Drive-in Movie Theater

I just found these pics from a couple of months ago (actually probably more like half a year!), when Peter and I went to the drive-in theater in San Jose.  We stuffed pillows and blankets into the back of my car (don't worry, nothing scandalous happened!), brought a picnic, and enjoyed a couple of cheaply priced kid movies!

It was a surprise date, and Peter had already prepared everything - how romantic!

yay for hatchbacks!

are you really taking a picture of me right now?

I don't think Brazil has any drive-in theaters, but if they did I probably wouldn't go... too many bugs!

Cute prints

Someday I'd like to order these prints for my home.  Aren't they adorable?

All photos from ConfettieLove

You can find more cities in her Etsy shop, ConfettieLove.

Disclaimer: This post was NOT sponsored and, in fact, the artist has no idea who I am!  I stumbled upon her artwork while browsing Etsy, and I found her prints to be so cute, I just had to share! :)

Homemade Mac and Cheese

I made this recipe for a friend the other day, and she mentioned not realizing that mac and cheese could be so easy to make without a blue box.  So I thought I'd share the recipe for anyone else out there who hasn't realized the yumminess of homemade mac and cheese!

***Make the sauce while your macaroni is cooking.***

First, splash some milk into a small pot and turn the stove on low.  Add in your cheese of choice.  I chose parmesan, already grated.  If you like the sauce to be thicker, add more cheese.  Remember, it will thicken as it cools.

Whisk your milk and cheese together while it starts warming up.

Add in your favorite spice.  I sprinkled in two pinches of red pepper flakes.  Keep stirring until the cheese is melted and there are no clumps.

Drizzle over cooked pasta (I use gluten-free).  As it cools, the sauce will thicken.

The great thing about mac and cheese is its versatility.  You can mix in sausage, chicken, veggies, anything.  Or serve it as a side at your next meal.

Homemade cooking is easier than people realize.  It takes the same amount of time to make homemade mac and cheese as it does to cook it from a box.  This way it's healthier and yummier!

Thanks for reading!

Bouquet Toss

Still finding pics I haven't posted of the wedding, three months later.  Why not enjoy it as long as I can?  Won't be a newlywed forever!

See more wedding pics: 

cake

 guest book

ceremony

decorations

mrs. & mrs.

family

bridal party

dad and daughter

the kiss

groom

P.S.

Interim THANK YOU.

San Francisco at Dusk

A couple of months ago, Peter and I spent a fun day in San Francisco.  You can see the pics here.  I was looking through my phone and found this random pic.  I kinda like it.

City of God - Youth Choir Performance

Last week the youth choir from the school did a performance at a care center in "City of God" (Cidade de Deus), a large slum in Rio.  I'm not teaching yet, but the director asked me if I would play violin for one song that had a fiddle part.  I agreed and went with them on this little field trip.

From what I understand, this care center is run by a church and provides after-school care for local students who have less-than-desirable home lives.  The public school system in Brazil is such that students either go in the morning or in the afternoon, but not both.  So this facility is really a before-school and after-school center.

I thought these plastic bottle flowers were adorable, and I am intent on creating my own!

Monkey see, monkey do, then ten other monkeys do, too!

These pictures are from several weeks ago.  I've been slacking on posting, but in my defense, we've been through a lot in the past couple of weeks!  There was major drama at the school that was stressing us out, and our apartment was under construction.  I was trying my hardest to stay out of the apartment, both so that I wouldn't get depressed by how dirty it was, and so that I wouldn't get dirty myself while they were tearing it apart!

We found these monkeys at a park in Barra.  I think they are both ugly and cute at the same time.

I had a bad peach that I didn't want, so I put it on the ground for the monkeys.

One came over.

Soon there were two...

then three...

then four...

then five...

then six.

This is just so you can see how long their tails are.

Several watched from the trees.

(Count them plus the ones on the ground and you could call it a posse of monkeys!)

This guy got tired of the other guys barging in on his peach, so he ran off with it.

Peter felt bad for the peach-less ones, so he gave them grapes.  Soon he was swarmed by monkeys, so we hastily ran away!  We really shouldn't have been messing with them, because they can get aggressive and have been known to bite.  

Moral of the story is - these tiny monkeys look cute, and we got some good pictures out of it, but we must advise that you not feed them, because they can be mean.  Also, once you start feeding one, a dozen others will show up, and soon you'll be out of food.

Apartment in progress

You might remember the "before" pics of our apartment...  It was pretty bad.  Well, here are some updates we've done since then.  I won't show you our bedroom or the "office" quite yet.  :)

So, I must admit, I don't like the color red.  However, the couches were free...so... you take what you can get.  Also, the rugs are good quality and they were the only colors that would possibly match at all.  So now I'm trying to figure out what to put on the walls and hang over the window to minimize the redness.

Also, the map is taped to the wall in such a way that if I try to take it down, it not only rips, but leaves a residue on the wall behind.  So now I'm trying to figure out how to steam it off without getting injured... (We like maps, just not wrinkly, ripped ones)

My Wedding Cake

Here it is, three months later, and I'm still posting pictures of my wedding!  It's fun to relive it and look at the pictures again, because we currently don't have any on display yet!

As with most things about my wedding, I didn't want the cake to be super traditional.  I don't particularly like cake (although I don't not like it), and I felt that a huge, multi-tiered cake wouldn't be appropriate for the setting and theme of the wedding.  I decided that instead of providing expensive cake (and, let's be honest, most people don't actually like wedding cake, do they?), we would serve other types of desserts.  We had multiple types of cookies, lemon bars and brownies.  Actually, to be completely honest, I didn't even eat anything at my wedding, so I'm not even sure what types of desserts we ended up with!!!  We had to have at least one small cake for us to cut and feed each other, because that was one of the few "traditional" wedding reception things we did!

I decided on wedding decor that included lots of roses.  When I stumbled upon this pin, I knew I wanted to include a rosebud cake:

tiny cake, from Objetivo Cupcake Perfecto

I also knew that it needed to be gluten-free, since I would be eating it.  So I found this recipe for Brown Butter Strawberry Cake via the gorgeous blog, Roost.

My mom actually made the cake and a bakery in Brawley decorated it!

I think it turned out perfectly beautiful!

The great thing about making your own wedding cake is that it will be super easy to recreate in the following years!  You can make exactly what you had on your wedding day any time you feel like reliving the moment!

Would you (or have your mom) make your own wedding cake???