Diana & Kevin's Wedding

Diana & Kevin's Wedding

From the Point-of-View Of Their Underqualified Reception Organizer

On June 6, 2014, two of my best friends, who have been together for 22 years, finally got married. 

After announcing to her co-workers that she and Kevin were finally getting married, the next thing out of Diana's mouth was...

"Of course, you'll do the invitations, right Steph?"

"Of course."

"And the decorations. I'm not good with that stuff."

"I suppose."

"You can be the wedding planner!"

"Huh? Wha???? No! I'll do the invitation and decorate the reception, but that's all!"

Hahahahahahahaha!!!!  It's so funny that I actually thought that.

It's probably best that a woman who would wear a penis tiara in public 

NOT decorate her own wedding reception.

Diana is a vibrant, magnificent lady. If you lost a leg, she'd give you hers. But as a bride? She sucks. Most people are familiar with the Bridezilla. If you don't know who those are, there are at least five shows different TV shows dedicated to these control-freaks-from-hell. 

On the opposite side of the Bride Spectrum from the Bridezilla is Diana. For months, every question I asked her she answered with...

"I don't know. Whatever you want."  

"Sweetheart, I've been married three times. I'm not sure anyone should be leaving their wedding plans up to me."  

"That just makes you more qualified. Besides, you don't have to pick out the groom, just the colors, theme, decorations, table settings, where the food is set up, keeping soda cold, keeping coffee hot..." 

Months of indecision. But there was one thing she was sure about...

"No beer. I'm not paying for anyone to get drunk at my wedding."

"Ok."

"Well, maybe some beer."

"Whatever you want."

"Should I get a keg?"

"Seems a bit extreme for 80 people."

"It's over a hundred now."

"What?! When did that happen?!"

"How many cups do you get from a quarter keg?"

"I have no idea."

"I need a tap too, don't I?"

"I think so...wait a minute...you're a bartender. Don't you know how kegs work?"

"No. Maybe I should get cans."

"AHHHHHH!!!!!"

Two weeks before the wedding...

"Should I get a keg or cans?"

"AHHHHHH!!!!!"

At 8 am on the morning of the wedding, Drew, dear friend Joanie, and I showed up at the firehouse to meet up with the bride and groom. The firehouse lady gave us final instructions for the day and we retrieved Diana's contribution to the reception...a veggie tray, water, and cole slaw.

"Here's the water. We got two cases of water."

"Two cases! You've been talking about the fact that you got the water for an entire year. That's only 48 bottles."

"Do you think we need more?"

"YES!"

"Ok. We'll get more."

"Good. Where's the cole slaw?"

"It's at home. I have to put in another bag and..." I have to admit that at this point I glazed over. The reason didn't matter to me. I just knew the cole slaw wasn't there. "...we'll bring it down later."

"Oh. Ok. Don't forget."

With the hall to ourselves, the three of us set out to setup a reception. There was no budget for the decorating, so using items that had been given to me by various people and the stuff in my craft room, I decided on a super-simple rustic theme.

Tables...a plastic, white tablecloth with a burlap runner and rose petals...a glass vase with mini marble rock in the bottom of it, around the middle is crinkle paper, burlap, and lace with twine leaves and flowers...glass plates...a standing sign with the wedding party on one side and the lyrics to their song "Look At Us" by Vince Gill...a metal tin with markers and pieces of paper for people to write down a wish for the bride and groom.

The Sweetheart Table...for Diana & Kevin to eat at, then we could remove it to make room for more dancing...two champagne glasses decorated with flowers, twine, and gold rings...a votive candle...a paper gazebo made by yours truly, which is quite possibly the cutest thing I have ever made.

The Dessert Table...a "just married" banner in the camo colors of brown, peach, and light green...a card box decorated with a burlap and camo duct tape ribbon and flowers...a cupcake tree with Mr. and Mrs. cupcake toppers for the Bride and Groom, who opted not to have any kind of cake other than the cup variety...cupcakes were created by the wonderful Laurie Evans, who texted me the night before in complete panic because the camo cupcake wrappers weren't behaving properly. I explained it was fine, especially for this wedding reception, and indeed, no one noticed or cared. They were fabu!!!!

At various times during the setup, people would arrive with donations of food. Baked beans. Pasta salad. Gelatin salad. Diana & Kevin's son Josh arrived with more cases of water. More pasta salad. A different kind of gelatin salad. More pasta salad. What the...

"I asked five people to bring pasta salad and three people to bring gelatin salad."

"Diana??? Why???"

"I don't know."

My eye twitched a lot the past couple months leading up to this wedding.

Thankfully, Alicia from F-N-A's Rhythym and Booze in Waterloo where Diana bartends --- nice bar! go visit them! --- arrived with a donation from her and Frank. A bathtub full of beer cans! Full ones, too! I wanted to swim in it.

The Beverage Grotto...complete with coffee, water, soda, wine and beer...the beer was strategically placed across the hall to discourage people from wanting to go play with the firetrucks...people like me.

"But think of the photo op!!"

Joanie texted the beer photo to Kevin. I said to her...

"Ask him where the damn cole slaw is."

Ten minutes later, Diana's son Jim showed up with the cole slaw. 

At noon, we left knowing the room was setup and we were in good shape! 

At 2 pm, Drew and I headed down to Lewis Restaurant to pick up the food Diana had ordered. Roasted chicken, pulled pork, salt potatoes, and homemade rolls. The chicken had just been cooked, so the CRV smelled amazing!!!  I texted Kevin and told him we were running off to Mexico with his food.

As we would find out later, the food tasted even better than it smelled. I was shocked at how good it was. I will remember Lewis in the future if I need food for a big party. The only thing that got missed was extra butter for the salt potatoes. I told whiners they were low cholesterol salt potatoes. (I don't even know if that's true. Don't care. People eating for free shouldn't complain to me. It's bad for their health.)

At 3 pm, my brother-from-another-mother Jeffrey showed up. He made his fabulous ziti in a vodka sauce for the masses. He had offered to stay there while Drew and I went to the wedding. There was a lot of food being kept warm by the ovens in the kitchen.

The wedding was at 5 pm at the gazebo at Hoopes Park. It was a beautiful day. Our co-worker and professional photographer Jason Countryman surprised Diana by showing up to take pictures of the ceremony. It's fun to surprise Diana because it makes her cry happy tears.

I would never cry. Don't believe anything Bonny, Kelly or Lou tell you. I didn't cry.

Diana & her granddaughter Arianna

Kevin & his great-nephew Wyatt

After the ceremony, Drew, Bonny (Jeff's wife whom we picked up along the way) and I raced back to the firehouse. From there it was a whirlwind of insanity. Making sure the food was put out at the right time. Making sure we didn't run out of food. Making sure empty soda bottles were replaced with full ones. Making sure I always had a wine glass in my hand. Making sure we had enough chairs for everyone...

"I might have invited a few extra people."
"A FEW????"

Even though we setup chairs for 120 people...and only 105 were expected...we still had to put up another table with chairs. Thankfully DJ Jane Stebbins had an extra table cloth. Decorations be damned.

Everything went very well. We didn't run out of anything. If we did, no one complained to me, which (as I mentioned previously) was wise. I have to give a huge shout-out to my kitchen helpers --- Drew, Jeff, Kelly & Phil Deacy (Diana's son Matt's mother & father-in-law). Kelly was a ball of energy that couldn't be stopped (and I didn't even try after a while); Phil was hero of the night for hauling away the ten bags of trash that had accumulated that night to an undisclosed location for dumping. TEN! We were all surprised it was that much. Thank the lord that man has a truck with a washable bed in the back of it. Pee-freakin'-u.

By 8:00, my bladder was screaming at me. I hit the bathroom and found I couldn't get off the toilet. I'd been on my feet since 3 pm and my legs had decided that if I was sitting down, we were staying there. Seriously, my legs would not stand up. I debated screaming for Drew, my personal sherpa, to come get me off the toilet. After a minute of laughing at myself, I managed to push my butt off the toilet, wash my hands, and head back out into the reception hall. I found a seat amongst some friends, sat down, and screamed for Drew to bring me more wine. He brought me the bottle.

Shortly after 9:00, it was time to wrap up. Thankfully most of the wedding party and several guests were still there --- and sober enough --- to help with the clean up. It was quick and mostly painless. It would have been better if I hadn't drank that bottle of wine Drew gave me, but I think everyone figured I'd earned it. (I'm not sure how a hangover is a prize for a job well done, but without the numbing affects of the wine I'd probably still be sitting in a chair somewhere screaming for Drew to come get me.)

The months leading up to the wedding were stressful, but that's because I'd never tried to run a reception before. Everything went smoothly, no big bumps or problems. I loved designing and decorating, but never again will I run a reception. I'm too nervous for that. But I'm sooooooo glad I got to do this for my friends. They're two of the best friends you could ask for. And so easy to please...Thank God!!!

If anyone has a need for hundreds of styrofoam cups, or plastic cups, or mismatched plastic wear, or metal warming trays, shoot me a message. Somehow I ended up bringing most of it back home with me.

"Whoa, Di. Why am I taking all this stuff home?"

"You've earned it."

"Where am I going to put all this?"

"You can use it for the next reception you do."

"The next one?!?!?!"

"You did a good job! Everyone's going to want your services now."

"No! No no no no no no no no--"

"I'm going to Myrtle Beach for my honeymoon. Bye."

"AHHHHHH!!!!!"

~ Congratulations Mr. & Mrs. Kevin Daeffler ~

Cards, Cards, and More Cards...

I know I've been quiet on the blog, but that should be changing soon. A lot's happened since I last wrote... well, a lot for me. Remember, I'm an introvert. It doesn't take much for "a lot" to happen.

The biggest thing is I got a new computer. My last one was eight years old. In PC years, that's about 102. I loved that PC. I expected a lot from it, and it almost always delivered. But it was too old and slow for the software anymore, so Drew (with the help of my "brother" Jeff) ordered me a new one from Dell. It has actual bought and paid-for software in it. Legit copies of Windows7 and Office 2013. Yes. LEGIT. We can afford it, and I deserve it. Yes. I DESERVE IT. I bet that's two things no one ever expected me to admit to.

The new PC is amazing!!! I love it. It's fast. It's reliable. It's all mine. LOVE. LOVE. LOVE. Now I can do what I need to do faster and more efficient. Like write porn romantic adult novels.

The new PC can also run my Silhouette Designer Edition software much better. I love to design, cut, and make cards. The old PC just frustrated me all to heck because it took forever just to open the software. Now it's a breeze! And cards are more important than ever to me because I'm making them for two very important charities:

Project: I Care is the work of Jim the Gentleman Crafter, an amazing steampunk crafter and blogger that I follow. He works for Seton Breast Care Center, and he requested Thank You cards from his crafty followers that the center can use to send to people who donate to the center. I gladly sent off 25 cards.

Operation: Write Home is an organization that sends cards to the troops overseas for them to send back home to loved ones. I'm in the process of putting together a box of 100 cards for them. I've got 74 so far. The soldiers love to sort through the boxes of cards to find something special to send home. It's a great thing this organization does and I'm so proud that I can help.

Below are some of the cards I've made recently that will be going to Afghanistan, or Korea, or anywhere we have soldiers stationed on foreign soil.

I don't know if a soldier would have use for a popsicle card, but I just love those cards and I made a bunch. They're so Summery! Hell, if it just makes a soldier smile, that's fine. I have one on my desk at work just to cheer me up. Summer's coming. Right? Right???

I finally got a photography light tent. Drew was going to make me one, but after spending a few hours asking me a million questions and tallying up the ridiculous supply list, I said, "NEVERMIND!" and bought one off Amazon for $20. A decent investment, I think. I need to research setting up the lighting better around it. I just pulled it out of the box and started winging it. Already better though, don't you think?

Also in March was Terrie's Stampin' Up Workshop. The below two cards are the ones we made at the workshop.

The swap theme was Congratulations. Below is Stacey's card. Very romantic!

This is my card. Baby!

And the batteries on the camera died. And I didn't charge the spares! Way to go, Steph! I'll have to get the rest of the pics next time.

To my friends and followers, expect another blog post soon. Now that I can post these quickly, I'll be more inclined to do so.

~Steph

The Boston Trip, October 2013

Last October, Drew and I took a trip to Boston. I'm just now getting around to sorting through the picture and writing about it.

If you only care about the pictures and not the details, click on the oysters below. Go ahead! They don't bite...

Boston 2013

Otherwise, here's what we did...

Drew and I love Boston! We love everything in New England, especially along the coast. I love it so much I set the location for my Lyssa Winfield Mystery book series in Boston. We planned a long-weekend trip last October just before Halloween to visit Boston, and the surrounding area. I made it very obvious to anyone that would listen to me for more than two minutes, that this trip was about one thing, and one thing only.

My book.

I wanted to visit everywhere I talked about, all the streets everyone lived on, where they worked, ate, and played. Yes, the book is fictional, but a lot of it was based heavily on actual places. 

FRIDAY - After a beautiful, sunny drive across New York and Massachusetts, we arrived in Concord. Home to many writers: Henry David Thoreau, Louisa May Alcott, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne. They lived there; they died there; they're buried there at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery (no relation to the story). 

Concord is also the site of Old North Bridge where the "shot heard round the world" was fired, which was essentially the start of the American Revolutionary War.

But the main reason we came to Concord was this...

PRISCILLA'S CANDY SHOP!!! It's where Lyssa stopped for a small box of ganache truffles while she was out driving around, avoiding the FBI, and trying to figure out if Alex was going to kill her. Like my heroine, I did the same thing. (Got chocolates, not the driving thing.) I got Dark Chocolate Mint, Hazelnut, Dark Chocolate Tiramisu, and (my favorite!!!) Champagne. We also got about thirty bucks in other chocolate goodies. So dang good!!!

While in Concord, we ate lunch at Helen's Restaurant. I got a Shrimp Po'Boy, which was excellent. Drew had the Chicken Thai Wrap, which he said was really good!!

After Concord, we decided it would be fun to live like a true Bostonian and tried to take I95 on a Friday afternoon into Boston. Frustrating, but not nearly as bad as Wegmans parking lot on a Saturday morning.

I took the opportunity to contact our friend Jessica. She's a college student from back home whom I'd met at work where she interns during the summer and Christmas breaks. She attends Emerson College in Boston and she's been a huge inspiration for the next Lyssa Winfield Mystery book. She happened to be home and we promised her dad Mike, whom we also happen to work with, that we'd stop by at some point to install a new locking doorknob on her bedroom door. I got the address and we got off the interstate.

I wish I took a lot more pictures than I did. The suburb of Boston that Jessica lives in is crazy. I can't even describe it. It's like if Chinatown invited Greenwich Village over for a rave in the middle of a hundred-square blocks that are comprised entirely of college student housing. Just insane-o. If I were a college student, I'd live here too. I bet you can get in all kinds of trouble here.

And be careful that you don't get hit by a train, because cars and trains share the same intersections and stop-lights. No joke.

Drew giving Jessica a lesson in DIY.

Don't be fooled by the photo. Jessica is neither fat nor pregnant. She's actually very thin. My camera was jealous.

After fixing the door and catching up for a few minutes with Jess, we headed into Boston to find our hotel. Wish we'd done that in the daylight! Boston traffic is psychotic. It took two trips around the block, but we did eventually find the Park Plaza.

I don't have much to say about the hotel. It was your standard hotel room. Nothing special. Except it was near EVERYTHING!!! I've visited Boston a number of times in my life. Enough that I don't really need a map to get around anymore, but I've never stayed inside actual Boston. I always stayed outside and taken the train in. I am now spoiled beyond belief.

We walked a lot around Concord, and we were in no mood to walk much further for the night, so we decided to eat at MJ O'Connor's. An Irish Pub on the same block as the hotel.

GOOD CHOICE!!! I got their "Award Winning" Clam Chowder. They weren't kidding. The BEST EVAH!!! Oh my God! One taste and you instantly start talking like a Southie. Drew got the Guiness Onion Soup and that was amazing too! The place was hopping and the staff was great. We really enjoyed it there.

SATURDAY - We got up early and started walking. We hit the Emerson Cafe for a simple breakfast. Danishes and coffee. Then we kept walking. Today was all about taking in the sites. Not the tourist sites. We've done those before. This was about getting over into the sections of town where Alex lives, where Val's yoga studio resides, and where future murders will likely take place. (The books! I'm talking about the books!)

I won't bore you with all the details, but it was just incredible to walk around this gorgeous city. Now, before you think I tortured Drew with my little fantasy walking book tour, he loved it just as much as me. And to prove it, I let him buy me lunch at The Union Oyster Bar.

See! He so happy!!! Actually, he is. It was very touristy, but the bar was super cool, the Union Oyster Ale draft was great, and the fact we could be there was just neat. It's fun to say we ate at America's Oldest Restaurant. 

Afterwards, at the insistence of Jason (another huge Boston fan), we hit Mike's Pastry for some super nommy muffins for breakfast the next morning.

The infamous box!

In the late afternoon, we met up with Jessica again. She took us down Newbury Street. I soooo have to come back here to do some shopping in warmer weather. We stopped at Pinkberry for frozen yogurt. Jess had raved about this place at work so we had to try it. It was just as amazing as she said.

We traveled down to Quincy Market. By now it was dark. It was the weekend before Halloween, so the costumed partiers were starting to come out. I would have loved to stay, but we were getting tired. We bid Jessica a fond farewell and promised her that when she graduates and moves to Boston permanently we will visit all the time. Especially if she has a guest room.

For dinner, we ate very, very late at a restaurant across the street. It came highly recommended by Jessica and is a fave of her father's.

Maggiano's. 

It was one of the best meals we have ever had. They do something with roasted potatoes which has to be illegal. I can't describe it, but Drew has been perfecting the recipe ever since we returned. When Mike visits his daughter in Boston, the first thing he says to me upon returning is, "We went to Maggiano's." He says it in this deep, evil voice with a villainous twinkle in his eye. I say, "Describe it to me. I want to know everything." It's sinful and delectable. I would travel all the way to Boston just for Maggiano's.

SUNDAY - We got up early and said goodbye to Boston. We successfully navigated our way out of the city, heading North.

The Gloucester Fisherman's Memorial

The artist community of Rockport

Lots of galleries and shops!

Motif #1

Our last stop on our weekend getaway. Rockport. A community full of artists and craftsmen. It just love it here. I visited once and always swore to come back.

And yes, it's in the book. The Waldron Art Gallery (named after my good friend and artist Georgia) is in Rockport on Main Street.

After a few hours in Rockport, Drew and I drove home. We were sad to leave. We truly love it here. I don't know if we ever got the opportunity to move here if we would. We also truly love Key West. And London. But at least Boston is only six hours away. We can visit at any time.

If only Boston had a Wegmans...

If you want to see more pictures, click on the beauties below.

Boston 2013

Happy Belated Suck-Face Day

Valentine's Day came and went with it's usual annoyance. It's the one holiday that just about everyone hates. People who are single hate it and are usually obnoxiously vocal about that, which leads to me say things like, "I can't imagine why you're still single. You have such a heart-warming attitude." People who are in an established relationship hate it because we're not allowed to enjoy it because of the aforementioned miserable people. Hippies hate it because it's pure consumerism. 

Actually, you don't have to be a hippy to hate the commercialism of any holiday. "Every kiss begins with K." No. No no no. The word kiss begins with the letter K. Most physical kisses begin with some kind of positive stimuli. You've just eaten a good meal with your partner. You're hunkering down into a warm bed for a long night's sleep. You just received a Kohl's gift card. You're on your fifth shot at the bar and will suck on the face of anyone willing to join you for a jello shot. 

I was going to mention an exchange of money for sexual favors might be involved too, but hookers don't kiss. I learned that from television.

The one person who likes Valentine's Day more than anyone else in the world is the girl who is in a new relationship with a guy, and this is their first V-Day. The one person who hates it more than anyone else in the world is her guy. NO PRESSURE TO GET THIS RIGHT, SON!

Despite all that, I do like Valentine's Day for the red and white decor, and the cards. Here's some cheeriness to remind us it's not all bad.

Kat gave me a bag of wreaths that were going to be thrown out as she thought I might be able to re-use them. I found a heart-shaped vine wreath amongst them and re-purposed it into this cute, simple Valentine's wreath. It's ten inches in height and is currently hanging in my living room. I will probably leave it there. It's adorable!

For Laurie's card party last month, we had a card swap with a Love/Valentine's Day theme.

WARNING: My photos are complete and utter crud. I have no idea why they are so blurry, and I'm honestly too tired to go re-do them. Forgive my laziness today.

I feel terrible because I don't really remember who did what cards. I admit to having a bad memory, but I can usually tell who did what. Card makers each have their own style. This time around the cards were so different that I can't honestly tell you who made most of them.

I can say without a shadow of a doubt that the heart basket on the left was Stacey's contribution, and the second card on the left was mine. I mean, I'm thick-headed but I do know my own card. It's a heart puzzle with a piece taken out of it. In its place is the word You. Inside the card was the phrase, "You will always be in my heart." Awwwww. Pretty gushy for me. I had considered, "Shot through the heart, and you're to blame."

More card swap cards. I think Christie might have been the second from the left, and maybe Shirley to the right of hers. Maybe not.

These are the cards we made at the workshop. I never would have picked the colors for that first card, but it works! As Jessica said, "It's very 80's." And the card on the far right was Jessica's swap contribution. It's from SU's Whole Lot of Love campaign which unfortunately ended January 27th. The cards and stamp sets were wonderful. I did get the Follow Your Heart set which has the Eiffel Tower stamp you see on the card. (You can never really have too many Eiffel Tower stamps.) We made the cards ourselves, which is always a treat!

It was a great party, and Laurie's house is perfect for card making. A nice big table and huge kitchen. Which is why I'm having my party there in a couple weeks! I hope to have more (and better) photos from that party. Maybe I'll snag some pics of my fellow card makers at work! I'm sure they'll loooooove me for that.

~Steph

Freezer Recipe: Stuffed Pepper Casserole

Ever since Make & Take closed I've been looking for freezer recipes. I really enjoyed Make & Take because I could make perfectly portioned meals for one or two people. They were easy to put together, easy to cook, and they tasted great! Now I'm trying to find simple but yummy recipes I can make in big batches and freeze. That way during the week I can thaw one out and toss it in the oven for dinner.

For freezing, I buy rectangular tin containers from the Dollar Tree. You get 3 for $1, and they come with cardboard lids that are foil lined on one-side, so I can write on the tops without worrying about them soaking through on the other.

Below is a recipe I found recently and tailored to my tastes and cooking skill-level, which is currently "gee, do I have to?"

Stuffed Pepper Casserole

6 bell peppers (any color), chopped into 1/2 inch pieces

1 onion, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces

1 package Wegmans Poultry Italian Sausage, mild or hot

1-10.5 oz can diced tomatoes

4 cups Basmati rice, cooked (It's 1 cup uncooked.)

16 oz shredded sharp cheddar cheese

2 TBSP Italian seasoning
Grated parmesan cheese, optional (Not in my house, but maybe it's optional in yours.)

If you bought the Italian Sausage in the link form, squeeze the meat out of the casing. I find it easiest to take a knife and run it down the outside and just pull the casing off. It's a lot less messy that way.

Cook the sausage, peppers and onion in a large frying pan until the sausage is done. The chicken sausage has enough moisture that you don't need to add oil, but not too much that you need to strain it afterwards. Remove from the heat and mix in the rest of the ingredients. Separate into containers. I filled 4 tin containers. One container is a meal for me and the hubby. (Honestly, I could probably eat just one by myself. This is so yummy.)

Bake (thawed) at 375 degrees for 35 minutes. Plate up and sprinkle parmesan cheese on top.

Here's one of the tins of Stuffed Pepper Casserole with the date made and cooking instructions on the lid.