Dress Me Up!

I LOVE party dresses. Any excuse for a party dress sends me running to the store to find the perfect outfit. This results in me having a, shall we say, larger than normal section of dresses. I do wear them more than once- I really do! Buuuut after they have been used on a big occasion, they become a piece for something that is not such a big deal; because when anything that is a BIG DEAL (or I deem it to be one) comes along there I go off to the store to add to my collection. So obviously one of these big deal events is coming up- New Year's Eve! And check out the line-up of party dresses we will be seeing imitated this year:

In the forecast I predict

                           Sequins/Sparkle/Foil Dresses

                            

                         Mesh Topped Dresses

                             
                    
                             Dresses with Lace Inserts

                                    Bandage Wrapped Dresses

            And of course the ever faithful array of LBD's

I also expect to see a lot of ruffles and ruching. My party dress this year was purchased from Express! I won't say anything except that it does employ TWO of the above styles :) Very excited for the evening tomorrow with friends and my wonderful husband. Ready to ring in 2011!!!!

JORDAN

Are you a "Hungry Girl"

As I am trying so desperately to continue to eat well, despite the holidays, I wanted to blog about Hungry Girl. Hungry Girl is a cookbook, a website, a person- all of these things. About a year ago my friend Kassey (read her incredible journey here) talked about Hungry Girl a lot. How there were tips on the website, how Hungry Girl e-mailed you recipes, and about the cookbooks. I am actually still not a member or whatever on the website, so I don't get e-mails -yet. I did however go buy a Hungry Girl cookbook. She has several out right now, and I am sure more coming, but the one I own is Hungry Girl 1-2-3: The Easiest, Most Delicious Guilt-Free Recipes on the Planet.

 

 I really want to own more of her cookbooks, especially since I have made over half of this one! My husband and I love hungry girl - the recipes are fun and easy, and most importantly delicious!! It has all been single-handedly created by Lisa Lillien, and she finds this miraculous way to turn things we already love to eat into healthy creations! There are so many different ingredients and substitutions to make these dishes healthy, and the best part is they don't break the bank. The kind of cooking these books have you doing is simple and fast. A lot of ingredients you already have, and others are one of those things that you buy once and have for a while. There are just so many brilliant creations in just the book I have alone, and she gives you the complete nutritional information for every dish. The next book I am after is called Hungry Girl 200 Under 200: 200 Recipes Under 200 Calories.

Want to start eating better? Give Hungry Girl a try- you won't be sorry you did!

P.S. Yes- she makes over desserts too and they are fab-u-lous!


JORDAN

Express

Who knew that my soul-mate of a store was right underneath my nose? I cannot believe I have never even set foot in an Express before this month. We don't have one where I live, but at the Castleton mall there is an Express Men's and Women's and I fell in love. Not only for myself, but also my husband. With the help of Express his dress wardrobe has seriously been made over, and let me be the first to say he looks SHARP! Express has such beautiful clothes and they are so well made. This is my new absolute favorite place to shop! I got several delicious items from Zach for Christmas from express and have already been putting them to good use :) I also purchased my New Year's Eve dress from there, and cannot wait to wear it! Thank you Express!!

JORDAN

Tradition

Late tonight Zach and I will be reading these two books with my parents, like I have every Christmas Eve! Tradition number 762 for Jordan Rabenstein :) Today is shaping up to be an amazing, fun-filled holiday and I am so blessed to have such wonderful family to spend it with! Everything about this night is perfect from eating the delicious meal that Grandma makes, to her annual strawberry sorbet, to getting to give mom and dad all the things we got them, to reading our stories, to the part where Mrs. Claus visits our house every Christmas Eve ;) Enjoy yours! I am off to enjoy mine!




JORDAN

Bonges and an Unexpected Surprise!!!

Last night the restaurant my in-laws took us to for Zach's birthday was Bonges Tavern. 

 This is a place we have heard about from friends, and have been wanting to go for some time. What an eclectic, fun place it was! There is no way to even describe the building and the decor- it was random, funky, crazy, and just worked. This place was literally out in the middle of nowhere, and driving to it felt like we were never going to come across a restaurant in the woods, let alone one that is a foodie paradise! The location of this unique place would lead you to believe that it was going to be some casual, down-home country cooking, but you couldn't be more wrong. Bonges is a foodie paradise! There are no menus, they have a huge chalkboard that has the days items on it, and when they run out of something it gets erased from the board! 

 The items available last night were: NY strip with carmelized onions, Skate Wing, Fluke Sole, Beef Briskett, Harger Duck, Sweet and Savory Fontina Stuffed Chicken, Perkinsville Pork, and Prime Cap. For it being a Tuesday night and out in the boondocks this place was still packed!! We had a 25 min. wait, and our dining experience lasted about two hours. Of course, we did the works- drinks, an appetizer (portabella and shittake mushrooms), dinner (I had the chicken, Zach the duck, and his parents NY Strip), 

and dessert (Zach and I shared chocolate ganache, his dad a sugar cream cake with blueberries, and his mom a chocolate sugar cream cake). 

 It was a heavenly meal and a wonderful time!

Now for my surprise- I am off work tomorrow!!!!! This means I get to have a four day weekend! And I was only expecting to have three days off. I was officially closed on Friday for Christmas Eve, but parents kept telling me they weren't bringing their kids on Thursday either, and it boiled down to the fact that no one is coming tomorrow!!! I am ecstatic! What a fabulous Christmas gift :) So for tomorrow...

:)

JORDAN

Happy Birthday Hubby!

Today is my husband's 23rd birthday!!! It also happens to be our 2 year and six month anniversary of being married and 7 year and 7 month anniversary of dating! (Gotta love the 21st!) I cannot believe I have been married that long and that my husband is this old! I mean YOUNG! :) Hopefully we still have our whole lives ahead of us. Tonight we get to experience a new restaurant for his birthday, something we always love to do, so pretty excited for that.

Four days until Christmas with lots of wrapping and baking left to do! Short post today, but I need to go start baking Zach's birthday dessert- a layered pumpkin cake. Surprise, surprise on the flavoring being pumpkin :) It's pretty much his favorite thing to eat...

JORDAN

Here's some pics...

Doing Christmas with Kori

The beginning of the wine stash at our Christmas party

My wonderful husband and I

Always best friends

For some reason we kept ending up in handcuffs...

Dinner at the Journey for Zach's b-day

More fun to come!! FIVE DAYS TIL CHRISTMAS!!!


JORDAN

And so it begins...

In one hour the fun begins and I don't think it will slow down for a moment until Christmas is over!!! In just an hour my Mom and Dad are picking us up to take us to Indy to go out to eat for Zach's birthday. We are eating at one of the best sushi places we have around here - The Journey. It's a buffet, but not like a cheapo, disgusting buffet. This place has delicious, quality food and their sushi is fabulous! It's so nice because rather than having to order a whole sushi roll where you only get to sample a couple of different things, you can get individual pieces of dozens of types of sushi. What variety! What's even better is they have trained Itamae (sushi chefs) constantly rolling sushi, so you know it's fresh!

After dinner is our yearly tradition of watching White Christmas with mom and dad and eating desserts and drinking hot buttered rum. Tomorrow we are going out to dinner with Grant and Leah for Zach's birthday, then over to their place for dessert night and our Christmas together!!!! Tuesday we are going out to dinner somewhere special with Zach's parents for his birthday, and Tuesday is his actual birthday. My husband will be 23!!! Wednesday is my daycare Christmas party- bound to be an insane, fun-filled day. Thursday morning at 6am I am meeting Kori for breakfast for Thursday "night" date before she flies home for Christmas. Then Friday I have off work for Christmas Eve!! We will have our traditional dinner and Christmas and sorbets at my Grandma Alice's house then go to my parent's house to do Christmas with them and read our annual Christmas books we always read on Christmas Eve. We will come home and I get to open one gift from Zach (another tradition) before we go to sleep. Get up the next day and it's Christmas!!! I fix a huge, delicious breakfast and then Zach and I get to do our Christmas together before my side of the family comes over for an annual Christmas lunch!

WHEW!

P.S. I now have blisters all over both my feet from burning over 600 calories on the treadmill today...a good kind of pain :)

JORDAN

Pick a Pattern

Bold. Classy. Fabulous. That is what I think of these patterned tights. As of right now, I don't own a pair- but mark my words: I will! I just love the statement they make and the number of things you can 

pair them with. Granted, some of the patterns are outrageous and just don't work, and at some point I will probably wear a pair that is too outrageous, but if you don't ever go out on a limb with your style how will you find some outfits that are a smashing success? Make fashion fun! Get something you like on someone else but are afraid to try on yourself. I give almost everything a chance once (except for crocs) and if I don't like it, well I have learned something new about myself. I even bought a pair of gray legwarmers last year because I wanted to try the style. It didn't work on me AT ALL and now they are in my drawer, but hey, I now know I could never lead a jazzercise video because of my loathe of leg warmers!

Lots and lots of prep work to do for tonight. Christmas party with all our friends at our house! Been busy cooking, and of course baking! Made: fudge brownies, secret kiss cookies, and peppermint fudge. Tonight everyone is bringing a bottle of wine 

and we are going to have a white elephant and watch Christmas movies and have a wonderful time! Can't wait!!

P.S. The Christmas giving has already begun for me- last night during Thursday Night Date Kori and I exchanged our gifts!!


JORDAN

And the Winner is...

Patrick!!

What an amazing, inspiring transformation! I watched Patrick go through his whole journey, starting out at 400 pounds. It is so incredible that he could do all this in just SEVEN months! I absolutely love watching the Biggest Loser and watching these people get their butts kicked by Bob and Jillian always makes me want to try harder! It is a great reminder that our bodies can take so much more than we give them credit for. It can be so hard for me to push myself outside of comfort zone and past my normal limits, but when I do I feel so accomplished! I can really see how having a trainer would be a huge help in that they can get you to do things you otherwise may not. This is why I love going to group classes like spin and strength. In a group setting I often go longer and harder than I ever would on my own!

So Patrick is this season's Biggest Loser and I couldn't have been happier, because I truly believe he not only worked the hardest, but needed the money the most. What a great end to the season!

JORDAN

Gifts of Christmas Past

I have found a really, really perfect gift for my husband and I am so excited about it...but I can't blog about it because he will see it! (But I really want to tell you all what it is) So much though and effort and time (not to mention money) goes into getting gifts for people, and I know some people would think it isn't worth it. I am not one of those people though, I love to get gifts and I love to GIVE gifts!! I mean I realllly like to give people things. In fact, if I ever did that love language book thing I am sure I would find out one of my love languages is gifts. For me, it is so much fun to try to find something that I think someone really needs/will love/will be totally surprised by. I am always in search of the "perfect gift." As I have been doing a lot of online shopping the past couple of days I have been thinking about what ways I have surprised people in Christmas' past and ways that I have been surprised as well. Here are some of my favorite/most memorable Christmas gifts.

CHRISTMAS 2001

- From my Uncle Greg: A trip to Hawaii!!!! 

   This is probably still the best Christmas present ever. I got to take my first trip to Hawaii when I was 13 with my Mom, Dad, Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Greg, and Dan. I still remember that Christmas when my grandparents opened their cards first that said he was taking them to Hawaii, and I said "Why aren't you guys screaming!?! If I got a trip to Hawaii I would be freaking out and sooo excited I couldn't stand it!" Then Mom, Dad, and I opened our cards...screaming ensued :)

Christmas 2004

-A beautiful gold and diamond tennis bracelet from my boyfriend...a Mr. Zach Rabenstein whom at that point I had been dating for 1 1/2 years :)

 
Christmas 2007

-From Uncle Greg: a bag of sand.

  Oh, and it came with a card saying that he and Dan were taking care of Zach and I's hotel in Hawaii for our honeymoon :) For the whole 9 days!

Christmas 2008

-From Uncle Greg: A white water rafting trip

   

We used this when we went out to Colorado in the summer of '09 for our first vacation as a married couple. Uncle Greg lives in Denver and he and Dan were able to go with us, so the four of us went white water rafting on what also happened to be Zach and I's one year anniversary!!

Christmas 2009
-From Mom and Dad: A Kitchen Aid Mixer

  I didn't realize at the time just HOW MUCH I would come to love this. It is so hard for me to believe it has not been quite one year since I have had it, because I have used it SOOO many times since then- at least once a week! My kitchen aid mixer is my most valued kitchen appliance, and it is my baking best friend.

Excited to see what memories this Christmas will bring! What was one of YOUR favorite Christmas gifts??

P.S. Santa, if you are reading this, I REALLY need somewhere organized to keep my jewelry...

JORDAN

Getting ever closer!

12 days. Twelve days!! Yikes! 

When I was little Christmas did NOT come this quickly, let me tell you. I remember waiting in agony thinking it would never get here, and now all I can think is SLOW DOWN! Time seems to be flying, as does the money out of my wallet... After a huge shopping day Zach and I had on Saturday I feel marginally more prepared, but still, there is so much to buy/wrap/cook/DO before Christmas. Not to mention we are throwing a Christmas party this week, and next week is my husband's birthday- just four days before Christmas. What a busy time of year!

*New What's on the Menu up*

JORDAN

The Food Quest: Lafayette Coney Island and American Coney Island

To read about our invention of the food quest go here!

Saw them: On the Travel Channel's 101 Chowdown Countdown and on Food Network's Food Wars

Known for: Coney Dogs (original style with just onions and mustard)

Went: 9/5/10

We had: Lafayette: one coney each and fries

             American: one coney each

Location: Detroit, Michigan

This was a different kind of food adventure, but a super fun one! See, these two places are right next door to each other and they are owned by cousins.The restaurant was originally run by brothers and they got into an argument and split into two restaurants! Ever since then, it has been a Detroit showdown between the two restaurants; everyone loyal to one or the other. On the show Food Wars they competed against one another and American came out on top. Zach and I visited Detroit to put these coneys to the test for ourselves, and it was such a fun experience! First we learned the proper way to order a coney in Detroit (2 up with everything). We ate coneys at one, then went right next door and ate coneys at the other. Our unanimous consensus...LAFAYETTE! Not only did we prefer their coneys, but enjoyed the whole experience of Lafayette more. American is much more commercialized and almost diner looking, but Lafayette has almost a New York City feel to it in that it is long, narrow, cram-packed with tables, totally stainless steel, and everyone is yelling out orders and throwing around food...our kind of place :) 

Zach with his coney at American

Me with my coney at Lafayette

The dueling coney places

This guy was on Food Wars, he can make a coney in under 8 seconds!!

JORDAN

Christmas Classics

This is what I made for dessert night this week -S'mores Bars (well this is before they were cut into bars). It may not look like much, but it was soooo delicious!! It was like a deconstructed S'more and Zach and I both really, really love S'mores so this has become one of our new favorite treats! Glad that between us and Leah and Grant that night, and then taking the rest to my parents, there is none left! This would be a dangerous thing to have sitting around my house...


So for tonight's Thursday night date Kori and I are continuing to watch lovely old Christmas movies. There are so many great classics that it got me thinking about my favorites...

1.White Christmas (this is my absolutely, positively number one all-time favorite :) I love the songs they sing, the clothes they wear, the memories it brings back; all of it!!)

 
2. Rudolph (And I mean the original)

3. How the Grinch Stole Christmas (also the original, although I have to admit the Jim Carrey version is pretty funny) 

  4. The Year Without a Santa Claus

5. The Santa Clause (Yeah, I'm calling this one a classic considering I was six when it came out, and am 22 now)

 6. Mickey's Christmas Carol

 Elf would definitely be on my list of faves...but it's not a classic, yet!

JORDAN