Home, Sweet Home

It's funny how when you get married and are forced to start meshing not only your lives, but your STUFF, how your taste can suddenly change.

 

Puff had bought The Bungalow in 2005 and I made my grand entrance in July 2009. In the 15 months since I've lived here, we've done quite a lot: New roof, new office ceiling, new office paint, two closets redone & expanded, new bathroom plumbing, and our rusty shed was painted. Not to mention lots and lots of flowers planted around outside. But since we've gotten married, it's become time for me to officially put my stamp on the place and turn it from a bachelor pad, to a home where we can welcome a baby in a few years. (Although, I must say, he had the BEST bachelor pad that I've ever seen... so I had a good base to work with!)

 

Growing up, we always lived in brand-new, custom-designed homes. My parents liked modern furniture and modern things, so I inherited their taste. My apartments over the years have been full of black and silver furniture, lots of glass, and everything new and stream-lined. However, for years, I dreamt of having a "nautical house" so I collected everything I could find... sailboats, lighthouses, buoys, lanterns. Eventually, my "nautical house" in my head morphed into more of a "Pottery Barn Nantucket house" and I still liked those nautical touches, just more subdued, with khaki and pale blue walls dancing in my dreams. Cue The Bungalow. Not a khaki or pale blue wall in sight. Mustard yellow and cranberry walls... plus plaid wallpaper in the kitchen. Not to mention antiques and family heirlooms he wasn't willing to part with. Antiques? Such a foreign concept in my world!

 

But somehow, it's all working. And quite nicely, I must say. Yes, we have a modern glass & nickel table in the dining room and I have a "Pottery Barn Nantucket" lighthouse in our bedroom and seagull in the guest room, but we're working in harmony with the antique table & desk in the office and that plaid wallpaper. Since the wedding, we've been focusing on the master bedroom... new, grown-up furniture from Haverty's, in a dark wood to compliment everything else, yet paired with white nightstands from Ikea. Our World Market bookshelves are filling up with photo albums and travel books and collectibles from our honeymoon. And I've discovered http://www.etsy.com/, along with http://www.cb2.com/, which have become inspiration to find those final touches we desperately need.

 

While it's still a work in progress... we still have no art in the master bedroom and we need to replace the nightstand in the guest room... I'm pretty happy with what we've accomplished so far. Sometimes, it's the small details that make me the happiest.

 

 Puff's nightstand. There's typically a framed photo of us there too.

 

 

 

Our new print we got from Etsy to hang in the kitchen. (Puff loves cars, and it matched the plaid!)

 

 

 

A serving platter that was a wedding gift from my ad agency, paired with Pier One candles, and rocks from CB2 don the table in our office.

(And NO KIMHEAD, you are not allowed to come and rearrange my rocks! That took me 10 minutes to get them right!)

 

 

 

My comfy, yet ugly, office chair was replaced with an antique dining chair and funky cushion from World Market.

Wedded Bliss

I'm a wee bit behind on my life updating, so I thought I'd take this opportunity to write about our trip up to The Fort for M & C's wedding weekend. It was an absolutely amazing trip home, and for a change, we didn't feel rushed every second of the visit. We got to spend some time with one grandmother on Friday afternoon, while she took us Christmas shopping. Our cart was full to the brim when we left Target. She's such an awesome woman. We also took in some of the rehearsal dinner on Friday night and gorged ourselves on pasta and pastries while sipping from the wine fountain.

Saturday was the day we've been awaiting for probably close to 12 years. M & I have been friends since 7th grade English. I remember passing her a note about some of the boys in our grade, and somehow the teacher got ahold of it and read it to the entire class the next day. Funny enough - I was out sick that day and spared some of the embarassment. She introduced me to C when we were juniors in high school. She had kept him under pretty good wraps for awhile, but then came the chance to go to the Goo Goo Dolls and Sugar Ray concert, and he attended with us. I remember thinking he was a bit quiet and shy, but who wouldn't be meeting a friend for the first time. Since then, M & C have become staples in all of our friends lives... from attending weddings and events together, to high school football games and trips to the beach. It was the wedding all of us knew would be coming... we just never expected it to be the last of the bunch! And it was gorgeous. From the small fall touches at the church, to her cracking up laughing during the ceremony, to "the hot brother" singing a beautiful song to the couple, it was full of love and we could all feel it.

The reception wasn't bad either! It's always fun to get the high school girls back together to share our lives now and reminiss about how they were then. We ate, we danced, we sang, we drank, we got hit on by the videographer. (OK... so maybe I was egging him on a little bit!) But I literally cannot express enough how grateful I was to be a part of their special day and how beautiful M looked and how fantastic everything turned out to be. Sometimes, you've just gotta love love.

The rest of the weekend was spent with family. We took in the zoo with my parents and it was amazing to see how while some things have changed drastically in the 10 years since I was there last (new giraffe exhibit, new entrance) but there were still all the same goodies from my childhood... the nasty smelling cat house, the creepy naked mole rats in the insect house, and the totally badass komodo dragons. We rounded out the weekend with dinner on the river with my parents and a trip to visit my other grandmother for her to catch up on our busy and hectic lives.

There's something theraputic about going back home. I was blessed to be able to do so 4 times this year, which is a rarity. Next year, it will be only twice. While living in SC sometimes has its bad side, right now, we are 100% content with our lives here. There had been a possibility of a move earlier this year, but when that didn't pan out, I think it put a lot of things back into perspective for me. I've got great friends here, and greater friends in The Fort. But I am so lucky that the distance and the years apart haven't caused our friendships to be any more lacking. When we get together, it's still a ball of fun. And I could not ask for more.

Sound Bite Sunday

I'm going to tentatively start a new weekly post... Sound Bite Sunday. For those of you who know me personally, you'll know just how into music I really am. No, I don't play an instrument, and according to my dear husband, I can't sing worth a crap. But that doesn't stop me from jamming to my Ipod and singing out loud at stop lights. Never stopped us from singing out of the sun roof in high school either. So, I'll try to post a song recommendation for you each Sunday, along with the lyrics. Then you can hop on over to Itunes, and as my dad would say, "Expand your musical horizons!"

Today's song: Get a Little High by Robbie Williams

You wake up in the middle of
The thunder of a scream
And you realise that it was yours
You don't know what to tell them
'Cause you don't know where you've been
And you've been there so many times before

It's only natural to feel like you're sinkin'
It's only human to be so unprepared

Don't worry baby, if you get a little high
It's just a phase to get you through getting by
So you get a little restless and you get a little wasted
It's just a little light entertainment
Embrace it, it might just save your life

You always say you're sorry
But you never know what for
And it's been happenin' more and more
Act your age and not your shoe size
And blah blah blah blah blah
That's your role model slammin' the door

So it's only natural to feel the guilt of a nation
It's only human, when you're young you're gonna cry

Don't worry baby, if you get a little high
It's just a phase to get you through gettin' by
So you get a little restless and you get a little wasted
It's just a little light entertainment
Embrace it, it might just save your life

So where else can you go to
'Cause no one's given you the book
About what to say and how to feel
and what you should and shouldn't 'a took

It's feelings that you fearing that's why
You step outside your mind
Don't look back 'cause if you don't crack
You get to sing this lulaby
You get to sing this lulaby

Don't worry baby, if you get a little high
It's just a phase to get you through getting by
So you get a little restless and you get a little wasted
It's just a little light entertainment
Embrace it

Don't worry baby, if you get a little high
It's just a phase to get you through getting by
You do lots of complainin' and do nothing to change it
Well that's a little light entertainment
Embrace it, it just might save your life
Or it just might change your life

Flashbulb Friday!

In early 2008, my almost 5 year relationship with The Ex (finally) came to the halt it deserved. However, that left me stranded with a non-refundable plane ticket to Puerto Rico and a cruise booked for two to the Eastern Caribbean. Cue my good friend, Meghan, who jumped at the chance to pick up PR, USVI, Dutch & French St. Maarten, Antigua, St. Lucia, and Barbados with me! (No wonder I'm at 25 foreign countries/territories and counting!) We relaxed. We ate. We snorkeled. We toured. We ziplined with Roger. (Oh... Roger!) And it was one of my favorite vacations ever.

 

This picture was taken in Phillipsburg, St. Maarten, right off where the ferry dropped you after arriving into town from the ship. We were there in early November and with all the chaos at work right now, I'd pretty much give anything to be able to be THERE instead of HERE!

 

 

Big, Fat Cow

Sometimes being a self-aware and, occasionally, self-conscious woman isn't always a good thing. Case and point? This past weekend. Puff and I headed back to The Fort for a beautiful wedding of 2 of my good friends (More on that later!) I was on guest book duty and took my role seriously. So, I figured I needed to look the part... presentable, cute, yet conservative enough for chuch. So I pulled out my most business-like fall dress, grey from Banana Republic, with 3-inch black heels, bright pink sweater (just in case), and mandatory trendy accessory - the skinny belt. And I felt hot and sexy.

Problem is, feeling hot and sexy doesn't necessarily equate to looking hot and sexy! Sure, Puff told me I looked hot and was all over me all day (as much as I'd let him be, anyway) but when I started looking at the photos, I couldn't help but pick myself apart. WHY DO WOMEN DO THAT?!?! Ugh... yes, there were bad photos, but I am by no means as big as I started to feel as the night wore on. Perhaps that vodka was making me fat instead of making the room spin? Just a thought...

The long and short of it is that from July 2009 to my wedding in May 2010, I lost 16 pounds. Yes, really. All without even changing a dress size. (Which is totally disheartening!) But since my wedding, I've gained back about 6 pounds that I just can't shake. And this past weekend, it definitely bothered me more than usual. So I get back to SC and start my regimine of counting calories and working out each night, but the workouts haven't been as intense as they were back in the spring, and those Milk Duds and by-the-slice pieces of cake from Publix aren't helping. Nor is the jar of Nutella in the kitchen cabinet or the helmet of Milky Ways on my desk at the office.

WHY AM I ADDICTED TO SWEETS?!?!?!

::sigh:: I'm going to pause here and aplogize for this ridiculously stupid, venting entry that is of literally no interest to any of you. I've got better ideas of my sleeve... I swear! Just roll with me here on this one for a second. The plan? More diet. More exercise. Less sweets. More crankiness because of lack of sweets. Hope Puff is ready to exchange his happy wife for a skinny one. Because I'm pretty sure that's the trade off!

I Hate People

I'm not really sure the exact moment it happens to mothers. Is it the second that bloody, icky mess of a newborn pops out of the womb? Is it the first time the tyke straps on a backpack and poses for pictures on the front porch en route to kindergarten? Regardless of when it happens, I'm convinced that it happens with at least 95% of women... at least in our neighborhood. What is "it," you're wondering? A ha... I'm so happy you asked.

"It" would be that mothers in mini-vans (or maybe even more annoying, giant SUVs they haven't mastered how to drive) suddenly lose all common sense, common decency, and throw their manners out the window when it comes to driving. And parking. Which somehow equates to driving their mini-van into my grass and subsequently parking there to wait on their mangy-ass middle-schoolers to dismiss each day. More on that in a minute.

First, let me address the lack of common sense and decency toward other drivers. We live near an elementary school and the middle school... which means that in the morning, I'm battling the exiting car line of wee ones and in the afternoon, our yard is innundated with rebellious pre-teens. Most mornings, I find myself having to restrain from flipping the bird or screaming out the window to at least one clueless female driver coming to or from the school. I am continuously cut off, tailgated, or almost side-swiped. Do you suddenly become so involved in staring at your offspring that you are completely blinded to the outside world? Wouldn't you think not paying attention would lead to perhaps more potential for say, an accident? Not to mention the opposite "speed" issues with them driving 4 miles per hour through our neighborhood or "jogging" their kids to school and stopping at the edge of my driveway with their stroller large enough to fit 2 full-grown adults when I clearly have on my reverse lights.

BITCH, MOVE! If your child is school age, they should NOT BE IN A DAMN STROLLER!!!!

About a year and a half ago, Puff and I met at The Bungalow in the mid-afternoon to head to an appointment. Having not typically been at the house during middle school dismissal, we were previously unaware of the brewing trouble. Those obnoxious, careless soccer moms were refusing to commit to sitting in the car line, so they sat on the side street, which isn't really wide enough for parked traffic, so they just took it upon themselves to pull into our grass. And I'm not talking half of one set of tires... I'm talking full-on, entire car off the pavement and in our yard. When it got to the point where we were noticing that our grass was dying and there were mud-filled tire divets after a heavy rain, I took matters into my own hands. Up went those tacky orange flags that you see at construction sites. I had a definite inner-struggle to decide whether to throw a box of nails out there in the hopes of tire damage or (my personal favorite) hiring a large, black man to sit in a lawn chair in the front yard wearing only daisy dukes and offer lollipops to the kids as they trekked through our yard to their car. I'm not sure why Puff didn't like that idea.

After failed attempts to get the school involved, and finding it ridiculous to attempt to call the police ("Yes, I'd like an officer to come out to scare away some housewives please"), we swallowed our pride and bought some chain and stanchion as a more permanent solution.

(Not our yard... ours is void of giant unexplained UFO cirlces)

While it does pain me that I never got to see someone pretend to come on to middle schoolers in an attempt to freak out their mothers, I guess we made the right call. Now, if I'm ever home in the afternoon, I get the joy of watching the tiny women in their monstrous SUVs attempt to not drive into our yard, all the while blocking the road from on-coming traffic. One of these days they're going to try to squeeze through a space that's too small and scrape up the sides of their precious cars.

And that will be a bright spot in my day.

Pre-Mature Flashbulb Friday

No, I'm not as stupid as I look. I realize that it's not yet Friday, but it feels like it since I am taking a few days off work to head back to The Fort to celebrate in the long-awaited wedding of my dear, dear friends, M & C. So, in sticking with the wedding theme, here is a picture from my own wedding that happened just 5 short months ago. Our photographer was absolutely amazing, and I'll share her website in a future post that is brewing in my head. Here's to love!