t realize that until I walked more than half way up. I really wanted to see the famous artist’s works, the Picasso, Degas, Pollock, Warhol, Manet and Monet. I am happy to say that I saw at least one of each. I didn’t make it through the whole museum in our allotted time and my mother and Evan agreed that I missed the two coolest exhibits. I guess I’ll have to go back. Read more here…

New York Trip Feb 2009 - Part 2: The Afterparty

2009-02-23T21:51:00.001-05:00

There is always downtime in between the runway show and the after party. I assume this is because New Yorkers like to do things late in the evening. The problem with this is, if I am left in a hotel room with a King sized bed after 8pm, there is no way I’ll make it. We decided that dinner was a much safer option. Jenn and Jenny from CIBU came with me, Evan, my mother, Jan and Molly to eat at Salute a few blocks from our hotel. The concierge recommended the restaurant and I am so happy that he did. This was by far the best meal we had the whole trip. It was only two blocks away from our hotel, but we managed to get lost and ended up right in front of a Payless Shoe store which made us all chuckle a bit. We finally found the restaurant using Molly’s GPS on her phone (thank goodness for those things).

I found this review on opentable.com and agree that it is right on. The service was absolutely fantastic. The whole restaurant experience was what you expect from fine dining in New York. I had a wide noodle pasta dish with fresh mozzarella, Mom had a soup with beautiful meatballs, Evan had a meat ravioli dish and Jan and Molly had a beautiful salad with filet minon. The meal was amazingly light and filling. Usually, after eating at an Italian restaurant, I am ready for bed, but this was the perfect portion in a lovely atmosphere. I would definitely recommend this place to anyone staying in the Midtown area. Go there for dinner!

Salute
270 Madison Avenue
(corner of 39th and Madison)
New York, NY 10016

After dinner, we were ready to party. The party started at 10pm (way past my bedtime) at the W Hotel. I don’t remember which W Hotel, but I do know that a few people went to the wrong one at first. We got lucky with travel for the first time on our visit. We jumped in a cab and got there with a few minutes to spare. The bar at the Hotel was all roped off with girls with clip boards at the door. I gave them my first name and while they searched for me on the list, my mother pushed through announcing, “I’m the mother.” At this point, I decided to follow her lead and headed for the bar. To read more and see drunk pictures click here.

New York Trip Feb 2009 - Part 1: The Runway Show

2009-02-22T16:39:00.001-05:00

As promised, I plan to post details about our New York trip throughout the week. We did so much in the three days we were there. It was an absolute blast!

The trip started off with a bang. Actually, it was more like a thud. It was the sound of our Amtrak train hitting a dear on the tracks. We had to stop for about 15-20 minutes so that someone could clear off the debris. Gross. Then we had to stop again because of who knows what, but we made it safe and sound to our hotel with plenty of time to relax and recoup before the runway show that evening. Or so I thought. I had a bag waiting for me at the desk with an amazing brown drapey skit, brown tights and the most amazing pair of his Payless runway shoes in a teal hieroglyphic print. The only thing missing was a top to this look. Did this mean I should go topless? Is that what is happening this season? A note said, “Maybe a turtleneck would look chic?” No color, no real description of what goes with the brown and teal. I wear all black at work everyday. I’m not good with color. What the hell? At this point we were about 4 hours away from the runway show, and Evan and I were off on a mission. My mother was in agony with an abscessed tooth, so she sat in the hotel lobby, looking pitiful and the concierge found a room she could check into early. Keep reading (and see more picures) here!

Weekend in NYC

2009-02-18T18:42:00.000-05:00

We are headed to the big city tomorrow to see my brother’s new line and enjoy a weekend in NYC. I am very excited to see this runway show. He is showing in the Bryant Park tents this season which should be a lot of fun. During our visit at Thanksgiving, I saw some of the original sketches of the clothes and the shoes, so it will be really cool to see these things come to life. As it turns out, my brother has something for me to wear including a pair of shoes from his collection. Payless is one of the sponsors and they made a pair of his runway shoes in a size 6 just for me! He is sending a box of clothes to our hotel for me to choose between a few options. I am a pretty lucky big sister. He really takes good care of me, considering all the little brother torture I put him through. Needless to say, the Anthropologie jacket is going back on the rack and my bags are packed with accessories for any occasion. After his show, we will probably do dinner and an after party. Hopefully, I will last longer than I did at the last after party. I am going to try to nap on the train so that I can stay awake and in good spirits for the end of the evening. Friday day, we may do a little shopping and lunch with my mom. Friday night, Evan and I have tickets to see Avenue Q. I am really looking forward to seeing a show this trip. We went to Wicked last February and it was awesome. I know this show is a lot different than Wicked, but the reviews look really good. Saturday we will pack up, have lunch and head home. A quick trip, but we pack all the fun in a short period of time. I plan to have Evan taking lots of pictures, so the blog should be back in action next week. Have a fantastic weekend!

Baked Ziti

2009-02-17T11:06:00.000-05:00

Baked Ziti is one of my favorite comfort foods. This is one of my 5 recipes that I can cook with confidence and everything else is an experiment. This is my “go to” recipe when I know we have guests that will be staying for a few days. It refrigerates and reheats really well, so if people get hungry they can scoop some Ziti. There are only four ingredients, my kind of recipe.

1 lb box of ziti, cooked al dente (penne will work, too)
1 lb ground beef (or turkey)
2 24oz jars of tomato sauce
4 cups mozzarella cheese

1. While the Ziti noodles are boiling, brown meat in a large sauce pan until cooked thoroughly. Drain meat and stir in tomato sauce.

2. Spray bottom and sides of a baking dish (I use my Pampered Chef Stone). Layer the tomato sauce and meat mixture then noodles then cheese. Repeat the layers. Make sure your top layer of cheese completely covers the noodles or else they will dry out.

3. Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes or until the top of the cheese starts to brown.

Fells Point, Baltimore

2009-02-16T19:18:00.000-05:00

This weekend, Evan and I went to lunch in the Fells Point area of Baltimore. We have done the Inner Harbor a few times and were looking for a new destination. We walked around for a bit, popped in a few shops including TAG Galleries and Su Casa Furniture Store. It was a bit chilly out for a full day of wandering, so we decided on Kooper’s Tavern for lunch. I have only ever been to Fells Point in the evening (after a few drinks), so I was pretty clueless as to where to go for a meal. This place seemed pretty popular and we got a really nice window seat right away. Evan ordered a turkey sandwich with coleslaw on pumpernickel bread and I tried the Kobe Beef burger with brie and “onion straws”. My burger sounded amazing in the menu description, but there were just too many onions and they weren’t fried onions like I was imagining. I am not a big onion eater, so it was my fault for ordering something that was a bit of a gamble. If I had caught it in time, I could have pulled the excessive onions off, but the brie was completely melted by the time I realized the onion problem and without the cheese, this burger would have been blah. I know that is a lot of information about my burger, but I have been watching a lot of Top Chef lately, so I can't really help it...Even though my burger wasn’t the best, we still had a really nice day. I can not wait for spring weather when walking by the water can be an all day event, not just a few minutes to the end of the dock and back. Sunny days, please come back.

I HEART Cupcakes

2009-02-15T18:00:00.002-05:00

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day this Saturday. Evan gave me the best Valentine's gift possible. He told me that I could stay on the couch all day and watch as many romantic comedies as I could stand. I watched the Jane Austin Book Club, Definitely Maybe and Dazed and Confused. I know Dazed is not a romantic comedy, but it is one of my favorites. I took a short break from the movies to make cupcakes. I have been wanting to make these V-day inspired cupcakes since my birthday last year when I received my cupcake recipe book. "Cupcakes and Other Goodies". They didn't turn out quite as beautiful as in the pages of my book, but they were still fun to make. I baked regular chocolate cupcakes with a cake mix and cut off the tops. I used a mini heart shaped cookie cutter to put the heart in the middle and frosted in between the top and bottom with canned frosting dyed with food coloring. This is low maintenance baking recipe was a nice distraction from the movie marathon.

Peanut Butter Crackers

2009-02-07T16:05:00.000-05:00

I’m sure that you’ve heard about the Peanut Butter Crisis that is sweeping across the country. This has affected me in a big way. I have a pack of Keebler Peanut Butter Crackers for a morning snack, every day. I get teased about them at work because I eat them kind of funny. I open them up like Oreos and eat the peanut butter out of the middle and then eat the crackers. I get hungry around 10am and if I don’t have something, I am not pleasant by lunchtime. When the first tainted peanut butter story came out, I got emails and calls from coworkers worried about what I would do without my snack. I still haven’t found a good substitute. I was continuing to eat them after the warning went out, but recently a friend got sick and was told it could be tainted peanut butter. At that point I decided to throw my stash in the trash. If anyone has any suggestions of a good, portable, protein packed snack that could be a breakfast substitute, I am currently auditioning new recommendations.

More Top Chef

2009-02-05T18:38:00.001-05:00

Last night I stayed awake to watch the entire new episode of Top Chef. This is not my normal routine. Usually, I fall asleep half way through even though I always start with the intensions of staying awake. It is not that I don't love the show, but it doesn’t finish until 11pm which is way past my bedtime. I always catch the reruns, repeatedly. Luckily, I had 3 diet cokes at dinner with my friend Jill, so I was wide awake. What a great episode! I just love Eric Ripert. It is funny because I don’t eat seafood which is what he does, but I would consider him one of my favorite chefs. In the age of reality TV, my “favorite chefs” are characters that I watch, not people whose food I’ve eaten. What a concept. The only three chefs that I could name that I’ve eaten their food is my stepbrother, Ben (Chesapeake Bay Beach Club), Tom Colicchio (Craft) and Spike (Good Stuff). Two Top Chefers and a family member. I really enjoyed the show last night, but wish that Carla would have won. I am voting for her for Fan Favorite on Bravo’s website. She is just plain fun to watch. Plus she is from DC, so how could she not be my favorite?

Interview

2009-02-04T20:20:00.001-05:00

My mother is all a buzz about our plans to go to New York in two weeks. My brother is showing in the tents at Bryant Park! Very exciting! So today, I bought a jacket at Anthropologie for the event, but now I’m just not sure about it. I still don't have the bottom figured out, but I'm thinking a skirt with some fabulous tights. Not sure.Neither here nor there, the purpose of my post…I started thinking about all the interviews and comments I gave at the last fashion show in September. After the show I was so obsessed with buying up newspapers and searching stars in his designs that I kind of forgot my 30 seconds of fame. I Googled my name (which is always an interesting thing to do) and found this old video from the September Fashion Week show. I was so full of adrenaline and excitement that day that I don’t really remember the interviews that I did or what I said. It was fun to watch the playback.

Peppermint Cupcakes

2009-01-19T15:26:00.001-05:00

In the last two weeks I have conducted several baking experiments that I was too embarrassed to post on the blog. I made my first ever Angel Food cake with the new Kitchen Aid Mixer, but it stuck to the pan and came out in pieces. I tried a double layer chocolate cake with chocolate frosting with mini chocolate chips and vanilla frosting on top, but it was not very photogenic. I also made a quite decadent and a batch of brownies with cream cheese and chocolate chips, but they crumbled in a million pieces after I pulled them out of the pan. All of the recipes tasted good, but I have a lot of work to do on my finishing. Finally last week, I managed to successfully make a batch of peppermint cupcakes from a cupcake recipe book that my good friend Stephanie gave me for my birthday last year. These were a better site to see then my previous experiments. The recipe (using a box cake mix) made very moist cupcakes with just enough mint to be refreshing. I combine the cupcakes with the regular old canned vanilla frosting and some sprinkles and that’s it.

What you need:
1 package white cake mix
1 1/3 cup water
3 egg whites
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
½ teaspoon peppermint extract
3 to 4 drops red liquid food coloring
1 container prepared vanilla frosting
½ cup crushed peppermint candies (I used sprinkles because I didn’t have peppermints)
Muffin Pan
Paper baking cups

1. Preheat oven 350 degrees and line muffin tin with baking cups.
2. Prepare cake mix as usual and add peppermint extract and food coloring while beating with electric mixer.
3. Spoon batter in muffin cups and bake 20-22 minutes.
4. Remove and cool on cooling rack
5. Spread frosting and sprinkle with crushed candies (or sprinkles).

Photo Shoot

2009-01-09T10:35:00.000-05:00

The weekend after Thanksgiving, Evan and I went to visit my brother in NYC. It was a quick weekend trip, but we got to see his new apartment, did a little shopping in Soho, met a Super Model and had brunch at the diner where Kelis shot her Milkshake music video. (The video does not depict the people who actually work there and it is kind of funny to watch it after being there.) It was a really nice weekend despite the fact that is was rainy and cold. I was just happy to spend some time with my brother in his world. While at the apartment, Brad took some photos of me and printed them along with photos of Chris to give to the family as Christmas gifts. In this photo my brother was trying to tell me how to pose like a model. This is my favorite of the bunch. My funny face is absolutely typical of how I am if my brother (or anyone) is trying to tell me how to do something. I can’t wait to go for another visit in February.

Thanks again, Brad. These photos are wonderful.

Top Chef - I can't get enough

2009-01-07T18:02:00.001-05:00

I don’t know why, but certain television shows I will watch over and over again. I’ve seen each episode of the current season of Top Chef at least four times. I watch all the reruns on Bravo and recently caught a rerun on NBC. I absolutely love this season! I can't wait for tonights episode. Last season I didn’t feel a connection with any particular chef, so I probably only watched each episode once or twice. I wasn’t glued to the TV every Wednesday. I thought Spike and Andrew were entertaining, but there wasn’t anyone that I would be genuinely upset about being eliminated.

This season, I get physically nervous that one of my favorites will be sent home. I’ve already lost some of the chefs that I liked. I know it is the nature of the show, but I got a little teary when Richard was eliminated during the Foo Fighters Challenge and it was sad to see Danny go because I thought he was fun. My favorites are hanging in there so far, but I can tell it is going to be an intense winter. I love Jeff because he looks like Chase from House. I am a big fan of Carla because I think she is interesting and I like her commentary. Stefan and Fabio are both adorable and European, so they need to stay. Ariane is fun to watch and I’m glad that she keeps winning after her struggling beginning. The other chefs aren’t as close to my heart, but I was relieved when no one was sent home on the last episode. Tonight is a double elimination, so I’m glad I had some time to mentally prepare. I will be pretty bummed if one or more of my picks is given the boot.

I do know that Top Chef is a reality show and I really need to get a life, but thank goodness there is something on TV that I can watch now that Project Runway has disappeared and Heros is on a break.

Also, a BIG thank you to my little brother for giving me a copy of the Top Chef Cookbook this Christmas. I’ll have Evan making us meals from it in no time.