Hiatus.

Sorry it's been slow going.  I have some things I want to talk about here, namely my new fitness regime.  However, I'm in the midst of a major wave of job applications to finish and that just has to take priority.  The novelty of not having a job to go to on a regular basis has officially worn off.  Fingers crossed please!

Put a ring on it!

So, after the nice intense little post that was Saturday, it's back to the fun stuff.  We have big news here tonight at Chez McGee... our rings arrived!!

They're quite lovely.  Ari's is a rounded comfort fit band with a brushed finish in the center framed by two polished bands.  I got a special inscription in it that I'm quite pleased about.

My band is made up of a chain of little white gold dots with diamonds set in the center of 7 of the dots.  It's a bit funky, and I totally love it.  (I may or may not have been unable to sit here looking at the box, writing a post extolling its virtues and not put it on again.  But you never know, maybe I have willpower.  Shush you, I see that smirk!)  I decided before I bought it that I'm wearing my band on my right hand (both my pretties need to have their own space to show off).  Mainly I did this because I don't like the feel of two rings on one hand.  Plus, fun fact, did you know that wearing wedding rings on the left hand (and the story about how it's closer to your heart or whatever - as if the physical muscle that pumps your blood has anything to do with your marriage*, but I digress) is pretty much a modern American custom?  In most countries around the world including Europe and Africa, wedding bands are worn on the right hand.  So really I'm just being continental.  Or something.

And because I couldn't resist one more of them looking all cosy together in their little box, here's one for the road.

We bought them from a lovely couple, Gayle and Herman at 1,873 Unusual Wedding Rings in the diamond district.  They were great to work with, fair, understanding and friendly.  I highly recommend working with them.  

*Once, when shopping for my wedding gown, I popped into look at Cartier, and the saleswoman literally told me that I have to wear my wedders on my left hand because that is the finger that blesses your marriage and it's closer to your heart and you ruin your vows if you don't wear it there!  She said if I really didn't want to wear two rings on one finger, I could move my engagement ring to my other hand.  Let's just say it was hard to conceal my "you are fucking crazy" face.

Three months and counting...

Originally I had planned for today the big checklist of things to do, but when I woke up this morning, that somehow seemed inadequate (the fact that I haven't actually finished the to-do list notwithstanding).

Today is Saturday June 5th, 2010.  92 days from today I will be getting married.  Exactly three months.

In the midst of planning a wedding, it is so incredibly easy to lost the plot.  What I mean is, if you get married for anything other than love, you're a fool.  That's not to say that you have to get married only for love, there are lots of other great things a marriage can bring like kids or stability or just someone to eat dinner with every night.  But marriages are hard work.  It takes a lot of effort to make them work.  Now, obviously I can't say this from experience, but I can't imagine anything other than love being a strong enough incentive to sustain a successful marriage.

Unfortunately, the business of marriage and the business of weddings are quite different animals.

Weddings are about menu choices and invitation options.  Dress fittings, china patterns, the perfect shoes and the bottom line.  Things you just have to have.  They are about pleasing everyone you've ever met while still trying to stay true to who you are as a couple (aka mission impossible).  They are the worlds' biggest confused jumble of pretty and stressful.

Last night I stayed up an hour+ after Ari had gone to bed looking for a new china pattern because the one we had chosen is discontinued (two weeks before my shower).  I tossed and turned another two.  Then a little less than three hours later I should wake up to stress about the invitations.  I'm ready to be done with this.  Don't get me wrong, I love my wedding and it hasn't even happened yet.  But in my lifetime I have traveled to Morocco, gone away to both college and graduate school, taken SATs, auditioned for plays, moved to Australia for six months, flown on the trapeze with no safety lines, written a masters paper in two days and agreed to the ultra-mega-huge life change of marrying someone.  But the fear, anxiety and stress associated with any of those things pales in comparison to the gnawing, ongoing unrest stirred up by planning a wedding.

What I realized, at 5am, when I was staring at the ceiling pondering wedding invitations and Ari snuggled up in his sleep, was that I had lost the plot.

I am not getting married for the wedding.  I am beyond thrilled about my dress and the great band and the delicious (like omgz amazing delicious!) cake.  But I'm not doing this to be the princess for a day (gag me with a spoon, please).  I am getting married because I want Ari to still be snuggling up in his sleep when we're 70.  After five and a half years, what I feel for him is so all-encompassing, it becomes harder to describe, and frankly, is so personal, that if I could, I'd tell him and not the internet (sorry, internet).

So three months from today when I'll probably be so nervous and excited that I'll be up at this hour again and the frenzy of wedding day activity begins, I hope that I can step back and pick up the plot.  Three months from today I marry the person who still gives me the good kind of tummy rumblins.  Three months from today I irrevocably join with the person I want to hug me when I'm sad.  And I'll be half of a whole but it won't make me anything less, I'll just be that much better for it.  Three months from today I become a wife.

Cool Pools

When I am a real grown up and rich enough to build my dream house, it will have a pool that either looks like this

or this.

 Top image of The Joule Hotel in Dallas, TX, bottom image source unknown.

I would like to live in this tent

and eat this fruit

for the rest of my life.

Images by A Bryan Photo via Snippet and Ink.

Free pet vaccinations in DC this Saturday.

As a service to city residents, the DC Department of Health is hosting a free animal vaccination clinic this Saturday June 5th to help pet owners comply with the DC law which requires that all cats & dogs over four months old be vaccinated against rabies and distemper. The clinic will feature free vaccinations for both cats and dogs from 1-4pm at Fire Station #33 (101 Atlantic Street SE). Cats and dogs must be at least three (3) months old to receive a rabies vaccination, and all pets must be brought to the clinic by a responsible adult. Dogs must be secured on a leash and cats must be secured in a carrier box. Rabies & distemper shots are free with the purchase of a DC dog license, and the license fee is $15 for a spayed or neutered dog and $50 for an unspayed or unneutered dog. Dog license fees must be paid by check or money order payable to "DC Treasurer"; no cash will be accepted at the clinic.

 (At the top there, that's Cromer, and he's available for adoption in DC.  Check out his deets at Petfinder.)

This may or may not have made me cry a little.

I'm a big sap.  Don't judge me.  It's an adorable proposal.