Lately…

Pictures from the past week(ish)…

(A little wedding preview below, our cake toppers came and we got our wedding bands!)

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(and of course celebrated getting the bands)

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(i’ve been doing gluten free this week, so i made sure to have my fill before i started! cake from my cousin and i made croissants this weekend)

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(zucchini pasta with gfree chicken pesto meatballs…mmm.  jay refused to eat it since it wasn’t real pasta…ay! got the wonderful idea/recipe from my love ashley)

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(a lazy snuggle with my main man)

xo-j

 

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BBQ

Since this winter refuses to go away, I have still been using my crock pot a bunch for warm hearty meals.  This is a new one I made the other week, and we have had it twice since then, it is so delicious, of course easy, and you probably have almost all the ingredients in your cabinet already!

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BBQ CHICKEN CROCK POT

5-6 Chicken Boneless Breasts (frozen or regular)
18 oz bottle of Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ Sauce (regular flavor)
2 TBS Red Wine Vinegar (could prob use any vinegar but that’s what I had)
1/2 Cup Brown Sugar (packed)
1 TSP Red Pepper Flakes (this really does make it spicy)
1/2 TSP Garlic Salt1/2 TSP Onion Powder
Splash of Worcestershire
Sprinkle of Cheddar

DIRECTIONS

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1. Combine all ingredients except chicken and cheddar.  Mix them all up in your crock pot until smooth.

2. Place your chicken in the pot and stir until coated by sauce mixture

3. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours

4. Pull the chicken apart in the crock pot with a fork.  Really pull it so it is super stringy, don’t leave any chunks.

5. Turn on low and let continue to cook pulled apart until you are ready to eat (which could be 10 minutes or 2 hours, the longer the spicier though).

6. Sprinkle the cheddar on top, give it a stir and serve!  So simple, so tasty!

I don’t like bread so I ate mine plain, but Jay ate his on a roll and loved it.  This definitely is a bit salty so making a nice fresh vegetable on the side is perfect!

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xo – J

Away

Since I last posted (over a month ago eek!) we went to Florida, I was in NJ, NYC, we celebrated my birthday, Jay was in California, I picked up my wedding dress, the girls dresses, and this week I’m off to Miami!  It has been a winter of traveling around, with more to come.  Wanted to share some pictures from our travels lately:

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Can’t wait to be in Miami for my bachlorette with all my boos.  So exciting!

xo-j

Well

Well…we’re getting more snow today…again.  On top of the already 12 inches or so on the ground it’s starting to pile up.  I don’t remember ever having such a white winter.  It’s awful!

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(don’t think we will be bbqing anytime soon)

The good thing about being stuck in the house is I have around 4 million things to do for our wedding! If I am not working, I’m doing wedding things.  If I’m in the shower I’m thinking about things I need to do, if I’m online I’m looking up ideas for the wedding, if I have a 20 second break from working I’m making lists of things to do…but I love it.  I wish I could plan weddings always….it’s an organizers dream!

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(our dining room table is wedding central)

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(my first trial attempt for a sign)

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(went to jay’s parents house and rondo was very confused about why they weren’t there)

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(angry with me for putting the swiffer box in his couch spot)

Tomorrow we are going to spend Valentine’s day with friends and have a sleepover.  Looking forward to a fun night!  Rondo’s bff is there too so everyone will be happy!

xo-j

 

 

Details

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This weekend we had our details appointment at our venue.  I still can’t believe how much there is to do.  When I get one thing done, four new things appear!  June is going to be here before we know it.   My parents met us in CT to see the Barns, our hotels, and have lunch.  I really miss having them close by so it was really great they came up!

Our invitations are basically all ready to be mailed out, which was a massive project.  They are addressed and stuffed, now all we need is for the actual stamps to come in the mail.  I’m really happy with how they turned out and will share some pictures once they are sent/received (don’t want to show what they look like until everyone has seen in person!).

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I’ve also been getting a lot better at knitting!  Each thing I make is a little better than the one before (and with wayyyy less mistakes).  This past week I made a headband and a little hat for our Nephew (who comes in JULY!!!! ❤ ❤ J+D)

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And of course since it is Valentine’s this Friday, I have been downing all kinds of treats…

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Just 9 days until we are out of this cold in Florida!  Thank God…it’s so cold here I don’t think I can take it much longer.

xo-j

Things I love (today)

1. Tina Fey

2. These table numbers I am going to attempt to create, though a bit different…

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3. Daydreaming about being warm again…Florida in just a few weeks!

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4. This face

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5. This video everyone has seen

 

Lately…

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(Pierce back at TD…it was an emotional game Sunday!  So happy we were there!)

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(Ron got a new frisbee and it wore him out.  So much so he was able to fall asleep on our old couch in the basement which is the worlds most uncomfortable piece of furniture)

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(I made a hat for Kate!)

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(our first piece of china/first present came ❤ . My next project is making our table numbers)

xo-J

January

I can’t believe we are already coming to the end of January.  Since Thanksgiving we have been non-stop, with holidays, friends, parties, wedding planning, work, and everything in-between.  There is too much to write about but I thought I would share some pictures from lately (since I’ve been so bad at keeping up on here).  As we get closer to wedding time I want to share a lot more of the planning and inspirations I have had, that’s something I really want to do in 2014, that and good posture…I think the first will be easier!

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(snow snow snow)

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(I having been learning how to knit and loving it.  Baby hat!)

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(the first thing I knit! been obsessing over salami lately…can’t stop. icicles on our roof!)

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(the beautiful plates we registered for last weekend.  I’m obsessed with them)

This weekend we have our tasting!  I am (we are) looking forward to trying all the different food and pick our menu, this way I can order invites.  The wedding is creeping up and I have so much to do! Not complaining at all though, it has been such an exciting time and I love nothing more than organizing so it’s been beyond fun (though definitely stressful!).

xo-J

The last two weeks

Over the last 10 days I was in NYC and NJ visiting friends, family, and work.  It was such a great trip being able to not only see my friends before Christmas, but getting to my Mom’s concert, and enjoying the city at Christmas time (complete with snow!).  I miss New York so much, but there is nothing like coming back home to Jay and Rondo.

To everyone I got to see last week, I love you all so much and miss you constantly.  How lucky am I to have you all in my life?!

xo-j

Buffalo Chicken Pasta

We had such a fun weekend in NYC with all our family, which I am sure to be sharing pictures etc. from soon, but first I wanted to share a recipe from last week!  I wanted to try something new since I’m pretty bored of our same 10 meals, and this was a weird twist on ziti both Jay and I ended up loving.  Below is the recipe, make please, and enjoy!

WHAT YOU NEED

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1 lb chicken breasts (boiled and shredded)
1 lb ziti
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup buffalo sauce (I used franks buffalo)
1 cup ricotta cheese
1/4 cup blue cheese dressing
1/4 cup parm cheese
1/4 cup breadcrumbs
Black pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

1.  Boil your chicken in water, drain, let cool, and shred.  I did this way earlier in the day and then stored it in the fridge until I was ready to cook dinner

2. Boil your pasta according to box and let drain.

3. While the pasta is boiling mix the chicken, mozz, buffalo, ricotta, and dressing in a big bowl.  When the pasta is done and drained add this to the mix.

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4.  Once everything is all mixed up, spread in a glass baking pan and top with the breadcrumbs and parm (I pre-mixed the crumbs and cheese).

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5. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes

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6. Once it is done baking broil for 1-2 minutes depending on your oven.  Mine is really hot and the top was browned in about 1 minute.

7. Your all done…mmmm

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xo-j