bling bling

As soon as Ross proposed that engagement ring hardly ever left my finger! Keep in mind, three days later we were leaving for vacation in Cabo, Mexico and I made the executive decision to bring it along. It was just too pretty to leave behind :)

The ring survived Mexico (crashing waves and rip tides included) but it was time to visit a jeweler. You see, the ring was 60 years old and Ross' grandmother was an OB-GYN, so she was constantly taking her rings on and off to deliver little babies into this word. :) This lead to a slow wearing-down of the setting over time. We knew we had to get it re-set and Ross wanted me to be actively involved in that process.

We planned to take two weeks off for vacation, which meant we had the entire second week to dedicate to wedding planning in New Jersey! Two of these days were slotted for trips into New York City for ring shopping and consultations. It was SO much fun - each time we went over the George Washington Bridge I was reminded how much I love and miss New York City.

After meeting with our jeweler, we quickly realized a custom setting would have to be created. So we left the ring with him to get the whole profile (4 C's... Color, Cut, Clarity, Carat... come on girls, you know what I'm talking about). I knew almost immediately I wanted pear-shaped side stones to go with the circular center stone. I usually feel that three stone rings look like anniversary rings, rather than engagement rings so I wanted to stay away from three circles. With the tapered end of a pear, it kept the setting really clean and classic. I was also excited about have a unique setting, rather than a trendy setting or a typical ring! Two days later we hopped back into NYC to pick out the side stones. He brought two sizes with him, guess which ones I picked? Okay, in all honesty, the bigger ones just suited the center stone better. I promise!

The next week and a half without my ring was torture. And of course the day that it showed up, I get an email at 9:15 am alerting me a FedEx had arrived at my front desk. Naturally, I metro'd back home to pick it up and then ventured back to the office. (Not that I accomplished anything that day... I had a sparkly diamond flashing in my eyes every time I typed!)

"BEFORE" -- Engagement ring, pre-reset, with my Shellac manicure for Cabo!

Spec sent to me from jeweler... sans the "fangs"!

"AFTER" -- About twenty seconds after I took it out of the box!!  

Side-view of the setting.

I absolutely LOVE my ring!! It's exciting to have a piece of Ross' family passed on and to be able to tailor it and make it unique. Every day that I look at my ring, I'm reminded how lucky I am to have the most wonderful man in the world as my fiance. Knowing I get to spend the rest of my life with my best friend is SO exciting.

So now the big question is, what should I get for my wedding band? At first I thought a plain platinum band. But now that I have this beautiful diamond ring, I have an urging feeling inside to make it even more sparkly. However, the responsible and pragmatic side reminds me that I can't wear a diamond ring while I'm taking part in any physical or dirty activity (such as tubing down a river or gardening - both of which I have done this summer). I also want to wear my wedding ring when we travel - diamonds are attractive to pick pockets and thieves... another thing to consider. What do you think would work well as a wedding band?

A potential contender I made up on a Post-It note! Two pears, three round stones.

back, forward, back, and turn!

I started working on my three-kick turnaround in October 2011. After some tension and pain it caused my shoulder I avoided the trick and moved on to other tricks. In the late Winter I decided to give it another try and I made a little bit of progress, and in the early Spring I made even more progress by learning how to engage my lower core muscles. Unfortunately, taking off three months during the Spring (to study for the GMAT!) made my progress on the three-kick turnaround naught.

At my first trapeze class this summer I set short- and long-term goals. One of my short-term goals was to successfully perform the three-kick turnaround. I set to work spending hours focusing on bits and pieces of this trick. First, I had to master my force-out. The force out is when a flyer curls up into a ball and fully extends his or her body at the height of his or her swing. If you are flying without lines (no harness) this helps build height on your swing and maintain (or build) momentum. After a turnaround, one has to force-out over the board (that's the platform you jump off); however, when I attempted to do this my calves and/or heels would smack down on the board so hard my fellow classmates got startled. A few rug burns later (the board has carpet) and a few days when I had to wear backless shoes as a result of injured heels and I knew this had to change.

A still from my force-out over the board last night.

The next part of my trick to focus on was the actual turning. Not only did my legs separate and go flailing around, but my hips were back and sometimes my whole body was, shall we say, off-kilter. It was just not-pretty. At this point, I felt like the overarching theme to my progress, or lack thereof, was my (in)ability to fully-engage my muscles, particularly my core... I really wasn't strong enough.

A few weeks later I noticed the biggest improvement in my strength, and ultimately success at the trick, as a result of running and training for the Tough Mudder. Running upwards of 10 miles per week helped make my quad and abdominal muscles much stronger. And I mean MUCH STRONGER. I have so much more control over my body in the air, it really is quite a gratifying and rewarding feeling. Since I began running I have also noticed that I can do leg lifts, where previously I could not lift my feet off of the ground, at all. In the words of my instructor Mandy, "Well, those muscles weren't there six months ago! And now you can control them too!" So true, Mandy. So true.

I'm still amazed that my legs are together and straight, and that my toes are pointed!

Since I noticed this increase in muscle strength I have been able to consistently force-out over the board without smacking my legs! It is such an amazing feeling of relief. And once I was able to consistently force-out without hurting myself, my instructors built the half-turn into my swing as well! The best way to explain this entire compilation of a trick is: Jump... 3 kicks (back-forward-back)... turn around (at height of swing)... swing forward... force-out over the board... swing backward... turn around (at height of swing)... grab wrists with the catcher!

I picked up the half-turn really quickly. Actually, I threw it just once two weeks ago. Worked on it last week. And caught it both times last night!! This trick has brought me a lot of smiles, tears (almost), happiness, and pain... and I'm proud to say I've finally accomplished it!

Thanks to Grace, my first half-turn catch was caught on camera. Thanks, Grace! Y'all can check it out here...

Without further ado...

I am going to be the future Mrs. Ross Dodd! How exciting is that?! But what kind of blogger am I to leave my audience hanging for over two months (TWO MONTHS!). No details about the engagement, totally in the dark on wedding planning, and who can forget the trip to Cabo?! Better late than never they say. So, without further ado, I give you the story of our engagement.

Ross proposed on the first day of our two week vacation; Saturday, April 14. We drove up to New Jersey that morning and had lunch with his parents. During our time at their house Ross' mom covertly slipped a ring box in Ross' vest pocket. She had to be extra careful because the ring was Ross' grandmother's engagement ring and, in fact, Ross' mom has been wearing it for the past 14 years since her mom passed. I would have noticed if Ross' mom did not have the ring on her right hand, so to play along she wore none of her rings - common practice when cooking in the kitchen, so I thought nothing of it!

We then drove to Ross' grandmother's apartment for a quick visit! I had not seen her in a while, so it was nice to catch up. In hindsight, Ross seemed a little antsy - but my senses still weren't triggered at this point.

After visiting with Ross’ grandmother we drove up to my Mom and Ken’s house. While Ken and I were in the kitchen pouring cocktails and preparing a tray of cheese and crackers, Ross took advantage of the time alone with my Mom. As soon as I was inside Ross turns to my Mom and says, "Can you keep a secret?" and at that moment popped open the ring box. I was told my mom shrieked with joy - I'm kind of surprised I didn't hear her inside! - hugged Ross and I'm sure got out a "Congratulations, I'm so excited" through her joyous tears.

When Ken and I returned to the backyard with snacks and drinks, all seemed normal until... Ross went inside to use the restroom. Strangely, my Mom was emphatic that Ross was unpacking the luggage from our car. She insisted, "Ken, Ross needs help unpacking the car, go and find him!" She even turned her back to me and was doing something with her hands. I now realize she was holding out her left hand and enthusiastically pointing to her ring finger. Her gestures seemed a little out of place, but I was still oblivious.

Even though we didn’t get to see my Dad on this day, Ross had already covered that base! A month earlier when my Dad was visiting us in DC, Ross took an opportunity the night of my trapeze show to let my Dad know what he had planned! While I was getting ready for my performance, Dad, Rosa, and Ross were picking up dinner at the café in our building. While Ross certainly wanted my Dad’s blessing, he didn’t quite ask for permission, it was more of a “I’d like you to know” followed by one of my Dad’s profound bouts of silence with a heavy intake of breath. Of course my Dad was excited and gave his blessing to Ross and what he had planned. To this day I marvel at the fact that for four weeks he didn’t utter a word to me! My Dad did admit that a few phone calls got cut short because he thought it might slip out.

Back at Mom and Ken’s house, we were all outside and Mom was being a bit “aggressive” about my wedding. After all, she has a 20-something daughter living with her boyfriend and we had talked about marriage so it certainly wasn't out of the ordinary for her to get excited and start pre-planning. Even I had been in serious pre-engagement wedding planning mode for a few weeks prior, I just couldn't help myself. So when she asked me about flowers and a dress it did not seem bizarre. Although, when she said for the second time “Well, maybe if Ross put a ring on your finger…” my senses were heightened.

We had dinner reservations in 90 minutes so Mom and Ken decided to go inside and get ready for dinner. Or so I thought. They actually parked themselves at the living room window.

Nearly 30 seconds later, Ross asked if I wanted to cuddle with him on the lounge chair. As I lay on top of him, sipping my lemonade and vodka, he begins…

If I wait any longer this is going to burn a hole in my pocket and they are really going to give it away...

I gasp for air and my body stiffens at the realization of what is happening.

Open ring box.

Will you marry me?

After about two seconds of awed stunned-ness (yes, I know that is not a word) I reply, “Oh my God”, start to cry, and find a way to put my drink down so that I can sit up and properly look at this man that has asked me to be my wife. Once I sat up I said “Yes!” in as much of a voice as I could muster, planted a big kiss on him, and asked him to put the ring on my finger.

Popping the question!

Not less than fifteen seconds later, my Mom was running into the backyard screaming “my daughter’s engaged!” The next 90 minutes were rather whirlwind… I made as many phone calls as possible. Surprisingly, I had to call my Dad twice to get in touch with him! He didn’t have his phone next to him, so as soon as Rosa saw I called back not more than three minutes later she hunted him down and said, “I think you want to take this!” She was right. Dad was super ecstatic for us!! I tried to talk with as many friends and family members as possible, which sometimes meant having my phone on the bathroom counter on speaker while applying eyeliner and straightening my hair!

Surprisingly, my nails were painted a classic pale pink. Snapped this picture of the ring while on the driveway making phone calls! Everybody kept asking for a peak :)

The next twenty-four hours involved four bottles of champagne, lots of hugs, kisses, and phone calls from friends and family, as well as an exciting start to the rest of our lives together! Three days later we left for Cabo with our friends Vinnie and Kelly. If you have a chance, I highly suggest embarking on an “engagement-moon” to a place without cell service or internet because it will truly provide the serenity you need to enjoy this time together without distractions and premature questions about wedding planning.

Ross and I holding hands on the way to a celebratory engagement dinner.

Since April we have been busy, but more on that later…

a recipe for happiness

If I had to plan my perfect weekend it would have involved everything I did from Friday evening through Sunday. The past two and a half days were pure paradise in my mind. I got home from work and decided to push myself to do a run, despite the fact Ross wasn't going to the gym. I know that I have to build up my tolerance for running and my endurance. When I'm running on the treadmill, I'm guilty of power-walking more than running, and sometimes I feel like my jog or run isn't even with my natural pace. So with the warm weather calling my name I set a 10-minute timer on my iPhone, turned on the Pandora workout station, and hit the pavement. My first goal was to make it to the Navy Yard gates without pausing or slowing down past a slow jog. SUCCESS! I made it to the gates in 7 minutes and 45 seconds. I took the next 2 minutes and 15 seconds to rest and catch my breath, then I took off again for another 10 minutes, pausing only for one traffic light. I zig-zagged around the new row houses they're building in our neighborhood. It took a lot of patience and concentration but I was able to run through the wind stitches, the pain in my knees, and the common signs of giving up within 3 minutes of starting a run. My 10 minute timer went off when I was two blocks from my front door, but I ran the extra distance just because I could. I felt so empowered and successful when I got home!! More than that, I mapped my run when I got upstairs and found out it was over two miles! I was beyond ecstatic and so proud of myself for sticking with it. I have a long way to go until I'm ready for the 13-mile Tough Mudder this September, but that's what the next five and a half months are for.

Margarita on the rocks with salt... in a Mason jar!

Ross and I enjoyed a celebratory beer, or two, out on our balcony. The breeze was so nice and so was the company ;-) Later that night we went to Surfside for dinner. If you have not been, I HIGHLY suggest that you check it out!! They are a made-to-order taco restaurant with a beachy vibe. There are no servers, you order at the counter, grab a beeper, and go pick up the food when it's done. While they were making my taco I grabbed a margarita and found us a table... which, by the way, are quite difficult to come by on Friday nights. That place was packed! When the food arrived I was just marveling at my plate, and let me tell you, it tasted even BETTER than it looked! I got the flour tacos with Mahi, pineapple salsa, carmelized onions and poblano peppers, cheddar and jack cheeses, lime sour cream, and cilantro. This was all served on top of yellow rice. It was too much food for me to finish, but Ross had no problem polishing it off for me ;-)

My delicious dinner at Surfside!

Saturday morning started with a New Jersey bagel (thanks Dad!), a fresh cup of french-pressed coffee (thanks Ross!), and 90 minutes of GMAT studying (thanks Life!). I had a lot to get done and a lot to look forward to, so I was motivated to finish my homework. By 10:30 that morning I finished all of my assignments which meant, the rest of the weekend I didn't have to stress about GMAT studying!! From there I headed to the gym so I could do my conditioning, build muscle, and get lean for the Tough Mudder (and Cabo, which is only 3 weeks and 1 day away!!).

Must whip royal icing for 10 minutes!

Check out all of her supplies! Tracey is so well stocked :)

After the gym I showered and got ready for Tracey's! She was giving me a tutorial on decorating cookies with royal icing. I showed you all a picture of her masterpieces on Friday's post. Turns out she has learned all of her tricks via online research; reading and watching videos. I'm so thankful that I had her to teach me because I know it would not have been the same without a friend at the counter with me :) We had a great time making the royal icing, sipping on mimosas, and chatting about trapeze! Tracey was such a great teacher; she had a handout ready for me to take-home (Note, I have already purchased all of my own supplies so that I can start decorating cookies on my own ASAP!) and she gave really simple demonstrations for all of the techniques. If it wasn't for her, my cookies would not have turned out as pretty, I swear. Thanks, Tracey!!

My output from Tracey's fantastic tutorial!

First draw the straight lines.

Then drag a toothpick through it. (Kinda reminds me of latte art!)

Saturday night, Ross and I picked up dinner at Sorriso; mussels marinara and a pizza with spicy salami, mushrooms, and onions. This is one of our favorite places in DC, especially for pizza, and since moving away from the Cleveland Park neighborhood, we rarely get to enjoy it. I also made some garlic bread with the baguette Dad brought us from Balthazar Bakery. After enjoying dinner and cleaning up we parked ourselves in front of the TV for some movie time and nail painting. We finished Good Fellas (from the weekend before) and put on the Green Lantern. Yes, it was cheesy. Yes, Ryan Reynolds is still hot. But, I have to admit that most of my attention was going towards my nails... after all they were getting doned in a Hunger Games theme! Yes, The Hunger Games. I was inspired, what can I say? And when the inspiration hits, you gotta run with it! So off I went, each finger represents a different District or character from the movie:

My nailpolish. Lots of people have recently asked me how many colors I have... about 42.

• Finger - District #, industry - image
• Left pinky - District 10, livestock - cow
• Left ring finger - District 4, fishing - fish and hook
• Left middle finger - District 6, transportation - high speed train
• Left pointer finger - District 11, agriculture - corn
• Left thumb - Mockingjay!
• Right thumb - President Snow
• Right pointer finger - District 8, textiles - needle and thread
• Right middle finger - District 13, nuclear - atom
• Right ring finger - District 3, electronics - gears
• Right pinky - District 7, lumber - tree

My thumbs, pre clean-up.

The process took me a little more than two hours and I'll likely remove it tonight, but it was totally worth it!

District fingers!!

Sunday was a busy day with my friend and college roommate, Nev. After food shopping, Ross and I picked up Nev so that Ross could drop us at brunch. (Such a sweet boyfriend!) We ate at Estadio near Logan Circle, and thoroughly enjoyed it. We ordered, by recommendation, the warm toast with local honey butter and a shaved salt. It was so warm, delicious, sweet, and salty! A great combination of flavors and textures. We also split the mini chorizo sandwich with the accompanying cheese. Although it was a bit greasy, we devoured each morsel! It was small but we both agreed that due to the law of diminishing returns the second would not have been as enjoyable. (Both econ majors in college. Both dorks. It's okay, that's why we get along so well!) Then we split the soft scrambled eggs with goat cheese, mushrooms, and scallions. It was so tasty and I really enjoyed the creaminess lent by the goat cheese. If you do happen to grab brunch here, make sure that you order the orange juice. It's fresh squeezed!!

After brunch? Off to The Hunger Games!! We got great seats and enjoyed some popcorn (with butter) and gummy worms. (Clearly this is not the day I stayed on my normal diet of "no preservatives".) We both liked the movie, but I won't spoil anything here in case you folks haven't seen it yet.

Following the movie we headed up to Red Sun Nails for a pedicure. Although I brought a polish from home, "Orange, It's Obvious" from essie's Spring collection, I opted to pick a color from the salon. I tend to do this because if I'm actually going to spend money to get my nails done, I would rather enjoy a color that I don't own. I cannot remember the last time I got a pedicure and they did such a great job! Although, they did put baby oil on our feet, to soften them, which made our sandals a little slippery to walk on. 

Since I forgot my metro card, Ross picked us up!! When we got home, he and I went on a walk through the Hill. We walked over to Eastern Market but arrived after they closed, oh well. We stopped at a bench to soak in some of the sunshine and enjoy the outside air. Since I hadn't actually cooked all weekend I was quite looking forward to preparing dinner. We defrosted some of the Cream of Mushroom soup I made last weekend and I put together some Zucchini pancakes. The recipe came from Everyday Food by Martha Stewart and gave me a GREAT reason to use my Cuisinart's slicing plates (thanks Mom!). It was my first time using the plates, I typically use the whole bowl and the blades. But since I had to grate 2 zucchini, 1 potato, and half an onion, I knew this was the right time to check out that attachment. It was really marvelous how fast the vegetables grated! And it made my life SO MUCH easier. Some parsley, matzo meal, egg, parmesan cheese, and dill later and we had zucchini pancakes ready to go into some hot oil on the stove! Flip 'em after 3 minutes and keep them warm in the oven while you finish the batch. We served them up with apple sauce and sour cream on the side. I preferred the apple sauce, but both were good options. 

So, how did I end my weekend on a high note?? I ate dinner and finished cleaning up BEFORE 8:30. It was unreal. We don't usually eat before 8:30, so to have everything DONE by then was truly amazing! We started the first episode of Game of Thrones, Ross just finished the book, and I am really looking forward to that series. And then we watched the season premiere of Mad Men.

All in all, it was a FABULOUS weekend. I hope you all enjoyed your Saturday and Sunday too!! Now back to my typical, busy lifestyle... and GMAT class tonight. Yay, Life! At least I have a class at Trapeze School to look forward to this Saturday :-D

week recap and lots to look forward to

Thursday's work outfit. Too soon for a white jacket? Nahh....

This week has been busy, yet fulfilling. I did not have trapeze class :( but I did get to enjoy some lunch from the Cirque Cuisine food truck! They have really flavorful organic options for every diet. I got the pork lettuce wraps (so tender and delicious) but they were also serving up beef, fish, and tofu options. I enjoyed lunch from Cirque Cuisine with my fellow flyer, Sarah, and we got to share a minute of hellos with our instructor Mandy! (I just love how close the staff and friends of TSNY are!!) Follow Cirque Cuisine on Twitter or Facebook to keep up with their daily locations!

Photo courtesy of @CirqueCuisine

I was lucky enough to update my nails done twice this week!! On Sunday night I painted a cute take on the french manicure with a neutral base (Topless and Barefoot by Essie) and rainbow tips. It was super cute and fairly understated compared to my previous nail art adventures. Unfortunately it started to chip pretty quickly so by Tuesday night I took it off and was able to finish a pink-peach-coral ombre manicure while studying for the GMAT. Highlight this week: Wednesday morning in the elevator a lady commented, "You must have gotten your nails done last night!" I responded, "Yes, I did them last night." "YOU did those?! They look great!" Well, let me tell you, having a perfect stranger telling me my nails looked professional just about made my week!

 

Wednesday night I actually had a work event which involved trivia! My team won... thanks to our token Trivia star, Adam. It was really close for a while, we lost a lot of points in the second round, but we came back strong by wagering the maximum amount of points (20) on the final bonus question; "What is the most popular cookie consumed in China?" (It's the Oreo!) Also, for those of you who did not know, the Olympic flame represents the fire stolen from Zeus (by Prometheus). A dromedary camel has one hump (compared to the bactrian which has two)! And the Q in Q-tip stands for Quality. 

Ross and I got a new Everyday magazine by Martha Stewart which meant lots of new recipes to try. We actually ate really healthy this week, lots of chicken and vegetables!! Some dinners included; Cream of Mushroom Soup (without the cream!), Chicken Tacos (from the crockpot! Add chicken breasts to a jar of salsa and a packet of taco seasoning, and you'll have the most flavorful shredded chicken for your tacos!),  Baked Chicken Nuggets and Italian Fries, and Sauteed Vegetables with a Pasta Salad. That last dinner was VERY green, as you can see below...

And to end a great week I have an even more exciting weekend to look forward to!! Tonight Ross and I are going to Surfside for dinner. He raves about it all the time so I'm excited to finally give it a try. Tomorrow I will be decorating cookies with Tracey! She is so unbelievably talented, I'm beyond excited for my lesson from her :) Prosecco will be on hand as well (of course!). Saturday night I'm planning to stay home and paint my nails in a HUNGER GAMES theme!! Seriously. I kid you not! I'm so excited to do this, I'm like a 5 year old child on line for the ferris wheel. Each finger nail will represent a District, the Capitol, or the Mockingjay. Obviously I had to cut some - but you'll just have to wait until they're done for more info. Sunday I get to look forward to brunch, The Hunger Games, and a pedicure party with one of my college roommates. Seriously - this sounds like the best weekend ever!! Happy Friday, everyone!

Just LOOK at these cookies!! Tracey is so talented. Can't wait to learn from best :)