Day 2 – A photo of something you ate today.

Aaahhh..Funnel Cakes. They bring me back to my teen yrs down the shore. It was my sweet-tooth treat back then & still is.

30 Day Blog Challenge

I've seen this challenge on several blogs lately and i wanted to give it a try. Hope you guys chose to go for it too, as I would love to hopefully learn alittle more about you ladies as well..enjoy!

Foot Scrub Recipe

So as I was getting my pedi earlier today, I remembered! I know promised a post on the Peppermint & Rosemary Rejuvenating Foot Scrubs I made for my friends bridal shower so here it is:

Makes enough to fill about 2 large mason jars:
- 1 cup sea salt (Morton Fine)
- 1 cup Epsom salt (any that's coarse will do)
- 5 tsp pure peppermint extract
- 3 tsp pure lemon extract
- 6 tsp of Rosemary Essentail oil
- 2 tsp eucalyptus Essential oil
- 1 cup sweet almond oil (add more for desired texture)
- 2 tsp cornstarch
- 2 tsp baking soda
- (Optional) food coloring - only 1-3 drops..anymore and you'll probably stain your skin. Remember to mix ingredients well.
- measuring cups and spoons
- mixing bowl and spoon
Enjoy!!

A Surprise Bridal Shower!

I’ve been so excited for this! I have the special privilege of being in my Best Friend’s Wedding this July. I am so excited!!! Gabby is such a beautiful person and so much fun to be around. She was there for me when I married my husband two years ago in Mexico, and it is so special to be there for her special day as well. Our friendship goes back over 15 years..I am a lucky girl. I held this surprise shower for her in hopes that I could give her something she could really enjoy with all her favorite ladies, and look back to long after she says her "I DO".
*Friends Forever*

I hosted this bridal shower with the help of my sisters. The setting was a pretty hall in Ridgewood NJ, which I had catered. We indulged in yummy food and sipped on Mimosas and Sangria. I tried to capture the day in pictures as much as I could. But half the time I was really caught up..so I'm hoping I could retrieve some pics from guests who attended. Here's just one of the many beautiful gifts the guest of honor received.

From the moment my friend wore her engagement ring proudly, I knew I was on board for a joyful planning phase. I took into account all the things she loves, and with it I tried to incorporate feminine details like cameos, lockets, lace, and feathers. Blush pink & vintage blue color tones were used throughout the decor. The inspiration for my ideas first came from my friends beautiful outdoor garden wedding venue:CrossedKeysInn. I thought a shabby-chic themed shower would be ideal.


We had her silhouette genius crafted by the very talented Mekala Tinnin from tiethatbindsweddings. I totally recommend her to all my readers on here. She is so professional and her work is truly amazing.
This silhouette was incorporated in the cake and table signs. All decorations were handmade, including the centerpieces. I decided on a Brunch Menu with some lunch choices as well. I added a Sweets Table and a Welcome Table as well. Everything came together pretty nicely. Typically a "Feathering The Nest Theme" is commonly used for Baby Shower's if I'm not mistaken, but I thought it would be beautiful if used for a Bridal Shower. What do you guys think?!

When guests arrived, I had them write special notes for the bride-2-b to place into a small wishing well bowl. I also put out games and a questionnaire for guests to answer. It really helped to keep guests entertained.

Here's just some pics of the food we celebrated with. I still wish I had more pics of all the yummy food that was served. I did a brunch with everything from quiches and deviled eggs to Penn in vodka sauce and chicken Marsala. The food was def. worth it. My amazing mother-in-law made Ziti & Spanish Rice, and my beautiful aunt made 2 delicious salads. So a Huge..HUGE..Thank You to both of them for their help! I really wish they could've joined us.
The beautiful cake was created by the amazing Mazurs Bakery in Lyndhurst. I think their creation of my ideas were so well put together. Isn't it cute! =)

"The Sweets Table" was my own little experiment, I always wanted to test my skills at this..lol. I'm so glad my sister and I took the time to put it together as it was quite the highlight of the party ;)

All the pretty ladies enjoying themselves at their tables.

FAVORS - Homemade -(Peppermint & Rosemary Rejuvenating Foot Scrubs) I made these with my sister. I'll post the recipe for it in my next post. =)
please excuse the fuzzy pics :(..i was trying to do 1,000 things at once.
The Bride-2-B..in her moment of Surprise :)

Prior to the Shower I recorded the groom-2-b at my house. I had him question and answer some questions about their relationship; and then had her guess the answers to them at the shower. Here she is watching the video and writing her answers on her white-board..so funny! Plus we even had her daughter on the video too as a "bonus feature"..haha, so cute!!

Gabzilla loving her cake and posing with her "Bow-Hat"

And finally here's all the ladies who helped to make this day so special. We toasted to years of happiness for the two love birds.

96 more days!!!!!




**************** Vendors and Resources:
.Invites & Stationary - tiethatbindsweddings
.Cake - Mazurs Bakery
.Food - Wilkes Catering (201) 652-0209
.Venue - The Ridgewood Knights
.Photos and Decorations - by myself and my sis-assistant =)
.Engravable Recipe Gift Box - ETSY

Hey!

My blogging days have long been on hold..cause of my hectic schedule and all..but i'm back. So what have I been upto these past days, well for the most part I've been overworked and underpayed..haha then again..that seems to be the situation for many I know. Well i'm just talking b.s., but whatever right, atleast i still gotz my job (lol). Still teaching, and j/k my pay is pretty good..just def. overworked. But on a better note, I finished my first masters course. Now if I could only commit to going back..lol. Oh and my brothers wedding was this past wknd..stay tuned for some fun pics..in which hubby-boo had the privilege of playing the best -man role. Eveything was so beautiful..and I couldn't be happier for my brother & his wife..so woo-hoo!!! congrats to them. I've lately been on a real high with WEDDINGS. Especially because I'm in my best friends wedding and I have the privilege of being her Matron of Honor. So I'm so excited to be planning her Bridal Shower..yay!! I have some amazing things I've been working on too, if only i could share now, but I can't..haha (sorry friend)..i will post pics of everything after it is all over and done with tho. Lately i've been hanging alot with my sis..who's out here in jersey visiting from Florida, we go everywhere together :))..And right now, i'm extremely excited & happy for my upcoming Anniversey with lover-boy :)) 2 yrs. married, and 16 yrs together in all.. can't even believe it, all i know is that there couldn't be a better person for me. I love my hubster!

A Work Of Art..

Henna is really cool. The designs, the colors, close attention to detail, and history makes it such a special art. In the indian faith, its a tradition to have a tattoo to symbolize the eternal love with your partner. I wonder if i'd ever commit to getting a real tattoo though. for now, i can indulge on henna :)
Henna is a small shrub called Hawsonia inermis, and is found in Iran, India, Pakistan, Egypt, and North Africa. The young leaves and twigs are ground into fine powder, then mixed with water and applied on the hands and feet. Henna/Mehndi is a decorative art form used for ceremonies and different rituals for centuries among these areas. Henna is used to stain then skin w/ beautiful designs or dyeing the hair. Henna designs are usually drawn on hands and feet, which are the area henna stains darker than the other areas of body. In India henna is used in important ritual for wedding, dark stain on bride’s henna is believed to be long lasting love between the husband and wife. In northern Africa henna is believed to bring good luck, and protect from black magic. Pregnant women get hennaed in their 7th month of pregnancy to protect them from bad spirit.

NOTE: If you ever plan to get Henna work done, make sure you ask your Henna Artist first which products will be used, as "black henna" can contain para-phenylenediamine (PPD) which can cause allergic reactions and even scarring.

Don't know if I've told you guys this before, but over the past 3 months I have been going through many new experiences in my life, or as my professor calls them, "Immersion Experiences". My experiences are to help fortify my awareness as a future 'Counselor' to varied cultures, groups, and organizations. In just 2 weeks, I will be presenting my "Immersion Experience Project" in class and I am so..so..nervous. But still through these experiences I have learned so much about things that otherwise I wouldn't have known about, and I truly have gained beautiful insight into so many cultures. So I'm really glad I took this class.

Here's some pics from today's visit with Akiyo. Her work is absolutely amazing, she's super talented and very sweet. Akiyo is of Japanese descent and has been doing Henna Art for over 8 yrs now. She works from home, and has a great understanding of the Henna Artistry. FYI: Akiyo also does Parties, Weddings, and many other special requests. She is located in Astoria Queens.
You can learn more about Akiyo and her work by visiting her website: Akiyo Henna Studio

My Co-worker/Classmate & I have had the privilege to work together on our projects. Here's us getting our Henna Tats done. So Exciting! And of course none of my experiences would have been possible without the help of my dearest hubby :)). So a BIG..BIG..THANK-YOU to him for all of his help.

Well as my mother always said to me..
"Cada nueva experiencia trae una nueva leccion."
(With every new experience comes a lesson learned.)

Strolling NYC

Don't you just love how i dissapear into thin air then act like i was never gone..haha!! Well here's to you, my faithful followers. Here's alittle post to help brighten our sunday blues.

Here's pics from our day out in NYC.

I love just hanging in the city. Hubby & I use to do this all the time back in the day. We would hop on the train, and just get lost. So now we're bringing it back and doing it old-school.
Checked out "The Pearl River Shop" on Broadway. Omg..they have like the coolest line of Chinese Goods to offer shoppers. Everything from little gifts to home decor. Plus I saw clothing, books, Buddhist supplies, and lots and lots of incense. Shopping in Chinatown is the best.

I thought these hanging umbrellas were cool.

We checked out the Scholastic Store on Broadway too. Of course I had to check out the Teacher's Section. Awesome selection of Teacher Resource Books, and you get 20% off if your a member. To my surprise, they also do birthday parties there too.

Then we visited the "Brooklyn History Society". This was really cool. I learned so much from Brooklyn's Past and Present. Def. proud to have been born in Brooklyn.

This was a really cool mapdrawing of Brooklyn with pictures of people and their stories. I was enlightend and inspired.

They had sections dedicated to the history of Brooklyn and even a special section for the Brooklyn Dodgers.




Being Silly in NYC..