Maddie & Mommy's Ice Cream Date at the Dog Park

Maddie & I went to the Dog Park today, but not without first making a stop at Culver's for some ice cream (well, frozen custard I guess). Maddie could hardly wait 'til we got to the dog park & it was all I could do to keep her from eating both of our ice cream's before we got there. :)

Finally we got in, sat down & began enjoying our little ice cream date.

Of course, it was the usual Turtle Sundae for me. Maddie prefers anything with as much to eat & lick as possible, but we went with vanilla and she was content!

After our little pit stop to the picnic tables, we proceeded to our dog park laps. Of course, before we had the chance to start it, Maddie had to go find a big stick. (Good job, my dear!) :) She's so proud every time - how cute!

I must say, though, the dog park is getting quite dirty with all this snow melting. By no means is it as bad as it will get (I did wear my white fleece & it is still clean), but I do have several muddy paw prints on the thighs of my jeans.

Maddie bit her toungue, so Mom made her leave her first stick behind so she could heal. But, don't worry folks! Maddie is a mighty stick hunter & she found a record-sized stick...well...more like LOG to enjoy. And she was so popular for finding it, she had a friend come over & try to play. Of course, Maddie has learned some mighty effective juke & spin moves from her Daddy the quarterback, so there was no playin' defense with her and her stick! Overall a fun day (and...no getting hit on by young Potbelly employees). hehe

FISH BOWL

The nice thing about memory cards is that they don't forget things, like I do. :)

I was retrieving some photos of Maddie & the wedding dress I picked out & there were some pictures of a fun couple of nights I had with my great friend Ashley & the girls/boys. I thought I'd share them. :)

This is the beginning of the fish bowl:

Mid-way through the fish bowl:

This is the end of the fish bowl:

In case you're wondering...yes, I was in all the fish bowl shots....I'm the last one standing! :) And I do recall being the only one who had to work the next day! :)

Winter Blues...good-bye!

Well, Maddie & I have been depressed all winter long, because we sit inside alllll day and do nothing but watch TV. Well, this week Maddie & I decided to do something different! We started off the day like we normally start off Tuesdays. We woke up, had some breakfast & watched the previous night's recording of The Bachelor. We were both very surprised by the outcome as Jake chose Vienna...Vienna of ALL the girls he could have chosen on that show & he chose her?? Well, now we all know why Jake hasn't found true love at this point in his life. It's because he chooses people like Vienna. OK, well enough of me being picky about a reality TV show & on to my own life! :)

After being surprised (& disappointed) by The Bachelor, Maddie & I thought we'd take a little trip to the "D" "O" "G" "P" "A" "R" "K". I spell that out, because Maddie knows what "Dog Park" means & goes ecstatic every time we say it! We hopped in the car & made 1 pit stop (lunch at Potbelly's Sandwiches for me - YUM!). Side note about Potbelly's. OK, so I absolutely LOVE Potbelly's & I probably eat there at least once/week because I can't get enough. (I might have to reduce my indulgences as I start trying to get back into shape for my wedding, however).

So I'm on the phone with my fiance sit down to begin eating and this kid comes up to me (one of the Potbelly's employees who I've never seen by the way) and says "I'm sorry to bother you while you're on the phone, but..." (at this point I'm thinking he's going to tell me my car lights are on or my dog escaped the car or something that is pertinent enough to interrupt me while I am obviously on a phone call). But....no....he interrupts me to say "...you are just beautiful and I wanted to tell you that. If you ever want to hang out, just let me know". Ok...first of all, buddy, I'm flattered that a kid (who looks like he's in high school) thinks I'm beautiful enough to ask out, but...I have a very large diamond sitting on my left ring finger. Don't you see that? Also, I am on a phone call (with my fiance by the way!) and you think that the best way to ask me out is to interrupt me? I DON'T think so! So I politely smiled, said thanks & he walked away. (At this point, I'm thinking "should I tell his manager or just let it go?" - he is an employee at my FAVORITE place to eat by the way - and I don't want to deal with him every time I come in. Then I thought..."do I give him advice on how to pick up a woman, because it is obviously NOT how he did it?") Well, just when I thought it was over, he walked back by and with the hand he was not carrying a full trash bag in, set a crumpled up napkin on my table and said in an oh-so-thinking-he-was-suave tone, "have a nice lunch, see you later". I just about jumped out of my skin in laughter. Of course I didn't touch the napkin because I coudn't quite tell if it was used (why else would it be crumpled up), but I could see by looking underneath the fold from the side that he had written his phone number on the napkin. WOW!

Sorry to disappoint anyone who was rooting for Mr. Suave over there at Potbelly's, but I left (without his phone number) & Maddie & I were on our way to the dog park. It was wonderful - a bit chilly - but nowhere near as cold as it's been all winter. And the sun was out, so we made it around the dog park twice with a small break in between laps to play with some other dogs. We met a black lab/golden retriever mix (who looked just like a little, stocky yellow lab) named Marley. He was only 23 weeks old, but was almost as big as Maddie already...Marley is going to be a BIG dog when he grows up! And we met a couple of other fun dogs as well. Maddie had a blast, but I discovered that she is kindof a snob around other dogs. She's never mean or bitey or barky at them, but she'd rather play with me if she can. When I ignored her, she played great with the other pups, but when I was willing to throw her the stick and pet her, she didn't like being bothered. I guess she's just a mama's girl! :)

And one thing we did take from today is that we are excited for spring to come. As you can see in the photos, the snow is melting at our house & we saw our first glimpses of grass since December. It's a good sign! :)

Flowers

Well, we picked our venue (it's 95% for certain). It's the Glacier Canyon Lodge in the Wisconsin Dells. And....wait a minute, so I apologize for me ADDishness, but I'm watching American Idol on my DVR as I type & I just noticed that Alex Lambert has a mullet...has anyone else noticd that? It's sortof a modern sort of mullet with a shaggy business in the front and a crazy long party in the back...not quite sure what to think about that...I never thought the mullet would ever come back (and don't worry, I don't think he'll be bringing it back...).

OK, so back to business...the Glacier Canyon Lodge in the Wisconsin Dells. And...we decided we might have the ceremony outside, which was kindof out of the question before, but now I'm sortof liking the idea!! The date will be September 10, 2011. Yep, that's right, 9/10/11. And I must say, THANK YOU to Mrs. Stefani Geurts as her & I picked this date well before I had a rock on my finger, so thank you for being a special part in my planning. :)

Now that we've got the dress, the date & the venue picked out, it's time to start the details, like FLOWERS. Hence, this entry. My first order of business is to research which flowers are in season during September, because (again) Mrs. Stefani Geurts made this great budget suggestion. I guess this is more of an entry for me to remember which flowers I liked, but I'll put in a few photos for reference as well. :) I'm open to feedback if you like/dislike or have good advice about any of these in-season picks!

Alstromeria:

Chrysanthemum:

Cockscomb (I just had to add it...
Bridget, this is for you, by the way b/c I thought
of you & how you'd probably crack up when
you read this!) LOL

Cosmos:

Echinops:

Freesia:

Gerbera Daisy:

Gladiolus:

Iris:

Asiatic Lily:

Gloriosa Lily

Orchid - we all know what these look like. :)

Quince:

Roses: (Pink obviously)

Star of Bethlehem:

Zinnia

Wedding Stuff

So, I know I've failed to update this blog regularly, but I've decided to make it a wedding blog of sorts. Of course I'll put other interesting things as they come up, but it'll give me a creative outlet to think through some of the ideas I come across and keep everyone posted on where I'm at.As for where we're at now...I've asked all my bridesmaids to be part of our wedding and they've all said yes. (A very big thank you to my bridesmaids: My sisters, Pamela & Melissa, my high school/childhood friends, Vanessa & Erica & my college friends, Ashley & Bridget.

Bob has not even begun asking his groomsmen yet...that'll probably be a while, knowing Bob and more importantly, knowing men! :)

Now I have yet to choose my personal attendant(s), ushers, flower girl(s) & ring bearer(s).

As for other planning, our next step is to find a reception hall. We don't have a date picked yet, because we want to find a reception hall & go from there in terms of when we can get in. We have a pretty broad range for our date, so I'm sure we'll find a place soon. Bob's taking a day off next week (hopefully) for us to make our road trip.

We're going to look at 4 places in Madison (Sheraton on John Nolan Drive, Madison Marriott West, Madison Concourse Hotel & Best Western Inn on the Park), 4 places in the Wisconsin Dells (Chula Vista Resort, Wilderness Resort, Kalahari Resort & 1 more that I can't think of right now...), 2 places in Green Bay (Brett Favre Steak House & Radisson Hotel connected to the Oneida Casino) & 1 place in Green Lake (Heidel House Resort & Spa) - yes this is my old place of employment.  :)

It'll be quite the little road trip, but hopefully we'll come out with the perfect reception hall and our date!

Red Mango

Today I worked a temp job for Red Mango. It's a frozen yogurt shop that is brand new to Wisconsin. They serve authentic frozen yogurt that is non-fat & very healthy (it contains real active & live cultures & promotes a healthy digestive system!)

Anyway, I braved out the cold & handed out samples & brochures to promote their grand opening this Saturday from 11am-2pm. Here's a photo I found online of their product.

As my official review, I tried all 4 of their flavors (Original,

 Cocoa, POM Pomegranate & Tangomonium) without any toppings. I just LOVED the Pomegranate & Tangomonium flavors - probably could have done without the chocolate & original. They may have been better with toppings though! :)

Anyway, you should stop by sometime and try it - it's a great, healthy & tasty alternative to ice cream. The one in Madison is located on State Street (600 block across from Einstein Bro's & next to the Med Cafe). YUM!

Dinner!

So, Bob's been feeling neglected lately, because we've both been working a lot & our schedules just don't match up. So, I thought "what can I do special for him and I so we can have some time together?" Naturally, I thought of food...



I originally thought a crispy shrimp salad sounded great, so I started looking for recipes online. I found a scallop salad recipe & it sounded great, so I tried it.



Here is the recipe & a photo of the finished product. Feel free to try it. I would recommend it if you are into Asian salads. It was OK, but not the best. I'd probably give it a 3 out of 5 stars.













4 cups boiling water

1 1/2 lbs scallops

Poaching Water:

1/2 cup white wine

1/2 tbs fresh tarragon

1/2 tbs peppercorns, cracked

1 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper

2 cups Maui onion and mixed vegetables

1 stem fresh cilantro

1/2 cup lime juice



Marinade:

1/3 cup light olive oil

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1 clove fresh garlic, sliced

1 1/2 cups fresh celery, sliced diagonally

1 tbs fresh tarragon



6 servings waimea mixed salad greens

3/4 cup red radish, sliced

2 each medium tomatoes, cut into wedges

1 each julienne, Asian apple (or crisp Korean/Japanese Pear)

1 each jicama, julienne



Rinse scallops in cold water and drain well. Combine poaching water ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Add scallops, reduce heat, and simmer for 3 to 5 minutes, or until scallops are tender. Drain scallops. Combine lime juice, oil, sugar, garlic, and remaining 1 teaspoon salt. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Pour over scallops, cover, and chill for several hours. Add celery to scallops and mix. Drain, but save marinade. Arrange mixed greens evenly on six salad plates. Divide scallops and celery mixture evenly between the six plates. Arrange the remaining food in groups around the scallops on the mixed greens. Serve with reserved marinade.



NOTE:You can substitute Vidalia or other sweet onion for the Maui Onion. A bed of lettuce greens (combination of red leaf, green leaf, butter, iceberg, romaine, etc) can be substituted for the Waimea mixed greens.