BORING!

What happened to me today?

Nothing.

Literally. Nothing.

I'm sitting in the living room. DF is on the iMac. TBF is on the MacBook Pro and I'm on my pink MacBook.

We are listening to Band of Horses and chilling. Like NERDS.

I've got two loads of laundry going. DF made veggie linguine for sup sup- and it was amazeballs. Nothing exciting to report.

Grandpa is flying in from Boston tomorrow- so DF and I are going out for sushi tomorrow night and then heading to momma and papa bears to play 45s.

Saturday we're doing a pool cookout and Sunday DF has to work. So hopefully Sunday I'll actually get some stuff hung on the walls. (Yes, It's true. All my walls are naked. I haven't hung up a damn thing!)

Still scouring the internet looking for decorating inspiration- but truthfully, unless I win the lottery, me decorating this place is going to be a lot of smoke and mirrors. Hoping to go treasure hunting at Goodwill with Sissy this weekend.

Got DF's black belt certificate framed. That was the big accomplishment of the day. And he really did it...so I shouldn't take total credit since he occasionally reads my blog.

Not in the mood for TV or a movie tonight. So I guess it's just refreshing the boys on how to play 45's.

What a gripping life I do lead!

XOXO

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M.I.A. To A New Day

So sorry I've been MIA. I'll make it up to you.

I've been adapting a new philosophy....stay in motion. I'm like a shark...if I stop swimming, I'll sink.

SO.....today is fresh with no mistakes in it.

Let's do a rundown since last Wednesday:

Thursday: Work. Exhaustion. Furniture shopping with DF. Found couches we want. Bought new couch pillows. Home at 9:30PM.

Friday: Redbull. Energy. Went to The Maxx with Momma after work. Spent way too much money. Got lamps, comforter, shams, pillows and Calvin Klein sheets for DF and I's bedroom. (Will post bedroom inspiration and pics soon)

Saturday: Cut all my hair off. It's total "Mom Hair" and I'm unhappy. Lunch at the Crab Shack. (Not as good as the Crab Pot in Seattle. Not even close. Although sharing my King Crab with DF....that is LOVE.) Went to the movies. Saw "The Fighter." Came home...made supper....watched "Paranormal Activity 2" with DF on the couch. (With the lights on to prevent nightmares.)

Sunday: DF had to work....first Pirates Spring Training Game. TBF and I had Carbon Monoxide warnings for over an hour. Ripped detectors from ceiling. Took Duncan to momma and papa bears. Went swimming. Played out by the pool all afternoon with Sissy. Got a little sunburn. TBF took me to get mani/pedis which were amazing. Took Duncan to get a haircut. Came home, cooked DF steaks and chicken on the grill. Ate supper. Watched the Oscars.

So....we've been busy little bees.

I promise I'll be blogging more. Florida has just finally started being really fun! I am settling into the condo. I still have yet to hang a single thing up....but we're settling.

I've got blueberry muffins cooking in the stove for DF right now. I am happy we're busy and healthy.

It's been constant motion...but Florida is starting to feel like home.

XOXO.

I'm back! Give me a vote to say hi!

Mickey Surprise!

So, I get home from work tonight.

Monday. Tired. Blech.

And DF is cooking...bless his heart.

TBF is sweaty. He's been re-installing all our Carbon Monoxide detectors. They went ape-shit yesterday morning around 8AM. So, naturally, I ripped them all out of the ceiling.

Anways.... I remark how sweaty TBF is...and he goes, Mickey or Pluto?

Uh, as if there was a choice....freakin' Mickey....

For what?

And he hands me this:

Well, just the Mickey. Donald is DF's.

IT'S A FLORIDA RESIDENT PASS TO DISNEY WORLD!

Yes, that's right....free parking....free park hopper....ANNUAL PASS! YEAR ROUND!

TBF works for AAA and got a screaming deal on them. So he got one for me and one for DF. Well, and one for himself :)

I did say..."um, TBF, did they have a Minnie one? But you know, beggars can't be choosers but they can be assholes."

Mickey here we come!

Please vote! I'm back in business!

Come and Knock on Our Door

Come and knock on our door! We've been waiting for you....when the kisses are hers and his and his (not right...just go with it) three's company too!

Ok. So. We are moved in. It's official! I'm so happy.

TBF is living with DF and I. Because...wait for it...this condo is TWO THOUSAND SQUARE FEET! Whooot! In my adult life, I've never lived in a place this big. The apartment TBF and I shared in Seattle was 895...total. And I thought that place was a palace.

Wait...so if this new condo is Three's Company...then I guess that makes me Jack. Uh, right?

Yeesh...so who is Chrissy? And the other broad? 

Anyways, the move went really well. Well, not entirely true. At work on Friday I came down with the worst 24 hour stomach bug I've ever had. It was brutal. So yesterday I was barely able to stand up straight, let alone move furniture in. So my big strapping DF moved most of the heavy stuff.

Honestly, DF looked so beefy and sexy. He told me to quit staring at him like he was a T-Bone steak. But truly....he looked DAMN FINE. All rugged and strong. Yum. 

Ok. So I took pictures of the disaster when we moved all the shit in. But I can't find the cord for my camera. (And I can't find my laptop cord, or my BlackBerry charger, or DF's Valentine card) but we're slowly settling in.

I'll give you a preview of the layout. It's got 15 foot ceilings and tons of space, but the actual floor plans make it look squishy. I promise you'll see actual pictures the moment my camera cord resurfaces.

TBF crashed out at like 8PM last night. DF and I snuggled on the couch and watch "The Strangers" which if you haven't seen it, is a super scary movie about a young couple whose house gets broken into. Not the best choice for our first night in a new home. 

I have a handmade wood baseball bat from my friend Superhero in Seattle...and he even wood burned the words "Bad Mama Jamma" into it and stained the bat pink for me. So I slept with Bad Mama Jamma on one side of me and DF on the other. (Much to his chagrin.) 

So anyways. This weekend was way too short moving all our junk. I'm due for a long winter's nap or a cold adult beverage. 

DF is going to cook me the first love muffin of the new house right now. I'm typing away at the kitchen table and he sure as shit looks like a T-Bone steak to me. I'm so in love with him. 

And since the only things I've eaten today because of this stupid stomach bug are as follows: one bite of Caprese pizza, two bites of veggie lo mein, and three twizzlers, I'm hoping I keep this glorious love muffin down and start to feel better.

Finally in our new home....and happier than ever.

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Farewell Christmas

TBF helped me de-Christmas yesterday.

He's so helpful!

Farewell Bernadette. Until next year.

Sorry for the pic, that Florida sun is BRIGHT.

Farewell Ornaments, I'll miss you the most:

Packaged up with love.

We called two leTarget's and one Wally World (Wal-Mart) to ask if they had a Christmas tree storage box in stock. Nope. None to be found. I should have bought it when I had the chance.

Now I'm stuck with this:

Ghetto.

What a sad, dilapidated, sorry box. Oh well. I'll find one.

We also threw away my coffee filter wreath. Stinks. But there was no way to salvage it. The Florida heat would have turned that puppy yellow within a week out in the garage. Oh well. It only cost three bucks to make.

I'm kinda glad the house it back to normal. It makes me get excited for the next holiday! Valentine's Day!

Please remember to vote! It's good Karma!

Delivery

I just got home from a long day at work and a dinner out with Sissy to find this in my front hall:

Surprise!

It's from TBF before he left Seattle. So I rip into the smaller one and see this:

Seriously?

Its about 2 million little peanuts. 

I'm serious.

Peanut madness.

Well. There is no way to unpack this and not make a mess, so I guess my boxes will have to sit there until I have the energy to deal with all the packing material.

I hope my pictures made it in one piece.

To be continued....

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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. 

Oh Christmas Tree...

Why wait? That's usually my philosophy when it comes to my Christmas tree. I've been known to deck the halls while the Trick-or-Treaters are still knocking at the door.

Well, my tree has been an evolving project. Now, I know I'm biased, but I believe my tree to be gorgeous. This year, I actually held out until Thanksgiving to put it up. THANKSGIVING. Which was a feat I am very proud of. It was really DF who insisted I wait. Truthfully I was excited to decorate the tree with him, so I was happy to delay the tree trimming.

Let's cover some history, shall we? Who doesn't love Christmas tree history? I got my first tree in Seattle for Christmas, 2007. It was my first "grown up" tree. I was mostly clueless, purchasing ornaments haphazardly from Target and Pier1. Nothing too special, just wanted the warm glow of white Christmas lights. TBF purchased this tree for me. The Goldilocks of trees....not too big, not too small. Just right.

We dragged the Goldilocks tree to the house, put it together, and plugged it in. Colored lights. Wrong box. I immediately started to cry like a crazy person (shameful) and TBF rushed it back to the store for the white light tree. Crisis averted. That's why he is the Trusty Best Friend. Reliable.

2007. Trial and Error. 

I asked my mother to send me some of my ornaments in 2008, so I could start my REAL tree. More personal, less crap. It wound up looking like this:

2008. Getting Better.

Plus, I found my angel tree topper in 2008. She was a diamond in the rough. A find at TJMaxx clearance after Christmas. I fell in love with her face the moment I saw her.

In 2009, which is infamously referred to as the "Guilt Christmas" my Christmas decorating started to hit it's stride. TBF and I were living together at the time, and he went a little overboard with presents to compensate for a very lackluster Christmas Morning 2008. 

 I felt like my house looked great, the tree was beautiful, and I know it's not about presents, but that red box under the tree is my pink MacBook I'm typing on now. Glorious.

2009. The "Guilt Christmas"

This year, I would HUG my tree if I could. It's love. I had to leave my Goldilocks tree in Seattle. Not enough room in my move across country. It was hard to part with my tree and I hope she finds a good home. She gave me a lot of love in the three years she lived in my home.  Safe travels Goldilocks tree. You were loved.

This year, my mom gave me one of her misfit trees. She has three full size trees, so she parted with one so I wouldn't have to buy one. It's AMAZING. 

I named my tree this year. Silly, but nonetheless, I wanted to. 

Bernadette. She burns so bright.

This year is the first time I got to decorate a tree with my Darling Fiancee. So DF's ornaments and my ornaments are now friends and they look spectacular together on the tree. We added a few new favorites ornaments into the mix this year:

 Kayaking Ho Ho for DF from yours truly.

 Husky Dog from my 30th birthday cruise to Alaska

A new place to call home.

My ornament from DF. Awe.

Just because I love them so much, a few past favorites that will always make it onto the tree:

We Believe for the Red Sox 2004 and my pink childhood dollhouse.

D is for Duncan Donut, our puppy.

"Happy Hanukkah" is a handmade favorite from my friend N. in Seattle. She knows how much I hate blue for Christmas, and a Jewish Christmas Ornament? It's love. That's why she is truly my soulmate. I love this one so much. 

And yes, that's Alcatraz poking out from behind it from a trip to SanFran last year.

Seattle. Who had my heart for 5 wonderful years.

I sense I've rambled on enough. Let me just say this. The one moment I've been looking forward to all year is this: Christmas Day Eve. All the presents opened. All the food eaten. All the laughs had. I want my DF and I sitting on the couch, hot cocoa in hand, snuggled in together in our PJs just enjoying the glow of the tree and each other.

It's just love that counts. Just love.

Christmas Cards

Ok. Before we even begin the Christmas Card debacle, let's start with one simple ingredient: 

Clark W. Griswold.

Clark is simply a "must-have" for Christmas card writing and Christmas card decorating. Here he is keeping me company all alone for Christmas 2007 in Seattle:

Oh that look that says, "Uncle Lewis, you killed my tree." Swoon.

So once Clark, Eddie and I were all settled in for a warm winter's nap, the real work began. My cards are always such a fun project. Probably because I have borderline OCD and I love to organize and create them all. I love sending the same cards to the same people year after year. It reminds me of the power of my friendships and the strength of my family. My list almost never changes. It just includes new and wonderful people that come into my life.

Papyrus. Not just paper. The BEST card store in the world. Overpriced? Yes. Worth every penny? Yes. I had to go with a non-neutral holiday saying this year. Yes America, they say, "Wishing you a very special Christmas." I had to go with "Christmas," not "Holiday" for one reason: look how glorious the front of the cards are!

B-E-A-UTIFUL.

Next comes a handwritten note to everyone. Which takes about...oh, two days and 14 hours. Once I've finished that comes the really fun part: stickers. 

For the record, I count stamps as stickers. For one, they are self adhesive, which says sticker to me. Secondly, the come on a sheet as most stickers do. The stamps I wanted this year were the same as last year. (Thanks a bunch Post Office for not introducing new stamps this year. Slackers.) I went to 4 post offices here in Florida and received the same news at all of them: Sold Out. I felt like Mary and Joseph looking for a room at the inn. No Christmas stamps to be found on the entire west coast of Florida. No matter. A call to TBF in Seattle. TBF, or trusty best friend, is one of those rare finds who will run to a store at 2AM to get me a Twix bar. So one phone call to him, and I had 4 books of Christmas Stamps in the mail to me the next day. And aren't they worth it? 

Well, except the blue ones.

Side note about Christmas Stickers: they are hard to find. I came upon these Gems last year in Seattle. I naturally bought two tins of them, one for last year and one for this year. They are truly beautiful. If you ever find them in a store, purchase them immediately. 

Vintage. Love.

I also start my search for return address labels around Thanksgiving. I sit next to DF on my laptop and scour the internet for the most beautiful ones I can find. This year, I knew I wanted green because my envelopes are red. Trying to mix it up. Because I'm a fiancee this year, I needed labels to say mine and DF's name as well. To TinyPrints.com we go. Expensive. Ridiculously expensive. Go big or go home. Or go to RetailMeNot.com and get a coupon. Which I promptly did. Three days later these puppies arrived in the mail, and I was thrilled.

Not blurry in person. Honest.

About mid-way through the project, I always want to give up. I look at the mess I've created and want to bail. Then I think about how happy I am if I get ONE Christmas card, and it gives me the motivation to finish.

Still working.

Well folks, after all my hard work and massive cramps in my right hand. Plus one tiny blister on my ring finger, I wind up with this:

Note: I used a blue stamp for the sample. Ha.

All done. DF took me to the Post Office to mail them on Monday. After waiting for 35 minutes to get to the counter, I asked the gentleman who was helping us to kindly hand-cancel all of my cards. He looked at me like I was crazy, and asked if he could just run them through the meter and be done with it. I very politely informed him that if he hand-cancels the stamps it will look like Santa did it. That was met with an eye roll from DF and the mailman. I can't win.

Well Folks, there is hope that next year I won't go overboard. Maybe I shouldn't take it so seriously but I do. I did find these babies on clearance though....maybe I should just send them next year. Bah humbug.

"Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas. Kiss my ass. Kiss his ass. Happy Hanukkah."