Turning Thirty: Old Favorites (The More Obscure, the Better)

I'm turning thirty years old on July 6th so for the next five weeks, I'm embracing life and trying to do at least one new and/or enjoyable and/or spectacular thing per day. Click here for more Turning Thirty posts.

 
Have you ever seen the movie The Thing Called Love? Don't feel bad, not many people have.  I completely fell in love with this film when I was in high school.  It starred Samantha Mathis, River Phoenix, Dermot Mulroney, Sandra Bullock and a few others before they were famous.  It was pretty unremarkable, except for the fact that it was River Phoenix's last film before his death, and was routinely playing on the WB network around midnight.  As soon as I saw it, I felt like it was made to be a cult classic. And I couldn't  believe that I liked it; it was all about country music and making it big in Nashville, and as a rule, I didn't even like country music.  I completely charmed by this movie that no one had ever heard of.

Of course, I wasn't surprised that Anthony wasn't familiar with The Thing Called Love.  After we started dated, I made him watch it with me.  Years earlier, I had taped it from basic cable so we fast-forwarded through the commercials and ignored the poor video quality (HD it was not!).  He wasn't a huge fan but sat through the entire thing like a trooper.  I don't think he saw all of the charm that I did, especially as I sang along with the characters for most of the movie.

I had a similar feeling earlier this week when I saw Country Strong.  When it was in theaters in 2010, I read a review with a spoiler and decided not to see it since I knew what happened at the end, but when I saw it listed as a 'free' movie on demand, I gave it a shot.  Remember in The Forty-Year Old Virgin when Paul Rudd's character Dave describes Matt Damon as a real Streisand? I kind of felt the same way about Gwyneth Paltrow AND Leighton Meester.  Note the word felt.  Both Paltrow and Meester were superb (in my opinion, obviously).  The love story seems authentic and the tunes are catchy and even though it's kind of a downer movie, I want to watch it again and again.  And sing along.  If The Thing Called Love was the obscure country movie of my late teens/early twenties, perhaps Country Strong will be the one of my thirties.

Turning Thirty: Daycations

I'm turning thirty years old on July 6th so for the next five weeks, I'm embracing life and trying to do at least one new and/or enjoyable and/or spectacular thing per day. Click here for more Turning Thirty posts.


We're not going on vacation this summer (we're gearing up for our awesome wedding and a wonderful honeymoon next April--woot woot!), but that doesn't mean we can't take a day off from work here and there. 

Last Friday, we checked out the Mystic Aquarium, which is a place I haven't been to in over fifteen years, since a middle school field trip.  After a few hours filled with fish and large groups of excited children (there were already camps visiting the aquarium!), we headed over to the casino for a bit (we couldn't find a place that was more opposite than the kid-filled water attaction than a smoke-filled adult arcade).  Confession: I kind of fell in love with a Sex & the City slot machine, even though it didn't really love me back.

It was a good day.

The Perfect Wedding Accessory

Last week, I got something special in the mail:

It's my ila purse, which I ordered from 100 Layer Cake's Pop-Up shop in May.  It's navy blue,has just the right number of ruffles and is absolutely perfect.  I cannot WAIT to use it next April at our wedding.  xo

Father's Day in Style

 

In the past two months, my family has celebrated several birthdays, Mother's Day and my grandparents' 62nd wedding anniversary with a variety of boring, although delicious, cake.  I thought we should shake it up a bit for Father's Day. What you see in the photo above is a make-shift sundae bar that I put together yesterday, which included three different ice cream flavors, hot fudge, chocolate sprinkles, M&Ms, bananas, brownies, peanut butter sauce and whipped cream.  To my surprise, everyone loved it.  We were a room full of grown-ups all chowing down like we were at a party for kids.  My dad said it was the best Father's Day he's ever had and I truly believe him. xo

Turning Thirty: Let the Festivities Begin

I'm turning thirty years old on July 6th so for the next five weeks, I'm embracing life and trying to do at least one new and/or enjoyable and/or spectacular thing per day. Click here for more Turning Thirty posts.

Thursday was Anthony's 30th birthday (he's a Flag Day baby!) and we celebrated in a low-key way.  I had tried to arrange a small surprise party at a hibachi restaurant but I wound up spilling the secret and he told me that he would rather have a night at home and perhaps dinner out on Friday night.  Since his request was so modest, I tried my hardest to make those two nights as perfect as possible. 

After we both got home from work on Thursday, I made a few favorite dishes for dinner and then unveiled the cake: a Gameboy-inspired confection with lego-shaped candles.  It came out pretty cute, considering I'm not a pastry chef.  We opened a few presents, watched a little television and talked about how excited we were for Friday night's dinner.

Anthony's birthday dinner was fondue at the Melting Pot.  Neither of us had ever been and we were really looking forward to it.  Our meal consisted of four courses over two hours, served by the perkiest, most adorable waitress.  Every booth is like a little private hideaway within the restaurant so our dinner was super intimate and cozy.  I loved that the cheese (a combo of swiss and gruyere) and chocolate (a s'mores combo with marshmallow and graham crackers mixed in) fondue was made right in front of us using the electric burner right in the middle of the table. 

For the main course, we got a tray full of meat and seafood that actually needed to be cooked in the boiling broth that was brought to our table.  It was surprisingly fun to spear the meat and wait for it to be done.  There were tons of sauces to try and dip into, and everything was delicious (it was the first time that I had lobster tail!). 

And for dessert, Anthony even got to make a wish before we chocolate-dipped the fruit, pound cake, brownie squares and rice krispie treat bits.  (By the way, there is a ton of steam from the fondue pots on the table so it was like Anthony and I were staring at each other through a cloud all night!)

Happy birthday to the best fiance in the entire world.  I know that our next decade together will be just as wonderful as the past ten years together have been. xo

Turning Thirty: Tostadas Kind of Taste Like Healthy Nachos

I'm turning thirty years old on July 6th so for the next five weeks, I'm embracing life and trying to do at least one new and/or enjoyable and/or spectacular thing per day. Click here for more Turning Thirty posts.


I've made a creative dinner every night this week; it's really unbelievable that I haven't resorted to my normal meals like giant salads with grilled chicken or steak stir-fry yet.  Tonight's menu: Chicken Fajita Tostadas.

It never occurred to me to bake peppers and onions instead of sauteing them (thank you, Martha Stewart!).  On a cookie sheet, I mixed up peppers, onions, salsa and sweet corn (and later, shredded chicken) and watched as everything quickly toasted and roasted.  Then, I put shredded cheddar on top of corn tortillas and put them in the oven until the cheese was melted and the tortillas brown around the edges. 

The tostadas were delicious, and they seriously tasted like a healthy, and not greasy, version of nachos.  I wonder if it's possible to make mini versions of these, like bite-size open-face tacos.  These are definitely going into the regular dinner rotation.

Turning Thirty: A Dinner Everyone Will Like




I'm turning thirty years old on July 6th so for the next five weeks, I'm embracing life and trying to do at least one new and/or enjoyable and/or spectacular thing per day. Click here for more Turning Thirty posts.

Yes, this is a huge bowl of pasta. 

Tonight, I made a new pasta dish, adapted from this Martha Stewart recipe.  I don't eat sausage but thought I'd give chicken sausage a chance so that I can make a meal that I knew Anthony would love.  Add in a colorful orange pepper, a ton of halved grape tomatoes, some mini ziti and a handful of Parmesan cheese, and we had a delicious, healthy, albeit hefty, dinner.  Between yesterday's buffalo chicken meatballs and tonight's dinner, the odds are against me to make another innovative meal tomorrow night. 

P.S. I just love how fresh these vegetables look.  Welcome, summer!