10 Day You

1.  Panini grill and press.  I've been wanting one for months but have yet to bite the bullet and buy one.  I love paninis and would love to be able to make them at home.

2.  A basement.  We need just one more room for storage and stuff.

3.  My Death Cab for Cutie tickets.  The show is on Friday and I still don't have the tickets.  I have called and emailed the company.  In looking through the forums, it seems that this is a common problem.  I'm nervous!  I'll die if I don't get them.

4.  To lose 8 pounds.  I'm working on it, but it's not happening as quickly as I'd hoped.

5.  Hand-in-hand with #4, I'd like to stop getting injured.  In the past 6 months, I've hurt my back, my left knee, my left ankle, and my wrist.  And now my right knee is hurting.  It slows my workouts down.

6.  Vacation.  I'm in desperate need of a week off from life.  Our anniversary trip to Orlando in October really can't get here fast enough.

7.  For my friends to be happy.

*images from Pinterest

Comparisons

I think that comparing ourselves to others is human nature, don't you?  Comparing houses, cars, salaries, education level, boob size...everybody does it.  Envy is certainly part of that - looking at someone's house and wishing, "I wish mine were that big/nice/clean."  I don't think anyone in the world can honestly say they've never wished for something that someone else has at one point or another.  But hand in hand with that, is also pride.  Pride in looking at someone else's house and thinking, "I'm so glad mine is cozier/cuter/neater." 

But I'm not really talking about things right now.  I'm talking about relationships.  I think that it is also part of our nature to look at other people's relationships and compare ours to theirs.  Better or worse, happier or more strained, everyone has at one time or another watched another couple and thought to themselves, "We/They are so much more/less blank than them/us."  Am I right?  Or are you sitting there wondering what the eff is this girl talking about?

Here's where this is coming from.  I have one friend who is smack in the middle of a rapidly-deteriorating divorce.  It is getting uglier by the minute.  Accusations of abuse are flying around, questions about cheating...it ain't pretty.  This is a couple who started dating in high school and who, for all intents and purposes, seemed like the picture-perfect couple.  They had their problems, of course, but they always seemed to work it out.  Apparently, what seemed to be the situation was not at all the situation, and a Battle Royale has begun.  It's very sad.

I have another friend who is absolutely terrified about the state of her marriage.  Things seem to be unraveling around her, neither she nor her husband seem happy anymore, and it's completely tearing her apart.  And it's actually kind of freaking me out.

You know how you have those couples in your life?  The ones who seem like they're really going to make it.  Who seem completely happy and in love and committed to each other?  That's what this couple is.  Or used to be.  Over the past couple of years, I've noticed things that have made me...uneasy.  I won't go into details, but it's gotten to the point sometimes where Matt and I have talked about it and wondered how things still work for them.  Now I know.  They aren't. 

I feel like I can't help but compare my relationship to theirs.  To make myself feel better?  Maybe.  To better understand what they're going through?  Perhaps.  But as I sat there and listened to my friend tell me all the problems she is having, I couldn't help but think to myself, "Oh thank God, Matt and I don't do that/handle that differently/already have communication about that..."  I found myself later thinking about it and thinking about the ways in which Matt and I do do things better and can do things better.  Is that wrong?  Am I a horrible person to be benefitting from the possible dissolution of my friends' marriage?  Am I terrible that I'm comparing my relationship to theirs and going, "We are better/stronger/happier..."? 

While I always had a feeling that their marriage wasn't perfect, I also always thought they'd make it work.  It always seemed like they were committed to their marriage and would do whatever it took to keep it going.  Now, I'm not so sure.  And as much as I know it's freaking my friend out, it's kind of freaking me out, too.  Is that totally weird?  Is any of this making any sense or am I just randomly ranting?

Pinterest is Funny

Every now and then, don't you just need a good giggle?  Or belly laugh?  Whatever. 




Some of my favorite laugh-inducing pins today...

Harry Potter humor is always fun!

If you haven't seen the videos that this next pin is alluding to, you must.  You just...you must.  I die every time.

And, of course, pop humor references always provide good fodder for entertainment.

The milkshake song

M.C. Hammer

Fight Club...for babies?

 And other totally random nonsense.

Yeah, yeah...no, not really a big secret

So those are my pins for the week.  Hope they made you laugh like the always do me!

*all images from my pinterest

Baby Talk

Matt and I have been talking a lot about babies.  A lot about affording babies, in particular.  Cuz, you know, kids are expensive.  You have to feed them, clothe them, entertain them, give them somewhere to sleep, keep them clean...and that's just for the first few months.  Then you have to take them to day care.  And then you have to pay for school supplies.  All the while, you have to be planning for a) future kids (if desired) and b) their futues, ie, college, which, by the way, ain't gettin any cheaper.  Seriously, ya'll, kids are costly!

from google

So Matt and I have spent a lot of time in the past few months talking about how much to save, what kind of savings to have, and how much we think we're going to need to spend on stuff.  It's a really scary prospect, especially given the shaky place that Matt's job has been in for the past few years.  [About a year and a half ago, they cut their salaries by 7.5%.  A year ago, they cut their hours down to 32/week.  Some weeks, he's lucky if he even gets that many hours in.] 

This weekend, we were talking about day care.  Matt has been particularly nervous about how we're going to afford day care.  I get it - it's expensive.  Matt is worried that we won't be able to afford it, and wonders how we're going to manage without our families helping us out.  I keep reminding him that my parents had no family around and Callie and I turned out all right, and of all of our friends who don't live near their parents and make it work, and all the families who make it work with way less money than we have.  But he's still panicking.  I finally got to the bottom of his worries this weekend.

Matt was under the impression that day care costs $100 per day!  Once I recovered from my laughter (I'm sorry, but it's funny!), I told him the actual cost ($150-$250 per week), and he was pretty relieved.  He was like "Oh!  Well, we can do that!"  Yeah, buddy!

Silly husband.

Man-Candy Monday

That time of the week again.  I know, it's been a while.  Sorry!  Linking up, once again, for Man-Candy Monday!  This week I chose Jeremy Piven.  No particular reason, other than that he's rather yummy!

Best-known Roles:
Ari Gold, Entourage
Buddy Isreal, Smoking Aces
Dean Gordon "Cheese" Pritchard, Old School
Dean Kansky, Serendipty
James Droz Andrews, PCU
The Keymaster, Say Anything

Born July 26, 1965 in New York City
5'10"

I love a man who can pull off a multitude of headwear...

*all images from google

Link up and join the man-candy fun!

10 Day You

1.  Ferris wheels.  No, I'm not kidding.  I hate ferris wheels.  I have yet to be on one that didn't feel completely unsturdy, and I hate that feeling.  I won't ride them anymore. 

Nope, not even the Eye of London

2.  This is probably obvious, but losing someone close to me.

3.  Our children being bullied.  I know there are a lot of other terrible things that could happen, but bullying seriously terrifies me.  It can cause so much damage.  Lasting damage.  

4.  Sharks.  Which is funny, since I've been snorkeling and seen sharks and didn't really care much.  But probably because it was a reef shark, and they're pretty harmless.  Or maybe because I was on the Great Barrier Reef and nothing could have taken away from that.  But, like, great whites?  Yikes.

5.  Losing our home.  Not, like, we can't pay the mortgage and we have to foreclose.  But physically losing it, like in a fire.

6.  Bats.  If I'm outside and a bat is flyng nearby, I guarantee you, I am freaking. out.  

7.  Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS).  Also known as Lou Gerhig's Disease.  It is just a heartbreaking disease.  I have a deep, deep compassion for our patients with ALS, and the thought of ever receiving that diagnosis is so scary.

8.  The economy crashing.  I know, heavy, right?  But seriously, if the US has to default on its loans, it will be an enormous disaster.  It will be the Great Depression, revisted.  It's a very scary prospect.

*all images from google

I Want

I Want by emma5w featuring sport dresses

It's 108 degrees here in Philly today.  That is decidedly not cool.  All week, I've been wearing dresses.  I don't really do dresses.  At least, I never used to.  Seriously, ask my friend DJ.  I posted something on facebook the other day about how I've worn dresses 2 days in a row, so obviously it's unbearably hot out, and she responded "Who are you?  What have you done with Emma [my nickname]?"  It's a well-known fact that me and dresses are not great friends.  Even when I was little.  My mom said I used to throw a fit if she tried to put me in a dress.  Sure, I owned the obligatory "I'm going to a wedding and need something to wear" dresses.  I had a couple cute sundresses for dinners out.  But otherwise, I never was big into dresses.   

Now, though, with all this hot weather, they're all I want to wear.  Which presents a problem when I have so few that are appropriate for work (ie, not too short, not strapless, not cleavage-revlealing).  So today, I went screen-shopping (like window-shopping but on the internet).  You know, just to torture myself.  Cuz I can't actually afford to go shopping. 

I am obsessed with modcloth dresses.  And if I had any sort of extra money lying around, I'd totally blow it there.  The dresses above are just the tip of iceberg.  I know, not all of those are work-appropriate.  But I like the other ones, too, and they'd be totally appropriate for a nice dinner out, like to celebrate our anniversay in Florida....right? 

What's on your wishlist?

Jeffrey Campbell flutter sleeve dress
$75 - modcloth.com

Wrap dress
$40 - modcloth.com

Shift dress
$50 - modcloth.com

Sport dress
$45 - modcloth.com

Twist dress
$50 - modcloth.com

Cloud Watching Dress
$40 - modcloth.com

Pebbled Pathway Dress | Mod Retro Vintage Printed Dresses |...
$48 - modcloth.com

Blue-per Free Dress | Mod Retro Vintage Solid Dresses | ModCloth.com
$50 - modcloth.com

Travel Pinterest

Time to link up! 




I grew up in a family that valued travel.  We were lucky (in some senses) that, because my mom traveled a lot of work, we had a lot of opportunities to take vacations that normally we would not have been able to afford.  This sense of adventure was instilled in me at a very young age, and I really hope to continue that with our family.  I know that it will be significantly more difficult for Matt and I to do that than it was for my parents, but we talk about it a lot and are both committed to putting aside money for family vacations. 

That being said, here are some of my favorite places that I've been, and that I hope to take my family back to!

Australia.  I have been lucky to go to Australia twice in my lifetime.  It is - handsdown - my favorite place in the world.  I have always said that if I wasn't such a momma's girl, I would move to Sydney in a heartbeat.  I absolutely love it there.  These first two pictures are actually mine, that I pinned from my own records.  The first one is, obviously, the Sydney Opera House, which is just such a beautiful building.  And the second one is from our nights camping in the Outback.  It was a little scary (we could hear the dingoes howling out in the desert) but it was honestly the most amazing nights ever.  I've never in my life seen so many stars. 

This is the Great Barrier Reef.  Snorkeling on the GBR is un-freakin-believable.  That's all.
 

 Up next is Madrid.  Most people say Barcelona was their favorite when talking about Spain, but I got robbed in Barcelona, so I have some, um, issues with that place.  It was a really cool city, but it kind of left a bad taste in my mouth.  Madrid, on the other hand, was just...well, honestly, it saved my sanity. 

Paris.  Ahh, Paris.  Yes, the Parisiens are not huge fans of Americans.  Big deal.  Get over it and just enjoy the city.  Get outside of Paris and you'll find that the French people are actually quite sweet.  This is another photo I pinned from my own vault, taken by my sister on our trip to Europe (same trip as Barcelona/Madrid). 

Rome.  I loved the pulse of Rome.  But really, it was the history.  Man, the history here just completely blew my mind.  It felt totally surreal to stand at the edge of the Colisseum and realize how old that structure is.  It really made me realize how young our country is. 

And finally, Dublin.  I. Loved. Dublin.  The people.  The beer.  The energy.  The people.  Such a fantastic city. 

So those are my pins for the week.  What's the favorite place you've ever traveled?

*all photos from my Pinterest

U2 FanCam

Check it out!  Apparently, they took a 360-degree photo of the stadium before the U2 show started on Thursday night.  You can go to this website, find yourself, and tag yourself in the crowd!  Here we are! 

Weekend Update

You guys.  I don't know about you, but I had a pretty kick-ass weekend!  My weekend started on Thursday night, with a ride on the Broad Street Line subway down to South Philly.  I met up with Matt, my mom, my stepdad, my sister, and my brother-in-law at Suburban Station, then we all hopped on the subway.  Once we got to AT&T station (so stupid that they bought the station and named it after themselves), we stopped off to tailgate for a bit before heading into the stadium.  Anthony (my brother-in-law) had brought a cooler filled with Jose Cuervo margarita, Harpoon IPA, and some pretzels.  So we had a few drinks, then headed in.

Matt had gotten me tickets to see them for Christmas in 2009.  The show was originally scheduled for July 12, 2010.  But then Bono hurt his back, so the show was postponed for a year.  My parents, not knowing that Matt had gotten me tickets, also got us tickets for Christmas that year.  Club seats.  So, we sold our tickets to my sister and Anthony and went to the club seats with my parents.

Matt, Anthony, and the random dude who was already toasted

Mom, Jeff, and Callie

The concert was awesome!  One of the best shows I've ever seen.  High energy, a good mix of old and new songs.  See for yourself - here's the setlist:

Even Better Than the Real Thing > I Will Follow > Mysterious Ways > Until the End of the World/Where Have All the Flowers Gone? > Get On Your Boots > Magnificent > I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For/The Promised Land > Stay (Faraway, So Close) > Beautiful Day/Space Oddity > Elevation > Pride (In the Name of Love) > Miss Sarajevo > Zooropa > City of Blinding Light > Vertigo/It's Only Rock and Roll (But I Like It) > Miss You > I'll Go Crazy if I Don't Go Crazy Tonight/Discotheque/Life During Wartime/Psycho Killer > Sunday Bloody Sunday > Scarlet > Walk On

Encore: One > Halleluja > Where the Streets Have No Name > Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me > With or Without You > Moment of Surrender > Happy Birthday

I'm not sure what the story is behind Happy Birthday.  We started heading out after With or Without You.  The show was great.  For Beautiful Day, they actually had some footage patched in from the space shuttle.  Mark Kelly (the husband of Arizona Senator Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot in Tuscon last year) said a few things, and "sang" along to the lyrics of Beautiful Day.  It was really cool.

Interpol

Sunset at the Linc

The Edge!

Captain Mark Kelly.  Right here, he was saying, "Tell my wife I love her..."

During "Walk On," volunteers from Amnesty International came on with lanterns

Friday morning, we got up and had breakfast.  Matt and I  made bacon, egg, and cheese sandwiches.  They were delish!  At around 10:45, we (me, Matt, my mom, and my stepdad) hit the road to get in line for the 12:15 showing of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 at the King of Prussia IMAX.  I had purchased our tickets about a month ago on Fandango, so all I had to do was go to one of the Fandango stands and print our tickets.  Thank goodness we got there when we did, because an hour before the show, the line was already about 100 people deep!

from google

The movie was absolutely fantastic.  Wrapped things up beautifully.  The special effects were incredible.  I was teary-eyed throughout much of the movie.  I just can't believe it's ending!  Just like in the books, they brought the story full circle.  I definitely think this movie was the best of them all.

Afterwards, Matt and I headed home to change and then took the train to meet my sister and Anthony for dinner and a night out.  We had dinner at Ladder 15, in Center City, then went to the Continental rooftop bar for a couple drinks.  One of Callie's friends from high school met up with us there, and then we all went down to this great little dive bar in South Philly called Bob and Barbara's.  The drinks were super cheap, and they had a live jazz band.  It was a lot of fun.  Another one of Callie's friends met up us there, too.  It was really fun to see those guys and catch up with them.  I watched all of them grow up, so it's fun to still be able to keep track of them every now and then.

Saturday morning Callie and Anthony went home, and Matt and I drove up to Perkiomenville to celebrate my stepdad's brother's retirement and 40th wedding anniversary.  It was fun to see the family and catch up with everyone.  We hardly ever get to see them, so it's nice to get to spend some time and see all the kiddos!  Last night we were supposed to go see Sixteen Candles at the Keswick Theater, but we were both so pooped, we just stayed home and watched the season premier of Rescue Me.  Do you guys watch that show?  You should.  It's great.

from google

This morning we are being super lazy, and eventually I'm going to get started on some chores (I need to do laundry desperately) and some errands.  All in all, a really great weekend.

Hope you guys all had good ones, too!