St. Patty's Day treat!

Want to know how to make these? 

Go here! Happy St. Patrick's Day- have a green beer...or 7 :)

March Bride & Groom Engagement Photos!

I'm so excited to show you a few engagement photos of my March bride and groom, Malone and Rafe. (Side note - don't you love the name Malone??? I'm obsessed) All photos were taken by my good friend and a fabulous Charlotte photographer, Michael Flanagan. Check him out HERE! I love his artistic work.

Malone and Rafe outside uptown Charlotte (love this pic!!)

They're huge Panther fans....here they are outside the stadium, praying for a win! 

...here they are chillin' on their porch with their pup, Harrison. I think this photo sums them up perfectly - super laid back, chill and adorable!

So excited for their wedding one week from Saturday, and of course, I'll share all the details on the blog! 

Easy Shamrock Garland

Hello and I hope everyone had a nice Monday. Well, an okay Monday... or maybe, just a Monday. Ugh...Monday. 

With St. Patty's Day coming up, I thought I'd share a super easy DIY project that would be fun for a St. Patty's day celebration. To hear my general thoughts on St. Patrick's Day, check out my post from 2 years ago where I miserably failed at making Irish Soda Bread (damn you caraway seeds) and had to give it a re-do. It's a hoot, I must admit, and there is a great recipe for not-so-Irish Soda Bread that is awesome and has an utter lack of caraway seeds.

To make your easy-peasy Shamrock Garland, you'll need foam shamrock shapes (found at Michaels), a hole punch and some string. Ta-da! That's it - told you it was easy :) 

Directions: Punch a hole on both sides of the shamrock and start stringing them along! Find a nice place to hang in your home, or over a dessert table if you're having a party, and BAM - you've got yourself a one of a kind garland that cost literally $5 and 5 minutes of your time. Plus you can do it while drinking green beer and watching traditional Irish movies like.... are there any traditional Irish movies? 

Maybe that scary one, Leprechaun, with a pre-Friends Jen Aniston.

Many of you have asked how my 5K went, since my last post was a slightly psychotic rant concerning my fears about running 3.1 miles. Wellllllllllllllllllll.............

That was me the morning of my race after I completed my goal of running the entire time :) I was super pumped and I have to say I worried for zero reason (as is the case with most of my worries). The event was super charged with thousands of people, music blasting at 7:30 a.m., and in general, a fabulous way to start a Saturday morning. I'm signing up for another one in April - I might be hooked!

On the Debbie Downer side, I think the run in the 30 degree slightly windy weather gave me a cold/allergy attack so now I'm under the weather and can't run without wheezing. It looks like I'll be taking a few days off from pounding the pavement, which believe it or not makes me sad. Who am I?

Hope everyone has a happy week :)

Moderation: An Update

I hope everyone had a fabulous week. I'm hanging out on a Friday night, with plans to have zero wine and go to bed early. Why is my Friday night so lackluster, you ask? EEEK my 5K is tomorrow morning at 8 a.m. I'm nervous but also excited. Would you like some insight into my fears and anxieties about the race? This will give you some real perspective on what it's like to be me on a daily basis:

1) What if a mob of people tramples me?

2) What if I finish dead last? Like dead last, like everyone who is working the race has to wait for me to finish before they can pack it up for the day. 

3) What if I oversleep, like that guy did in Seinfeld? On that note, why is it so early...could they not have made it at 10 a.m. which is a much more reasonable hour.

4) What if I can't finish? (This is probably my largest, most reasonable fear.) But I will freaking crawl to the finish line if I have to! 

In all honesty, while I am nervous, I'm also excited to get this first race under my belt, and also to complete this goal. I've enjoyed running and the training process so much more than I thought I would, and I plan to keep doing it and signing up for more 5Ks. Will I ever a marathon runner? Doubtful. But who knows, the world is my oyster. And the running has jump started my exercise and eating-in-moderation lifestyle change, and I'm on the right track getting to a better place weight wise. In fact, I'd say I'm well on my way! And I'm not going into anymore detail than that, because this is NOT, and will never become, a weight loss blog. (Ew.)

So think of me tomorrow morning when you're having your coffee or doing other relaxing Saturday morning things. I'll be super red-faced and sweaty and look something like this...

Ok, ok, not that bad...I look a little better than Homer :)

After the race I'm heading to a fabulous brunch where I will eat my face off in celebration. Thanks to my friends for planning a celebratory brunch for me; you're all seriously the best. And thanks to Mr. Fo for getting up early and watching me (hopefully) cross the finish line. And thanks to my marathon running sister in law for answering my incessant running questions. Seriously, she might disown me as a sister-in-law out of pure annoyance. 

Enough of this run talk and healthy eating nonsense. Here's what I plan on indulging in for brunch tomorrow; the absolute greatest brunch food in all of the land:

Eggs Benedict

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Happy Weekend All!

Creative Wedding Reply Cards

My May bride Lauren showed me her reply cards for her invitations, and I thought they were so clever. In my time of wedding attending and wedding planning I've never seen this before! Check it out...in addition the usual "Yes/No," there are some other boxes to check ;)

 It made me wonder if there were other creative reply cards out there...and of course I found some in this fabulous Internet age we live in...

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I LOVE this idea... I always write notes on reply cards, and this gives me plenty of room to be my silly self :)

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 Mad Libs style reply cards - LOVE this! And you can display the funny responses at the wedding so all your guests can read them!

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These picture reply cards are hilarious and a great way to personalize the invites:

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I hope you got a kick out of these! Hope you all have a great week!

Cinnammon Toast Crunch Treats

Have you every had rice krispy treats? (That was a rhetorical question....of course everyone's had rice krispy treats.) Have you ever had Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal? (Rhetorical question again...of course you've had the delicious Cinnamon breakfast treat. Even though I wasn't allowed to have sugary cereal as a kid, but believe me, I've had plenty. Sorry Mom!) 

Given my affinity for all things Rice Krispy Treats and Cinnamon Toast Crunch, I jumped at the chance to make Cinnamon Toast Crunch Treats for Tablespoon. You make them the same way you make Rice Krispy Treats except use Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Melt down the marshmallows and add in the cereal like so.

It's a sticky process, but so worth it! 

Spread the sticky mixture into a greased baking pan and let it cool. Cut out the treats into circles and pipe on swirls of cream cheese frosting. It's like a Cinnamon Roll!

Perfect with your morning coffee!

For the full recipe, click over to my Tablespoon post. And make these this weekend! They'd be perfect for a casual brunch or for a sweet treat anytime! Happy Friday!

Miami Beach Wedding!

Beautiful wedding to attend...CHECK!

Gorgeous, sunny weather.... CHECK! 

Fruity (albeit overpriced) drinks...CHECK!

Plethora of Cuban sandwiches and other delicacies....CHECK!

Excellent first time in Miami.... CHECK! Mission Complete!

As you can tell, I had an absolutely stellar time in Miami. We attended a wedding for Mr. Fo's good college friend Canor, and his wife (as of 3 days ago) Carla. They made such a gorgeous couple, I wish I had more up close-up pictures of them to show you, but I was too busy having fun and crying at their sweet ceremony and the beautiful toasts their families gave them. Yup, even wedding planners cry at weddings ;) 

The ceremony and reception were held at the beautiful Palms Hotel in Miami Beach, and you couldn't ask for better scenery. Despite a little rain, Canor and Carla took a chance and decided to hold their wedding outside as planned. Love prevailed and the weather held out - it was a perfect evening by the pool, and you could smell the ocean just steps away. (Even just writing this now, I'm sad I'm not there anymore!) 

The ceremony was held in a beautiful gazebo, and take a look at Carla's dress. OMG it was gorgeous. It's hard to tell the details in the picture, but the train was long and made of tulle, and had the perfect embellishments on it. It was stunning!

 

As I mentioned, the tables were set up by the pool, as was the cocktail hour. The palm trees were the perfect backdrop!

Carla and her florist did an amazing job with the flower arrangements and centerpieces. The shades of pink and white were soft and romantic. I absolutely ADORED the different style white frames that were used around the flowers. I think it's such an unusual and different idea!  

Mr. Fo and I had a blast, as we always do. Side note - 80 degree Miami weather is not good for Jackie's hair; it was in a perma-ponytail/bun situation all weekend.

But really, who cares about your hair when you're drinking lots of these.... 

... on the beach...

 We did spent a good chunk of time on the beach. On Sunday, the families of the bride and groom hosted a super fun, laid back gathering of "Bocaditos and Beverages." I learned that bocaditos is a spanish term for snacks, which I will be using all the time now...how awesome is that word?! I may have to throw my very own Bocaditos and Beverages party one of these days...it was such a fun idea! 

 My favorite bocadito was the heavenly sandwich below which was simply a honey croissant with ham, cheese and a mayo spread. Holy bocadito...Holy moderation - gots to get back to my 5K running training STAT! 

Doesn't that sound like a lovely weekend? It really was...I wish I could bottle up that "wedding feeling" when everyone is happy, there's true love in the air and the booze and music keeps on flowing. Weddings are honestly one of my favorite things about life...seems like I'm in the right business :) 

Back to the real world now! Moderation and all :)