Lately, I've been feeling restless. I've decided that I am ready for summer break. Plus, I am getting more and more excited each week for the wedding in July, and the honeymoon to follow! While it seems far off still, I have my first bridal shower this coming weekend, and suddenly things seem so real! (In a good way of course!)

For several months now, I've been wanting to get a new camera to replace my camera that broke last year --especially with events such as the wedding and honeymoon. Scott and I had been shopping around for awhile, and tonight I finally bought a camera! The guy was like "What are you looking for in a camera?" and I was like "It needs to be pretty sturdy for when I travel." He then asked "Well, where exactly do you travel?" Which I responded with "Like...the middle of Africa..." He just kind of looked at me...but between dropping my first camera in the sandy beaches of the baltic sea, to having my camera fail on me in the middle of Namibia when we finally found our elephants, to traipsing across Israel and Turkey in 115+ degree weather, I really need a decent camera.

Anyways, I ended up buying a Canon...I wanted something with at least 12 megapixels. It also has "high definition recording," which is a nice perk. I wasn't sure how to operate the "record" mode, and ended up with this precious moment from my beloved:

lol. I especially love the part where Scott smiles at the end with the "Ok, you need to figure out how to turn it off now!"

Also, I took some pictures of the beautiful tulips Scott brought home yesterday =)

After we purchased the camera, and then fiddled around with it for a bit, Scott and I went on a nice evening walk as the sun set. We got back just in time for Scott to leave for rehearsal, and of course, I'm on my way to dreamland and soon to be at early morning rehearsal =)

Hope all is well!

Lila Tov,

Miriam

Smoothie Smoochies

So I've never really been a smoothie drinking kind of girl. 

Then, I met Scott.

I always thought to myself "Why drink my fruits and veggies, when I enjoy eating them, anyways?"

Well, then Scott introduced me to his fabulous smoothie recipe...so simple: orange juice, frozen berries+mangos (from Trader Joes!), and a banana. Ta-Da!

And it's even better when Scott gets up early with me and makes me one for breakfast =)

Haberdashery!

Today Miriam and I went to Heimie's Haberdashery, a fine gentleman's shop.  This place is all decked out in the finest in menswear.  You can get all of your gentlemanly supplies here, from watches to pens to suits, slacks, ties, wallets and you name it.  There is also an old fashioned shave parlor.  

We decided to rent our tuxes from here.  The tux that I chose is a nice blend between James Bond and Frank Sinatra.  Very dashing.  We also booked an in-store soiree of sorts in the haberdashery where we will get final measurements and fittings for the wedding while enjoying food and drinks.  I'm really excited about this.

The tuxes for the groomsmen are black with "rum raisin" for the vests, bow ties, and pocket squares. They are very classy, and very us. 

Cheers!

Scotty

Honeymoon!

Well, after several weeks of drooling over our honeymoon options, we finally booked our trip to Mexico!! (And to think we almost decided NOT to go on a honeymoon to save money!)

We got an amazing deal, and saved about 40% off of our trip. Plus we got the "honeymoon" special, a room upgrade, and an ocean view! We'll be staying at an all-inclusive resort, and have the option of several little day-trips, and nightly entertainment (unless we are entertaining ourselves that is...)

We also bought the good trip-insurance policy, so if in the event we get huricaned out (POO POO POO!) we will still be able to go on our trip at a later date.

And, we shall leave you with a few photos of the place we'll be staying at:

                       

Love to all!

Miriam and Scotty

2 days of baking!

So the past 2 days have been a giant Wedding baking extravaganza! We need to have enough treats for both Saturday morning (after services), and for the wedding.

Yesterday my mom and I spent about 4 hours tooling around town to gather up our supplies, including:

• 5 pounds of melting chocolate
• 10 pounds of Sugar
• 12 pounds of butter
• 25 pounds of flour

"Holy Cow", you might be saying to yourself!

In order to serve the food at the Synagogue, we have to cook it in a kosher kitchen, which is why we decided to bake our goods at my parent's house. Since my time is seriously limited when school's in session, we wanted to get everything baked on my spring break, and before Pesach starts at sundown on Wednesday.

We've baked a lot of my grandmother and great-grandmother's recipes including 2 kinds of Kamish bread, A few cakes (chocolate and lemon poppy-seed), banana bread, Russian tea-cakes, date bars, coconut bars, and my personal favorite: chocolate covered cherries.

The chocolate covered cherries are a recipe from my grandmother that we make only for extremely special life-event occasions, and are specifically extra-special for our wedding for three reasons: 1) My mom made them with her mother when she got married, 2) I remember making them with my mom and grandmother for my bat-mitzvah, and 3) Scott proposed to me by the cherry on the spoon.

Alas, I have more cookies to put in the oven!

Hope all is well for everyone!

Love, Mir

Our Day

Since Miriam never gets a day off, we thought that we would make the most of it.  We started out by taking a nice leisurely walk around Lake Harriet.  While walking we stopped by the Rose Garden (which is pre-bloom) and it was nice.  We also saw a bunch of people walking their doggies.  Big dogs, small dogs and ugly dogs, which were more often than not the small dogs...skinny little legs...ewww...

After our nice walk, we decided to go to Tea Garden (Miriam starts singing the theme from The Secret Garden) to get some bubble tea (with a free coupon of course).  It was nice and it brought back good memories as this is where Miriam and I had our second "unofficial" date.  She looked so purdy.

When we got home, she cooked us an amazing Shabbat dinner which featured stir-fry tofu with green/yellow beans and broccoli, a side of mashed rutabaga and kiwi (Japanese Gooseberries) for desert.  It was very tasty.  We ate it out on our quaint little deck for the first time this year.  It felt nice to eat outside as the sun set. Awww.

Tomorrow (Saturday) we go to Synagogue and celebrate Shabbat  (on a side note, Shabbat according to spell check is "sherbert"  Ha ha.)  This is our last Shabbat before Pesach.  AKA eat all the Challah you can!

We have decided to write a song for our wedding coming up.  We are thinking something in a Klezmeric Tango Fashion.  It will be our own personal love song.

Shabbat Shalom!

-Scotty

Spring Break!

Well, I've made it this far! I've survived 3/4 of the school year, and will only have 8 weeks + finals/graduation left after this!

There's a lot to be done over this break, including getting ready for Passover and finishing up wedding stuff. I have a feeling this last quarter is going to fly by, and before I know it, I'll be walking down the isle to stand under the chupah next to my beloved.

In the spirit of relaxing, however, I have a list of fun things I've dreamed of doing over my break:

Mir's List for Spring Break:

• Minneapolis Institute of Art
• Go see a movie
• Como Park Conservatory
• The Sculpture Garden
• Bubble Tea (Yum!)
• Walk around the lake
• Finish reading a novel
• Finish knitting Scott's Scarf
  

Ah, yes. I'm off to go do some reading in the comfort of my pajamas! From there, who knows what crazy mayhem this ay will bring?

Carpe Diem!

-Mir

Simple Things

Hello, this is Scott.

You know, you don't notice simple things that you take for granted until you experience them again.  For example:  

-I woke up today and I was still here and breathing.  This may seem like something that we expect to happen, but it really is amazing that it happens.  Thank you Hashem.

-I was born.  Out of X Million amount of sperm, I was the one who got through.  This really gives one a sense of how strong we are and how lucky we are to even be here.

-I have an amazing woman who Loves me.  I am so lucky to have her, its really nice when you find your Besheret.

-Today I decided to turn off the television shut off my computer and just listened to an album in full.  The album that I chose was Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here."   The album is so rich in its style and instrumentation.  Although the tone of the album is rather gloomy, there is a certain beauty to it if you just close your eyes, shut off of your mind for 45 minutes and just experience the music.  It's pretty groovy.

It's these little things that make up life, that we take for granted.  Its nice when you notice these things and begin to value them even more.

Well, I seem to be rambling again.  Take care and try enjoy the simple things, you'll like it.  I promise.

B'Shalom

Scotty