TBF and the Angelbaby

I'm going to go ahead and use a real name besides my own.

This is Duncan Patrick. And you want to know why I call him Angelbaby?

Because he is a friggin' Angelbaby.

Duncan also goes by the aliases Mooshoe, Nugget, Mooshie, Papasan, Duncan Donut, Poodle-face, and yes, Angelbaby. I seriously doubt he knows his name is Duncan. Bible. Plus, he is dumber than a box of rocks, but just the sweetest boy you'll ever meet.

Duncan is my pupster. He moved all the way from Boston to NH to Seattle with me. He is almost 6 years old (his birthday is tax day- it was fate we found each other) and he the love of my life. Well, besides my DF.  

Moving on. TBF and I had been living together in Seattle for the last few years. When DF and I moved to Florida, I made the VERY adult decision to leave angelbaby with Trusty Best Friend while DF and I get settled. The plan was for TBF to move to Florida when our lease was up at the end of December.

It's kinda like how my parents must have felt when I moved to Seattle. They knew I had to go but they were sad to see me leave. I knew Mooshie had to stay in Seattle until I was settled in. Plus he's hopefully given a lot of love and care and company to TBF since I've been gone.

Well folks, it's the end of December and Trusty Best Friend has officially begun his trek to Florida. With my Angelbaby in tow. 

TBF just texted me these two pics:

Moosh saying goodbye to Seattle. 

(Not sure how TBF took this pic while driving, but ok...)

Mooshie wondering what spot on the hotel floor he can pee on.

I am so freaking excited for TBF and Angelbaby to be in Florida. They should be here next week. I'm going to cry. Yes, excited to see my TBF. But the Duncan Donut? GOD I AM FREAKING OUT HAPPY! 

This pup is the heartbeat at my feet. I hope he doesn't hate me for being away from him for 3 months. 

Boy-Band.

DF knows I have a serious aversion to the word "fiancee." I think it is incredibly pretentious.

For example, I feel like a colossal D-bag when I say, "Ohhhhh, right-a-roo, my fiancee and I went to Chili's last night." (Not that I say "right-a-roo," but how else do you type to sound like a D-bag?)

So, instead of calling DF my fiancee in public, I usually call him my boyfriend (which he is not) or I call him my husband (which he is not.)

This morning, we were having coffee together before I left for work. He made me a "love muffin" sandwich, which is basically a McMuffin. DF said I couldn't call my sandwich a McMuffin. So I called it a McDF, which also didn't work. So I call the damn sandwich a "love muffin." Which, actually, now that I type that out- sounds kinda dirty.

Back to the story. Eating the love muffin. (again, gross.) I said to DF, "Wow, thank you husband! You are the best boyfriend ever!" Verbatim. That's what I said. Durh.

He looked at me like I was nuts, and told me that he understands that I hate the word "fiancee" but we are going to need something new. Because "boyfriend" doesn't work and "husband" isn't true yet.

Crikey.

So he says, "How about BoyBand?"

Uh, say what?

He goes on to explain that it's half boyfriend and half husband. Then he does an adorable little chair dance like he's in the New Kids On The Block.

Well, BoyBand it is! I'll admit it doesn't stick in person as much as I wish it did. I did blurt out both boyfriend and husband at some point this evening.

The BoyBand title is still up in the air. Thank god he's the DF on here. Sheesh.

One Word Wednesday #2

Beverages.

Frost bites.

I go into work at 9:00AM. It's usually warm and sunny by then. So imagine my shock when I walked out this morning and saw this:

Frozen.

Wilson, my truck, totally covered in FROST! (Yes, Wilson was named for the volleyball in "Cast Away" with Tom Hanks. So when I'm in a parking lot I can yell out "WILSON!" and be obnoxious. Plus, if you don't cry at the scene when Wilson floats away from the raft then you don't have a soul.)

Hello! I thought I moved to Florida. I can't even believe it. My lawn was also covered and crystallized white. Take a look:

Snow? No!

Can you believe it? I wore a short sleeve blouse to work today too. I was freezing my tuchus off.  (Tuchus is Yiddish for "ass." I love Yiddish.)

Not much else happened to me today.  I am still in love with my new job. I look forward to going in every morning when I wake up. Plus DF has been living up to his "darling fiancee" nickname, and makes me coffee to go, plus he packs my breaky and lunch everyday. He better not get too used to this "house-husband" thing. (Although, don't tell him, but I just love how he takes care of me. He makes the bed if I don't have time. Swoon.)

DF makes the best coffee in the morning. I always ruin it. Thank God for him. Take a peek at my $12.95 Starbucks cup that I'm currently obsessed with. I wanted one for the past 5 years in Seattle and they were always sold out at Christmas time. The candy cane straw is plastic and the lid un-screws. It's amazing. DF was appalled that I spent the bucks on it, but I use it all day everyday. And by sending me to work with coffee instead of me swinging by Starbucks, we are saving beaucoup bucks. 

Love in a cup.

Can't believe there are only 2 more days in 2010. I'm sure ending 2010 on a much better note than I started with. 

Still no New Years Eve plans. It's just nice to have DF here. I hope we just cook dinner together and watch old movies. Perfect.

Christmas Wrap Up

If you could see my face right now, I look like something that got caught in a drain.

I'm mentally and physically exhausted.

Christmas was a beautiful disaster. It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.

I never thought I would say this, but I'm so glad it's over.

Christmas Eve we went to Sissy's house. It was beautiful. Sissy and I made a million sugar cookies. Here's a sample of our hard work.

Yum.

Side note: Gingerbread men are nearly impossible to bake and not make them look obese. Oh well. Chubby gingerbread men it was.

I proceeded to drink an entire bottle of wine Christmas Eve. I was feeling no pain.

Pre-wine. Naturally.

Honestly, we ended up having a really good time. Sissy and her amazing hus. did such a good job. I'm so thankful to the both of them. Their house looked great. Lots of food, lots of family and friends. It was a great night. Sissy wore a green dress, and I wore a red dress. We looked like Christmas ornaments.

I passed out early, so I don't have much more to report on Christmas Eve.

Christmas morning, DF made me an english muffin sandwich (yum-o) and we went in to do stockings and presents. 

Our stockings this year came from Pottery Barn. DF ordered mine first, and I thought it was so darling, I trucked my butt to a PB store to get his. I got home to discover that his stocking was about 8 inches longer than mine! I freaked out and called PB. They said those items have a big size discrepancy to add to the "charm" of the stockings. Uh, all it meant to me was he got 8 inches more presents than I did. Have a look:

Really PB? Really? 

Mine is clearly the one with the pink bow.

Stockings were awesome. Mine had a new toothbrush and toothpaste in it, which I will admit was a major highlight. I'm a nerd.

The tree was beautiful Christmas morning.

Gorgeous.

DF wanted a blow up alligator for the pool so badly. I told him I couldn't find one in stores, or online at all. Naturally, I already had one, so when he opened it, I snapped this pic:

In love with this face.

He couldn't wait to blow it up. I found him outside a half hour later nearly done.

Alligator sighting.

I got this super cute art from DF. He's such a keeper. (Pardon my makeup-less face.) 

Awe.

Christmas dinner, momma bear made delicious prime rib and it was totally low key. Thank god. 

The highlight of Christmas was getting into bed with DF and being silly. We were so overtired, but in the best mood. I was going to blog, but DF came and jumped into bed with me. We grabbed the computer and took about 200 funny photos in iPhotoBooth. 

I couldn't resist putting a few up here...

Love my glasses!

Underwater!

Mario!

Headaches!

The next few are ridiculous, and totally staged. I just think our "fight faces" are hysterical. 

God Rae...you're so annoying.

Hey! I am not!

I AM NOT!

JERK! 

SHUT UP! 

Stop crying or I'll give you something to cry about!

Marriage.

Oh stop! Love you.

Whatever, you put a ring on it! 

In the end, I'm so glad DF makes me laugh. If you can laugh and be silly together, even when things are so stressful you think you're going to break, you will make it. 

Only 363 days until next Christmas. Hooray! 

Wisdom at the Needle

Amazing the things you find when you clean up your computer....

Proof it's sunny in Seattle occasionally.

Last January Nathan came to Seattle to visit. We did a "Seattle Day" which included the usual: Pike Place, downtown sightseeing and Crab Pot, a Seattle institution, for lunch. We decided to run up in the Needle just for a minute so he could see the view.

I was just cleaning out old pictures from my iPhoto and came across this awesome picture. I found this fortune on the ground right outside the Needle. It sparked the inspiration for this post:

What a wonderful saying with such an application for how I'm feeling right now. Thankful to live in the present moment and be surrounded by love. 

Karma is my friend. It just took a while for her to show up.

The Before of the Before

Twas the night before the night before Christmas.

I came home to a clean house and a DF who had set the table, prepped dinner and was was so excited to see me.

He made yummy mushroom and pepper cheeseburgers out on the grill. They were amazing.

I go into our room and the lights are off and a Christmas candle is lit and making the room smell so nice. Everything is neat and the house is picked up. DF just wants to hug and kiss me- I'm truly in heaven. Home.

I am so excited for tomorrow night at Sissy's house and for Christmas morning when he can open all these damn presents I have for him!

Side bar: my new job is awesome. I mean, truly awesome. I never sit still and the people I work with are amazing. I'm challenged, it's fast paced and I never ever clock watch. It's the best Christmas present ever to be employed so quickly after moving. Plus, we had a company Christmas lunch today and my generous bosses got sushi and Thai for the entire office, plus gave everyone, including me, a $100 gift card to a restaurant.

I mean, really? How did I get so lucky?

All these puzzle pieces are coming together. Honestly, what I have right now is what I've always dreamed of. It can only get better. I have the man of my dreams who loves me, I'm with my family at Christmas, AND I have a wonderful new job.

I mean, leaving Boston for Seattle was scary. Leaving Seattle for Florida was nerve-wracking. I just had to trust. I trusted that everything would fall into place if I worked hard enough and believed. And I do believe.

I'm making my future happen.

Wow.

One Word Wednesday #1

Silly.

Mail Stop

Ok. This is embarrassing. I didn't have any inspiration for a Christmas card holder this year. Everything looked super blah to me. So, defeated by laziness, I started taping cards onto our bedroom door around our felted tree advent calendar.

Tah-tah-tah-tacky.

Well, inspiration stuck. Ribbon. Yes, the same ribbon I've been tying on all our Christmas presents.

Thanks JoAnne Fabrics! 

I just taped the ribbon to the door with plain old Scotch Tape:

Prettier already.

Added our cards and voila!  I spent 20 mins and organized them all. Take a peek!

So much better.

I even love it with the door open:

Sigh of relief.

Look, I get that Friday is Christmas Eve, so why bother? Well, the mess bothered the hell out of me! Besides, it's the little things that count. I'm so glad I fixed it.

Also, that adorable advent calendar was a find last year at The Maxx. 

(Definition(s): A: "The Maxx," a cool place to hang out at on the show Saved By The Bell. B: A crazier way to do something. Eg: "I did that shit to The Maxx." C: The Maxx, A shopping emporium frequented by fashionistas. See also "TJMaxx.")

The calendar was on super clearance and was under ten dollars. This year I told DF that he should put cash in every single day. Uh, not so much. He did me proud though. On December 3, I noticed a tiny slip of paper in the slot. No bigger than a fortune from a fortune cookie. 

It said a reason why he loved me. Gulp. I just love this man. He put one for every day of the month.

Today's was particularly good:

Love.

Clearly, he is a keeper. 

Hey! I'm a keeper too! Listen to this good news: I landed an awesome job today, and they want me to start tomorrow morning at 9:00AM! 

Santa came early in our house. Today was a great day.

Pantry Organization

Poor DF. Living here with these messy people. Thank god we are both neat freaks. Our idea of a rockin' Monday afternoon is organization.

Yes, you heard me. Organization. As I tackled the two loads of laundry we've accumulated in the past week, DF pops his head into the laundry room and says, "Babe, can we organize the pantry? It's driving me nucking futs."

Well of course Darling Fiancee! Oh course we can!

Total dispair. 

To be fair, it was a mess. So we emptied the entire pantry out onto the kitchen table. 

6 boxes of popcorn? Really people?

DF nearly gave up. Although, isn't he adorable when he's frustrated?

Seriously Rae, more pictures?

We threw out everything old and expired. Which was a lot. I was shocked how much crap was in there.

Getting there.

Then we slowly started to organize and put everything back. It only took about an hour, but we went from this:

Start.

To this:

Finish.

Thank god I'm marrying someone who is as Type A as I am. Organization is the key to happiness in my opinion. 

And you know what they say, the couple that organizes together stays together. (Ok, "they" don't really say that, but I'm sure "they" would.)

Over-Easy

DF is in the kitchen cooking omeletts for my entire family. Jingle Bell Rock is on the radio. Everyone is kibitzing about Christmas plans and family news.

I'm waiting for my omelette so I'm sitting here watching this scene unfold before me.

It's amazing. Amazing to think this wonderful man wants to be with my crazy ass forever. Amazing to be with my family after 5 years away. My life is suddenly all coming together. 

It's funny to think....things haven't necessarily been bad. Things are just so much better now it's remarkable that I ever was alone. 

This house is full of love. Love and crazy people. But I wouldn't have it any other way. 

Vanity Fair, Take Two

I am going to be totally honest here. I am so glad we decided to do this the "right" way. I'm happy DF didn't just let me paint it and make it worse. It looks AMAZING.

It was a super rainy day here in Florida, so we were in an out of the garage working this afternoon.

So. We meet again.

We sanded and sanded until our fingers were about to fall off. 

Getting there.

Beware of flying debris.

Once totally smooth, we were ready to paint. I'll admit I was so excited to paint. Who doesn't love wielding the power of spray paint? 

DF is so smart. He put the vanity on a dolly so we could wheel it around. 

Get ready to be sprayed.

So serious. 

Coat One.

And a half hour later, coat two.

So of course, DF notices these tiny little holes that the spackle missed. He decides to really do this properly he needs to reapply. 

Wax on.

Wax off.

Ready for the color?! Momma bear simply requested sage green. We found spray paint called "Oregano" which seemed to do the trick.

The Start.

God I'm so glad we sanded.

One more coat! 

DF said if I painted the whole drawer it would stick. Darnit.

The vanity was still wet, so DF said we needed to let it dry. In the mean time, he took me to see Black Swan with Natalie Portman and out for Mexican food. Yum.

We just came home to a dry vanity! We showed Mamma bear, and she was thrilled. She was all nostalgic for how long this table has been around. We are going to get a piece of glass cut for the top of it this weekend. 

Sorry for the crummy pic, but it's night-time here. I'll get a better one tomorrow. 

TA-DA! The Big Reveal! 

Looks brand new again! 

Close up! 

Ok folks, I'm one exhausted girl. Off to bed. No more sanding....not for a while.