Hot Yoga

I was feeling slightly stressed and out of shape post-cruise, so I decided to take up yoga. I'd taken a few classes before and liked it but the yoga studios here can be on the expensive side. Thanks to Google, I found Yoga to the People. It's within walking distance from our place and it's $5 a class! That's a bargain. This class is called hot yoga because the room is 95 degrees...they literally blow heat into the room. The heat is supposed to help your muscles relax and rid the body of toxins. Hot yoga should actually be called wet yoga. Or sweat yoga. I hate to sweat. I hate sweating more than the average person hates sweating. Hot yoga makes you sweat out of pores that you've never thought about (your calves, for example). But it was oddly refreshing and relaxing. Daryl went with me and he was all about it, too. Today, we went back. I think we'll make this a regular thing.

Ringbearer

Hip Hoppin

I try not to do too much background/extra work because the pay is unsubstantial and it's harmful to my ego (you are referred to by a number/and/or shirt color, herded like cattle, etc). But I had a free day and needed some cash...so yesterday I worked on the set of a new dance movie. They needed so many people that they called me in to be "a hip hop type." I was number 900. If I had to name a type that was the least like me, it would be this type. To give you a reference, here are some popular hip-hop artists:



I am just not that cool. I had to run a google search to see what to wear. My only sneakers are New Balance running shoes. I threw on the hip-hoppest looking outfit I had and tried to blend in the best I could. I'm pretty sure that one could tell that I was a hip-hop impostor. Oh well. With 899 other people there, no one noticed my un-hipness. It was fun to watch a lot of awesome dancing, including a couple of breakdancing 7 year olds.

Flowers

Sorry for being a blogging slacker. I actually started this one a week ago. Since then I've gone to Texas to pick up Larry, came back home and handed out coupons wearing a cardboard crown. Yep...back to the streets. So here is a blog about flowers...
This is another wedding blog. Sorry if you're not into wedding stuff.

For our centerpieces, I thought it would be neat (and cheap) to use potted plants rather than fresh cut flowers. We started collecting jars and cans back in January. Apparently we ate a lot of pasta sauce and canned veggies because we managed to amass all of the containers we needed in order to fill up the tables. A few days before the wedding, Daryl and I went to Home Depot and bought several trays of flowers. Then I presented my artistic vision to the lovely women that volunteered to see the project through. I learned that there was a whole gardening process involved (because you can't just plop a flower pod into a jar and expect it to thrive...who knew...). Oops. We don't do much gardening in our five story walk-up. Anyway, we were very happy with the results (and very thankful for the help):

A note on photos

We hired a professional photographer to capture our wedding day. Her name is Lindsey Potter and she was wonderful. Lindsey and her assistant were so much fun, and we are thrilled with the images we ended up with. I'll only be posting images from personal cameras on the blog and hopefully soon I'll be able to share some our professional pictures.

Cupcakes

I love red velvet cupcakes from Amy's Bread here in NYC. They published their recipe in a cookbook so this is what I chose to make for our wedding (cup) cake (s).

I did a test batch before I left home, and they were great.

My sister and cousin helped make the real batch and it was a lot of fun. However, the result was not so great. They were so un-great that the whole batch (of 50-ish) ended up in the trash. (I will blame this on unfamiliar kitchen equipment). Fortunately, some amazing baking fairies flew in and saved my ambitious homemade project. (Thank you Dawn, Debra, Diane and Maynette!)

Scenes from the kitchen:
Cake topper. Supposed to be one piece Next time will spray pan.

sister/cupcake decorator/bridesmaid extraordinaire

Up-close view of fondant flower decorations. Handmade, of course.

Final Result. Giant cupcake is rigged with toothpicks.

Cupcakes in action

One Month Ago: Pre-Wedding

Daryl was in charge of the rehearsal



Instead of a rehearsal dinner, my family hosted a cookout. Larry is looking for people to put down their hamburgers and talk to him.

Back in the States

We came home. When I am not sick and jet lagged, I will do some blogging...

Greetings From Abroad

We are having a fantastic time on the high seas and beyond. Today I write to you from a little cafe in Catania, Italy. We will be back on our home turf in about a week, so stay tuned. There will be a lot of exciting stuff...mostly about food. Of course!