JB Graduates!

Hey there!

I had such a craaaazy busy weekend. Phew! I'm going to catch you up on it, but instead of a crazy long post, I figured that I would do a couple instead. Sound good? If not then I suppose you can just ignore these posts. :)

Friday night John and I met up with his family - parents, sister, grandparents, aunts - to watch JB graduate from high school! Park does such a neat, different thing for graduation. The girls wear floor-length white dresses, while carrying a dozen red roses. The guys wear full tuxes, complete with cummerbunds and bow ties. So formal! The ceremony was lovely and very well rehearsed. The speakers were funny and insightful, and it was a nice little ceremony.

Of course, we took some family pictures outside. :)

From left: Aunt Lori, Lauren, John, Me, Leslie, Big John, JB, Mimi, Papa, Aunt Linda

Immediate Rapp family! John, John, Me, JB, Lauren, Leslie

Following the ceremony,we headed to a lovely little "reception" of sorts. Leslie was a chair of the event, and honestly it was absolutely wonderful. Her hard work surely paid off! We had a super tasty meal consisting of a salad, bread, stuffed chicken, petit filet, potatoes and green beans.

And of course, dessert! I just ate the top off of it - not sure what it was, but it was super delicious. The cake was a bit spongy, but the topping was creamy and yummy.

After dinner we took some pictures and did a little dancing. The band wasn't my favorite (I always prefer DJs, go figure!) but they played some good songs and we had a blast dancing with family. Check out some of my favorite shots from the night!

Lately I've been getting some emails requests about my outfits, so I've included some links to the same or similar clothes, where applicable. Hope it helps! :)

Dress: Eliza J via ideeli (similar to this dress)
Shoes: Chinese Laundry nude pumps via Macy's, as seen here
Sequined purse: Kate Spade (no longer available)
Jewelry: Mikimoto pearls (my wedding gift from John!)

Up for a Challenge

Happy Friday, friends!

I tell you what, I have been SO busy this week! Although, I guess I already mentioned that, huh?

Well, today is the last Friday with my sweet kiddos. It is very bittersweet. On the one hand, I'm feeling excited that we've almost finished the year. But then I remember it's my last time having these wonderful children in my class. I love the personality mashup we have going on in here, and I'm really going to miss them next year.

Field day was a hit yesterday! We had so many fun games, and some of them included a "musical hoola hoop" with a sideline dance party, and even the teachers playing tug-of-war with the kiddos - I played with both teams once against another teacher and my team won both times. Looks like that strength training is paying off ;)

I've got a packed weekend ahead of me, too. Tonight we have JB's high school graduation. I saw him graduate from 8th grade, too, so it's neat to see this one as well. Saturday we've got a little "couples dinner" going on, with the girls from my usual Girls Dinner crew and their significant others. We're heading to Adobo, and if we stay long enough we might wrangle the guys into some salsa dancing! (Any of you boys actually reading this? Did I just foil our plot?) Finally Sunday I'm heading to Northwest Indiana for a bridal shower for my good friend Katie.

Phew!

Anyhoo, before I got to rambling, the purpose of this post is to invite you to join me in Courtney's June Yoga Challenge!

Honestly, I've never been a huge yoga person. I've done it a few times, but I always find my mind wandering, which I'm pretty sure is the opposite of what's supposed to happen. Well, I decided that with summer and more time coming up, I could challenge myself to consistently incorporating yoga into my workouts. I know Jourdan is a huge fan, too. More encouragement to try, right?

My goal: Include Yoga in my workouts 1-2 a week for the month of June. 

I may or may not get that second one in each week, but something is better than nothing, right? I'm going to take advantage of my gym's yoga sessions and/or the ones on demand on Netflix. I'll keep you posted on my progress, and I hope you do the same!


Anyone care to join me?!

Veggie, Bacon & Cheddar Frittata

Hi friends! Boy, do I have a super delicious recipe for you. I realized we had a crazy amount of eggs in the fridge, plus tons of veggies, and I got to thinking of a frittata for some reason. I've never made one, but I figured I could do it while using up all those eggs and veggies. After lots of internet researching I finally gave up on finding a recipe, and I decided to just go with it.

The result? John walked past the kitchen while it was cooking and went, "Whoa! Come smell this! It smells gooooood!" I agreed with him, but when he "mmmm'd" about 5 times in a row while eating his first few bites, I knew I had a winner. I was quickly told I needed to make this again "very soon," and I'm looking forward to all the variations I can play with. You can make this as healthy or indulgent as you like, but it's super easy and a great way to sneak protein and veggies into your diet. Try it! And tell me if you come up with a good variation, please!

Veggie, Bacon & Cheddar Frittata
Recipe by Call Me Mrs. Rapp
Serves 3-6, depending on portions*
*add more eggs for more servings - up to 18 eggs total - plus more veggies/additions

WIAW: Girls Dinner!

Well it's safe to say that I've been pretty absent from my normal weekly posts, including What I Ate Wednesday and my Fit Fridays post. If any fellow teachers are reading this, you probably understand my lack of time has been due to all the crazy end-of-the year events and projects to finish. We're done a week from tomorrow, but I feel like there are a million things to do before then - field day, 8th grade graduation, report cards, curriculum orders, class lists...I could go on.

Anyway, I thought I'd jump back on the bandwagon so here goes. This is from yesterday (as most my WIAW posts are from my Tuesday eats). If you're looking for more good eats, head on over to Jenn's blog and see some of the others!

Breakfast: I was dragging this morning. Like whoa. So, I didn't get a nice egg sandwich. Instead I grabbed a yogurt on my way out the door. It was tasty as always, but I've become quite attached to my egg sandwiches.

Lunch: Thank goodness for leftovers! Lunch was a breeze to grab since I already put leftovers together from dinner last night. We had some rockin' salads, with lots of goodies. The salad included: baby spinach, romaine, tomatoes, bell peppers (red, green and yellow), avocado, cucumber, pine nuts and feta. I topped with my favorite homemade dressing (olive oil, red wine vinegar, minced garlic & dijon mustard), and it was just packed with flavor. I had some sliced strawberries on the side to satisfy my ever-present sweet tooth.

Snack: Grazer alert! I had a handful of pretzels and almonds sometime after getting home from changing my blow out of a tire. I will post a picture soon, but right now it's not on my computer, and I'm too tired to find it!

Dinner: One of my favorite nights of the month! My Indy girlfriends (and sorority sisters) get together once a month for a "girls dinner." We rotate hosting duties each month, and a different girl brings sides, dessert, appetizers and/or wine/beer. We talk, eat, laugh and have a blast together. It's one of the highlights of my month! Love, love these girls!

Ally hosted tonight's dinner, and it was a fabulous spread. You can see all I noshed on, plus her amazing decorations and hosting skills at work. So grateful for my wonderful friends!

appetizers! boursin + gouda + table water crackers | cucumber + feta + deliciousness wraps

Beautiful table spread!

The fabulous dinner! Chicken (will make and post recipe ASAP!) + roasted potatoes + sauteed veggies |
plus salad with homemade greek yogurt dressing...and the CUTEST owl salt and pepper shakers!
Ally loves salt and pepper shakers ;)

some of the lovely details

girls!

Jourdan's delicious strawberry shortcake!

The Indy 500...aka Hubby's Christmas

I awoke to John jumping up and down shouting "It's Christmas! It's Christmas!" bright and early Sunday morning. Yes, my husband owns a calendar. And, no, we do not celebrate some other Christmas, if that even happens. However, the Indianapolis 500 is John's Christmas. He looks forward to it all year, and May is pretty much amass of everything to do with the race.

So, Sunday I went to my 5th Indy 500 with John and his family. We have a deal that I will continue to go until I'm pregnant/we have babies, as I would not find the day enjoyable in that situation. It will probably become my Christmas, too, once it's also known as "Mommy's Day Off." ;)

This 500 was particularly memorable as it was the hottest 500...ever. Sit on that. The temperature was 93, but with humidity the heat index was a cool 105 degrees. Glorious, glorious weather to sit and watch race cars (hello, sarcasm.) In spite of the blaring heat, we had a really good time, and I'm grateful I was able to go, especially to sit in such wonderful seats that were in shade.

Here are some photos from our day. I hope you enjoyed your Memorial Day weekend, and that you remembered those who have fought so hard to preserve our freedoms. Thank you to all our soldiers!

Rocking some cool shades

Marco Andretti's pit stop

JB with doubly awesome sunglasses

I like to call this "Like Father, Like Son"

Staying cool thanks to Kelsey's fan!!

Kelsey and JB

Creamy Dill & Tartar Sauce

Have you ever seen the frozen crab cakes at Trader Joe's? They're surprisingly tasty - and cheap! I bought them on a whim a little while ago, and saw them staring at me from the freezer the other night. They sounded really good - and easy! - and I figured I could whip up a sauce to go with them.

I know that crab cakes are often served with a cream of tartar sauce, but I was under the impression I didn't have any. So, I started mixing some ingredients that I thought might taste good. Turns out? I had the cream of tartar. I added some at the end, but I'm actually really happy with the sauce I wound up with. It was packed with flavor, and seemed to compliment the crab cakes so well.

If you make this, I'd love to hear how it turns out for you and what you serve it with. New ideas are my favorite!

Creamy Dill & Tartar Sauce
Recipe by Call Me Mrs. Rapp
Yields about 1/3 cup of sauce

Dijon & Herb Panko-Crusted Salmon

John and I splurged last week and bought some fresh salmon for the amazing Crispy Salmon BLT Sliders with Chipotle Mayo. Well, it was so good, that I splurged again this week and bought some more fresh salmon. I wanted to make a new-to-me salmon dish, so I did some internet cruising and found one by Ina Garten that seemed tasty. However, hers seemed to involve a lot more steps and ingredients I wasn't the keenest on. Am I the only one who is not a fan of parsley? Just wondering.

Anyway, I got to playing around in my kitchen and whipped up this super fast, easy and tasty dish. I kept her suggestion for dijon and panko, but that was it. This was a really great weeknight meal, and John and I ate loved it. A little fresh lemon juice at the end really took it up a notch and brought out all the flavors. If you're looking for a quick and light meal, I think you'll really enjoy this.

Dijon & Herb Panko-Crusted Salmon
Recipe loosely adapted from Ina Garten
Serves 2-3, depending on portions and size of salmon filet

Ingredients:
*Salmon filet, with skin (mine was about .7 pounds and we had leftovers)
*1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
*1 tsp Herbs Provence
*1 tbsp dijon mustard
*1 tsp minced onion
*1/2 tsp garlic powder
*1-2 tbsp olive oil
*lemon for garnish and/or juice

Preparation:
*Combine bread crumbs, herbs, minced onion, garlic powder and olive oil in a small bowl. Mix well, with just enough olive oil to make the mixture hold together.

*Place salmon on a wire rack over a pan, or on a pan itself (skin down). Coat with dijon mustard. Place bread crumb mixture on top, spreading it evenly.

*Place in oven at 450 for 10-15 minutes, depending on thickness of salmon. Or, use the broil setting at 500 for 8-13 minutes, depending on thickness of salmon. (I broiled mine, but it makes the top extra crispy, so it's up to your personal preference).

*Squeeze some fresh lemon juice over the top and serve hot!

ready for the oven

out of the oven

time to eat!

Wedding Season is Here!

Happy Monday, friends! I finally feel like I'm starting to get caught up on posts. After last week I definitely fell behind, but slowly but surely I'm making them up. Anyhoo...

Over the weekend John and I went to our first wedding of the season! Our friends John and Andrea had a gorgeous wedding, and you could just feel the love between them. John and I started dating around the same time they did, so it's fun to be able to see how far we've all come since college. I will never forget going to dinner with them while in St. Louis for a formal, and John's (not my John) wine tasting "skills." Oh memories...

John and Andrea's wedding was so special to be a part of, and we had a blast catching up with John's fraternity brothers and their significant others.

Here are a few photos from the lovely wedding. Please pardon the general "fuzziness" of the photos. My camera was not being my friend and several are iPhone pictures. What can you do?

After this wedding we are one down, with 5 to go, plus 4 showers. It's going to be one busy summer/early fall around here!

How was your weekend?

Hubby and I :)

Rocking some cool shades they passed out as dance favors

Love this girl!

The beautiful couple!

Dance party!

:)

NYC: Part II

Continuing my NYC recap, it's time to chat about Saturday! After a late night everyone slept in a bit. We asked the wonderful hotel for brunch recommendations, and they sent us down the street to Bubby's, a local place that was super crowded. While we we waited, some of the girls ordered beverages from the bar. When Jessie ordered a spicy bloody mary, we learned they used jalapeno vodka to make it. Bleh! The bartender convinced these two to try it, and they were not happy after...So glad I only took the pictures.

Once we were seated, most of us order the Bubby's Special, which came with eggs, meat, toast and about a tablespoon of fruit. I had high expectations, but honestly my scrambled eggs tasted like they were sitting on a lamp for awhile. Not cool.

The mother's day menu...Jessi making fun of me for pics for the blog...and food!

After brunch we hung out at the hotel for a bit before deciding to take the subway to the Staten Island ferry. Did you know it's free?? We took it to Staten Island and back, snapping some pictures along the way.

Subway!

The bride-to-be! | When push comes to shove...

Some of the ladies headed to a restaurant for a few drinks after the ferry, but I went back to the hotel to get ready for our awesome, fancy dinner at The Hurricane Club (thanks, Annie!).

Saturday outfit!Navy BCBG strapless dress via Nordstrom (about 2 years ago)
Kate Spade Purse
Color block earrings via Arden B

Before heading to dinner we played the standard bachelorette "panty game." If you're not familiar, each guest buys the bride a pair of panties. The bride has three guesses to determine who gave them to her, and it usually involved lots of laughing (as did this one!). Deborah fared pretty well, and some of the panties were more amusing than anything.

Impromptu photo shoot waiting for a cab

Dinner was absolutely phenomenal! The Hurricane Club is a fantastic restaurant, and the food was to-die-for! Check out this menu and some of the amazing food we enjoyed...

After dinner, we stopped at Rif Rafs, a tiki bar next door. It was so crowded that the waiters were literally pushing you out of their way, so we soon left. Our group of 16 split up, and I went with three of the girls to a dance club close to our hotel. Rachael's boyfriend had a table next to the DJ booth, so we were able to dance and relax and really enjoy our time.

And this, my friends, is a little segment I like to call, "Close your mouth, Lauren." Seriously?? What is up with me in all these pictures?! Apparently I thought that was a good idea...who knows. I was having fun though, so that's all that matters, right? :)