Why I love being married...

...much more than dating.

1. I get to shave my legs less frequently. Not like, it's-winter-let's-grow-out-our-fur-coat-for-warmth kind of less frequently, just not everyday. It's a pain in the ass really. All the bending over and lathering up and balancing on one foot. Are we circus monkeys or something?

2. I can eat my In & Out grilled cheese as messy as I like. Yeah so what if I like to line my grilled cheese with 2 packets of ketchup and a stack of french fries inside. So what if it becomes a drippy mess. I can lick my fingers and make slurping noises if that's what it takes to enjoy my meal. Because when I look to my left, there's my husband, his face is covered in IN & Out goodness and his lap mat is a savior. We smile, and say just that...I love you. 

3. I don't have to "watch my language." I'm a very well behaved date. Well, WAS a very well behaved date. Manners, politeness, cautious swearing. But soon there after, I loosened up and revealed my true self and guess what? My husband didn't run. He actually still liked me. So much so that he married me. So now my lips flow freely with whatever my spirit is moved to say.

4. I dont have to order salads and water when we go out to dinner. I can order actual food. I don't have to pretend to be that super healthy skinny girl. Now when we go out to dinner, we order just what we like. We have no fear of the judgements of eachother or of the effects of digestion two hours later. Which brings me to number 4. 

5. I'm not afraid to go to the bathroom, #2. It is what it is. At some point you just get over it and realize you can't keep denying that as a woman you don't...i'm dreading saying it...poop. My intestines and my stress level thank me greatly for the acceptance of being human. And my husband for never saying anything like, "Oh my gosh you poop? Ugh I only date girls who don't do that. You are so human! You mean you can't just not do that?" Which apparently used to be my fear. Frightening I tell you, the things that go on in my head.

6. I become smarter and gain worldly knowledge. No that doesn't stink of sarcasm. [Or does it?] I now have a deep understanding of the recruiting, ranking and occurrences for most University of Michigan sports. I can now quote The Simpsons. My inner-geek has been released with our kindred love of superheroes. It once only existed because I loved RDJ as Iron Man, now I have a well rounded appreciation and adoration for all super heros. 

So, I guess what my head-shakingly-sappy self is saying is, it's pretty fucking amazing to be able to just be me. I'm so imperfect it's ridiculous. Not having to hide all of those things [from my husband at least] is a pretty sweet deal. 

6 Months of awesome. 

05.07.11

Our new Crib, yo!

It's been a busy, two weeks.  Full of change and new things. I mentioned all the stuff happening in the last post, so I'll save you the details. Absolutely loving everything, and so happy with all of our decisions. And, fully appreciative of my husband's new interest in decorating. He's built us Ikea furniture, painted hallways, and slaved over a wall decal, and I think he is quite enjoying it. Whenever we mention something else we want to add, whether it may be wall decor, a welcome mat for outside or a tissue box holder, my husband instantly replies with, "Let's check on Etsy." Words no woman would expect to hear, words that made me a proud wife. I love it. 

Living Room, Couches: The Sofa Co, TV Tables: Ikea

Loving our new dining table. (with extra leaf in) seats up to 8!

Our new hallway, thanks Etsy! But a pain in the ass to put up.

From front door. Love the cozyness of living room and energy of dining room.

And to go with the new coffee table, I made some homemade coasters. Loving Mod Podge.  

settled in and riled up

We're making the new nest, more of our nest, home. Our day off together was full of half a dozen appointments. A sleezy carpet salesman who offered us a price gouged estimate expecting us to sign on the dotted line right then and there as if we had no idea that the price offered was probably double what we can find elsewhere. A chatty blinds lady who we really liked and shared stories of her son and her father and then gave us a kick ass deal. A painter as cliche as can be, white overalls with spots of paint, offering up design ideas about accent walls and such. The guy from the Powell Electric commercial to repair our doorbell. An inspection for our home owners insurance. Deep breath. Thats just how we do it. 

More recently we hit up ikea and home depot. It was an orgy of home decorating. It was cabinets, dining tables, paint colors...and more paint colors...and so fantastic. Even my husband said "decorating is fun," the same husband who just an hour earlier said "I almost ate my finger" while chowing down on his "protein style" (aka bunless) in n' out burger. 

I am finding myself in a constant whirlwind of laundry, vacuuming, sweeping, cleaning bathrooms, doing dishes, making dinner and breakfast. And this is just from two grown people. I can't imagine what it'll be like when we have a family. Crazytown. Speaking of family and kids and all that super stuff, waiting on insurance approval before we start -- kind of playing it safe I guess, but we rather wait a few weeks than pay thousands and thousands more than we have to so that I get the joy and pleasure of pushing a watermelon sized creature out of my lady parts. 

So to all your lady parts out there that have had babies tear their way out of them, good for you and your brave selves. Seriously. 

temptation. must...not...give...in.

my heart is in ann arbor

Sometimes I wish I could be in two places at once. Everytime we head back and visit Ann Arbor, I so wish we lived there...but I also like living here in LA. Aside from the occasional reminder that we are in the midwest, I totally love it there. Walk everywhere, tons of delicious places to eat [Frita Batidos, Zingerman's], cute little shops and farmers markets [Kerrytown], it feels like a real community.  Anyway, my heart is in Ann Arbor. Go Blue and f*ck OSU. See? I belong there. And as a shirt I saw said "Harry Potter Hates Ohio." So there. Ultimate dis. 

And now we're back to good old pasadena livin'.

I did, what seemed to be, an infinite amount of laundry yesterday [WHYYYY], so I decided to throw in the most unrelated thing simultaneously...I had the tennis match on. Nadal versus some other guy. The other guy won. But Nadal is adorable, manly, sweaty, intense. He should have won, for that alone. But he didnt. He kind of reminds me of the new bachelor [who was on bachelorette], Ben, who I also think should have won but didnt. 

i promise i will reenact this photo. 

I went to the gym last night and I must say, I absolutely kicked ass. I did 60 minutes of cardio and burned 550 calories. Which immediately led to me buying oreos. It's all about balance, so judge if you wish, I feel awesome and the oreos were amazing. And, dont tell my pesimistic, grumpy alter-ego this, but I plan to commit to going to the gym and seeing some results! What? Me? Committing...working hard...not bitching. So unheard of yet, it is true. 

being a woman

We have over 30 pillow cases. Seriously. Why? Will there ever be a point in time where I've used all 30 of them before doing the wash? Or will those uglier ones, or the ones on the bottom of the pile forever be neglected and unused? I spent an hour, very precisely folding those pillow cases to fit into our new (narrow) linen closet.  And then I spent the next hour figuring out those damned fitted sheets. Right as I was envisioning some invention that helps you fold a fitted sheet with the ease of a flat sheet, i had done it! And I must say, I exceeded my own expectations. Laying it out on the bed, taking those crinkly elastic sides and folding them over until it had a square shape and then folding it from there. Beautiful. My old method included a couple of folds and then just rolling the entire thing into a ball. The new closets don't have space for 6 balls of fitted sheets so I had to stretch myself and unveil new strengths in my repertoire of a domestic woman. Ha!

Speaking of woman, we were out to dinner last night and I walked into the bathroom and there was a full length mirror and I saw myself walk in and thought "I am a woman!" Which was quite empowering, since up until that point I'd been grumbling to myself about some of the weight I've gained. I'm not fat or over weight whatsoever, but the fact is, I have gained some weight. But I saw myself in the mirror, with my curves and realized, I'm a woman. I'm not that skinny little girl anymore, and it was suddenly all okay with me. I am staying healthy (really I am), and I definitely want to be more active, but what the hell, I'm a woman. I am allowed to have hips and thighs and all that goodness. So there it is. My husband will be relieved, he's been unmoving in his constant "I love all of you! You are amazing and beautiful just the way you are!" as I sadly groan about my love handles while slurping down that oreo shake. Love of my life that guy is, pretty freaking awesome. 

There ends my go-me-go-being-a-woman rant. It's time for some ego waffles.

he even carried my purse all around italy. thats love. thats a man.

and...we've landed

Today was our third day of moving. And for the most part, the last! We are so excited to be in our new home. I would love to show you around, but unfortunately its packed full of boxes and things. Yep, thats our project for a while. I dont think it'll take too long -- I got through over 10 kitchen boxes in just a couple of hours today. I was most anticipating getting the kitchen together so I can start cooking and baking and experimenting again.

Current main floor of the house

And with a new home comes nesting urges, projects and ideas. My friend pointed me to this website called Pinterest which I am loving! Here's a few decorating inspiration pics I have found.

Definitely adding a photo wall in our upstairs hall

Colors!

Funky & Fun

Simple, easy to accent

Love these! Etsy is so great.

Thinking about the tiled wall and cabinets

Time to explore a new part of town, and see what kind of trouble we can get ourselves into.

Oh yeah p.s. I think we've got drug dealers across the street --right next to a drug rehab center, seriously-- I'll keep you posted, I can spy on them from our bedroom. Yesssss. 

New Stuff, WooHoo Stuff

So we've been out of town for a couple of weeks, doing some pretty cool things. Spending time with lots of friends and playing like kids. Speaking of kids, we want some. We want some soon. We have friends with little ones, friends soon to be expecting, it's all happening at the same time, and like the usual bandwagoners that we are, we want to join the baby owners club. 

In the spirit of plans to soon be impregnated -okay its actually just so I can feel all pretty again- I'm working out and drinking all my sludgey green stuff. Kind of ironic. Going to lose weight, and then probably shortly thereafter,  have a little person growing inside of me.  Isnt it an excuse to gain weight? Naw, I want to be that lady who from behind looks hot and sexy, and then from the front you realize she's pregnant. 

On my run today, pre-occupying my mind, I started judging people based on their homes. I ran by one house, who I strongly believe I would NOT be friends with. They had no less than 5 signs on their front gates. "NO PARKING. You WILL be ticketed & towed." and "CURB YOUR DOG. Pick up their defication." Defication? Really? Assholes. And then there's the neighbor that has a cat in the window. I am not a cat person. And the old guy who sits on his porch staring at everyone that passes...yes sir, that is welcoming. Do you happen to have any creepy candy inside your creepy house? I'd love to come in, all alone -- or maybe your windowless van? Sure thats is fine too. 

We're beyond excited to be moving into our new home at the end of August. Maybe our neighbors there will be better. Let me let a dog deficate on their lawn or park in front of their driveway. Yes, maybe, just maybe. Aw a new house, for our new life, and our future new family, our new big tv and *fingers crossed* new furniture and new curtains, new throw pillows, new city. 

It's been an ordinary week, and the thing that I love about that is, that if this is ordinary, there is no way our life will ever be boring. Feeling absolutely content, pleased, happy with each and every moment. So cheesy I know, so mushy, especially for a sarcastic, crass individual like myself. But it is so..my life rocks. My husband is bomb. yep, i said it, bomb! as in absolutely explosively awesome. Go husband! 

ryan seacrest & cupcakes

Do you ever have those dreams that you wake up from, interrupting them right in the middle, wishing that it would have been able to keep going because it felt like it was all happening for real? I did last night. 

It involved my secret crush, ryan seacrest. 

Dreams don't make a whole lot of sense but this is what I can remember from it for those that analyze dreams:

I was standing in a crowd, Ryan Seacrest walked by, I smiled and said hi. A few minutes later his assistant came back and pointed to me and handed me six slips of paper and said, you get to come with me and pick out six cupcakes. So I followed him, and remember there wasnt much of a selection. I chose six but when I looked back in my pack of six someone had taken four of them. So again I began choosing, there was a small chocolate and a big chocolate and i put those in. Then the next thing I know, I'm standing in this crowd and Ryan is in the distance, kind of on a stage and he smiles at me and I remember making a squinty face for whatever reason. Then the lady in front of him says "Okay, I'll take you, and you." Pointing at myself and some other unimportant person. Then walking toward the stage Ryan puts his arm out and says "I'll take Alex." As we crossover the stage he mentions that he lost a bidding war on ebay for a poodle which costs $300/month. To which I replied "Oh that's nothing for a poodle." WTF? Then we sit down at a table, and we have some sort of script of a play that we're going to have to read from -- to entertain the masses I assume? We end up chatting and we were about to take a picture together on my iphone when suddenly -- I am awake. Bahumbug! 

Anyway, goes to show what I think about --- cupcakes.

Random thought: these came up on image search, i LOVE them.

We hit up about six different places for sale this weekend with our realtors. It was about 120 degrees out. I was sticky and cramping, because oh yeah, I'm a woman who will be a baby carrier in the future because I have a f*cking period every month. Kill me.

this is how i feel right now. Fat, lazy, sore boobs. (i laugh every time I look at this -- I apologize to art snobs who dont think I respect the artistic beauty of this. She just looks like I feel inside)

That's right, houses. A couple of them had the owner, instead of their listing agent, show us around which is awkward as all hell. You have to keep in thoughts like "what is with this hideous tiling in the shower?" or "the smell of filipino food is suffocating me." or "is the floor meant to be sloping downward?" 

We saw the good, the bad and the ugly. Found a couple we liked, looking in different parts of town and started narrowing in on what we really want. It's an adventure, that's for sure. If only packing up and becoming nomads was a seriously easy thing to do. Commitment is difficult for me (except with my superhero husband. That was the easiest choice I've ever had to make!). We just signed a 6 month lease on an apartment so we have somewhere to live until we find a house. That 6 month commitment caused unbelievable anxiety and my patient and fearless husband had to talk some sense into me. That we aren't literally "stuck" there. I hate plans. I hate being stuck. I think I just hate people right now. It's the hormones, don't blame me. 

Spa in a couple days. Breathe. 

sunday is today. fact.

Gardening, Wii Sports, Movies, Mustaches.

Just a typical sunday, right? 

Today was the witching hour of phase one of "house for sale, move & nest, future excitement" project. We completed our week long marathon of house prep with gardening, swiffering, febreezing, organizing. A few days had passed since the Mr. shaved, since he was being all rugged (which i thought was spelled rugid until google told me otherwise) and manual-labor-esque. So let me preface by saying I'm not a huge fan of the stache, but for shits and giggles, I asked him to shave everything but his mustache so I could see what he looked like with it. Apparently he thought that meant to leave it that way for our date night. It's very --- dated. It seriously has the affect of age & redneckedness -- I felt the need to ransack ashton kutcher's closet for a trucker hat to pair with the new mustache. It brings a grin to my face when I see him. 

Once our realtors showed up the Coops were able to head out on our only date this week! Sharkys for lunch -- of course, we frequent there far too often. And then we saw the Woody Allen pic, Midnight in Paris which was absolutely fantastic. I now have a new desire to trek to the romance, beauty and culture of Paris.  Maybe we should sell the house and just become nomads -- no permanent home, rather a couple dozen travel destinations. How sweet that would be. 

Naturally we capped off the evening with some Wii Sports, that which is responsible for the pair of injuries I now have. Note to self, do not back into husband while he is batting during Wii baseball. I feel like I was hit with a bat to the back of my arm...you know, that flabby part of your arm that has no muscle for self defense in situations like this. The only rewarding part was that it threw off his swing and I struck him out. And the second I've found is a pulled muscle while Wii bowling. I feel like I'm throwing my arm out every time its my turn, but even more so when I "drop" the ball before the line and have to start over. I really think working out is a good idea for me...

Yoga. I think that will help my body and my soul. Maybe tomorrow will be THE day. The day I jump in and try it -- I've got to admit I'm a bit hesitant as I'm extremely unflexible, the thought of touching my toes makes me want to go and eat a donut. It is so unfortunate to think about that I need to immediately put a donut into my system to balance out the stress that touching my toes causes. I've never been very flexible..I guess yoga will help...

I don't even like cats..

I will shamefully admit that somehow, between all of the excitement going on, I've managed to catch up on the Bachelorette on ABC over the past day. I have never watched any of these Bachelor/Bachelorette shows -- but I got hooked, catching myself shouting wise advice too this overly attached confused woman, rooting for a select few men for her to choose (JP & Ben F.) and wondering why anyone would want to be on this show. Yet it is I, with a neck ache from watching six episodes on my ipad, waiting for tomorrow's episode. The shame. 

Oh yeah and last thing, I saw something new when I logged into blogger today. It said "1 Follower" What? Awesome. I have a follower, and she's so cool! I totally forgot that people could "follow" your blog so the fact that after like 500 views in the last two weeks and no followers didnt bother me, but now I suddenly feel the warmth of..acceptance. Yep, that's all it takes and I'm feelin' fly. 

This is how we do it!

I love that satisfied feeling at the end of a weekend, knowing you got the most of it. And when it's 7:30pm out on Sunday and there's still day light, so it's not yet over. I wish weekends were eternal, not that they are any different for me since i'm technically "working from home." But weekends somehow just scream freedom & fun. Weekends.

The Coops did some good, helped out with the Tree Musketeers in El Segundo, pulling weeds, helping the trees, gardening, so on and so forth for a couple of hours. Got dirty, sore and tired...from gardening. Saw a snake in real life for the first time -- as in, not behind a layer of glass like at the zoos.  I think I've always had this vision that as soon as the snake in real life sees a person, it will either launch itself forward attacking that person or start speaking parseltongue. To my surprise and honest relief, it didnt even acknowledge us. Move along snake, move along. 

U2 concert saturday night, with opening act Lenny Kravitz. Um...A-MAZING. 

Lenny Kravitz=Love! Such a cool vibe, awesome music, and really got everyone moving. Great heart, preaching love and equality, keep on keepin' on brother. 

Bono is badass!! Seriously, a rock star. And a really awesome human being. He's quality, we need more people like that. It was unbelievable. A full 2 hour set, which SO made up for the 1 year postponement from the original show date. A concert and a night not to be forgotten. With the highest of recommendations, get yourself to a Lenny Kravitz or U2 concert sometime in your life. Or the next one. But preferably this one. 

Father's Day, so hey, happy day to all you dad's out there. Went to Dave & Busters with the family, played games, and I must say, it was a swell time had by all. I find my cure all in worry, stress, upset, etc is to just be a kid again. It would be magical if we could bottle up FUN, to be taken in abundant doses whenever needed. 

Random thought, new addition to my "must/really want to meet list." Gordon Ramsay. Don't hate, I really like the guy. Check out Kitchen Nightmares or Master Chef - he seems all rough and tough, but he's got a good heart and the dude is brilliant. So yeah, if you know him, give him a holler from me. 

And a to make your day/life a little better:

You'll know when you know

Have you ever heard someone say:

 "You'll know when you know!" 

I've been hearing that a lot lately and being a "feelings" person, I'm finding it more and more true.

It all starts with the one. That's right, the ambiguously mysterious, ONE. 

The one and only person you are absolutely meant to spend your life with...and yes, as the saying goes...

you'll know when you know, and if you aren't sure you know, then that's not the one!

The day came for me, and I knew. Just knew, this feeling inside where all you wanted was to do everything right to keep this one right by your side. Seems I did just that, we dated, we travelled, we played, we fought, we loved and loved and loved and now we are getting married! 

Finding someone who has, by choice and choice alone (no force was used -- I promise), decided, I guess committed is the word, to spend their life with me! ME?! The eternal smart ass, forever five year old, unexplainable mix of stresser and optimist, foul mouthed and overly emotional ME! 

And so it was, 10/10/10, an afternoon on the beautiful riverbank in the Arboretum of Ann Arbor-Michigan, preceded by a delicious Zingermann's picnic and proceeded by a hike, it happened. Perfectly, simply, it was, it is and forever will be magical! 

So I'm a sap? We all have our faults.  I love Love to a point of cutesy nicknames and school girl type excitement. I love Love to the point that cleaning the kitchen is a pleasure, cooking his favorite meal is a joy and playing Gears of War is a night out! I've fallen, for him, into an endless abyss of possibility and awesomeness, even if thought so only by us, let it be awesome. 

You'll know when you know.

The early stages of planning a wedding have yet again proved it's truth. Stay tuned for the details, ideas and crazy times. 

The life of being engaged, the wonder, the prospect, the journey.