Ideas

Looking for name change advice or some tips for newlywed life? The MissNowMrs experts have created state-specific name change articles and checklists for you. We’ve chronicled our recommendations for how to travel while changing your name AND how to handle voting during the transition.

We’ve also compiled our best guidance for how to handle difficult sister in laws, holidays as newlyweds, the ever-annoying baby questions, and much more. Why? Because, while we are name change experts, we’re also newlywed wives, moms, and sisters.

We hope our name change advice articles help smooth your transition to your new name, and a whole new phase of life. Congratulations and best wishes from the entire MissNowMrs team!

Newlywed Chicken: 3 Totally Different Meals Fast

You’ve heard of engagement chicken, but what about newlywed chicken? Did you envision preparing elaborate and elegant meals when you got married? Thought you’d give Martha a run for her money? Me too.

In reality, it can be very stressful to figure out what you and your spouse will eat every night all week/all month/all year. Here’s an idea that can jump-start your planning this week or rescue you when you feel uninspired or overwhelmed. A chicken is my solution. Yes, a whole roaster chicken cooked on Sunday so you have time to prepare it.

Meal 1: Roasted Chicken with Mashed Potatoes and Veggies

Roast* your chicken in the oven for the amount of time specified on the label. I suggest liberally shaking kosher salt on the inside and outside first. You can also mix crushed garlic and herbs ,such as sage and thyme, with a tablespoon of butter and slide this under the upper skin of the chicken (it’s sort of like giving it implants). This ensure a moist well-flavored chicken. While it roasts you can whip up mashed potatoes and any vegetable you have on hand. Have you heard the expression “winner winner chicken dinner”? That is how your spouse is going to feel about this classic home cooked meal!

*If you’re too busy to roast a chicken, you can put it in your crockpot for 4 hours. Just add 1 cup of chicken broth so it doesn’t stick to the bottom.

Meal 2: Layered Chicken Enchilada Bake

Shred ½ of the remaining chicken and make this quick layered chicken three cheese enchilada recipe. It takes 10 minutes to assemble and 30 minutes to bake. Blend some margaritas while it’s cooking and you’ll have an instant fiesta dinner!

Meal 3: Spicy Asian Chicken Noodle Soup

Shred the remaining newlywed chicken and use it to make Asian chicken noodle soup. If your spouse is like mine, soup doesn’t count as dinner, so you may want to make this for both of you for lunch. Here’s the recipe adapted from The Londoner Blog:
Ingredients:
Splash of sesame oil
1 garlic clove, crushed
4 spring onions, chopped
2 handfuls of shredded chicken
2.5 cups chicken stock
1 cup boiling water
Piece of ginger about the size of your thumb, thickly sliced
3/4 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp of soy sauce
1 handful fresh cilantro, chopped
1 red chili, chopped
1 can of sweet corn
1 big handful of thin noodles (I use somen noodles..but any will work)

Directions:
Put a saucepan onto medium heat and add a few splashes of sesame oil, add your garlic until it starts to sizzle. Stir it around a bit & add your spring onions. Fry until they start to soften.
Toss in the chicken and stir to make sure it gets nicely coated in the oil & garlic. Pour in your stock & boiling water. Add your ginger slices, fish sauce, soy sauce, coriander & chili. Just before it comes to the boil add your sweet corn & noodles. Boil 2 more minutes and serve immediately.

So, from one newlywed chicken on Sunday you ended up with 3 completely diffent meals for the two of you. Not a bad way to begin the week! It took me longer than I care to admit to figure out how to utilize one ingredient a few different ways to make quick and interesting dinners for 2. I also thew out a lot of leftovers and felt badly about it.

I hope you and your spouse enjoy these dishes and that he washes them!

3 Unique Party Ideas to Get Rid of the January Blahs

Save your January with our 3 unique party ideas! The glamour, glitz and excitement of New Years have worn off, and now it’s just dreary mid-January. Much like the post-wedding blues, many newlyweds also experience a post-holiday slump. The solution? Planning a fun but low key party with friends! My favorite parties have a theme that gets guests excited and keeps me from worrying about party entertainment. Below are a few ideas (admittedly 2 were “borrowed” from my friend and amazing hostess Jill):

Favorite Things: Just like Oprah…only with a $5 to $10 limit. Figure out how many friends are attending and then have each guest bring one less than that number of their favorite things. You’ll have tons of fun unwrapping, explaining and using everyone’s favorite things. The party I attended resulting in cool nail polish, a miracle hangover cure, holiday socks, satin pillow cases and much more!

Spa/Slumber Party: Send out an evite to have all your girlfriends come over for a little pampering and a chic flick. Mud masks, nail painting, pizza and the latest girly movie will make this an event everyone can look forward too. Party favor idea: attach mini rhinestones to disposable toe separators…cute!

Swap Party: Plan a get together where you and your friends bring accessories to swap. It’s easiest to trade one size fit all items like scarves, jewelry and clutches. If you’re all similar sized, you can open it up to belts, jeans, etc. Everyone will leave with something “new to them” and a little more room in their closets!

Whatever kind of party you choose to plan, just having something to plan and knowing that you’ll be seeing a group of your friends will give you a much needed boost this January.
Please let me know your favorite of our 3 unique party ideas in a comment!

Top 3 Newlywed Gift Ideas For Hard To Buy For Spouses

Hard to buy for spouses are the worst during the holidays. While there is so much anticipation to spend the holidays as a newlywed, there is also the feeling that you need to create the perfect moment/buy the perfect gift to treasure always (thanks Hallmark). Looking back at my first Christmas, there was definitely a good bit of (self inflicted) pressure to find just the right gift for my husband. I trolled the mall, braved Best Buy and even flipped through the seemingly thousands of catalogs that kept coming in the mail.

Are you feeling freaked out about what to get your spouse this holiday season? As the woman married to the man who has everything, I feel capable of giving you some ideas.

1. Hobby Subtlety: Does your spouse have a hobby? If so, don’t buy him the obvious (fishing flies for the fly fisherman)…go for something special like a monogrammed case to hold his fly collection or a special gear bag designed for his specific sport.

2. Photos: If you’re newlyweds, this is the one time you can give him an amazing photo of you two without being lame. This acrylic photo block is really cool and would look nice on any desk in any office.

3. Adventure: If you’re totally stumped on what to give him, consider some sort of adventure activity. Often Groupon or LivingSocial have local deals for skydiving, kayaking and race car driving. Can’t you hear him telling the guys at the office..”Oh yeah, I didn’t get a golf club this year. My wife got me passes to race Ferraris!”

So what did I get my husband for our first newlywed Christmas? This is terrible…I can’t remember! What I do remember was deciding to open our gifts for one another on Christmas Eve instead of during the big family hubub of Christmas Day. It has become a tradition to light a fire, pop a bottle of champagne and open our gifts privately.

Moral Of The Story: No matter what you end up buying your spouse, the time you spend together will end up being what you remember. Try not to over emphasize the gift…emphasize the love!

What are you all getting your hard to buy for spouses this year? We’d love to hear from you in a comment.

Newlywed Interest in Pinterest

Explaining the newlywed interest in Pinterest. We have to admit, we’re a bit obsessed with Pinterest. Not sure what it is? It’s a virtual pin board that lets you collect ideas/images/recipes/you name it! What does that have to do with nearlywed and newlywed life? Um…everything!

This is the perfect way to plan your dream home (room by room). Pin color palettes, furniture, plants, and artwork that would make your perfect place. When you click on the picture you pinned you’re taken to the site it came from, so you can purchase the items as you need them.

No more searching in vain for the perfect pillows you saw online, somewhere. Pinterest is also a great way to plan a shower and allow input from your friends. You can allow other people to add pins to your projects if you’re looking for help. You can find inspiration boards for healthy eating or any type of exercise.
Here are a few of our boards to give you ideas for your own!
Married Name Change

Are you using Pinterest to make your newlywed life more fun and more organized? We’d love to heat about your boards….so leave a comment!

I Heart You 4 Budget Friendly Ideas for Valentine’s Day

Looking for budget friendly ideas for Valentine’s Day? The holiday is around the corner…so every business is doing their best to convince you to splurge to show your love. While every newlywed loves receiving an amazing gift, simple and unexpected surprises are often the ones that touch your heart the most. Here are a four ways to say “I love you” without breaking the bank.

Dinner Delight – Heard the expression “the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach”? Whip up a batch of pancake batter and pour it into heart shaped cookie cutters f

or an adorable breakfast sure to make him feel loved. You can also make fried eggs this way too!
Fill in the Blank– Surprise your spouse with a valentine tucked into his/her car visor or computer case. Purchase a box of heart candies with sayings like “You’re the one” and glue them onto a piece of construction paper. You can fill in sentences around the sayings to make a romantic or racy Valentine’s mad lib!

Jock Shock – Married to a guy who’s more into football than the whole girlie holiday thing? We can guarantee he’ll love seeing you in a pair of undies proclaiming you’re his “tight end”! We’re going to bet you’ll feel pretty cute too!

Fond of You Fondue – What’s more romantic than dipping fruit and cake into chocolate? Here’s a great chocolate fondue recipe that takes less than 10 minutes to prepare! You can get creative with your dipping items beyond fruit: pretzels, marshmallows, cookies and even potato chips are fantastic coated in chocolate.
Do you have any fun ideas for celebrating Valentine’s Day as a newlywed? We’d love for you to share them in a comment!