Showered with Love

In the last two and a half weeks, I married my best friend, went on a GLORIOUS honeymoon, and returned with just 10 days to plan a shower for my brother's fiancee. She's such a sweet person and I'm really lucky to have her in our family. So I offered to throw her a family bridal shower!

Before my wedding, I was able to send out some REALLY cute bridal shower invitations for her shower. Besides that, not much else had been planned, or organized until I got back from the honeymoon.

I've only been to three showers before (and two of them were for me!) so I didn't really know what I was getting myself into. All I knew was that guests really don't care for the "typical games" played at showers (co-workers, friends, and my grandma all shared that info with me). So I was determined to find fun, creative things to do that showed my future sister-in-law how wonderful she is and how happy we all are that she's about to be a part of our family.

Here's what I came up with:

1. Framed "Old Irish Blessing" quote I had all the women at the shower sign their name with a VERY fine-tipped black marker around the matting of the frame and it turned out nicely! (10x10 frame from Michaels that had a 5x5" inside for the quote)


Mat soft be the grass you walk on,
May fair be the skies above you,
May true be the joys that surround you,
May dear be the hearts that love you
- Old Irish Blessing

2. "Showered with Love" activity

Each guest wrote happy quotes, love sayings, positive thoughts down on "raindrop" shaped cardstock (I provided). Then, the raindrops were attached to the inside of a cute umbrella from Target, so when she opened the umbrella (outside, of course) she was"showered with love".

3. Love Jeopardy Game

I got inspiration from this from Pinterest (exact pin is here), but I modified it a bit. Tutorial below:

Materials needed:
Solid color cardstock
Patterned cardstock
Glue stick
Personal Paper Trimmer (or scissors if you can cut straight!)
Sticky Tack
Poster Board (I liked the 3-fold Presentation Board)
Sharpie Marker
Printed Questions/Answers



Step 1: Questions and Answers
   a. Send a list of questions to the groom-to-be. Tell him what the project is and why you need him to answer all of them. He may come up with more questions or suggestions for different questions. (Sample questions: What is your "how did you meet" story? When did you know she was "the one"? If you found her diary from your first date, what would it say? What is her favorite drink? What is your favorite dessert? What was the name of your first pet? What is her biggest pet peeve? If you could be a cartoon character, who would you be? What famous person does she remind you of?)
   b. Format the questions into 3x5 boxes in Microsoft Word (include a border so you can cut them out easier).
   c. Print on regular printer paper
   d. Cut out each Question and Answer card, set aside


Step 2: Pretty Cards
   a. Cut out the solid card stock into 4 x 6 cards, stack to the side
   b. Cut out the patterned card stock into 3.5 x 5.5 (so it frames inside the solid cardstock nicely), stack to the side
   c. Glue patterned cards onto the solid card

Step 3: Add Trivia
   a. Apply a line of glue stick to the top 1/2" of the "answer" card
   b. Place the "question" card on top of the "answer" card and apply pressure to attached the two together.

  c. Apply glue stick to the back of the answer card and apply to the blank side of the "pretty card" (from above)


Step 4: Make Headings
   a. Reverse the "pretty cards" so the bigger card is the patterned card is 4x6 and the solid card is 3.5 x 5.5 so you can use these as headings on the board
   b. Write the headings (I used "Randomness" "Must be Love" "Love it or Hate it" etc.)


Step 5: Build the Board
   a. Lay out the cards to see how they will fit
   b. Place two dots of sticky tack on the top two corners of each card and attach cards to board

   c. Write in value of each card to the left of all the cards (looked sharper than if the number was written on each card (200, 400, 600, 800, 1000)).

That's all it takes! Then at the shower, the bride-to-be says "I'll take "Must be Love" for 400!" and guests take turns pulling the card off the board, reading the question and laughing as she guesses how HE answered each question! If she gets it right, she gets to open a gift. If she gets it wrong, she still gets a gift - win win!! :)

**A follow-up note: you may need to tweek some of the questions/answers so it is in the favor of the bride, or make sure she has some hints to the correct answer. In hindsight, I wished I had some multiple choice questions because the groom answered some of the questions that threw her off!

 4. Mini-Themed Shower: All food items are bite-sized. Since it's a 1pm shower, it's not a sit-down meal. Menu items include:

• Mini cupcakes
• Chocolate with chocolate frosting and a raspberry on top
• Vanilla with vanilla frosting and a strawberry on top
• Mini Mac 'n Cheese Bites
• Chicken Quesadilla Pinwheels
• Sugar Cookies with frosting
• Mini Brownie Bites
• Veggie tray
• Cheese & Crackers
• Ruffles and onion dip
• Fruit skewers

For the menu items, I created tiny place cards for each menu item so guests knew what they were. Most of them were obvious (I did get a few "really? was a label for "cheese and crackers" necessary??"), but it was nice to keep a theme going!

5. Themed Drinks - Grey, yellow and purple are her wedding colors. She's very laid back and I wanted the drinks to reflect this. The table cloths are grey, so having yellow plates/napkins and drinks will be a great accent.

• Lemonade (served in mason jars with each guests' name tagged with purple stamps on the outside with yellow ribbon)
• Gingerale and diet cranberry juice makes a nice, bubbly, non-alcoholic drink.

6. Other Decorations - Fun things to keep the colors coming along!

• Bought artificial white daisy potted plants from Michaels for $3 each. Glued pretty white/grey ribbon around the outside making a fun pattern.
• Purchased yellow, purple and grey balloons to throw around as decoration
• Found a cute marriage quote on a wooden board at Hobby Lobby to add to the gifts table
• Dollar Store had cute, small vases that I'm filling with clear gems, filling with water, and adding small white, purple and yellow flowers as centerpieces.

 It was a fun day and I enjoyed being able to honor my future sister-in-law at her shower!

 

20 Minute Meal: Smoked Sausage & Veggie Pasta Delight

The name may not be innovative, but the fact that this dish is SO quick and SO tasty trumps the lack of creative title!

We’ve all got busy lives. Between my fiancé and myself, we are juggling a lot right now (less than 2 weeks until our wedding!!), so when I come across a meal that is 1-quick, 2-easy to clean up, and 3-is coined a “repeater” (aka “make it again!”), I’m in. And I believe that “sharing is caring” so I wanted to pass this one along to you to give it a try.

 

Smoked Sausage & Veggie Pasta Delight

Ingredients:

½ package of Smoked Sausage (we like Johnsonville)
1 ½ cup spinach, chopped
1 green pepper, diced
1 plum tomato, diced
_1/8 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 cups uncooked pasta (I like bowtie for this dish)
¼ cup parmesan cheese (fresh is good, but all I had was Kraft)

Directions:

1.       Bring medium pot of water to boil. Add pasta

2.       Slice sausage in half (long ways) and cut into 1” chunks. In a skillet over medium heat, cook sausage until slightly brown, (approximately 5 min). Remove from skillet.

3.       Add olive oil to pan and toss in green pepper, tomato and spinach. Let cook over med-low heat for 5-7 minutes.

4.       Add sausage to veggie skillet, toss.

5.       Drain pasta (do not rinse). Toss pasta into skillet. Reduce heat to low. Add parmesan cheese, stir, & cover (lets the flavors come together nicely).

6.       Serve hot.

This made for a super simple Friday night meal. During Step #5, when the flavors were coming together, I washed up the cutting board, knives, pot and colander. So after dinner, all we had to do was wash up one skillet and put our plates/forks in the dishwasher.

It’s always a good feeling when you see your fiancé smile a big grin and say, “Oh, yeah, this is a repeater!!” J

Gettin' Crafty: Wedding Fingerprint Tree

Though the 'fingerprint tree' isn't totally unique these days anymore, it seems like such a more fun, personal, "off the beaten path" approach to the typical guest book at weddings.

Most of the time at weddings, guests start with the drinky drinky BEFORE they do the write-y write-y, which results in misspellings, sloppy handwriting, and writing rather inappropriate comments in what is otherwise thought of as a "nice, sweet" guest book.

So to combat that, we decided on a simple fingerprint tree in lieu of our wedding guest book. I had some unexpected "extra time" at home over Christmas, so I made it my mission to create this tree from scratch.

Some options on Etsy.com were about $50 for a custom, personalized tree (no frame). Again, I'm not cheap, I'm frugal, and that paired with my desire to be crafty, this was the perfect project to tackle.

Supplies needed:

• Printed copy of what you want your tree to look like (I blew mine up on 11 x 17 paper)
• Illustration board (pick the size you want based on the frame size you want. I made the - rookie - mistake and picked a 15 x 20 illustration board from Hobby Lobby... then realized that picture frames are 16 x 20 and I would need to get a custom frame or get creative with my matting)
• Wax paper (large enough to cover the entire tree size you printed out)
• Permanent Marker (fine tip Sharpie worked best)
• Mechanical Pencil (no "lead" needed, just the pencil instrument)
• Masking tape
• Brown art marker (medium tip worked well)
• White paint pen (optional)
• Sticker letters (optional)
• Picture frame

Step 1: Trace Tree

• Tape printed out tree to a clean table (one small piece of tape per side is suffice)
• Tape wax paper over tree to secure it from moving around
• Trace outline of tree with Sharpie on to the wax paper. (Note: trace it exactly how you see it, it will make a future step easier)

Step 2: Transfer Trace to Illustration Board

• Lift wax paper off table/tree
• Remove paper tree
• Place Illustration board on table
• Tape illustration board to table to secure it from moving
• Tape wax paper over illustration board
• Use a mechanical pencil (no lead needed, just the plastic tip is needed) and begin to press along the sharpie lines you made in Step 1. This creates an "indentation" in the illustration board that will be used as a guide in Step #3. (Note: When in doubt, trace on the inside of the sharpie lines. If you go wider, you end up with some really, really thick branches/twigs in Step #3.)

Step 3: Fill in Tree

• Remove wax paper
• Trace over the indentation on the illustration board with the brown marker.
• Fill in the outline using smooth, long strokes so the tree looks natural.

Step 4: Personalize Tree

• Use a white paint marker (fine tip) to draw the heart in the center of the tree with Bride & Groom's initials.
• Lightly draw a straight line (pencil) under the tree for the Bride & Groom's name and another line for the date.
• Place stickers (or use a pen, depending on your handwriting skills!) to spell out the names/dates.
• Erase any extra markings on the illustration board
• Insert into frame (preserves picture from random dangers (small children, pets, dust, etc.) before the wedding!

Illustration board: 2.99
Brown pen: 1.99
White paint pen: 1.49
Picture Frame: 18.75
Total Cost: $25.22*

*Note: I used 50% off coupons for all items above, and had both a 50% off a single item PLUS a 25% off entire order for the picture frame! Double score!

As far as ink goes... this was a struggle to figure out. After countless web searches and hearing from fellow brides encountering the same problem, I just decided to "wing it" with some ink I found at JoAnn Fabric. I'll find a picture of the ink and the stamps and post it so you see what I'm using.

Also, I'm hesitant to have guests actually use their fingers for this, so I found some really cute 3/4" rubber leaf stamps (Hobby Lobby) ($1.49each @ 50% off) so guests don't walk around with a green finger all night!

Gettin' Crafty: Personalized Wedding Champagne Glasses

It's time for another installment of  "Gettin' Crafty"! Here we will do a quick overview of how to make personalized champagne glasses for the reception.

God bless Pinterest. I mean really. Addicting? Sure. But it's saved me a hundred times when I get stuck on being creative. Now it's time to pay it forward and share some more for this craft. Someone posted a cute idea of having "Bride & Groom" written in rhinestones on champagne flutes for the reception. Cute idea. But I got to thinking: isn't the wedding party a huge part of this, too? So I set forth on this fun project....

Michaels craft store has the best rhinestone letters. It's perfect because the letters come as rhinestones so you don't have to carefully place the rhinestones in the shape of letters - score! Plus, Michaels either has their supplies on sale, or you can use a 40% or 50% coupon.

We got our champagne flutes from Ikea (6pk = $4.99).  Luckily we have a smaller wedding party, so a 6 pack of glasses covered all of us!

Be sure to put a piece of clear Scotch Tape as a guide for the letters so they look straight.

Easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy! Total cost: $13, total assembly time: 15 minutes.

Gettin' Crafty: Wedding Card Box

The title of my blog is "Meredith on the run", but there's so much more than just running/training entries here. I'm currently a runaway bride!

With 15 days leading up to my wedding, I thought it would be nice to post some of the wedding projects I've been working on to make our special day extra special.

I'm frugal - not cheap. So when it came to making my wedding special, I wanted a few finishing touches that really made guests think, "Boy, I never knew Meredith was so crafty... how did she manage to do such incredible projects AND manage to keep a full-time job and train for a marathon AND buy a house AND..." you get the picture.

Below you'll find a brief "how to" for a Card Box (for envelopes/cards at the reception). I've had time to work on a handful of other projects, but let's start here. (I'll post more later). For now, let's break down how to make the Card Box:

Card Box. There are about a million varieties of card boxes out there ranging from cute and simple, to really intricate and complex. Mine falls in the middle. I was inspired to make one that resembled one from Etsy.com.

Note: I like things to look good, but I'm not a perfectionist. And I did not take pictures of the process along the way. Yes, pictures help the learner figure out what to do a LOT better than words, but it wasn't until recently that I decided to blog about these projects - sorry! Hopefully this at least gives you a starting point. If you have questions, message me and I'll be happy to help!


Step 1: Buy materials. Hobby Lobby had the best selection for shiny fabric (resembling silk, but not expensive!).

• 1.5 yards of navy fabric
• 1 roll of 1.5" ribbon
• Clear Tacky Glue (any fabric glue will work) 
• 2 square boxes with lids, one larger, one smaller (we found ours at Hobby Lobby)
• 2 Flower Clips (found at Michaels that matched our ribbon PERFECTLY!)

Step 2: Measure & Cut Fabric

• Lay out the fabric on a large, clean table
• Place bottom section of box at the edge of fabric
• Hold fabric to edge of box and roll the box until entire box is covered with fabric (this lets you see how much fabric you need)
• Cut fabric, giving yourself extra on all sides (you can trim later)

Step 3: Glue Fabric to Box

• Glue edge of fabric on corner of box
• Hold fabric in place until it's semi-dried (when it can stay on it's own, you're good)
• Glue next corner, wrap fabric over corner
• Repeat for all 4 sides
• Trim remaining fabric and glue if necessary
• For the top & bottom, cut a slit in the fabric so you can wrap the fabric smoothly inside the box and on the bottom.
• Repeat for remaining bottom of box and lids

Step 4: Cut boxes

• In the lid of the larger box, cut a square hole just smaller than the size of the bottom of the smaller box. (Remember, the smaller box will sit on top of the bigger box, and you want the envelopes to fall through to the bottom, so leave yourself enough room for the envelope to clear into the bottom of the big box)
• Cut a square hole in the bottom of the small box so that there is still enough room to glue the little box on top of the big box lid.
• Cut a long, narrow slit on the little box lid. This is where guests will put the envelopes. Remember to glue down the remaining fabric so it looks clean and classy!

Step 5: Glue boxes together

• You don't want to take any chances with anyone stealing envelopes (sad, but true, people steal). Be sure to glue the big box lid to the big box. I'm using industrial Velcro to glue the little box lid to the little box. That way, it's hard to open (people might think it's glued), but I won't have to destroy my Card Box after the wedding like a pinata!

Step 6: Finishing Touches

• Glue ribbon around bottom of each box
• Add embellishments (flowers, ribbons, rhinestones, name labels, etc.)

If I had to do it again, I would have gotten different sized boxes (perhaps 3 shorter ones like the original inspiration), but other than that, I LOVE this project!! I feel so accomplished and it doesn't hurt when you look at the cost of the one on Etsy ($110 vs $17). See? I'm not cheap, I'm crafty!

(Note: Hobby Lobby, Michaels and JoAnn Fabrics ALWAYS have sales/coupons. I have not purchased anything full priced for any of my projects. Sales associates can sometimes help you by letting you know when items will go on sale. Example: ribbons go on sale every 3-4 weeks at Hobby Lobby. If they're not 40-50% off when you're there, check to see when the next sale is, or bust out your phone with the Hobby Lobby app to use a coupon!)

New Year's Resolutions

What is it about the end of one year, and the start of another, that feels SO good? Is it a flashback to our schooldays when one semester ended and you got that fresh start with a  new teacher, new curriculum, and a chance at getting that A+?

I still get that excited, giddy feeling on New Year's Eve, just knowing that the next year can be WHATEVER I make of it. Pretty empowering. (Just wish that this inspiration would happen more than once a year!)

2013 is going to be a big year. Lots of changes. Marriage, buying a house, starting a new life being a "wife". So this year, it was especially important for me to set some lofty goals to keep myself grounded and feel like I have some control over what's going on in my life.

Thankfully, the Tri-Shark Triathlon Club teamed up with the Lake Run Club (both based out of Bloomington, IL) for their first annual "Predictions Run". You send in your goals for the year (how many miles you will run/bike, how many marathons you will complete, how much you will shave off your 5k time, etc.) and they tuck those goals away until the end of December when they are all revealed. The fun part is that your goals can be secret (for a while, at least) but you know that there is someone who will call you out on it later, so NO SLACKING!

Here's what I've laid out for 2013:

1. Run 926 miles

2. Complete 4x4, 3x4, 4x4 for Jan/Feb/Mar (In Jan, workout 4x/week for 4 weeks, in Feb work out 3x/week for 3 weeks, etc.)

3. Run at least one more marathon before my last name changes

We did our First Annual New Year's Day Dash this morning. It was a totally informal run with my fiancé and our dog. While we ran, I had some baked french toast in the oven, so when we got back, we hopped into the shower, got clean, and had a delicious breakfast (that ended up putting us into comas while watching the Outback Bowl on TV).

Maybe our NYDD will grow over time, but even if it just stays the 3 of us (plus growing family in a few years), It will still mean that we start off our New Years right - as a family with goals.

The 2012 Chicago Mere-a-thon

When Tom Skilling tells you that the start of the race will be about 34 degrees, and by the time you finish it should be in the high-40’s with partly sunny skies and no rain, you know it’s going to be a good race day.

When I started walking to the car at 6am, the air felt nice. By the time I actually got to the car, a mere 45 seconds later, I was cold. Brrr! It was going to be a cold race. But cold races are usually where I perform the best. It’s when the sun is out, the humidity is high, and the temperatures creep above 70 that I am miserable on the course.

Thankfully, the Weather Gods were on Team Meredith on Sunday!

Before the race, I saw a co-worker heading to the corral, so it was nice to touch base with him. Then while in the corral, I’m not sure what happened…Usually, you can strip off your clothes and stand in the corral, basking off the warmth of fellow runners. Not this time. No one was huddled close together. Everyone gave the infamous “bubble” to each other, as not to intrude. I keep shaking and shivering all the way until I started running (30+ minutes later!).

Walking to the start line, I got pumped by “RIGHT NOW!” by Van Hallen. This is the 3^rd Chicago Marathon that has played this song as I crept up to the start line. Must be a sign. I was excited!

The 4:15 pace group was who I tried to stick near for the first part of the race. Either right behind or just leading them, the pacer and her team sporting bunny ears and white cap kept me on pace. I lost them right after a water station after mile 12. How runners can run and drink at the same time baffles me. Between mile 15 and 16 I got a little tired and contemplated walking. It’s a little early to hit the wall, I thought to myself.

So I played a little game that I’d like to share with you. It’s called “Pick ’em and Stick ‘em”. I picked someone who had a consistent stride and good pace and stuck behind them. I literally served as their shadow, following them with my head down, weaving in and out of other runners together. Ideally, this individual would not notice me (stealth ninja moves!). Mr. Red and Orange Shoes got me through 2.5 miles until I felt good again. I tried this again later in the race, however no one did as good of a job as my first guy.

Lessons for other runners

1.       NEVER stop in the middle of the course. Seriously, it’s just plain dangerous. Knock it off.

2.       Throw your banana peels to the side of the course. The cartoons don’t lie: they are slippery and I am sick of almost biting it on the course.

3.       Get those damn headphones out of your ears. All you runners who did that on race day made it suck. I didn’t make ANY friends this year. That’s not natural. No one wanted to talk because over 75% that I saw wore headphones.

4.       GET OFF YOUR PHONES. Texting, Tweeting, Updating, and… get this – TALKING? Really!?! At mile 4 there was a woman yelling into her Bluetooth saying “You shouldn’t be running! You are a terrible runner!” and everyone around her thought her to be a total “B” because most of them didn’t realize she was talking to someone else on the phone. Regardless, she was an idiot. Also, for those who were just chatting away “Oh yeah, no, it’s fine, I have time. Mile 15 feels good, what are you up to?” Cut the crap. Hang up, call them when it’s over. And for those dumb eough to whip out their phones and text others? That’s just plain dangerous. I tripped over many of you. Don’t text and run.

 

At mile 24, I was tired and chilly, but I kept the mantra “The more you run, the faster you’re done”. It worked. Crossing the finish line at 4:37:30, I felt okay about everything. By Tuesday, I was walking fine and even jogged a little without pain. That, in itself, is a success!

 

My next goal: scale back from 26.2 and focus on shorter, faster races. 13.1 and 15k’s are in my immediate future with the goal of breaking 2 hours for a half.

 

All – in – all the 2012 Chicago Mere-a-thon was a great success. It may be the last one for a while… at least until runners go through “Runners Etiquette” and stop being cotton-headed-ninny-muggins on the course.