November 5, 2010

Proposal Details.

The story involves my making Doug partake in a (probably really lame) roof-top holiday card photo session (wearing plaid and jeans with vests, our standard attire) with one of our cameras on a timer & tripod. I was going to have a friend from work take the pictures instead, but Doug suggested that we just "give it a try on the roof with his camera since he had brought it home from work." I agreed that it was worth a try.

Last Sunday, October 31st, I was having a rocky morning & decided to take a nice jog to lift my spirits up a bit. Before I took off for my run, Doug asked me specifically how long I would be gone for. Thinking nothing of it, I mentioned that I'd be gone for no more than 40 minutes (I love to run, but let's face it, I'm certainly not a "runner" and require 2 layered sports bras to keep everything in place while I'm hoping around). Maybe next year I'll train for a 1/2 marathon. That's my ultimate goal!

Back to the story.

So, as I left for my run, I remember being pleasantly surprised that Doug had interest in joining in my girly idea of making a holiday card, so I was really excited while on my run.
Everyone knows I love holiday cards more than any Jewish girl should. I already started listening to holiday music on my iPod (my favorites include Frank Sinatra Christmas, Amy Grant Holiday Compilation, Charlie Brown Christmas, and of course Mariah Carey). I returned from my run feeling energized, did some of my Dailey Method planks on the dining room floor per usual, and then showered and got ready quickly, dressing up in my plaid shirt from the Gap and Gap jeans to match Doug's getup.

We were up on the roof taking our photos with the city in the background in our plaid, and Doug decided that this was the day since he had the ring in the house for a week (thank God I didn't clean out that closet like I planned to or else my Type A personality would have caused him to be forced into an unplanned early proposal!).

That day, he brought it up in his vest and was planning to propose during our picture taking. Our neighbor was up on the deck, which put a tad of a wrench in his plans. Because of that factor that was not accounted for, Doug ended up "shifting the camera to get a better angle of the city" (which was really to move to a different area of the roof so our gardening neighbor on her roof deck didn't see what was about to happen). After suggesting that we do a "jumping shot" and getting rejected by Doug (who just wanted to make sure the ring stayed in tact in his pocket), he set the camera for a 10 shot series of photos. The camera was cued. Instead of resuming his normal place in the photo, Doug reached into his pocket and got down on one knee.

I had no idea what he was doing and said "Doug why are you kneeling for the photo for our holiday card, I wanted to do a jumping pose here." Well, duh Mish, he was trying to propose. I thought he was joking and just kept saying "DOUUG what are you doing?"
I guess I knew what he was doing when he started to try to get his prepared speech out, but spurted out two words of the first sentence of it, looked like he was going to pass out, then said "Mish I love you. Will you marry me?" After a few minutes of shock (basically what the 10 photos all look like) I said yes and gave him a big hug. I didn't really even notice what the ring looked like right away because I was so surprised! After I said yes, he pulled out flowers and wine that he hid (not sure how I missed it on the roof-guess Holiday Cards distract me!) while I was getting ready.

What a clever way to propose. Well done, Doug!

Better than Niro's.


There was this totally disgusting restaurant/amazing at the same time (that was really tasty after a night out at Station 211 in Champaign off Green Street at the University of Illinois) that was called Niro's Gyros. I used to either order their gyros or the chilli cheese fries. Ew. Apparently they have a super low technology website located here. I may poke around there for kicks to see why my waist line was out of control in college. The recipe I made below it about 1/2 the calories and about 75% fat that Niro's. Have a look!


(No I didn't take the photo which accompanies this post. I couldn't get a good one. I will keep everyone in the loop as I search for a used high-end very high quality camera to be able to take much better photographs for my blog).


We grilled the fish. You can either put on the grill (using the same olive oil, salt and pepper toppings) or follow the original directions below that instruct to broil it. Doug is getting really good at making the grill marks perfectly done, so we are using that tool as much as possible before it's freezing outside. This meal was totally fresh and delicious. You'll really enjoy it. I would also suggest putting it on a bed of greens or something if you are going for a lower carbohydrate option. I think that could be really tasty as well.


Ingredients for the Fish:
  • 1 1/2 pounds tilapia fillets
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • Cooking spray
Ingredients for the Tzatziki Sauce:
  • 3/4 cup plain 2% reduced-fat Greek yogurt (I used Fat Free yogurt).
  • 2 teaspoons chopped fresh dill
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced (I used a garlic press and it makes them smoother that way)
  • Remaining ingredients:
  • 4 (2.75-ounce) Mediterranean-style wheat flatbreads (pita's work just fine)
  • 1/2 cup vertically sliced red onion (about 1/2 small onion) (we put these on the grill, too)
  • 1 ripe avocado, peeled and cut into 12 thin slices
  • 1 medium tomato, thinly sliced
  • 1/2 small English cucumber, thinly sliced (about 1/2 cup) (I added more since it was super fresh tasting)
Preparation

1. Preheat broiler.

2. To prepare fish, brush fish with oil; sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon pepper and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Place fish on a broiler pan coated with cooking spray. Broil 6 minutes or until fish flakes easily.

3. To prepare tzatziki, combine yogurt and next 5 ingredients (through garlic) in a food processor or blender; pulse until smooth.

4. Spread 2 tablespoons tzatziki in the center of each flatbread. Divide fish evenly among flatbreads. Top each serving with 2 tablespoons onion, 3 avocado slices, 2 tomato slices, and about 6 cucumber slices; fold in half. (I ate mine without bread because I was obsessed with the taste of the avacado with the sauce on my fish but both ways work).

I got this recipe from Cooking Light. That's where the image is from in case anyone comes looking for me with handcuffs. It's their photo.

Look at their site for more amazing menu choices. This is one of my top favorite cooking magazines! Click here for the Cooking Light Website.

ENJOY!


At Least I Have a Cute Dentist.


Disclaimer: Doug, I'm really sorry if you are reading this now because you'll know that I'm already doing a good deal of wedding planning secretly (well maybe not so secretly anymore after this post). I'm just too excited. Don't worry, I won't engage you nor my father until I have all my initial browsing/investigating/and availability searching all figured out. Then I'm happy to hear your suggestions or ideas.

One of the first phone calls I made was to my favorite candy store, after getting engaged. And yes, I will write more about the engagement story when I have a moment. I have decided (after the roommate glanced to my computer screen and as I was about to upload our photos from the proposal he said "are you sure that you want to share those? They are private") to keep the images taken on Sunday as between Doug and I, since it was our moment. I hope you don't mind. Anyways, I digress. Candyality. Best candy store ever. It's located close by to one of my first Chicago apartments, on Southport in Lakeview (right by the Brown Line stop). Although my taste buds are slightly shifting from a vodka all night and gummy candy after-hour snack, to a red wine and dark chocolate palette, I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for whatever magical gummy bears that are available via Candyality.

This place knows their stuff, let me tell you. It's one of those old school looking places with the clear bins that don't stay open when you try to scoop up the treats. They also have sugar free options (stay away from those, I don't want to ever get into details, but it's really not worth the misery to follow after eating a handful).

So, after contacting this lovely little shop. I am now in contact with the Wedding Candy Specialist (if I'm ever unemployed again, I guess I know my new position I'm applying for). I'm going to be ordering bulk pineapple gummies and maybe some of those delicious dusted grapefruit triangles for my wedding sweets table. (Yes, I'm having a sweets table, and yes, the only colors allowed on there will be white and black...dark chocolate that has a brown tone is allowed, too, don't worry).

And yes, my co-workers and I have an excellent (cute) dentist 3 blocks away. I guess it's worth the cavities!




November 4, 2010

Frickles.

I used to call lace "frickles" when I was a kid. My mom had no idea what I was talking about. Probably not the first time that happened. Also, it's obviously been a common thread to present day since I often make up alot of words that I think are real and are unfortunately not (i.e. the word "sheenful" etc).

Strange introduction, yep. I thought of it because of the word "lace" in necklace. I'm going to call the images in this post neck frickles.

Recently I've purchased two fantastic neck frickles. One is from Kate Spade (Lorelei Necklace) and the other is from J Crew (Crystal and Pearl Bib Necklace). I would basically urge everyone to search both these sites for special treasures. Another great place to find Kate Spade jewelry is the Zappos Couture website. Links are below.

Enjoy your shopping! I live for necklaces. They completely transform and outfit.

Cheers
Mish


Click for J Crew Necklaces

Go to Kate Spade Necklaces

Minted



Minted.com is a great site for holiday cards and all paper needs in general. It's the spot to be when it comes to finding that creative template you need for the holidays or for an announcement that isn't corny nor over embellished. I hate those tacky websites that just don't understand that there should be a way to get a trendy holiday card without necessarily needing to know Photo Shop or InDesign (although I'd love to learn those programs very badly). Above it our holiday card. Yes, I convinced Doug to take these photos on our roof, but I thought it was a cute idea that wasn't embarrassing. Originally my inkling was to wear my one piece snow suit on the roof and take some quality photos, but it was nice and warm outside, plaid shirts were a little more comfortable, and it just so happened that Doug proposed that day (only a few moments after the photo on our holiday card was taken) and I don't think that I would really want engagement photos from the moment while wearing an 80's tie die suit.

I spent a pretty good amount of time two nights ago finding a design that I liked on minted.com. It was worth the search. The one we landed on is clean, simple, and not too tacky. I used the special password that is good for a few more days in order to get free shipping. Plus, envelopes came with the order. I just wanted to cut costs as much as I could, so didn't choose to select any of the more elaborate items available for customers. I am a huge fan of what this ended up looking like! Plus, they emailed me a proof via email that I had to open in a PDF and approve before their printing the entire quantity. Excellent idea! I love that. Well done minted. Can't wait to send this little nugget of joy over to my friends.

Code: FREESHIP10

Happy early holidays,
Mish




November 3, 2010

I Said Yes!

On Sunday, October 31 (yes, Halloween), Doug proposed! I'm still taking a moment to be excited about it and will blog about it shortly! Yay!

Cheers,
Mish