Engagement Party

Woah what a busy week it's been! Super sad that we weren't able to post about this sooner, but we just last week had our engagement party.

Our families had only briefly met this past december for Kara's concert, and we really wanted them to meet again before we get married. With her family going on vacation in early August, our friends wedding on the 22nd, and her cousin/bridesmaid Abby leaving for college the 25th, we narrowed it down to the only possible day! That was easy enough!

Kara and I at the party

So what to do? Let me tell you this "getting married stuff" is a lot of work. Between the booking a venue, getting food, a photographer, music, tents, decor, flowers, a dress etc., you have to do the same with an engagement party, rehearsal dinner, bridal shower, and bachelorette/bachelor party. The last three we don't really have to worry about planning, but still that's a lot of stuff for all parties involved!


So for other couples going through the same thing this was our thought process.


1st: Where do we have it?
2nd: When do we have it?
3rd: What kind of food do we get?
4th: What kind of atmosphere do we want?
PS Picking invitations, decor.. all that $$$ fun stuff


Originally we were going to throw the party at a location either upstate by her family or by mine. Honestly, we were going to do whichever was cheaper. The best ideas we had were an outdoor/tent gathering upstate catered by Dinosaur BBQ (one of our favorite places) or at this nice restaurant in Staten Island by my family and friends where my sister had her bridal party.

But in the middle of planning my mom and dad surprised us and insisted that they wanted to throw us an engagement party! We were so grateful, and after discussing everything we decided on the latter idea! We feel so lucky and thankful that they offered to do this for us.

Kara and I with our parents

Now, we had a date and a place! Luckily for us the venue had a really good selection of food and preconceived menus, so it literally was just picking off a list what we wanted.

The Menu

As for atmosphere, my mother took care of the little details. She really knows Kara's style and what she likes -- her decorations were spot on. The only thing we were asked to do was have a playlist and speakers for background music. We made one on Spotify and used the month long free premium upgrade so there weren't commercials! 

Some of the decorations

My mom and dad had my sister and my cousin Lauren help with what was the star of the day, the dessert table! They're all very crafty and super creative. My cousin makes these amazing cookies, displays, and other party favors. She's always designing cool party themes for her kids and her family. You could look at her work HERE and order some of her creations HERE. Instead of describing what they did, I should just show you!

The day went really well! Everyone was out of their seats for the most part drinking and chatting, exactly what we wanted for the party. It's nice knowing everyone is acquainted and they're not all meeting for the first time at the wedding. We took lots of pictures, and got to spend the day with people we adore.

If you want any ideas or advice on what we did for the engagement party leave a comment!

Stay tuned,

K&F

ALS Ice Bucket Challenge

So my good friend Kyle nominated me for the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. If you don't know what it is or what it's for read on.


ALS, short for Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (also known as Lou Gehrig's disease,) is a neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spine. It attacks these nerves rendering them useless and over time you lose all motor function and then you die. There is no cure.



This particular challenge started from a man named Chris Kennedy, a golfer who was challenged only to dump a bucket of ice water on his head and donate to a charity of his choosing, chose to donate to ALS. Eventually the challenge grew and reached a man who suffers with the disease, Pete Frates, who then sparked the trend to go viral.

Feature from ESPN about Pete and his battle

You dump a bucket of ice water on yourself and donate to ALS, or whatever charity for that matter, and challenge the next group of people if you wish to. It's because of Pete Frates that so many have given to ALS.

If that didn't break your heart please watch this video past the Ice Challenge and listen to Anthony, a man my age speak about ALS.

So I accepted the challenge and donated. Here is my video!

I did it with my friends Omar and Ricky in a local park in Brooklyn. If you want to partake but haven't been nominated, don't wait and just do it. Do anything! Pour some ice water on yourself, run a marathon, bring awareness, donate time or money to something you believe in!



Stay tuned,

K&F

Breakfast in Bed, Shopping, and Date Day!

Hi! Long time no chat! :)

*I had a post a while ago that I never finished editing, so I figured I would upload it now, before I bombard you with our massive Engagement Party post!*

The first weekend back from our vacation was spent doing lots of CHORES! Laundry, writing/sending thank you notes, unpacking, organizing, etc..One chore in particular was kind of fun though! We decided on Saturday to go to the mall in search of our lovely engagement party outfits for the following weekend! But before we did so, Frank was the sweetest guy alive and made me breakfast in bed! French toast to be exact. :)

It was delicious. Also! Theres my cutie new Outerbanks mug that I love! I'm pretty particular about mugs (just like my mom), where I like a thick handle and a large "lip" on the cup so I dont spill my coffee as easily. haha.. and this ones perfect! Love it.

Afterwards, we dressed and went out in search of our perfect outfits on Staten Island. You'll see the chosen outfits in our following blog post from our engagement party!

Outfit choosing took a very LONG time, and we were really starting to get "hangry" (hungry + angry) after about 4 hours of shopping. Finally, we just snagged up what we thought would work best and LEFT. I would be quite content with not going to a mall for a significantly long time now. We definitely had our fill. :)

As previously stated, I was getting SUPER hangry, so we decided to stop at this sort of "out there" restaurant on Staten Island called "The Lunchbox." It was really cool! Lots of exposed pipes, and bright colors, and mini tin lunchboxes adorning the walls. Not to mention, the food was insane! One of the things on the menu was a fried milky way candy bar...Like... are we for real right now? There was even a fruity pebbles milkshake! Of course we didn't get dessert because we were stuffed from our meals, but it really was a funky place and I enjoyed our little date.

..I took a "Lunchbox Selfie." 

Once we finally made it home, we popped some popcorn, poured a glass of wine, and watched some of our favorite T.V. shows in bed. Perfect ending to a very interesting day :)

Stay tuned for our next adventure!!

K & F

Outerbanks Edition: Pt 2

As you may know from Frank's previous blog post, that we have just gotten back from a week long vacation in the Outerbanks! It was amazing to say the least. On Friday the 25th we packed our car at midnight and left in the wee hours of the morning for our adventure. We met up with the rest of the family at a Rest Stop in New Jersey, where we exchanged walkie talkies for the 8.5 hr drive. My dad always makes inappropriate and hysterical jokes on the walkie talkies, and the whole family just chats the entire ride down. 

View from the back deck

beach strolls..

but first.. let me take a selfie? lol.

Once we arrived, and unpacked our bags, we ordered pizza, went to my favorite place ever: the BrewThru, and chilled at the beach. I shared a room with my cousins Kasey, Abby, and Bridgett, while Frank was in the boy room with my cousin Kieran, my brother Alex, Abby's BF Will, and a family friend James. It was funny, Frank and I haven't slept a part from each other for that long in a REALLY long time.

That night, I was really too excited to wait, so I asked some of my cousins to be in my bridal party. It was so cute, and I am so happy to share this special moment in time with them.. there are a few other girls to be asked, but so far we've got my cousin Kasey as the Maid of Honor, my cousin Abby and Bridgett as Bridesmaids, my future SIL Nikole as a bridesmaid, and my two sisters Megan and Brooke as Jr. Bridesmaids! Yay! Here's two samples of how I asked them: I ordered these adorable knot rings from Etsy, and inside each box I wrote, "Will you help me tie the knot and be my ... " They loved it! :)

For the entirety of vacation, we really just CHILLED and played a ton of games. It was awesome. Here's a shot of us playing a good ole game of "Asshole." 

Haha.. I was an asshole for at least 10 games that night, and Frank was President for a while until Kasey took over. Loved playing.. it was so fun!

Basically, all day/night long we drank, ate, and chilled at the beach.. Couldn't have asked for a better time!

Franko catching some waves..

smooching on the beach..

beach selfie

my favorite beach bud <3

Frank and I were the designated cooks for Friday nights dinner so on Thursday while it was overcast, we snuck out for a bit to go out on a date for lunch, do some grocery shopping, and shop for some goodies.  

We ended up going to a sweet little restaurant in town that was right on the water. Very romantic :) We shared some Fried Green Tomatoes, I had a grilled chicken sandwich for lunch, and Frank had a burger. I didn't get a pic of the food because we were ravenous, but heres where we were.. 

View from our table

Afterwards, we went to WINGS where we both bought some cool looking coffee mugs and cozy shirts. I'll insert photos of them later. 

While driving to the grocery store, I noticed a sign with big letters that spelled out SALT WATER TAFFY! Needless to say....

I got some. 

Friday was a rainy day, so the adults went out to a fancy lunch and the older kids decided to go out for a copious amount of junk food.

#TacoBell #DairyQueen #KFC #foodcoma #diabetes #sorrynotsorry

 Dont judge us. Then we went back to the house where we pigged out and watched The Truman Show in the Movie Theatre Room. After that, Frank and I made our dinner! For dinner we made our "Crack Pasta," which is bowtie pasta with a creamy alfredo sauce, with peas, bacon, white onion, and spicy peppers. For dessert we served angel foodcake with butter pecan icecream, and macerated raspberries, strawberries, and blueberries..and whipped cream :) The family loved it and a majority even asked for recipes, which is hysterical because I actually didn't like the way it turned out..Normally I make this dinner for two, not 24,  and I felt like the spices were totally off! Either way, I'm glad they really liked it.

Saturday was another rainy day, so we just spent time relaxing and playing games. Later on in the day I had my mom take a few engagement photos for our upcoming intimate engagement party. Sneak peek!

These aren't our official photos, as we'll most likely take them in the fall to match with our wedding foliage! 

 By around 10:30pm on Saturday night we decided to hit the road back home. We arrived at 7am on Sunday :) Back to the grind at work on Monday! Woo! lol.

Loved spending time with my amazing fam. OBX '14!

Stay Tuned,

K & F

OBX Edition: Part 1

So every summer for the past 16 years, Kara's family goes to the Outer Banks in North Carolina, also known as OBX. They rent a house on (or near) the beach, which is the main draw of OBX.

Now, Kara's family is the equivalent in numbers to a small countries army, so they get quite a large house to fit the brigade. It's a really good time where everyone either lounges by the pool or to the beach to read, swim in the ocean, or drink catch some rays.

Kara's Family, and that's not even everyone!!!

Kara and I really love spending time with her family, and everyone is very close. That's really what make the vacations great. Even just sitting around and talking is fun. Everyone has a great sense of humor.

This year we had our first ever Kan Jam tournament. My future BIL Alex, and Kara's cousin Abby's bf Will put it all together and made some pretty official brackets. If you don't know what Kan Jam is or how to play it (like me,) check out www.kanjam.com.

KAN JAM

I was teamed up with Kara's other cousin Kieran, and at first our chances looked bleak. I mean I was bad. Real bad. Like, I can't remember the last time I threw a frisbee bad. But after a game and a pep talk from the future Mrs. I got pretty good! So much so that we made the finals against the guys who started the tournament!

Photos courtesy of John Benchimol

Kieran and I

Future Mrs. coaching me from the sidelines

Action shot of yours truly: Look at the FORM!

Victory celebration

We had so much fun and relaxed HARD. It always stinks to leave, but it makes us that much more excited for the next time!

Stay tuned,

K & F