Personalized Candy

I remember seeing an ad for personalized M&M's on TV a few months back, maybe even around Valentine's day. Through all the great wedding blogs I've been reading the last couple of months, I've seen some great candy table displays.

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Although we have a dessert bar included in our venue package, we wanted to check out the M&M's and see if we could incorporate them somewhere, somehow. So I went to their website and went through the process of creating a small bag of personalized M&M's. Now I only got a 7oz bag (smallest you can get) but they do 5lbs and 10lbs bulk orders for $130 and $250, respectively. You can choose to print photos, messages, or a combination of the two, and you get to select from a variety of colors and a few fonts. On one side they will have an "m" and on the other whatever you choose. Here's how ours looked:

Although it was fun to receive these, there were a few issues. The colors are not quite like the ones you see on the screen. What appears like mustard yellow was supposed to be gold, and the aqua was much lighter, pastel-like, on the monitor. Also the white and gold are meant to be metallic or pearl-like and this doesn't show up much on the actual M&M's. Highly recommend making a small bag to test out the colors before you go ahead and order more.

Also they only ship within the US, so anyone living elsewhere will need to contact them to see if they can ship to where you are.

Shipping is expensive because they over-night them since its a perishable product (M&M's aren't really all that perishable!) and for my small 7oz bag it cost $10. Can't image what the 10lbs box costs. They do an excellent job of packing them though I must say.

So although these colors didn't quite work out (not even sure if this will be our color scheme) it was definitely fun making them, waiting for them, and getting to see your wedding info in print on candy!

Are others having candy buffets? What are your dessert tables like?

Give Aways!

So fellow blogger Mr. Jones & Me has teamed up with Say Your Piece Custom Ceramics at her Etsy store and are giving away a ring dish. They really are beautiful designs and I'm sure you'll find something you like so check it out. Here are some of my favs:

Which ones do you like?

Fiance for another year

Today marks our one year countdown till the wedding. Wow! One year. I feel like we got engaged last month and its been nine months already! I will still frequently look down at my engagement ring and become mesmerized by it. Mr. Milk catches me doing it too and laughs. I have no idea where the time has gone. Other than having a venue and church we've done nothing. Oh yeah and save the dates for those living further away. 

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So many changes have happened in the last nine months though. Mr. Milk and I are finally in the same location, living together; I said goodbye to SF after 5 years (even tho I've already been back for a visit!); I finished with all the necessities of grad school and am preparing for the licensing exam; I have started a blog; AND we have started to plan our wedding.

I realize that I need to take more "times-out" from my regular routine and everyday ramblings to focus on the here and now. It's so easy to not pay attention to what we are actually experiencing don't you think? Whether its planning ahead, or thinking about yesterday, sometimes I just forget to enjoy what I'm going through right now. After all, a year will be here and gone in no time. I would like to be able to think back and recall this period in my life with fond memories, not a blur. Thankfully this blog will help!

Mr. Milk is working from home this morning. I woke up to find a note, propped up on his pillow, folded into a pyramid. I will not go into the details of the note (aside from one quote) and just say that it focused on this little landmark of ours, was sweet, touching, and I am a very lucky lady. His noted ended with "you are my perfect little bite" as I will frequently try to create perfect-little-bites of food while we are having dinner.

There are many changes and new experiences taking place at the moment, and although they can be overwhelming at times, they are also exciting. Have a good weekend everyone!

Flowers, Flowers, Flowers...

Mr. Milk and I both want our wedding to be colorful. We want things like the flowers, the bridesmaids dresses, the grooms ties, the ribbons, and so on, to add some color to the overall day. While my dress, favor boxes/bags (haven't decided which ones yet), grooms and groomsmen's shirts will be white/off-white, I thought it would be nice to have "pops" of color against our natural setting. My bouquet will ideally be full of colorful flowers! Here's some I've been looking at:

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I love irises (source)

and calla lilies (source)

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So many choices!!! 

What do you guys think? Decided on your own flowers/colors? What did you have at your wedding?

The Wedding Binder

Every soon-to-be bride needs a little help with organization. This comes in the form of a binder! When Mr. Milk and I were first engaged, my friend Crystal informed clueless me that I needed one of these little tools. Thankfully she was also willing to help me make one! We trecked to many a craft store looking for the binder, the right paper, dividers, stickers, and all things wedding. Crystal has beautiful penmanship so needless to say I volunteered her to do all the writing :) Unfortunately at the time I had no idea I would be delving into the world of blogging and so do not have any pics of the process. The end product though is a different story

We bought a plain white binder and then looked around for wrapping paper with a design we liked to use as the background. The words and dress on the side are stickers.

We bought a small, clear pouch for the binder and placed the pens that I wanted to use - both for easy access and convenience. I've had these pretty colored pens for a while and now they get to be put to good use (finally!)

And this is where Crystal's penmanship made the world of difference - trust me, it would not look this good with my handwriting. We made dividers for invitations, the dress, the tux, bridesmaids and groomsmen outfits, the cake, color schemes, flowers, venue, music, favors, and...drumroll pls...honeymoon!

We used the stickers to also decorate the dividers. This one is the tuxedo divider.

The bridesmaids divider (not a great pic unfortunately)

And the groomsmen divider. As you might notice, we lost the "E". Those stickers are so finicky! Crystal was able to copy it in though. Nicely done! The whole experience was a great and highly recommended! It also helped me tap into my creative side. Doing things with friends is always fun too!

Have others created wedding binders? How was the experience? Did you find it useful?

Weekend = Brunch!

I am not a huge breakfast person. At best you'll catch me with a slice of toast, or on days when I want something more, a bowl of cereal. I am, however, a brunch person! This probably all fits under the umbrella of not being a morning person. What's worse is that I really enjoy sleep! In my ideal world, people would not have to be in to work till around 10am. This would enable me to get up at a reasonable hour in the morning and have a couple of hours for my brain to kick in (probably a whole different post!) before I had to be at work. So on the weekend when Mr. Milk is also around, I enjoy making meals for brunch.

We were in a nice grocery store the other day and I found a package of mixed mushrooms. I love mushrooms! There were oyster mushrooms, chanterelles, shiitakes, enoki mushrooms, criminis, and I had some button mushroom at home too. This inspired me to make a mushroom scramble over the weekend. And what makes mushrooms better? Truffle salt! Granted if one could afford the ridiculously expensive truffles themselves they would probably taste amazing, but alas truffle salt is already a luxury in and of itself. I also got a beautiful heirloom tomato and figured I could incorporate it somehow. So without further ado, here is my creation:

Aren't those mushrooms and the tomato gorgeous!

Sauteed mushrooms and onions...yum!

Heirloom tomato, arugula, spinach salad.

The end result! What a way to start your morning - or noon-time :)

Here is the recipe for 2 people:

• 1.5 cups mixed greens of your choice
• 1 medium sized heirloom tomato
• 2 cups sliced mixed mushrooms, any kind you like (they wilt down quite a bit)
• Half a small onion diced
• 3-4 eggs
• A handful of your favorite grated cheese. I used mozzarella
• Truffle salt
• Olive oil (both for cooking and the salad)
• Balsamic vinegar
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Whole wheat toast

1. Clean and slice the mushrooms. Put a tablespoon of olive oil in a pan and sautee them.
2. When they start to brown up a little add the onion.
3. As these cook, prepare your salad. Dice the tomato, place over the mixed greens, add salt, pepper, balsamic vinegar, and olive oil. Mix it all together and set aside till ready to serve.
4. Beat the eggs in a seperate bowl. I always like to add a splash of milk too.
5. Pour over the cooked mushrooms and cook to the consistency you like. Add the cheese close to the end.
6. Sprinkle with some truffle salt and pepper if desired.
7. Make yourself a slice of toast (or two), serve up and enjoy.

Save the Dates again

Mr. Milk is by far more technologically savvy than I. He was able to get an image of our e-save-the-date so I thought I'd post so that you could get the full effect.

Highly recommend Pingg if you are looking for any kind of e-vite.