The best thing about a grille is that it is so versatile. I love the classic hamburgers and hotdogs on the grille, but if I was to invite friends and family over, I would like to do something different for them. To start off, I would make one off my favorite recipes I got from Bon Appetit a few years back: Mozzarella- stuffed Portabello mushrooms. The entree would be fresh individual pizzas on the grill. Each person can choose their own toppings. I always make a side of grilled vegetables, and people can eat them on the side or put them on their pizzas. Every now and then I like to grill fruit and top it with icecream, but I think an ice cream sundae bar would continue the DIY fun.
To keep things light and refeshing, I would have an ice bucket full of seasonal and local beers and for wine, a crisp sauvignon blanc and a spicy chianti

Stuffed Mushroom Recipe
Ingredients
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
3 garlic cloves, minced, divided
6 large portobello mushrooms, stemmed

1 1/2 cups panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup chopped green onions
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
1/4 cup ( 1/2 stick) butter, melted

Whisk oil, 2 tablespoons vinegar, and 1 garlic clove in small bowl for marinade. Using spoon, scrape out gills from mushrooms and place mushrooms on rimmed baking sheet. Brush marinade over both sides of mushrooms, arrange hollow side up, and let stand at room temperature 30 minutes.
Prep
Prepare barbecue (medium heat). Mix panko, next 5 ingredients, and remaining 2 garlic cloves in medium bowl. Drizzle butter and remaining teaspoon vinegar over panko mixture and toss. Divide panko mixture among mushrooms, leaving 1/2-inch border around edges and packing down slightly. Place mushrooms on grill, stuffing side up; cover grill and cook until cheese melts and juices bubble at edges of mushrooms, rearranging mushrooms occasionally for even cooking (do not turn over), about 6 minutes.

Grilled Vegetables
Ingredients
1 each Green, Red, Yellow, Orange Pepper
1 each Zuchinni and Summer Squash
1 Red Onion
1 Eggplant (Japanese if you can find it)
1 package large Mushrooms (they tend to shrink) or 2 portabellos
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
what ever fresh herbs you have handy (thyme, basil, or parsley works well)
kosher salt and fresh black pepper.

Prep:
Toss vegetables in olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Add Salt and Pepper. Once grill is hot, add vegetables in a single layer. Wait about 5 minutes and turn vegetables once. If certain vegetables are close to being done, remove them from the grill after 2-3 minutes. Leave the rest on for an additional 3 minutes or until cooked through. They taste great as is, but some people like to add more balsamic vinegar or olive oil at the end.

Grilled Pizzas

Ingredients
Store bought pizza dough set out at room temperature
can diced tomatoes
mozzarella cheese
fresh basil
prosciutto
grilled vegetables

Prep
Stretch the dough out as much as possible, put olive oil on one side and put on the hot grill, olive oil side down. Close the lid for 2-3 minutes. Flip Dough and add toppings. Let cook until cheese has melted and you are done!

Make Your Own Sundae is kind of a no brainer, isn’t it? = )

As for entertainment, what could be more fun than make your own meal?

My potential cake (blue flowers in leiu of pink)

Now, there is new way cake places can make money. The Groom’s cake is gaining popularity. Since the wedding cake usually has a vanilla frosting, the groom’s cake is usually chocolate. While the wedding cake is designed to encompass the theme of the wedding, the groom’s cake is usually a fun cake that illustrates something original about the groom.
Whether it is cupcakes or Wedding cakes. I love how fun and different wedding cakes have become. There are so many choices from elegent, modern, traditional, funky, colorful, even topsy turvy. It is a great statement showing the personality of the couple.

The next question was how much has Ken injected himself into the wedding plans? Other than those few comments, getting information about what he wants can be like pulling teeth. He wants it to be special for me and wants me to do what ever I want. After a few months of us both “what ever you want”ing to eachother, we finally sat down and decided what we both wanted. In the end, it wasn’t a compromise beacuse we wanted to same important things. Neither one of us wanted to spend crazy amounts of money and we both just wanted our close friends and family. Easy!

I don’t show him every center piece I am looking at or every bouquet I see, but I want his final okay on most decisons. He usually gives the dutiful head nod and that is the end. But overall, since we are doing a destination wedding, we had to decide what we both wanted. We are doing the beach wedding I wanted and he will wear a nice suit. We are inviting all of his friends around the country and hopefully they can be there for the special day. It will be a nice affair in Key West to make it worth the travel, but we are also having the casual gathering on the beach I wanted in the following summer. When I asked his opinion on the general plans he said ” if there something I didn’t like, I would have told you”. So, he has free reign if he wants, but it doesn’t seem like he does. But…I guess it is the thought that counts.

You have been asked to coordinate a summer picnic/party as a means to get you and your fiance’s relatives together, wanting them all to get to know one another better. For this topic, you are being asked to “plan” either a day-long event, or afternoon into the evening event for your picnic/party. Think of a theme, menu (including the recipes), décor, invitations, location, events, etc., to share and help readers envision what your hoopla of a day will be like. Coordinate this event with the premise that money is no obstacle for you.
our other choice was to describe the same day sans money. well, that is not very much fun because I plan enough things in my life on a budget! Imaginary bogging is not the time!

so…my day of imaginary festivities would begin with everyone coming down for a big breakfast. I love the kitchen in Wedding Crashers where the dozens of houseguests come down at their own pace for a leisurly breakfast/brunch. ( I need to be rich to house these few dozen house guests) There is no better way to get to know people than in their jammies and slippers. The day would progress with a golf tournament at a nice golf course. It would definately be a scramble so all the terrible players like myself could still have fun. I love the wacky tournaments that no one takes to seriously and there is blatent cheating going on. These are always fun and everyone seems to have a role to play. The families can get intermixed and each team would have a chance to get to know each other.
After golf, everyone is invited to get cleaned up and head back to the house with a great big lawn overlooking the beach and gardens with a large patio with a fire pit. The decor is simple. It is outside with twinkling lights in the bushes, fresh flowers scattered about in bunches, and cozy sitting areas set up outside. There will be ice buckets full of local beers and good wine. There will be large picnic tables outside set with casual settings and fresh flowers. The food will be fresh local produce put out family style. Local Greens salad with a sweet homemade vinaigrette, fresh baked bread from the local bakery, mussles prepared in a white wine broth, softshell clams simply steamed, and great cuts of meat fresh off the grill. Even though no one has room, there will be blueberry crisp and fresh icecream as well as a few chocolate desserts as well. Guests will linger over dinner with after dinner drinks and coffee, laughing about the golf tournament or finding out how much they all have in common. Luckily no one has very far to go ( it was good wine afterall), and guests head upstairs for the night.

1. If your marriage brings forth children, how do you expect it to impact the marriage?

Ken and I plan on having children. I say three, he says two…we are still communicating that conversation. I know that kids is going to change the dynamics of our relationship. Children can be very rewarding, but I have also heard how straining they can be on the parents. People who have been around me in the past few months might be sick of hearing me talk about my dog, but I do think he is a good indicator of how Ken and I will handle children. It is at a much lesser degree, I know that….I am not comparing my dog to a child…(his teeth are too sharp and he is way too fuzzy), but I have seen a change in our dynamics.
First off, a lot less sleep. Getting up every few hours to take him out, always watching him to make sure he doesn’t get into trouble, and never getting to just sit down and relax unless the little guy is sleeping. It is exhausting! I am not as energized, I am less motivated to do things around the house. Personal hygine has taken a break too. I don’t mean in an overly gross way, just I am not as worried about make up, putting in the contacts or making sure my clothes match as I am always taking the dog out in the rain and at the crack of dawn. I don’t feel like a sexy confident 27 year old with an oversized bag full of chew toys, treats, and a leash with mud streaks down the sides of my pants.
Ken comes home and I am more excited that it is his turn to watch the puppy for a bit, instead of the long embrace and long kiss we always shared walking in the door. When I walk in the door, Ken gets a quick kiss, but the wiggling puppy gets a sqeal and hugs and kisses, and rubs, and more hugs and kisses and rubs. Fair? Not really. But don’t a lot of parents do the same? Moms become so focused on their kids that the primary relationship gets pushed to the side? It is sad that it takes thought, but I think to linger over that kiss and hug Ken extra long to show how much I appreciate him and all he does.
We don’t go out to dinner or go to the movie without us worrying about the little guy at home. We are concerned that everything in the house is a choking hazard and I rarely have a conversation with my family that does not involve his recent poop activity. Lastly, I am convinced that everyone is as excited about his every achievement as Ken and I are! sounds like a kid to me.
I am trying to pay careful attention to how ken and I are behaving with the dog and looking for any negative habits that either of us might be falling into. Life with children can be very rewarding and be the happiest time of a person’s life. But people do best when they are balanced. It will be important for Ken and I to keep our own relationship strong once we begin another relationship with the newer additions to the family.

If I had won the lottery, it would defnately change my life in a material way. I would like to think that I would stay the same person and still have a close bond with my friends and family. I would like to use the winnings to make life a little easier for those around me as well as myself.

I always told myself that I would continue to work. I love teaching and it creates a wonderful sense of purpose. I have read that feeling needed and useful is the number one key to happiness. More than Money. Besides, I think I am pretty good at it and it can be fun. If I didn’t need the money though, I would definately like to do half time teaching and share the schedule with someone else so I could have more time for family and travel. Ken’s dream is still to be a professional golfer and to play on the tours, but he works so many hours he doesn’t have time to practice. If we didn’t have to worry about money, he could focus on his dream full time. Not worrying about money and teaching part time could enable me to actually join him Florida for a few months while he plays and I can get out of the Friggin’ New England winters!!! BRRRRR!!!

My biggest purchase would to be buy a nice big house overlooking the marsh and ocean on the Cape. I’m not a huge beach person, but I am always the happiest looking at the coast and just relaxing. Imagine waking to that everyday! It would be nice to splurge on a fancy weekend in New York City and take an adventure Safari in Africa, but I would most look forward to spending the money on Family, Friends and Charities. Treating Friends to a fun weekend, helping out a family member pay off debt, or placing a downpayment on someone’s home. Making sure our parents can retire and never have to worry about working in their retirement if they don’t want to or making sure someone has the opportunity to go to college.

There are so many wonderful charities to contribute to. There are some that I have given to before that I would just like to increase it a 100 times worth, or some I have never gotten around to contributing too.
I have donated old blankets to shelters and I would like to contribute donations to perfom surgeries and deliver medical attention to animals that need it and either have no owners or they can’t afford to pay. I have had fun putting together a Christmas for a little girl in my town with donations from the community, but that charity dried up last year due to so many families being in need and not enough money. So giving money to make sure that needy families have school supplies and new clothes at the beginning of the school year as well as a few nice christmas presents. Travel always seems to come up in my blogs, but I would like to encourage high school students or middle school students to travel and see other parts of the world in an educational setting. It is so expensive, that few kids can afford to go, but traveling to a different country can open their eyes to how much the world has to offer and how different it can be.
No matter how much money I have, I think I would like to focus on charities that have a direct effect on a person or animal that I can see. There are so many amazing medical charities for diseases and research, but I would like to focus on the individual person or place. I would rather send money to help out a struggling family dealing with cancer or to the ronald mcDonald house opposed to money to the american cancer society.

When I first looked at this question, the feeling down and underdog questions didn’t seem to relate and I wondered why they were put together. The more I thought out my answers, I saw how well they actually fit. That Chrissy (life coach) knows what she is doing.

First, whenever I feel down or get a case of the blues, I like to veg out and be alone for a while, maybe watch a mindless movie. Sometimes it is going for a walk outside and taking an hour to charge up again. Sometimes I daydream and imagine how great life would be if I was a millionaire and day dream about all the places I would go and who I would take with me to share the experience. And how much more fun life would be. Then, I eventually return to the same strategy that usually gets me out of my funk. If only…I had this, If only I got that….I would be happy. I feel like people are always saying it and sometimes I do too. Well, what DO I have is a lot of things to be thankful for. Maybe it sounds arrogant to be happy for all the things I have that other people don’t, but it helps me put my life in perspective how great I really have it. I start counting blessings and things to be grateful for.
I have a loving family that I am extremely close with. I have an amazing fiance with a loveable family. I have wonderful friends and great co-workers. My family is healthy and so am I. I love my job. On a materialistic level, how many people in the world own a house, are lucky enough to have more than enough food, two cars in the driveway, running water, new clothes, and live in a safe environment that doesnt have to worry about dealing with war in my own backyard like so many people do. Since I teach history, I look back on what rights I have as an american and as a woman today that people never had through out history. Even the wealthiest, most privledge classes didn’t have all the perks and opportunities of the average person today. Hot running water? Totally taken for granted! I feel lucky to be living in the time I’m living, and living where I am living. It might seem a little hokey, but it puts things in perspective about how good I really have it. So when I get the case of blues I shake myself out of it by telling me things could be a heck of a lot worse, a lot of people have it a heck of a lot worse, and they might be day dreaming about all the things I have, and are often times taking it for granted. How many people in the world today or through out history want nothing more than their family to be safe, a house to call their own, or to have enough food on the table. Then I feel guilty about wanting much more than that.
Phew…briefly…onto the underdog portion…
I see that the underdog portion relates to getting the blues, because most underdog stories can get anyone out of a funk and make them feel inspired, energized and ready to take on the world. Also, underdog stories are about a person dealing with overwhelming odds. but they have the confidence to try and are optimistic that anything can happen… I had a hard time thinking of any particular story, but I am a sucker for most underdog stories. Whether it is a sports story like Miracle or Seabiscuit, or a story about a regular person taking on an overhwhelming task or quest( or a hobbit like Frodo), I love the rush I get seeing the person succeed. It makes me and I am sure most audieces the feeling that I too, can do anything if I put my mind to it. Usually the euphoric feeling fades as I leave the theater, but everynow and then, it can inspire me to try something new, or give something a shot and just see what happens. You never know. I also like the saying of a hero is an ordinary person placed in extra-ordinary circumstances. That all those famous people in history where just regular people that dealt with something that was handed to them and they rose to the challenge.
ok, I have four minutes to post…enough writing for this week!