All You Need is Love

Our 3rd Wedding Anniversary

“Love is the emblem of eternity, it confounds all notion of time, effaces all memory of a beginning, all fear of an end”

— Germaine De Stael

When I awoke on the morning of our anniversary, I was greeted by a lovely bag on our dinning room table. Now, the 3rd anniversaries symbol is leather and Justin did quite good if you ask me. His gift to me was two leather handbags wrapped in the cutest polka dot paper with a card nestled on top.

I'm quite in love with these purses because of the great detailing they have. I'm a sucker for a structured top handle bag and the little gold bow accent gives the purse the perfect finishing touch.

When Justin arrived home he gave me these beautiful roses and told me the meaning he thought of behind the three colors. Going from white, to pink, and finally red, the colors represent the deepening of our love over the years. How romantic! I was also surprised by the little snack he got for me. Cinnamon sugar covered almonds. An absolute favorite of mine to snack on.

I really could not have asked for a better anniversary. Between our time in the Finger Lakes to our little celebration at home, everything was perfect and I feel completely lucky to have someone so special and loving as my husband.

Chelsea always likes to get in on the action!

Good Eats

Italian Wedding Soup

Since both my parents and I share wedding anniversaries so close to one another, theirs is September 22nd and mine September 24th, I decided to make Italian Wedding Soup in honor of the celebrations. This was also the soup served at our reception dinner. A favorite with everyone and sure to be a smash at your next dinner, here is the classic recipe. Bon appetit!

Ingredients:

• 1 large egg
  

• 1 lb lean ground beef
  

• 1/4 cup chopped Italian parsley
  

• 1/2 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
  

• 2 tbsp olive oil
  

• 1 pkg mirepoix
  

• 2 cartons chicken stock
  

• 1/3 fresh chopped escarole
  

• 1/2 cup acini di pepe pasta
  

• Salt and pepper to taste
  

• Parmesan Cheese
  

Directions:

1. Beat egg slightly in medium bowl; add ground beef, parsley, and bread crumbs. Mix well with clean hands. I also added some cheese into the mix. Form into small meatballs, using about 1tsp ground beef mixture for each.
2. Brown meatballs on all sides in olive oil in a pan on medium, about 5 min. Remove meatballs; drain off all but 1 tbsp pan drippings.
3. Add mirepoix; reduce heat to medium-low. Cover; cook, stirring occasionally, 6-8 min, until veggies are soft, but not browned.
4. Add meatballs and stock; bring to a boil on high. Lower heat to medium and simmer for 5 min. Ass escarole; return to simmer on medium-high. Add pasta; let simmer about 5 min until pasta is tender.
5. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Garnish each serving with grated cheese.

Travel Log

3 Year Wedding Anniversary to the Finger Lakes

Today marks my three year wedding anniversary and what better way to celebrate than by looking back at some wonderful memories from our trip to the finger lakes a couple weeks ago. Justin and I decided to take our anniversary trip a little early this year and it turned out to be spectacular. The finger lakes have beautiful sweeping landscapes to gaze upon, which comprises of what Justin and I do while visiting. We love to simply drive around and relax while taking in all of the scenery around us. Of course we do visit our favorite winery Bully Hill and stock up on Ravot 51, our favorite wine that has pineapples in it and quite a sweet flavor. Other than that we love to have little picnics around the lakes, do some antique shopping, and try the local cuisine. The golden rod was flourishing and added an Autumn feel to the gorgeous views. Let's not forget the fabulous waterfalls the finger lake region has to offer as well. This year we got to see a new one for us, Ithaca Falls, pictured last. Also, you'll see I made a new little friend while having our picnic. All in all we had a wonderful time with so many memories filled with love. I feel so luck to be married to my best friend.

A quick little history for us, Justin and I took our "mini moon" to the finger lakes the weekend after we were married. I had started a new job and was not able to take any time off. We still wanted to go somewhere to celebrate so we chose a small weekend trip to the finger lakes. We eventually took our big honeymoon trip six months later to Florida, but have always had a special place in our hearts for this New York region. We also took our one year anniversary to the finger lakes and now our three year as well.

This is from our mini moon in 2011

Celebrating our one year anniversary in 2012