The Shimers Go Antique-ing!

So, on Saturday, I needed to run to the local antique shop to ask their expertise on a piece of jewelry for a customer. Instead of just going there and going home, Justin came too and we made a night out of it :)

We started off at the Dusty Rose Antique Mall in downtown Titusville. I asked my question, then we perused. And man were we glad we did :)

We got: Billy Joel's Piano Man album on vinyl...
A pair of old fashioned work goggles:
Really, I don't see how there were ever considered "safe". They're really sweet though. They have the types of ear pieces you have to coil around your ear.
Here is Justin looking oh so John Lennon.

We also got quite the assortment of old cameras :) We went through about 12 cameras on display and picked the 4 that still work.
An Ansco Ready Flash
A Spartus Press Flash
An Anscoflex TLR
And a Konica Tomato :)
We have happily added these to our collection. I think we have around 80 film cameras now (possibly more - yes, I know). But in our defense, we do use the cameras. In fact, we used the Spartus on Sunday in our photo shoot with the Thor family. So there.

After our antique store promenade, we decided to go to a local Chinese restaurant we have wanted to try called David's. It was great :) If you are in the Titusville area, I highly recommend it.

To top it all off, we had talked about lots of things over dinner and the fortunes in our cookies were amazingly pertinent.
We had such a nice time. We love little adventures, and were so glad to have a date night :)

My Favorite TV Clip Of All Time!

I was so excited this morning when I got home from church to see that the Hallmark channel (not a channel I frequent) was having an I Love Lucy marathon. Well, I happen to love Lucy myself, so I decided to watch while we got ready for our photo shoot. Lo and behold, it was my absolute favorite episode of the show. The story is that Lucy finds out she is pregnant and is trying to tell Ricky. She tells him she needs to tell him something important, but she can't get him alone because he's so busy. So, she goes to his show that night and has the Maître D a note to request this song...

Now Don't Get Any Ideas! I am not attached to this because of any upcoming events! This is an episode that I saw one other time in my life and I have been trying to find it online for years. I love this version of the song and I love the back story even more. It made me happy inside to see it again :)

Even more luckily, I recognized what episode it was early enough to grab my phone and record the whole thing. So, now everyone can have access to this great episode. :)

Isn't He Lovely?

I seem to always end up taking pictures of the Gordo when I have the camera out. How can you not love that face? :) I can't believe that he's almost a year old. *Sniff* It seems like only yesterday he was hobbling around on a big farm with his siblings and I could fit him in my hand.

Man, if I'm this bad with my puppy, imagine how I will be with a kid :)

Justin and Gordo Photo Shoot

So, it's time for Justin's graduation announcements, so I decided we needed a current picture. Luckily, I had the equipment handy :)





I think these are real keepers :)

The First Anniversary Extravaganza!

Well, it is hard to believe, but Justin and I have been married for one year today!

We wanted to do something special, but our schedules wouldn't allow us to go away anywhere, so...

We went spent the weekend at Disney and the Waldorf Astoria Orlando :)

I know, it seems a bit extreme, but never fear, the Waldorf had a good price going so I took advantage of it.


This was our beautiful room on the top floor :) We felt like such bumpkins, but it was such an amazing experience.

So, on Friday, we checked into the hotel, and started off with Animal Kingdom. I hadn't been there since three months after it opened and Justin hadn't been at all, so it seemed like a good place to kick off our trip. We had so much fun! What could be better than a zoo with a theme park twist?!

This yetti ball thing was just so cute! It was in the Expedition Everest ride - which was awesome! I highly recommend it.
Justin wasn't quite as impressed as I was :)

These statues just looked so much like us...





Justin just loves when I make him wear silly hats for pictures.

And who says you can't see far away places on a budget? This was the rather convincing looking Mount Everest with a fantastic roller coaster inside.


Here we are on the Kilimanjaro Safari ride, which was an instant favorite. We got up close and personal with lots of African animals, including this guy:

Also, as big fans of Meerkat Manor, we had to stop and see these guys:


And Gorillas are always cool:


We had such a fun day at Animal Kingdom, and when we came back to the hotel, they had Mimosa waiting for us.

Ah the perks of 5 stars. They gave us a card wishing us a happy anniversary too.


Don't worry, we didn't get all boozed up on free champagne. We did, however, drink the fresh squeezed orange juice. And it was delicious.

So, our one night in the Waldorf Astoria ended too soon, but after we technically checked out, we wandered around to see the sights of the beautiful hotel.

This is the iconic clock in the lobby with the fantastic domed ceiling.

And a really cool high backed chair.

So, we kept right on trucking and spent our Saturday beginning with Disney's Hollywood Studios, a.k.a. MGM if you're old like us.


Here we are in New York :)

And of course we had to go to the Honey I shrunk the Kids playground. And finally someone offered to take a picture of the both of us. I almost fell off the ant I was trying to hop on it so fast. Such is life.


So, our fun weekend was coming to a close and we had a nice relaxing day today. We capped it all off by eating our saved wedding cake.

We were kind of worried as I've heard some stories of cake being one big chunk of freezer burn, but ours was delicious. Thank you mom and being so careful with your wrapping it :)


Yum... vanilla cake with butter cream icing and lemon filing. Delicious :) And it to make it even better, it was made by my best friend Leigh - her cakes are so good they survive the year! :)


We had a lot of fun fulfilling this tradition together and marking our first year. I know that there will be many many more years to follow and I'm so excited to see what they bring! Love you, Justin!

I Know I've Been Putting A Lot Of Baked Goods Up Here But ...

This is possibly the prettiest looking food item I have ever produced :)

Just look at that swirl! These are Butterscotch Cream Cheese Swirl Brownies. I have yet to taste them, but they look absolutely delicious!
This is a little recipe from the Magnolia Bakery in NYC :) If you want the recipe, I can give it to you upon request. They aren't technically "brownies" when you think about it; they're more like "orangies".

I'm trying to decide what to make for the Annual Young Women's Camp Fundraiser Dessert Auction. Last year, I made flan which was delicious but under-appreciated (I know this because my parents bought it). At the time, I thought that flan was a pretty fancy dish that people would want to bid on, but I was wrong. I think it cost me more to make than it brought in.
So, this year, I am determined to make something that sounds so scrumptious that it will cause an all out bidding war!

What do you think?

Here is a list of some tasty sounding treats I am considering - please tell me which one you think will be the most popular:

Butterscotch Cream Cheese Swirl Brownies (pictured above)
Red Velvet Cupcakes (from scratch with the Hummingbird Bakery's recipe)
Black Bottom Cupcakes (chocolate sponge cake with chocolate chip cheesecake on top)
Peanut Butter Fudge Brownies (this is a three layer brownie)
Heath Bar Almond Crunch Cheesecake
Gooey Coconut Dream Bars (from Amy's Bread)
Zesty Lemon Bars (Also Amy's Bread)

So, tell me what you think! I will let Justin sample the Butterscotch brownies when he gets home to see if they are a real contender.

Another thought is: should I just make a dessert bread? Anyway ... I'm rambling.

What say you?!