Monday, December 15, 2008

Where I Live

In Hawaii you take you shoes off before you enter anyone's home. In fact, most people remove their shoes before they enter their own home but Bryan and I are too lazy for that.



Now that we're accustomed to the shoe-removal, it's become a bit of a strategic element to my outfit planning.

Take for example last weekend when I went to a friend's holiday party and removed my heeled sandals at the door - only to be left tromping around in long jeans all evening. I could have worn my short jeans. But I didn't think they were as cute with my new top. So I went for the long jeans even though they look sort of silly without heels.

Just this past weekend it worked out really well for me. I donned my new skinny jeans with my silvery heels that kill my feet. I would never wear them to an all-night party except that I knew I'd take them off at the door. Ten minutes of cute shoes, confidence that I had a complete outfit, and then barefoot comfort all night. Perfect!

Although as I type this it occurs to me that there is a very obvious solution. Dresses! They work with and without shoes for any party.

And lest you think this is all about me, Bryan has an even harder time. His nicer outfits typically include slip on leather shoes with socks. But then he looks silly walking around a party in socks. And should he take the time to remove his socks at the front door? The obvious solution for him his slippahs at all times. I think he's pretty much okay with that.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

To Be Honest

My lovely friend Allison nominated me to participate in the 'Honest Weblog.' Always looking for inspiration to get me thinking in a different direction, I am more than happy to give this a shot.

I am to write ten honest things about myself.

1. I met Allison when I lived in Spain for a semester. Living in Spain was one of the best things I ever did. I've always thought of my self as shy, not adventurous, and fairly average. But I continue to amaze myself with all of the interesting things I do. I moved to Spain! We traveled to Morocco. I now live in Hawaii! If I could sit down across the table from myself I would try to get Jenni to understand that she really isn't shy, average or afraid of adventure.

2. I get really bad migraines. Sometimes they are so bad that I get sick. When we were in Morocco I got a very bad migraine one night when we were hanging out in a Moroccan home. I remember trying to lie down on a rock-hard bed/couch thing. I remember adorable children running around and screaming with delight that just made my head hurt even more. And to my utter shame, I remember throwing up in a stone hole in a courtyard. To this day I am terrified that I threw up in this home's water well. And if I actually did that, I cannot imagine how they fixed the situation.

3. I cannot stand the sound of blowing your nose. My nose is okay. Other people's? It takes all of my energy not to gag.

4. I don't get ice cream headaches. I get ice cream backaches. I am 100% serious. My brother gets them too and we can both confirm they hurt a lot.

5. I have a hard time telling people how much I care about them. I don't know why. I am worried I will really regret this later in life. I already regret that I wasn't more open when my grandmother was dying. At the time I was just too terrified. But I wish I could have put my in-the-moment comfort aside to have the long-term comfort of knowing I tried.

6. I will probably always consider myself a swimmer. I swam competitively for four years in high school. Since then, there have been full years that I have gone without swimming - even for fun. I probably should not categorize myself as a swimmer.

7. That said, I feel more comfortable in water than any other environment. I feel very settled and whole when I can float.

8. Just in the last few years I have realized that it is not a guarantee that I will be skinny. I have been 'tiny' for most of my life. I cannot even begin to tell you how many people have approached me throughout my life and asked "How do you stay so tiny? Do you eat like that normally? What size do you wear?" That attention always made me uncomfortable but I also always felt lucky. I do not get those questions anymore. And I eat better and am more active than I have ever been!

9. I dream of owning a flower shop someday.

10. I can't stand it when retail salespeople are rude. It makes me irate. I am their customer and they need to be polite and helpful to me. I have customers and I am always extremely polite and helpful to them. It bugs me so much that I am worried one day I will lose it and lash out at one screaming "be nice! smile!" And then I will be a crazy lady.

Friday, December 05, 2008

In The Spirit

The first Christmas we lived here we bought a tiny cut tree. I fell madly in love with it, decorated it with care and then stupidly placed it in front of our windows that get morning sun. It got sunburned and turned orange.

Last Christmas I was disturbed that the cut trees are shipped from Oregon and are stored in a refrigerated container. Imagine the damage to the earth to get them here! We ended up getting a living tree last year. A Pacific Island friendly pine tree. And I adored it just as much and had high hopes it would be our tree for years to come. I don't know exactly what happened to it but it died a slow and painful (for me) death.

This year I am stubborn. I think it's silly to get a tree that traveled across the ocean. And I think it's wasteful to buy something that will die. But I felt compelled to decorate. And so I decorated our two houseplants. They look ridiculous and will probably die just to punish me.

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On a related note, I have two parties to attend tomorrow! One is a wedding shower for a paddling friend and the other is holiday party hosted by a work friend. Considering I am both getting married AND celebrating the holidays, I'm pretty pumped for these parties. Bring on the drinks and the joyous times!

Monday, December 01, 2008

A Happy Thanksgiving

The meeting of the parents went well. Very well. They're each other's new BFFs.

We had a terrific visit, topped by yummy food and cozy snow. Here we are as one big family.