My Husband's Birthday!

Customized Cake <3

Today is dedicated to my husband. We have been together ten years this August and have shared many birthdays, holidays, and of course memories together. We also have a lot of tattoos between the two of us. Most that we got together. We both have matching stars behind our ears - 3 stars on each side, we got them during our 6th anniversary. We both have a heart, locket, & skeleton key (to each other's hearts) with our names. So this cake that I had made for him was based off his tattoos. So it is really special to the both of us. Not to mention - the cross & wings on the top, diamond, and grenade. All of those things are incorporated because of something he loves and fits his personality perfectly! Thank you Tricia :)

 

"The man I love is not the man everyone else sees. The man I love is the man that only I know. The man I love shares with me all that he holds inside- his hopes and dreams for the future, his memories, and experiences from the past. All the things that make him who he is today. The man I love is the man whos most himself when we're together. Hes the only man who truly knows and loves the real me. He is my partner, my friend, my everything"

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BOO!

Weight-Gain Paranoia.

I'm only about 2 weeks into starting to lose weight again and I've lost a total of.... 9 lbs. Right now I am at that point where everything I put in my mouth causes me paranoia. Which, I'm not sure is a good thing or a bad thing? Every day that I am at work {where the scale is} I just wanna weigh myself every 5 seconds!

Today my day consisted of a lot of laziness and food. But I have a thing with vanilla yogurt, I don't like it too much, but my husband picked me up a large container of Chobani {greek yogurt} for my fresh berries so I had some for breakfast, it was a little "sour-ish" if you know what I mean so I guess it'll have to grow on me. I also found out that I like blackberries better than raspberries cuz theyre too sweet.

For lunch I cut up 4 little baby red's and threw in some onions, peppers, and sugar snap peas {my favorite}. My mother came to visit so we got to hang out and chit chat. That was nice ( I should have taken a picture of her - shux - next time ) She only lives 5 minutes away so it's not a big, luxurious visit.....

I was worried later in the afternoon when I started to get hungry. My husband made lasagna lastnight which I refused to have a piece of, and he also had a box of pizza in the fridge from yesterday. So he was torturing me!!! I wanted a piece of pizza so damn bad today I almost had to throw it away before I stuffed it down my throat.

For dinner I wasn't sure what to make, I decided to go with some eggs, and didnt know what to do with them so threw them on a bagel thin. I was proud though, I normally would scramble FOUR freakin eggs. Today I only cooked TWO and I cut that in half to put on my bagel, so I guess I literally only had ONE - go me!!! See, its the little things that count, right?

And although today was my day off and I was hoping to bathe in the sun and maybe swim with some fish, I got too caught up in trying to restore my laptop and get my paint shop to start up again, that by the time I looked at the clock and decided it was time to go out - it was too late! Hopefully soon my friends and I will take a camping trip or do something summer-ish and crazy soon :) But it was nice {very nice actually} to spend the day with my husband and my babies <3

7 Day Food Detox

First, I'd like to thank Miss Haneefa for this idea. I came across it just a few minutes ago and it gave me inspiration. She has lost 6 pounds in the last 3 days since starting her seven day food detox! Kudos to her! I will be following her next 4 days to see how she does.

Thinking about doing it myself, I needed more information first. I found what seemed to be a great explanation of the 7 DAY DETOX at The Raw Divas websites, along with a 10 Day Juice Cleanse, but Im pretty sure you have to pay to get "their secret" so.....then I found a website on every DETOX diet known to man, at EveryDiet.org which gave me way too much information that it was hard to look at- so I moved on to other websites! Here is a boy that is already two months into his raw diet, which is similar to a detox diet - Easy Raw Food Detox Diet. He has a great site with ALOT of useful information but Im not going long term with this, unfortunately.

Then finally, because I couldnt find any information quickly to help me with my own 7 day detox, I went to the same site that Miss Haneefa found found her information, over at Toca Reno's Blogspot. Which is great!

Here is a run down of the 7 day detox diet:

Days 1 and 2: Stick to Liquids

Water, lemon squeezed water, herbal teas, juicy leafed greens, or bone broth.

Days 3 to 7:  Brown rice, Fruits, and Veggies

You can add up to 1 cup of brown through out the day. Try to eat organic produce/fruits. And only healthy oils like olive, avocado, or coconut oil. Eat portion sized meals as large as your hand. Do this 6 times a day, which will give you 6 small meals per day.

Tips:  Consider herbs and supplements. And alot of vitamin c. 

Now, Im just trying to decide WHEN I actually want to DO this! Part of me says, start today? Why put it off another day? Isn't that how we all fail? Because we put things off and say, maybe tomorrow? The only problem is - starting on my day off which is Friday, I will have a short 5 day vacation. Do I really wanna go through out the 4th of July weekend and my mini vacation starving and depriving myself of what I love? No. Thats why I think I should start next Wednesday. And then..... starting on July 17th I am participating in a 14 Day Slimdown in my city with an old friend who works for Herbalife that will be our weightloss coach. I am really excited. Although, fourteen days doesnt seem like enough time for me to lose weight. But I suppose if I do the 7 day detox next week - itll give me a great kick off :)

Here are a few of my favorite pictures of the hubby and I this year. Taken in April at his father's wedding. Not too often will PJ pose for a picture with me, so I really love these photos. I think I look great, until I look down at my thunder thighs! Uggggh. I just hate my thighs and these pictures will serve as inspiration to lose weight. So I just wanted to share them with y'all :)

This is me - weight 273ish at 5 feet tall and 4 inches

This will be a great time for me to start the 7 day detox (on Wednesday, July 6th. Because then - on Sunday, July 17th)  I am also starting my 14 Day Weightloss Challenge with an old friend, Chanel, an Herbalife constributor and weightloss coach.

This Week, Thursday.

A short little "up to date" recap on my life, this week.

Sunday, the husband and I went out together and did laundry. Although I am a very productive house wife - and have o.c.d so everything in my house is perfectly clean and in it's place... laundry and dishes are his duties. So this was the first time, in a long time, that I had actually gone out to help him. Our apartment building does have a laundry unit that you use a sort-of prepaid debit card to do it, but my husband (who loses everything and blames it on me) has lost the card and so we had to go to a local laundromat instead. I basically didn't do anything to be honest, except sit there and look pretty while playing on my phone and reading Cosmopolitan. When we got home we spent some much needed hubby and wife time together watching movies and eating. We rented Just Go With It and I Love You, Philip Morris. I did not know that I Love You Philip Morris (with Jim Carey) was a "gay" movie, so while we were watching it I felt kind of embaressed for my husband during some of the more romantic/intimate scenes haha! Just Go With It (with Jennifer Aniston & Adam Sandler) was hilarrrrioooousss and I would watch it again tomorrow if you asked!

Monday I worked a long day at the pharmacy, it was cold and rainy, and I didn't care to be working nine hours because the weather sucked anyways. Plus, I work alongside my bff James and have some other great co-workers to shoot the shit with anyways. Tuesday, I worked all day again but was happy to get out two hours earlier than I did on Monday. So I came home and rented a few movies from the Red Box ( which is f_cking awesome.) I got Red Riding Hood (with Amanda Sigfreid - which I had seen in the theater.) My husband thought it was boring and kept falling asleep so ofcourse during exciting parts I would shout in amazement or shock and try to purposely wake him up "by accident" which worked. But once James was out of work; him, Molly, and Ryan came and picked me up. It was about 7 pm. They are from New Hampshire (and I am back in Mass now) so they are unfamiliar with places around here. I took them to Building 19 which is like a broken down department store. Where, if Im right - get their stuff from train wrecks and other various, malicious, accidents. Some stuff they have is worth buying, others not so much, but its all super cheap. It's more so just a fun place to go and look around and laugh. After shopping around in there I took them to this sub shop I used to work at next door, called DJs Roast Beef. They are known in the town for having like 20 foot subs for like $6 and they are delicious. We all put our money together and got a large italian sub, large chicken finger sub, a small pizza, and mozzarella sticks. By this time it was a little past nine and we went in sat at the stadium on the bleachers. It was dark there and kind of spooky, but with friends - its all worth it, isnt it. We had a great time!

Wednesday was nothing exciting, again, I worked all day, came home and did my little internet, dinner, clean the house, sort of thing. Today though - I had the day off. So I spent the morning lounging by the pool. I like that kids are not out of school yet, so barely anyone is there, its quiet, and its peaceful. I listened to my music on my MyTouch smart phone and took a quick dip.

When I got home from the pool - I super cleaned my house. My husband has been so lazy this week that we had three bags of trash that needed to be put togehter and tied up. I did it holding my nose and holding back the vomit. One of the bags was from Sunday after grocery shopping when I had cleaned out the fridge. The smell was horrid and there were tiny fruit flies. I wanted to kill him! 

Once my stomach came back from nausea hell, I made lunch. Let me just say that the whole point of me to start blogging again was to LOSE WEIGHT. And in the past week or two that Ive been blogging, I havent even eat that much different. Although I did cut out soda, and went a whole week just having salad for dinner, I haven't gotten to the point yet where I am making concious decisions or calorie counting. But, for the record, when my weight loss challenge starts in a few weeks I will be doing so!!!! Anyways, back to lunch. I ended up refrying some leftover hamburger which I added fresh red & green peppers (my favorite food accessory with anything and everything) and I even cut up a few hot peppers and threw them in, then melted some pepperjack cheese. When it was done - I put it ontop of some romain lettuce and rolled it all up. It was delicious, and greasy :(

Last but not least today, I gave myself a new mani and pedi. I decided to use a hot pink base with black and white zebra stripes ( kind of camo looking which I love ) and a glittery gloss to coat it. I love the way it came out and can't wait to wear a cute pink outfit and go out in public now.

Now, I have to take a quick shower and get ready. I have a Dr's appointment with my Cystic Fibrosis specialist in Boston ( a check up that I dread ) I will keep you updated. Thanks for reading <3

Do It Yourself Wedding Crafts!

I haven't had internet for a couple weeks, but I am back now. With that said, while I was away and had no contact with the cyber world I made sure that I did many awesome things for my wedding - which is coming up in just 19 days!!!!!

These are all Do-It-Yourself crafts that I have made with items from The Dollar Tree, Building 19, Michael's Craft Store, Joanne's Fabrics, Walmart & Staples. Here you go - any questions email/write me.

Important:

Make sure you have a Hot Glue Gun and Glue sticks for these projects - at Walmart $4.99

I also used alot of Vellum Paper ( which is like Tracing Paper) - at Staples $11.99/package

I also used alot of Plain White Paper from my home computer, I used Microsoft Works ( I dont have Word)

and I also made sure to download awesome fonts from http://www.dafont.com/ before I started!

Alot of Different Color/Shaped Ribbons - from Walmart, Michaels, or Joann's for $.99-$4.99/each

V.I.P Head Table Numbers

( Which I am using for my Parent/Sibling tables )

-Large Corinthian Candles (which I purchased for $1.00 each at Dollar Tree)

-Clean the Candles to ensure the glue will stick

-Print out your Design from your home computer/printer onto the Vellum Paper

-Wrap the vellum paper around the candle & use the hot glue gun to glue on

My candles have the table number and an exerp from the Bible -

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres"

Aswell as, "Felicty & Paul Merrill, August 29th 2010"

Table Number Candle Votives

-Clean the Votives to ensure the glue will stick properly

-Print out what you want the candles to say onto the vellum paper (which is like tracing paper)

-Fit the vellum paper around the candle, cut, and glue on with a hot glue gun

(one strip of glue on the candle and then where the paper overlaps is just fine)

-Then glue the ribbon around the bottom of the candle

-Glue the fancy damask paper clips (or whatever you are using) onto each candle

-Print out table numbers & use a paper cutter to cut exact size for each one

My candles say - "Thank You for Sharing Our Special Day,

on this Sunday of August the 29th 2010, Mrs. and Mr. Felicity and Paul Merrill"

Personalized Candle Votives

-Clean the Votives to ensure the glue will stick properly

-Print out what you want the candles to say onto the vellum paper

-Fit the vellum paper around the candle, cut, and glue on

-Tie little bows with the Ribbon & glue onto the candles

-Glue on little diamond accents or other embellishments

My personalized candles say - "Felicity and Paul, August 29, 2010, Mr. and Mrs. Merrill"

Designed in a repeated pattern using different fonts & colors on each line.

Bride & Groom Candle

-Clean the Votives to ensure the glue will stick properly

-Print out what you want the candles to say onto the vellum paper once again

-Fit the vellum paper around the candle, cut, and glue on

-Cut a strip of fancy Ribbon going upwards on the overlap of the paper

-Glue on another piece of Fancy vertical Ribbon

-Glue on more accent pieces - I used diamonds!

My Bride candle says, "Bride, Felicity Eliza"

My Groom candle says, "Groom, Paul Francis"

Head Table Candles

( one for the Bride's Maid table & one for the Groom's Men table )

-Large cylinder Vase perchused at The Dollar Tree for $1.00/each

-Cleaned the glass, printed on the vellum paper, glued onto the Vase

-Filled each Vase with Purple Sand which I got at The Dollar Tree for $1.00/each

Also stuck in a beautiful Tapered Candle from The Dollar Tree for $1.00/package of 4

-Then I glued on a designer ribbon around each Vase

These candles say, "Mr. and Mrs. Felicity and Paul Merrill"

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres"

"August 29th 2010"

Program Scrolls

-Use fancy paper. I bought this paper above at Staples for $9.99/package

( the front has a damask footer/header and the back is a repeated damask pattern )

-Design a personalized Program which includes the bridal party or the Food Menu

( on mine I included my bridal party and my ceremony reading aswell as our monogram)

-Print onto this paper from your home computer or have a friend help if you aren't too saavy

-Roll into iddy biddy scrolls and wrap one or two pieces of ribbon around & tie shut

These are a great touch to any table or ontop of a charger plate & napkin!

Personalized Confetti

-You will need a HOLE PUNCHER for this project

( I used a 1.50'' inch hole puncher which I purchased at Joann's Fabrics for $9.99 )

-I did a repeated, spaced out pattern on my computer (Microsoft Word or Works will do)

-Use different fonts and different font colors & Print out onto the Vellum paper

-Then use the hole puncher to cut out each piece! Voila! You got confetti!

Ring Bearer's Pillow

-Cheap pillow from The Dollar Tree for $1.00

( I cut off the ribbon that was already around it. I know! Who would have thought!? )

-Use a beautiful thick Patterned Ribbon (or fabric) and glue around the pillow

-Then take a slimmer ribbon (or fabric) and glue ontop of the prior ribbon

-Glue an embellishment into the center of each side of pillow

( I used a large diamond piece that I actually cut from old flip-flops haha

But you could use your last name Initial or anything you'd like )

Personalized Guest Book

-Guest book purchased at Joann's Fabrics for $14.99 (came in nice box w/attached pen)

( Also - this book came with the tooling & heart embellishment at the top so I was lucky)

-Glue onto the bottom of the book (open & glue inside aswell as a continued pattern from outside)

the Fancy thick Ribbon you used for Ring pillow & then the smaller thin ribbon

-Then wrap each piece of ribbon around the pen and glue that on aswell to match!

-Glue on an Initial embellishment or Jewel. I used an "M" for my new last name, Merrill.

Which I puchased a package of alphabets from Joann's on clearance for a buck!!!!

Personalized Card Box

-Purchase a cheap or a fancy card box anywhere

( I got mine already satin, with diamond accent top at Joann's for $24.99)

-Glue on the same fancy thick & thin ribbon or fabric you used for your ring pillow & guest book

around the center of the box (going all the way around the box)

-Place your Initial onto the front & use the hot glue gun to glue

( I got my letter at Michael's for $1.99 I think and just kept it white without painting it )

-Stick a fancy bow, ribbon, or fake matching flowers ontop if you want

Main Flower Girl's Bouquet

This bouquet will be used by my step-daughter,

she is too young to be a bride's maid but to old to carry a flower basket.

And to be quite honest, I couldn't afford another $50-100 bouquet from my Florist.

All I did was purchase 3 fake purple roses from Michaels at $1.19/each

-Cut all the leaves off of the stems (you will glue them back on later)

-Wrap the 3 flowers together with fancy ribbon (and glue on together)

-Use tooling & other thin ribbon to make 2 bows and tie (aswell as glue onto bouquet)

-Once my bouquet was done I glued the leaves back on, at just the top of the bouquet as you can see.

By all means, if you cannot afford a florist you could do this with all of your bouquets.

These are my Bride's Maids bouquets that I purchased from a florist

Here is Most of my matching Wedding Decor

As you can see I went with a Damask black & white pattern with Purple accents

I had a blast using my home computer printing on the Vellum paper,

and I always used different designs, and different colored fonts also -

which I placed on different sized candles and glass vases.

You can do the same to give your wedding a personalized feel, for cheap!!

I also made a ton of personalized wine glasses as Gifts for my Bride's Maids and other people who helped me with this wedding - my Justice of the Peace, Photographer, Cake Designer, etc.

Pictures and Post next time ;)

Team Bride

So over the weekend my Bridesmaids and I decided to head over to Michael's Crafts and pick up some t-shirts and iron ons to make 'TEAM BRIDE' shirts. Which they'll wear for my bridal shower in 2 weeks and probably half way through the wedding reception when they change out of their dresses... here are the pics.