Weekend Recap!

Oh hey!  It's been a while.  Between work and our busy weekends, I haven't had much time to think about blogging, let alone actually doing it.

September is in full swing!  It is truly my favorite time of year.  September means sweaters are coming out and the windows are open.  From here, we have Halloween (which, even though I hate I still love the season), Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Love!

Friday I went to a party that kicked off wedding festivities for a friend; her wedding is this weekend.  It was a gorgeous night.  We officially need to move to a building with rooftop access.  So nice!

The night ended with me drinking red wine out of a champagne glass.  Enough said.  (Oh, and eating the brownie in the background.)

Saturday included a long day of day drinking, which I admit is fun!  However, not as much when you have to go to a party later that night.  Both fun, but made for an exhausting evening.  Needless to say, we did not move from the couch on Sunday.

My husband was quite content though.

Another busy (but short) week ahead.  I leave you with these inspirational words in the meantime.

Have a great week!

xx,

KMH

Likable Links!

Likable links time!

** See what is being anticipated for the Fall.  Everything from Arsenio Hall's new show to a movie titled Nebraska.

** I really want to try this stuffed summer vegetable platter recipe.  Sounds delicious!  And yes, everything IS better with breadcrumbs.

** Need help saving money or budgeting?  Well, then this class might be for you!

** The ladies of Mary Kay have always intrigued me.  People are obsessed with the Mary Kay brand.  There must be lots of bedazzles at this event.

** Last but not least, this video is worth watching right now!  I love Zack Morris!

Have a great Wednesday!

xx,
KMH

Happy Monday!

Busy day today!  I'll be back tomorrow with a full post.  Nothing too exciting to report from this weekend.  Although, we did eat some fried chicken from Blue Ribbon Fried Chicken.  The only issue...it wasn't my fave.

While it looks delicious, it could have definitely used some salt and some love from my Grammy.  She was the best at fried chicken (sorry Mom).  Although, my mom is very, VERY close!!

While waiting for tomorrow's post, here are some words of wisdom that even I need to take into consideration.

I let myself get consumed with so many negative thoughts that are beyond my control, it's a waste.  I know this, but it's a good reminder.  I need to focus my energy elsewhere.  Maybe I need a hobby?  Hmm, time to start thinking.

Cheers to Monday!

xx,

KMH

Roasted Chicken

I have been craving roasted chicken for a few weeks now.  I'm not sure what sparked my craving, but over the long Labor Day weekend, I attempted this relatively easy recipe for the first time.  It turned out absolutely delicious and juicy.  If you're having dinner guests over, it is a very impressive meal for not too much work.

This recipe was adapted from this Ina Garten Perfect Roasted Chicken Recipe.  I obviously made some tweaks along the way.

Oh, and I forgot to mention that Nance (my mom, for those of you that don't know) decided to make this dish on the same day.  We were having a long distance cook off.  :)  So some of these pictures are courtesy of her as well.

Ingredients
1 (4 pound) roasting chicken
Salt
Ground black pepper
1 large bunch fresh thyme, plus 20 sprigs
1 lemon

 5-7 garlic cloves (I left them whole)
  4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter (some will be melted) 

1 large vidalia onion, thickly sliced
  8-10 baby carrots
1 bulb of fennel, tops removed, and cut into wedges
Olive oil

Directions
*1) Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. 

*2) Remove the chicken giblets. Rinse the chicken inside and out. 

 *3) Salt and pepper the inside of the chicken. Stuff the cavity with the bunch of thyme, both halves of lemon, and all the garlic. 

*4) Spread butter on the outside of the chicken and sprinkle again with salt and pepper. 

*5) Tie the legs together with kitchen string and tuck the wing tips under the body of the chicken.   (This step is optional.  Please read  this article to decide what works best for you.)  I used foil since I didn't have butchers twine.

*6) Place the onions, carrots, and fennel in a roasting pan. Toss with salt, pepper, 20 sprigs of thyme, and olive oil. Spread around the bottom of the roasting pan and place the chicken on top.
*7) Roast the chicken for 1 1/2 hours. Remove the chicken and cover with aluminum foil for about 20 minutes. 

Enjoy!

I served this with roasted potatoes and sweet corn.  Definitely paired well together. :)

Likable Links!

It's already Wednesday!  Woohoo!

Time for some fun likable links this week.  I must say, these are some fun ones.

** Here are 30 things to stop doing to yourself.

** I would LOVE to be able to sing.  Especially like these two sisters from the show Nashville.  Amazing.

**  This is a really cool idea!  Everyone has family pictures, but these photos are pretty consistent.

** Here are 12 things successful women do differently.

** Three things I wish I knew before we got married.  Interesting article.

** Wow, these celebrity photos are interesting.  Check out Ryan Seacrest and George Clooney.

Hope everyone is having a great week!

xx,
KMH

Helpful Tips from Nance!

We had plenty of cake left after our wedding. More than I thought we would, honestly.

Since our wedding was in Kansas City and we have a tiny freezer, we had to store the top of our wedding cake at my parents' house.

Luckily, my mom researched how to store the top tier and called our cake lady to confirm the process. It turned out to be quite fresh when we received it this weekend!

Lucky for you, my Mom agreed to type up exactly what she did to ensure a delicious cake a year after your wedding. One piece of foil and a layer of saran wrap just won't cut it. Take notes...

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First things first, place the top tier in a cake box with a very tight fit.

Wrap the box in saran wrap.  Lots and lots of saran wrap! Go crazy! Then, once you think you have enough, do more! Done.

Next, wrap the saran wrapped cake box in an entire box of foil.  Wrap it from every angle.  Keep wrapping!  Wrap until you think you might be just ridiculous.

Even though it seems like an excessive amount of foil, you'll be thankful later.

Once you rip through all the foil, here's what the saran wrap layer looks like.

Put a note on top that says top of cake and you're done!  Put it in the freezer and wait patiently for a year. 

If you need to send to the bride a groom, send it overnight on dry ice in a Styrofoam container (very tight) inside of a box.  Again, make sure this is packed very tight!

Take to ups store. Make small talk with the very good looking middle aged (my age) UPS man!!!  :)

Track the package until noon the next day and unwrap immediately.  The cake needs to sit out on a cake platter for at least 24 hours before eating.

Finally, celebrate with a piece of wedding cake on your one year anniversary!




Follow these instructions and it will taste like the wedding day!!!

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Hope you enjoyed my Mom's post.

xx,
KMH

Weekend Recap: Anniversary Weekend!

Happy Monday!  I hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend.

It was more than just Labor Day weekend for us; it was our first wedding anniversary!  I cannot believe it's been a year since our wedding.  Everyone tries to tell you time flies and your wedding day is over before you know it, but it really goes by so fast.  

If I could go back and relive our wedding day, I would.

Of course I wanted us to have a plan as we headed into a four day weekend.  I'm not a planner or anything.  ;)  

Friday we headed out to Long Beach to relax by the water before the crazy crowds descended upon the beaches on Saturday.  It was a gorgeous day!  And the $20 umbrella we bought at KMart a few years ago came in handy.

It was nice being out of Manhattan for a few hours.  After staring at the water for a few hours, we headed over to the Allegria Hotel for some drinks before taking a train home.  

Gorgeous view!  Definitely drank this glass of champs a little too fast though.

Saturday we started the day off with massages.  I forgot how much I love them; so relaxing.  

Our anniversary was actually Sunday (September 1st) but we decided to do our anniversary dinner on Saturday night.  There are hundreds of restaurants on our "to try" list as you probably know, so narrowing down a place we wanted to try for our first anniversary dinner was difficult!  

We ended up choosing Torrisi Italian Specialties and we were NOT disappointed.  It was delicious!  

It's a seven course pre-fixe menu that's constantly changing.  I love quaint little restaurants that seat no more than 20-25 people.  It's even better when there's a tiny kitchen in the dining room.  It's baffling to me how they cook such amazing food with one cutting board, two hot plates and some pots.

Sunday I fit in probably one of the most fun spin classes I've been to (especially at Crunch).  Other than Soul Cycle, I don't describe them as fun.  My day became even better when I arrived home to these gorgeous pink roses.

We kept with tradition and had the top of our wedding cake.  My parent's spent so much time making sure it was packaged appropriately a year ago.  It was good they did too because it tasted perfect!

They shipped it overnight so we had it just in time for our special day.

We met some friends at Umami Burger (delicious burgers, terrible service) and then had cocktails and cake at our place.  I won't bore you with he dorky wedding cake cutting photos.  ;)  But here's proof that it clearly tasted quite good.  

(Note: My mom is doing a guest blog post tomorrow regarding packaging and storing a wedding cake.)

Before:

After:

The weekend was perfect.  Even though we didn't go anywhere, it was just what we needed; a combination of relaxation and fun!  I love going into a four day week too!!

I hope you all had a great weekend as well!

xx,

KMH