Mr. Ride... er, Right

On my last post, I told you all about this lumpish guy:

That would be my beach cruiser, who is kinda the sports equipment version of the "can't-we-just-be-friends?" date. You know, he's sweet and means well, but he's not athletic and wheezes when going up a simple hill and makes girls want to have a friend call with a fake emergency to rescue them because they are just... well... bored.

Then, I met Schwinn.
Schwinn is slickster meets granola-crunchy. He's smooth and fun and is up for sight-seeing and off-road romps and adventure. He swaggers like Hansel from the movie Zoolander, sharing the mantra: "The way I live my life: I grip it and I rip it!" I was smitten.

Okay, I think this metaphor has officially worn out its welcome, so I'm going to stop before I include some unintentional innuendos, like "taking a ride". *wink *wink *nudge *nudge*. YUCK.

Bottom line, after one hellish ride on my beach cruiser where the wheels were already squeaking and my foot pedal brakes barely worked, I had had enough. It was him, not me. I talked to Customer Service at Walmart about the fact that it was so squeaky, and they let me return it for a full refund! Then, I happily skipped to Target, bought Schwinn, and we rode off into the sunset together.

Literally.

You see, as part of my "fun list" for summer, I decided to go on Anthem's Moonlight Ride, an eight mile bike ride for charity that starts at sunset and ends with a community party. My friend Mali and her hubby, who are always up for something new, joined us!

Here are us girls gearing up to start. No incredibly lame bike pun intended.

The other bicyclists were pretty whimsical. They blinged out their bikes with X-mas lights and flourescent bands. Some people even dressed up for the costume contest: from matadors to a bride to a whole team in hazmat suits!

At around 8:15, about 600 other bike enthusiasts joined Schwinn and me on the eight mile ride. I loved riding around at night because of the constant breeze and magical atmosphere. The organizers lined the road in the local park with tiny lights and it was all very midsummer-night-dreamy, which isn't an adjective but should be. When we got back, we enjoyed listening the music, people-watching and cashing in our tickets for pizza, ice cream, and beer (where I made a mental note that I need to stop rewarding myself for exercising with food, specically of the more-calories-than-I-just-burned variety.)

I've already taken Schwinn out on two other rides since then.

I think we're gonna be very happy together.

Pictures from here and here.

Just do it challenge #12: Go on a treasure hunt!

Amazing race participants, the Goonies, and Nicholas Cage...

What do they have in common with Dan and me?

We are all treasure hunting bad asses!

Two days ago, Dan and I read an ad for a real life treasure hunt! A local jewelry store set up clues around downtown Richmond, each with a different challenge or question. Teams of two receive said clues via text messages, run or bike to that destination, and answer questions to earn points. Once the teams text the answer, the next text-message clue appears. The prize for the couple with the most points? A diamond ring worth $15,000.

Let me repeat: that's $15,000.

Holy. Snapple.

So you can see our motivation. To be honest, I was less interested in the bling than I was in selling that massive ring. Dan and my conversations the past two days have consisted of a lot of "Dude! We could get a new fridge... and oven... and fence... AND see more of Europe... and pay for some classes... and still have money for a dinner out!"

We were also doing a lot of quoting from the Goonies. This was "OUR time!"

In short, Dan was on a mission to win. He stopped by the Richmond Visitor Center for a map and marked all the landmarks. Later that day, we walked around downtown Richmond to get a feel for how far apart everything was.

Then, we registered to participate, adding our story in hopes that our sentimental "we're-just-two-hardworking-under-appreciated-teachers-in-lovey-love-love" would get us accepted. A few hours later, we got the "congrats" text. We were in!

Our next stop was to buy me a bike and helmet at Walmart. I had loved the beach cruiser I used to mill around Ocracoke this summer, so we bought a similar sturdy bike with foot breaks. For those of you who don't know, beach cruisers are designed for relaxing rides on flat terrain.

It was the wrong bike to pick.

We showed up at the starting location at 11:00 and were greeted with about 200 other greedy couples with the same desires for "put a ring on it". Let me tell you, some of them looked hardcore. People were holding fancy navigational devices and wearing the gear that they presumably sport when running marathons. Thank goodness the text message clues varied to prevent all 400 people from stampeding to the same destination! Still, everyone wore bright yellow "Diamond Dash" t-shirts, so Dan and I were constantly spotting our canary competitors scrurrying around the city.

Here's a picture snapped by a local radio show:
I know you can't tell by the picture, but it was a HUGE crowd.

By 12:30, the official countdown began and we were off biking to our first location after reading the text clue.

Let me walk... make that sprint you through a few of our more memorable challenges:

Challenge 1: Answer a historical question by studying statues near the capital

**ALSO KNOWN AS: Climbing the stairs from hell...with our bikes...**

Challenge 4: Find the wedding dress sponsor's display and cross dress as a bride and groom for photo

**ALSO KNOWN AS: Dan dons a tiara!**

I love how dazed and exhausted Dan looks here! We had just biked up a huge hill, our water bottles were near empty, and then the bossy wedding shop ladies were trying to get him to dress as a bride. He actually was a lucky one; some guys wore the full-on dress with corset!

Challenge 6: Go down Cary St. to answer Richmond trivia question

** ALSO KNOWN AS: Riding bikes down cobblestone street= OUCH! **

Anyone out there find that extensive bike riding kind of has you wishing for...err... a more padded seat? Or just me?

Challenge 10: Answer a historical question by studying statues near the capital

** ALSO KNOWN AS: F@*$! The stairs again! **

Challenge 12: Find photo booth and take photo strip.

**ALSO KNOWN AS: Flushed faces, helmet head, and sweat. Oh, the sweat...**

Challenge 17: Answer a historical question by studying statues near the capital

** ALSO KNOWN AS: YOU HAVE GOT TO BE EFFING KIDDING ME.**

Challenge 18: Pedal up an enormous hill to reach an anogram clue.

**ALSO KNOWN AS: Christen's beach cruiser is worthless.**

I've had anxiety nightmares where a psycho killer is after me and I can't run because my legs are cemented in one place. Today, I had a similar scenario, except there was no murderer. Instead, I tried to pedal up a Mount Everest hill with a bike that felt as heavy as a Harley. At one point, I actually drifted backwards. I finally hopped off and ran while wheeling the bike next to me.

Sufficed to say, we never finished challenge 18.

I was proud of us, though! We compared scores with several competitors afterwards, who seemed impressed by ours (52). While another lucky guy with a score of 80 took home the ring, Dan and I enjoyed rings of a different sort: the deep fried, onion variety. We went to a BBQ place afterwards because there's nothing like fried food and limeaide to wash away the bad taste of being losers. After all, we had some restocking of all those burned calories to do.

Cheers to our treasure hunting adventure!

Verdict: Treasure hunting was an epic fail... but a fun one!

Pictures via here, here, here, here, and here

Summer Dishes

One of my goals for my summer list was to cook five new dishes. I finally finished! Here they are:

1. Super Herbed Salmon with Creamy Leeks and Bacon
You know this is a Rachel Ray recipe because the title is uber-looooong... and it has "EVOO"

Photo is NOT mine (which turned out ugly). Find the photo and recipe here.

The one con was that some of my salmon flaked apart and looked like a hot mess (hence why I don't have my own picture above), but besides that, it was still delicious. I would definitely recommend trying it!

2. No Cook Shrimp Salad: see info here!

3. Lemon risotto:
This was quite possibly the best dish I've ever made, besides my mango bean salsa. It is such a rich, restaurant worthy, fairly simply dish. Giada might be annoying with her over-pronunciating and perfect nails and omnipresent cleavage, but damn, does she ever have the best recipes! See it here. (NOTE: I didn't fuss with lemon cups).

4. Ginger Apricot shrimp: See above photo for picture. I got this recipe from Real Simple magazine. You can't beat a recipe with three ingredients: wahoo!
* 3/4 cup apricot preserves
* 1 tablespoon FRESH, grated ginger
* 1 pound shelled and deveined jumbo shrimp

Simmer preserves and ginger together. Spray a cookie sheet. Spread shrimp on sheet. Drizzle apricot mixture on top. Dot with black pepper and a bit of sea salt. Broil for 3-4 minutes until pink and cook thoroughly. Great with risotto recipe!

5. Mediterranean Potato Salad: Delicious and summery tasting!!

I'm not a big fan of mayo, so this potato salad was right up my alley because it uses vinegar and Italian dressing instead. Would go well with sausage, bbq chicken, or steak.

I forgot to take a picture, but trust me, it was delicious.

1 ½ lb medium red potatoes, cut in half
3 slices bacon - I used four last time though, and it could have used more…
¾ cup red or yellow grape tomatoes (do not cut in half)
¼ cup chopped white onion
¼ cup sliced ripe olives
½ cup fat free Italian dressing
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1 tablespoon chopped fresh Italian parsley (optional for color- cilantro would work too)


1. In 3 quart saucepan, heat 1 inch water to boiling. Add potatoes. Cover and heat to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer 10 to 15 minutes or until tender. (Last time, I did it for about 16 minutes). Drain. Cool slightly. Cut potatos into ¾ inch cubes. Place in a large bowl.

2. Meanwhile, line microwavable plate with paper towel. Place bacon on paper towel and cook for 2 to 3 minutes until crisp. Crumble.

3. Stir bacon, tomatoes, onion, and olives into warm cubed potatoes. In small bowl, mix dressing and vinegar. Pour over potato mixture, stirring gently to coat veggies. Sprinkle with parsley. Serve warm or cold.

Want to see a full list of recipes? I've organized all my posts so that they are each in a separate list! Go to the top and click on "the food list" for more!

Our Wedding Day

You are cordially invited to our wedding!

Sorry for the last minute invite. Actually, err, make that the "way-too-late invite".
By four+ years.

Awkward...

Why now? Well, a few months ago, I received an intimidating e-mail from my wedding photographer that screamed, "Wedding Memories Sale!!!" followed by, "We're cleaning out our photo inventory!" He was offering to sell the photo DVD's of past weddings. Even though I already had a wedding album made, his line, "We're cleaning out our photo inventory" freaked me out a bit. Would our precious photos end up in a digital trash bin if I didn't jump on his offer?

I talked Dan into buying the DVD, and it arrived two months later on July 24th, our four year and one month anniversary! How fortuitous, right?! I know, I know, the traditional four year and one month anniversary gift is supposed to be iron. Or is it aluminum? Plexiglass? Silicone??

I can never keep those rules straight, so we decided to buck tradition and instead went with photos... and a blog post to preserve this day forever.

So, here it is, a completely random time to be posting this and a bit self-indulgent, but I gobble up wedding details on blogs, so if you're anything like me, read on:

Our Wedding Day

Dan and I got married on June 24, 2006, a freakishly hot day even by Virginia's standards. That afternoon, my bridesmaids and I got gussied up in the upstairs master bedroom at Willow Manor, an estate in Providence Forge, Virginia. This is also where we held the reception later that night.

Dan and I picked this estate because we thought it would be memorable, had many places for people to lounge during the reception, and because the owners were open to letting us make it our own for the day.

The room where my bridesmaids and I got ready:

A shot of the staircase:



Dan and I tried to personalize the space in a few ways. First, we put wedding photos of our parents and grandparents on the front table, along with fun notes about the number of years they have been married. We also put framed photos of our families in the built-in shelves throughout the house.
As you can see in the above photo, we set up wedding CD's on this table full of our favorite love songs as our favor and as a way to direct people to their seats. I spent a few hours burning these, bought some cheap labels from myweddinglabels.com, and added the ribbon and seat info. Dan and I still listen to our copy every anniversary!
On the actual tables, we placed photos that Dan and I had taken weeks before holding signs emblazened with the table numbers. And, yes, Dan did look damn good in his t-shirt tuxedo in said pictures. :)

Here's another one:

Here's a daytime shot of the tables under the tent:My photographer captured this candid of my sister and me taking in the view of all the tables set up with the photos. We both have a copy of it hanging in our homes. Yay for sister moments :)

For the actual wedding, Dan and I were married in a small, old chapel about two miles away from Willow Manor. I loved our simple ceremony that included readings of lyrics from Dan's favorite Beatles song and an essay that I wrote.

Another DIY project we did was the programs. And when I say "we", I mean my parents and I spent three mind-numbing hours printing these out, slipping them down into a large envelope type sleeve, and gluing on the "T" monogram. They turned out beautiful, even if I saw more than a few guests fumbling with how to actually open the program. It's not that complicated, people!


My favorite part of the ceremony? The unrehearsed kiss, of course! But you knew that already...

As for the reception, everyone went back to the manor house for dinner under the tent after the wedding. I won't bore you with the usual wedding shenanigans: the toasts and the first dance and the YMCA (per a request from my mom). Dan and I tried to eschew as many other traditions as we could (like throwing the bouquet and garter), but, hey, my mom still wanted to throw her hands up like one of the village people. What the MOB wants, she gets.

The rest of the night, people hung out inside the manor house, danced outside under the tent, and lounged in the adirondack chairs in the yard. For further light besides the lights around the tent, we put out these cheesy candles, which looked pretty next to the glow of the pool.
Dessert is always a big deal for me, so besides our wedding cake,
we also had a chocolate fountain with marshmallows, pretzels, cookies, and strawberries for dipping.
It seemed to be a hit...












In short, there were many details that I had planned for months and photo ops and traditions and rehearsed kisses for the camera to capture.


Beyond all that, though, I still think the best part of the night was later when all the formality stopped. People began to loosen their ties and kick off their shoes. I threw on a pair of my sister's orange flip flops and officially became the sweatiest bride in history as I danced up a storm in the 90+ degree night.

My parents and us starting to glisten... yuck.

Then, Dan started doing his robot dance (see below). My sugar high friends pretended to lick the chocolate fountain. The cousins got drunker and screamed along to Abba's "Dancing Queen". And the party continued even after we left for the night when Dan's friends and my cousins took all our leftover beer and had an impromptu shindig at their hotel.

Good times!

Thanks for your virtual attendance!