Menu Plan Monday 7/8/13

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Hope everyone had a nice weekend.  We had a nice and busy weekend ourselves.  Our son and new d-i-l met us at Starbucks Sunday afternoon to show pictures from their trip and visit a little bit.  It was so good to see them!   On Saturday evening, we visited with friends and shared some of the groom’s cake with them.  Speaking of the groom’s cake, let me show you how cute it was…so perfect for our son.  The bakery designed it perfectly!  It was actually bigger than it looks like in the picture, and we enjoyed cake for the next week after the wedding.  Yum!

A & A wedding, groom's cake

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Isn’t the cake creative? Enough about the cake! Here’s the menu:

Monday: Eat out

Tuesday: Chicken, corn, salad

Wednesday: Cheese Ravioli, salad, baby carrots

Thursday: Chef salad

Friday: Pizza

Centerpiece Idea for Wedding or Wedding Shower

Don’t you just love weddings and showers?  I do!  It’s such a happy time, a time to celebrate.  Pictured below is one shower that I enjoyed so much! I cannot begin to tell you how much I enjoyed it.  (it was for my son & daughter-i-l)

This is the centerpiece collection from our son and future daughter-in-law’s church wedding shower. I like how the hostesses made a cluster of different sizes of flower vases and candle holders for the centerpiece collection.  It’s different from the traditional flower centerpiece in the middle of the table and has a more modern look to it.  I love the white roses and baby’s breath that were used, but colors of the wedding could easily be incorporated into the color scheme.  But even more meaningful than a beautiful shower is the love behind it, from all the hostesses and those who attended!

A & A's Southside shower at Dana's, 6-9-13 002

Menu Plan Monday 6/10/13

menu plan monday, 3-10

This was a very busy but very fun weekend!  Our son and future daughter-in-law came for their church shower where we go to church. It was absolutely beautiful, and they got so many nice things. It is such a blessing to have a wonderful church family where there are so many sweet people!

I have to show you the cake from the wedding shower. It was so pretty and delicious, and the fondant flowers on top looked too pretty to eat!

A & A's SS shower at Dana's, 6-9-13 008
Menu for the week:

Monday: Salmon Patties, corn, salad

Tuesday: Leftovers

Wednesday: Chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans

Thursday: Eat out

Friday: Digiorno Spicy Chicken Supreme Pizza & salad

Final Stages of Wedding Planning

Our son and future daughter-in-law are in the final stages of planning their June wedding.  They have just about everything planned and have very little left to do.  They looked at rings a while back and decided what they wanted.  I don’t know if they looked at cobalt rings, but I do know they chose really nice rings.

One of the things left to do is our son making his decision on the groom’s cake.  I still think he needs to have a “Yoshi” (a Super Mario Nintendo character) cake.  Yoshi has always been his favorite, and anyone who has played video games with him knows that.  So, it will be interesting to see what kind of groom’s cake he chooses.

Wedding Photographers

Photography studios such as raleigh wedding photographers have creative ways of taking wedding pictures nowadays.  Now that our son is engaged to be married this summer, they have been arranging all the things that go along with a wedding such as engagement pictures, wedding pictures, flowers, wedding cakes, food, etc.  I’m looking forward to seeing their engagement pictures because the photographer is planning on taking their pictures at a site that’s supposed to be really good.  Exciting times!

Wedding Frames

This is the time of year when there are a lot of weddings being planned.  There are so many details to attend to such as getting the right photographer.  Once the wedding pictures arrive, it’s exciting to relive the wedding through the pictures, and many people display their favorite photos in special frames.  You can follow this link if you’re looking for a special frame or maybe even a personalized frame for a special wedding photo.  Or maybe you’re looking for a unique wedding gift.  An engraved frame makes a truly special gift.

Weddings

There are a lot of weddings this summer which means there are a lot of brides who have been looking at wedding dresses and bridesmaid dresses such as lela rose.  I can’t get over how long it’s been since our daughter was planning her wedding and we were looking at dresses, florists, photographers, caterers, etc.   Nine summers ago, we were right in the middle of planning a wedding.  Now, they have two little boys with a third child (suppose to be a girl) on the way.   Time sure does fly!

B & B Retreats at the Mansion at Elfindale

Retreats are great for revitalizing the spirit and connecting with others. Whether it’s a corporate retreat, a ladies’ retreat, a family reunion, a bridesmaids’ retreat, or whatever the occasion, atmosphere has a lot to do with allowing that revitalization and connecting to take place. After spending the night during this past summer and the previous summer at the Mansion at Elfindale in Springfield, Missouri, I highly recommend this B & B!  It’s world class!   Although it was just our family staying there, my imagination could see how this would be an awesome place for a retreat!

Isn’t it fun to get away with your girlfriends and talk “girl talk” until the wee hours of the morning?  A Ladies’ Retreat with a group of ladies from church has always been a lot of fun for me.  Getting away to a special place enhances the enjoyment of the trip, getting away from the hustle and bustle of the busy routine of life, getting to relax and share about things that are really important and things that are on our minds, and last but not least…just having fun together, sharing funny experiences and laughing so hard that we’re almost in tears.
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In order to have a ladies’ retreat, there needs to be ample places to congregate for chit chat, for sharing funny stories, and for serious discussion.  Having stayed at The Mansion, I can see how this Victorian style bed and breakfast would be an awesome place to stay.  The atmosphere of this European like castle is like taking a step back in time, yet keeping all the modern conveniences that we want to have.  The wide hallways provide many places to sit and congregate as seen in the picture below:

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This beautiful breakfast room can also be used for more than just breakfast at retreats:
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Many suites have sitting areas which are great for small group discussions. The Veranda Suite as seen in the picture below is one such room. Not only does this suite have a great sitting area inside but outside as well on the beautiful veranda seen in the second picture. By the way, this is the only suite with a veranda.
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The Rose Suite is the perfect name for this lovely suite as you can tell by the picture. It has an excellent area in the room for conversation and sharing thoughts.
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The Chapel Suite is where we enjoyed staying, and it can sleep four very comfortably. The suite is nice and spacious and also has a great sitting area, perfect for a small group meeting.
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I want to share one more of the 13 suites with you, and that is the tower suite. Note the tall tower on the right-hand side of the Mansion, the tower that reminds me of a castle:
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The Tower Suite contains two levels which makes it so charming and so much fun. There are actually four rooms to this suite being the bedroom, the bathroom, a sitting area in the tower, and then another sitting area up higher in the tower which is reached by a beautiful circular staircase. Below is the highest room in The Mansion. 

To see more, visit The Mansion at Elfindale on Facebook.
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Weddings in Springfield, MO, @ The Mansion


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Springfield, Missouri, is in such a pretty area of the country, and the Chapel at The Mansion at Elfindale in Missouri is a very romantic setting for a Springfield wedding. The Chapel sits next to the European style B&B on lovely wooded property.
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The center aisle is a favorite for many brides. The aisle can be beautifully decorated to provide an elegant path for the bridal party.
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The magnificent flooring at the altar is imported marble which adds to the beauty of the occasion.
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The special events coordinators at The Mansion take care of the fine details to ensure a memorable wedding that is personalized and beautiful!  Here are some of the things they offer:

  • Minister
  • Wedding music
  • Brass candelabra
  • Marble columns
  • Video recording of the wedding
  • Reception room
  • Cake and punch
  • Buffet dinner
  • Sit-down dinner
  • Special tree-lined archway drive as seen below.  The lights on the archway are lit in the evenings from Thanksgiving to Christmas.

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The Mansion offers 13 suites for night lodgings for the honeymooners or their guests. A favorite suite is the tower suite which has a romantic ambiance to it.  Rooms are available for bridal showers as well.  For more photos, go to Weddings @ The Mansion at Elfindale in Springfield, Missouri.
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For more information, call 1-800-443-0237 to speak with one of their special events coordinators.

Tungsten Wedding Rings

When I heard about black tungsten rings, I wasn’t exactly sure what they were. After doing some research, I found that tungsten carbide is three times stiffer than steel, and it’s denser than steel or titanium.  The dark silver color can be buffed to a shiny, mirror-like image and makes handsome jewelry.  It is popular for rings, particularly a man’s tungsten carbide wedding band.

One thing to make sure is that the tungsten is cobalt free.  Apparently, if tungsten is used with a cobalt binder, it can mix with the oils in human skin and cause an unpleasant reaction.  The oils cause the cobalt to leach from the jewelry. That doesn’t sound very appealing to me! So, it’s very important to make sure tungsten rings are cobalt free.

One special thing is that engravable tungsten rings can be laser etched for a personalized design.  This etching should last the life of a ring, so it’s important to make sure a lifetime guarantee comes with the ring.

Anyone buying tungsten jewelry should make sure of three things, that it is cobalt free, that there is a lifetime guarantee, and that it’s not generic tungsten which might not fit comfortably!. Something as special as a wedding ring should definitely be comfortable and last a lifetime!

*Note: I was compensated monetarily for this article. However, the views and opinions are my own.

 

Wedding Plans

It’s almost February, and spring is just around the corner which means wedding plans are in high gear for those planning a springtime wedding.  Hopefully, they have their wedding invitations or will have them soon because invitations should be mailed eight weeks before the wedding.  All the main components of the wedding should already be well planned and arranged, and now it’s the list of “unending” small details to attend to.   There is a huge “To Do List” when it comes to wedding plans!

Very Special Rings

Valentine’s Day is just less than one month away.  I wonder how many will be getting promise rings or maybe even engagement rings?  I remember very clearly when my husband gave me my engagement ring.  A few days after he proposed, we went looking at rings and picked out the style we liked.  The jeweler checked the size of my ring finger and the ring was ordered.  The surprise was that I didn’t know when the ring was going to be ready.  Even though I knew I was getting an engagement ring, I remember how special it was when my husband surprised me with the ring box and then put the ring on my finger.

We still have our wedding rings although my husband wears a newer, nicer band that I got him years ago.  I still wear my original engagement and wedding rings plus an anniversary ring that my husband bought me around the time I got him a new band.  All of these rings are very special to us because they symbolize the unending love between us!

Note:  This is a sponsored post.