I’m in Love…

… with a scent.

That is, the Sandalwood essential oil scent in the Art of Shaving starter pack.

Husband decided that he wanted to start using some better shaving elements than his cartridge razor and gel shaving cream. He’s going to be shaving most days for his new job, and having a shaving routine that’s better for his skin is probably a good idea!

We had been to the Art of Shaving in the Galleria before for gifts and he wanted to check it out over the weekend. We walked out with a sample kit for about $20 and the thought we might be back for the bigger kit.

At home, he opened up the package and got everything set up. I sat next to the sink and just watched him shave. First, the essential oil was rubbed over his beard to soften the bristles and add a layer of protection against the razor. With that added, the razor glides over the skin and removes the hair, leaving the top layer of skin – which is a good thing! Second, he used the brush (not shown) to lather up and add the cream over his beard. LOTS of lather and it was everywhere. An amazing white beard he got to play with! It was really quite amusing. ;)

Then the shaving part happens. I’m kind of impressed by how he does that. It’s crazy to watch! Slowly, the beard and white foam disappeared and a clean shaven husband was left in his place. He added the moisturizer at the end and then beckoned me to come feel his shaven face.

And oh. my. goodness. I’m in love. I mean, I love my husband, of course. After 5.5. years, I would hope that’s still the case! But after he shaved with this stuff? I wanted to go out immediately to get him the full set, with a fancy badger brush for the lather and the safety razor he wanted to use instead of the cartridge razor. Because damn. I sure I do love my husband even more after that shave! So amazingly clean shaven and yummy smelling… Damn.

Anniversary ABCs

Five years ago today, April 28, I married the love of my life. To celebrate, we’re going to a fancy French restaurant here in town (albeit with a Groupon coupon!) and we’ll remember our honeymoon in Paris. We will remember the amazing journey we’ve taken over these five years and dream about what is next to come. The next five years of our marriage will involve a graduation from law school (wooo hoo!!), hopefully a big lawyer job for Hubs, more work on my wedding planning business, maybe a move and maybe a family expansion. But all of that in it’s own good time. We’re enjoying the two of us in our life together now.

To commemorate the big anniversary, here’s a walk down memory lane from our wedding (thanks to Melissa for the idea last year!):

Attending: We had invited over 230 to attend our big day, but the actual number ended up around 130.

Bridesmaids: We couldn’t say no, so we had a bunch! A few friends from college and post-college, plus a cousin or two thrown into the mix for good measure.

Catering: Fabulous food provided by the company that also does the food for the boys’ dining hall. Strange, I know, but people tell me it was the best wedding food they’d ever had.

Dress: I have no idea who made my dress. I don’t think the tag was in it when I bought it. It came from a shop in South County next to the place where I bought my first dance shoes. I loved that little tie-in!

Engagement: Hubs proposed after pre-commencement at SLU in 2006; my graduation party the next day turned into an engagement party!

Flowers: The flowers came from a shop in St. Charles. They flew in purple calla lilies after I fell in love with them in the sample bouquet. The florist was so nice – when I was worried about the size of bouquet given my petite-ness, I didn’t want to be overwhelmed by flowers. They needed a sample bouquet to use at a bridal show and so they made a sample of mine so I could come and see a real one with real flowers! I saw it in person and starting sobbing. It was SO perfect.

Groomsmen: We had a bunch of these too. There were friends of Husband’s from grade school, high school and college, plus our two brothers. It was so neat to have all these dapper men in our party!

Honeymoon: Hubs surprised me with our honeymoon. He and his mom planned it with our travel agent and I didn’t know where we were going until we showed up at the airport the day after the wedding. Then I found out we were headed to Paris! I was so excited, I burst into tears. It was magical. I wish I had pictures of the fancy dinner we had the last night, but it was the Taillevant – one of the restaurants in the book 1001 Places to See Before You Die. You should go, because it truly is amazing.

Invitations: I wish I had done some more research on these – but I don’t think I even have a picture of the invitations! They were simple cream invites with basic black printing. There weren’t any coloring on there (still hadn’t decided on the color scheme) nor was there any “theming” because our wedding didn’t really have a theme.

Justice of the Peace: Nope, we had a priest perform our ceremony, a la our Roman Catholic tradition. In fact, we had 4 priests presiding!

Keepsakes: After losing my dad two years ago, one of my favorite keepsakes from the wedding (other than the wedding album and all that) was a perfect picture of me and my dad as we walked down the aisle. I love this picture.

Ladies Night: My bachelorette party was a few gal friends and me out at the bars on the Landing in St. Louis. We had a blast dancing at the piano bar all night.

Music: The reason we chose this church (other than my Husband had gone to the school attached to it for high school) was because of the organ. I love organ music and I wanted a big sound on my entrance and our big exit. My cantor was my best friend and her sister played the organ. But the best part? A choir made up of family and friends singing How Beautiful as the communion meditation. It was so amazing, words can’t express it. I’m just glad that I have the video on my computer and can pull it up whenever I want to remember that moment.

Newlyweds: I think we might be beyond this phase! I don’t know if we can call ourselves this anymore.

Old, new, borrowed, blue: Old – my MIL’s high school ruby ring; new – wedding dress; borrowed – antique earrings from my mom/great aunt; blue – little bow on my garter

Photography: Matson Photography

Question popping: I knew it was coming for a while, but he sure surprised that night after commencement! I thought he would have asked much earlier in May.

Reception: We hosted our reception at the Switzer House on the campus of the St. Louis Priory. Technically, the reception was held in the Priory High School’s dining hall. That sounds awful, but I think the wedding party was able to decorate it very well! It didn’t feel like a dining hall at all. Plus, the price was just right. ;) But the real reason we got married here? This staircase.

Shoes: I could never quite find the right shoes for this dress so they were simple white sandals. This was before the idea of colored shoes under your dress got really popular.

Trash the Dress: Hubs really wants me to do this; well, he wants me to get rid of the dress that’s taking up tons of space in the basement. But I can’t imagine messing up my wedding dress!

Unique: I’d say it was pretty unique to have our reception in the boys’ dining hall of the high school. It was so amazing and I wouldn’t have changed it!

I also was serenaded that night to “You’ve Lost that Loving Feeling” a la Top Gun, but it was a tradition in my high school theatre that the leading lady was serenaded on opening night by the guys of the cast. I was never a leading lady at that school, and Hubs remembered that. They dragged me to the center of the dance floor and I had no idea what was going on. I started crying when they started singing. It was amazing.

Vows: In the Roman Catholic tradition, our vows were standard. However, the priest performing the ceremony wanted us to read them ourselves rather than repeating after him. He said it takes him out of the ceremony and places the importance of the two of us speaking to each other in the presence of God. We are marrying each other, he just presides over it. It’s a sacrament from God and as we spoke those words to each other, I completely understood why he wanted it to go like that.

Wedding Woes: As amazing as it was, it is SO tough to be an events person and plan your own wedding. I wish I had hired someone like me to take care of the little details during the day so I could have concentrated on enjoying myself! It would have saved our wedding party the hours of decorating the reception, too. ;)

X-rated: Um, this is a family blog.

Young Kids: We had the most adorable flower girl and ring bearer, plus a few infants around too! The infants were our godson, Moose, and the daughters of two of my cousins. It was great having the little ones there!

Zzzzzz: It was a late night and an early morning. I have no idea why we scheduled such an early morning international flight! We did, however, make hotel reservations for right near the airport on the wedding night so we could be a bit closer for our flight.

So writing all of these memories really made me smile. Our wedding day was wonderful and I am so happy that we were able to celebrate with all our friends and family. What a day!

Happy 5^th anniversary, Husband!

The Story Behind the Surprise

I guess I left you all hanging in last week’s post, didn’t I?

I’m sorry! If you only knew how crazy the past eight days have been, I think you’d understand. But that’s a post for another day. I really did write a nice long post about the surprise visitor from last Friday but somehow Blogger ate it.

That’s ok, because now I have video to show you what happened. Here’s the set up…

Hubs has been in France since early January, studying law, doing interviews for internship, having fun eating at cafes and sending me macaroons. It’s a good gig, if you can get it! A few weeks ago, we realized there was a week-long break in his schedule at the end of February. We went back and forth, trying to figure out if I could get over there to Europe to vacation for a bit while he wasn’t in classes. For many various reasons (my foot surgery being only one of them!), we weren’t able to make it happen. We were bummed, but we moved on – after all, we knew going into this semester that it would be a while before we could see each other again. We were determined to get on Skype and talk more, email more, and just wish the days away so we could be together again.

Well, these past few weeks have been harder than most for some reason and I was really kind of bummed. I wasn’t looking forward to this major foot surgery coming up (more on that later) because who likes anesthesia and getting cut open? But my mom was coming to help me out so I did have that to look forward to. In any case, Hubs’ cousin asked if I wanted to come to her daughter’s elementary school variety show last Friday because Scrappy really wanted me to come watch her dance. My mother-in-law kept texting me, telling me I should come, and that it would be good for me. I told them I’d think about it, because I had a big work weekend after that and I didn’t know if I would be up for it.

In the end, I decided to go because it would make Scrappy happy and of course, who doesn’t love kindergarteners through fifth graders singing and dancing to silly songs? :) So Friday night comes, and I drive way south to Arnold to the variety show. I meet up with the in-laws and we’re hanging out, watching the kids dance. They’re adorable, by the way.

Then, after Scrappy has done her two dances, my father-in-law gets up and motions for me to join him in the lobby. My mother-in-law does the same thing, asking me to come to the bathroom with her (say what?) for some reason. Rolling my eyes, wondering what in the world has gotten into them, I get up to follow.

In the lobby, my FIL stands by the floral stand, asking if we should get Scrappy one flower from each of us or a bunch of flowers or what… and then, someone taps me on the shoulder. I turn around to see my wonderful husband standing there. My brother-in-law caught it on his iPhone:

Apparently, when I get surprised, I can’t talk and I just cry a lot. But to be fair, I had NO idea he was going to be there! I really was surprised. The whole family had known for weeks, because they had been setting this up for me.

I really am quite loved.

Airport Goodbyes Aren’t Fun

After spending a few gorgeous days in Disney and then a few freezing days, and then another good day (please don’t ask my why the weather is always crazy for New Year’s when we spend it at Walt Disney World), Husband and I flew home to St. Louis and spent an insane 32 hours of unpacking, laundry, errands and repacking.

At noon today, my husband boarded a plane for Europe; Paris, to be exact. He is going to be there for at least three months, studying European business law. Saying goodbye at the airport was maybe one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. They let me get a companion pass so I got to sit next to him at the gate while the clock ticked down the minutes we had left together before he jetted off to Europe. And then when they called his row to board? I really kind of lost it. For the second time today.

As we were leaving the house, he realized he didn’t have his phone. It must have still been plugged in upstairs. He looked and me smiled, and said he guessed he didn’t need it! We didn’t do the international phone package, because we are planning on using Skype to stay in touch. That way, we can actually see each other’s faces when we catch up! But when he said that he didn’t need his phone, it dawned on me that he was going to another continent where I wouldn’t be able to pick up the phone and call him, or text him, or get in touch with him instantly as I’m used to doing. He was going to be staying at an apartment with a roommate, an apartment where I don’t know where it is, or anything about his living arrangements. Honestly, it scared the scrap out of me. And I lost it. Literally, it was the biggest ugly cry I had let him see in a looooong while. He put down his bags, enveloped me in his big arms, and told me it was going to be alright.

And then he had me get his phone. I’m not sure if he really thought he needed it, or if it was just to calm me down, but it does make me feel better. Long distance charges be damned, if he needs to call me, I sure don’t care about those costs!

If all goes according to plan, I will see him again in May when he comes home for some family graduations. We are all keeping our fingers crossed about his internship possibilities in Europe, which would keep him there until August. I’m not sure I’m hoping that he gets the internship or that he doesn’t, because he would come home earlier if he doesn’t.

Honestly, I just want him to get the education and experience that he needs in Europe and comes back to me as quickly as possible. Because this townhouse is awfully quiet this afternoon with only me here.

I Remembered to Put Out My Shoe!

Did you remember to put out your shoe this morning?

I did!

And this is what was in my shoe when I came home today…

Ever since I can remember, December 6 was always a fun day. We would leave out our shoe for St. Nicklaus to come by and fill it with goodies. As you can see from the picture above, I should have picked a bigger shoe! I would have gotten more stuff!

St. Nick brought me adorable slippers with PENGUINS on them! Plus my favorite Wonka scrumdiddlyumptious bar and hazelnut coffee. YUM. The food is not on my Weight Watchers diet, but I can probably sneak a few bites here and there.

Sidenote: when I say that St. Nick filled my shoe with goodies, I really mean my awesome husband. He surprised me with the fun stuff when I got home from a long day at work. Ain’t he a sweetie?

A New Blogger on the Block

Did you know that my husband is a blogger? In addition to writing papers, studying the law and being an all-around awesome husband to a crazy event planner wife like moi. He had a great blog a few months ago, but the combined JD/MBA schedule he has been juggling since last May has really taken a toll on it. So, with the recent completion of his summer class schedule, and on his first extended break from school since beginning his graduate work in August 2009, he has five weeks to concentrate on what HE wants to work on. And his blog is top on the list!

Now, if you're interested in the silly, mundane or ridiculous stories you find here, then his blog is not for you. His new blog has a great new name, 7 Continents, 7 Days.

He's going to blog every day, and focus on one continent each day. He'll find a particular story from that continent and expand upon it, maybe offer additional reading, and of course, his unique take on the subject. This is such a perfect outlet for him. One of the reasons I love my husband is his global viewpoint. He speaks multiple languages, has lived abroad and wants to take our family abroad someday, and has such a passion for people who are different from us. He wants to know about their past and present and ideas for their future, and the knowledge he gains from them informs on his own life experience. It's fascinating to hear him talk about a particular article he found about the creation of a new country (did you know there's a new country in Africa?) or really understand the environmental issues facing a country halfway around the world (I really would like to visit Australia to learn about it in person, methinks).

I'm still wondering what stories he'll find about Antarctica, but I guess that's why we should check out the blog to find out!

So join him at 7 Continents, 7 Days and tell him I sent ya. :)

My New Drink Needs a Name

Ok, I’ll admit, it feels weird to be talking about alcohol at 8 am. But to be fair, I wrote this last night and am posting it tomorrow, for you know, to spread out the posts a bit.

A few days ago, Husband was making himself a gin and tonic – that’s his drink. He always hands me the glass when he’s made it and tells me to take a sip. And EVERY time I make a face and grunt and tell him how DISGUSTING gin is. EVERY. TIME. And yet, I still take a sip when he offers it to me.

Determined to help me find a drink that I like (we were out of my sweet and sour mix that I use for my amaretto sours) with the ingredients we had on hand, he came up with my new favorite drink. I’m drooling just thinking about it.

So here is what makes up my new favorite drink:

• Triple sec
• Peach schnapps
• Tonic

Simple, right?

Add them in equal parts and ENJOY.

So now I just need a name. Husband has suggested “Mother’s Lover” but I’m not so sure about that one.

The drink is very summer-y and vaguely orange-y due to the triple sec.

Any ideas?

Love at its Most Pure

Someone sent me a link to this StoryCorps video yesterday and I absolutely broke down crying watching it. It was that moving.

For those that haven’t heard about NPR’s StoryCorps project, everyday people are asked to tell a story about their lives. Sometimes there’s a theme and sometimes there’s not. NPR usually airs them on Friday mornings, at least they do on our local station.

This one is about Danny and Annie, a married couple in Brooklyn. There were two interviews – one a few years before he was diagnosed with terminal cancer and another one closer to his death. In fact, the story aired on NPR the day that Danny died.

The way they speak about each other and their love is simply amazing – it’s what everyone aims to have. It’s what we aspire to. Can you imagine leaving a weather love note? This shows that the little things really do add up to a lifetime of love.

I want to grow old with my dear husband and have a lifetime of those kind of memories to look back on. And I want to have fun making those memories with him. Because those little details are what marriage is all about.

And God Blessed My Broken Road…

Because it led me straight to him.

Today is my fourth wedding anniversary with my Dear Husband.  I found these questions on Legally Married recently and thought it would be a great way to commemorate our celebration. We’ll be going out to dinner and then of course, going to bed early so I can get up at the crack of dawn to watch another wedding – this one of a royal nature.

♥ How long have you been together?

We started dating in October, 2005. So we are going on six years of togetherness.

♥ How long did you know each other before you started dating?

We met briefly in our first year of college but lost touch until our senior year. We ran into each other and just let fate take it from there.

♥ How old are each of you?

I am 27 and he is 26, about to turn 27. I’m ten months older than him and he never lets me forget it.

♥ Whose siblings do/did you see the most?

We live in the same city as his immediate family, so we see them a fair amount. Mine lives in a different state and see him far less often.

♥ Do you have any children together?

With him in law school, I can’t imagine that I would ever find the time! Besides, we’re having fun – we’ll be able to settle down with kids soon.

♥ What about pets?

I want a dog but our apartment complex won’t allow them. Which is probably good, because I can’t keep a plant alive. We have to work up to those kids from the previous question.

♥ Which situation is the hardest on you as a couple?

I think moving in together and learning how to be a couple is hard enough. Add in law school and it’s just crazy.

♥ Did you go to the same school?

We met in college.

♥ Are you from the same home town?

Technically, yes. But he lived in a suburb and I was in a way different one. And then I moved to Texas in elementary school. So yes and no.

♥ Who is the most sensitive?

Me. By far.

♥ Where do you eat out most as a couple?

We both love Penn Station and the Kolache Factory. The latter usually on a Saturday morning of errands. Mmmm.

♥ Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple?

He surprised me with a trip to Paris for our honeymoon. It was wonderful.

This was the view from our hotel room. It makes me smile just looking at it. :)

♥ Who has the worst temper?

Me, again by far. He’s better at controlling his emotions than I am.

♥ Who does the cooking?

We haven’t been doing a lot of cooking lately. But usually it’s me who doesn’t want to eat out again, so I’ll end up cooking something to sustain ourselves.

♥ Who is more social?

I think it kind of depends. He really enjoys going out with his law school friends now, but sometimes, I just want to be at home on the couch. But sometimes I’m just a social butterfly doing a million different things and loving it.

♥ Who is the neat-freak?

That’s me, definitely. I wish he would catch that bug!

♥ Who is the more stubborn?

I think we both would have to fight for that title. We’re both pretty strong with our opinions.

♥ Who hogs the bed?

He would claim it was me – but I disagree. He steals the covers.

♥ Who wakes up earlier?

I wake up when my alarm goes off – and usually hate it no matter when it is. He’s the same way.

♥ Where was your first date?

There’s a small Mexican restaurant on campus at our college and we ended up there for dinner. But it wasn’t a date when we started out. It became one. Sort of.

♥ Who has the bigger family?

For immediate family, we both have the one brother. But extended family, he wins by leaps and bounds. I think there are 15 first cousins and 8 of the next generation? Lots of kids!

♥ Do you get flowers often?
I adore flowers but usually only get them on Valentine’s Day.

 

♥ How do you spend the holidays?

Splitting them up between families is so difficult. With Dad gone now, we’ve just been playing it by ear to see how to manage that. It’s been really hard.

♥ How long did it take to get serious?

Well, my mother doesn’t like to hear this, but we started dating in October and were looking at rings in December. It happened quickly but I guess we just knew, as they say.

♥ Who does the laundry?

I go through clothes a bit more quickly than he does, so I end up doing most of the laundry. A few months ago, we split the loads into his and hers and he’s supposed to take care of his. But, I always end up throwing some t-shirts and boxers in with my things. It’s the nice wifely thing to do – I can’t let him have nothing to wear!

~~~~~~~~~~~~

I absolutely adore my dear husband. I can’t imagine the last four years of my life without him. Standing there on our wedding day in a big poofy marshmallow of a dress, I was the happiest woman on earth. Still am. :)

The Master of the Mix Tape

My husband is a master of the mix tape. I mean, seriously, with his iTunes catalog he makes some amazing lists of songs.

I’ve been bugging him for MONTHS to create another mix for me. Back in the day, when we first started dating, one of the first things he gave me [I think it might have been the FIRST present of our dating career] a fabulous mix tape – entitled “Jess in Time.” I still have all those songs on my iTunes list. I love them. Just the fact that he took the time to create a mix just for me, that was the best.

So this afternoon, he came bounding downstairs with a CD in his hand and he passed it to me saying, HERE. He had put together a great mix tape for me!

Here are the songs…

• Alejandro - Lady Gaga   
• Break My Stride - Mathew Wilder
• C'est La Vie - B*Witched
• California Girls - Katy Perry
• Dynamite - Taio Cruz
• F**k You - Cee Lo Greene
• Fireflies - Owl City
• Home - Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros
• Magic - B.o.B.
• Right Stuff - New Kids on the Block
• Telephone - Lady Gaga
• The Warrior - Pat Benatar

So yeah, I’ve been blaring the CD all afternoon.

I have the best husband.

Happy Valentine's Day

My valentine took me to lunch and brought me these flowers today to make up for having class until 9 pm. Isn't he a sweetie?

It’s the only way he got me to play a video game

This little lovely came in the mail today. A few days ago, I saw it was on sale at Newegg and decided that for $30, I might as well take the plunge. It’s a video game and it has Mickey Mouse in it? I might actually like to play it.

And after all, I do have this goal of playing five video games with my husband. So yeah, it was a perfect fit.

When I got home, Husband had it set out and ready to go. The Wii was already plugged in and I had the Wii remote and nunchuck in hand within minutes of walking into the house.

There were a few scenes that set up the whole story and showed you where to go and what to do. Then there’s Gus, some kind of Gremlin or something, that helps you figure out what you’re supposed to do – spin move here, use thinner here to remove rocks, paint this area so you can walk across a crevice, that kind of thing.

My husband was remarkably patient in teaching me the simple things about a video game – how to jump from one rock to another, when there is a little gap. That sounds relatively easy, no? Apparently I don’t have the video game playing gene that my dear brother got.

I finally got that move down and was doing well with the painting and the thinning, trying to move up the levels. I think it will be fun to play again, but I’m not sure I’ll give up scrapbooking to take up playing video games.

But spending time with my husband as he teaches me about something I don’t know anything about? That was a pretty awesome way to spend a Tuesday evening at home.

~~~~

Read more about my 101 in 1001 list here.

Barrister Ball, aka Law School Prom

“I got a feeling, oo oo, that tonight is gonna be a good night!”

Oh Black Eyed Peas, you were so right. It was an awesome night.

We checked into the Hilt0n D0wntown. I found a great deal on Priceline and couldn’t pass it up. It was easier to take a cab to the Fox rather than drive all the way home after the event.

This hotel is just beautiful. It’s called a boutique hotel which is odd for a chain hotel, I think.

 

I mean, this is the lobby – with a big ole chandelier and grand piano in the middle!

I wish I could have hung out here because it was lovely. 

I think this was an old bank, because the gift shop was in a vault! I would have explored more, but we had an important date to get all gussied up for!

We had decided to meet up with the other law school kids at a party room in an apartment building near the Fox Theatre. It was a great place to hang out, take pictures of our lovies all dressed up and get a drink before the Ball.

The party room had some great Art Deco details that I loved.

 

What a great bar! There was another bar in front of this as well.

Don’t we look good together? I think I’ll keep him!

 

A friend of M’s being too good for a picture.

The main event started at the Fox that evening – we were even on the marquee!

We had cocktails in the lobby…

    

Dinner in the theatre…

  

And dancing on the stage!

Now, as an actor, on the stage of the most beautiful theatre in the city, what did I do?

Take pictures of the scenery of course! I may never get there again!

 

Husband and I had a magical evening – with good food, good drinks and even better friends.

My Husband Really Loves Me

Not just because he came home to me after two weeks abroad, but because he brought me some lovely presents. :)

One is a Tiger’s Eye necklace and the other is a Jade necklace. Both are about 18 inches and absolutely lovely.

I really am a lucky girl!

Disney World, here we come (again!)

Remember my little dilemma from a few days ago?

Well, Husband basically told me we should do what I wanted, so …

We’re going to the Polynesian in 228 days to celebrate my 28th birthday!

I’ll be able to miss this spiffy lady again…

This trip, it will be just me and Husband. By ourselves. For four days and three nights at the Polynesian, the favorite hotel that we’ve never stayed in. For my birthday.

228 days can’t come quick enough!