New member of the household

No, we are not getting a baby.

No, we are not getting a pet.

We got a chair.

This chair, in fact. We got a matching ottoman as well, but I'm unable to locate a picture of it online. When we get the chair moved and settled in, we will take its picture and post it just like proud parents.

This weekend, Matt and I went to Pier One. One of their local stores is going out of business, and we thought it might be nice to see if they had any napkin rings that match ours on sale. We could use a few more. But while browsing through the store, we discovered the chair. Comfortable, big enough to tuck your feet on, a color that goes with everything... we fell in love. However, since we weren't really in the market for furniture, we decided to step back for a day or two. The kind lady at the cash register overheard our conversation and suggested that if we liked the chair Saturday, we would like it even more on Monday.

Boy, was she right. I called the store today, and the chair/ottoman set that was almost $400 on Saturday was now $200.

Matt and I decided that we needed it. Alas, he's in Chicago for an interview, so I hopped on my pink 18 speed bike (man, I should get a new bike) and sped over to Pier One. I arrived, out of breath, and bought it. Tomorrow, when Matt gets back to town, we'll go pick it up.

If I'm this excited about a chair (our very first furniture purchase as a couple), I can't imagine when we get a cat. Or a baby. It's going to be madness.

Weddings on the brain

Lately, I've been having wedding nightmares. I don't know if it's just because I spend a reasonable amount of time planning the wedding or what, but I'm having them at least a couple of times a week. Madness!

In last night's dream, I wore my wedding dress to the dress rehearsal. Dress rehearsal, right? It made sense. But everyone laughed. Then, the next morning, I slept in and forgot that I had to get my hair and makeup done. When I finally made it to the church, and the ceremony was about halfway through, I realized I had forgotten to write the portion of the service I am writing. I was taking notes right up there on the altar and trying to discreetly pass them to one of my bridesmaids to read.

What's wrong with me?

Girl time

Friday night was an absolute treasure. Friends Geri, Anne and Janine came over for the evening. We opened a bottle of Chardonnay, dug out some beers, and dove into the four-layer Whole Food dip and blue corn chips that Geri brought with her. We chatted, ate more food (Lean Totino’s pizza rolls, some only-slightly-burnt Snickerdoodles) and watched Center Stage, one of my favorite girly movies. Okay, it’s a terrible movie, but I always enjoy watching it. Janine crashed at my place afterwards and we spent most of the next day lazing around the house, watching TV and chatting.

What a great night! I sometimes forget how much I miss classic girl time, until I have it again. I’ve got to remember to make sure those things happen every now and then.

Dreams

I woke in the wee hours of the morning to loud noises. For a minute I was dazed, until I realized the noises were Matt. He was clapping his hands together, loudly, approximately six inches from my ear.

Groggily, I asked, “What are you doing?”

He looked at me like the answer was obvious, and responded, “Well, you were the one who wanted to get married by clapping.” And then he went back to sleep.

Honeymoon choices

We started off our honeymoon plans very gung-ho about going to China. We realized immediately that we didn't want to navigate it by ourselves, and started looking into tour packages. They seemed reasonably affordable, and pretty interesting, though none of the tours hit every spot we were hoping to go.

Then, suddenly, the tides turned in our house. We both started thinking about going to Portugal. Actual travel time is shorter and the trip is a little "easier" (Chinese > Portugese). There's still cool cultural stuff to see, but there are also beaches in case we realize we need relaxation time above all else.

What would you do?

$5 Special

Going to the movies used to be a pretty special occasion in my house. Growing up, my family went to a movie or so a year (usually around Thanksgiving time, for whatever reason). And even when I began to really enjoy movies, I was much more of a rental girl than a theatre girl.

This has all changed. On a rainy Tuesday night last November, Matt, my friend Alison and I went to the movies to see the Departed. It had been getting rave reviews; we figured we should check it out. Matt walked up to the register and asked for two tickets. The baby-faced guy behind the counter said, five dollars. Assuming he meant five dollars apiece, Matt handed him a ten. The guy gave us five in change! Apparently, the Jackson Road Quality 16 has special Tuesday deals that appear totally unadvertised on their signs. First special? You can get a ticket for $5. (Okay, that part is advertised. The sign says “Bargain Tuesday, $5.00.”) The second special? Apparently tickets are buy one, get one free! So for five dollars, we both get in to the movie. Five dollars doesn’t even buy you popcorn and soda. This deal is stunning to both of us.

Since then, we’ve made it a habit to see movies on Tuesdays, when we can. We’ve seen Pan’s Labyrinth, The Last King of Scotland, Borat and Zodiac. If only we had discovered this gem three years ago when we started here at Michigan!

I am terrible at Lent

Well, my Lenten resolutions are 50/50. I have not played a computer game since Lent began. However, I also have not gone running. Not even once. I've picked up my working out a bit - definitely have used the spare bedroom elliptical a few times - and have gone walking. But nothing even close to running. If only Adrienne were here... with her here, even training for a half marathon was relatively simple. Running meant good chats three times a week! Now, running would mean freezing my butt off with no music and no companion. Not nearly as fun.

The last couple of weeks were eventful. I finished up a lot of schoolwork and then took on Spring Break. I got to catch up with Mary, went to the Chop House for my birthday, and purchased all of the favors for our wedding. Matt and I went out to Boston to visit his family (and friends), where they surprised me with a carrot cake and many presents - all books! We also got to play with our adorable nephew (well, okay, my nephew-to-be), who is learning to crawl and to slobber all over things. A funny slobbering picture will be posted soon, if I can get it off of Matt's phone...