Closer than We Realize…

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Hi everyone!  Sorry to be gone for so long- I was home in New Jersey with Mike doing wedding stuff and hanging with the fam.  We got so much done- booked a DJ, live music for the cocktail hour, a florist, and limos.  Plus M and I did premarital counseling and made sure to spend time with our families!  Whew!  It’s crazy, we got engaged almost seven months ago, the wedding seemed like absolutely forever away.  Now we really have most things finalized, and it’s clear that the wedding is much sooner than it feels!  It’s a good thing my mother and I are the world’s most organized people.  Heretofore, we have been cool as cucumbers, although I suppose time will tell come January .  PS, TheKnot.Com has the coolest application to create your own bridal avatar.  This is mine:

Complete with bling and dogs.

Back to Thursday, though, when I hosted a cocktail hour in my office for my company.  I had so much fun preparing for it!

I had Pecorino and smoked gouda cheeses, flatbreads and crackers, mixed nuts, various gourmet cookies and pastries, chocolate-covered espresso beans, and some fruit.

For booze, I just stuck with Jacob's Creek sparkling white, plus non-alchy stuff.

Yes, the bar was set up on my desk.  Normally at these happy hours, there is beer, and eh-red and white wines.  I decided to kick it up a notch and get quality over quanitity with a fermented sparkling Chardonnay Pinot Noir that I everyone quite enjoyed.  Seriously, everyone comes to these events so strung out and exhausted that I think Champagne (or in this case, Austratlian bubbly) is much more uplifting and refreshing than beer and wine.  Plus, we have a ridiculous view on our balcony, so it made for a lovely little get together.

My job doesn't have many perks, but this is definitely one of them.

I made sure to have my interns take home all the leftovers- except the Chocolate Covered Espresso beans!

Drool

I got home completely exhausted, and there was only a serving or so left, so I went to town.

Now if that isn't the perfect way to begin a weekend, I don't know what is!

Excuse the icky nails and stained wifebeater.  I was watching a straight-to-DVD movie on the Family Channel starring Lindsay Lohan, and I wanted to fit in.

Thank God I took Friday off.  I was so incredibly burnt out from work, so I slept a little later than usual (6:30) and had a liquid breakfast while watching Saved-by-the-Bell the College Years and painting my nails.

Green monster, coffee, water. Not exactly a liquid breakfast like I would have had in college, but seriously, these SBTB kids became dorks in college.

I had a doctor’s appointment and then we drove home to NJ without too much trouble.  I was so happy to see my family I could hardly stand it!  I gave my parents their gifts from our recent trip to Italy, which they loved…

For Dad, a fancy silk tie, a cute Roman soldier magnet, and a ceramic bell to add to his collection. Please excuse Oliver- he looks like a contorionist!

Much better- silly puppy.

My mom loved her red leather gloves, champagne-colored scarf, and calendar of Botticelli reproductions.

Shopping success!  The three (well five including dogs) sat down for dinner outside since the weather was perfect.

We had a Pinot Noir that just danced off your tongue.

  At my parents’ house, every ingredient is local, organic, and perfectly fresh.  Our meal did not disappoint- my parents had burgers stuffed with Goat cheese while I had a veggie burger, with a salad of the most wonderful arugula and shaved parmesan, and sweet Jersey corn dressed in evoo and young green garlic.

Summer

Local corn dressed with gg (Gossip Girl?)

I didn’t really get tons of photos of the rest of the weekend’s meals- we were running around a lot and also had several meals with Mike’s family.  Here are some things I enjoyed, though:

A real Jersey bagel, aka my very favorite thing

A green salad with hummus, almonds, local veggies, and super aged balsamic

Chobani with a sliced banana, a crumbled-up homemade blueberry muffin (to die) and raw desert honey

TCBY on the car ride home!!!!!!

We also ate lunch at Cafe Amici yesterday afternoon with Mike’s family, where you’ll remember the Real Housewives of NJ dined when Caroline suggested Dina’s teenage daughter get boob implant advice from Theresa. 

Classy

Where we didn’t have any housewife sightings, they did have a nice array of salads with a reasonable amount of produce.  I got a green salad with pitted kalamata olives, a little feta, and dressing on the side.  Mike had a beautiful turkey burger with fresh sweet potato fries.

The best part of the weekend, of course, were my angels.

There's actually not angels at all. They are quite spoiled and bratty.

But I treasured every second with them!

Even though Petey was his usual snobby self...

He condescended to licking all the moisturizer off my face, and that's good enough for me.

Now it’s back to reality!  I started the week with a green monster made with tons of baby spinach, 1/2 scoop Mike’s protein powder, a frozen banana, 3/4c. almond milk, and tons of ice cubes.  Love.

Recycled picture, sorry

Unsurprisingly, this only held me over for a couple of hours before I needed a snackie, so I had a hunk of this delicious whole wheat sourdough bread I got at Giant (I freezed off individual portions- genius, I know) and a Barney Butter 90 calorie pack.

I <3 portion control

A couple of hours after that, I was hungry again!  So I dove into a little container of fresh pineapple to keep the rumblings at bay.

Again, recycled picture. Sorry!

Luckily, my two snacks definitely prevented me from being completely ravenous for lunch, and I ate half an hour later than normal, and din’t feel ready to eat my arm.  Lunch was a big ol’ salad with lite parmesan dressing and a Bruschetta flavor Boca burger with a crisp apple.

Hmmm, lunch tastes so much better when you aren't so hungry you're in pain.

The Boca burger was delish!  I heard great things about this flavor from friends, and I agree, it def. does taste like pizza.  All right kids, I have a busy afternoon ahead of me so it’s back to the books.  I hope you guys had a great weekend too!

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