We’ve been married for two years now and I’ve officially known PB for 4.

Happy 2nd anniversary to us!

To relive our wedding, watch this video. It is long but worth it, promise.

A little timeline of us…

Summer 2006: We meet briefly, but he doesn’t ask for my number. I have a boyfriend at the time anyway.

June 16, 2007: We meet for real. I am smitten immediately. He is too, and after the first night meeting me gushes to his mom and his friends all about me.

4th of July weekend 2007: I drag Lynne down as my chaperone for my first trip to Philadelphia. I buy new bathing suits, cover up, and outfits for the weekend. PB and I hold hands on the beach, and he is so happy about it he accidentally drops his wallet (at least that’s why *I* think he dropped his wallet).

July 18, 2007: I’m on the plane with 4 of my girlfriends heading to Greece. PB and I are texting back and forth furiously. Before takeoff, he has secured me as his official girlfriend. I write frantically in my journal for 3 hours of the flight, gushing about his amazingness the whole time.

When I get back he greets me at the airport. We go to a nice dinner on Federal Hill.

Fall 2007: He tells me he loves me. I love him too.

November 2007: We travel together for the first time. The trip is to California for his friends’ wedding. We have a ball.

December 2007: He is very serious about me and wants our dads to meet. I am nervous and get drunk on red wine. Everyone gets along beautifully.

May 2008: He proposes! We also start our first half marathon, but we don’t get more than 5 minutes in. He is a hero.

July 2008: We celebrate our first anniversary where our first private date was: Opia in NYC!

July 2009: We get married! (Photo courtesy of LifeFusion.com)

November 2009: We run our first half marathon. The first few months living together were tough, but running for hours with friends every Saturday helps.

Winter 2009/2010: We had so much fun doing an activity together that we find another. I teach PB to snowboard.

February 2010: He becomes addicted to snowboarding. We go to Colorado. I have a lot of fun teaching him. He is a good student.

Summer 2010: We go on an epic trip to Jordan and never want to come home. We start talking about babies.

Christmas 2010: Christmas this year is extra special. We’ve made a baby! No one knows yet.

Spring 2011: We announce our pregnancy and then head off to Italy. It is a trip we will never forget.

And here we are… happily in love, expecting our first baby, and excited to see what the next year will bring us.

Happy 2nd anniversary amore!

Visiting Florence with PhillyBoy was like bringing two loves together.
It was heaven, even with a touch of rain.

We left our hearts in San Francisco.

Again.

Below photo taken the same weekend in November in 2007.

I can’t wait for our next visit.

Tahitian Love.

You wake up to the sound of water gently hitting the side of your bungalow. The sun is rising over the water, and as you step out onto your personal balcony the air hitting your face is fresh, pure, and awakening. You look down over the railing and see a few fish eating their breakfast, each fish a different color of the rainbow. In a few minutes your spouse will wake up and join you for a hot vanilla tea, and soon after you will officially begin your day.

You are in Tahiti. Ia orana!

Since our amazing honeymoon in Bora Bora and Tahiti last year, I have not been able to part with our Tahitian vanilla. It came to us in a special package from the French cooks that gave us our cooking lesson, and I refused to use it until I was ready to make a classic Tahitian dish. Until I felt inspired. Until we were ready to relive our honeymoon.

Every afternoon I would see the vacuum sealed bag in my fridge and think about when to use the special vanilla, and every day it remained in the fridge… until now.

It has been a trying week. A week that taught me how special the love is between PB and I. To celebrate our love and simultaneously enter the next Project Food Blog challenge, I finally brought out the Tahitian vanilla to make a memorable meal.

Shrimp in a vanilla coconut sauce.

There is only one element missing that would make this dish completely authentic…. our bungalow!

Taste the memories of our Tahitian trip with us. And don’t forget to play some sappy love songs while you dine.

I hope this dish brings you as much happiness as it brought us.

Shrimp in a Vanilla Coconut Sauce
Inspired by an unforgettable meal in Tahiti 2009.
Serves 2

Ingredients:
1/3 lb medium or large shrimp, cleaned and deveined
1 tbs olive oil
1/4 cup rum
1 vanilla bean
1/2 cup coconut milk*
1/2 cup heavy cream
kosher salt & pepper to taste

*Coconut milk can either be made fresh or purchased in can form. To make it fresh simply google the instructions. There are lots of great tutorials online. If you prefer to save some time or can’t find fresh coconut, your regular grocery store should carry canned coconut milk, which is just fine for this recipe.

Directions:
Heat the oil in a medium pan over medium high heat. Add the shrimp in one layer and flip after 1 minute (bottom should be pink). Cook on the other side until both sides are pink and remove from the pan. Cut a slit down the vanilla bean, and using a paring knife scrape out the seeds. Add the seeds, vanilla bean pod, and rum to the pan and stir. Simmer until the rum greatly reduces, about 3-4 minutes. Add the cream and coconut and turn the heat to low. Simmer for 20 minutes, stirring now and again, until the sauce reduces slightly. Return the shrimp to the pan and toss with the sauce. Serve over rice and garnish with fresh herbs. Enjoy!

**This is my official entry for Challenge #2: The Classics in Project Food Blog. If you enjoy this post and think I deserve to move on, please vote for me beginning Monday September 27! You can click on the widget on the top right of my site to get to the voting page, or click here!

I can’t believe PB and I have been married for a year!!!! For our first anniversary, I made him this video, and I just had to share it. I love my PhillyBoy!

*The video is long, but worth it!

Wedding Vendors:
Resources: Mindy Weiss’ Wedding Book, weddingbee.com
Photography: LifeFusion Photography
Videography: Infinity Video
Flowers: Flowers by Semia
Dress: Priscilla of Boston
Bridesmaid Dresses: Priscilla of Boston
Bride’s Jewelry: My mom’s
Bridesmaids’ Earrings: Swarovski
Hair: Kassiane of Femme Fatale & Stephanie
Makeup: Arionna of M Squared Salon
Groom + Groomsmen Tuxes: Carl Anthony Tuxedo
Venue/Caterer: The Westin Providence
Church: Sts. Sahag & Mesrob Armenian Church
Jazz Trio: East Side Horns
Ceremony Music: Woodvale String Quartet
Reception Music: Armenian band, Anthony Crocenzi
Invitations & Other Paper Goods: Quaint Correspondences
Middle Eastern Appetizers: Delicacies
Lighting: Suzanne B. Lowell Lighting
Transportation for Bridal Party: Trolley Tours of Providence
Candy Bar: Self (Full candy bar details)
Day of Wedding Coordinator: Lisa Reindl- email me for her information!

PB and I are off to celebrate by making a fun dinner using Athenos feta! I am really enjoying this challenge, as is he. I can’t wait to share our latest creation AND tell you all about our weekend- it was extremely special!!!!

P.S. Very last chance to enter the Tempur-Pedic Supreme Cloud Mattress Contest!

PhillyBoy has been away for work all week (he is on his way home this afternoon). Somehow, with him being away and me not feeling as good as usual, I just… took the week off from cooking.

Just like with exercise, sometimes I need a short break from cooking big meals or creating new recipes. It can be great to just take a step back for a few days and refresh yourself to get back in the kitchen. While I absolutely love cooking and find it to be very relaxing, I sometimes do need a break. This week was it!

This is extremely unusual. So no, I don’t have any great recipes for you this week, but I will share what I did instead.

I deep cleaned my kitchen… twice. That meant not only the usual cleaning of the counters and floor, but I got into the cabinets and cleaned the stove top. The stove top still does not look as shiny and new as it does when PB does it, but it looks pretty good!

I only turned the stove on to make tea.. the entire week.

I went shopping and bought myself one of my favorite OPI colors: strawberry margarita. I then gave myself a fabulous spring manicure.

I sat on my couch with a book, some nice music (Jazz + Glee soundtrack + Classical) and read. I haven’t done that since… well probably since I got married. For some reason we always have the TV on! Note to self: Less TV in the background.

Speaking of TV, I watched the first three episodes of Season 1 of True Blood. So far I liked it, but I hate the cliffhangers because it is hard to stop watching!

I ate foods we already had in the fridge and pantry to empty them out a bit.

I only spent $8 at the market, for whole wheat bread, bananas, and carrots. I can’t live without these 3 items.

I got my hair cut. Just a few more layers. I was going to chop it but I chickened out.

I also exercised, but probably less than I should. I did workout videos and funny workouts at home, and of course taught boot camp.

I put a new profile photo up on my home page.

I also guest posted on The Fitnessista.

I took inspiration from the I Love Salad! page and made some funky salads.

I flipped through a few magazines while chatting on the phone with some of my dearest friends. I have missed girlfriend gab sessions.

The only time I left the house after dark was to teach boot camp. When PB goes away I barricade myself in our apartment and think I hear and see things all night long. I am a scaredy cat.

I threw away my favorite sneakers of all time. Purchased May 2006 in Florence. I wore these to the death.

I missed PhillyBoy a lot. I also missed cooking. I feel refreshed and renewed and I can’t wait to make a nice dinner for our little happy family tonight!

Sing and dance together, and be joyous!

Amy & Joe’s wedding was a most happy occasion. After weddings like the one I attended this weekend, I feel like my marriage is even stronger and my love for PhillyBoy is even deeper. Love makes me feel more love. Amy and Joe clearly love one another deeply, and I am so happy that in this big world they were able to find one another. I am excited for them to begin their lives together as husband and wife and I hope they share many years of memories as beautiful as their wedding.

The happy couple at their welcome dinner:

It all began with the welcome dinner on Friday night, which was held at The Gables at Chadds Ford. I loved the restaurant- it was elegant yet rustic, and perfect for a welcome dinner. The food was delicious too!

PB had a wedding to attend in upstate NY (Congratulations H & J!) so I was there solo. The evening was so warm and full of love, and I felt so happy to be able to share in the evening with Amy & Joe. I only wish PB could have been there to share that with me. Don’t they both look so happy and rested? Amy is always gorgeous, but this weekend she definitely had the wedding glow.

Joe’s family’s priest came from Africa for the wedding, and he presented the couple with a blanket to unit them, in following an African tradition.

I met Amy freshman year of college. We all lived in the same dorm (most of us on the same floor- 3rd floor of McVinney!) and we have all have remained friends since that year.

Amy & her college friends who were bridesmaids:

Amy’s & Joseph’s Wedding

The wedding. How do I even begin? The welcome dinner was full of joy and love, but the wedding was even more joyous. The ceremony was held at St. Joseph’s on the Brandywine, which is where Amy’s parents were married many years ago.

Amy’s gorgeous mom:

Amy was a stunning bride, and Joseph made a handsome groom. They looked so beautiful and happy, and of course I couldn’t help but tear up as Amy’s father walked her down the aisle to Joe. I love LOVE! (Side note: I am listening to my wedding song on repeat right now as I write this, stopping every now and again to dance around our condo singing along… I am a huge love dork!)

Lisa, Amy’s sister, who was the wonderful wedding coordinator for our wedding, was the maid of honor. If you are looking for a coordinator she is the woman to call! Both at my wedding and at Amy’s wedding she made sure everything was going according to plan. (Email me if you want her info)

I especially loved the sermon Father Patrick gave. He said that he knows a lot of people think that a (Catholic) priest should not give advice on marriage since they never marry, so he asked Amy & Joe’s parents to share what marriage means to them and he shared their comments in the sermon. Both Amy & Joe’s parents have been happily married for over 25 years, so it made those comments extra special. I actually videotaped most of the sermon to share with PB since it really touched me. I think it is wonderful to be reminded of the meaning of marriage and God’s role in it, as well as advice on how to continue loving one another fully for many years to come.

And they are married!!!!!

Some of my favorite things Father Patrick said in his sermon:

“Sing and dance together, and be joyous!”

“Amy, let Joe be Joe. And Joe, let Amy be Amy”

“It (Marriage) is about getting up and getting Amy a cup of tea, even though you had just sat down. Amy, you enjoy all that tea for years to come”

The ceremony was really just so beautiful and perfect, and I teared up more than one time.

After a short break in our hotel rooms (where all of us ladies of course took of our shoes to stretch our feet) we headed to the cocktail hour and reception. The whole evening was so fun with dancing, drinking, eating, and celebrating. I love that our group of friends has remained close and grown even closer. We are all there to celebrate the happy celebrations, and I look forward to sharing in these beautiful memories with them for years to come.

I can’t help but gush over the details too. Amy put a lot of thought into making the guests feel special and making her wedding beautiful.

Details:

Beautiful welcome bags at the hotel.

Place cards connected to gorgeous yellow rock candy- her color palette was yello, gray, gold and silver. Gorgeous.

Photo frames of all the married couples throughout the cocktail hour. This was such a nice touch, and seeing PB and my wedding picture made me miss him even more!

Signature cocktails named after all of our favorite bars at Providence College. My personal favorite was Prime Time, which no longer exists!

An incredible assortment of appetizers, including a raw bar, pasta station, and yummy passed appetizers.

The centerpieces! Oh the centerpieces! They were so stunning and the perfect match to the elegant Hotel DuPont ballroom.

The menus were such a nice touch and the food was delicious. The bride and groom gave guests a choice between chicken, beef, or vegetarian entrees. The vegetarian dish was incredible.

Wedding cake:

A 12 piece band. The band was incredible. They are called JellyRoll, and if you are looking for an American band for any celebration I highly recommend them. They played all of the old favorites plus a lot of new dance songs.

To Amy & Joe: Congratulations and best wishes to a future filled with happiness and laughter, and may every memory be as happy as this first one in your married life, your wedding day. Love you!

Amy’s wedding weekend was so beautiful!

On Friday my friends Julie & Jay came over for lunch and then we headed to the Hotel DuPont, where the wedding reception took place on Saturday. . The Hotel DuPont opened in 1913, and the old world elegance remains today. The craftsmanship is incredible- just take a look at all of the details in the lobby.

Our room was gorgeous too. Sue, Bri and I attended the wedding by ourselves so we shared a room. The room was very large and even had a separate dressing room. I felt like we were in a fancy room on the Titanic. On Friday night I was in the room alone and I felt like there was a ghost in the room. Either I let my imagination fool me or I really saw a man in a red suit walking toward me in the middle of the night. That could be me being crazy, but in general the whole hotel has the feel of importance, beauty, and memories.

I’ll be back in the morning with a full recap on the lovely wedding festivities! For now it is time to celebrate Mother’s Day with my fabulous mother in law Auntie Rose!!

Until tomorrow… be well.

It is Amy’s wedding weekend.
I am so excited, you’d think it was my wedding all over again.
(more recaps coming soon, promise!)
I really, really love my life. I also really love Love.
Happy Wedding Weekend Amy!

P.S. I can’t help but feel hard core that Jenn and I went to Bikram at dawn today.

Flashback!