Alive and Kickin'

Hi friends! I am alive and kickin'. I've been so busy with wedding preparations and my two summer school classes (biochemistry ends on Thursday! YAY!) that I've barely had time to say hello to TLJ. Mind you, I have been jogging a real lot. But my crazy wedding routine regimen is something that I'll cover at another time. 

For now, I'll tell you about my wedding shower that I had a few weeks ago and one of my many birthday celebrations. My wedding shower was three days after my actual birthday and hosted by two very close friends of the family. I've known Sue since before I was born, and I met Nancy when I become best friends with her daughter Vicki at day camp. We were little walking and talking potty mouths, and we were inseparable. Since we were so close, our parents became best friends and still are to this day. 

Sue and Nancy asked us last summer if they could eventually host a shower for me and some of my friends. I knew that it would be wonderful, because they are both unbelievable cooks. Everything there was homemade. 

Appetizers included dried apricots with spreadable cheese and an almond. I could have eaten the whole plate if I had any worse self-restraint. 

There were also fresh mozzarella, basil, and cherry tomato skewers. 

They also handed out punch to everybody who came in the door which consisted of a scoop of rainbow sherbet ice cream and ginger ale. 

It fit the pink theme, for sure!

Like my bachelorette party, everything was pink!

The desserts were also sitting out at the beginning just to give us an idea of what we would be eating later. 

Once all of my friends got there, we sat down for lunch. We had salad, fresh strawberries, mini crab cakes, and quiche. 

Dessert included fresh strawberries, a berry cobbler that was amazing, and a s'more on a stick. 

The s'more actually has significance behind it. When I'd go to Vicki's house for play dates or sleepovers, we always had s'more Poptarts. My mom never let us keep that stuff in the house, so it was the biggest treat in the world when I could eat those at their house. Nancy never forgot that, and she even gave me a box of them when she came over for my engagement party. The funniest part was that I was so obsessed with Poptarts when I was a kid that my mom eventually caved in and started buying them for us. It was pure crap in a box, but I loved it all the same.  

When we all finished up eating, we headed to the family room for presents. Sue and Nancy asked everybody to bring a recipe and a dish to go with it. Al and I actually never ended up registering for dishes since we still live apart and chose to register for our honeymoon instead, but my friends all have wonderful taste! I got great stuff for the kitchen. 

Below: (from the left) Nicole, my mom, Grandma Arlene, Aunt Harriet, Alex, Molly, Jessie

Below: (from the left) Goda, Kate, me, Julie

I missed a few people in the pictures, including Emily and the Hostesses! I can't believe I forgot to take a photo with them. At least I captured all of their cooking/baking amazing-ness on camera. 

Opening presents!

Sue decorated her boxes with stickers that all revolve around wine and wineries since my wedding is in a vineyard. I'm saving those stickers forever!

My friends turned all of my ribbons into a bouquet. I posed with that in my new apron from Nancy. 

I ended up with a ton of new recipes that I can't wait to make over the years. They ranged from black bean omelettes to a flourless chocolate cake. 

After the shower, I went into the city with Nicole and Julie. We had just enough time to change our clothes and meet our friends Chantal and Jon for dinner at Zapatista in Lincoln Park. I always want Mexican food when I celebrate my birthday, so Julie highly recommended this place. It was fantastic! 

I got a nice little piece of cake for my birthday. 

Then we went out with more friends to celebrate. 

Chantal, me, Julie

Chantal and Jon

My friend Ryan came in with a double-sided sign that we posed with for the remainder of the night. I got such a kick out of it. 

Ryan with his sign

Goda and Nicole

Goda pretending to "double fist"

Andi the Party Animal

Ryan, me, my brother Jon

I had my final birthday celebration the following night when I went out for sushi with my family. After that, I was happy to be normal and not be the birthday girl anymore. Or maybe I'm just gearing up to be the wedding girl!