Reasons I love you, #9: You try new things
I know that I already mentioned my hubby's pb&h addiction in an earlier post. But I have another try-new-things-out-of-love-food-related-story that I want to share. Waaaaay back, when I was a senior in high school, Ryan was invited over for dinner at my parent's house. Now, this may seem like no big deal to most people, but you have to consider the facts.
* Both my mother and my father were feared in the group of guys Ryan hung around.
* My father is Mexican. (If you can guess from "Gruss", Ryan is not.)
* Based on the second fact, it's not hard to come to the conclusion that the food we ate was often quite different from the food Ryan ate.
* At this point we had been together for 2.5 years, and this was the first time my father had actually *invited* him over.
* I was nervous, and totally projected that all over Ryan...poor guy never saw it coming...
Those are the facts, on to the tale. So, before Ryan came over I helped my mom decide what was for dinner, and started to help make dinner with her. My mom has a reputation for eating really spicy foods, and I warned her at least 15 million times - Don't! Make! It! Spicy! I told Ryan what we were having over the phone, and tried to convey that it wouldn't be spicy because my mom had been lectured by me.
Well, turns out that all the lecturing and all the assisting in the world won't stop a jalapeño on a mission. I still remember the look on Ryan's face. He's a real trooper! He ate all of that tortilla soup that my mom made. I think he also drank a gallon of water and all of the soda! I don't remember anything else that we had for dinner. Just the soup. To think, when I met Ryan he truly did not like soup, or spice. For dinner this week, we had homemade taco soup...twice.
The page today is supposed to look like a prize! Awarded to Mr. Gruss for his bravery in all of our
stupid crazy adventures! I used a ribbon punch to make two even holes in the paper. I wanted total ribbon control and found that punching holes made the ribbon lie flat and display the same side. I carefully placed the ribbon, adhered it to the paper, and then took the brad apart...-ish. I split the legs of the brad and ran each leg through one of the ribbon holes to cover up the holes and perfectly place the brad. I then folded the legs toward each other for extra stability and applied extra adhesive over the brad when putting the backing on. Easy peasy! Leave your thoughts in the comments, and don't forget the rules are below!
Here's the scoop:
1) You must become a follower, and stick around until the 15th (when I draw).
2) Comment each day to get an entry for a fabulous prize! It's the perfect gift for anyone!
3) I will have a special bonus post to get you an additional entry (or two, or three) sometime in the 14 day countdown, so be on the lookout!
Honestly, these were just as easy as they look! I rolled out the fondant, cut 3 scalloped circles, 'I', 'U', and a scalloped heart with cookie cutters, and went crazy with pearl dust on any red piece of fondant. In case you're wondering, the frosting underneath is homemade cream cheese (leftover from a carrot cake I made recently) and yes, I did accidentally stab the "I" cupcake with my thumb when I moved it. I was not impressed with myself for that one! I know that they are super simple, but my love for the hubby is pretty straightforward!
We're almost there! It's almost Valentine's Day! Woot! Today's post will be short because I still have to write in Ryan's card. He's super good at doing that whereas, I suck! :P Here's a quick rundown of the card. It is inspired by Robert Indiana's classic painting of "LOVE", which I saw a replica of when I went to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in 2009. The little "dots" are actually hand-sewn beads...that took me two hours to attach in the swirly patterns. The letters are die cut from shimmering paper and the jewels are hand placed. The heart patterned paper is actually white shimmer paper with "distressed" Red Barn inked WMS hearts. I don't know why, but I had an overwhelming urge to add some lace or ribbon so I embedded the lace at the bottom between the layers of paper. Viola! A true labor of love! 
