A Bump and Other Updates

Hello!!!

Well step one in getting back to blogging was my last post.  Now step 2 needs to be trying to get back to a schedule.  Apparently easier said than done ;)

But I’m going to start with a little update on my baby bump progression…or lack there of!

I know I’ll look back in a few months and regret saying this, but….I WANT MY BABY BUMP! 

Yes it would be nice to take the picture every week, in the same spot, with the same outfit… but well that’s just not happening.

 

And of course missed a few weeks, but as far as belly growth they were quite uneventful.   My pants didn’t even start feeling tight until around week 11 or 12!

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The other funny thing is when I took those photos I always felt like the bump looked bigger in the picture than it did in the mirror to my eyes.

So yeah, unless you know I’m pregnant most of the time I don’t even look it.  But I’m also not wearing leggings and tight shirts out in public haha. 

Case in point… I was 16 weeks this past weekend and had a fabulous time at Elizabeth’s wedding!!!

Me, the lovely bride Elizabeth, and Tina! 

I was looking for a dress to camouflage the belly and think I succeeded.  I actually decided to use Rent the Runway for this!!  I’m bigger than my normal size with my growing belly and apparently chest as well, so I didn’t really want to by a dress that would only be good for a few weeks.  I also had a $50 birthday credit to RTR and decided to try it out!

Luckily the dress ended up JUST fitting over my chest ;)  But it worked and I loved it!  So fun, and just had to toss it in a pre-paid envelope the next day!

And you can’t see it but I’m also wearing my fun magenta/pink heals I wore at my wedding! 

The wedding was a blast and even bonus there were cake pops!!

I’m definitely not in maternity clothing yet, but I’ve been getting a lot of use out of those Be-Bands! They are like a stretchy band you can pull up over your pants in order to leave your pants unbuttoned. I have one in black and neutral. I’ve heard mixed reviews on them, but I love them so far…they make it so I can still wear all my pants!

Lets see… in other news I turned 30 today!! 

I love birthdays but still not sure how I feel about this one yet ;)

But unfortunately it was a bittersweet day as my grandfather passed away on Saturday and the services were also today.  Not my first choice for a birthday, but it was actually really nice to be with ALLLLL my family today :)  My grand parents had 9 children and 25 grandchildren and we were all there. 

There was even a small bouquet of flowers the night before at the wake from his great-grandchild on the way :)  Talk about a tear jerker. 

Sorry to leave this post on a sad note! 

But I’ll have more fun things to report soon.  Especially since I was told to be free Friday night ;)  

Have a nice night everyone!

A Celebration Weekend

It was an eventful, yet happy and celebratory weekend!

Saturday I had a friend’s baby shower…and there’s nothing cuter than seeing all the cute baby clothes.

And on Sunday I celebrated another friend’s Bridal Shower, AND my aunt and uncle’s 60th birthdays!!

This morning I headed down to my blog-friend-turned-real-friend Elizabeth’s bridal shower!!

She is getting married in November, and today her bridesmaids threw her a beautiful shower down at her family’s house.

There were lots of gifts

Good food

And adorable cupcakes

I was also the first winner at Bridal Bingo!  Booya!

Tina, Elizabeth, and Me :)

I can’t wait for their big day!

Straight from the shower, I headed to my aunt and uncle’s house for a birthday bash that my cousins threw for them!

No lack of amazing food…

Fresh figs on Dubliner cheese…awesome combination!!

Giant bowl of tomato & mozzarella salad!!

The main dish…Lobster Rolls…tons and tons of lobster rolls

On hot buttery rolls.  Drooling just looking at the picture now.  I had one, and then split another with Brian later.

But I think my FAVORITE dish of the day was this Mexican Seafood Cocktail

It was similar to a cold gazpacho, but it had lots of crab meat, shrimp, and big chunks of avocado!

SOOooo delicious.  The recipe is here on Epicurious, and I NEED to make this soon!!       

There was also two huge Pavlovas for dessert (giant meringue topped with fresh whipped cream and strawberries),  along with a pink champagne birthday cake!  

It was a fun and delicious afternoon with family!

This weekend flew by, and sadly work tomorrow!  

Question… what’s you’re favorite meal to make in the heat of the summer??  I feel like I’ve had less and less meals to post on here because I’m just not cooking as much or as creatively in this hot summer heat!!

Brussels Sprout Salad with Lemon Dijon Vinaigrette

Remember when I went to Maine for a lovely weekend in February??  Well I mentioned it in my post but I had the most delicious salad that weekend at a restaurant called Walter’s in the Old Port. 

I’ve been wanting to re-create this salad ever since.

My grandmother’s birthday party was on Saturday!

Looking good for 87 right?? 

I wanted to bring a salad or some sort of veggie dish, as I knew we were having a Turkey-dinner-esque meal.  I wanted something fresh and light!

Plus there are so many great cooks in my family that there is always that unspoken pressure to come up with something different and delicious.

So I figured it was as good a time as any to try that salad!

If you’re making a large quantity of salad I highly recommend using a food processor with the slicing attachment to shred all the Brussels sprouts.  Otherwise, I’d just use a sharp knife and thinly slice them.

Another tip I learned after the fact was that you might want to cut out a bit of the core first.

I ended up with some of those thicker slices like in the photo above.  Not that you can’t eat it, but if eating raw they are better if that thick middle part is cut out.   

I prepped the Brussels sprouts the night before.

The next morning I cooked the bacon (in the oven), sliced the onion, made the dressing and assembled everything else when I got to the party.

Dressing…

Brussels, onion, and bacon ready to go!

When I arrived at the party, I added the almonds, cherries, and grated the cheese fresh on top!

Then tossed with dressing:

I left the nuts in a small dish to the side as some people can’t eat them.

I LOVED it!  I tweaked the recipe as written below to have a tad more honey and olive oil than what I had made.  Make sure to taste the dressing as you go to make sure it’s as sweet or sour as you like it!

Here’s what I did for a big party size salad:

Brussels Sprout Salad with Lemon Dijon Vinaigrette

• 2 lbs (or just under) Brussels Sprouts, washed, stalks trimmed
• 1/2 large red onion, thinly sliced
• 5-6 slices apple smoked bacon (nitrate free!)
• 1/2 cup dried cherries (or cranberries)
• 1/2 cup Marcona almonds (or your favorite nut!)
• Pecorino Romano cheese, about 2 oz, grated
• 1/3-1/2 cup olive oil
• 2-4 Tbsp lemon juice (just from 1 large lemon)
• 1 T honey
• 2 tsp Dijon mustard
• salt & pepper to taste

1. Shred or thinly slice Brussels sprouts (use food processor or knife).  This can be done the day before.  Set aside in large bowl.
2. Cook bacon until just crisp (I did this in the oven).  Drain on paper towels then give the bacon a rough chop.
3. Thinly slice red onion and add to the Brussels sprouts.
4. Prepare dressing in a small mason jar…easy to transport and then just shake it up real good.  Otherwise prepare in a bowl and whisk until combined and frothy.  Taste and tweak as needed.
5. Pour dressing all over salad.  Add in bacon, cherries, almonds, and grate the cheese on top.
6. Toss all together..SERVE!

 

Other goodies from the party…

Fresh Challah bread from the bakery!  No, my family is not even Jewish…we just love good bread!! 

Feast!!  Unpictured was also a HUGE platter full of twice baked potatoes!!!  Haven’t had one of those in ages and it was delish!!   

Hope you try the salad!  I want to try it again and maybe make it as a warm salad :)

I LOVE BRUSSELS!!

It’s beginning to feel a lot like SPRING around here :)

Christmas 2011: The Recap

I’m basking in my last few hours of “Christmas Vacation”, although really I only had half a day off Friday and then today as my vacation.  I’m sure some of you have this whole week off…please don’t tell me ;)

I’ve figured out why I’m one of those people who likes listening to Christmas music on Nov 1.  Because usually by Dec 20 (give or take), I become a big ball of stress and can’t enjoy it and just want all my shopping and all my wrapping to be DONE!  On Nov 1, it’s the exciting anticipation of the impending holiday cheer…I’m much more “happy” about Christmas then ;)

Don’t worry, by the 24th I’m back to my excited and happy self!  And this year was no exception…stress leading to a FANTASTIC Christmas weekend with all my family!!

(my mom’s side of the family on Christmas Eve, we had to take a picture since everyone was there!  I’m down in front/right in case you’re looking) 

Let’s back track.  Friday (the 23), I had a half day at work, and as soon as I got home we headed up to NH to have Christmas with Brian’s family. 

I made some Oreo truffles (actually used TJ’s Joe Joe’s)

And some peppermint bark for good measure.

Up in NH we had the big family Yankee Swap, and exchanged presents with Brian’s family.  His mom was finally finished with our wedding scrap book and it came out AMAZING! 

She put in so much work, and it’s so incredible to have this book! (esp since we were slackers and are just now working on our album from the photographer hehe)   

On Christmas Eve, I dragged my butt out of my warm bed and headed to an 8AM Crossfit workout!

The 12 Days of Crossfit…oh.my…pretty sure this is the closest I’ve come to puking from working out haha.  I say that in a good way ;)

Let’s see if I can remember this…

1 Ground to Overhead
2 Sumo deadlift high-pulls
3 Burpees
4 Pull- ups (I used a green band)
5 Abmat sit-ups
6 push-ups
7 air squats
8 jumping lunges
9 Box jumps
10 Wall Balls
11 kettlebell swings
12 thrusters

So basically it went like the song: 1 ground to overhead; 2 sumo dead lift high-pulls and 1 ground to over head,; 3 burpees, 2 sumo dead lift high-pulls and 1 ground to over head…until the end where we did 12 Thrusters…all the way down to the 1 ground to overhead.  This was intense…my time was 23:07 I think. 

I’m still fairly new to Crossfit, but so far LOVING it!! 

After Crossfit, and finishing wrapping my presents, we packed up and headed out for Christmas Eve at my aunts!  My family is hilarious and I love our big get-togethers. 

Brian and I stayed at my mom’s house on Christmas Eve and woke up to a delicious smelling breakfast.

Home fries

and Eggs Benedict!

My cousin even texted me pictures of his the eggs Benedict my aunt made because she wanted to know if it was “blog worthy” :)

What can I say? My family looooves their Eggs Benny!

Blogworthy?? I’d say so!!  Look at that nice table setting!!  Good Job Aunty Joan!  Looks delicious!

Oh almost forgot we also had sticky buns!

This was one filling, yet delectable, Christmas breakfast!  Thanks mom :)

Present time!

(Brian’s stellar wrapping job…he cut those green stars out of wrapping paper for decoration)

But you know what was under that wrapping….

Boo-ya!  Bridget’s new iPad!!!   He TOTALLY surprised me with this!!!  I mean I’ve been talking about wanting one for a while but never thought I’d get it for Christmas!!!! 

I made out quite well this year :)  Other notable items:  new Lululemon top, a new All-Clad sauce pan from mom, a coat, a bag…yeah I am one lucky girl! 

Bromley loved his new cow squeaky toy.

The feasting continued at my other aunts house on Christmas day…

Yum…

Everything was amazing.

After dinner was dessert, then some intense rounds of Just Dance on my cousin’s Xbox Kinect!  FINALLY a video game I’m good at!!  Seriously…so fun, and you break a sweat. 

I didn’t stick around for the after party though, had to get home…mom and I were at the mall with one of my aunts and cousin at 7am :)  I know you think we’re crazy but we also got some crazy good deals! 

Well that about sums it up!  I hope your weekend was as good as mine!! 

I’m about to head to bed and forget that I have to work tomorrow.

What was the favorite part of your weekend??