I'm so excited.... and I just can't hide it!

It's officially official.

Europe, you better hold on to your socks because here I come! I purchased my plane ticket this past weekend for the trip of trips! Let me give you a visual:

1st stop:

That's right, Paris to meet up with someone that looks like this:

Next:

Venice

After that:

Florence

And then:

Cinque Terre

Then off to:

ROME!!!!!

And lastly, a little bit of this:

Dusseldorf

You all have my permission to be jealous.

therapy

I've posted before about how I seem to care too much about what people think, and with my vast amount of knowledge in the psychology department, I have devised my own type of therapy.

I don't really get the chance to sing in the shower because everyone is still sleeping when I take care of that aspect of my personal hygiene, although, I believe myself to be more of a listener than a singer in the shower anyway... so.... my only other outlet of singing as loud as I want (without drawing serious attention to myself) is in the car. Which is where my therapy comes in.

Normally when there is a song on in my car and I really really want to sing it loud, I drive in ways that don't let people see me. For instance, when I pull up to a stop light I will stop either just past or just behind the car next to me so that whoever is in the car won't be able to see me, this buys me about a minute of free crooning. I recall that once or twice I even held up my cellular to my ear and sang like I was talking to someone (there is a good chance that I will regret sharing that last gem of information). However, as a side note, that is a very good way to ward off those pesky people in the mall that always want to ask you a question about your nails or hair or cell service provider... anyway...

My therapy is this: I need to learn to relax a little...ok, a lot... so whenever I am in the car and want to sing, I make myself sing exactly how I want to, which is really loud, which also translates into looking completely absurd to any passers by. I'm hoping this small step out of my box will be a starting step towards caring less.... we'll see.

BTW... if you happen to see me during one of my therapy session, please point and laugh, I think it will make the process a little more successful.

The Dinner Party of Dinner Parties

A few posts ago I made reference to the Martha-esque dinner party I was throwing. It was a great success. Not to mention TONS and TONS of work, but just can't resist parties! My sincerest apologies for all those who weren't invited, but please know that if I was in fact Super Woman, I would have invited everyone I know. I have attached pictures of the event for your viewing pleasure:

The invite:

That is an actual wax seal and each invitation had the initial of the recipient on the front. (And underneath the invite is my ROCKiN bedding that I mentioned in an earlier post as well.)

The Favor:

Each place setting had an individualized ornament on the plate (set ever so nicely on the napkins I folded and ironed, obsessive compulsive.... maybe) which doubled as a place card and as a party favor.

The Decor:

The Food:

I only have pictures one item on the menu, which is a TOTAL bummer, but this is the item I was most proud of.

This is my beautiful and seriously delicious appetizer, white cheddar cheese log with toasted pistachios. We also had sparkling cider to start...you know to loosen everyone up.

The main course menu included golden and red ranch potatoes, asparagus, dinner rolls of course, and a pork tenderloin stuffed with cornbread dressing, apples and dried cranberries drizzled with a light apple gravy.

Dessert was raspberry sorbet with fresh strawberries, bananas, raspberries and pineapple chunks mixed in, served in a martini glass with Rolled Lemon Lace Tuiles (cookies) as a garnish. (This is the thing I wish I had a picture of.) Example:

It looked quite similar to this. My cookies looked just as good as these!

The Cook/Hostess:

The Party:

If you look closely you can kinda see the main course on the plate.

All in all I'd say a splendid evening was had by all. And it was confirmed to me that I am meant to be a rich housewife who entertains all the time. It is so so stressful and I just love it!

Also, I have to give a shout out to the wonderful people who played into the party and showed up with hostess gifts. SO nice!