Monday, March 30, 2015

Weekend Review

The house has been on the market for 15 days. We had an open house this weekend and had 14 people walk through it. That brings our number up to 16 people total. Now we are just waiting on someone to buy it. I got a lot of questions about the new house and when it will be done. The question is the end of April. So we need to sell this house ASAP! We have been telling everyone we know about it. Come buy it! lol
 
 

Since we had the open house we had to do a lot of our errands on the Saturday. Since I've been really trying to get back into working out, we thought it might be some nice motivation. We also had a gift card so that was an added plus. I ended up getting these beauties...
On Sunday morning, I actually got up and worked out some. I know shocking but I did. Now I just have to keep it up. We also went and looked at my dream car...
Maybe someday. You have to aim high that's for sure! So I thought why not the top of the line. Literally my weekend was looking at this car, getting the house ready for the open house and buying work out gear. No joke.

This week has got to get better!

Friday, March 27, 2015

Five on Friday


1. It's been 12 days that our house has been on the market. Let's cross our fingers we get  a buyer! We are on a time crunch! We are trying to move into our new house! That can't happen until we sell our current home. I literally wake up everyday and hope it's the day the house sells.
 
2. I'm ready for a day off. I mean yes I have the weekends off but I need an extra day. Between boxing up a lot of the house, keeping the house in "showing" condition everyday and then having to be out of the house at random times all weekend for showings it's just exhausting. The state of California celebrates Cesar Chavez day so I will be resting that day for sure. Don't know who Cesar Chavez is? Well you can read about him here. He deserved a day of recognition.

3. We are headed to our wedding venue this coming week to do some planning and even though I'm stressed about other things this makes me happy!

4. 
I have a chuck Norris daily calendar and it makes me smile!

5. Thank goodness it's Friday!

Thursday, March 26, 2015

Theater Thursday

It's Thursday and that can only mean one thing... it's Theater Thursday! Every Thursday, I take a movie that I've recently watched and talk about it. It's always a movie that isn't in the theater and is available to watch at home. This week's featured movie is, Up In The Air.
Up In The Air stars George Clooney as Ryan Bingham, a man who fires people for a living. He travelled over 350,000 miles last year and he's working his way to 10 million. He shows one airline his loyalty and is making it his own goal to become one of 7 people to hit that 10 million mark. He gets a major hit to his goal though when his company decides to try out firing people over video teleconference instead of sending guys like Ryan out to fire them in person. The person driving the idea of firing by video conference is Natalie (Anna Kendrick), a young girl who doesn't have a lot of life experience and who's never actually fired anyone... ever.

Before they start the video firing, Ryan takes Natalie out on the road to show her what it's really like to fire someone. While on the road Ryan meets a lady who starts to make him think that he wants more than to be on the road 350,000 miles a year. Natalie on the other hand has to learn how hard it is to fire someone and watch the outcome. It surprises her how hard it is and how great Ryan is at his job. She realizes that maybe they really do need a human touch.

Ryan on the other hand is starting to wonder if he needs to come off the road. When he meets Alex he realizes the connection that he's been missing. Is it something he really wants?

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Family Dynamics

I grew up an only child. My mom was 1 of 4 and had three younger brothers. Two of her brothers, my uncles were close to my age when I was a kid. One of them being 8 years older than me and the other being 10 years older. So when I was a kid they would come over and babysit me. They'd like me watch 90210 when I was about 6 years old because they were teenagers and that's what they wanted to watch. So as I got older and they got married, naturally I went to their weddings, birth of their baby, etc.

As they got older, they moved away, moved back and then moved away again. They lived in Chicago, then Washington D.C. now New York City. One of my uncles still lives in my hometown of Huntington. Then of course, I moved across the country to California. Over the years, we've spent less time together but we still see each other for the holidays, group text now and keep up with each other over facebook etc. So when Beezy and I announced that we were getting married I let my family know first thing. I know that it's a long way to come for a wedding so I wanted to give them the most amount of time possible to plan. It's no easy trek coming from West Virginia to California. To get here by plane you have to make at least two connections, it's an all day flying and it's usually a little pricey.

I get it.

I have never asked my family for anything (well besides my mom of course). When one of my uncle got married, I was there... both times. When his baby was born, where was I? At the hospital. Thanksgiving and Christmas? Well I've never missed a Thanksgiving and this past year was the first Christmas I had ever missed. When my other uncle got married. I was there. I even drove 7 hours to get there. I literally had to turn around and drive back the next day. I travelled to see them when they lived in Chicago and Washington D.C. I send them Christmas cards, wish them Happy Birthday etc. So for me to ask them to come to my wedding was the first thing I've ever done. I don't even think I asked for them to come to my high school or college graduation. My cousin was in the hospital for over and week and I texted him everyday asking him how he was because I couldn't be there.

In February I had someone in my family telling me they can't make it to my wedding. Really? Let me hear the excuses. You can't afford it? Well if you get the flight now it's only about 500.00 a person. I paid 1000.00 for my Thanksgiving flight alone. I've given you 13 months to save. Put it on a credit card and pay it off. Then they had the nerve to tell me it's 500.00 plus luggage fees. Um you don't have to check a bag! You can carry on a suitcase. I know you aren't staying out here a month. A weekend worth of clothing will fit in a carry on.

I fully expect to hear more excuses as we get closer and closer. It just really disappoints me. I mean aren't families suppose to rally together for special occasions? I'm 30 years old and this is the first time I'm getting married. I mean come on. We are even going to feed them a 3 course meal, give them free drinks and a favor at the end of the night! We are even working on transportation to and from the hotel to the venue! I'm just really hoping that it all works out. I mean who doesn't want their family to come to their wedding. I really do! All of Beezy's family will be there that's for sure.

And before anyway says, well you chose to move away. Um... so has everyone else!

The wedding is coming, now will the family come too?

Monday, March 23, 2015

Weekend Review

Friday night, Beezy and I went to the Kings vs. Hornets game. We had heard that Michael Jordan was going to be in attendance. We got to the game early, ate some food and waited. And waited. And waited. Jordan never showed up! He was in town and it was his team playing but he never showed his face. Beezy was disappointed because he was wanting to see him. Maybe next year.

On Saturday, we went to Tower Café.

It's a historical landmark in Sacramento and it's a restaurant. I had never been there before and Beezy promised they had good food. I'm a sucker for breakfast so I was ready to be wowed. I got really excited that they serve all of their food on Fiestaware plates. We have those dishes in the house and I'm partial to them because their made in West Virginia. The breakfast food didn't disappoint either...
 
On Saturday, we had a few people who wanted to tour the house. Since we are trying to sell it ASAP that was a good thing. We had to spend the majority of the day away from home. So we spent the day running errands, visiting with his dad and step mom, washing the car and visiting the new house to see the construction progress. They have the privacy fence up now and plants in the front yard! Did I mention that we saw a HUGE dog?! We went to Old Sacramento yesterday and ran into this guy...
 
Sunday, we had more people coming into the house so we had to get out. It's kind of hard to relax when you can't be at home. So we made the best of the situation and tried to have a little fun... like getting my nails done.
I've been trying out different nail colors since December. Every 2-3 weeks, I go and get another color to try out. I think I know exactly what nails I'll have for the wedding but I keep checking and trying out new ones just incase. I have awhile before I have to make a final decision.
 
That was our weekend. We've sent out the majority of our save the dates and the rest go out tomorrow. I'm excited to have that done!

Wednesday, March 18, 2015

TBD: Honeymoon

 
Beezy and I have been trying to narrow down our honeymoon location and it's hard! There is so many places out in the world that we both want to go to and have never been before. We originally wanted to go to Tahiti for our honeymoon but we've found out that our wedding and honeymoon is happening in their storm season. So unless we want to lay on the beach in pouring rain and possible hurricanes then we should start the search over. Back to the drawing board we went and we still haven't came up with a destination. Here is a few places that we have on our idea board...

1. BVI.
The British Virgin Islands. We didn't even have this place on our radar until Jackie went to BVI. I stalked her entire vacation on instagram and it was beautiful! It has a little bit of everything. It's got relaxing, it's got adventure, it's got water sports. It has a ton of things we want to check off our want list.

2. Italy.
Where would we start? There is so many different places to go and things to see in Italy this trip would be action packed. First you've got Rome, Pisa, Florence and the coast. The possibilities are endless. I'd want to see it all and do it all. We would need a vacation from our honeymoon once we got back. I mean really though, how cool would it be? It was be awesome. Has anyone ever been there? Where should we start?

3. Greece.
Who hasn't ever dreamed of going to Greece and seeing these blue and white beauties? Going to the site of the first Olympic games, walking around where ancient Greeks walked. It would definitely be a great trip. It has historical attractions, great weather. It would be relaxing but not beach relaxing though...

4. Maldives.
We are talking over the water sleeping hut. The weather at this time of the year would be perfect. The only issue with the Maldives is that it's half way around the globe. Right in the middle of the Indian Ocean, not far from India. If we went to the Maldives we would be relaxing the entire time working on our tans. I feel like we'd have to do a stop somewhere else though... like Dubai or another very foreign country. I just don't know how I feel safety wise on that just yet.

5. Exuma, Bahamas.
Isn't this place amazing? I know right! As soon as we found out about Exuma we were like Let's go there! It's in the Bahamas so it's not across the globe. It's going to be in the middle of great weather and did I mention they have the swimming pigs? Yes, that's right the swimming pigs...

So now you see our hard choice. We don't know which one of these great places to call our honeymoon. Where did you go on yours? Did you take one and was it right after your wedding?

Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Buying and Selling

A little over a week ago, we decided on a whim to go look at a house that Beezy found online and our realtor (who I've remained in contact with since I bought my house) said let's go. We didn't know if it would be everything that it was from online and in the photos. It sounded and looked like it was but we didn't want to get our hopes up. Since November we have been toying with the idea of moving. You see... my street use to be super quiet. Then a house down the street became a rental property and every day since it got rented out we hear music pumping non stop. I'm talking music so loud we hear it 4 houses down on the opposite side of the street and across the intersection of a four way stop. Every. single. gang slur. and note in the music. We've called the non emergency number a handful of times. All they do is talk to them. We've looked up the owner of the house but it's in some kind of living trust. Needless to say, we are OVER it.

So when we went to look at this house that had just been built we were being cautiously optimistic. We wanted to like it but at the same time we didn't know if we were ready. So we get to the development and walked through the house. We loved the amount of space the house offered but we hated the kitchen counters and the cabinets. The builders had built the house with having any buyers so they completely finished it without a buyer selecting each fixture etc. The kitchen really did it for us and we were getting ready to leave with our hopes dashed. That's when their sales agent let us know that a house exactly like the one we had just walked through was in the middle of construction and hadn't had the kitchen completed yet. Our eyes and ears immediately perked up. She walked us the few doors down the new block and we walked through a house in mid construction. We actually loved this house!

That was on a Sunday. On Monday we made them an offer. Tuesday we had to list our house and by Friday we were having photos taken for the listing. Now we are surrounded in boxes (ok fine we aren't really surrounded because we've shoved them into one room but you get what I mean) and my house is on MLS. We are trying to time this whole thing to work out for when the new house will be completed with construction. We do not want to move twice. It's all going to depend on how fast we get a buyer and how fast they complete the house. We know that they will be done with the new house in April. Now it's just to see how long it takes to find a buyer for our current home. Since the two most comparable houses in the area sold within 2 and 5 days of going on the market it could get really crazy around here.

We are under contract and now we just have to get my house sold.
 
This house just has so much we really wanted and were looking for that we couldn't pass it up. And the best part we already have equity in the home because they raised their prices a few days after we went into contract!

I never feel comfortable until we are signed, sealed and delivered. So I will finally be able to relax once we close on the new house. Until then we have a long 7 weeks ahead. I feel like I'm kind of a pro at moving and packing since I did a cross country move. This time though, I feel like we are scrambling for boxes and packing paper and tape lol. I feel like the rug is going to ripped out from under us. Maybe it's just the hurry up and wait that's going on? Who knows but either way it's going to be an interesting Easter around these parts.

Monday, March 16, 2015

Engagement Party

This weekend was one for the history books. On Saturday, we had our engagement party.
I was having quite a nice hair and make-up day if I don't say so myself. We were very excited because we had planned this party since January. We had invitations made, reserved a venue and even planned out decorations. We held the party at Ten 22 which also happens to be Beezy's birth date. We had ate there for his birthday and we really liked the restaurant and the private party space. We had it set up similar to this but this was our private room...

Our room was set up like this...

We had some of our engagement photos on the tables, our wedding colors on balloons and then of course the food. We had a great time though celebrating with both sides of his family. Getting to see everyone and our friends. Sadly, my mom couldn't fly out but she'll come out here soon. I loved our cute I do balloon...

Everyone had a great time so it was a perfect time to have everyone come together. This was our highlight for the weekend. We also had to do some other big activities this weekend but that news is coming in tomorrows post!

Thursday, March 12, 2015

Theater Thursday

It's Thursday and around here that can only mean one thing... it's Theater Thursday! Each week, I pick a movie that I've recently watched and feature it here. I always pick movies that are available to watch at home and not currently in the theater. Since Harrison Ford's recent accident that left him with a broken pelvis and ankle, I figured it would be fitting to feature a movie that I saw last week for the first time with him as the star. This week's featured movie is, Clear and Present Danger.

Clear and Present Danger stars Harrison Ford as CIA analyst Jack Ryan. When his boss James (James Earl Jones), un-expectantly goes out sick with pancreatic cancer, Jack is chosen to be the Acting Deputy Director of Intelligence for the CIA. Before going into the hospital James gives him a warning about people in high level positions are like sharks and not to trust any of them. Since Jack knows his boss well and trusts him, he knows to take this warning seriously.

The first week Jack has the job he lands right in the middle of a Columbian drug killing. However, this time it's not a random person, it's an American citizen who happens to be long time friends with the President of the United States. Tasked by the President, Jack must find out why he was killed and who is to blame for his friends death. While Jack is trying to figure it out, the President wants revenge on the Columbian drug lords. He secretly OKs a black ops, super secret mission that takes a team of American soldiers into Columbia to seek the revenge.

Jack is left completely in the dark and as American soldiers go into the Columbian jungle to kill, he's in front of Congress telling them the CIA won't use money their asking for to fun the CIA for any secret missions. But when a the private war starts to go crazy and become not so private, Jack must figure out what to do and how to get it all under control. He'll also have to risk his own life in the process by going down to Columbia.

Will he do the right or wrong? Watch and find out.

Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Wordless Wednesday

Last week we got a surprise... our photographer sent us a disc in the mail with over 100 photos from our engagement shoot! We were so happy! We loved the 30 he had given us and we didn't expect more but we were very happy about getting them. I thought I'd share our favorites...








Tuesday, March 10, 2015

The Tri-State's Finest

Have you ever heard the saying, "Art imitates life and life imitates art"?

In the movie You've Got Mail, a lady Kathleen owns an independent bookstore. It was her mother's and when her mother died she took it over and became the owner. The shop has been open for over 30 years. She goes to the shop everyday and is hands on with the daily operations. When a rival bookstore comes into the neighborhood, she tries everything to keep her business a float. Now of course, there is more to the movie, but I wouldn't want to spoil it.

In real life my mom, Kathleen owns an independent bookstore... a comic book store. It's been her store since she opened it in 1980. She opened it four years before I was born. I grew up in that store. I was there everyday with her until I started kindergarten. I went there everyday in middle school after school and in high school I would help run the place on my weekends and in the evenings. In college, there were days that I ran the store all by myself. My mom though, she goes to the store everyday. She is hands on with the daily operations. She does all of the ordering, up keep etc. When a rival store moved into town and when other stores in the area have came and gone, she has remained a constant.

If you happen to be in Huntington then check out the store. She's got everything from new comics to back issues. If you don't see it, just ask her and she'll see what she can do. If you're in the middle of no where and can't get your comics, call her up. She can do an over the phone order and ship them to you. My soon to be husband has started collecting a few comics and she takes  his order ad ships it to us once a month.

Did I mention my mom and Comic World have been featured in a movie and in a book? Mr. American Splendor did an entire graphic novel on coming to Huntington, shopping at Comic World and meeting my mom. Want to read the novel? Don't buy it on Amazon, call the store and she'll get you a copy! She'll even sign it for you!

Thursday, March 5, 2015

Theater Thursday

It's Thursday and around here that means it's Theater Thursday. Each week I pick out a movie that I've recently watched that I found entertainment in. The movies I pick are always something that's out on dvd not currently in the theater. If you have a movie you love, join in and do your own Theater Thursday! Just let me know and I'll come check it out. This week's featured movie is... La Bamba.
 
I recently watched La Bamba. Beezy has been on me for months to watch this movie with him. The day finally came and I watched it.
 
Lou Diamond Phillips stars as singer and star Richie Valens. The true story of Richie Valens begins in Northern California where his family is picking apricots to make a living. When his older brother comes to get them and moves them to southern California to start a new way of life. Richie loves to sing and play the guitar and he's determined to make it. His mother believes in him and tries to help him get his career going. When she books the American Legion hall for Ritchie to do a show, a recording manager shows up and likes what he hears.
 
He gets Ritchie into the recording studio and soon he has a young star on his hands. Ritchie at the same time really starts to care for a girl named Donna. Donna comes from an upper middle class white family. Her dad wants her to have nothing to do with a latino boy. Ritchie really cares for Donna and to prove his love for her, he writes a hit song called, Donna. Now having performed on American Bandstand his music is starting to pick up. He's got two songs that are tied for number one on the charts. He's got one little quirk though... he hates to fly. Ritchie gets his manager to drive him everywhere. They take a bus or he doesn't get there. Doing the bandstand though, he gets on a plane. 
 
If you've never heard of Ritchie, I won't ruin this true story for you so watch the movie. It's worth at least one viewing. 

Wednesday, March 4, 2015

Blessed.

When I was a little girl, I would sit in front of the television on Friday nights and watch TGIF "Thank God It's Friday" on ABC. They had a whole line up of shows that were family based. It started with Full House, Family Matters, Step By Step and ended with Perfect Strangers. Full House would come on with the Tanner family sitting in the park across from the Painted Ladies in San Francisco. It would show them driving in their convertible across the Golden Gate Bridge living in sunny California. I was just a kid but I would think, "What a cool life to live!"
 
Fast forward to present day and I'm living in Sacramento, California. I live two hours from San Francisco and have seen the Golden Gate Bridge more than a handful of times now.  It's surreal. I'll have these moments where I'm out and in the middle of something it'll hit me. I live here now. This is my life. I'm living this life that I never really knew if it would happen. I had one of these OMG moments hit me when we were in SF doing our engagement photos. It was about right here that it hit...

This is really my life. I'm living in my dreams. I'm living in California. I'm marrying the man that I've waited to find. We're having an amazing wedding and it's all really happening. We have a house, my car is paid off, we have our cute pet Tesco the cat, I have a job that I enjoy. It's all real. It's all what I dreamed of when I was a kid.

It's in these moments that I find myself feeling incredible blessed. Are there times that I want more? Of course. I would be lying if I said no. But I feel so blessed and lucky in life. I have far more than others and I know that. I'm thankful for everything that I've received and work had for, what we work hard to provide for each other. I know that Beezy feels the same way because we've talked about how blessed we are. We don't take anything for granted.

So I say to all those people out there who dream of living a different life or moving to a different state do it. Don't dream about it anymore. Go out there and make it happen. Sacrifice, eat ramen noodles for weeks, save all your change. Do what you have to do. If you want it bad enough, you can make anything happen. Dreams can come true.

Tuesday, March 3, 2015

The Blue Bridesmaids

When it came time to decide who to ask to be in our wedding, I knew immediately who I wanted to be in the bridal party. I'll have one maid of honor and three bridesmaids. I sought out clever, cute ways to ask them and went with custom made embellished cards that came in their own personal boxes. I ordered them and they took two weeks to get to me. Then with the crazy winter weather that struck the east coast and Midwest they all just recently received the cards.

 
 
I chose our wedding colors for the cardstock to give them an idea of the theme.

Thankfully they all accepted so I officially have my bridal party. The next thing on my to-do list was to search out a dress. Since the four of them live in four different states, I needed to go with a vendor that would be easily accessible in all of their states. I've heard some really good things about David's Bridal so I started looking on their website. I talked to one of my bridesmaid's because she bought her wedding dress from them and she had a great experience. I knew when I started looking on their site that I would be able to find a dress that would look good and fit with all of the girls body types. Then I found this dress...
 
It's perfect! The dress photographs well, it's floor length and fits in perfectly with our wedding style. It's a Vera Wang dress but it's not going to break the bank. That was one thing I was concerned about when looking for a gown. I didn't want to ask people to pay a huge price for a bridesmaid dress that they may only wear once in their life. This dress is under $200.00 dollars. I started playing with colors online and found the perfect one...
 
The color is called Pool. I know that color can really be subjective on a computer screen so this past weekend, I went to David's Bridal and compared color swatches. Pool is officially it! I talked to them and this dress takes 4 months to come into the store once ordered. Then it takes them another 2-4 weeks for alterations. I immediately group texted my bridal party. Now the hunt is on for shoes and jewelry!
 
I'm very excited to be one step closer walking down the isle and having my bridal party ready! I'm thinking a silver shoe. Thoughts?