Filed under: romance and relationships
This morning I cancelled my Myspace account. Doesn’t sound like a big deal to most readers I am sure, but it was a bit difficult to make the decision to do so.
Brian and I met via Myspace. I met a number of other people on there whom I now consider good friends. Myspace reunited me with my very first best friend, Bobby, and his father Al. Myspace helped me keep in touch with high school classmates and keep other friendships alive that I probably would have otherwise just let extinguish.
Granted, I have a facebook profile and the vast majority of my friends and even family have accounts there. It is generally more private and less chaotic than Myspace. As far as keeping in touch with friends and family, I prefer facebook.
I guess the point of this post was to say that technology is kind of an odd duck in the world of sentimental being. This morning, prior to cancelling my account, I was able to print out the very first conversation I ever had with Brian. How many people know the exact date and time they had their very first conversation with their significant other? And not just that but to know the conversation word for word!! It is pretty special. I can see where the downfalls of such a thing could lie, but as for my own personal story, it has all worked out just beautifully.
I could easily recite all of the negatives of the internet age including a slew of stories, both personal and not, of online dating fiascoes that were hellacious. But there are always a few diamonds in the rough. This is one of those times.
I couldn’t have possibly posted everything about last week in the last post I made; it would have ended up pages long. So here are some details.
The ride from point A to point B sucked. Plain and simple. The “check engine” light went on in the middle of nowhere Indiana. I found myself in BFE asking toothless porch sitters for directions only to discover that they either really wanted a ride up north OR that they never leave their little town because they were WAY too excited about the fact that I was headed north. Fortunately for me, the only problem with the car was my own negligence and unfamiliarity with popping the hood and checking fluids myself!
On my way home I stopped in Lansing to see my little (well… younger) cousin. I haven’t seen him in YEARS and it was high time for he and I to spend at least an afternoon catching up. I took him to a nice dinner at one of my old favorite haunts, took a ride with him through MSU’s campus, and chatted for hours. I was exhausted from my crazy ordeal earlier in the day but I am so glad I took the time to stop and see him.
Friday the first consisted of chilling with dad and then the rehearsal and dinner at the groom’s family’s home. Rehearsal was a big shocker to me. I have never stood up in a wedding before and prior to that point, I was just as ridiculously excited as the little flower girl. I have been waiting to see this wedding for a long time and I couldn’t wait to be a part of the day. At least that is how I felt until we lined up to rehearse the processional. That is when panic struck. The music started, the couples in front of me began walking and I began to fidget. I mean, all of my friends are getting married and/or having children (not necessarily in any particular order). I find myself thinking, “WHAT THE F*&# ARE YOU DOING!?!?!?” on a regular basis! Ok, so it isn’t like we are teenagers anymore. My friends at this particular wedding had dated for 8 and 1/2 years prior to marriage!! That is more than enough time to make a decision. I just can’t believe how fast it is all happening. I guess some people stun me more than others. I found myself really happy with the fact that I haven’t had to make such a huge commitment yet. I am sure still being in school has helped to keep me mentally from being on any kind of fast track to marriage but I find myself really glad that is the case now.
So the wedding itself was emotional too – it is pretty bizarre seing my friends get married when I remember back to high school when we would talk about what our weddings would be like. Even though my cousin who got married this past Saturday and I are close and are the same age, I didn’t have that same kind of emotional moment like I had at my friend’s wedding. It is just different. After the ceremony, we all boarded a huge purple school bus. At first this all seemed pretty . . . strange. But it was a lot of fun. Do I foresee a big purple bus in my wedding future? Negative. But I am glad I got to be part of a traditional “up nort’” weddin’.
And I’m really glad it was all offset by attending my cousin’s lovely wedding the following week!
So I haven’t been able to update for quite a while – I had a crazy week, dad has dial-up, and my computer inexplicably won’t connect to any wireless connection outside of my apartment.
So I will try to break this down as best as I can.
Saturday the 2nd, one of my best friends from high school was married – it was a mentally and physically exhausting day but a whole lot of fun. The wedding party was (too) huge, we all drank a little too much, and I attempted to catch up with a lot of old friends from high school.
After Saturday, I stayed up north, spent time with my dad and my cousin and it was nice to just chill out for a few days. I was totally whipped after the wedding so I enjoyed the relaxation quite a bit!
Thursday morning I packed up my stuff and headed on out for my mom’s place. My cousin was getting married this past Saturday and I needed a dress but once I got to mom’s and I had unloaded a car full of things, I was sweaty and tired. I called her and told her I planned to dress shop on Friday instead of Thursday night. She told me I might want to reconsider because she had a huge surprise for me and she was picking him up at the airport Friday morning! Yes, Brian came to Detroit to be my date for my cousin’s wedding and meet some of my extended family for the first time! It was the best surprise I can ever remember getting and it was totally unexpected. He apparently had called my mom and planned this about a month ago! Not too shabby.
I guess when God is in good spirits he is in a big way too because that Thursday night I ran to a TJ Maxx hoping for the best in the way of a nice dress (for a black tie reception!) andmanaged to find an amazing fuchsia Marilyn Monroe style dress for only $15!!!! Mom and I picked up Brian Friday morning from metro – he was exhausted but he got a little nap when we returned home and then we went to the zoo. I was hoping for a nice relaxing day at the zoo — sadly it was more like a kid-wilderness! I was totally bummed that there was only one seal in the arctic circle exhibit and no bears in the water – that can be such a serene exhibit. Fortunately, Brian is into the aquatic stuff so I knew he would enjoy amphibiville – we hit that toward the end of the day when things were closing down and it was pretty nice. Friday night we just relaxed with a pizza and the opening ceremonies to the Olympics.
Saturday was very nice. With my15 dollar dress and a little of mom’s jewelry added, I was looking pretty nice and Brian and I got some fantastic photos outside of the gorgeous chapel my cousin was wed in. No expense was spared on the reception and we enjoyed desserts, a photo booth, and a really good band. I took Brian for a walk behind the local library where there is a great walk-way and stream and then we returned to dance and enjoy the evening. It really was fantastic to have him there – I am still pretty stunned that he thought to surprise me that way – I am still beaming.
Yesterday we drove back – long ride but it was nice to have company of course. Oliver was retrieved from Brian’s roommate and he and I are back to life as usual now. It was a great week but I am glad to be home.
Brian and I had our two year anniversary on Saturday. We celebrated with a lovely dinner and a night at the best hotel in town on Sunday night. I had a lovely time, sadly however, my night was cut dang short. During dinner, the drinks just kept flowing and pretty soon I was totally smashed. I was completely comatose by 8:30 and didn’t wake up until midnight that night with a terribly dry mouth. Oddly enough, I slept great and had no hangover but poor Brian didn’t get a good night’s rest at all – he has been spoiled by his tempur-pedic at home!
Yesterday was rough. I walked to the jail with one of the attorneys and had to go barefoot on the way back. 8 blocks in heels just isn’t happening!!! Then last night I spent time on the phone with the family of one of my clients. We were unable to find him last week and it turns out he was shot. One of the snags of this job I guess…. it is unsettling to think that the kid I had just talked to days before that could still become a murder victim!
Today my mind was off of yesterday’s stuff and was up and productive at 6am. I got more done today than I have in months! Laundry, dishes, I re-arranged the whole apartment AND completed a damn nifty project!
I have a cute little bar. It was once just a blond wooden cabinet with wicker doors. I painted it black and shellacked it. I painted martini olives on the top of it and painted the wicker doors a creamy color.
I had wanted to replace the wicker with glass but it turned out to be way too complicated an endeavor.
Well, today I changed the whole look of the bar. I took the boring old silver door knobs on the bar and created martini olives out of clay!!! They are wonderful!
In addition, while I was out shopping I found corrugated plastic boards – kind of similar in material to thick foam board. I cut pieces to fit perfectly and popped them over top of the wicker doors – I could probably sell this little bar at an art show or on ebay for one heck of a pretty penny right now! I love it!
And so it was a perfectly wonderful and long weekend. This will be the very condensed version of course but here is a sampling.
Thursday afternoon Brian came to my place to pick me up for dinner. I must admit, we were a smashing pair – Brian can always almost effortlessly look like he is dressed for a black tie event and I finally was able to wear a red cocktail dress I have been saving for just such an occassion. The resturaunt was fabulous – from the amazing martini, to the fabulous fish, to the menus (personalized to congratulate us on our anniversary) – it had great ambiance.
After dinner Brian surprised me with a white, horse-drawn carriage ride which took us through the government center of the city and near the canal. The dimly lit buildings and the echoey clopping of the horses hooves against the brick streets made it so easy to drown out everything else. I’ve been wanting to take a carriage ride since moving here but I am glad we waited till Thursday night – it was perfect and made me feel like one heck of a lucky lady!
Friday morning we woke up early and headed out for Holiday World. The ride down was pretty long but actually really fun – we sang along to the few and far between good tunes we were able to find on the radio and chatted and snacked the whole way. The park itself was really nice – we rode the three big wooden coasters (which were really cool rides!) and then we headed over to the water park. I have never been to a water park and I have certainly never been on slides like these before – they were pretty wild! The weather was almost perfect, the rides were awesome, and the company was charming.
Saturday came and the fun continued. Brian and I went to his Aunt and Uncles for a big get-together. Brian’s roomie and his gf as well as another friend of Brian’s also came along this time and with everyone else that was there, it was quite the group of people. We spent almost all afternoon in the pool having some very interesting and bizarre conversation lol.
Last night we just tried to come down off of all of the craziness. I taught Brian how to play Egyptian Rat Screw (nope… no clue what the “real” name is) and so we played some hands of that and had some new drinks to relax with. It was a nice way to end the long anniversary celebration/weekend.
Filed under: romance and relationships
By the time I finish writing this, Brian and I will have officially been together for 1 year. Remebering back a year ago has made me smile and has brought back the memories of all of the butterflies that were in my stomach while I anticipated the beginning of our relationship. I recall thinking for a split second that the timing (with law school beginning so soon) was kind of cruddy… then I blew that off and jumped in head first! The way that he and I met and began dating really re-emphasizes to me just how important it is to follow a gut instinct. It is never wrong.
Since last June 28th, I have encountered many “firsts”; moving to a new state, beginning law school, being under more stress than I have ever imagined, being at a distance from family, and now – dating someone exclusively for an entire year. Being able to maintain a brand new relationship under the circumstances of this year has given me an incredible feeling of power. I am still realistic of course (I’m like a “wanna-be romantic!), but I am no longer fearful of a good relationship going sour because of circumstances. If it really is “good” and it really is meant to be – both people will put forth the effort to make it work.
As more people realize that we have been an item for a while now, we have both elicited questions about our future from nosey people around us. At first, these questions really bothered me. They made me wonder if I was “different” for not being a cling-on accessory instead of just a girlfriend. Now, as the end of the first year of Brian and I’s relationship comes to a close, I don’t mind the questions because I know that those people are missing the point – I am in love with Brian right now and I have enjoyed and am still enjoying being with him. (For those of you who are still nosey about the future … well, it’s in the future and instead of planning it out to a “t” just life every other aspect of my life, I’ve decided to live up every moment as it comes to us and enjoy them for what they are. (and honestly, if I was making any serious plans, don’t you think I would bring it up before you could even ask!?!?! I am a girl for gods sake! lol ))
So, although I am not the “mushiest” gal on Earth, I think this post requires a bit of a romantic touch.
Brian: I love you and I thank you for your time, your presence, your patience, your hugs, your humour, and your heart. Happy Anniversary baby!
To everyone else reading – thank you for sharing in the occassion!
I would like to hear other people’s reaction/opinion on this.
I recently responded to a bulletin posted by an old friend on Myspace. It has been about a year since I have spoken to him and I teasingly chided him about his propensity to fall off the face of the earth. Turns out that it wasn’t an accident. He responded to my message by apologizing for not keeping in touch and continued by writing out a long story about how every time he has spoken to me his girlfriend has gotten very upset – screaming, crying, etc .
What I find curious however is the fact that she became so angry about him staying in touch with me although we had never dated, I have never had nor shown any interest in him, I had moved nearly two hours away at first and now live in a completely different state – i.e., I don’t pose any threat to their relationship.
This brings me to the topic of jealousy and my ultimate question.
If I had been my friend’s gf, I likely would not have been terribly upset by the friendship, but assume that I was upset by it for the purposes of this question. I likely would have asked about me, maybe made a joke or brought up a minor conversation but I would have never shown that I was very angry or upset even if that is how I had truly felt. So who would have been right in this situation? Me for holding my feelings in and allowing an innocent friendship to continue but possibly irk me the whole time or her for appearing to overreact but getting the outcome that she wanted – he stopped speaking to me and the friendship has simply died with time?
Does it come down to us personally and our selfish desires? The desire to have peace of mind and control (overreacting) or the desire to appear tactful, confident, or nonchalant (saying nothing)?
Meh… no clue…
So this morning was entertaining…
Last night Brian and I went out to a restaurant downtown – it is a fancy pizza place with all of these fabulous pizzas – we had ours with a ricotta white sauce, artichokes, black olives, roasted red peppers, goat cheese and prosciutto. It was awesome!
Anyhow… after that we went home and it was suddenly not so warm out.. all I was thinking about was how I missed my coat.
I stayed the night at Brain’s and this morning at 6am I was ready to walk out the door when I realized I couldn’t find my purse…
It didn’t take long to realize it was sitting under the table at the restaurant! No purse, no house or car keys, no phone…
Brian took me home and luckily, my roommate was home and could drive me to school. He dropped me off and now my last class of the day has finished and I am going to be waiting for a little while until Brian gets here. He is going from work to the restaurant to pick up my purse and then coming to get me.
Good thing I have a great boyfriend who isn’t making fun of me!
In other news… it is rainy and windy and there is a tornado watch today… BUT it is 52 degrees! Woohoo… if I don’t get blown away later, I might just go take a walk 
Not this coming week, but the following week is my spring break. Brian’s roommate plans to go to Chicago to Ikea… Brian and I might accompany him and his girlfriend there … and it could end up just being a short day trip… well… it is a three hour ride there, so technically a LONG day trip lol.
Well, it is nice not to have that damn paper hanging over my head this week. I should have plenty of time between now and next Tuesday to get the majority of next weeks stuff done. I am looking forward to the break!!
I decided this deserved it’s own post.
I saw this gentleman on Oprah… he took a sign out one day which simply stated “free hugs”… and pretty soon, people reached out.
And then his campaign was banned…. and that is when people really reached out.
Why do I care? Well, I personally think a hug is, by far, the most dramatic form of expression in the entire library of non-verbal communication between humans (and not just humans I may add!).
There is no other form of expression that is so universally understood or accepted and appropriate in such a wide range of situations.
I vividly recall a very very bad day my Junior year of college. I had been crying for hours and was in an immense amount of emotional pain. I dreaded the fact that I had to go out for something later in the day… and I remember thinking to myself “God, I could really use a hug”… and in the very next instant I heard someone say my name… a girl from my study abroad trip who I hadn’t seen in over a year ran up to me and hugged me.
I doubt I will ever forget that series of events and interestingly enough, that isn’t the only hug I have a vivid memory of.
So reach out for a hug when it is unexpected… you never know who is really wishing you would!
Filed under: birthday, food, movies, recommendations, romance and relationships, sick
Hello everyone,
Well I had a nice birthday… very nice. Friday night I spent with Brian, his roommate, and his roomie’s gf watching Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (which was a nice prequel, and kinda convoluted… perfect Friday night stuff).
Saturday, my actual b-day, I came home and watched Bambi and Lady and the Tramp, took a nap and then Brian came over (complete with floral arrangement) to take me to dinner.
We went to the India Garden (which was wonderful and authentic) and then to Palomino for pear bread pudding and a tiramisu martini.
Stuffed, we went back to his place.
At around 1:20 in the morning, I awoke…gagging, uncomfortable, and my mouth tasted like… well… vomit.
I went into the bathroom and I just couldn’t stop swallowing…. my whole body felt very strange. I eventually made myself sick hoping to stop whatever in the world was happening and instead I caused my throat to feel like it was on FIRE… literally on fire. Not “spicy hot”, not “sore” … fire – like someone had dropped a match straight down.
Brian chimed that it might be acid reflux. I have only ever had heartburn once (and certainly did think I was having a heart attack). After reading a bit today about acid reflux, that is definitely what occurred.
I can’t imagine having that chronically! I couldn’t sleep, every time I changed positions I wanted to die, and that god awful taste in my mouth…. But scariest is the fact that I could have aspirated in my sleep had I not been awoken from that awful taste!
Sheesh.
I realize that yesterday I ate two bean burritos for lunch, covered in hot sauce, snacked on green jalapeno salsa and chips, had Indian food for dinner and a martini to top it all off…
but that is just a typical day in my world…
Blogs I like:
From the Sartorialist:
check it out. Great blog about fashion captured on the streets of NY (generally) by a gifted photographer. I love to take a peek every other week or so and see what is hot.
YUMMY!
Vegan crepes from the Vivacious Vegan! I can’t wait to try this out ASAP!
So every once in a while I see something I really want to remember for major future reference (i.e. – many many many years from now).
This morning, it was on the Today show. A clip with Dr. Laura Schlessinger about her new book, The Proper Care and Feeding of Marriage.
I admittedly am not a big fan of Dr. Laura. I remember her t.v. show from years ago and, even though I would have been very young, I remember thinking she was too old fashioned and too blatent in her advice to people.I don’t know many married couples (my own age at least) and in the couples I do know, I am not close enough to them in a way that I would be privy to knowing of their marital problems, but in a society with such a high rate of divorce (43% w/in the first 10 years of marriage), clearly there are serious problems (or at least seemingly “serious”) in many relationships.In the excerpt at Today.Msnbc.com, she talks about a survey she did on her website and posts the most common answers men gave to the question; What do you admire most about women in general? The answers are no big surprise. They cover the obvious – social and nurturing skills, physical softness, bringing emotion and intimacy to men’s lives, creating a feeling of “home” and femininity in the world, etc. Dr. Laura suggests carefully analyzing what we do as individuals to make our partners feel like a ‘man’ or a ‘woman’.
As much as I am young and haven’t really given much thought to marriage and married life, I have long recognized the fact that I intended to be in a powerful and demanding career. I have always wanted jobs that are typically associated with men, power, intelligence, and character. But I have also recognized that is not who I want to be 24/7! In fact, I really wonder how male politicians, CEO’s, lawyers, and doctors can “do it”. How can they handle being “the man” all of the time, both at work and when they come home. I think there are many women who feel that to act like a “woman” is demeaning and makes them appear weak in a world where you are either running ahead of the pack, with the pack, or are trampled on and left for dead lol.
Well anyhow, my point is that I like feeling like a woman. I like being treated like a lady. And I think I can be a lady at home and at work (and still kick some major butt in the career aspect of life). And most importantly, I think this extends beyond marriages and into daily interactions we have with one another, it really is nice to be recognized as a lady and to act like one even when other women are busy pretending to be gender nuetral…
(oh and as for the title of this post, yea, this really IS torture on this computer …. lol)
It has been a long week! Moving Brian has been a big job, but it has been well worth it knowing that he will be in a much nicer apartment. Their former apartment… well, actually the management of their former apartment has been less than efficient to say the least. The new apartment is so far looking better. The living room is spacious and bright with a bar counter looking into the kitchen. Brian has his own bathroom again in his bedroom and his roommate Josh has a huge bedroom, walk-in closet and common bathroom with an entry from the living room and his bedroom. Plus they have a washer and dryer right off of the kitchen… I would have died to have had this kind of apartment when Amy and I lived together!
I have chosen to sign on for another year and a half here at the house with my roommate. With all of the studying I have had to do, this year isn’t very practical for apartment or on campus housing and living in a house has so many benefits (especially considering I do have a roommate – the owner of the home).
It looks like I will be heading home on New Years day. That will give me time to clean up my room and organize my things and finish helping Brian with his move and final clean up of his old place. I will likely head up north to my dad’s on Tuesday and stay there through Thursday most likely. That way I can still hang out with mom and Ron before they leave on their vacation but they will hopefully be all packed by the time I get home.
Oh, I bought a new book… Food Politics by Marion Nestle.
Ms. Nestle appeared on Supersize Me along side Morgan Spurlock and her book has been endorsed by the author of one of my favorite books – Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser.
While I haven’t begun reading Food Politics yet, I will be sure to review it once I am done.. hopefully by the time school begins again. I have heard from a lot of people who have tried to read Fast Food Nation and were unable to get through the first few chapters because of shear density… my review for those people is that most of the beginning of the book really isn’t for everyone, but I would suggest if you want to read at least a portion of the book, read about the slaughterhouses. I thought I had a clue about these things because of where I grew up. I was wrong. It is a worthwhile read.
Why the politically charged food books? Well, I have decided that part of my new years resolution this year will be to once again be a vegetarian. I had quit eating meat for quite some time in college but decided to allow myself to enjoy the unique foods of South Africa without the veggie-only restriction. When I got home, for some reason I just didn’t go back to what was clearly a healthier (and honestly, happier) lifestyle. I have decided that it is time once again to do what I think is right for me and my health. Depending on how I feel and how my meatless life goes (fine I am sure), I plan to work on cutting dairy and eggs from my diet as well. I know this will be more difficult, and honestly, I don’t think going vegan is for everyone (not in this day in age at least), so I would like to just work on expanding my recipe books and ingredient list to include vegan items in the future.
It is time for a multi-post post – lots to talk about
CHRISTMAS UPDATE:
I thought I would make an update about Christmas day… Brian worked and then picked me up so we could head out to his father’s place. It was Brian and I, his father and his girlfriend, and Brian’s sister and her fiance. Oh, and I can’t forget Tyson… the dog. It was very nice. We all relaxed, passed out gifts, opened, chit-chatted, and had dinner. I was again thrilled with gifts… perhaps the only thing about this Christmas that has been a bummer is the fact that it is the first Christmas that I have been strapped not just for money, but for time and the ability to even be creative about gifts. Normally I can pull something together on a limited budget so that everyone gets something unique and special, but this year I’m going to be grasping at straws just to cover my parents (even though I know they don’t care about me getting them gifts).I am probably just more sensitive to this because everyone has been so incredibly generous and thoughtful with their gifts! Brian told his sister that I collect M&M guys… and she got me a great candy jar with “Yellow” wearing an adorable baseball cap which says “Honk if you *heart* chocolate!” plus a plush of Green and a “mini” green (who I didn’t own any version of prior to this!). Brian’s father got me a gift card to Target – something I desperately need and am pretty excited about because I love Target (and their Archer Farms food line!) and because getting to go shopping is a gift in itself! Plus there was a stocking full of goodies!
Brian and I also exchanged gifts last night. I gave him a “fish themed” X-mas – I previously told him that one night we will be going to Mitchell’s Fish Market (my fav. seafood restaurant) and I had colored (yea, colored) him some pictures of a cartoon oyster… it had a whole story… I am guessing it won’t be the last time Brian sees Sam the Oyster… and last night I gave him his “fun” toy gift – Kid K’nex “undersea pals” – it is like plastic tinker toys with a ocean buddy theme lol, and mom, Ron, and I got together to get Brian a gift card to Uncle Bills Pet Store. Brian just bought a new aquarium and I am sure he will need lots of new stuff to stock it up with – plus, who doesn’t love any excuse to go to a pet store!?! haha.
Brian’s gift to me was something I was actually really really hoping for – a massage, facial, mani/pedicure and sauna treatment at a spa in the area. We went there shortly after I first moved here when I needed my hair cut and I immediately was dying for the opportunity to get back there for some pampering… I will likely save that gift for some de-stressing time!
He also got me a Golden Girls season set, the Little Mermaid on DVD, and these guys:
The significance of a plush lion and tiger? When I was stressed out and ready to rip my hair out of my head, I often headed to this (http://www.weebls-stuff.com/toons/kenya/ )site (there is music).
I fell in love with the lil characters and really wanted the plushies but the website turned out to be British and required some ridiculous amount of time for shipping to the US… well Brian ordered these guys some ridiculous amt of time ago lol. I’m sure some people just wouldn’t understand all of the excitement over a couple of stuffed animals… but in some ways that just makes it more special – it is always special when someone knows what will really float your boat and yours alone!
BRIAN IS MOVING!
Yup is has finally arrived – moving day… err, days!
When I first began talking to Brian he told me that he and his roommate had looked at an apartment complex right down the road from my place. He only lives 5 miles away from me but it is the longest five miles in the country I swear! The traffic isn’t always bad, but it typically is at the times that we would be driving between our places. Now he is literally just 2 or 3 minutes away from me. I attempted to help him with a few things this morning when they went to sign the lease, get keys, and begin moving. I really like his new place. Tomorrow is the “bigger” moving day and hopefully I can help out getting him settled.
PRODUCT SHOUT OUT
I rarely love a product so much that I would blog about it, but this is just too good to be true.
After having some kind of bizarre allergic reaction to my favorite moisturizer (which I have used for years) and having a blow up of blemishes AND dry skin, I went out to pick up some Cetaphil cleanser and moisturizer and I found this:
A tub of Cetaphil’s Moisturizing Cream… I was positive that the line of dry skin on my chin and jaw line and on either side of my nose was going to be that sh*t that lasts the entire winter. I used this stuff three times over two days and I no longer have any dry skin anywhere on my body!
The ONLY “bummer” note – it must be used on perfectly clean skin. This isn’t a lotion as much as it is a method of trapping water to the skin but if there is any dirt, skin cells etc on the skin when you apply it, it will trap them and everything will begin to bead up and slough off… like Elmers on your fingers lol. Either way, you won’t need to apply it any more often than once after showing anyhow.
Filed under: ads, blog, family, holidays, humor, recommendations, romance and relationships
If my blog is a mess right now, sorry… I am cleaning up the layout because I created a new graphic I wanna use… we shall see how it goes
[update] Well, so far so good. I altered a gettyimages photo to create the graphic at the top of the page and I found a template online and altered colors till I came up with this… I likes. [/update]
So, Merry Christmas! lol. I keep forgetting today is Christmas. I went out to a gas station this morning. I noticed CVS was open and remembered that a Jewish friend of mine once mentioned this… I might head out there later. I had lots of stuff I wanted to b.s. about, but it’s getting late and Brian will be out of work in a couple hours and then we are heading to his fathers to celebrate tonight.
OH – I am sure I have mentioned before (certainly in person/phone if not on the blog before) that Brian is not only an amazing and wonderful boyfriend but also just a wonderful person… and that he has inherited all of that from his family. I spent yesturday with his grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousin, sister, and father (and their s.o.’s) and it was just a great way to celebrate the holidays. It was great fun and they are all so kind, warm, and generous. I am so happy to be so lucky to have a “family” here as well as back at home to spend times like these with.
P.S.:
Like the Geico commercials? Watch them here! A whole list of videos is available for viewing of the Gecko, Cavemen (including the new “Therapy” video) and the “hired actors” commercials.
This is a big huge post since it may be one of my last opportunities to do a really detailed one so I have put in little “markers” about what each section is about…. Read on
My week off:
So my “week off” really WAS a week off… I didn’t get much of anything school related done meaning that today, some of tomorrow, and Sunday will be filled with reading. I figured I should take the opportunity this morning to write a lil something about my week though.
All week I have been cooking dinner for Brian and I. It has been so nice to eat fresh, healthy food instead of boxed/canned food. Tuesday morning I went to a near by Aveda Salon which I was really excited to find. I love Aveda products and their hair color… speaking of which… I am not really “blonde” anymore. Ok… I am not even CLOSE to being blonde lol. I dyed my hair a deep mahogany. In the past I have dyed it strawberry blonde and I have gone “light brunette” before… but I never cared for it and it never looked right on me. Oddly enough, this super dark color looks very natural on me. And fortunately, my clothes and makeup look good with the hair. I like it a lot.
The other night, Brian and I headed to a halloween store to look for costumes. We have a costume party to attend tomorrow night. We had planned on doing something “couples” related, but neither of us had any ideas and the costumes left something to be desired. Brian ended up deciding on going as a keg…. yea, like a beer keg lol. It is appropriate for a party so that is cool, but I left the store with absolutely NO ideas whatsoever.
I started thinking about the fact that I just dyed my hair and I wondered what I could do now that maybe wouldn’t have worked as well when I was blonde and I had a great idea – the Black Dahlia!
I have a great vintage black dress which is definitely from the 40’s and I haven’t had anywhere to wear it yet. I haven’t figured out just what I am going to do for shoes yet, but if push comes to shove, plain black heels will do. It would be great to find a pair of peep-toe black pumps from that era though….
Tomorrow I am going to buy a big silk flower for my hair and some white cream makeup to give myself a deathly pallor. I considered going really gory and doing my face up like hers actually was…. (I am pretty good at creating realistic looking bruises/gashes/blood), however I decided after playing with makeup yesturday that I am going to go the artistic route that the movie poster went and just pull dark red lipstick down off my lips. Here is the movie poster: http://www.theblackdahliamovie.net/
Ron had surgery:
Ron had gallbladder surgery yesturday and although I haven’t had an update since yesturday afternoon, it sounds like he is doing really well. The surgery was quick and he was up and out of the recovery room quickly too. Hopefully he will be feeling well right away and the surgery will keep him from having other problems in the future.
Brian begins a second job:
Brian begins working at the Conrad hotel again tonight. It is downtown and is a very nice place. He worked there for a few weeks this past summer but at the time they didn’t have enough valets and they were seriously over-working him. He was working during the day at his full time job and often being asked to work many additional hours a week at the Conrad at night and on the weekends. It appears that they now have more staff and have cleaned up some of the scheduling problems. Although he works tonight because of a special event, normally he will not work on Friday nights since we have reserved Friday nights for ourselves.
Looking ahead —-
School – Finals – Holiday plans:
There are only 6 weeks left this semester!!! I may not have another opportunity to write this down so I am going to lay out the end of the semester schedule now so everyone knows what I will be up to at that time and what I am planning on for the holidays.
Thanksgiving:
I have Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday off the week of Thanksgiving and I was planning on studying during that time and doing dinner with Brian’s family. Mom and Ron have since decided to come visit during that weekend which is pretty exciting. My roomate, Joe, won’t be here that weekend so they will stay here at the house with me. Depending on when they drive down, they might come to Brian’s family dinner with me. Even if they can’t make it down early enough for that, I would really like for them to at least meet Brian’s father. Brian’s whole family has been so inviting and wonderful and I know my family really appreciates the fact that I have been so warmly welcomed by them… especially during holidays and times when I can’t make it home. It has greatly helped me from feeling homesick. The rest of that weekend we will probably made a shopping trip with the masses and maybe hit some antique stores and salvation army’s / goodwill’s. I keep telling mom those places will be mini goldmines since Indiana isn’t as economically strapped as Michigan.
Finals:
Monday, December 4th is my last day of class. Then we have “reading days” before and in between the actual final exams for each class. I have a final on Friday the 8th, Monday the 11th, Friday the 15th, and Monday the 18th.
Christmas:
Since my last final is on the 18th (and it also happens to be the Monday AFTER mom’s family Christmas), I won’t be going home right away. I am going to be staying here to celebrate with Brian’s family on christmas eve which is their big get-together. Then, probably on Christmas day, we will head to Michigan. We may even have company coming along with us… it turns out one of Brian’s co-workers has a daughter who lives within miles of mom and Ron. Since Brian has to work and I want to stay at home for a while in order to visit with everyone, Brian will likely take the train back after the holiday. This is not a finalized plan of course, but due to my schedule, I want to have some basic idea of what is going to happen so I am not worried about it later on when I will have to be focused on school.
Beyond Christmas:
So far I have no real plans beyond getting to Michigan sometime around Christmas day. I have a doctors appointment sceduled already for the 27th and I will likely have to schedule another one sometime while I am home. Second semester starts up on January 16th so that gives me three weeks from Christmas day to hangout up there if that is what happens…
It will be a nice break I am sure and there will be more solid plans as the time approaches
I’ll be sure to direct everyone to this post in the future since there is a lot of info in it concerning the upcoming months.
Hope everyone is doing well!!!
