Going Green Tip: Recycle

This week's tip for living a greener life:

Recycle

Most people can recycle more than they do. Paper, magazines, cardboard, cereal boxes, glass, aluminum foil, cans and even grocery bags should go in your bin, not the trash.

Rainy Day Spring Luncheon Menu

Cute idea for a spring lunch with the girls or a bridal shower.

Decorations: buckets of flowers on the front porch, bright umbrellas and rubber boots, fresh blossoms on the tables

Food: Keep the food simple, light and tasty. It should be easy to make and easy to eat on a lap. Bacon and leek tart, carrot and onion soup- served in pretty tea cups and saucers that can be balanced without much effort, and Angel Food cake with lime drizzle.

Drinks: "Stay Dry" vodka martinis (regular vodka martinis garnished with lavendar)

Real Simple April 2008

The Stress Less Dinner Party

The Menu

• Greens with Quick Artichoke Vinaigrette
• Orange-Coriander Roast Chicken with Red Onions
• Green Beans with Roasted Nuts and Cranberries
• Rice Pilaf with Sauteed Onions and Dill
• Raspberry Sorbet with Whipped Cream and Meringues

Party Prep Checklist

3 hours before dinner

• Make room for coats in a closet or on a bed.
• Clear the coffee and side tables (stow magazines and books in a closet), and plump the pillows.
• Put out clean towles and a scented candle in the bathroom.
• Arrange the flowers.
• Set the table.

2 hours before dinner

• Prepare and roast the chicken
• Chill white wines in the refrigerator and uncork reds.
• Wash the salad greens and make the vinaigrette (but don't combine the two yet).
• Make and refrigerate the whipped cream, and crumble the meringue cookies for the dessert.

45 minutes before dinner

• Wash 4 pints of strawberries and arrange them in a bowl so guests can nibble on them before dinner.
• Make the green beans.
• Make the rice pilaf.

10 minutes before dinner

• Prepare the pan drippings.
• Dress the salad greens on individual plates.

Party menu from Real Simple, April 2008

May you always have work for your hands to do.

May your pockets hold always a coin or two.

May the sun shine bright on your windowpane.

May the rainbow be certain to follow each rain.

May the hand of a friend always be near you.

And may God fill your heart with gladness to cheer you.”



- Irish blessing

Veteran's Day

I was posting on The Knot this afternoon while at work and the following post came up.

"List the Veterans in your life, living or not."

My list is pretty long, so here goes.

• Lambert Rebstock (mom's uncle)- WWII, POW in Japan
• 4 older Rebstock brothers, Matthew Mark Luke & John (we're Catholic can ya tell?, also mom's uncles)- WWII, died in action
• Walter Ditman- (mom's dad) WWII US Army
• Grandpa Ditman- (mom's grandfather) US Army
• Joseph Clark- (dad's dad) WWII US Navy
• Uncle Walter- (dad's uncle) WWII US Air Force
• Daniel Clark- (dad) Vietnam, US Air Force
• Zach Lang- (cousin) soon to be serving, US Navy
• Jason Schultz- (drew's best friend) currently serving & stationed in Iraq, US Army
• Danny DeArmond- (my friend Julie's brother) currently serving, US Air Force
• Karl Jacobs- (former boss/mentor) Vietnam, US Army
• John Poi- (dad's friend) Vietnam, US Army
• Vance Munsen- (dad's friend) Vietnam, Marine Corps
• Len Pietrusciewicz- (dad's friend) WWII, US Navy

Reading this list makes me cry. There are no words to express how grateful I am for the sacrifices these men made and are still making. I am truly humbled to consider them my family and my friends.

1908

I got this email from one of my friends at work. It's very interesting to see what a difference we've made over the last 100 years!


THE YEAR 1908This will boggle your mind, I know it did mine!
The year is 1908.One hundred years ago.
What a difference a century makes!
Here are some statistics for the Year 1908 :
************************************

• The average life expectancy was 47 years.
• Only 14 percent of the homes had a bathtub.
• Only 8 percent of the homes had a telephone.
• There were only 8,000 cars and only 144 miles of paved roads.
• The maximum speed limit in most cities was 10 mph.
• The tallest structure in the world was the Eiffel Tower.
• The average wage in 1908 was 22 cents per hour.
• The average worker made between $200 and $400 per year.
• A competent accountant could expect to earn $2000 per year,A dentist $2,500 per year, a veterinarian between $1,500 and $4,000 per year, and a mechanical engineer about $5,000 per year.
• More than 95 percent of all births took place at HOME.
• Ninety percent of all doctors had NO COLLEGE EDUCATION! Instead , they attended so-called medical schools, many of which Were condemned in the press AND the government as "substandard."
• Sugar cost four cents a pound.Eggs were fourteen cents a dozen.Coffee was fifteen cents a pound.
• Most women only washed their hair once a month, and used Borax or egg yolks for shampoo.
• Canada passed a law that prohibited poor people from entering into their country for any reason.
• Five leading causes of death were: 1. Pneumonia and influenza 2. Tuberculosis 3. Diarrhea 4. Heart disease 5. Stroke
• The American flag had 45 stars.
• The population of Las Vegas , Nevada, was only 30!
• Crossword puzzles, canned beer, and ice tea hadn't been invented yet.
• There was no Mother's Day or Father's Day.
• Two out of every 10 adults couldn't read or write.
• Only 6 percent of all Americans had graduated from high school.
• Marijuana, heroin, and morphine were all available over the counter at the local corner drugstores. Back then pharmacists said, "Heroinclears the complexion, gives buoyancy to the mind,regulates the stomach and bowels, and is, in fact, a perfect guardian of health." Shocking? DUH!
• Eighteen percent of households had at least one full-time servant or domestic help.
• There were about 230 reported murders in the ENTIRE U.S.A.!

Now I forwarded this from someone else without typing it myself, and sent it to you and others all over the world in a matter of seconds!Try to imagine what it may be like in another 100 years.

IT STAGGERS THE MIND!

Long Time, No Chat

Ok, it's been a long time since I posted. A really long time.

I've been a little side tracked with the wedding planning, and contributing to a new blog. I'm officially a Pink Bride, hence the lovely picture to the right. There's been quite a bit going on there, all about the wedding plans and how they're coming along.

Click here to get your updates.

Enjoy!

Puppy vs. Playboy

As many of you know, Andrew and I have a beagle-bulldog mix named Loki, after the Norse god of chaos and mischeif. It totally fits his personality. We came home the other day and he had gotten out of his crate and destroyed some magazines. It looked like it had snowed paper, and there he was napping on our bed surrounded by what used to be 6 months worth of Andrew's playboys. Apparently Loki doesn't appreciate Hugh Hefner's portrayal of women.

Save the Date Resolution

I have to give some kudos to our stationary designer. I know after the mix-up that seems odd, but it was her response to the situation that makes me say that.

I let her know about the error and that we had purchased the domain name. Her response without any hesitation was to offer to reimburse us for the cost of the domain name or use an equal amount as a credit towards the next item on our list. She has also offered to give us one of the items on our list for free. I was blown away by her professionalism in her efforts to make the situation right. I let her know that her approach took a lot of my worries away, and after talking about it Andrew and I agreed that we should keep the relationship and finish our items with her help.

I'll do a better job of being on top of our schedule and requesting and reviewing proofs. This will be much less stressful than me trying to find the necessary pieces and make everything from scratch. I could do it, but this really helps.

And on an even better note- a big batch of the save the dates has already gone in the mail. Hopefully we'll be hearing from people soon to let us know that they've received it and we'll be getting some more song requests and guest book entries on our website.

Now, about the dress...

Save the Date Drama

So last week I had the day off work on Friday and met with our stationery designer to pick up the save the dates for our October wedding. Since we have so many family members and friends who will be travelling to Chicago we knew we wanted to have them out 6 months ahead of time. They were over 2 weeks late getting finished, but still in time for the deadline we set for ourselves. I pick them do a quick glance and am very pleased. I admit that this was my mistake- I should have looked closer when I picked them up.

I collect addresses from my parents and Andrew's parents, and I start addressing envelopes. I get everything addressed and then I really sit down to look at the save the dates. This is when I freak out.

The wedding website is wrong. Our actual site is through mywedding.com, and I really like it. The site listed on the STD is BriannaandAndrew dot com. Not even close. I'm flipping out, and Andrew is positively irate.

I then remember that the Knot has a few wedding websites recommended that can be purchased. I go online to wedding tracker and am able to find that BriannaandAndrew is available. I buy it, and will be using that homepage to redirect people to our actual homepage.

Crisis avoided, problem solved, and now I have a new project for the weekend, getting everything to link up before the first STDs arrive. Still seething, mind you, but very relieved. We decided to go out to dinner after that since we were both too edgy to cook.

Now, I'm planning to DIY the remaining pieces and end our relationship with this vendor. The lateness I could let slide if the quality was worth it. Now I don't have that feeling. So I'll be going over some websites and checking into the costs and hopefully finding some easy to follow instructions!