We sponsored an ABC (Association of Bridal Consultants) meeting earlier this month, it's always a lot of fun to mingle with the consultants and other vendors in a more casual setting.

The Event Rundown:

Centerpieces and accent pieces were provided by Sharon Mintz of Organic Elements

Linens were provided by Haydee of Concepts Event Design

Cakes (and cupcakes) were provided by Flour Power

Entertainment provided by Jewell Entertainment

And the La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club hosted the event

Yesterday we headed out to Sea World for a couple hours, we had been spending too much time in house and we're getting a little bit of cabin fever. We had specific places we were headed in the park; bat rays and sharks. We managed to show up while they were doing the bat ray feeding, so we bought a few trays of fish and I fed the eager, splashing rays. Jordan loves sharks, so we wandered over to the shark encounter to watch them swim around for a while. We got stuck in a little bit of traffic heading home, and stopped by the grocery store to get fixings for dinner. Jordan cooked some chicken breasts and we put them on a salad with some pears and walnuts. Really yummy!

I'm planning to make a lemon meringue pie this weekend, but we have to eat the cupcakes I made last weekend first.

Toilet training the cat is a slow process, he's not too keen on the change of litter and location of the litter box so we had to add some more steps before we can use the CitiKitty. So far so good, he's doing pretty well, but it seems that he's expecting a treat every time he uses the new litter box, he even waits to make sure we know he's been in the bathroom.

I guess it's lunch time, but before I go I'm going to leave you with this awesome cartoon I found by Phil Selby.

 

Every bride needs a white dress. This goes without saying at the wedding, but what do you wear to all the other bridal events that aren't on the big day? The short answer is anything you want. You are the bride after-all. However, if you're one of those people (like me) who pairs the drinks to the dinner and your attire to the occasion, CIARLAbride has another answer for you: The Little White Dress.

(A.K.A. the story of the ginger people who lived under the lemon sun next to the lemon mountain.)

Back on the 4th of this month, Gia and I decided to make Lemon Ginger Ice. The idea stemmed from the surplus of lemons which we still have haunting our tree out back.

We used a Tyler Florence Recipe that we got from the Food Network.

Ingredients

• 8 medium to large lemons
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 cups water
• 2-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and sliced
• Crushed ice

Prep

Step 1.) Peel lemons.

Step 2.) Juice 'em.

Step 3.) Peel the ginger and chop it up.

Directions

To make the ginger syrup: Combine the sugar, water, and ginger in a pot over medium heat. Gently simmer and stir for 2 minutes until the sugar is dissolved and the ginger fragrant - do not allow the syrup to boil or get dark. Remove from heat, cover, and steep until cool.

To complete your delicious lemon treat: Fill a blender with crushed ice, pour in the lemon juice, add the ginger syrup (remove the big pieces of ginger), and blend until slushy. Freeze for 1 hour or until firm.

Enjoy.

PS - If any of our buddies out there need lemons, we are happy to share!

[ I will explain the title in a moment...]

It's been a while, but it's Gia here again with some updates!

We're all settled into the new house, and getting back to a normal routine. It's been a while since anyone has lived in the downstairs of the house, so the bugs are getting stirred up, ick. Pilate has enjoyed bird watching in the morning, and the afternoon, and the evening, he just gets a little concerned when birds larger than sparrows show up.

We went to the ABC meeting at the La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club last week, it was beautiful! Flour Power made an amazing cake that we were happy to nibble on.

Oh, and my laptop decided to cut its power source whenever it felt like it, so now I'm working with Barney, my new Macbook. I'm new to the whole Mac thing (I loved my Toshiba Satellites and my e-machines laptops, but they just can't do what I need them to), so Barney and I are working on getting to know each other. I might as well explain why he's named Barney, he's named after Neil Patrick Harris's character Barney on How I Met Your Mother, I even have an NPH wallpaper on the desktop right now.