on only 77 days...

(via here)

I'm getting married in 77 days people! Whoopie. We bought our plane tickets just this week! And it's starting to feel a little more real. I hate buying plane tickets because they are way too expensive for my taste. Most of all I hate that they charge the same price as an adult for Sebastian. We will be staying a full two weeks! I think this will be the longest stay in Seattle that we've had. 


My dress is all ordered and will be sent to me by the end of April. I know it's cutting it close which makes me a little nervous but really I will have plenty of time if anything comes up. Which won't! If you are all wondering about my dress, keep wondering because I won't show pictures of it until the big day but I will tell you my designer. Sarah Seven is the one! I accidentally stumbled across her website (don't ask me how because I just don't have an answer for that) when I was on my crazy dress hunt. I instantly fell in love with my dress. Take a look at the website and see if you can guess the one. She will be making the dress custom fit for my body :) I really can't wait to get my hands on it! 


I did find a perfect suit the other day for Bobby but as soon as we sat down online to purchase it the site was saying they sold out of the color we wanted. Humbug. Our luck. So, then we were back on the hunt. I just want to say that I am so grateful for all the wedding blogs out there. See, it's been a lot harder than I thought it would be to find a nice lighter gray suit. But after looking this whole week I finally found exactly what I had in mind at Express Men! Hooray. Such a relief to find the one that jumps out at you rather than just settling for something since you can't really find that special one.  


Also on a fun do a little jig note. Bobby and I found out from our beloved accountant of how much we will be receiving for our income taxes. Oh my it is a nice digit! And because of this little surprise Bobby said to celebrate he wants to add another night on to our stay at the Salish Lodge (where we will be having our little honeymoon). Again ::do a little jig:: I could not argue with that :D


Happy, happy, happy. I was practicing my future signature. Anita Schuler. Don't judge! I have to be ready for our marriage license signing, can't be unprepared ;) Annnnd I am proud to say that I almost finished with my vows, yep! I am feeling very rested with all these things done and out of the way. Now it's just time to get together some small cute things for the ceremony and then before we know it it will be time to pack our suitcases and jet on the plane.  



♥A.

on a medley...

Today after work I wanted to run to the grocery store before picking up Sebastian to get a few things for dinner and some milk. There's a store not too far from Sebastian's daycare that I've only been to once before. As I was picking up all our essentials I ran into a wall full of amazing k-cups. I have a Keurig that Bobby bought me a few Christmas' ago and I love it to death. There was a period of time where we ended up not using it much. Not sure why, I think because for a while grocery stores didn't carry k-cups and we didn't have any way to stock up on coffee. But now they are everywhere! I was excited when my eyes found some of these gems...

Nantucket Blend is my favorite mild coffee that Green Mountain has to offer. It's smooth yet not too strong. Don't get me wrong I like a strong cup of coffee but I can be more picky with my bold blends. I found this lovely Cafe Mocha :) Which I thought would be perfect for Bobby and sure enough he loves it! He made a cup before we went to work tonight. Score for me. I haven't yet gotten a Chai Latte k-cup before and have been meaning to so, we will see if I like it. Then lastly Twinings Earl Gray tea. I got the Bigalow brand of Earl Gray a couple weeks ago and it was yuck! It has such a gross plastic taste to it and I haven't really had much of the box. I'll save that for unexpected guests. Just kidding. Or am I?! I was happy for this little find and can't wait to try them all. 

Boys will be boys and they need their hardy meat & potatoes. I made them up some breaded pan fried chicken with garlic & parsley oven roasted potatoes. When Bobby has work at night I don't have a lot of time to work with from the time I get home to the time until he has to leave. So quick and easy dishes have been my friend. 

I love the way red potatoes look before they go in the oven with the little sprinkles of parsley. So pretty.

Bobby really likes chicken breaded this way. With just flour and eggs. It's one of his favorites. Annnnnnd that's dinner tonight. What are you cooking up? I'm thinking about making my first ever cheesecake. Hopefully this weekend I'll have some time. I'll let you know how that one goes. 

 Hoping the sun will be shining tomorrow. Bobby has work again tomorrow night so he'll be catching some shut eye while we're awake. Planning on spending the day out and about with Sebastian doing some errands and playing outside. 


♥A.

on what's for dinner...

Dinner isn't always planned out strategically. Yeah, I know. Shock. Today I got home and rummaged in my freezer and fridge and pantry to see what I can make. I happened to have a bottle of stir fry sauce in the fridge so I decided on that. Stir fry is such an easy dish to make. I had a medley of veggies. Frozen broccoli. Fresh mushrooms. And baby carrots. Hey, it works for me. 

 Lo Mein wide noodles are scrum! They are my favorite for this dish. They are thick and hold the sauce. Nothing crazy about this recipe here. I don't ever measure with this sort of thing. Just saute veggies and cook noodles. Then just toss together with some sauce of your choose and presto din-din's done!


It's back to being pretty chilly here. I am so ready for Spring. I can't wait to be able to be outside until dinner time just playing. Sebastian and I miss all our favorite playgrounds. Hopefully the weather starts to warm up. Speaking of me and the little lad, we did another little photo shoot together. He is quite the charmer ;)

I love, love, LOVE when he puts his little arm around my shoulders :) I makes me all warm and fuzzy inside. 

♥A. 

on a quote...

"Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; but remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for." Epicurus

I came across this quote the other day. It spoke to me. It amazes me how an antique philosopher sat down like a billion years ago and put pen to paper and wrote something as simple as these two phrases but yet they speak oceans to me. It's crazy really. Like Epicurus were you some sort of ultimate cosmos ponderer?! 

Listen, first of all I am a dreamer. I want everything. And all at once. I have ideas and plans and goals. I can get caught up in my head with all these things in one time and can loose sight of the now. On what I have now. It's part of my genetic make-up. Thanks dad...
It's funny because I get like this all the time and you think I'd be over it by now. Hello, don't I have anything better to rack my brain over? But no, it's guys like Epicurus who set me straight or wonderful things like picking out wedding rings or even a sweet kiss from my little boy. It's the simple things in the now that we all need to cherish and look forward to what comes one baby step at a time.
And scene. 
Now I will make a cup of tea and stuff my face with chocolatey things. I'm embracing the now people ;) You should too!


♥A.  

on some asparagus...

Tonight I made some asparagus soup. I had extra asparagus from my last dish and wanted to use it up. It's quite simple and so tasty. I really think it's my favorite, it only took about 15 minutes to prepare and cook. Gotta love it!

You'll need...

About one pound of asparagus (however I had about a pound and a half & I just used it all)

One small onion (or half a huge one, like me)

One tbsp olive oil

One 32 oz vegetable stock

salt & pepper to taste

1/4 cup heavy cream

hand blender

I first sauteed the onion in the oil until onions are translucent. In the mean time diced asparagus into one inch pieces. Add stock to pot followed by the asparagus. Turn heat up to a rapid boil. After pot is boiling reduce heat to a shimmer until asparagus is tender and your able to cut it with a knife. Add salt & pepper to your liking. Once asparagus is tender remove from heat, pour in the cream and then puree the soup inside pot with a hand blender. Va la! Done. Ladle in bowls and serve. We had some garlic bread on the side which really was perfect for it. 

Another food that is high in antioxidants!


Monday are a drag sometimes and today was just one of those Mondays. It really amazes me how great the weekend can be and then the next day it turns to crap. I got through it and actually had to give myself a pick me up and got myself a manicure after work. I haven't gotten one for a while the there's a nail salon right across from work, so I went. I always love going there because the little Asian ladies always massage my hands extra :) And it feels sooooooo good.

You can't really tell from the picture since it's my mac-cam but I got a cute shimmery purple color called First Class Ticket. How O.P.I comes up with all these names? I don't know. Sebastian thought it was funny that I was posing with my hands to the camera so he copied me. He's cute with is little chubby hands :D


Leaving you with a handful of great jams to liven up your Monday. Not sure about you but music really can put me in a better mood. Cheers!
♥A.

on some happy feelings...

As I type here to you I am wrapped in my blanket with a plate of the last of my yummy stuffed cabbage sitting next to me & with a smile on my face. Today was great. Today was very meaningful.

Bobby and I got a chance to do a few wedding errands. It's crunch time, May will be here before we know it and I'm getting very anxious. We decided to go to the king of all malls around here and actually the king of malls that I've been to. And funny because it's called King of Prussia. It's the biggest mall ever. The first time Bobby and I ever went we actually got lost and couldn't find our car! We had to find some mall cop dude in the parking lot to drive us to our car. It was quite an experience. Any who, we went to Nordstrom first to find out if they have the shoes that I wanted to get that I actually saw online. Just my luck. Nope. They didn't have them. I was sort of bummed because these particular shoes are a little a lot out of my comfort zone and I wanted to get a hold of them. Alas I just decided to order them online see if I like them and if not just ship them back. Then in the mean time find a back up. They're not shoes that I would normally get since they are HEELS! I know right?! Crazy. But everyone is telling me to do it. To go for it. That's my shoe story. I'll let you know how it goes. Speaking of shoes we picked up some new Converse for Sebastian :) I couldn't resist. 

Then we grabbed some lunch, Chinese food. It was greasy, fatty and just plain delicious. After our tummies were full and we felt a skip in our steps we went straight to the jewelers to pick out our wedding rings!! I never would have thought it would be so much fun. I was very lucky to have a select few rings that really worked with my engagement ring since it has a unique shape to it. I narrowed it down to two rings and told Bobby and the lady that was helping us that I needed time to sit and think it over. So we moved over to find a ring for Bobby. He had just has much fun. He was trying on more rings than me!! The lady said we were definitely meant to be since Bobby ended up with two rings at the end as well! I thought this was super cute and I think I actually giggled. I mean you should of seen me through this whole thing. I bet if someone recorded it all and if I re-watched it now I'd be like barf! Who is that? 

Bobby finally picked out the one he loved, a pretty sweet tungsten ring. And in the mean time I settled on mine. All in all we went out of the store with Bobby's ring (they had his size right then and there) and I get mine sized and will be in my hands on Friday. When I think about it, about the small little round ring that will be on our fingers starting May 21st, about the significance it will mean to us warms my heart. Today was the day that made it even more real. I so can't wait to seal the deal.

Our day in photos...

♥A

on a sat-errr-day...

Perfect tittle. It felt like I sat around all day although I really didn't. I guess I am so used to weekends being spent out and about doing lots of things, just busy. Today I woke up and made a huge plate full of pancakes and started on cooking up my Stuff Cabbage. I don't know what happened today because usually this dish takes a while to make but it felt like I sped through all the different steps. 

Step one. Combine cooked rice, ground pork, onion, salt & pepper, paprika, one egg all together. Cut apart the head of cabbage and carefully peel off the leaves. I got a small head of cabbage since it's just Bobby and I (Sebastian isn't too thrilled by cabbage..). In a small head I got about 10 leaves. You want to boil the leaves in the water for about 2-3 minutes each to soften them. Also it's important to cut off the tough spine of the leaves so it makes it easy to roll them. Once you have combined everything into the meat mixture all you have to do is plop some of it inside a leaf and roll them up & stuff the sides inside (like above). 

 Step two. I thought I'd put it all together inside my slow cooker. I didn't plan on having this until dinner. Sauerkraut comes next. Layer in on the bottom of the pot then add a layer of the stuffed cabbage. Then again with the sauerkraut. And so on. With this type of dish I don't usually have a set cook time since it varies on how many rolls you have. This cooked for about one hour and was ready by lunch.

 Good thing! Because by the time lunch came around my mouth was salivating with the aroma inside our whole place! So there you have it my huge plate of stuffed cabbage with a HUGE dollop of sour cream. Turned out delish. So good that I'm having some more for dinner. It's win, win. 


The rest of my day has been filled with sitting, cleaning, sitting some more, fiddling with my new lappy and watching Megamind over and over again. 
Oh and not to forget Sebastian and I had our selves a photo shoot. Enjoy. 

(excuse the appearance of me..gross)

 Seriously have the coolest kid ever :D
♥A.