Kelly B.com

The tours we took on Saturday were pretty good. I definitely have yet to put a down payment on a place yet though since I was not blown away impressed yet. The Glastonbury Hills Country Club was okay. I think it'd be a better place for "reception only" since their gazebo is nothing special and it's like 20 feet from the road. It just happened that they took all the pictures of it from a flattering angle so you can't see it's proximity to the road and parking lot. The inside is okay. I like that they have a "coffee nook" that's a little removed from the dinner area where people can chill out but it could use a coat of paint to really refresh the room. We then toured The Pavilions at Crystal Lake , and that was much better. The lake is gorgeous and a beautiful photo opp. The grounds are however not terribly lush. The trees that surround the gazebo area where they typically have ceremonies is very sparse and covered in pine needles. The ...

I did something that I haven't done in at least 3 years. I hung out with Kim and Cathy on Wednesday evening. Ever since Cathy moved to Montana with her then boyfriend Casey she's pretty much been out of the picture but now that she and Casey are engaged she has decided to come back East to have her wedding and therefore right now she's busy planning and viewing locations for her big day. At present I think she's going to be doing it at La Renaissance in East Windsor with the ceremony preceding it at a Baptist church in Hartford. If you happen to know Cathy's mom you'll know how energetic and social she is and as a result you will also not be surprised to hear that their wedding will probably include over 200 guests. But for Cathy's economic sanity her parents are taking care of the cost of the reception. In any case, since Kim is the maid of honor in both of our weddings was going to hang out with Cathy anyhow and since I literally never see her I couldn...

The Lily Lake Inn was very...disappointing for me. The outside is gorgeous, but the inside is...very sparse and 80's-like with floral carpeting and mirrors on the walls. And even the outside was very sparse. I don't know how they would ever fit 100+ people out there for a ceremony unless everyone is awkwardly standing around. Even though they have a very generous amount of land, it's not well utilized and it doesn't flow well. The girl that gave us the tour seemed nice though; she definitely wasn't trying to do any upselling and seemed more than willing to try to accommodate us. After I woke Trevor up and dragged him 45 minutes out of town I treated him to some Thai food for lunch. We went to East-West Grill in West Hartford. I love their Thai food. Their Lao didn't exactly knock me off my feet when I had it but their Thai is better than most in the area. And their menu is very eclectic enough to include a little Vietnamese and a little Japanese. We pic...

I totally said that I was going to do it but because I'm lazy I kept putting it off....UNTIL NOW! Trevor went to Willi to do a little painting so I took the opportunity to roam around the craft store for supplies, and to the grocery store for...what else? Groceries, but since they also have a floral section I picked up some Gerbera Daisies and Mini-Roses to "experiment" with. Here are the results of my toiling with wire and ribbons. I'm actually very satisfied with it even though it's quite small, it has a nice "pop" with the daisies in there. For the real deal I'll probably have a shorter handle but other than that, it's exactly as I imagined. (Since the handle is a little long it's farther from my body and that's why it looks so large in the 2 nd picture. It's a good size for a bridesmaids bouquet.) I'm not so in love with all the pink, but that was the nicest combination of sizes and colors they had for under $10. I had t...

I'm quite bored at work since I still don't know anything. On the bright side I've found a place I'm going to tour for our possible wedding venue. The website for The Lily Lake Inn is unusually good for a wedding facility and while it's about 45 minutes away from us, it's still not quite as far as say, the shoreline. They seemed really nice, although I'm a little worried about getting an opening. It seems they're quite booked up but if I like the facility enough I may be willing to compromise on the date. Apart from them I'm considering The Pavilion but they haven't responded to my email in over a week so their customer service isn't starting off on the best foot. And then after those I'll probably take a gander at a few country clubs. All the cute inns and hotels are out of my price range for an Autumn wedding. And many inns are just too small to cater to a guest list over 100 people. In jean related news I got my VB Rocks Jeans...

Weekend wasn't exactly as productive as I wanted it to be. It was just too hot to motivate myself. On the plus side, Kim did come over for brunch but wasn't up for beaching due to having already overextended herself all the rest of her weekend already having driven to NYC and back that Saturday and going out with her friend Jen that same night in Springfield. How that girl manages to not fall over from exhaustion is beyond me. In any case, I made her, myself and Trevor omelets and toast with OJ. And Kim, having rented a Mustang that weekend, brought it over and we too some pix of her in it...and on it. It was very funny, but it was so hot out that Trevor and I quickly retreated to the indoors. On the bright side (depending on how you look at it) Kim's begun dating. I haven't met the newest guy, but considering he's the first in quite some time it's probably best to not count our chickens before they hatch. It's not often that the rebound guy is "t...

Unfortunately Trevor's friend Jerry had a family thing come up and canceled our little get together on Thursday. On the bright side we got to go out and get some sushi mid-week since were all dressed up with no where to go. Since Jerry is a grown woman with a husband and kids of her own I totally understand that things happen. Maybe we can try to get together another time. Friday was my last day working on the service center. Even though they threw me an early going away lunch the prior week my fantastic coworkers got together and decorated my cube (in my wedding colors no less!) and got a dozen donuts for us to nosh on. I will miss them very much though we'll still be in the same office so I'm sure they won't be seeing the last of me. Even on my last day I was doing work; which most other people would probably not be doing but I figure I don't want to leave my team in a lurch during one of the busier times of the year. I cleaned my cube, packed up a box of...

Truly this started off as being a food blog. lol I feel really bad that it's somehow morphed into "All wedding all the time." Last night I did cook so I can actually share some tips! Light Curry Chicken 8-10 oz of cubed boneless skinless chicken breast pieces (small is good for stir-fry) 1 tsp of curry powder 1 tsp ground cumin 1/2 tsp ground coriander 1 tbsp of olive oil Salt and Pepper to taste 1 clove of minced garlic 1/2 tsp of honey 1/2 of a chopped onion 1/2 seeded and minced jalapeno pepper Marinate chicken, honey, cumin, coriander, curry powder and olive oil together. The longer the better, but at least 1 hour. In a hot wok or frying pan drizzle a little oil and saute up your jalapeno pepper then add garlic. Add chicken and when it starts to look brown add the onions. stir fry until onions have started to soften. Serve over rice. I'm a big curry fan but I have no patience cooking something for hours so the meat is tender. So this is definitely lighter...

My friend Jenny has already reserved the date of her wedding for her reception at The Waterview (I think). Last I talked to her she hasn't decided on the wedding gown or bridesmaids. I on the other hand have pretty much all the little details set, but have no idea where we'll actually get married. You know those centerpieces I bought? Well they all came in on Monday morning and they are littering my living room...all 21 boxes worth of glassware. Trevor was a little surprised at the incredible volume of product and when I came home made a small fort out of the boxes. And yesterday evening I spent all my time checking each and every piece, 168 total for any breaks. I had 3 broken cordial glasses and a broken tray, but considering the vast quantity of product, I don't think that's too shabby at all; particularly since I just used cheap, free with purchase shipping. I'll have to start slowly driving them over to my parents' house a few boxes at a time to stor...

Stunning Pearl Rings It's worth a try, right? I've been obsessed with looking for adequately glamourous but non-costume jewelry for my wedding. I'll be sure to check in on this again later and verify if I did get the earrings they promised.

I'm excited to have the gown squared away with and the more I think about it, it's truly the ideal dress for me. I felt like all the other dresses were gorgeous but that they were so over the top that they wore me; I didn't wear them. I'm surprised that my fiance wasn't more upset about my getting a gown. I think he was more surprised that it was so drama-free and easy. But I'm not really a drama kinda gal anyway. I've been surprisingly definitive regarding my wedding so far mostly because I know exactly what I don't want. Once you know what you don't want, it leaves you with a very small selection of options to choose from. I'll probably be growing out my hair for the upcoming year. I usually get frustrated around May and chop it off but clearly I need a little length to pull off an up-do that won't just fall down in 10 minutes. I've found the basic idea of what I want to do with my hair. I like that look and I think it'll ...

Yesterday's Grad party was a lot of fun. Aunt Peggy had it catered with Boston Market at the local Elks club. It was also DJ-ed it was a spacious place to hang out. It even came complete with Irish Step Dancers. Most all of the family I knew came to support Chris and it was a gregarious time for all. Even Susan & Candice came. Chris was a butterfly running around; since it was his party he was obliged to welcome every single person that came in. Devin came up from Philly and he's looking well apart from a significant weight loss since the last time I saw him. Apparently his new job is working him over 50 hours a week so he's finding it difficult to make time for food. Today Trevor is spending time with Devin kayaking. I passed. I enjoy spending time with them, but I'm not the most avid kayak person of all time, plus Trevor and Devin should have some brother time since they so rarely get to see one another. Rest assured that there are always chores left to b...