Hey readers!
Sorry it has been so long since my last blog post. Like a sorority sister and good friend of mine once said, “Life has been life-y”—which means that so many amazing and incredible things have been happening all at once that you can’t help but get caught up in them and neglect a few responsibilities. But I am back and don’t intend to go away for a long time! You can’t make me!
It would be a very long entry if I detailed every major thing that has happened to me in the past month, so let’s stick to this weekend. My sister came into town from Iowa to wrap up some last details and for her wedding shower. But before we could celebrate, several things had to go wrong first…
I’ll set the scene. Thursday, April 5th. A sunny and breezy afternoon in downtown Pittsburgh, around 3:00 PM. City county building on Forbes and Grant. My mother, sister, and I occupy a stone cold bench in the main corridor. Stressed phone calls are being made and answered. Nervous chatter. Nail biting. Hair pulling. And waiting. Waiting for the groom-to-be to walk through the metal detector in order to apply for his marriage license before the office closes at 4:30. It was imperative that he get there, because this would be the last time he and my sister would both be in the state of Pennsylvania up until the date of the wedding itself. His flight was supposed to arrive in Pittsburgh at 2:00, but of course it was delayed. He decided at 12:45 that the only way he would be able to get married on June 30th was if he rented a car at the airport and made the drive in record time. In 15 minutes, he rounded up 4 strangers to split the cost of the rental with him and hit the road. No signs, no speed limits, and definitely no bathroom breaks.
He drove 90 miles an hour the entire way and completed the trip from Washington D.C. to Pittsburgh in well under three and a half hours! At 4:22 he burst through the doors. As my sister was apprehensively waiting on him to fill out his half of the paperwork, I met him at the door to watch his suitcase. My mom stood down the hallway directing him where to go (totally air traffic controller style). I was surprised that my nervous wreck of a sister did not break down into tears at the sight of him! But alas, she is not as emotional as I am. What can I say? I am a sucker for a happy ending!
Luckily, the stress stopped there. My sister’s shower was a gathering of friends and family in celebration of the start of her new married life. We played some games where we matched wedding customs with the traditional justifications for why they are done (Did you know the honeymoon is supposed to be a period of relaxation for the bride’s family? I thought the matching response was to guarantee many opportunities to have kids ;) but that is what the flower girl’s petals symbolize!), as well as a marriage vows mad lib (Mine won first prize for the funniest! Instead of the usual “until death do us part”, I replaced the line with “for as long as the Pirates have a losing season” a.k.a. FOREVER).
And of course, we enjoyed a delicious light lunch! I contributed by preparing some sandwiches: a turkey and Swiss cheese sandwich with Dijon mustard and apple-onion chutney on ciabatta, a tomato, basil, and mozzarella sandwich with balsamic reduction on sourdough, and my own recipe for chicken salad on multigrain Tuscany bread, which I will share with you now!
Light and Fresh Chicken Salad
Ingredients:
3 cups cooked, shredded, and cooled chicken breast
4 stalks celery, diced
2 pink lady, honeycrisp, or gala apples, diced
3/4 cup dried cranberries
3/4 cup chopped walnuts
Salt and pepper to taste
1 14 oz container plain Greek yogurt, either 0% or 2%
Bread and lettuce for serving
Directions
Mix the first 7 ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Serve up on toasted sandwich bread (my favorite is multigrain Tuscany!) and a few lettuce leaves or chopped celery hearts. Mmmm :)