Conversations
R: What are these?
Me: They're the new vitamins I'm taking.
R: Do these have iron in them?
Me: I'm pretty sure they do.
R: Oh boy.
Me: What?
R: You're never going to poop again.
Me: God, I feel like Dooce now.
Ron: Huh?
Wait For It
C'mon,
this is funny.
If the Music is Groovy
So this morning I was walking to work and the song "
Do You Believe In Magic?" by the Lovin' Spoonful came on my iPod. And it immediately brought me right back to the wedding. That was the song that our parents and bridal party were announced to and I realized one of the most clear memories I have of that night is that song starting. Me, Ron, our parents and bridal party were all in the area right outside the ballroom and when that song started, we knew it was only a matter of moments before we'd be announced. I think we were all pretty excited. I remember holding Ron's hand and dancing in place as each couple was announced. When I hear that song, it brings me right back to that moment of watching the doors being opened and shut for each couple and the flashes of photography going off.
It got me to thinking about the other moments that stand out from that day:
-the music switching to U2's cover of "Everlasting Love" right before Ron and I were announced.
-seeing my friend Meg for the first time at the reception and running across the dance floor to hug her.
-my three wonderful bridesmaids sitting on the floor of a bathroom trying to clean my dress, and pretending like they didn't mind that they were sitting on the floor of the bathroom.
-Ron's friend Luke doing his "Michael Jackson" dance.
-Kimberly and the best man's wife, Cindy, heckling the DJ into playing "Dancing Queen."
-Sarah McLachlan's "Ice Cream" coming on for the cake cutting and Kimberly squealing "I love this song!"
-at least 12 different people asking me if I had eaten.
-Christy and Michelle coming over to our table during dinner to take a picture (and I could prove to them that I was eating).
-my dad telling me the DJ was really good while we were dancing.
-Seeing my mom and dad doing "the twist".
-Feeling so nervous when I was walking down the aisle with my dad that I wasn't even sure I could smile.
-How brilliantly blue the sky was.
-Almost cutting the wrong "cake".
-Being on the trolley. It was cold and bumpy--but I was loving it!
Not part of the wedding day, but one of my other favorite memories was the rehearsal dinner in general. All my friends were there and everyone seemed to have a really good time. The food was good and the drinks were flowing. It was just a really good vibe overall (of course I'm biased). I felt truly blessed that everyone I loved was around me. And better yet, I loved that everyone was getting along and seemed to enjoy each other's company. One of the qualities I love about Ron is his ability to get all his friends to also be friends with each other. He has a huge network of friends. I felt a little bit like I had accomplished that at the rehearsal dinner. I wished everyone lived closer, so we could always hang out like that. Friends as family and all that jazz.
Of course, my most favorite memory that night was Kimberly's husband John eating the meat sticks. I so wish I had a picture of that.
Weekend Recap
Friday: BodyWorlds. Eh. I mean it was interesting but I can't quite bring myself to think of it as amazing. I also couldn't quite comprehend that these were real people. You could have put wax figurines in front of me and I would have been equally impressed. Some people were horrified at the embryo room. I'm not sure if I'm just morbid or unflappable or what, but it didn't phase me much. Again, interesting....but none of it really looked real, even though it was.
The Franklin Institute was open for 72 straight hours this weekend, so after the exhibit, we had free reign of the place. It wasn't crowded and you felt like you were in a museum after closing. It seemed naughty somehow. We had a great time running around all over the place. We didn't get home until about 1am.
Saturday: Went to Totowa to see Kimberly. We made many runs to Home Depot. Kim decided to paint her laundry room the color: kumquat. The only way to decribe this color is to imagine the most neon orange you can. Sort of like the Home Depot orange color. She picked it just because she likes saying the word kumquat. We downgraded her plan to use that color just on one wall, and put a slighly less intense orange called cantaloupe. Kim's husband just shook his head in disbelief. Ron drove up in the pouring rain to meet us all for dinner and we had a lovely time.
Sunday: Brunch with Kim and John. Then after driving home, we spent the late afternoon walking around the city and that's when we fell in love. We fell in love with Queens Village and Bella Vista. Sigh. I want to move there now. They're a bit closer to the bridges and there are some homes there we could actually afford. Granted, they're houses as big as shoeboxes, but we might actually be able to afford them.
I'm in love.
TGIF
Thank GOD it's the weekend.
Tonight I'm treating Ron to the
BodyWorlds exhibit, something that he will be enthralled with and I will be totally horrified by. I have little to no interest in science. And if I really think about it, there are fascinating things about the human body, but honestly, I couldn't really care less. All I know is that there will be people without skin there and--did you read that last part? PEOPLE WITHOUT SKIN. Totally gross. The things I do for my husband. I tell you, my love knows no bounds. Obviously.
Tomorrow I'm trekking to Totowa, New Jersey to help my friend Kimberly with her house. I'm free labor, if anyone's looking for free labor. Ron's meeting me there so we can go out with Kim and her husband for dinner. Hmmm...notice that he's meeting me
after I perform free labor. Apparently, his love does know bounds.
In other news, things are going so hot at the gym these days. I've been going but only for half-hour workouts and I haven't hit the treadmill since the day of the wedding. For those of you who were worried about my weight you'll be happy to know that I gained 6 pounds on the honeymoon. Of course, truth be told, I actually did lose a couple of pounds right before the wedding--completely unintentional. In fact, I had been eating my face off the week before the wedding so I wouldn't lose weight. I didn't want my dress falling off of me. Anyway, I'm now back to my usual 135.
I've been so tired in the mornings that I've missed some morning workouts. My efforts are half-hearted at best. Which is a shame because I had been in such a good place pre-wedding, in a great routine. I had built up such endurance and it's pissing me off that I'm probably losing that. I'm certainly losing muscle tone in my arms. I haven't lifted in weeks. Basically, I'm hoping that this is just a brief phase and I'll jump back on track. I want to, in theory.
Month-iversary
Happy one month anniversary to ME!
Crazy, Part 354
This can't be true, right?
Because It's Funny
Check out
this link.
United
I have this to say about
United 93: It's too soon.
I'm not saying a movie should never be made about September 11th. In fact, I very much believe a movie should be made about it. I just think it should happen about 15 years from now.
I think it's imperative to this country that we never forget. I think it should be plastered all over American history books in schools across this country. I think we should continue to talk about it. We should never forget the people who perished that day, the sadness that came, the rude awakening that we were not completely safe, or completely invincible. I say we should remember and it has nothing to do with the current war in Iraq. We should remember simply because it was a defining moment in our country and in the moment, we felt united. But just for that moment.
I say it's too soon because it still feels like news and not a story. It's still too fresh to be nostalgic about, and it's still too soon for it to be romanticized and glamourized. Too soon for people to be making money off of it.
I'm not sure how well it will be received in the theatres. I'm not going to go. I have no desire to cry for 2 solid hours. Maybe 15 years from now, but not right now. Not when the actual footage that day, the important stuff, still brings me to tears.
Moving
So I have to find a new place to live. I don't necessarily want to, but Ron will be working in the middle of bubblefuck New Jersey and really, he shouldn't have to commute an hour each way. We'll either need to move closer to the bridges on the east side of the city OR we'll have to move to New Jersey. I wouldn't mind moving to Jersey, but then
I'd have a commute and I'm not really fond of that either.
There are so many things to consider that it's overwhelming:
Rent or buy?
Philadelphia or New Jersey?
If NJ, what part of NJ?
How do we factor in the extra costs of me owning a car, commuting via public transportation, etc?
Oy.
Easter
I'm convinced I'm the only person on the planet going to work today.
Anyway, tomorrow I'm going to see my Nana. Sunday we're going to Ron's parents' house. Except for a brief hiatus in college, it will be the first time I'm not getting an Easter basket. I had told my mom last year that I was nearly 30 years old and she didn't need to spend all that money on a basket each year (seriously, the woman stocks that basket). She looked at me pointedly and said, "I got a basket each Easter until I was married. Of course I was married by your age."
Funny, that last Easter I wasn't even engaged and here a year later, I'm already married. You know what though? I'm going to miss my Easter basket. Especially the black jelly beans my mom always remembered to put in there.
One of the most fun (and freezing) parts of the wedding day was taking pictures after the ceremony. We hit all the usual places in the city. When we got to the Art Museum, there were about 100 young women there for the
Alex's Lemonade Stand charity. I found out later that the were a sorority from LaSalle University.
Anyway, as soon as I got out of the trolley in my big ol' dress, the girls went nuts. Lots of yelling congratulations and telling my how nice my dress was. I have to admit I totally ate it up. I mean we've all seen brides getting pictures taken right? And if you're close enough, maybe you say something nice. But I, like,
WAS the bride this time. It was blowing my mind a little bit.
When the girls were packing up and getting ready to leave my photographer started yelling to them, "Do you want to get in a picture?" Of course they all did, because they thought being a bride was like the best thing EVER (c'mon, these were sorority girls, after all). And there I was, on the Art Museum steps, with my friends, looking out over the city, with a hundred screaming girls behind me. It was glorious:
PHOTO REMOVED BY AUTHOR.
Fortunately, while we were taking some photos, my brother-in-law actually got off the trolley and bought some lemonade. Alex's I think will be our new charity of choice. Thanks ladies!
And then one without the extras:
PHOTO REMOVED BY AUTHOR.
P.S. For limited periods of time, I'm posting pictures. They'll disappear after awhile. There are crazy people out there somewhere, and frankly, they don't need my photo.
I Will NOT Freak Out
I was fairly organized the Friday before and morning of the wedding. I decided that I needed to be regimented to prevent a freak out. Friday I made a point of going to the gym. I ran some last minute errands. Ron and I hung out in the apartment doing some last minute packing. Deidre and I went for manicures and pedicures. I had decided in advance that I would have a few glasses of wine at the rehearsal dinner to 1. calm my nerves and 2. make myself sleepy so I might actually sleep that night. While I was nervous as hell during the rehearsal and during the dinner (after all, this was the first time some of the most important people in my life were interacting together--including with my parents and Ron's parents), my plan worked and by the end of the night, I was pretty calm. I kept putting my glass down and losing it, but I think I had about a total of 3 glasses of wine.
I spent the night at the hotel and the next morning I got up at 7:30am. I went to the hotel gym and ran on the treadmill for 20 minutes. It wasn't a real workout, but I wanted some release for my nerves. I went back to my room, showered, put some Norah Jones and did a little primping. I put on comfy clothes. I felt pretty calm, but my nervous stomach felt otherwise and me and my bathroom became fast friends. I drank some water and ate some of the fruit that my bridesmaids had stocked my fridge with the day before. Hope and Kimberly called and wanted to know what I wanted from Dunkin Donuts. Of course, I wanted coffee and a donut regardless of the nervous stomach. Hope and Kimberly waltz into my room--I had this HUGE suite--and I notice Kimberly is wearing sweatpants with high-heeled ivory satin shoes. "What the hell is that about?"I ask her. She decided she wanted to "scuff" the shoes so they weren't slippery--a concept I totally understand. That she decided to actually wear the shoes with sweatpants while going to Dunkin Donuts, that's what I found hysterical.
Deidre was getting her hair done by her hair stylist across town, but Hope, Kim and I had quite a feast of fruit, bagels, donuts, juice and coffee. My hair stylist, Markus, arrived and started straightening and re-curling my hair. By 10 a.m. I had to jet over to a salon around the corner to get my makeup done. As it turns out, I jetted over there with my hair half curled and half-pinned up. I looked like I just rolled out of a trailer park, let me tell you. Still, I was calm. I noticed the Kimberly and Hope kept looking at me, somewhat quizzically (is that a word?) and I think it was because they expected me to be a bit more nervous.
Marlene, the makeup artist, was very nice, gave me flavored water and made little chit-chat. She excused herself for a minute to get something from the supply room and suddenly, the world started spinning for me. I gripped the chair I was sitting in and suddenly a voice in my head that I could actually hear said "You're going to freak out". My heart started racing, my stomach lurched and I began praying for Marlene to come back to talk about something, anything to distract me. Over and over I two alternating thoughts "I
am going to freak out" and "You have to keep your shit together." Somehow I knew that if I allowed myself to be nervous, it would snowball and it would be a bad, bad scene.
Thankfully, Marlene came back and since I had to pretend everything was normal, I started to feel normal again. Deidre showed up shortly thereafter to get her makeup done and since Marlene was doing a fabulous job, we focused on my makeup. I loved, loved, loved it. She put less on than she did for my trial. But we all looked at it and it just seemed like lighter was better that day. She even shimmered my arms, neck and chest area. I was positively giddy and left Deidre to have her makeup finished while I went back to the hotel.
That was the closest to freaking out that I came that day. Right before I walked down the aisle I was nervous, like visibly shaking nervous, but it was different somehow. It was a better nervous that what almost happened at the salon.
I'm not sure why I told you this story first, of all the good and funny stories there are. But it's a starting point. There's much more to come.
Wedding Stories
I've tried to post about the wedding a couple of times and I can't quite wrap my head around it. There's so much to say, but when I try to write about the whole day, it seems trite.
So I think what I'm going to do is post random stories from that day and eventually, you'll get an idea of what the whole day was like.
Hopefully. Because, really, it was a fabulous day.
ENGAGED!
No, not me, silly. I'm already married. My maid-of-honor and one of my best friends, Deidre is officially engaged! I'm so excited! We get to do this wedding stuff all over again.
Congrats to Deidre and Frank! (and happy birthday too to Deidre)
Still Not Posting
I know, I know, I need to update this thing.
Here's a couple of pictures to tide you over:
PHOTOS REMOVED by author.
Photos called: "The Cake That Almost Wasn't".
Back!
I know, I know. I've fallen off the face of the earth. More details on my life to come, I promise but right now 1. my apartment looks like a tornado blew through, between the unpacking and the wedding presents (not to mention the dress that needs it's own wing of the building) and 2. work is hard right now. I'm being asked to do a ton of numbers stuff that's complicated and I really, I have no idea what I'm doing. Should have paid more attention to my budget classes.
I promise to post more soon!
