Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Wedding Wednesday: Not That I'm Looking But...

I'm so in love with pave settings, they are so timeless and elegant 
I still get a funny feeling in my stomach when I catch a glimpse of my ring when the sun hits it just right  when sitting in traffic
Here are a few of my all time favorites!
 Image and Availability - HERE

Image and Availability - HERE


 Image and Availability - HERE 

 Image and Availability - HERE



Thursday, July 19, 2012

A Week in Pinterest Meals: Thursday

So, I'm a little late on this post today as I was at the ballgame with some friends and my parents
The Oakland A's beat the NY Yankee's!
 GO A's!!!!
This was an extra special ballgame because today was the 7th annual Dog Day game
If you haven't been lucky to attend or haven't even heard of Dog Day, it's the day where you can pre-register and bring your pup or hound to the ballgame
There is a fun Pup Rally before in the parking lot with a little goody-bag and some other fun give-aways, then all 718 dogs and owners walk around the entire ball field, too fun!
People from all over bring their pups dressed in the sweetest A's apparel, ever!

Here's our girl!

The Seester's, Elenor (Ellie to her pals) and Miss Bella

Mom and Elie

My sister, (my parents pup) Madeline (better known as Maddie by her peers)

Dad, Shelbers and I

Shelby and I, no luck getting her to sit still

Dad and Mad!

SAF. Bella and CJN

A Week in Pinterest Meals!

Now to the food!
Who doesn't love a good hearty day's worth of some delicious FOOD!
I'm in the Italian mood today and am craving this delicious chicken cacciatore and a few other things...

Thursday

Breakfast: Steel Cut Oats
Where have I been? 
This Pinned recipe was originally from How Does She? the fantastic food, fashion and lifestyle blog...
You'll thank me later: http://www.howdoesshe.com/
I absolutely love oatmeal, cream of wheat, and steel cut oats, this is yet another perfect way to make them, enjoy!
Stel Cut Oats - HERE

Lunch: Tomato Soup
These have been some of the cooler days of SUmmer this past week, nothing better sounding to me than a hot bowl of tomato soup!
This recipe is delish and quite filling, no grilled cheese necessary
When I was younger, I dreamt of owning my own gourmet grilled cheese/tomato soup and shave ice shop in Hanalei - this would have been served!
And this ladies and gents, was pinned from yet another freaking AMAZING blog: http://jennysteffens.blogspot.com/
And you'll thank me again!
Tomato Soup - HERE

Dinner: Healthy Chicken Cacciatore
My bottle of Marsala has been laying around forever, for some reason I feel like that increased the yumminess factor a bit, maybe?
This awesome recipe was featured in Women's Health Magazine where you can find tons of great other recipes
Healthy Chicken Cacciatore - HERE

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

A Week in Pinterest Meals: Wednesday

Don't think I forgot about my Week in Pinterest Meals (me forget about food, as if!)

Wednesday

Breakfast: Spinach and Egg Breakfast Sandwiches
Mornings like these when meetings last until 10pm (Can you tell I love these clients?), something quick on the go is just perfect
These can be done a week or two in advance and can frozen and good to go!
Try adding bits of sausage or bacon perhaps?
I added shredded potato, yum!
 Image and Original recipe available - HERE
Spinach and Egg Breakfast Sandwiches - HERE

Lunch: Avocado Egg Salad
This is a great idea to spruce up a green salad or to make wraps from
I mean hello? Avocado AND egg... divine crossing
I adore Skinny Taste's blog - HERE
Avocado Egg Salad - HERE

Dinner: Ham & Pineapple Kabobs
Clearly I've had too much egg in one day, but have to love the protein!
These with a mound of salad and some sweet mashed potatoes are perfect and so colourful!
Ham & Pineapple Kabobs - HERE


Wedding Wednesday: My Dress!

"The" Dress...
I have dreams of my dress still, its lovely textures and layers - the layers (or labors) of love...

As I mentioned before, I was lucky enough to have my wedding dress made by my Mother and my Aunts
Being in design for years now, I am around so many fabrics daily
Trying on dresses in a couple boutiques made me appreciate the beauty of the fabric even more
Most dresses I tried on, I couldn't get past the poor quality fabric they were made up of
I did of course fall for two gowns that were priced upwards of $6,000 but even those weren't perfect in my eyes
For years I had admired a specific dress by Oscar de le Renta, however with a price tag of over $14,000, it wasn't for me and besides, it was from his 2008 line

I casually showed my Auntie Susie an image of it I found on ebay and she softly said, "we can do that"
Well, by "we" she was referring to herself and her counterpart, my Mother's sister, Priscilla (better known as "Auntie Cilla" to family and my close friends)
Auntie Cilla said, "with out a doubt, we can do that!"
When she said "we" she meant with the help of the other lovely ladies in my family

The dress is made completely of silk, specifically a Pinder and Pindler 100% Douppioni Silk called Diva in colour white
My Aunts spent endless days and nights working on every detail from wrapping me in duct tape to capture my exact measurements, shopping for fabrics, creating mock-ups, testing fabric, cutting, measuring, creating spreadsheets, shredding, gluing, pinning... you name it
My Auntie Cilla is the most selfless person I know, she calculated everything to a tee, she's the engineer in our family
Not only was she Head Seamstress, she also opened her home up for months to anyone willing to help
There is even a 'check-in' on Facebook for my aunt and uncles now, 'The Aunties Sweatshop'

Thank You:
Auntie Susie
Auntie Cilla
Mom
Auntie Lid
Auntie Nelli
Auntie Jan
Auntie Patty
Auntie Donna

*A special thank you to my loving uncle:
 Thank you Uncle Johnny for giving up your man cave to so many women for months on end!

I cannot thank you all enough for all the love you put into my wedding dress
I will cherish my dress forever, but most of all the memories
You have made me the happiest girl in the world
If that doesn't make someone feel special, I don't know what would!

I love you

Love,
"Tori-Bray" Schuler

Mac getting her pearls latched, the dress hanging nicely

MFD prepping the dress


Perfection!


All that detail!


Getting zipped up!

Full gown

The garment bag Auntie Cilla designed and made with Auntie Susie

This brought tears to my eyes, stitched into the hem of one of the layers of petticoats

My favorite picture


Lovely ladies hard at work:

Mom, Auntie Patty, Auntie Cilla and Auntie Susie all hard at work

Auntie Lid shredding silk for endless hours

Head Seamstress, Auntie Susie diligently confirming strip size to her spreadsheet, YES spreadsheet!

Planning!

Not only did they make my dress from scratch, they even made our ring bearer pillows, monogrammed our cake linens and handkerchiefs for Brad:
Cake table linens monogrammed in navy


The ring bearer pillows made of my dress material
They had our monogram on each of the pillows :)



Tuesday, July 17, 2012

A Week in Pinterest Meals: Tuesday + Life!

Hello There!

Tomorrow I have a little fun wedding post from our big day that I am SO excited to share but for today, I have a photo heavy post and there is another day in Pinterest meals!
One would think I may gain a few extra lbs from this, but not when Pinterest is filled with yummy healthy bites

The last couple days I've had some major blues
I am thinking they are some honeymoon blues that finally showed up or maybe a few factors:

1. My best *friend/cousin/sister, Kendra left from being here for two whole weeks
Her and her son drove with her parents and brother and his girlfriend from Bentonville on the 29th of June, plus she was here for ten days for our wedding
We spent a lot of quality time together, basically catch up time in person rather than on Facetime or on our daily phone sesh
Having her in-person is the best feeling ever, even if we are at Trader Joe's stocking up on dark chocolate covered berries for her
*Sidenote: do you find yourself having to give a "low-down" of who someone is in relation to you when you start a story about them? Clearly I do! 

I miss you, Kendra!

Kendra and I by the bird sanctuary after sushi dins

2. We had the most incredible and relaxing honeymoon EVER and I have had a lot of family manners to attend to moments after stepping off the plane
-One of them being my handsome nephew's high school graduation
-Two being my cousin Michelle's high school graduation as well
-Three being my Mother's 65th birthday
-Four being our best friends little one's 2nd Birthday Party
-Five, playing tourist and taking my cousins senior portraits in SF

Last evening overlooking the Bali Hai in Princeville, Kauai on our honeymoon

Congratulations, Zachary!
Zach and I at the lonnnnng ceremony

Congratulations, Michelle!
The beautiful graduate!

Happy 65th Birthday, Mom!
Me, Mom, Dad, and my sister Melissa

Happy Birthday, Sweet Man!
The birthday boy himself!

The two proud parents made it another two years, congrats you two... plus baby #2 is on his merry way!

Tourist and Senior Portraits - Class of 2013
My sweet and handsome cousin on "our" pier!
My has he grown so fast!

Handsome cousin at Stow Lake

Beautiful Golden Gate Bridge

3. The Fourth of July!
This is one of my favorite holidays of all time
We watch Alameda's Annual Fourth of July Parade outside of BRS' parents home
I swear the 4th of July just flew by this year... I am so bummed it's over already!
Brad and I on the Fourth

Great friends and three sweet (but nutso) pups at a BBQ at our house after the parade

CJN and SAF with Elenor or "Ellie" to her closest friends, watching the parade

4. Finally, I miss my handsome husband!
BRS was off work for almost a month for our wedding and honeymoon
We got into a nice routine that I just loved and miss
With his schedule, he works four days on and four days off, but he works midnight's - this means I see him for 15 minutes a day on those days
With family manners to attend to, his icky schedule plus court, we're lucky to get a good hour together on those days off
This guy makes me laugh and loves me to pieces, I love my sweet pea

I am so fortunate to have all these wonderful friends and family around me, I guess I am just trying to get used to my daily routine again
Not that that routine is at all lack luster, it's just always nice having something big and fun to look forward to
BRS mentioned a team trip to Las Vegas last night, and I reminded him that we've never been before so we are planning one for us the end of this summer (huge brat, I admit it!)
Also, the plans are now in the works for us to visit Kendra and family come this late Summer or early Fall
I am DYING to show BRS Bentonville, for him to meet their friends, and soak in a little Southern Hospitality!
I am sure a few more long walks with the pea pups, starting back up running, and good ole married life will help with my moody blues... but until then, cooking perhaps?

I hope everyone has a wonderful day and thanks for stopping by!

Bon Appetit! 
But most of all... stay healthy!
xo,
Tori

A Week In Pinterst Meals Continued:

Tuesday
Breakfast: Skinny Green Smoothie
I decided to give this green smoothie a try this and it was just, eh
I usually have a version of this on any given morning, but with fresh ground flax seed added
My newest obsession is adding peanut butter, will share that soon - delish!
I would recommend adding a teaspoon of raw agave nectar, another overripe banana, or maybe use sweetened coconut milk
I used plain unsweetened coconut milk from T.J.'s and it was a bit blase
Skinny green smoothie - HERE

My result just to gross you out:

Lunch: Salmon Salad Sandwich
(Found by typing in: "Protein Sandwich")
This was delish!
Add some dill to add extra flavor (hey, it's calorie and fat free, yay!:)
Salmon Salad Sandwich - HERE

Dinner: Cilantro Lime Chicken Tacos
Ummm... HEAVEN!
I freaking love cilantro, and this was a fun way to get use out of my food processor we just got
I make "tacos" at least once a week, but with out the tortilla - don't ask, it works!
I guess Chipotle would call it a 'Buritto bowl', I call it 'Tori's Mexican Night'
Since my Dad had his stroke, we've been cooking with very little to zero salt
Lime is a FABULOUS way to season things with out salt... give it a go, you'd be amazed!
Never too early to start heart health!

Check out What's Cooking Chicago's blog for more fun recipe ideas, I love this!
Cilantro Lime Chicken Tacos - HERE