Leavin' on a jet plane...

Oh, my, word! Flying is awesome! What have I been doing the past 25 years of my life!?! Torturing myself with agonizingly long, monotonous trips that take upward of 8 hours! No more my friends! I have decided flying is the way to go! Of course, that is only when the funds are available! Why do I mention this you ask? Because last weekend I had my first experience flying. Yes, first. At 25. This puppy ain't too old to learn new tricks! The occasion was Blair's cousin was getting married. So Friday afternoon I set out on my adventure, by myself. Yes, I do feel super brave and like I can take anything now. Well, maybe not anything...but definitely flying alone! I was nervous of course, but if I wasn't I would've probably been sick. One of my 'worries' was navigating the Minneapolis airport, but, y'all, that was a cinch! Oh my goodness, they had the concourses clearly marked and signs everywhere. They also had these awesome little conveyor belts that you walk on...so cool. I would step on them and walk and felt like I was walking outside. My hair was blowing like I was in a wind tunnel! Neat-o!

I arrived into Ft. Wayne, IN around 10:30 p.m. I was so excited to see my in-laws when I got off the plane! Everyone probably thought my MIL (mother-in-law) and I were crazy...when we saw each other, we squealed, ran to each other and jumped up and down hugging! Oh, good times. After our squeal fest (which would have totally embarassed my husband) we set out for the in-laws house (45 minutes away). We talked non-stop the entire way home. Then, when we got there, I changed into comfortable clothes and went back for more! We finally went to bed around 1:30 a.m., I think, and only then because we had to get up early to get ready for the wedding!

On Saturday, I got up at around 8 a.m. I decided to get partially ready before going out to start the day. By the time I'd done this, my MIL had coffee made for us! Yippee! We share a passion for coffee (I tell you sometimes it's scary how much we're alike!). We visited in the living room for a while, until we got hungry. Then my FIL (father-in-law) made us breakfast. It was a Mexican breakfast with eggs, toasted tortillas, cheese, and sausage. I am about to butcher the name of it here, but it's something along the line of Meegas (that's how it sounds, at least!). Anyway, after I scarfed down two helpings ( I know, I know, my diet is ruined!) I went to get ready. Shortly thereafter, we headed out on our two hour drive to Lansing, MI. Again, we talked the entire way there. It was so great to catch up with my in-laws. I say all the time, I am one of the few people that was blessed enough to love my in-laws!

The wedding itself was absolutely beautiful. The church, the attendants, the bride. Katie, you were remarkable! I got to see almost all of Blair's side of the family, and it was awesome! I especially enjoyed seeing Blair's youngest brother, Ben and his girlfriend, Kate. Ben is so much like Blair and Kate and I get along really well! It's a treat anytime we get to be together. We even talked about them coming to visit us this summer! Hopefully it will work out!

The reception was super fun! We had food, cake and talking! What more could a Southern girl want!? It was such fun! The grooms' family is as big as Blair's and the combination made for a fun-filled time! They are Italian and did the traditional Italian dance...where the bride, groom, and their parents get encircled by family and friends and dance around. Think My Big Fat Greek (but really Italian, in this case) Wedding. It was so neat. I think I stood there with my mouth agape for a bit! This is stuff that I've only seen on TV!! Then, the grooms family has a tradition...The bride stood behind the groom and used her hands for a blindfold. A few guys from his side came in carrying an ark-like container. I was not in position to see what they were doing till it was done, but they had a massive ball and chain and they attatched it to the grooms leg! Oh, my! It was great! Then, the DJ played a song and the bride danced around the groom with the key and the groom kept trying to get the key. To get the key the crowd (aka, us) started chanting sing! sing! So he sang! It was so funny! Thats a good tradition!

We had to leave before all the good dances started (aka, the line dances) since we had a two hour drive home and my flight was at 7:15 the next morning! After getting home, we talked for a bit and decided to hit the sack. Boy, I was whipped. After what felt like 30 minutes of sleep, I got up and got ready for my return trip. Again, my FIL made me breakfast. This time it was an egg & bacon bagel! Yum yum! He's a great cook! (Oh, that reminds me! I told them that I'd been craving the strawberry shortcake they made for us when we were there in July, and he made it for me after we got home from the wedding! How sweet!)

The return home was mostly uneventful, except that right before we were about to land the pilot had to abort the landing. Supposedly, the day before, Minot had a lot of fog and no planes could land and had to be taken back to Minneapolis. I was scared that we would be rerouted back to Minneapolis, but we got to land on the second try! Thank God! I did not want to sent back to Minneapolis! I was so excited to see Blair again! We went to eat lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings as soon as we left the airport. On the way home, we noticed the fog had rolled in once again and we both remarked on how great it was that I got home when I did! Any later and I would've been back to Minneapolis in a flash! Thank God for small blessings!

**I don't have pictures right now, as I'm at work posting this. I will return to post pictures of my fun-filled weekend!! Love to you all!!

Catching up

Ok, so, I've been horrible lately about keeping up with my blog. Life here in the North has been super busy. Work is going well, but the scheduling here is a bit schizophrenic. I don't know from one week to the next what days/nights I'll be working. It's a bit tiring, to be completely honest. In LA, I could tell you a year out what weekend I'd be working and be able to plan accordingly. Not here! Oh, well, you do what you gotta do, right?!

So, like I said, I've not kept all you good people up-to-date on my life. We'll go back to January for uno momento, por favor. What's the big deal about January you ask? Well, it was my birthday! I only mention it because I want to brag on my wonderful hubby. For those of you that don't know, he is much more fashionable and trendy than me. He has wonderful taste and naturally chooses beautiful things, almost as an after thought. That being said his gifts are equally great. I don't know how he does it, but every holiday/birthday/anniversary he gets me something I didn't know I wanted and had to have until its in my hot little hands! This birthday was no different...Let's just say, "Girls, he went to Jareds!"

These are cultured black pearls. I never knew I liked pearls until Blair bought them for me!

They are considered black pearls, but they have a green tint to them. They're beautiful!

As most of you know, in LA we didn't have a dining/kitchen table. Which was completely fine for a couple of reasons. 1.) We didn't have room for it. 2.) We probably wouldn't have eaten at it anyway, preferring instead the couch in front of the TV! However, when you move and acquire more space than what you had, the natural inclination is to fill that space, right ladies? As you know from previous posts, the entire bottom floor of our house is pretty much one big open room. We have it "sectioned" off into the living room, computer room and "blank spot." That was, however, before we got our new dining room table!! Yes, people, we finally did it! We got a table. Why am I so excited you ask? I have no idea. Except for the fact that it's new and it's mine, and it looks awesome in our "blank spot!" Perhaps one reason I am excited is now I finally have a place to showcase the beautiful place mats and napkins Lisa O. got us as a wedding gift. I had to move 2K miles away to use them, but what the hey, they're out now!! And lookin' good! Back to how great of a designer my husband is, he went to the BX and got a table runner for it and as you'll see in just a bit, it looks marvelous! I love it. He is so funny, no, ladies, I did not have to ask him to go get a table runner, he went of his own accord. Amazing, huh? Raise your hand if your jealous...Just kidding!!!

The 'naked' table. It's first night in our house.

Trying to show a little of the details.

All dressed up and ready for dinner.

The centerpiece. Oh, look, pewter. Wonder where I got that?!

Oh, my another fleur de lis. Hmm, no one would know I love them!

Not only did he buy a table runner for the dining table, but also one for the 'behind the couch' table. Did it look good you ask? Um, yes. Better, in fact, than had I picked them out. It's just a bit daunting to have a husband that's as good/ better at decorating than you are. But, a lot of times, it makes my life easier, because as you know, I don't make decisions well. If you give me too many choices, I'll sit and debate with myself (and you if your unlucky enough to be at hand) for hours. With Blair, I can ask which one he likes better and the decision is done!

The 'behind the couch' table Blair decorated.

Ok, let see, what else has happened to the 'transplant' northerners (I will for ever be a southerner at heart!! Never fear my friends, I'll always say "y'all!")? Ah, yes, painting. If you'll remember, I mentioned that I work both days and nights now. Blair, bless his heart, is on the 11p to 7a shift. Thus sleeps during the day. We have two windows in our room. One of which is huge. We put the curtains I had made for the house in LA up here but the dimensions were off and light showed through. Unacceptable. So I made myself a project of making new curtains. I wanted them to be "black out" curtains. So off to JoAnn's I went. Lucky me, I caught a sale and most of the fabric I bought was 1/2 off! Oh, yeah! Score! Surprisingly, I finished the curtains sooner rather than later. They helped a lot to block the light, but not all of it was "blacked out" as I had wanted it to be. I got to thinking it might have been because our walls are glaringly white and the light comes in and seems to be magnified as it bounces off the ceiling and walls. So, what do I do? I get the bright idea to paint. Forgetting since moving in, only seven months ago, how very, very, very much I hate to paint. But all of a sudden, I'm gung-ho to paint this blasted room in the color Emerald Pool (it's a turquoise-y blue/green, can you see it?). Strike that, I'd decided to paint only two walls (I suppose I hadn't forgotten that much!). So, after hog-tieing Blair into helping me, and letting him choose what he wanted to do, we got started. Since Blair had chosen to do the roller-ing, I did the trim and taped. Well, I got all the taping done and he still wasn't ready to come roller paint so, I got the bright idea to start on the trim. Note to self, stupid idea!!! For future reference, the trim should be blended into the wall, not vise versa. Ugh! If I'd only thought. However, I didn't, and the result was a fiasco. I had gotten most of the trim done by the time Blair came to help and by that time, my stomach was in knots (I internalize when I worry). I had painted the trim to cover, meaning, I had painted about two coats already, when Blair came to roller. Due to my un-smartness, we ended up having to put three (yes, count it, three) coats of paint on these walls. I quickly remembered that I hate to paint and why, because of this!! I was so worried that the walls and the trim would never blend, but I guess if you match the number of coats, eventually it will. After all this, I told Blair, if I ever want to paint another room...smack me! Ugh. I've already got a painter lined up to paint it back for me when we move!! (No, we aren't moving anytime soon, I'm just preparing for the future!!) All that being said, the room is still not the 'cave' I want for us to sleep in. So our next project is to get the do-it-yourself window tint (like I used on my front door in LA) to put on our windows. I'm trying not to think about the possibility that the window tint would have been a better option from the beginning than painting, because, well, that would make me sick. Oh, well, you live and learn right?

The infamous room. Not too shabby, eh?