Rule Breaker

It took two years for me to convince the LG that having a dog would make our lives a trillion times better. It took two minutes for the LG to fall in love with little Milo and ask me, eyes sparkling, "You want him?" And then it took 24 hours for me to realize, Shit. This tiny thing is a lot of work.

We had rules, the LG and I, about where the dog would sleep, sit, stay in the house.

"The dog is not sleeping with us," we would announce to one another before adopting the dog.

"Absolutely not," the other would agree, "And he's not allowed on the couch. He'll have two dog beds.  That's where he'll stay."

"Right, no couch either. Dog beds only."

"Right."

We were very much on the same page. Very much.

Until.

We brought little Milo home.  He curiously and slowly wandered through our downstairs, exploring the craziness that is our home, which clearly bared no resemblance to the Amish farm where he had spent his first days. The loud TV boomed crazy noises into his pointed ears, the fuzzy rug rubbed the pillows of his paws, the strange dog looked back at him from the oven: too much.

So someone decided that Milo needed to be soothed.  Someone said he needed to be held and kept safe.  Someone picked little Milo up and held him like a little baby, then plopped himself on the couch. Yes, the couch.  The forbidden couch.  In a matter of minutes of bringing home this puppy, someone had broken the rules we had set.

"Wait! But we said.." I exclaimed. (Ahem, rule follower over here!)
"But look at him. Look at how cute he is.  And he's scared." Someone was trying to be convincing. And although the convincer's words weren't so persuasive, the look on Milo's face was. We couldn't resist.

And so, even before they were implemented, our rules quickly flew out of the picture.

Milo's rules, on the other hand, are a little harder to break. :)

First we put him on the dog bed, on the couch. So, he technically wasn't on the couch, you see.

Then he ate the dog bed. 

Now I'm a little suspicious of his intentions...

We already had a couch blanket for him.  Geez. Come to think of it, I think we were setting ourselves up for failure from the start. A couch blanket.

But, alas, the couch blanket is for the humans. I have to sleep in the corner.

These pillows must be for me.

How I got here, I have no idea. But one thing's for sure: I am not jumping down from this height.

 Ahhhhhh...couch love.

Who's THAT gurl?

“Señorita mas fina,
Whoooo’s THAT Girrrrrlllll?” (God, I love Madonna!)
“loosly translated...”finest (unmarried) young lady” LOL! (hehe...she’s gonna kill me)

Well hello there dear followers of Julia’s amazing awesome blog!!! Since our beloved blogger has been magically whisked away to Romania with her "LG" over the holidays, partaking in clubbing that begins at 1AM and ends at 6AM, I’ve decided to hijack her blog post and let you in on a few little facts about our friend. So...Who is Julia girl.....really?

here, julia is modeling her newest fur find - the hat!

First - She’s one of my bestest BESTEST friends, and we’ve only met a little over a year ago.
Julia came into my life because the LG is best friends with my boyfriend. (Yes, I date a Romanian man as well but that's besides the point.)

At first I was very much taken back by Ms. Julia’s shear beauty, fab style and fashion sense, intoxicating sense of humor, and wondrous appreciation for life. I thought, “this girl is either going to think I'm a dork, a bore, or worse. Truth is, that I sort of had a girl crush on her. But then, came the van ride to Philly for a night out on the town to celebrate my boyfriend’s bday. It was the first time I had really hung out with all of his friends. Let me just tell you, that the moment this "Julia girl" started singing from the seat behind me, at the top of her lungs to some Black Eyed Peas song, I knew that she and I would get along great.

Little did Julia know that I TOO was also a singer/dancer, inclined to break it down for anyone willing to listen, or watch my awesome moves. You must know that since we have both come to understand this about each other there have been many a dance parties where we've stolen the show. Some at her house til 5:30AM while Hurricane Irene was wreaking havoc outside, or at my place with my 6 year old daughter as we were trying to do the worm on my living room floor.

Next, I can tell you that Julia is not only intrapersonal, but also interpersonal. What's the difference you ask? IntrA - means that you are very aware of yourself, your likes/dislikes, what makes you tick, gets you motivated, turns you off, etc. Julia KNOWS who she is and what she wants and goes for it. That, my friends-once-removed, is something to be respected.


IntERpersonal - means that she is also aware of others around her. She knows what a friend needs to hear, when maybe they don't really feel like hearing it. She also knows when to just shut up and listen, or be a shoulder to cry on, or give a friend a glass of wine along with a journal and say "this is how I deal with things sometimes, maybe it will help you." (*love you girl)

Besides all of the “fun stuff” that this girl has to offer to a friendship, I quickly discovered that she is MUCH MORE!

What else you ask, well Julia is one of the biggest dorks I know. She's hip to be square and not to be so. Julia loves to enjoy life at NO expense. I'm not sure if it's her Polish upbringing, or if it's "Just Julia." (BTW - I'm DYING to meet her mother, I hear she's FABULOUS) She's always making a conscience effort to NOT MISS OUT on the good things in life such as travel, food, music, experiences, etc. She makes it a point to do what she wants and doesn't care who's watching. I admire this. I offer this hint, if you promise to do something with the girl, you Better Do It!  She's doesn't like when you back out of your promises, especially when it comes to doing something adventurous or fun. But, if you do make that mistake, you must know that she's forgiving, and will just jump in the LG's van, drive 30-minutes into Amish Country and purchase a GI-NORMOUS, and beautiful, desk...load it up herself....drive it back to her house. All in a good and productive days work for our decorator extraordinaire.

oh...and one last thing -She likes to steal my iphone and take random pictures of herself with my daughter while I’m trying on clothes in the dressing room.

But since it’s the holidays, and I seem to have an alcoholic spirit in my hand more often than not these days, I raise my glass....

"To Julia -

A Friend, A Fashionista, An Artist, A Dancing Queen, A Dork.

We adore you and wish you and the LG a wonderful,

happy, and healthy New Year filled with all of the

finer things life has to offer.....especially more fun blog posts. ;)"

We love you.

 ...And as for me....I’ll leave you with one small fact.

I too enjoy taking pictures of myself....especially while trying on clothes in a variety of dressing rooms.

MmmWwwwAaa!!!

BECcA

Confession

I have a few confessions to make. Right here... right now. But first you need to know that I am drink-less at the moment: completely sober, so you know these confessions are the result of a clear and true mind. I am, however, tired from a weekend with friends. Friends who, over the years, have not lost their fabulous, which is the only reason why we are still friends. But, I digress.  The information I am about to divulge has never been uttered, well, not until this weekend.

I confess...

1. That I always thought of Washington, D.C. as a tourist city. A city only for those interested in politics, museums, monuments and the history of our country. This weekend, I learned that it is the most beautiful place to live. It's a city for shoppers, gourmands, and lovers.

The Eastern Market, Capitol Hill 

Gorgeous scarves at the Eastern Market 

Us. 

Gruyere cheese, perhaps?

 Lookin' Good.

Steven and Christopher 

 Papa. Papa. Paparazzi.

Mistletoe? Oh, why not?

2. After this weekend, I may not hate cats. I held a cat this weekend: true story. I also fed her gruyere cheese. out. of. my. hand.  I KNOW!  I even kinda became friends with one.  Miss Claudia was her name. And I'll admit that I may even have uttered, "LG, maybe we should get a cat?"

3. I have searched for a cat to adopt, since returning from D.C.

Only, these Exotic Short Haired cats happen to be one of the most expensive breeds. 

Of course.

4. On behalf of the boys, I confess that two of them fell asleep during Saturday night mass. I'm not going to name names, but it might have been Steve and the LG. Might.

5. After a few glasses of wine and a difficult-to-operate James Bond door, bathroom pics did occur.  By myself: blurry and ridiculous. But they occurred.

6. Venison was apparently the meal of the night at Zola...partially because of the presentation but mostly because of its delectability.

Holy Smokes!

7. I left my camera at the restaurant and thought my life would be over. Thankfully, the LG saved the day. Steven, however, did not pacify my fear. Thankfully for him, I could not document this with a photo, because alas, my camera was busy being rescued by the LG. It just proves that I need a Theit bag like whoa.

8. It's okay for shopping to be your passion and your favorite sport.  When we visited Marjorie Post's, heiress to Post cereal fortune, Hillwood Estate, I was struck by her ability to select the most ostentatious pieces to decorate her house. (This visit gave me hope that maybe one day my shopping will pay off.) I have no pictures of the interior, but the grounds of Hillwood Estate were just as beautiful.

Hillwood Estate: where fabulous lives.

9. I may or may not have tried to country line dance here. You decide.

10. I had been looking forward to this weekend with my friends for weeks and am so glad we've made plans for them to come visit us in the second most beautiful city, Reading, PA.

 Seriously, Claudia Jean? Get in the picture already! You naughty kitty.

A little awkward.

 That's Miss Claudia in my lap!

Wait, Claudia! We're not done yet!

Sans Claudia. This is much better, anyway.

Thanks for the fun, Steven and Christopher!

Joy.

-conversations with my mom

-my thoughtful sister

-receiving two christmas packages in one week

-supportive co-workers

-the anticipation of a Romanian getaway

-completing day 4 of The Shred!

-an upcoming weekend with friends

-a cozy christmas evening with a dear friend

-comments on my blog! :))

Have a joyful weekend!

Preparation

Yesterday, as the LG pulled out a head of lettuce from his latest mini grocery shopping trip, he announced,

"I think we need to eat more salads."

"Hmmm..." was my response and I rummaged through the rest of his purchases.

Tomatoes, chicken, eggs, milk and an oversized bag of spinach. Protein much?

"I got the spinach because I know how much you like to make those shakes in the morning." 

"Hmmm..." I repeated, "Why?" My underlying question: Why the salad craze? But I didn't need to say that, he read my mind.

"Well, we have to prepare for Romania." Ahhh-ha! I knew there was a hidden agenda!

For us, the trip to Romania means I meet the LG's friends for the first time ever. And it means that his mother, who has been preparing and freezing delectable meals, will be stuffing us with hearty traditional Romanian cuisine. So, I guess we need to impress the LG's friends and starve ourselves so that there's room for some serious indulging. I need help.

But this "healthy lifestyle" is beginning 10 days before we leave. How much different will we look? How much weight will we lose? So much. Ha! Knowing us, we'll be 10 pounds heavier by next Friday.

Can I help it if I love coming home and making brownies? Brownies that should only be eaten warm with some melty ice cream on the side, topped with homemade whipped cream??

Can I help it if I prefer to curl up all cozy on the couch surrounded by the glow of my christmas lights, sipping hot green tea, while dipping a chocolate chip cookie into the warm beverage and reading?

Can I help it if I would rather go out to eat a three course meal with some wine than making a cold salad  with 6 ounces of cooked chicken for myself? I can only trick myself into eating it so much.

The truth? Yes. I can help it. I just don't care!

I'd much rather have a naturally long and lean body, you know, Victoria's Secret Model style.

Hi there, Adriana Lima.

::sigh::

I'd love for people to hate me for my long legs and excellent physique and ask me, "How DO you do it?" And I'd respond, all innocent (with a little model pout), "Oh, I don't know." Giggle, giggle. "I'm really lucky; it's natural." Baaaahahahaha! Dream on, Adriana! Err, I mean, Julia. (K, so I know those models are gyming it like whoa, but really, it's half natural.)

Gawd, Adriana. Gawd.

Oh? What's that you said? You had a child, too? 

Stop. It.

So, the race is on. With 10 days to go, I have eaten a salad for dinner, made a green monster shake for breakfast and completed Day 2 of the 30 Day Shred, which by the way I have only completed up to day 4...on three tries.

Watch out, readers!  In 10 days, when you see Adriana boarding a flight to Romania, it's a hallucination.

It's actually moi. 

Orrrr, perhaps it's just a hallucination.

The Leap of LASIK

On my extremely long blogging hiatus, I decided to do something drastic. Something that would change the quality of my life.  I decided to rid myself of a fashion accessory that I had successfully implemented as part of my signature style.

My glasses.

Yes, I know, I've heard it time and time again, "Oh no! You're glasses are like so youuuuuu. You're going to look soooo different without them."

That's the point: my glasses are actually not ME. I hated wearing them since second grade. They had hidden my blue-green eyes. I just made the most out of my glasses, always trying to have the trendiest pair. I had had enough, though.

Contacts were not an option for this sensitive-eyed girl, so I did the next logical thing- I booked a LASIK consultation.

After multiple eye exams, dilated pupils and a visit with a retina specialist, my LASIK surgery was scheduled.

Look at those pupils.

The Surgery

After two doses of valium to ease my nerves, which didn't work until after the surgery, I climbed into the surgery chair.

Dun, dun, dunn, duuunn. 

I was told I'd feel pressure on each eye and that I just had to remain still. You can bet your butt I was still. No blindness for me, thankyouverymuch. After about four minutes (yes, four), I was helped out of the chair and put into another chair, where the second operation was going to take place. At that point, my eyesight was blurrier than ever before, but that was to be expected, I was told.

For the next five minutes, I stared at a red light, while the doctor and the computerized machine operated on my eyes.

That's all.
A total of 10 minutes maximum and I was done!

And then the valium finally kicked in. Eyes open and out of the chair, I jumped at the surgeon and thanked him for his tremendous efforts and unbelievable technology. Tears poured down my cheeks. (I'm not kidding.)  I couldn't see very well, yet (probably because of the tears), but I knew I was on the way to 20/20 vision. I could, however, feel his uncomfortable and surprised hug.

I left the operating room hysterically crying and laughing of relief right into the packed waiting room full of anxious LASIK patients.

"I'm okay! I'M. JUST. REALLY. HAPPY!" I yelled at them through the tears.

Then the nurse got the LG. Apparently, I needed emotional assistance.

**Keep in mind, this is all true...sadly.**


Recovery:
I was given a pair a goggles to wear when I slept so that I wouldn't touch my fragile little corneas and was instructed to keep my eyes shut for 6 hours. I had previously purchased an audio book from itunes specifically for the recovery.  Unnecessary.  I slept the entire one hour drive home, don't remember the LG walking me into the house, and woke up to him whispering, "It's time to wake up; it's been six hours."

Here's what I looked like:

Yup, I just posted that.

Oh, that valium.

And what happened next? Well, I could see like never before. That night I watched TV. The next morning I drove MYSELF to the followup appointment. And everyday after that, my eyesight got stronger.

Side effects:
-My night vision was weaker for a few weeks.  Headlights were ungodly annoying.
-I had dry eyes, which lead to random blurriness because of the thick lubricating drops I had to use.
-No makeup for two weeks- all I wanted to do was finally experiment with eye makeup!

Three Months Later:

I am symptomless! The side effects only lasted less than a month. I really couldn't be happier with LASIK. I have had some adjusting to do...mostly with people's reactions.

 Some adjusted to my frameless look easier than others. Other rude individuals have told me that I look "strange" without my glasses and that they cannot get used to me without them. Or, I've heard, "you can just get fake glasses now." Ummm, keep your rudeness to yourself, because I'm keeping my thoughts of your horrendous elastic waistband jeans to myself, andthat'sall. These comments have rocked my confidence slightly and angered me a little more than necessary. Obviously, I was hoping for the opposite reaction. But I guess that I do look different to those who have seen me only with glasses since they've met me.

The most important thing is this: I like my look. I like not having to wipe my glasses regularly. I like not having to shield them from the rain. I like that I can wear eye makeup that people will notice. I like not having to wear prescription sunglasses.

Actually, I love it.


So, if you're considering LASIK, DO IT. You'll be so happy that you made the choice!!!
And if you're interested as to where I had my procedure: Go here.


All pics are from my phone, not great quality, but I was trying to document the process. I'm sure you understand. :)