Homemade Jewelry Cleaner

Craving: Something sparkly! Diamonds are a girls best friend.

After posting that craving, I am realizing that dogs are actually a girls best friends. But they aren't sparkly. Unless you count their eyes when you take pictures of them and they get all glowy!

I forgot my jewelry cleaner while I was in Alabama.

I LOVE my ring. LOVE it. Charlie got me the exact ring that I always dreamed of, and went beyond any expectations I could ever have in terms of quality etc. With that in mind, I do actually try to clean it as often as I can remember!

Usually with all the cooking and dishes I do, I remember to clean it frequently. I also try to remember to take it off when I put hair cream in or lotion/moisturizer on, but sometimes I forget.

While I was staying with Charlie's sister Sarah, I asked if she had any cleaner and she did not, so while she was at work I decided to put pinterest to some good use.

I totally forgot to take a before picture!

Ingredients:
1 cup of hot water
1 tbs salt
1 tbs baking soda
1 tbs dish soap
dirty ring



Let it soak in for a few minutes:


(I wear my grandmother's band, which is why there are two rings in there).

When it's finished, you can clean it off with a clean toothbrush or tinfoil, or you can just rinse it off with hot water.


The result:


Not the shiniest the ring has ever been, but pretty clean, especially compared to what it was!!!

I definitely recommend just getting jewelry cleaner (in fact, most jewelry stores will give it to you for free).  I usually take my rings off when I shower, and then when I'm finished applying all my lotions etc, the ring is good to go.

Engagement Pictures

Craving: something to check off the wedding to-do list!

Back in February, Charlie got me my dream present for Valentines Day, a Canon Rebel.
AMAZING. I love that I can take professional looking photographs now. Sadly, most of my blog pics are still from my phone, just because I always have it with me.

Our good friend, Ryan Malone, is our wedding photographer, but it was already July 4th and we did not have our engagement pictures. I started getting nervous and decided to ask Charlie's Uncle Will to snap some of us at the family Lake House.

My instructions for Uncle Will? "Just keep clicking, take pictures the whole time."

My instructions for me and Charlie?
1. Look online at engagement pictures and see what you like.
2. Have a beer. Or two. (seriously, this helped us).

There were SO many pictures. SO many. It was so hard to choose a few good ones. Uncle Will did such a great job, Thank you!!!

Here are some of my favorites:

Yes I know the photoshop on that is kinda overdone w/the sepia etc, but I love it!!! We actually chose that picture for our ketubah (Jewish marriage contract), and are having the text that we sign printed over the picture ( I used photoshop to do it, easy-peasy if anybody wants it done), and then we had it printed on a canvas from Sam's Club. Sam's and Costco both do canvas prints and it's much cheaper than going off of etsy.

After our engagement pics (and the two beers) we decided to jump off the dock. Dressed. Two beers in I was still clear enough to realize to change out of my silk shirt and put on a swim top!
Enjoy us jumping in!



Ready???



Set....



Go!







The really funny pictures come next when we jumped in again. I guess when I jumped in the first time my swim suit top fell a bit from the impact. Well on my second jump in, you can see that my hands are....supporting myself, shall we say, the WHOLE WAY DOWN! Hahaha. I didn't even realize I did that, but only Charlie gets to see my girls :-)

4th of July and Lake Martin

Craving: A relaxing, fun, and family filled LAKE!

On July 3rd Charlie and I drove to Lake Martin, which is really close to Auburn. Charlie's grandaddy was a professor there and had a lake house that the family would go to all the time. Uncle Will and his family are now in possession of the house and very warmly invited us to come and join them for a few days. They were even more generous in inviting my mom, sister, and her boyfriend!

Unfortunately, Charlie forgot to check in with Uncle Will and didn't realize they'd be coming on the 4th. Luckily, a bunch of people from Charlie's flight were driving up per his recommendation, and staying at the Creekside Lodge (recommend this place if you are going to Lake Martin!), so we got a room. On The morning of the 4th we woke up and went over to the lake house. We tried to have our picture snapped (excuse the shiny skin, I had just sunscreened myself). Of course Charlie ruined the picture:


So I ruined one back:


The lake house was everything Charlie described it to be and I'm so glad I got to experience it with him since so many of his best memories were spent there.

Uncle Will and his family arrived (with their dog Max!), and Uncle Jim and his family came shortly after. I had such a great time interacting with my "aunts", hanging out with the teenagers, and playing with the youngest.

Here is Emily (just turned 16) swimming with Max


Hi Max! Don't shake on me!


Sideview from the dock:


The lake while everyone was at lunch (which is why you can't see everybody on floats in there!)


We needed a bit of a break from the heat so a scrabble game was started:


Of course my mom won.

Here's Aunt Jackie in the kitchen:


Uncle Will overheard Charlie on the phone with the guys in his flight and invited them to swim off of their dock.


Hello!


I love this view through the trees and bushes:


A view of the dock from a chair swing: 

View of the house from the dock:


When it was time for fireworks I ran inside. I don't like small fireworks, they terrify me. I don't like the banging sound, and don't think the small bit of visual stimulation is worth it. Professional fireworks though, count me in.

Samantha, Uncle Jim and Aunt Jill's 6 year old, stayed inside with me. I definitely shrieked at one point and ran further into the house at the sound of an unexpected firework, and Sam very happily followed me. This girl is precious. First of all, she kept jumping off the second story boat house all day! Fearless! We hung out during the fireworks and played some games with Max:




Max stayed in his bed we made for him the whole night. Definitely got a bit of nostalgia for my bubbas.

The next day Charlie stayed inside and did schoolwork and SOS work while his sunburn healed, and I read outside a bit to get a bit of a tan. Before we left, I thought it would be nice to take some pictures by the lake since it's so meaningful to Charlie. Uncle Will was a champ and after we each had a beer, we went at it! I love how these turned out, and I had a lot of fun editing them. I will have another post for the engagement pics, with some recommendations for taking good pictures!

Thank you Uncle Will for not only taking such great pictures but for giving us a great few days at the Lake - we will have those memories forever!

Took-took, Grammar/Spelling, and a military engagement

Cravings: secret family words, flawless spelling, and an amazing love story

WARNING: RANDOM POST!

Does anybody have any words or phrases that their family uses, that are special to their family? We even had a whistle - if we were in a public place and my dad wanted to find us he had a whistle we all recognized! This sounds so Von-Trap family but it was an easy way to find each other without yelling - this was before cell phone obviously.

My dad is Israeli and always says "fah-chu-chu". For the longest time I thought it was something like "balderdash" until I realized he was saying "facetious" but didn't feel like saying a complicated word.

Charlie and I, and my parents, use TiVo service instead of the dvr through the cable company. It makes a distinctive clicking sound when you fast forward, and so a few years ago my mom and I started saying "took-took" when we wanted the other to fast forward during commercial. Charlie now uses it as well, as does my good friend Katy.

*Question* What silly words do you and your loved ones use?

On to grammar/spelling.
It's not a joke that when I was meeting men before Charlie, I would not continue contact if they had an obvious spelling mistake, such as there/their/they're, or you/your/you're, etc. I know people use shorthand while texting, but UGH. When Charlie and I were texting he made a grammatical error, and my heart sank, but he immediately corrected himself! Few...  I mean.... phew.

To show you how serious I am, here is a text I got from a stranger telemarketing something or other:


I don't know why but this just makes me laugh and laugh.


My friend Jessi has been dating her boyfriend Joe for a few years.

We all knew Jessi and Joe were on the path to engagement and marriage, but we didn't know when or how. Well, Joe was in Afghanistan and was coming back on Memorial Day weekend. From Afghanistan, he arranged with his airline to have someone bring them the ring, and a flight attendant walked it onto the plane before he came out. He proposed to Jessi in the airport in front of everyone! Tell me you wouldnt' cry and cheer if you were there!

I had lunch with Jessi the other day to hear all the juicy details on Tuesday. She suggested a place by her office called The Coffee Pub, which I LOVED - it is totally hidden and it has an ambiance not typical of Vegas. I am excited to go back.


Here is Jessi with her new bling:


She intricately designed her diamond, and it still exceeded her expectations!

I can't wait to wedding-plan with you!

Random things I've been upto

Random things I've been up to in no particular order (seriously, some of these are from January).


Hugging one of my favorite Shaynas! (end of April 2012)


Helping some doggies find forever homes with Rose. (mid April 2012)


Making my own Indian dishes. Loosely based off of My little sis Caroline's recipe. Let me say, quitting my job has made me quite the housewife (as if I wasn't before). Charlie's not complaining. (mid april 2012)


Hanging out w/some lovely ladies making crafts. (wreath pictures to come, although it's not complete yet!) (end of april 2012)


Making kale chips. And Juice. I loved it. Charlie said it tasted like grass. I guess I didnt' put enough fruit in for his taste. (March 2012)





Spending time w/my savta (who is 90) and Charlie in Israel.



Updating pictures on instagram from me and Charlie's first date. Yes he took me on a hellicopter ride.  No he did not fly it.


Opening (and LOVING) presents from our engagement party.




Playing at Duty free. Guess which one came home with me and which one came home with mom? (end of march 2012)


Donating blood and loving the fact taht the tape matched our outfits perfectly! (March 2012)


Hanging out w/my two Vegas bridesmaids.

Israel Trip April 2012

One day I'll get the hang of blogging. I feel like I do it like most people go to the gym - i'll go strong for a while and then stop for like 6 months. At least I've been working out regularly!

Lots been happening here. Right now all I can focus on is Maya snoring REALLY loudly.



Went to Israel.

Me and Moran (my best friend that was born one month before me) drinking "shoko beh sakit" aka chocolate milk in a bag. So good.

Sit up straight, Charlie!

Had amazing food:

Had a great engagement party.






Saw some cousins that I have missed!


Took a tour guide in the North. Charlie learned a lot. It was all verbal and I am not an auditory learner so I felt like a child w/autism on overload. I say that and people laugh but I'm dead serious, I can so relate to those kids I used to work with!

We also had a great time in Jerusalem. There's a great story about how I rubbed 9 crosses on the stone Jesus was lain on after his crucification - there's a picture of all the apostles with him, and although I don't believe Jesus is my lord and savior (that would sort of contradict my devout faith in Judaism), I clearly believe that he existed and that he is millions of people's savior, and that was profound. We got the crosses in the market and rubbed them on the stone to infuse them with holiness for devout Christian friends. What do you do with your face when you are Jewish, rubbing crosses on a stone next to people having the most holy moment of their life, and your fiance is taking pictures of you doing 9 in a row for friends to see? Yeah, I'd be embarrassed if it weren't so freaking hilarious.


Oh hello there....Someone's in my way


Do I smile? Wait, this is very holy and profound...


No, don't smile, just act "natural"


But I guess I should look at the camera....

And my all time favorite...Are you ready?


I think by that point I was just like, Charlie, where do I look????

But, I think that for our Christian friends and family, we got them the most profoud gift they could ever receive, and I am so glad we did it.



We had some great times with family as well. Profound for Avigail: