Green thumb

I didn't get around to planting summer herbs this year so I thought I'd try out some vegetables in my recently constructed but not yet used vertical patio trellis planters. 

So far the lettuce seems to be doing the best. The beets look promising as well and the green onions seem to have some potential.  The peppers though sadly never took. 

This evening I actually transplanted the lettuce seedlings from the original pot into 3 planters (a new long planter, the one that had the peppers and then some back into the original holder).  We'll see how they do!

Lettuce 2 days after original seed planting:

Lettuce after transplanting (and beets):

Fútbol

The thing about watching soccer live is that for the entire 80+ minutes, I'm worried that the moment that I get up for whatever reason (food, bathroom, other), something is going to happen in the match and I'm going to miss it.  Its not like football where TDs are pretty common or in basketball where points happen every few seconds. 

Fears aside, when Indy made the list to host a match of the Guinness International Champions Cup (American tour of friendlies by elite European clubs), we picked up a LivingSocial deal to watch a first round match between Chelsea vs Inter Milan.

At our match, Chelsea ended up winning 2-0 over Inter Milan.  Chelsea ultimately ended up in the finals (last night) against Real Madrid and lost 3-1.  Here are highlights of Ronaldo's 2 goals from the finals game.

Anyone want to go to Brazil next year for the World Cup!?

Signs You're Too Old for Lollapalooza

This past weekend, Ryan and I attended Lollapalooza.  Growing up, I always wanted to go, but never really got around to it.  This year, I purchased 2 tickets for Saturday, booked a hotel room, and away we went.

Overall, it was a great experience and we had a lot of fun.  That being said though, I don't think I'll be going back.  I know age is just a number, but I think my number is outside of the general Lollapalooza attendee's age bracket.

Thanks to Lana Del Ray, all the girls were wearing floral headbands and high waisted cut off shorts.  There were even some fanny packs and lots of bikini tops too.  And port-o-potties.  So, along with that, here are some amusing highlights from a blog posting on Signs You're Too Old for Lollapalooza:

Your (insert body part) hurts: Standing for so long makes my back hurt. Sitting on the ground hurts my butt. And my back. Everything hurts my back. My neck hurts from craning to see the stage. The sun is hurting my eyes. I'm tired. Do those speakers have to be so loud? They're hurting my ears. Hey, why are you walking away from me?

You start inching your way back during the closers in an effort to beat the crowd: Classic old person move. Once you've entered "we have to beat the crowd" mode, it's over. You might as well just stop going to events of any kind. You're just going to miss half of anything you attend anyway because you're so concerned about leaving. On the one hand, it seems crazy to become so worried about leaving places that you don't even go. On the other hand, it's that kind of excellent time management that will get you ahead. At least of traffic.

You're no longer content to be filthy: Having B.O. is just not as cool as it used to be.

You're not trying to sneak anything in. What're you, a cop?

No one offers you bath salts. And you have no idea why they would. I mean, you bathed before you got there and you're perfectly relaxed.

You read a book in between acts. Who says I'm not sneaking anything in? The collective works of Mr. J.R.R. Tolkein are all the mind expanding contraband I need.

Anyways...here are some pictures from the day :-)

How smart to wear a neon shirt - Easier to spot!

Hard to have asked for better weather

On the food front - I was pretty stoked to find out that our hotel was literally on the same block as Rick Bayless's Xoco.  After waiting in line for close to an hour, we ended up having a late lunch before heading over to Grant Park.  I've had (and loved) his torta's before so I thought I'd try something else.  I also always tend to pick the wrong thing on menus, but this time I was pretty happy with my choice!

Pork Belly Vermicelli (Fideos)

Churros

Its impossible to get into The Girl and the Goat (at a normal time of the day) without making a reservation like forever in advance and we weren't going to be around for dinner this trip, so we opted for Little Goat Diner for brunch Sunday morning.  The place is really cute and the menu is pretty interesting and I'm looking forward to going back to try out more options.

Little Goat Diner doesn't disappoint

Baby Showering Success

Backing up a little, here is a post about Lilian's baby shower back in May.

Wee Wong was due to make her appearance July 3, 2013 so on May 18, we threw her a baby book shower in Orlando at Dave and Natalie's house.  I think its no surprise that I love planning parties so I jumped at the chance to host a shower for Natalie (and Dave too, of course).  And it goes without saying that it could not have been pulled together without all of the help from my family.

So with an army of helpers behind me, we threw a book themed baby shower with lots of food including a pink ombre cake and lots of headbands to decorate along with lots of gifts to open...and lots of love.

Parents-to-be

'Fancy Nancy Make the Baby a Headband' Activity

Goo Ma with her Headband 'Guessing Candy in the Jar' Activity

Take Home Your Own 'Bun in the Oven' Party Favor
(PS - Thanks to Katie and Family for the help making and assembling!)

The Pink Ombre Cake!!!

Lots of Book Themed Food

More Book Themed Food

And Even More Book Themed Food

Introducing my niece, Lilian!

So excited to welcome Lily to our family!  Congrats to Dave and Natalie!

Kitchen Update

Ryan and I have been in and out of town since the finishing of our kitchen backsplash, so here are pictures of the final product (minus some caulk below and above the above-sink shelf).

Overall, it wasn't too bad of a project.  It wasn't as easy as the guys at the tile store made it out to be, but I'd still consider it quite doable for anyone looking for a DIY home undertaking.

Here were our steps!

1. Tape off the countertops and cabinets and cover countertops
2. Move oven range
3. Prime the walls
4. Measure out tile
5. Cut tile for edges, corners and outlet plates
6. Section by section, apply mastic adhesive
7. Place tiles on the walls
8. Repeat 6 and 7 until the entire wall is covered
9. Clean up tiles
10. Let sit for a day
11. Seal tile
12. Let sit for a day
13. Apply Grout
14. Remove excess grout
15. Caulk
16. Remove tape and counter covers

Before



During

 

After

 

 

Happy New Year!

I keep telling Ryan that we need to move, but that hasn't stopped him from wanting to continue with house updates.  If you can't beat them, join them!

While Ryan wants to add a backsplash to our kitchen, here is my list of things to do around the house:

1. Paint my office a new color...
2. Refurnish my office with new office furniture and wall decorations
3. Add shelves to the guest bathroom
4. Redecorate the half bathroom 

This all starts with a trip to IKEA tomorrow :)



Wedding Photography

When budgeting for the wedding, there were certain areas where Ryan and I couldn't have cared less if they even made it into our wedding budget and then there were areas where we knew we'd want to spend more. One such area was photography.

We quickly found out that things (like venues) and people (like photographers) booked up pretty fast when it came to location and time of year of our wedding.

After looking into what felt like so many different photographers, I landed on Captured Photography by Jenny.  We loved (I initially loved and then Ryan loved after I showed him her site) her photographs and the fact that her package came with a second photographer (to be able to take pics with the boys while another was with me, to document all angles of the ceremony...me walking down and the aisle and ryan looking up the aisle at me!), had unlimited hours of wedding day coverage, and we'd get a cd with all of the high resolution pictures.  Those were my requirements and she hit them all...plus she took great pics.

Some highlights from the day here as well as posted at Jenny's blog at: http://www.capturedbyjen.com/blog/ryan-jennifer-morikami/

SO much to say....

It's been two and a half weeks since the wedding so I figure I should post something...anything!

Let's see -

The pre-wedding stuff:

• Ryan and I drove down to Florida the week of the wedding.  We left Tuesday afternoon and stopped over in somewhere Georgia for the night and then finished up the rest of the drive the next day.  We stopped in at Vero to visit Ryan's grandparents and then ended up at my parents' place late Wednesday night. 
• Thursday was filled with last minute meetings with vendors and lots of shopping and then lots of assembling of out of town bags, goodie bags, favors, etc...
• Friday was filled with even MORE last minute items before heading down to Delray for the rehearsal and the rehearsal dinner
• While I think we definitely cranked out a lot of stuff while still in Indiana, we probably could have used one more full day in Florida

The rehearsal and dinner:

• Ryan and I couldn't figure out why our rehearsal was set for 3:30pm.  Then day of, we realize its because we had a lot of shit to bring over the day before, unload, and set up what we could (i.e., the chuppah)
• Of course we didn't start on time and when you have the wedding party, plus my family, plus Ryan's family...and not to mention rain showers and really big wind gusts from Hurricane Sandy...it takes a bit :)  But it all worked out and we rehearsed.
• Next up, the rehearsal dinner!  I'm so thankful that Max's Harvest was able to accommodate us inside their restaurant instead of the previously arranged patio/garden seating area.  Turns out the weather held up and it would have been ok weatherwise outside, but I'm still happy that we were indoors, dry, and all together and happy.
• I loved being at the restaurant with family and our closest friends.  And I love that Dave and I wore matching color outfits without even planning it.  Best Twin Ever.  And he gave a great speech too...even got me teary eyed!  Love you, Dave!

Wedding day:

• I really tried to listen to all the brides who have gone before me who said to enjoy the day because it goes so quickly.
• Got up early and had some breakfast at the hotel restaurant...sadly didn't get to eat most of it since the makeup lady showed up super early!  Beats being late though!  If I had one gripe about the day, it would be the access situation.  I understand the need to limit access to the top floor, but it would have just been easier if they let anyone and everyone up to our floor instead of having to have someone go and get them at the lobby!
• Then it was hair and makeup time for the ladies!  We chatted, had some mimosas, and had lunch (publix subs!), before getting dressed and ready for my first look and pictures.  First look on the balcony, then some beach shots, then on the trolley to the Morikami for some more pictures.
• Of course I said that I would NOT be a bride that had a late start to the wedding.  Well, guess what...I'll eat those words.  I was late...only because we couldn't get across a busted bridge to take pictures that I wanted.  Instead, we had to wait for golf carts to drive us the 7/8th of a mile around the park to get to the bamboo garden.  After that, the threw all the family pics off schedule too.  SO...with that, I became a late wedding start bride.  But ya know what?  I don't care...those pics were so worth it :)
• What else about the wedding day?  I couldn't have been happier with the weather.  The weather cooled off (best it could for Florida) and there was no rain (that I saw), a breeze, and clear skies...and a full moon too! 
• I loved our personal touches.  All the hard work we put in really paid off in my book.  Even if people didn't know we slaved over things, I did and I love the sentimental aspects of everything.  It was everything I envisioned...
• For the most part...inevitably, we forgot a few things...ok, more than a few, but ya know...it was fine.  I kept saying, we planned for 100% and forgot like 25, but we still had 75% and that was a-ok with me!
• The speeches...I hadn't thought much about the speeches and who would say what, but I have to say...everyone knocked it out of the park. 
• I'm so proud of my dad and his speech.  I thank Dave for helping him write it, but for my dad to go up there and say the things that he did in the manner that he did, I'm one lucky gal!  Wah eye nee, bah bah!
• Katie - who knew that was going to be SUCH an amazing speech.  So many heartfelt things that I never knew, but totally appreciate and will always remember.  Love that girl!
• Andrea - knew it was a wild card with her...actually not really, she knows her audience.  But another heartfelt speech that I truly loved.  Such beautiful sentiments and great memories. And some pretty good Chinese too.
• George - Such a sentimental but entertaining speech from the best man.  Loved the advice and will definitely remember it and keep it close to our hearts.
• First dances -- Ahhh...so happy I didn't trip or fall or stutterstep during my dance with my father.  So happy we had the opportunity to dance a waltz together!  Mine with Ryan -- again, happy I didn't fall!  Or get too dizzy on the spins :-)  I'm glad Ryan leads so well!  And Ryan and his mom's - happy they got to relive their dancing days!  And Susan and my dad even had a dance thrown in there too.  Who knew my dad had those kinda moves?!?

What else?  Feel like there is so much more to list on here!

• So thankful to have had so many of our friends travel from out of town to make it to our day.  It meant a lot a lot to us to have each of you there!
• Love my family and so happy that they were all there and that they've embraced Ryan
• Blessed to have found so many amazing vendors who helped make our day special
• Truly blessed to have Ryan officially as my husband!

I know, lots of words in this post and no pics.  Those will have to wait since I literally took NONE.  In the meantime though, here is the link to our (thoroughly amazing) photographer's blog with our pics.

Invitations!

I'll save the whole invitation DIY process for another post, but for now...let's just sit back and look at these puppies.  Man, talk about labor of love!  They were definitely laborious to make, but I also definitely love how they came out!

 

 

What do people do with their wedding invitations?!  We made ourselves a copy to have photographed, but then what?  We're not scrapbookers, so thats out.  Don't know if I'd really hang it up anywhere if we placed them in a memory/shadowbox?  Maybe we should really just go with the saying of "Take a picture.  It lasts longer."  We'll see what happens...but I think I might be too emotionally attached to these to just trash them :-)