Playlist Mania: @MsMelC and @TonyK Get Married! (aka #MTWed11)
Posted by: Mel K. on: November 23, 2011
- In: family | music
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One of the last photos of us as "single" people!
Yes, I made a playlist to listen to during my last road trip as a single lady – and by that, I mean the drive to Utica the day before our wedding! (Frankly, I’m just mad that I didn’t put it together early enough to make copies for all attendees. Maybe I buckled under pressure?) I played it the entire drive and then the next day when I was getting dressed and then made Tony listen to it the morning after our wedding, on the drive to our honeymoon, on the honeymoon, and on the drive home from our honeymoon. Clearly, he’s really the best husband ever for putting up with that kind of nonsense.
#MTWed11
- The Way You Move – OutKast
- Shake Senora Remix – Pitbull featuring T-Pain, Sean Paul, & Ludacris
- I Wanna Sex You Up – Color Me Badd
- Wonderland – Natalia Kills
- Wannabe – Spice Girls
- You Make Me Feel – Cobra Starship featuring Sabi
- Blow – Ke$ha
- On The Floor – Jennifer Lopez featuring Pitbull
- Little Bad Girl – David Guetta featuring Ludacris and Taio Cruz
- It Takes Two – Rob Base & DJ EZ Rock
- Now That We Found Love – Heavy D & The Boyz
- This Is How We Do It – Montell Jordan
- Good Feeling – Flo Rida
- Stop – Spice Girls
- Stuck in the Middle – Stealers Wheel
- I’ll Be There For You/You’re All I Need to Get By – Method Man & Mary J. Blige
- You’re the First, the Last, My Everything – Barry White
- Faster – Matt Nathanson
- All 4 Love – Color Me Badd
- Give Me Everything – Pitbull featuring Ne-Yo, Afrojack & Nayer
The Details You Didn’t Know You Missed
Posted by: Mel K. on: November 22, 2011
I promise – I am nearing the end of my wedding posts. At least, I think I am. I’ve already talked about the key wedding jamz here and here. Here are some of the other details that helped make our day perfect.
Flowers
Ambiance Florals is responsible for the absolutely gorgeous and perfect bouquets. Such as this one here:
And all these here:
The Cake
You may recall, picking the cake and the design was something that became surprisingly important to me. I wanted the design to honor my grandfather and I wanted the cake topper to honor my new family. When I saw the final creation – it was everything I hoped and more. My mom had given the baker three champagne glasses that my grandfather used in the cake for her and my father’s wedding and the baker used those as the risers for the top layer. The cake topper came from the danceswithclay shop on Etsy. Three perfect little lovebirds, with our names and the date etched into the bottom, and it sits on our windowsill now.
The Sand Ceremony
There are three of us in this family, so a unity candle wasn’t going to cut it. We opted to do a sand ceremony to represent our new family bond. The basic premise: You choose a sand color to represent each member of the family. During the ceremony, the sand is all added to one vessel. Once you combine the sand, you can never separate the colors again – you are joined as a family and that bond can never be broken.
We had no idea how the sand ceremony would go with Camille. Frankly, we had no idea how the whole ceremony, or even walking down the aisle, would go! But, we were prepared to let her take the lead and go from there. And right from the start – she was as perfect as we could hope. She ran halfway down the aisle and then walked from there. She stayed right by us throughout the ceremony. At one point she sat on the steps, looking up at us. Bored out of her mind, I’m sure (the ceremony was a whopping 15 minutes long, give or take a minute or two) but looking adorable and perfect in all the pictures. And during the sand ceremony, she was right there with us – adding her own sand to the mix.
Wedding Traditions
Something Old: A handkerchief with blue lace from my great-grandmother.
Something New: My dress, veil, Badgley Mischka shoes!
Something Borrowed: A handkerchief pinned into my dress borrowed from one of my oldest, dearest and best friends – Lorraine. I read somewhere that something borrowed should be from someone who reminds you of happiness or who has a happy marriage. She fit the bill on both counts – some of my favorite memories are from time spent with her AND I was a bridesmaid when she married her wonderful husband over 10 years ago.
Something Blue: A pair of aquamarine drop earrings that were a gift from my parents. Aquamarine is Camille’s birthstone (and my mom’s too) and I love the idea of handing them down to her one day.
Signature Drinks
Mellini: A basic Bellini – champagne with peach nectar
Martony: Grey Goose and 7-Up – what else would it be?
Hair and Make-up
One of my bridesmaids Angela used Sheri Vitale-Pucine for her hair and make-up when she got married and looked stunning. So, I used her too – hoping lightning would strike twice! (I like to think it did!)
Happily Ever After
Playlist Mania: Happy Birthday, @ErinnSPerry!
Posted by: Mel K. on: November 21, 2011
Today we celebrate the birthday of one of my dearest friends, @ErinnSPerry. If you have the pleasure of knowing her, you know she is one of the kindest, most generous, smartest, funniest people you can ever hope to have in your life. And, as if that wasn’t enough, she also makes a mean brownie (well, several variates of brownie really). AND a mean vodka sauce too – maybe she’ll even let me share the recipe with you. 
EPBday 2011
- Born This Way – Lady Gaga
- Valerie – The Glee Cast Version
- No Diggity – Blackstreet
- Criminal – Fiona Apple
- Heartbreaker – Mariah Carey with Jay-Z
- What Doesn’t Kill You (Stronger) – Kelly Clarkson
- Cold War – Janelle Monae
- Pause – Pitbull
- Mercy – Duffy
- Smile Version Revisited (Mark Ronson Version) – Lily Allen
- Dedication to My Ex (Miss That) – Lloyd
- Still I Long For Your Kiss – Peter Gallager
- I Want Somebody (Bitch About) – Kristin Chenoweth
- Better Be Good to Me – Tina Turner
- Love Today – Mika
- Super Bass – Nicki Minaj
- Strut – Adam Lambert
- Anytime You Need Me – Michael Franti & Spearhead
- You’re All I Need to Get By – Marvin Gaye
- I Was Here – Kristin Chenoweth
Wedding Jamz: The Lost Jam
Posted by: Mel K. on: November 10, 2011
- In: family | friends | music | uncategorized
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I can’t believe I forgot to include this in my list of wedding jamz!
Wedding Party Enters the Reception – It Takes Two by Rob Bass and DJ EZ Rock
This is probably the song that required the most negotiation between me and Tony. This song stands the test of time!
Secrets of a Happy Marriage
Posted by: Mel K. on: November 6, 2011
Posting this picture for two reasons.
1. I love it and it reminds me of a very fun day with some of my favorite people. We were lucky enough to spend part of last Sunday with lil sis Mellank and her boo Stev, watching football, eating wings and laughing. It was so good for my soul. And, it was a great reminder that being married doesn’t mean the end of fun or friends. (Not that I expected that to be the case or I wouldn’t have married Tony.)
2. I want to test posting from my phone.
Wedding Jamz
Posted by: Mel K. on: November 5, 2011
- In: family | friends | music | uncategorized
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Anyone who knows us, knows we like a good party and we like good music. And, through the whole planning process, we both felt very strongly about our wedding being a party – the ultimate celebration. Looking back, I like to think we accomplished that – from our low-key rehearsal dinner the night before (beer, pizza, wings and a potato skin bar complete with fixins!) to the extra hour we extended our reception because we were having too much fun to have the night end to the stack of pizzas we had delivered to the bar at the after-party. One or two glitches aside, the entire weekend was perfection and I’m so thankful to everyone who was a part of it.
These songs will always make me think of our wedding.
Church Reading – For Once in My Life by Stevie Wonder
First Dance as Husband and Wife – Just What I Needed by The Cars
Father-Daughter Dance – Ain’t No Mountain High Enough by Marvin Gaye and Tami Terrell
Wedding Anthem – Give Me Everything
Slow Jam
Warning: Tony and I WILL dance together anytime we hear this song. Count on it.
The Soup Conqueror
Posted by: Mel K. on: November 4, 2011
- In: food
- 2 Comments
I declared this would be the winter I conquered learning to make soups and sauce – and, only halfway through fall, I’m well on my way. Now that there’s a slight chill in the air, I’m finding it extremely satisfying to having a giant pot of hearty goodness simmering on the stove. Here are my thoughts on what I’ve tried so far. And PLEASE share your favorite recipes with me in the comments!
Playlist Mania: Mel C.’s Bachelorette Party (WOOO!!!!!)
Posted by: Mel K. on: September 1, 2011
- In: music
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My shower and bachelorette party were almost a month ago. The shower was at The Melting Pot and it was wonderful. Very tasty and so well done – the staff was super attentive, even to the point of carrying gifts outside at the end. I’d recommend them for a private event, hands down.
The bachelorette party was a sleepover at my house because I’m old and like wearing pajamas. Most of my favorites came over and we had fun drinks (WaterMelantinis!), fun snacks and lots of laughs. Attendees all got a hand-painted wine glass and of course – a commemorative CD! Mix up a WaterMelantini and get ready to shake what your mama gave you…
Girls Night In 2011
- Rolling in the Deep – John Legend (aw, yeah! awesome cover)
- Bright Lights Bigger City – Cee Lo Green
- Miss Independent – Kelly Clarkson
- Somebody to Love – Justin Bieber
- Where Them Girls At – David Guetta – Nicki Minaj – Flo Rida
- I Got it from My Mama – will.i.am
- Are You That Somebody – Aaliyah
- Whatta Man – Salt-N-Pepa – En Vogue
- Clumsy – Fergie
- Let’s Groove – Earth, Wind & Fire
- Hot in Herre – Nelly
- Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now) – C+C Music Factory
- Blow – Ke$ha
- On the Floor – Jennifer Lopez – Pitbull
- Rump Shaker – Wreckx-N-Effect
- Shake Ya Tailfeather – Diddy – Nelly – Murphy Lee
- Give Me Everything – Pitbull – Ne-Yo – Afrojack – Nayer
- For Once in My Life – Stevie Wonder
- Feeling Good – George Michael
When Cake Isn’t Just Cake
Posted by: Mel K. on: August 31, 2011
Ready for a confession? I don’t particularly like cake. I know, I know, I know. Don’t worry – I like plenty of other crap that isn’t good for me and when push comes to shove, I’ll eat cake but it’s definitely not my favorite form of calories.
Here’s the thing though, when you’re getting married – you need to have cake. And here’s the other thing – when I was young, my grandfather was a baker who owned his own bakery in Western NY. As a little girl, I always imagined he’d make my wedding cake. He passed away when I was 10. In high school and college, I decided since I didn’t like cake no way in Hell was I serving cake at my wedding. And now as an adult in the midst of actually planning a wedding, I know the whole thing isn’t nearly that simple.
Finishing Last Isn’t So Bad
Posted by: Mel K. on: April 10, 2011
All the recent Twitter talk about the 2011 Boilermaker 15K inspired me to resurrect a post from my old blog. A little background: while my dad was in Afghanistan in 2008, I did my very first 5K. And the following year, he and I planned to do the Boilermaker 15K together and also signed up for a local training race – the Summer Sizzle. Here’s the thing – my body is built for famine, not for running. But, I do it anyway and set my own goals (not big ones – just milestones for me) and just try to do my best. That’s all anyone can ask for, right?
And in June 2009 – my best meant coming in last. And resulted in one of the funniest stories of my life. This story also appeared in the Utica RoadRunners club newsletter. It’s that good! But even so, I’m still hoping to not be last again any time soon.
