sweetfrenchtoast

During the course of my relationship with RH, one of the things that has gotten me the most emotional is my sadness that he and my dad never had a chance to meet. To get to know each other. To bond over their shared ritual of watching each of the big horse races on TV every year. To grill a meal together. (Not to digress, but do all men love the grill?)

So it was really important to me to find the right way to include my dad in our wedding day. Because I know he would have loved RH as much as my mom does, and he would have been so happy to see us getting married.

With Dad gone, I wrestled with the question of who would walk me down the aisle. I finally decided to walk down the aisle without an escort, but with my dad right there with me. I had my floral designer (who was also my super-awesome life-saving wedding coordinator) affix my dad’s military class ring to my bouquet. When I first started toying with the idea of attaching something to my bouquet, I leaned towards using a locket, but I didn’t actually own a locket, and it felt somewhat impersonal and over-inspired by my wedding blog habit. When the idea to use his class ring came to me, I knew that it was the perfect way to include Dad.

I think it turned out beautifully. It was very subtle, and I doubt many (if any) of our guests even noticed. But I got to carry his ring with me all day, and it makes me so happy to know that.

Mom and I are headed to Texas this weekend to visit my dad’s grave. It’s an Asian tradition to visit the graves of loved ones every year, and we’ll also get to see my aunt (who had to deal with my last-minute wedding prep kerAzy-ness while she was here in April). I’ll get to see my maid of honor WF and her adorable toddler too since Mom and I are crashing at her place after we land and pick up the rental car.

It’s been a crazy few weeks, and I’m really exhausted. I hope I can get some rest this weekend and stay cool in the 100+ degree heat!

Photo by Stacey Bode Photography.

Last night, I baked something to take to work for a birthday. I tried something new: Nutella-filled chocolate cupcakes.

They were really good! I mean, seriously…how can you go wrong when Nutella is involved?

After work today, I finally used the massage gift certificate that RH got me after he rammed my car into a concrete pole. Really! We were in a parking garage, and he was pulling into a spot next to one of those concrete supports. When I saw him headed for the pole, I threw my hands up and said, “Babe, watch out!” But he didn’t stop…and proceeded to run right into it. I sat there stunned for a moment, and then I started cracking up. I think my calm reaction to his gaffe made him think all kinds of lovey thoughts. Later that evening, a gift certificate for a one-hour massage showed up in my inbox.

I enjoyed my massage tonight, and I returned home to an evening to myself. RH is out on what I like to call a “man date” (just for the record, he hates it when I say that)—he’s having dinner with an old friend. So I get to catch up on all the TV shows that he hates to watch, like “So You Think You Can Dance”, which always makes me vow to (a) start going to dance classes again and (b) work out like mad and stick to salads for dinner so I can look like those hot 20-something dancer girls.

I don’t think Nutella-filled cupcakes are going to get me there, huh?

Oh well. Life is short.

Can you say mimosas?

Photo by Stacey Bode. More to come when I get back from the beach!

Last week, I took advantage of the holiday by making a special breakfast for me and RH: crème brulée french toast with sweetened whipped cream and blueberries. I had made the french toast once before, years ago, and I remembered it being amazing and delicious. And it was delicious this time, but—sadly—it wasn’t nearly as amazing. I think it’s hard to scale the recipe down and still manage to get the crackly crème brulée crust that really makes it exciting. It was tasty, though, and it was sweet!

That weekend was also the first time I’d ever whipped cream at home. It was kind of fun, and now I can’t imagine ever using the stuff that comes in a can again! I chilled the mixer bowl and whisk in the freezer before whipping the heavy cream with some confectioner’s sugar, and it whipped up nice and fluffy and yummy in no time.

I’ve really enjoyed trying new recipes lately when I have the time (and that’s the hard part). I’ve got a few things on my list to try making soon, like the french macarons I fell in love with in Paris.

I took this photo of Ladurée macarons on one of our last days in Paris. Aren’t they beautiful??

If you’d like the recipe for the french toast, just let me know. I’m happy to share it!

It’s kind of crazy (and sad) how quickly you can go from the dreamy fantasy of a perfect wedding and incredible European honeymoon to the everyday-ness of work and grocery shopping.

Married life is fabulous. But we’d hop on a plane back to Paris in no time if we could.

While I continue to patiently (okay, not so patiently) wait for all of our wedding photos to be finalized, I’ve decided to share some recent photos of my own with you. I’m trying to get better about taking pics of real life stuff and working on improving my Lightroom and Photoshop workflow.

RH brought home these gorgeous flowers when I was sick last week. He’s such a sweetheart.

We recently retrieved the top layer of our wedding cake (which was actually a tower of cupcakes) and were surprised when we opened the box because (a) there’s still a lot left and (b) it’s a lot bigger than we remember it being. We sliced off a chunk to thaw out and eat over the course of several days. We’re not saving it for our one-year anniversary. We bucked so many traditions with our wedding, why not buck one more?

RH has been quite the house-husband lately. It’s been wonderful. Last night, he made a pizza for dinner.

It was an awesome dinner! I’m very lucky.