The Engagement Story

Due to high demand I will post the story a day early! Jack apparently had the whole thing planned for awhile and kept it a huge secret (obviously). Without me knowing he invited several of my friends out on Friday night to celebrate my birthday dinner. I'll be honest I slightly suspected something since he was being so incredibly secretive and for the first time wasn't asking me what I wanted for my birthday. On Friday morning he had my mom take Miss Mariah for the night and told me to make sure I was ready to leave at 3pm. He told me he had rented a hotel for the evening. I texted my sister assuming I would be able to get her to spill the beans about what was going on that night, but to my surprise she had no idea. She said she was going to be painting all evening and that she hadn't heard of anything. She actually got pretty upset at the idea that he might propose and she wouldn't be there. I anxiously awaited for 3pm to arrive and when it did Jack picked me up and brought me to our hotel suite. I rushed into the room expecting there to be roses laid out and the ring to be on the bed, but to my surprise nothing. At this point I had kind of given up hope even more so when we were getting ready to leave and I filled his pockets with everything imaginable, there was no room for a ring in those pockets.

He had a Cadillac come pick us up and still didn't tell me where we were going. We got in the car and I was pretty nervous for some reason. He told the limo driver to take us to the Dry Dock in Portland. I knew that he wasn't going to propose because that restaurant had no special meaning to us. The car stopped and to my surprise my sister was standing outside a long with my good friend Abigail (who last said to me have fun tonight and see you on Monday) and my long time friend Kate Taber. The driver opened my door and I rushed out to meet my friends as I got onto the sidewalk Jack got out of the car grabbed my hand, turned me around, and got down on one knee. I lost my mind I'm not absolutely positive what he said, because I could hardly focus on what was happening, but I know it was something a long the lines of "I should have done this a long time ago" When he pulled out the ring I dropped to the ground.

The reason he chose the Dry Dock is because he apparently timed it so that we would arrive exactly on the dock at sunset and he could propose ocean side as the sun was setting. It was a little hazy out so we missed it, but it wouldn't have mattered I didn't see anything that was going on around me.

We walked into the restaurant and every one cheered for us. It was just what I wanted it to be. I also want to send out a special thanks to Abby, Kate, and my sister for being so good at keeping the surprise and being there for the big moment!

We're Engaged!

Happy Happy news Jack Cowie and I are officially engaged and now I can officially start referring to him as my fiancee. On Friday April 19th Jack got down on one knee on the dock in Portland and popped the big question. The ring is spectacular and I can't stop staring at it. I'm so excited to start planning my wedding and  get all my "Future Mrs. Cowie" gear together. So many exciting things to come in the near future; engagement party, bridal showers, bachelorette parties, and of course the big day!

I can't even tell you how excited I am to blog about all my wedding day plans as I plan on doing most of this on my own. I've been researching so many different venues all over New England and to be honest none have given me exactly what I want, or they have except it would be a $20,000 plus wedding. Frankly I'm going to try and plan this whole thing for under $10,000. At the moment it seems impossible, but I am determined.

I have a bunch of ideas for the wedding itself in terms of decor, however, the location I'm still unsure about. I do know that I plan on renting out a very large house in either Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, or the Adirondacks and hosting the wedding outdoors at the property. I've e-mailed over 60 properties since Sunday and have received very few responses back saying they would allow a wedding, but I am determined to find one.

I still can't get over the excitement and am thrilled to be able to share every last detail with all of you!

Reduced fat feta foldovers

This is a quick recipe that I came up with a while back for a play date I went to. These were so yummy and addicting, the father that was there ate every last one, Jack was sad I was taking them because he wanted to eat them all, and even those that thought they wouldn't enjoy them gobbled them up. I would definitely suggest making these for your next get together, they weren't that difficult either.

Ingredients

• Pastry sheets
• Fat free ricotta cheese
• sauteed garlic
• onion powder
• spinach
• garlic powder
• feta cheese
• parmesan cheese

Per usual I didn't measure anything out as I wasn't planning on making an entry on these, but they came out so yummy I had to. Mix all these ingredients together in a bowl and add a little salt too. Use as much of each ingredient as you think you would like. I looove garlic and feta so I put in a little extra of both. You may want to consider using reduced fat ricotta instead of fat free as it was a teensy bit bland, however, the end result was heavenly so it was fine. 

The pastry sheets you can find in the freezer section at your grocery stor.  I used two sheets and cut each one into four then cut along the fold over lines to make little squares. Wet the edges with a little bit of water, scoop a small spoonful of the filling in the middle, then pull the corners of the square together to make a tip at the top. Place them on a baking dish

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees then let them bake for about 10-15 minutes. Check on them frequently as I let mine cook about a minute too long and they burst open, they were still yummy, but didn't look as pretty as I wanted them too.

Smile

I heard this song on my Pandora station today at work and I fell in love. I think every one should live this way. Smile by Nat King Cole:

"Smile though your heart is aching
Smile even though it's breaking
When there are clouds in the sky, you'll get by
If you smile through your fear and sorrow
smile and maybe tomorrow
you'll see the sun come shining through for you

Light up your face with gladness
hide every trace of sadness
although a tear may be ever so near
smile what's the use of crying?
you'll find that life is still worthwhile if you just smile"

Life is always what you make of it. Frown and you'll be sad smile and you'll be happy.

Dijon Chicken

Another successful Pintrest meal! Normally when I make chicken I have to either add breadcrumbs, cheese, or vegetables to eat it with, but this chicken was so delicious with just the sauce. I was actually surprised, it was the first time I have ever liked plain chicken. I found the recipe on Pinterest twice on two different bloggers sites and finally decided that I had to try it. The absolute best part about this chicken is there are only 240 calories in each piece. This was super easy to make great for nights where you don't have time to do a lot of prep.

Ingredients (4 servings)

• 4 thin sliced chicken breast
• Dijon mustard 1/2 cup (we actually did 1/4 cup of dijon and 1/4 cup of honey)
• Maple syrup 1/4 cup
• rice vinegar 1tbls
• 1 tsp fresh rosemary 
• salt and pepper

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees, put the chicken breast in a baking dish and pour the mixture on top. Put in the oven and bake for 40 minutes. After about 20 mix the chicken a little bit so the tops of the chicken get covered in sauce.

We served it with sliced baked potato chips and asparagus. It was finger licking good. Definitely recommend trying this as soon as possible. Super easy, super delicious, and low in calories.

Sweet and Sour chicken with fried rice

Okay seriously people this is my new favorite Chinese chicken recipe. I saw it on Pinterest and had to make it. I of course added a few things, but it is perfect. The fried rice I make is also better than any other take out fried rice I've had. Jack and I have made this twice this past week and are making it again tomorrow evening it's that good. Best part is you can easily make this for just two people.

Sweet and sour chicken Ingredients: (makes a little over 2 servings)

• 2 boneless chicken breast cut into small cubes
• 1/2 cup of corn starch
• 1 egg

Sauce:

• 1/4 cup of sugar
• 2 tablespoons of ketchup
• 1/4 cup white vinegar
• 1 tbs soy sauce
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 tbs chili paste

Step 1: After cutting the chicken into small pieces put it into a strainer. Crack one egg over the chicken and pour on a good amount of the cornstarch. Mix it all together with your hands.

Step 2: Pan fry the chicken with a little bit of oil and pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees. You don't want the chicken to cook all the way through just enough so it's browned.

Step 3: While the chicken is pan frying mix together the ingredients for the sweet and sour sauce.

Step 4: After the chicken is browned pour it into a small baking dish and pour the sweet and sour sauce over the top.

Step 5: Get a glass of water and fill it half way with water and half with corn starch and mix it together. Pour a little bit of the mixture into the chicken. Put it in the oven and bake it for about 45 minutes checking on it periodically. If the sauce doesn't look thick enough pour more of the water/cornstarch mixture into it.

That's it! It's super easy to make and is perfect for a quick meal.

Fried Rice Ingredients: This only takes about 5-10 minutes to make so I usually start after the chicken has been in the oven for 25 minutes.

• 1-2 cups leftover rice
• chopped carrots
• chopped peas
• 3 garlic cloves chopped
• chopped yellow onions
• 2-3 scrambeled eggs
• soy sauce
• sesame oil
• chili garlic paste

Step 1: Pour a little bit of oil in a frying pan and let it heat up. Then pour the rice in and mush it down. It will be a little difficult and take some effort. 

Step 2: After the rice has cooked down a bit pour in the peas and carrots. Let that cook a little bit before putting in the onions. 

Step 3: Push the rice to one side and pour in the scrambled eggs on the other. Let it cook then mix it all together.

Step 4: Throw in the garlic then put in enough soy sauce so that the rice turns brown. Mix in the chili garlic paste then right before you're done cooking throw in a couple dashes of the sesame oil. Sesame oil burns really fast so you want to just pour it on mix it then take it off the stove immediately.

New Layout!

I just wanted to share with every one my new layout for my blog. So long leopard print hello shabby chic roses. Don't get me wrong leopard print will always be my favorite, but I have a feeling I may be going a little overkill with it. I made this discovery while sitting in my leopard print chair at my leopard print desk wearing my leopard print scarf digging through my leopard print bag. I may have an addiction this is phase one. I'm also more than in love with shabby chic anything I love the patterns and I love the decor. I want to have more shabby chic things, but have yet to acquire any.

3 Months

Mariah turned 3 months old last Friday and I can't believe it. Time really does go by too quickly. These days are so much fun though; Mariah is such a smiley and happy girl, she thinks everything is funny. She's finally starting to hit at her toys which is pretty exciting, but hasn't quite grasped the concept of grabbing onto them. I'm assuming this ability will come within the next couple of weeks. It's amazing how much fun it is to watch her brain grow and develop. She's recently discovered her feet which she will stare at forever and it's so cute. I'm still just as thrilled to be a mom as I was the day she was born and can't imagine my life without her.

There have also been several new developments in my life. My family and I have recently decided that on May 1st Jack, Mariah, and I will be moving in to their basement to save money for a wedding and a down payment on a house. While it will be very crowded I'm pretty excited to start planning the wedding and purchase our first home. It will also be nice to see my family so often.

I also want to announce that since Mariah's birth I have officially lost 45 pounds! I finally can squeeze into my pre pregnancy jeans, and am back into the 100's again. I couldn't be more excited, even though I have a long way to go from here it's good to see that my hard work is paying off so well.