Happy Matri-Monday

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I know this comes rather late in the day for some of you, 

But I haven't been on my computer as much so I can catch up 

on some much needed Cuddling and Sleep. 

2 things that I don't do enough of. 

As an indie and full-time Cubette, I am constantly working on projects and bringing

to bed the stresses of those projects and the fullness of eating. 

But I must stress the importance of unwinding and leaving the

crap that frustrates you from work at the door. 

I'm not going to pretend that I always remember this tidbit, 

but I have definitely been able to identify when I am venting 

way beyond my allotted 10min mark and that the air is being sucked out and tainted

with gloom. 

So my go to: vino, sheer & lace and some earplay 

The crate is full of mood lifters, Aretha, Chaka, Carly, & my crush Nat

and there is always a red stored or a tart white chilling in the fridge. 

We have accepted that we love movies and the tele, so we find flicks that we 

can both agree on to pass the time while we work. Of course with random slow dances 

in between (sounds hella cheesy, but it's totally true)

Make sure you find out what it is that chills you the heck out and helps

shed the dead skin of the traffic, the meetings, the deadlines and 

makes your hun want to even be around you. 

 (raising my glass)

Here's to making cuddling apart of your nightly routine.

image discovered here

HAPPY MATRI-MONDAY

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Happy Monday Lovebirds!

So this past weekend was a normal, uneventful one. 

But it also happened to be one of the most important of our relationship and marriage. 

No it wasn't an anniversary, nor did we take a vacation. 

We communicated. 

(Ta-Dah!!!!)

Sorry if the build up was pretty strong, but I find that this element is 

the hardest of all in a marriage and once you make progress toward the better, 

it should be celebrated. 

Now, we are both very passionate and strongly opinionated people. 

Love to be heard and have a case of imrightyourewrong-itous.

So when my husband sits me down for brunch and tells me 

that he hears me, understands my complaints, values me, and 

is willing to progress with me, 

my only option is to comply and subsequently melt. 

After the tiffs and bumps that we've had, we are starting to understand that 

it is not the pouty "I'm sorry" with a hearty dinner that heals the wounds. 

And in a rare case neither can shoes and a trip to Anthropologie. (very rare)

Helping your partner understand that you value their time, love and overall existence

makes the gloomier days a bit bright and helps preserve the FIYAH!

Know that marriage is not glitter bombs everyday. 

It is the joining of two individuals set out on an adventure to become one. Often 

times it is in a confined space, or with sickness latched on, or financial struggles.

Make the most and very best of it by showing your life-long crush that they mean more to you

than tea and Pinterest! 

Bisous, 

Kel

 

Happy Matri-Monday

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So when I began thinking about sharing our wedding/love story or providing

advice I did not think it would be easy. 

Nor did I think that the inspiration flood gates would open.

I won't pretend to be an expert at this, because we are very green

and still figuring each other out daily. 

So this past weekend we had the opportunity to spend the entire day together. 

My awesome mother welcomed the mini over for a sleepover, which always allows us

to "rekindle" what the busy work week tends to dampen. 

But instead of putzing around like a sad puppy vying for his attention, I met

up with my bestest and had some much needed alone time:

sans kids, sans beaus, and without wedding planning.

While I went for a hysterical-laugh induced pedicure, he 

performed his poetry at the Natural Hair Show.

We met back at home for a quiet evening of working

then a round of beers and football at Taco Mac. 

Simple fun---friend fun. 

We realized that we never really got the opportunity to hang out as 

friends, since we are the product of a long distance relationship. 

But it was great to just jeans & T-shirt it and leave the heels at home. 

We had the chance to miss each other and catch up on our day. 

Which I think is the healthiest thing for a relationship. 

Honestly, the more you hang "around" your hun, the more you will find 

wrong with him and nag.

 So try hanging "out" instead. 

There is nothing wrong with being the hands & foot chick. 

But give each other the space and time to actually have something new to learn about one another. 

So tell me what you do you guys do to press the reset button on your love life?

 

DO NOT

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discovered here

Word to the wise...

from a Sage

FANTASY ESCAPES

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That Kind Of Woman: Five Fantasy Exit Stragedies 

Found on Thought Catalog By Courtney Preiss

1. Run away to Brooklyn. Rent an apartment with a claw footed bathtub. Commute to Manhattan during the week and put in hours at a menial publishing job. Drive home to New Jersey on weekends to swim in the pool and cry to your mother. Smoke Gauloises on the fire escape. Let yellowing issues of Rolling Stone and Vogue pile into a protective fortress around your bed. Listen to Cat Power. Fall asleep mostly naked beneath the duvet watching Sportscenter and drinking earl grey. Date a Yankees fan and kiss his hands on the 4 Train into the Bronx.

2. Run away to Barcelona. Eat milk chocolate magnum bars and drink cheap champagne. Burst into charming fits of laughter whenever you get embarrassed about butchering the Catalan language. Wear denim cutoffs, Dr. Pepper chapstick, and very little else. Go dancing at 3 a.m. Whiten your teeth. Tan your shoulders. Braid feathers into your hair. Perpetually wake up with sand caught in the thin cotton sheets of your tiny bed. Listen to the Rolling Stones and kiss all the longhaired boys you can get your hands on without ever having to apologize.

3. Run away to Los Angeles. Sublet a studio in Venice three blocks from the beach. Listen to top 40 radio. Go to Chateau Marmont and charge drinks you can’t afford to a long-dormant credit card. Sleep with a television actor who lives in the valley. Sleep with a musician who lives in Bel Air. Break things off with both of them when gas prices begin to rise. Find Gilda Radner’s star on the Walk Of Fame and swallow a sob when you see the filthy cement around her name is cracked. Walk through the Venice Canals until the sun sets and you forget your own name. Call your mother crying from the parking lot of a 24-hour Ralph’s supermarket. Tell her you want to come home.

4. Run away to Paris. Gaze at the pink and pistachio glow of macarons in the window on Boulevard Saint-Germain. Listen to Joni Mitchell. Meet an Argentinean man in the Latin Quarter for drinks. Melt into his accent and kiss him goodnight, but return to your apartment alone because his face doesn’t look enough like the man’s you are trying to forget. Get lost in the Richelieu Wing of the Louvre, admiring Napoleon’s fine red damask. Walk alone along the Seine in an old dress, ten-dollar shoes, and an Hermes scarf. Fumble with the locks on the fence overlooking the river. They all have lovers’ names etched into them and the girl who left the red heart-shaped lock has the same name as you.

5. Run away to Martha’s Vineyard. Write heartbroken stories during the day in front of a large fan that blows curls of humid hair across your tired face. Take a waitress job at The Black Dog at night and try hard not to drop too many trays. Learn to ride a moped. Pretend you’re a Kennedy. Listen to Carly Simon. Eat hand-churned ice cream out of waffle cones. Visit the flying horses and consider how many girls just like you have sat on the same horse clutching for the same brass ring. Get stoned and dance barefoot down the length of the eroded Jaws beach. Date a Red Sox fan. Yell at each other during baseball games, and then kiss and make up between tangled sheets.

Inspiration to live life however I see fit.

FLIRT

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this perfect print is here

the other day, le hub and I got to take part in a lovely little project

that i can't wait to share with you all, 

but it kinda allowed us to shamelessly flirt and play coy with each other in a way that we haven't since we began dating back in the Summer of 2006.

(yup, we are the product of summer love).

But, since we have begun planning our wedding the stress level has been on super high for me and honestly I haven't been in the flirting kind of mood,

but i have since checked myself and have been deliberately nice to my main may-ne.

Men---oh the specimen that they are...

They are not perfect, but if you are a newbie wife or a bride to be or just dating, just keep reminding yourself of how you guys got to where you

 are in the first place.

granted that is a good and healthy place. 

Do the unconventional and pry yourselves from the television and try going to a Drive-In...

piece together a puzzle...start with 300 pcs then work your way up to 2000 and beyond...

it'll take a few nights plus some wine, unless you 2 are 

mucho genius' but it's fun.

get off the computer for a sec and find a kiddie park nearby.  

Given they don't have signs up saying adults are prohibited from having fun

the merry-go-round is free game so give your boo a swing!

Happy Flirting!

HAPPY MONDAY: ONE YEAR DOWN

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Happy Monday!!

No I am not confused...

I know Mondays are usually the toughest to welcome, but this one is a bit different.

The hub and I celebrated our 1 year anniversary yesterday 

and we are finally in party mode.

To be completely transparent, 

marriage is the hardest adjustment I have ever had to conform to.

Harder that child birth for sure, because at least after labor and birthing, the pain fades away. 

But with marriage there are constant huffs-n-puffs, smile & nods, and disagreements...but those are sincerely in the shadows compared to the awesomeness that happens. No there aren't picnics everyday, but there are tickle wars 

almost nightly....at 2am. 

Yes, he sees me with my clay mask on & looking like a total mook

but he also puts my head in his lap and strokes my hair.

(which makes me melt) 

I've said it before: the dishwasher is still a peeve, but it becomes less of a peeve when you succumb to the fact that he is actually loading the dishwasher without me asking.

I count that as a win!!

So, yes this may seem a bit confusing, but

now I am in full Bride-To-Be mode and am 

ready to celebrate this partnership

with my bestest friend.

We did a court union and a dinner with immediate family afterward, but never had the ceremony, vow exchange, bouquet toss or anything. 

Since the last time I asked for advice, there have been many changes,

palette swaps, venue swaps and total "theme" overhauls

but I have decided to make my life less hellacious and simplify the creation of this event.

Especially since I do not have a planner

(an option I don't recommend)

Ideas flooded my mind and craft closet and eventually consumed me. 

Anxiety attacks ensued and that's when I knew a lot has got to give. 

A chopping of the guest list, location, vendors, dreams had to happen in order make it work. 

I made the decision---a hard one---to have a life after the ONE day that celebrates our love. 

Many couples fall into pits of despair planning a wedding on a financially rocky foundation, but with love on clouds and still end up paying for it after their divorce.  I am not willing to sacrifice our stability to have perfect chair covers and butt loads of flowers that I can't take home and will die in 24 hours. Some are able to do this, and I applaud them and swoon over there day on Pinterest.

But as for me---I just want to dance my ass off and eat great cake and take photos with the people I love. 

Here is a morsel more of wedding advice for all you brides or girlfriends planning your big day.

DATE NIGHT

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dress::: ring::: fluff::: broach:::shoes

Happy Tuesday Loves!!

Speaking of loves, I thought I talk about my hun-hub.

Tomorrow is our 11 month anniversary. 

Yup, its almost a whole entire year.  

And boy what an experience it has been.

They say that your first year is always the hardest. 

We didn't live together before we tied the knot so there was and still is, a lot of learning and 

getting used to, but let me tell there is absolutely no other man I'd rather "get use to", 

playground pick on and cook for than him. 

The other week I was asked by the lovely 

Jaclyn of Stay In the Lines to drop some 

advice for those that are prepping for the big day. 

And one of my favorites was to remember to keep dating. 

It's the most fun, yet most difficult factor to remember

because you see each other every day so there isn't a moment to really "miss" your spouse unless they travel quite often.  

So keeping spunk is definitely essential. 

Its not always about trying to look like a VS angel or having a Superbowl sized piping hot platter of wings & a beer ready for him when he walks in. 

I think its more about seeing how many ways can you make the other laugh and fully enjoy the present.  Yes, its hard to not be bothered by how he arranges the plastic containers or understand why he sits the way he sits or CHEW'S the way he does.

 (come on ladies!!you know what i'm talkin about! I saw a few heads nod at that one!)

But, the happier moments totally outweigh the murky. And are beyond worth it. 

So, ladies let's play Sadie and get yourselves dolled up for a date night with your hun

consider balancing something he likes with something you love that doesn't involve 16 sports screens.

Hope you have a merry May Day!!!

JUST DO IT

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discovered here

So we have all been there...

Pinning for a solid 4 hours.

Yes, we've forgotten to answer emails, eat lunch, walk the dog and complete at least 

5 of the 87 tasks written on neon colored post-its.

One of those being

"DO NOT STAY ON PINTEREST ALL DAY!!"

We all get so consumed by the heavy doses of beauty, DIY projects, and new nail patterns to create

that we have essentially done the mighty Pinterest a disservice. 

It's purpose is to inspire us to go "do".

How will you organize your paper towels, make-up brushes and corn kernels if we don't get up

and stretch our eyeballs.

Go ahead and take a walk outside and create your own 

pin worthy inspo photos.

Or take a trip to your local craft store and finally create 

one of those crazy awesome DIY projects. 

Happy Doing Day!!!

 

S T A N D

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Just a bit of advice to those lost in
Sugar Honey Iced Tea
and trying to figure out how the heck to get out.
I have been there before....
I have been the fool
the duped
the victim,
yet the emotional cutter that has allowed myself to fall for idiocy that I can now say
has made me stronger, wiser, hopeful...
You are better than how you are allowing yourself to be treated.
Even if that means being alone.