crazy idea

what if the flower girls carried big colorful lollipops instead of flowers?  just a thought that popped in my head :)

eat healthy.... eat healthy....

is all i keep telling myself.  but do you know how much harder it is to eat healthy when you tell yourself to?  for me, very hard.

for instance, my trainer has gotten pat and i into trader joe's - for the most part it is healthier, and it is much less expensive than our regular grocery store.  the food is different and unconventional and just really good.  we've been trying to eat more organic food.  why?  check this out: 

but sometimes you just want to sit back with the comfort food...  and trader joe's has that too, like chicken pot pie.  it was amazing last night, and worth my trainer kicking my ass today.

 Image from: MyRecipes.com

honeymoon - check!

after spending literally the past 3 months searching every travel website there is, counting my continental, united, and starwood points, and checking with nearly every travel agency in san francisco (ok that is exaggerating), last night we booked our honeymoon!!

we are going to have a lot of travel around the wedding, but that will just add to the excitement.  sunday after the wedding we have to fly back to san francisco (more on that later), and then the very next morning we pick up and head back to SFO to fly out to maui on the first flight of the day!  we will be staying at the four seasons resort maui at wailea for the first week, and moving on to the sheraton maui resort & spa through the following saturday.

Image from: Four Seasons Website

but i have to say, as we pressed "confirm" on the final package last night, i had a serious case of butterflies!  excited butterflies, but wow, i was almost freaking out!  as if booking the honeymoon suddenly makes this REAL!  (like the dress, ring, and everything else hasn't been??)  but i am now more excited than ever to become mrs. jacin fitzgerald.  whoa....looks pretty crazy to see it written down... next obstacle - tackling the name change!

we're running!

...not like forrest gump, but my cousin courtney and i signed up to run the NY marathon on november 7... and we're running with fred's team in hopes to raise $6,000 for cancer patients at memorial sloan-kettering cancer center!!

fred's team is a dynamic group of first-time and veteran marathon runners with the common goals of raising funds for critical cancer research and completing a marathon.  courtney and i will be running down 5th avenue together, stride in stride in honor and memory of those who cannot run this race because better therapy wasn't available to them.  we will both put on our running shoes and fight for them all 26.2 miles of the way.

so if you're feeling like you want to support a great cause, or maybe you haven't made any tax-deductable donations yet this year, feel free to help us out!  $6,000 is a long way away but we will do our best!  http://mskcc.convio.net/goto/courtneyandjacinrun

and now, on goes the training!

 

the dreams have begun...

i've heard about this before.  as you get closer and closer to the wedding date, you start having these ridiculous dreams, some even close to nightmares, about what could go wrong and what might go wrong and on and on...

so last night i had my first.

i was going in for my first fitting since purchasing my dress.  let me back up by saying i bought my dress with several alterations to be made, and those are being done now so when i do go to my first fitting, it will be my first time seeing the dress as it is supposed to be, so there is still a bit of mystery as to how it will finally look.  i feel more than comfortable with my dressmaker, but the mystery seems to be causing a bit of anxiety!  so...  i went to my first fitting with the entourage of my mom and best friend and cousins, and i go in the fitting room and try it on and something wasn't right.  actually, a LOT of things weren't right!  first of all, it was about a million colors with crystals hanging off of it all over the place, it looked a little like joseph's technicolor dreamcoat:

i

image from http://ibankcoin.com/jakegint/2009/07/13/on-joseph-and-the-amazing-technicolor-dreamcoat/ 

  

so i was not only frantically trying to tell the dressmaker (not mine, she was some other random lady at another random store) that there had to be some kind of mistake, but i was also trying to convince my entourage that this was not my dress, i would never pick something like this, etc.

luckily i woke up and realized it was a dream, but now today i can't wait to go back to hoboken to see the progress of my real dress!

bacon egg and cheese...with turkey bacon?

trying to eat healthy doesn't necessarily involve bacon, egg, and cheese... but this is my weekend breakfast treat and i am not ready to give it up!  so we tried to compensate by using wheat english muffins but then discovered they had more calories and carbs than white!  so we stuck with white..

then we switched to turkey bacon... check it out below, it doesn't even look right!

so i went online today to see which really is better - turkey bacon or regular...  it appears that after a bit of reading, neither is really better than the other, they're just about the same!

check out this article from the skinny chef:

Turkey Bacon vs. Pork Bacon

Very often, I get asked why I choose turkey bacon for recipes and breakfast. Yes, turkey bacon is slightly higher in sodium compared to pork bacon, but the reason I advise people (especially people who eat a lot of bacon) to switch has to do with saturated fat, that raises blood cholesterol and can lead to heart disease.

When you shop for turkey bacon, look for “nitrate” free brands, since nitrates can turn to dangerous carcinogens when grilled or when it comes in contact with high heat.

Can you enjoy regular bacon on occasion?

Sure, regular bacon once in a while is ok if you have a clean bill of health. I always tell people to check in with their doctor or a nutritionist. Consulting a nutritionist can be a real eye opener, but can also help you understand exactly how much saturated fat overall you should be eating and how to make healthier changes if you need to.

As an aside, nutritionists say to limit your daily saturate fat to under 20 grams.

Have trouble cooking turkey bacon?

The best way to cook turkey bacon is to bake it on a cookie sheet at 400F for 10 minutes. Turn once during cooking and drain on a paper towel and serve immediately.

my hands wave hello, my arms wave goodbye

(hello, hello....) but not for long!!  i've been working out 3x a week with my trainer johnny and i'm finally starting to see results!  my flabby arms were one of my main target zones and his horrendous workouts have finally started to kick in.  

  Photo from: www.fitsugar.com/tag/triceps

my arms don't quite look like the image above, but everyone needs a goal, right?  and so the hard work continues as we approach the 5 month mark countdown...

the perfect cake

i found this image a while back when i was collecting ideas for the vision of the big day - it's a cute coral reef theme which i will admit, connecticut doesnt have too much coral around, but it still fits within my new england shoreline wedding theme (somewhere?).  ok fine - it's just pretty and the colors go along, ok?  :)

so i spoke with our event manager at the wedding venue and he said "no problem!" and his chef will try to recreate this pretty little wonder.  and the best part?  we can choose whatever flavor we want!  red velvet, here we come!

and now the search for the perfect cake topper begins...

missing the east coast

i am starting to get really freaked out about the earthquakes everywhere - china, haiti, chile...  and most recently, all over the place in california!  i need to really learn what to even DO in an earthquake!!!  

i miss hot summers but not the humidity.  i miss my family and friends, but i do have my dear cousins out here, which is great, and we've made a bunch of great friends out here too.  but when summer starts up, that's when i really miss the east coast the most!  

if you've got to choose a coast, you've got to choose the east :)

choosing the perfect favors

i'm on the lookout for some really unique wedding favors that people will remember to bring home and maybe even use :)

the other challenge is bridging the gap in personality between families and friends.  growing up a connecticut yankee has instilled the love for everything new england:  tag sales (others call them garage/yard sales), canning (aka making jams and pickles from scratch), gardening, clamming (digging in the dirt at sunrise with a rake and bucket to find clams), and salt.  ok, salt is a family thing but still something that others might not find as sentimental...

so with all of this being said, here are some ideas i've been throwing around for favors...most of which have been met with a quizzical look from pat as if to say, are you NUTS?  he's afraid the new jerseyans might not share the same love as connecticut yankees for the homemade treats, but i think we can do something that meets in between!

image courtesy of martha stewart weddings

these cute seed "matchbooks" are more than meets the eye - they contain forget-me-knot seeds (an appropriate seed to plant even in the fall, by the way!) which guests can bring home and plant in their garden or yard, allowing the wedding to be remembered long after the big day.

image courtesy of offbeatbride.com

anyone who knows me knows my love for canning.  it is in your blood if your last name is Page, thanks to our beloved grandmother, mimi.  i thought it could be fun to do 1/2 pints of pickles and jams, rotating every other place setting with something different so couples could go home with one of each.  again - pat looked at me like "are you for real?" - and my cousin brian met the idea with the same look, but it was more "do you really want to can 175 jars??"  he brought up a good point...

image courtesy of martha stewart weddings

and now for the crowning glory.  how amazing are these??  like i said - salt is a family thing.  we are known for having someone in charge of salt shakers at family events, and you will rarely come to a gathering where there is only one set of shakers, i shudder even at the thought!  the martha came up with an ingenious idea for rosemary sea salt favors, perfect for a seaside wedding.  rosemary is the herb of love and remembrance and would bring the sentimental feel in to a jar of otherwise standard sea salt.  but don't think i wouldn't be just as happy with a jar of standard sea salt instead - who doesn't need a nice jar of sea salt for the kitchen?

officially an old woman...

because i find this to be amazing!!   i hate to peel potatoes when i'm making mashed potatoes, etc.  no more peeling for me!  check out this great video on how to peel potatoes without a peeler:

 

amazing wedding registry site!

i was just going through and updating my registry sites - macy's, target and bed, bath & beyond and thinking.... this seems like a lot of places!  

so i was checking up on some of my favorite wedding websites and i came across the greatest registry site ever!!  enter myregistry.com where you can actually go anywhere on the net, find things you like and click a button "add to my registry" - this allows you to add things from all the different stores you like in to ONE registry!!  it also allows you to shop around for the best prices rather than being stuck with one place because of the place you registered.  

genius!!

cooking light

i act like a middle-aged woman and yes, i subscribe to cooking light and real simple.  it's kind of funny actually.  but cooking light has a lot of great, healthy recipes that are actually easy to make!

last night i attempted their penne with chickpeas, feta, and tomatoes - it was delicious!  here's the recipe and final result:

Ingredients

• 8  ounces  uncooked penne (tube-shaped pasta)
• 2  tablespoons  olive oil
• 1/2  cup  chopped shallots
• 3  garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2  cup  chopped red bell pepper
• 1  (15-ounce) can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), rinsed and drained
• 3  cups  halved cherry tomatoes
• 3/4  cup  (3 ounces) crumbled feta cheese
• 1/3  cup  small fresh basil leaves
• 1/2  teaspoon  salt
• 1/2  teaspoon  grated lemon rind
• 1/4  teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper

Preparation

1. Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat; drain in a colander over a bowl, reserving 1/4 cup cooking liquid.

2. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add shallots and garlic; sauté 45 seconds, stirring constantly. Stir in bell pepper and chickpeas; sauté 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add tomatoes; sauté 2 minutes. Stir in pasta and reserved cooking liquid; cook 1 minute or until thoroughly heated. Remove from heat. Add feta and remaining ingredients; toss to combine.

Nutritional Information

Calories: 458

Fat: 13.3g (sat 4.5g,mono 6.2g,poly 1.4g)

Protein: 16.5g

Carbohydrate: 70.5g

Fiber: 7.5g

Cholesterol: 19mg

Iron: 3.8mg

Sodium: 759mg

Calcium: 172mg