Saturday, June 23, 2007

going to the chapel

Today is the big day!

Why am I blogging? Because I'm sitting here trying to balance my checking account before I pay the DJ. I've been writing checks left and right.

So far so good. Wish me luck! The weekend has gone pretty well except for getting rearended by a hummer on Thursday. :(

Thursday, June 21, 2007

slick as a whistle

Just a quick check in from wedding central. The waxing? It's not so bad. The first pull is definitely the worst, but after that, it's really not terrible. It only hurts for a few seconds, maybe 30. My waxer always immediately applies pressure, which really seems to help.

The armpits were definitely the worst part. They actually bled, but rumor has it if you bleed, you kill hair follicles and the hair won't grow back. Probably a lie, but it made me feel better.

I think the weirdest part was baring all of my savage beast to someone. It was actually probably easier with a stranger, but seriously I get embarassed if I realize I have the tiniest bit of stubble and I had to raise my arm and flash about a week of growth. Can you say nasty? Once I finally worked through that and realized she does that everyday and has to have seen worse. I moved on.

It was helpful that she was chatty. That helped keep my distracted from the mild pain and tremendous embarassment.

I do have a few strays that she tried to pluck at the end, but didn't get them all, but they're really not obvious. The craziest thing has been to get goose bumps, which I get all of the time, and not have stubble. Rock on!

I'm not supposed to have to shave for four weeks. I'll let you know how it goes. Overall, I would definitely suggest the wax. But, be warned, the more you do the longer it takes. I was there about an hour and 45 minutes!

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

wax on-wax off

So, I'm gonna get a little personal now-you've had fair warning.

I just had my first wax. I think I wrote about it here. It was kind of traumatic and involved mean little girls at Panera. Well, they were the only traumatic part. Actually, the wax wasn't too bad. So, I decided to go a little further.

I have been investigating laser hair removal for about 6 months now, but I haven't done anything with my research. I've been too busy to really compare and I've certainly had other things to spend my money on.

So, I decided to wax.

I called on Friday to find out how much a bikini wax would cost and I asked the girl who answered the phone if she'd ever had one. She hasn't had a Brazilian-just so you know. She says it's really not that bad.

Today I got the nerve to call and make an appointment. I'm going tomorrow at 10. I'm getting the bikini wax. I'm not getting a Brazilian. I'm pretty nervous. I'm only mildly nervous about the pain. I'm mostly nervous about laying on a table spread eagle while a girl applies sticky stuff to my chach and then rips it off. That's just a little more intimate than I usually get with complete strangers-at least without a few cocktails. :)

I also stepped it up a notch. I'm having my lower legs waxed. My hair stylist told me last week that she waxes her eleven year old's legs. She said that her daughter tried to shave her legs because the other kids made fun of her, so they started waxing. "Doesn't it hurt her?!" I asked. "No," she replied "She thinks it's fun. I guess if you start young." So, is 28 young? Am I going to think it's fun? I'm not banking on it.

Oh yeah, I'm doing the underarms too. I am going balls out on this one! I'm going to pop a few advil-maybe I should take a shot too-before I go and hopefully that will help. The underarms seem like they'd be the most painful, but I asked the girl when I called today if she'd ever done it...she said, yeah we do it all the time, No, I said, have you ever done it. She said no, but that they had just had that conversation the other day and they swore that lip waxing hurt more. Hey, whatever gets me in the door right? Right now my armpits feel disgusting. I'm going to be humiliated to show them to anyone. I know there are some girls who will rock the stubble with a sleeveless shirt, but I am not one of them. I am so embarassed for anyone to even see a trace of stubble and this my friends is so much more than stubble...eewww. I can't believe I have to lift my arm and bare it all. What I wouldn't do for love. It better work too. If I get on that honeymoon and discover a rogue hair-I'm gonna go postal.

So, girls, any words of wisdom? Have you tried it? What did you think?

leaving on a jet plane

We finally got our honeymoon booked. Yes, that's right, we didn't have it booked until yesterday and we're leaving on Monday. Life has been a little crazy lately. We were talking about our trip yesterday and thinking how weird it is that we'll be going to Costa Rica on Monday. We're going for 9 days and we're so excited, but it doesn't even seem real because we have about 10 other HUGE life events in between now and then. Freddie's never left the country (well, he's never needed a passport before, he's been to the Bahamas once.) He said, "this is the biggest trip of my life and we're hardly even thinking about it." Crazy. But, we finally settled down and got the arrangements together and now we're really going.

Here's our honeymoon agenda.

Day one: This day is actually starting off at home with a goodbye brunch for family and out of town friends then we head to....MYRTLE BEACH. That's right, we're beginning with the perfect redneck honeymoon. Actually, we're flying on Spirit Airlines and their closest airport is Myrtle Beach. We'll leave early on Monday, so we'll head that way on Sunday afternoon. I'll be sure to funnel a beer for you all.

Days 2,3, and 4. Arenal Volcano Area: This is where we're staying:

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The volcano is actually active, so we're praying for a bit of lava, but just a bit. We're not quite ready for cremation.

Days 5 and 6. Los Angeles Cloud Forest: I wanted to stay in a cheap, but according to Lonely Planet, very posh spot for the money, hotel in San Ramon, a small town a few minutes down the road. But, Fred read how the owner is allowing real estate tycoons to come in and how it's ruining the charm of San Ramon and so now he's not willing to support the establishment. I think he really just wanted to stay here:

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The pictures don't do it justice. This place is awesome and I won't complain because after I hang with the monkeys, I'm going to the spa!

Days 7, 8, 9, and 10. We're headed to the beach. There are apparently a lot of beachy areas and rainforesty and volcanoesque areas in Costa Rica and I think they all kind of blend together, but this beach is also near a national park that is supposed to be amazing. One of my students went there and a monkey stole her dad's cookies. I want a monkey to steal my cookies, but not all of them, so I'll be sure to bring extra. In Manuel Antonio, we're staying here

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Can't wait!

Monday, June 18, 2007

homeward bound

So, it was a long long road full of ups and downs, but we're finally homeowners. We closed on June 8th. I actually only got to spend one hour at the house that day because I was on-call, but it was a great hour!

The journey was crazy. We searched for almost 5 months and we thought we were going to have to suck it up and move into Freddie's apartment (poor guy was going to have to carry his new bride up 3 flights of stairs to reach the thresh hold.) I talked to the previous owner for almost an hour about his dead mother to convince him we were the nice christian couple he was looking for. I convinced him he did not need to add the provision which would forbid us from renting the house for seven years to our contract...can you say crazy?! I listened to all of his horribly racist and prejudiced comments--by the way, if we do rent the house, we will be renting it to a black muslim to teach Mr. L a lesson. We will diversify the neighborhood even if it kills them. The realtor was the same way? Where do you find these people and how come they just assume it's okay to say such horrible things to a stranger? I suppose the better question is why didn't I put them in their places? I'll admit it, I laid my principles down because I REALLY did not want to live in that apartment.

But, it's all over now and we're in! I've stayed in my new house one time and it was glorious! Our fridge came on Sunday. Someone just offered me a morning glory to plant. I loaded the dishwasher with our everyday stuff. We bought a shower curtain and rod. I put the shelf liner in. I am Suzy Homemaker and I'm actually pretty stoked.

Here's a few snaps of our new crib.


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guess I'll go eat some worms

Nobody likes me...everybody hates me...

Come on people. The wedding is less than a week away. My emotions are all over the place and you pick this time to abandon me? Help a sister out. Just a comment or two would be nice. Just so I know I'm not alone out here...

(pathetic, huh?)

pitcher page

They say when you get married there is always one thing that you get tons of. My friend at work said their thing was crock pots. They got tons of them. Another friend got DVD players. Our thing is pitchers.

If you'll trace back through the blogs you'll see that our first wedding gift was actually a pitcher set that I registered for. I liked it primarily because I like to drink tea from goblets. Right after I chose it, I chose another pitcher set that I liked better (this one is blown glass with a blue rim and matching glasses). I also registered for a single pither at Belk because you might want to serve more than one beverage. I registered for another single at Target because not everyone has Belk.

We got the single pitcher from Belk...and Target...and the blue set. Then we got another...of each. We also got another pitcher and glass set from some random unidentified store. And, my mom just told me that someone else purchased us another one of the first pitchers. They swear they bought it a long time ago and they were the first. So that makes a total of 8 pitchers.

When we were in Goldsboro for a shower a few weeks ago, we were told we just HAD to stop into the Seabrook shop to register. We got mostly cutesy serving things and good old silver southern pieces and acrylic trays, etc. I'm sure you know what kind of shop I'm talking about. Last night, we got the first piece of the Mariposa stuff we registered for. Can you guess what it was?

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Thursday, June 14, 2007

just a little bit crazy

For a long time I used mentadent toothpaste. Do you remember this stuff?

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It was good stuff. It really made your teeth feel bubbly and clean and you felt like you'd really accomplished something when you finished becasue it was no small feat getting an equal balance of white and blue on the brush. I can't find this stuff anymore, so I've moved on to Crest Whitening with Scope. I'm pretty happy with the switch and haven't really looked back yet (no turning into a pillar of salt for me.)

One thing I can't seem to let go of though is my toothbrush. I love this guy.

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The key is the zig zaggy rubber bit running down the middle. The brush gives full coverage and the rubber piece really feels like your teeth are getting cleaned.

I am not an OCD tooth brusher. I don't carry one around in my purse to brush mid day. Sometimes I don't brush my teeth before bed (I do always brush in the morning because-gross!). But, I LOVE this toothbrush. I've had mine for way too long...as in I seriously can't remember when I bought it and I'm pretty sure I had it when I live in Richmond, which was, oh, about two years ago. (Stop yelling at me. In all other ways, I am not a vile disgusting human being. You don't understand the magic of this toothbrush.)

I've tried to find replacements. We thought this guy might work

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but no.

Last night while I was cleaning out my underbed storage containers trying to sort through what could be dumped and what I needed to move, I found it. There sitting in my little plastic drawer was a small wedding present from Jesus. Are you ready? Wait for it? An unopened blue mentadent white and clean soft head toothbrush!!! Hooray! I think I'm finally ready to get rid of the red one, but first, we'll have one last hoorah. I'm taking it on my honeymoon. I'll begin my life in my new home with new blue. I think we'll be very happy together.

PS-While I was searching for a picture of old red to post on here, it dawned on me that I might be able to find this toothbrush online. Perhaps only in NC the Mentadent line has been discontinued, or perhaps some scoundrel on Ebay has been hoarding them all. Lucky me! I found it on drugstore.com and I bought 5! I might even share one with my new husband.

I feel a little like Elaine and the last sponge.

Friday, June 08, 2007

I got screwed by Barry at my Bachelorette Party!

That's what the t-shirts are going to say. We headed down to Seabrook Island, SC on Friday morning and arrived just in time to spend a few hours sitting on the overcast beach. Good thing, because that was the last time we'd see it.

Tropical Storm Barry was our uninvited guest for the weekend and he really crashed the party. But, thanks to some great girlfriends we made the most of our time nonetheless.

Each of the girls signed up to bring something and we started the weekend off right with my friend Amanda's dinner-make your own gourmet pizzas. Amanda brought along mini pizza crusts, four cheeses, including fresh mozzarella, two sauces, and a variety of other toppings. They were fabulous! (Note to all of you other lazy bums, this is a great idea for home too---I'm going to stock up on these ingredients as soon as the wedding is over and I don't have a dress to fit into (and as soon as we get a fridge!). The girls surprised me with a little birthday party after that.

I spent my actual birthday in a pretty crappy way. I visited my dad's family for my brothers' graduation. I was really glad to be there for them, but the history between my dad and I made things pretty rough and I actually spent about an hour on Saturday crying in a coffee shop. Sounds silly, but it was actually really helpful for Freddie to experience this together. I think he truly "gets it" now and I think that will help him understand those dynamics, and a number of my resulting neuroses a lot more.

Anyway, my real birthday was pretty poopy, but thanks to lots of great friends and my mom, I ended up with 3 really awesome post birthday celebrations.

After the birthday festivities, we broke out the sexy. The girls also gave me a little lingerie shower and I got lots of fun surprises for the honeymoon. Before I left, F had been concerned that the girls would all get me cotton nightgowns. He thought they might know me a little too well. In fact, Ev did ask me if I'd wear something slutty if she got it for me. I told this to Freddie and that I'd told Ev that maybe she could go somewhere in the middle, he said, "If she wants to get you something slutty, let her get you something slutty!" Hey Freddie, Ev did not let you down!

On Saturday we woke up to the rain. It rained all day long. What do you do when it rains all day long? You eat. Then you eat again, then you take a little nap. Then you eat some more and watch a movie. Then you eat again. Good times. I confess, all of the sitting did kick up some of my wedding anxiety. Everytime I saw Ev's computer, I kept thinking, I have a MILLION and two things to do and I'm just sitting! Luckily, we broke out the cards and that carried me through to the big night.

Tropical Storm Barry threatened to kill the party, but the girls and I did not let it beat us. When the limo bus guy called to see if we still wanted to go out, we said of course! The girls had a few games at the house and then we boarded the van and played a little "newlywed game" on the way to the restaurant. Freddie and I know each other quite well. I wonder if my friends thought we were crazy that we actually knew and had the same answers to the questions, what is your favorite baby name and what will you name your first dog? Hey! We've dated for 6 years! We talk about lots of stuff.

We had a great dinner at a restaurant in Charleston called Cintras. These guys were our dining companions...

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This is the cast of the new Lifetime series Army Wives. Two tv obsessed friends, that is not a jab, I too, am TV obsessed, just with different shows, were abuzz all through dinner because they recognized two of the guys at the table. After some fast cell phone internet searching, they realized one was a no name guy who is the guest star on every show and this guy played a character on Charmed.

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His name is Drew Fuller and I didn't recognize him at all, but he was yummy.

Since I thought it was fairly obvious, by the leis and the flashing bride button I was wearing, that we were celebrating, I felt like it'd be just fine if I was totally uncool and chatted them up. As we made our exit (more on that in a sec), I stopped by Drew and said, can I ask you a question? He said, yes. Are you on TV?

He kind of laughed. It was kind of a ha ha ha I'm too cool to pretend I'm into this, but I'm still a D list celebrity, so this totally rocks kind of laugh. He said, yes.

I said, my friends have been trying to figure out where they knew you from all night. Buffy, right?!....I mean CHARMED! (I didn't do this to be an ass, they debated about Angel earlier and that's how I got that whole thing in my head, but I was pretty smug about the mistake.)

He said, I'll tell you a secret, pretty much everyone at this table is on tv.

We introduced ourselves and I went on about my business. I wasn't carrying a camera, and no one offered, so I didn't get a picture, but seriously it's not like I'm saying I saw Brad Pitt, who would make this up?

As we tried to leave the restaurant, we were warned that we might want to make other plans. We checked the door only to find the water had climbed the curb and the step and that there was a small river flowing down Market Street.

We are brave ladies and would not let ourselves be stopped by a bastard named Barry, so we took off our shoes, rolled up our pants and stepped in. The water came mid calf and the rain was falling sideways, but we laughed it off and made our way to a place called Mad River.

The bar gave me a t-shirt with silly tasks on it. I did a few of them, including get a bartender to take his shirt of and take a picture with you!, and we had a few drinks. Sometimes when I drink, I like to get back at every guy who ever thought he could have whatever woman he wanted, by doing a little booty pinching. I like to reach around, take a little pinch, and then act totally nonchalant, so they don't have a clue who did it. Let's see how you like feeling like a piece of meat, sucker! I'd say I pinched about 25 butts last weekend. Good times. I only got pinched back once.

The sun finally broke though on our way home on Sunday, but I still had a great time. And, to tell the truth, while I missed the beach, I didn't care that much because I'm going to the beach in a month and I was pretty nervous that the bridesmaids would have ugly strap lines---here comes Bridezilla!

I'll post some pics as soon as I get 'em.