Wasabi Green Tea Turkey Burgers

These burgers are so amazing, I just had to share the recipe with you! For Christmas, J bought me a couple of different hot sauces to experiment with and we have become obsessed with Blair Q's Wasabi Green Tea Hot Sauce....go here (http://www.hotsauceworld.com/blairqheatwa.html) and try it! Seriously! You'll thank me!

For the burgers you'll need:
-1 package (4count) Jennie-O Turkey Patties
-1/4 White onion, sliced in to rings
-Blair Q's Wasabi Green Tea Hot Sauce
-Lawry's Seasoned Salt
-Garlic Powder
-Olive Oil

DIRECTIONS:
-Saute the onion rings in olive oil until brown


-Cover both sides of turkey patties with seasoned salt and garlic powder


-Coat pan with olive oil and over medium heat cookie patties, 6 minutes per side


-Cover patties with onions and Green Tea Wasabi Sauce


-Scarf down, enjoy and crave!

The New Chapter is Opened

Hey blog friends! Did you miss me? Did you even notice I was gone? :)

I apologize for my absence, but these past two weeks have been an absolute whirlwind. J and I closed our business and both started new jobs. I'm going to give you more details on the new jobs in a later post, but as you can imagine these last couple of weeks have been incredibly emotional, stressful and exciting. But somehow, amongst all the chaos, we were able to squeeze in some fun!

Here's what we've been up to.

We went to the Minnesota State Fair with some of our favorite friends

The Gopher's season started....you know you're all jealous of that awesome hat!

 I had my second bridal shower {more on that later}

AND, this past weekend our dear friends Seth and Alisha got married!

Alisha was an absolutely stunning bride

And Seth looked pretty good himself

The ceremony was beautiful



The reception was a blast

And I was able to go home with a really hot groomsman :)

I hope you are all doing well, I am excited to get caught up on your blogs and see what you've been up to!

One Year Ago Today...

It was just a regular old Thursday, which meant I was working open-close at Coffee Buzz. I remember the day going by really slow because I was so excited for that night. For those of you who don't know I am a die-hard University of Minnesota Gopher football fan and that night was the first game of the season. The game was away at Middle Tennessee State but TCF Bank Stadium (where the Goph's play) was hosting a public viewing party where we could go and watch the game on the jumbotron with other Gopher fans.

It rained almost the entire day. I was pretty bummed because I had been so excited to start the season off at the stadium. J and I talked on the phone several times that day trying to come up with a plan. At J's suggestion we decided that we would head to campus rain or shine to go to the stadium and at the very least get a couple of pictures.

Per usual, I spent the day chatting (I think this was pre g-chat during our Facebook days) with my BB about her wedding! I remember we were discussing whether or not she should hire a videographer. I sent an e-mail to my favorite married friend (an now bridesmaid), Courtney and said:

Hi Court,

I wish I had a wedding question for myself....but I have one for a friend. She's debating on whether or not to do a videographer. I'm advising her to do it because I know a lot of people who don't regret it. I was wondering who you used, if you were happy with them and if you don't mind telling me about how much you paid? She's worried it won't fit in to her budget, so I'm trying to give her an estimate and somewhere to start!

Thanks lady!!!!

This e-mail was later printed out and sent to me in an engagement card with the date circled. Another coincidence was that J had told me we were going to go ring shopping that weekend. So, that whole day I was on jeweler websites looking at rings and obviously sharing links with Carolyn. There were a couple I found that I loved and seemed to have good prices so I was texting them to J. Little did I know he was out with his younger brother (it was his 21st birthday that day) and he had a ring in his pocket.

6:00pm finally rolled around and it was time to close Coffee Buzz. J came to pick me up and help me close. I changed in to my Gopher gear and was ready to hit the road. One of my favorite parts of this story I didn't realize was significant until after we were engaged. While I was doing the dishes at Coffee Buzz, J came back and asked me which side was my good side? I always demand to stand on a certain side because I hate all pictures taken from the other side. I didn't think much of it, so I showed him the left side of my face. He said "Oh your right, that side is way cuter." We both laughed and I forgot completely about it. Turns out he was asking so he knew which pocket to put the ring in, cuz he was going to have someone takes pictures and he knew I would make him stand on my right. How cute is that?

We were finally on the road to campus and the skies seemed to be getting darker and darker. We parked the car and started our trek to the stadium. About one block in it started to absolutely pour. Luckily, we were able duck under a little overhang right by the Gopher's practice field.

The rain let up after a few minutes and we were once again on our way to the stadium. I couldn't believe my eyes...there was a gorgeous rainbow descending in to the stadium! I got so excited and started yelling "It's good luck! The Gophers are going to win!" J just smiled.

As we were walking out to the field J looks at me and says, "Is this the best day of your life?" I thought about it and was like, "Um....not the best day. But, I'm excited." I thought that was super weird. Now I think it's super cute.....cuz it was the best day of my life.

We watched the first quarter and a half of the game and were having a blast. The Gophers were winning and there were a ton of super cute kids running around who were hilarious to watch. J kept watching this one family taking pictures of their kid. To the point where I thought it was getting weird....of course, he had a plan. About mid-way through the second quarter I got really cold. We decided to leave at halftime so that we could watch the rest of the game at my dad's house (my dad and brother are even bigger Gopher fans than I am). As we were getting up J told me he was going to ask the lady taking pictures of her kid to take our picture. Without batting an eye he walked over whispered he was about to propose and asked her to take pictures. Cool as a cucumber the lady simply said "OK." I had absolutely NO IDEA what was about to happen to me....

We left immediately to go to my dad's house and tell my family! They were all so excited, and I couldn't stop crying or smiling.

The Gophers won that night and as soon as the game was over we went to J's dads to celebrate his brother's birthday and share our good news. We ended the night at my mom's house with a champagne toast! We had so much fun celebrating with our families and calling our friends in between.

It was the absolute best surprise and the best possible way to get engaged. I can't believe a year has already gone by and we are now just two months away from our wedding! I could not be more excited for our wedding weekend and for the rest of our lives together. I feel like the luckiest girl in the entire world.

The End.

Yesterday was one of, if not the hardest days of my life. We closed Coffee Buzz. 

We have known this time might be coming for a while now, since we just haven't been able to get over the hump. We just never turned the corner or got to the point where we knew it would be a success. As my mom said, "it's time to stop the bleeding." J and I had dinner with my mom and step-dad three weeks ago and it was then that we all agreed it was time to move on. These past three weeks have been a roller coaster and I have truly felt every emotion a human can feel....disappointment, heartbreak, excitement, sadness, anger, relief, panic, pride, guilt.......

For the past three years Coffee Buzz has been my heart and soul. I have poured everything in to this business; I worked with the architect to come up with the design, I decorated it, I created the menu, I personally found each one of our vendors and selected our products. This coffee shop is more than a business to me, it's my baby.

I am devastated. I feel like a failure, even though no one is to blame and this is just part of business I can't help but think "coulda, woulda, shoulda." My heart is broken and I honestly feel like part of me has died. It is hard to imagine my life without Coffee Buzz when it's been my entire life for three years.

Though I am sad, there is always a bright side. J and I have put in so many long hours and it as been hard on our relationship having so little time together. I am looking forward to having a "normal" life together. One where we get to have dinner together, or spend Saturday morning in bed or go on Sunday afternoon dates. On those same lines I am so happy we did this together. We grew so much individually and as a couple and I am confident that if we were able to get through the past three years together we will be able to get through anything.

There is so much to be done and so much change happening in my life. I am excited and scared and anxious but I am so proud to say that I did it. I ran my own business. I started something from nothing and while it didn't succeed financially, to me it was a success. We have met some of the most amazing people and have made lifelong friends and we have done something that very few people can say they have done. But now, it's time to close this chapter and begin a new one.

Wedding Wednesday: Love Day

Yesterday was one for the history books! The hardest thing about wedding planning has been scheduling. Because of Coffee Buzz, J and I work completely opposite schedules. When he's at the shop, I'm not and vice versa, so finding a time when we are both able to meet with vendors or get stuff done has been extremely difficult. Thankfully, our amazingly awesome employee Sara was willing to come in yesterday afternoon to give us some time to get things done. And, get things done we did!

The first stop was the post office to MAIL OUR WEDDING INVITATIONS!

What a HUGE step! I seriously cannot believe that our invitations are out, talk about making things real! I am so excited for our guests to receive them and I'm even more excited to share them with you! Let the RSVPs start rolling in!

After the post office we made a quick stop at AAA to get our passport pictures taken {the county service center charges $16 a person for pictures but AAA charges $20 for two people! Yay saving money!} I had plans to scan in our pictures, but I left them at home this morning....so sorry, you don't get to see our super awkward passport pictures.

Next we made a quick stop for lunch. J has been dying to try this place by Lake Calhoun called Burger Jones since it opened over a year ago, so we decided to finally give it a whirl. We had heard really mixed reviews but we LOVED it! We both did the "Create Your Own Burger" {I did a turkey burger with pepperjack cheese, sauteed onions, bacon and avacado mayo} and we split an order of the parmesan waffle fries! We loved both! Everything was so good, especially the $3 happy hour glass of chardonnay.

Once our bellies were full we headed to Thurston Jewelers to pick out our wedding bands and finalize plans for our wedding gifts to each other! You'll have to wait a little longer to get details on both, but I am SO EXCITED! Just a quick plug....if you're in the Twin Cities check out Thurston! The owner, Llyod, is the bomb and they have amazing stuff for amazing prices! It's a small family owned business {gotta help out local businesses!} and you won't be disappointed. The location is a little ghetto, but get past it. I promise you it's worth it!

so excited to put a ring on that boy!

Next, we spent forever at the County Service Center getting our MARRIAGE LICENSE and our PASSPORTS! While I was not thrilled about spending that much time or that much money at the stupid DMV, I am PUMPED to check these two very major To-Do's off our list!

It was an incredibly productive and incredibly special day! With the invitations out, our wedding bands done and our marriage license in our possession...there's not much else to do, but GET MARRIED!