ME: where did you get a bandage??
JULIAN: toilet paper and scotch tape
My very own MacGyver.
What a week it has been – I feel like I have had new life breathed into me! Maybe it’s the fact that Spring is juuuust around the corner (get here NOW), or perhaps it’s exciting new ventures that await me. Whatever it is – I have so many terrific things to share and rejoice about. First things first, my new wallpaper (new as of Friday, anyway) is truly amazing:
and most of all…..
What are you loving right now?!
Stuck on what to get your Valentine at the last minute? I’ve got a solution that will not only save your butt, but it doesn’t require waiting in any lines, spending an exorbitant amount of money on flowers, and it will give someone in a developing country clean water for TWENTY years. Each major holiday, charity: water releases a set of witty and adorable e-cards that you can send your loved one for the low price of $20. Sure, you can get one at Hallmark for $3.99, but that card won’t give someone clean water for two decades.
In case you’ve missed the memo, a billion people worldwide (that’s 1 in 
don’t have access to clean water for drinking, cooking, cleaning or bathing. Lack of clean water for basic sanitation results in 80% of all sickness and disease worldwide and each year, kills more people than all forms of violence combined, INCLUDING WAR. Women in developing nations have to walk more than three hours a day to fetch water that is probably just going to make them and their children sick. Little ones are particularly at risk for waterborne illnesses, of the 42,000 deaths a week from unsafe water, 90% of them are children under the age of 5.
Now that I’ve convinced you to cough up $20 that will save someone’s life (quite literally), check out these cute cards and pick your favorite. Then send it to your boyfriend, girlfriend, mother, brother, coworker, neighbor, heck, send it to yourself. 100% of your donation goes to freshwater projects in developing countries.
If only five of us commit to sending one of these cards, we’ll have provided a whole family with clean water for 20 years. I’m in! Are you in?
Now don’t you feel good? Happy Valentine’s Day!
Oh, and just for fun, check out pictures of one of the wells that the SocialVibe community helped build! Amazing!!
This evening, I’m having a realization. And that realization is that I cannot watch my fiance’s live web casts without getting super distracted by his super chatty fans. I’m not sure what it is that is so interesting to me, but the fact that hundreds of people come to watch him and hear him take calls and talk about the weather and filmmaking is super entertaining to me. That being said, I am cutting myself off from watching his current web cast and focusing on writing this little diddy we like to call Things I Love Thursday. Because there are plenty of things to love about this week so far!
Among the greatness….
meeting Kristin Davis. And having her post our photo on her Fan page. I am fully willing to admit my geeky fandom!; frozen candy bars (why did I ever stop eating you? Anyone else remember frozen Snickers?!); finalizing our wedding guest list and rehearsal date/time (HALLELUJAH AGAIN!); baby mooses playing in a sprinkler. I die!! How could you ever kill one of these? They’re like puppies!; really, really hot showers on really, really cold mornings; maple & brown sugar oatmeal; the way Pepper sleeps on the pillow above my head like my guardian angel; speaking of bed, really crisp, clean sheets – I have a thing about bedding. I’m working on it.; “Look! A solar-powered garden!”; discovering my neighbor has a bunny hutch and feeding those cute buns carrots last night; my pink planner that Julian’s aunt Susan got me for Christmas, without it, I would be totally lost; strawberry soft-serve ice cream sundaes; weekends full of DVD marathons (Glee!); rainbows; friends who don’t make me feel like a Queeny bride, even if I kind of am acting like one; being really productive even when the internet goes down at work; starting the week off with an early morning teeth cleaning, having the dentist tell me my teeth are “picture perfect”; good talks with my guy; making lists of rules for a healthy marriage; driving an hour to get donuts only to go get cheese fries instead; apple-scented lotion my Momma made me at Thanksgiving, which makes my whole office smell like Candyland; neighbors who bring up fresh baked brownies, just for the heck of it; the way Julian makes coffee for me (perfect); turning lemons into lemonade; thinking about all the fun stuff my friends and family and I will get to do while we’re in Nashville for my wedding (Grand Ole Opry!); having a clean house (which is rare); finding out that the purple & gold rug I fell in love with months ago is still available in the store; listening to girls hyperventilating and crying while calling into Julian’s live web show (I’m evil); updating my Netflix queue to include all the Best Picture nominees; dreaming about chocolate frosted donuts, which for some reason I cannot stop thinking about lately!
And last but not least – this picture of a black squirrel chowing on a humongous pizza crust. I sent this to Julian and said “who does this remind you of?” Immediately he knew who I was talking about – Pepper, my black cat. She has the fluffiest tail and I always call her a black squirrel, despite having never seen one. So the fact that this exists makes me very excited. She even has the same MC Hammer/genie pants that Pepper has. I love this! Thank you, FB!
Three cheers for it being almost Friday! Here’s to an awesome weekend ahead of us!
And the winner of my favorite Super Bowl ad is…. GOOGLE! You know, the company that doesn’t need any advertising. Their Parisian Love commercial was just the cutest thing I have ever seen.
Maybe it’s because I’m going to Paris in about 90 days and have an infinite love for all things French. Or maybe it’s because I’m in the midst of planning my wedding to a man that I quickly and unexpectedly fell in love with. Or maybe it’s because of the huge role the internet played in our relationship. Whatever it may be, this is “très mignonne.”
No, it doesn’t include a forgotten anniversary, though both Julian and I have been guilty of this one on more than one occasion. My ultimate anniversary fail is a little more idiotic than that.
So I’m sitting here, penciling in a double dinner date with our friends Tracy and Matt for next week when I realize it might be a good time to start writing in our “monthiversaries.” You know, “happy seven months!” and what not. Yeah, we haven’t even been together a year yet. We did have a quite memorable six month anniversary back in November, complete with an overpriced dinner at a trendy LA restaurant, 3D movie at the theatre we went to on one of our first dates, flowers that cost more than a month’s groceries and a bottle of the perfume that reminds Julian of the first time he met me. So cute.
I was using that special date as a marker and started filling in the “eight month anniversary,” “nine month anniversary,” etc. on the 13th of every subsequent month. Until I got to 12 months. A full month (or two) ahead of our year anniversary, June 13, 2010. Had I missed a month? Flipped through my planner wrong? Everything seemed to check out.
Until I went back a little further, and realized that Julian and I had our big, fancy, expensive, romantic six month anniversary celebration on our five month anniversary.
What a couple of dorks. Who forgets how long they’ve been together not even five full months into a relationship? Granted, I do feel like I have known Julian my whole life and can’t believe it’s only been seven and a half months since we started officially dating (that is an accurate number, I triple-checked), but aren’t girls supposed to be somewhat obsessive over anniversaries and dates of this nature? Even in past relationships, I’ve always known exactly how long it has been. Why now? I guess I’m so head-over-heels that I can’t even tell time. Looks like I picked the right guy!
I am baffled by the amount of apps available for the iPhone. I’m even more baffled at how some of these most useless apps get approved yet highly practical and awesome apps sit in queue for months only to be denied over some d-r-a-m-a. My man Julian Smith totally gets it – and his newest sketch pokes fun at some of these wildly ridiculous apps.
I give you, the latest video I heard being edited non-stop for days, One Bad App. Just in time for Apple’s OTHER big announcement (the Tablet… being announced sometime soon according to the 4103710327431 people ignoring their work to tweet and blog about what features it may or may not have.)
It’s been a wild couple of weeks, but undoubtedly some of the happiest days I can ever remember. What is it about being newly engaged that makes you feel like you’re walking around in a dream? I feel like my head is in the clouds surrounded by little cartoon hearts. I’m back in LA, without my darling (who is still in Nashville working on some music stuff), but with plenty of catching up to keep me busy and my mind off of missing him!
The time I spent in Nashville was divine – I’m so thankful I had the chance to spend a week and a half of (mostly) uninterrupted time with my future family-in-law and all of Julian’s friends, some of whom I will know the rest of my life. So many great moments, I don’t even know where to start. The southern food, naps on the chaise lounge, Jenesis braiding my entire head of hair, wearing onesies on Christmas morning, massages on the stairs, the great folks at Eastgate CCF, looking back on baby books and love notes from new mothers, kissing my sweetheart at midnight on New Years, countless trips to Starbucks, window shopping in various Nashville malls, getting ready with Jeorgi in the bathroom and buying/cutting my own “man pants”, perusing bridal books and magazines with Kayla (also newly-engaged), awesome conversations with grandparents who have more wisdom than I could ever hope to, ice skating, laughing my face off with Julian’s siblings, watching them spontaneously write and play a full-band version of the Power Rangers theme, cuddling his stinking adorable nephews, even the pathetic snow flurries that were falling when Julian dropped me at the terminal on Monday morning.
My flight back was uneventful, always a good thing, except for the fact that airport security confiscated my brand new jar of (heavenly) Loveless Cafe peach preserves. I was planning on giving them to Lauren, who generously drove to LA from Pasadena everyday of my absence to feet Fatterson 1 and Fatterson 2, but instead, she just got a thing of biscuit mix. Merry Christmas, Lauren!
The first day back at work was busy, but not totally nightmare-ish, a lot of catch-up meetings and returning e-mails. Now I’m here at home, repainting my nails (of course) and waiting for my girl Francesca’s flight to get in from NYC. Because I’m a good friend, I offered to pick her up from the airport … even if it is arriving at 2:00am. So now I have to make the decision…. coffee? Or nap?
At least I have PLENTY to think about while I’m waiting – who knew wedding planning was such a huge task? Or shall I say, 4140371 mini tasks?! I’ve only been engaged a week and I’m already overwhelmed by the questions, the suggestions, the requests for me to tell the proposal story over and over again. I guess it’s a part of the entire experience – after all, this only happens once! I guess I should savor every moment of it. That being said, I have a few things in mind for what I want, but there is still much up in the air. I’m more looking forward to actually being married to the love of my life. This is without a doubt the HAPPIEST time of my life.
Sorry, you’ll have to forgive my abundance of barfalicious gushiness. I am just… well, if you’ve ever been engaged, you know what I mean. If not, you will understand one day!
ALRIGHT, I’ll cool it. Now that my holiday break is over, I’ll be returning to my regular blogging schedule. But one last thing before I get back to my DVR for the evening (that I must enjoy now before I get rid of my cable TV) – I am very proud to say that I managed to finish another book in my never ending stack! The Shack was awesome. I’m also working my way through C.S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity and The Millionaire Next Door audiobook. So much great info in that last one.. well, both, to be honest. Highly recommended.
I know I said I wasn’t going to have a ton of time to post while I’m in Nashville, but this calls for an announcement. You see, I have some pretty big and exciting news to share with you all: I painted my nails yesterday (third time in two days) and the nail polish is STILL on!
Just kidding. Well, that part is true, but the bigger news is this: I’m engaged!
It’s true. In the middle of a faux-video shoot yesterday afternoon in front of a bunch of “crew” (family and friends), my handsome Julian popped the Big Question. I, of course, said yes, then began sweating, hyperventilating and shrieking in a pitch that only animals can hear. The past twenty four hours have been pretty surreal, and I will share the details with you soon (including a video of the moment, because of course my filmmaker boyfriend fiance catches EVERYTHING on film!)
All I will say for now is that I’m SO, SO happy and can’t wait for the this upcoming chapter of our lives! I never thought I would be so lucky as to wind up with someone who is this amazing. I am truly blessed!!!
Also, I’ve finally found the solution for not picking your nail polish off. Get a big honkin’ diamond on your finger so everyone wants to take pictures of it and look at it. I guarantee you won’t TOUCH your nails.
Has it really only been a week since my last Things I Love Thursday? And yet it feels like Christmas is approaching with rapid speed. I’d like to reverse, that, please – slow down the holiday cheer express and speed up the workday. Yeah, that sounds perfect.
Here’s a little list of things that are making me grin from ear to ear this week.
THINGS I LOVE THURSDAY!
- First things first, planning our Spring trip to Paris and Berlin. I’m not sure how much detail I’m allowed to give, so I’ll keep it brief: WE’RE GOING TO PARIS AND BERLIN IN MAY. We = me and Julian. If you know me, you know that I have a mild obsession with France and all things Parisian, so the thought of frolicking through the city in the Spring while the gardens are in bloom and the sidewalk cafes are ripe for sitting on sipping coffee and eating crepes is UNBELIEVABLY EXHILARATING. This will be my first time in both cities. I dusted off my French language books last night and have already begun making a list of things I want to see/eat/feel/hear/experience. If you have any recommendations, share them please! Warning: this might be all I talk about for the next six months.
- Living on a budget. Saving money is very important, children. Duh. It’s also very addicting. I won’t get ahead of myself because I’ve only just begun on my most recent dolla-saving journey, but every time I’ve become a tightwad in the past, I’ve found myself strangely obsessed with frugality. There is something exciting about watching every penny and seeing how much you are saving. It’s almost like a game – “can I live off of $20 in groceries this week?” I love the feeling you get when you transfer a big chunk of money into the savings account, or the statements when you see how much it is growing, or even find a super-saving coupon. Am I the only weird one, here? I find comfort in community.
- Making sweet & sour chicken from scratch. And not screwing it up! This is one of Julian’s favorite dishes, so I knew that it would make him super happy if I made it, and even happier if I made it well. I used this recipe and have made it twice since we got back into town. He loves it and I love it! Though I can feel myself reverting back into vegetarianism a little at a time (I was vegetarian/sometimes-vegan for three years until I met him, and even still don’t eat beef or pork.) For now, I’m just choosing more and more vegetarian options. It’s tough though, when your boyfriend is a meat-lover. At least I can take comfort in buying organic, free-range chicken.
- Flickr’s favorite button. I’m a retard (in the most politically correct use of the word, I promise) for only getting into Flickr now instead of years ago like everyone else. My account has been pretty dead for, well, since I created it over three years ago, but recently I discovered the “favorite” button and now I’m just having the best time ever collecting the most beautiful photos in the pool.
- Adding an extra layer to my bed. Sometime over the last week, it got cold in LA. Like, really cold. For LA, at least. It was in the 30s a few nights ago, and despite having heat in my apartment (which I am blessed to have), I was frozen solid. My heater is in the living room at the opposite end of my apartment, so hardly any heat makes it to my bedroom. I found a solution, though – adding more blankets to my bed. Blankets are heaven sent, for real. I have a super-soft ivory quilted blanket I bought at Target a few years back for like, $20, and the fact that it has remained soft to this day is a miracle. I layered it in between my sheets and duvet and my toes are no longer blue in the mornings. HALLELUJAH! I love bedding.
- Having a clean car. With all my preaching about consumerism and giving back/helping others, I’m ashamed to admit I have a brand new car. Well, it’s a year and a half old, but I bought it new, and it’s the first new car I’ve ever owned (my parents are firm believers in “drive it ’til it dies.” I only bought it new because I plan on having it for a very long time (like, when I have kids), which is why I bought a Honda, because those suckas last forever and a day and are VERY cheap to fix if broken. Moving on, my pretty new car is filthy dirty 95% of the time. Despite having a garage in the great-garageless town of LA, I usually park behind my house (I’m lazy) underneath some evil trees that drop leaves on my car every night. As a result, my car is very, very dirty. And then there’s the inside. Full of empty Starbucks cups, old bulletins from church, half-full bags of cashews, bobby pins, granola crumbs, bottles of lotion that are on the verge of exploding from the heat, receipts, more receipts, cat litter (don’t ask), at least twenty SocialVibe Pink Balls, etc. etc. etc. At least there isn’t (much) old food in there. Saturday I decided enough was enough and I hauled my darling car down to the car wash at the end of my block (which makes having this dirty a car even more of a disgrace) and washed it myself in one of those little bays (far too embarrassed to take it to be washed by someone else). I spent about $6 when it should have been $3 because apparently I am slow. Then I vacuumed the inside…. wow. I even refilled my windshield wiper fluid, which had been empty for about two months (you could barely see out of the window). At the end of the day, my car was clean, I was a mess, and all were happy. Driving is much more enjoyable now. Good thing I’m getting a bicycle for Christmas.
- Christmas baking. This past Saturday, I decided it was time to begin the baking of the Christmas treats. Now that I have someone wonderful to eat all my sugary snacks (someone who doesn’t gain weight, nonetheless), baking is so much more fun! I borrowed recipes from Amy and made peppermint bark and peanut butter balls. They turned out fabulous and weren’t hard to make at all (the bark is truly foolproof), the only sad thing is that they were entirely gone 24 hours later. I took the first batch to a holiday party with coworkers that night and the rest to church on Sunday where they were having a ‘world market’ type fair to help charitable organizations. I put the treats with the free coffee and they were gone in the blink of an eye. I have a few more recipes up my sleeve, and hopefully this time I’ll remember to take pictures!
- Making gifts rather than buying gifts. Not only is it eco-friendly, but it’s FUN. Sure I’ve only made one so far, and I’m almost positive that I WILL be resorting to buying some gifts this year (there are only 15 days left until Christmas, after all), but I’m going to be as crafty as possible. And for those gifts that I DO have to buy, there are always gifts that give back.
Other random things that are awesome:
pretty notebooks (with Paris on the cover, of course, given to me by my girl Cesca) full of all kinds of lists, doodles and creative ideas; free lunch at work on Wednesdays; drinking warm water (not cold water); USAA’s annual dividend deposit (I love waking up $73 richer than I was the night before); watching Julian roll around on the floor like a toddler; “Never park drunk, that’s my advice.”; hearing great GREAT GREAT news from one of my best friends; looking down at the cat food bowls to find that Julian put a leftover bowl of broccoli next to their food dish (he doesn’t know cats); having an abnormally large excess of creative energy; RSVPing for orientation to tutor homeless kids downtown (more on this later, hopefully); “Won’t you guide mein sleigh tonight? Rudy…”; sweater boots; white Christmas lights; Blissfully Domestic; Craigslist; Jay-Z’s new album; MOM: “What’s going on over there?” JULIAN: “Oh, those are fountains.”; Tuesday phone dates with Katie; “I love ramen noodles. I want to get endorsed by ramen noodles. Do they have a website?”; Christmas trees in the lobby at work; heavy rain in LA, followed by very clear days; when people find my accidental wittiness, loudmouth and ill-timed remarks charming and funny; even better, when people actually like reading my blog and leave me awesome comments. What a reward.
What do YOU love today?!
