Wedding Words

These two articles of mine appeared in the spring/summer 2010 edition of Houston Brides, the publication I was the editor of in Houston and which is now edited by the lovely Holly Crawford. I love writing bridal and enjoy contributing to my magazine back home! (Click images twice to enlarge and read.)

 

Spring Rally!

Spring. Rally. Work. Beer. Friends. Fun.

That about sums up the past five days! I spent the better half of this week doing some writing for several bridal magazines before our friend, Anand, arrived from Houston on Wednesday. We showed him around town a little bit last night after dinner at the Ferryhill House Hotel. (This time I tried something new and got the apricot crusted pork chops and they were delish!) It's always fun having a group of Americans to pal around with over here, we had a great time doing a little bar hopping, enjoying a couple Coors Lights and trying to figure out what "sassage" is. Oh, and we may have indulged in our favorite drink at Soul known as TVR, aka tequila, vodka, Red Bull. It comes by the pitcher = trouble.

I'm not one to chronicle my outfits but after I got ready to head out, I realized I had managed to wear hot pink, bright yellow and turquoise all in one! White jacket and turquoise ring are from Primark, yellow top from Zara, jeans are Top Shop, bag is Debenhams, boots are old ones from Kohl's, turquoise bracelet made by my friend Lisa and brown/gold braided bracelet is Chan Luu. Whew, I am a walking posterchild for Aberdeen shops, ha.

Mike took one look at me and said I must be trying to will springtime into existence. I guess it worked, because the blue skies were in full force this morning as I headed out with my boss and his wife to the VIP Day for the Granite City Rally. It was organized by my boss' company, h-events, and hosted by Station Garage Mitsubishi. Basically, someone had a rally track created on their land specifically for this event. It's layout includes several "pieces" of road inspired by other rally tracks around the country, I believe. Clients arrived and slurped up their coffee and bacon rolls before shimmying into a flattering orange flame-retardant suit and getting their turn in a car around the track. Professional rally drivers did the honors, rattling everyone through the gravel road at breakneck speeds with some breakneck turns. I will admit to gripping the sides of my seat a little tight during my turn, but I kept my bacon roll down!! It was amazing to actually watch a driver manuever through such an intense track. I told my guy that it would be a really bad day if he ever got car sick!

While I was at the rally, the guys were enjoying the weather as well and played a round of golf just outside Aberdeen. Mike's still working on improving his swing so he can play at St. Andrews this summer!

I got a few good pictures of the trees and flowers which are gradually welcoming the change in season. It's so exciting to see the landscapers out and about re-planting trees, green bushes, mowing the grass and arranging flowers. Every day that it's sunny outside, there are kids playing in the park across the street from us. And I think I may have actually gotten a slight sunburn on my face from today... GASP!!!!! CAN IT BE TRUE!?!?!

Tomorrow it's back to work for a long day at the official Granite City Rally, then Sunday it's more writing then work as usual next week before we're off to London! I am really looking forward to eating at Gordon Ramsay's pub and, most of all, seeing the Phantom of the Opera sequel!!!!!!!!!! Hope everyone has a nice weekend and enjoys the weather. Don't forget to wear your seatbelt.

Two Peas in a Pod

I had the pleasure of writing a wedding feature for a couple from Lanarkshire in Scotland. The article just came out in the summer 2010 edition of Real Life Weddings, published by the Scottish Wedding Directory out of Glasgow. (Click on the images twice to enlarge for reading size.) I love the illustration they came up to go with my title!

My Recipes: Spicy Sausage Pasta

Last week, I was totally craving some spicy pasta sauce with sausage... similar to the Penne Trattoria I had at Little Italy restaurant here in Aberdeen. But instead of the heavy cream sauce, mushrooms and pepperoni sausage, I made do with a slightly healthier, slightly homemade version.

1 bag penne pasta
1 package beef sausage, chopped
4 pieces streak bacon, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
Extra virgin olive oil
4 garlic cloves, chopped
2 tablespoons marinated red pepper flakes
2 cans (14 oz) chopped tomatoes
Hot sauce (Cholula or favorite brand)
Lawrys Seasoning Salt
Shredded cheese
Salt & pepper

Heat a medium-size pot over medium high heat then drizzle in olive oil. Add bacon, onion and garlic and cook till bacon is done. (Can be crispy or not.) While that mixture is cooking, drizzle chopped sausage with hot sauce and sprinkle with Lawrys. Next, add chopped tomatoes, red pepper flakes and sausage to pot, seasoning with salt and pepper. Cover and simmer 20 minutes or until sausage is done.

In the meantime, bring salty water to a boil then add penne pasta and cook until al dente. When sausage/tomato sauce is ready, pour a hefty helping over a bowl of pasta and top with cheese! Best served with candlelight and wine. ;-)

Blooming Beautiful

I bought a bunch of roses a few days ago and they seem to be blossoming right along with the sunny days we've been lucky enough to have lately. I love having fresh flowers in the house whenever I can. Pretty soon, Scotland will be in full bloom itself - literally - with all their beautiful landscaping and annual countrywide flower contests.

The roses I have remind me of the flowers I used in my wedding, especially my bridesmaid bouquets:

And while we're on the subject of my wedding, here's some of my favorite shots, new and old. (Mike and I had wedding portraits taken 3 years after we tied the knot!)

"There are no rules for good photographs,
there are only good photographs."

~Ansel Adams