Zucchini Bread

Zucchini is in season, and zucchini bread is a great way to use it up! 2 slices of this bread with a smidge of butter and a big glass of milk is one of my favorites breakfasts.

The recipe is from a Catholic Church cookbook. My MeeMaw attended the church in Leopold, MO, when she was little.

Zucchini Bread

2 cups grated zucchini

3 eggs

1 cup oil

1 1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup chopped nuts

Beat the eggs. Add the oil, vanilla and sugar; mix well. Sift together flour and soda; stir into egg mixture. Add the zucchini and nuts. Mix well and pour into 13x9 inch oiled pan or 2 oiled loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes.

Oh yum!

This recipe makes 2 loaves, by the way-one for you and one for a friend! I made this last week and brought a loaf up to Ryan's mom. Zucchini in bread used to weird me out, but it makes the bread really moist and delicious.

I did make some variations to make this recipe a little healthier. I only used 1/2 cup of oil and I used 1/2 cup of applesauce. This made the finished product more crumbly than it normally is, but oh well! That doesn't really bother me. I also used half whole wheat flour and half white flour, and this hardly made a difference at all. It tasted just a touch nuttier. I always use pecans in this recipe, but I'm lucky--my Aunt Mary lives on my Meemaw's old farm and lets me and my mom pick up all the pecans we want every fall.

What have you made lately?

More Things to Do with People you Love

A few Sundays ago, Ryan and I went to a Cardinals game!

I hadn't been to the new stadium yet, so I was really excited to see it. Ryan's aunt and uncle had gifted him tickets...and the seats were really good.

Here's the view of the field from our seats.

The new stadium.

Ryan hates taking pictures. Hates it. Which sucks for me, because I take lots more pictures now that I blog. So he was joking in this picture and cheesing it up. His taking-a-picture-of-himself skills are obviously not good.

On the way out of downtown, we drove right by the arch.

It was such a gorgeous day, and we had a really nice afternoon.

What have done with your loved ones lately?

The Magic of J Crew: Part 3

On to the final dress of the day!

This is the metallic Madison rose gown on the J Crew model:

Source

And here it is on me. The dress was a size up, so my mom is behind me holding the extra fabric tight so we could get an idea of what it would look like altered. The brunette with the bob and black cardigan is Claire, the wedding consultant/total rockstar.

Oh it is so gorgeous! I love it. The defined waist is begging for a sash or a brooch....can you picture red satin pumps peeking out?

The fabric was luscious ivory silk with modern looking flowers done in silver thread. It's thick enough that it's somewhat forgiving. It does make me look flat chested, but sewn in bra cups work wonders.

I think this is it, ladies!

They no longer make this in my size, but Claire, the J Crew wedding consultant, said that since my size is unavailable, that J Crew would cover all of the alterations for me. I can open up a J Crew card and save 10 or 20 percent, too, making this dress much more affordable...especially considering I'm not paying for alterations.

It's simple, classic, different, chic....I think this very well might be the dress! And how cute would it look shortened after the wedding and worn as a cocktail dress?

Things to Do with the People you Love

A few weekends ago Ryan was in town and we had a really fun date night! First we went out to dinner, and then we went to our favorite non-smoky bowling alley and rented a lane for an hour. It's only $15 for an hour's rental, and we got in 3 games.

First we bowled like normal people.

I actually broke 50!

Then we had a game of "crazy bowl." Every frame one of us would pick a ridiculous way to bowl.

You can't really kick it, it's more of a push with the foot.

Don't you think he's kinda doing the John Travolta Saturday Night Fever move? We had to bowl sideways between our legs on this one.

We had such a good time! Date night is great.

Do you have a regular date night? What do you like to do with your significant other?

The Magic of J Crew: Part 2

Curious as to what's up? Check out The Magic of J Crew: Part 1 right here.

The next dress I tried on was the silk tricotine Sophia.


Here is the J Crew model in the dress:

Source

And here is me in the Sophia:

From the back:

This gown shows every bump, bulge, wrinkle, and dimple you've got. It is crazy see-through, too. I know that some heavy duty undergarments would fix this issue, but I didn't feel that the fabric was at all forgiving. This also looked kind of nightgowny to me. I think if I were getting married on the beach, I would go for it. This dress did come in petite, and it fit perfectly. The hem just grazed the floor, so heels are not an option unless you don't mind them peeking out.

This is a dress I would buy if I was a month out from the wedding and couldn't find anything else, but it was too simple for me.

Part 3 is coming up, and it's a good one!

The Magic of J Crew: Part One

So, I tried on some J Crew wedding dresses this weekend, and oh was it fun!

My mom, me, Ryan, and Ryan's mom met at the Galleria mall where we had our J Crew appointment.

The wedding consultant, Claire, is amazing. She brought all of these dresses in for me to try on, found a suit jacket in Ryan's size for him to try on, and came in on her day off. She was wonderful, as was everyone in the store.

First up, we have the cotton cady Alexa.

This is the Alexa on the model:

Source

And this is the Alexa on me:

This dress does not come in petites, and by the time it fit on the shoulders, the fabric had been pulled up so far that it looked...matronly. I wasn't a huge fan of the fabric. The cotton cady fabric was super thick and stiff, and gauzy. The skirt of this dress was lovely, and I loved the pockets!

PS: I did decide to let Ryan see the dresses. I think the tradition behind waiting to see the dress is kind of silly (it has to do with arranged marriages and ensuring that the groom didn't bolt from a heinous bride....not romantic!). I am focusing on not doing things for tradition's sake, and doing what works for Ryan and I, and I wanted him to see it. He's a great help when shopping--he is very honest and he has a great eye, and I know that on our wedding day we are still going to have an amazing moment when we have our first look.

I digress. The Alexa just wasn't for me, but I think the petite would have made a world of difference. Also, I'm not a huge fan of the fabric, and I would worry about wrinkles.

Up next: The Magic of J Crew Part 2!

The Morning of the Milk Glass

A few Saturday mornings ago, Ryan and I made it big.

We went garage sale shopping on Saturday morning for milk glass vases to use in our centerpieces. We weren't finding anything at the garage sales after about 2 frustrating hours, so Ryan suggested going to a flea market across the river. Southeast Missouri/Illinois brides, e-mail me and I'll fill you in on where it is. Anyway, we did so much better than I could have dreamed! I expected to find maybe 3-4 vases, at that, and I was not planning on spending over $2 per vase. This seems ridiculously low, but we need about 40 of these, and they just aren't something I wanted to spend a lot on.

Did we cash in or did we cash in!

A sampling of the vases, washed and drying on my counter.

Here are a few of my favorites. I am especially partial to the one on the right.

I already had 2, and we found 19 vases at the flea market. Seriously! And for the 21 vases we've found, we have spent a grand total of $21.50. Can you believe it? I am so thrilled that our vision is working out at such a fabulous price. I am super pumped about these, now I just need to do a mock-up with a branch in one of these guys.

What do you think?