Bumpdate #2

Left - 16 weeks ; Right - 23 weeks

how far along: 23 weeks! Over halfway baby! I feel like it was just last week I peed on a stick, and yet in no time at all, I’ll be doing everything I can to bring on labor. Wild.

baby size: baby is the size of an eggplant! WHAT. Or 12 inches and 1 whole pound, to be technical. A whole pound!! Kind of blows my mind how fast this little peanut is growing in there, but I guess that’s also why I fall asleep at 8 these days. Who am I kidding, my favorite line now is to ask Jake if there’s a game on, so I have an excuse to fall asleep on the couch at 6:30 – pre bedtime nap if you will. Laugh all you want, they’re heavenly. I adore sleep and know come next year, it will elude me so I get it where I can.

gender: Well my “mama instinct” from the very beginning was right – It’s a Boy ! I was 50/50 for Old Wive’s Tales, and the Chinese gender chart didn’t really help me because I “conceived” right at the cusp of June/July, and they go either way. Heartbeat was showing consistently as a girl, 160 and then 148. I felt like it would be a boy from the week I found out, but all of my dreams where peanut made an appearance, it was a girl – so needless to say, I wasn’t sure in any way. The first 3 months I was sure it was a boy, but that’s only because my skin hadn’t broken out like crazy yet – it did, so then I wasn’t sure anymore. But I guess it turns out my first instinct was right, and I have a little man baking in there!

showing? Oh, yes. The last 4-5 weeks is when it went from being pregnancy chub to a legit belly, and I couldn’t love it more. The 4 weeks or so when it was just chub were a little tough on my confidence, but this bump is amazing. And what amazes me the most is that it feels like… nothing. On days when I’m not a) bloated from indigestion or b) don’t have round ligament pain, it really doesn’t feel like anything, it feels the same as when my tummy was flat. Except it is most certainly no longer flat! I imagined it to be really heavy or something I was aware of 24/7 and that may still come but for now, it’s a weightless bump. And it's really cool - i've never been more in awe of my body and what it's capable of. 

belly button: it’s still an innie, but it’s getting definitely stretched out these days. Still wondering if it’ll pop or not. It’s so stretched that I honestly forget what it used to look like.

weight gained: Let’s just say I wasted no time in gaining weight, my goodness. I also forgot how easily my body gains weight when I’m not being strict.  Pre-pregnancy I supplemented a lot with things like protein powder, and I didn’t eat dairy or much gluten. Well, pregnancy threw all of that out the window, and the first trimester alone I’d say carbs made up 70% of my diet. With that and the addition back in of dairy, and the lack of protein powders keeping me full but calories low, my weight crept up really fast. At this point I’m about 20 pounds up which is still on track for what I should gain the whole pregnancy (25-35 lbs for my BMI), but I’ve definitely put the bagels away for a rainy day – or for my husband to consume.  However, with feeling so much better I am able to work out about 2-4 times a week, and that’s obviously helping keep the weight gain on track, and not exorbent. Could've done without the weight gain in my face, but such is life - weight can be lost eventually. 

symptoms: Is shiny hair & good skin a symptom? #boypregnancy. Honestly, not many. My morning sickness ended around week 13, and was replaced by sleepiness, the occasional ache or headache, and hunger. If I don’t eat every 2 hours, the hunger settles in fast and furious. I get indigestion and heartburn on the daily, so I’m hoping that that old wive’s tale is accurate and he comes out with a head full of hair! But honestly, this trimester has really been quite lovely – I guess it’s called the magic trimester for a reason! If anything I have to remind myself that I have this additional weight at the front and I have to be more mindful about bending over or grabbing things, it’s easy to forget! Really though, I just feel really really grateful & lucky that me and baby are happy & healthy, above all else.  

cravings: LOL – ask my husband about the ketchup chips debacle and what a monster I became when he didn't bring them home (even surprised myself with that one!). Cravings are random, make no sense, and are kinda few and far between, thankfully. Mostly I just can’t get enough of oranges and apples currently, anything vinegary, MEAT, but have had a craving for a really decadent mac n’ cheese for weeks that I really oughta satisfy soon. And cake – I could go for cake any day, any time, any kind.

aversions: One thing – Mexican food. I don’t know why, but that’s the only thing that has stuck around. Well, that and Happy Planet fruit smoothies, but that’s the result of a very unfortunate early morning sickness situation. I’m still not crazy over salads, but I force them down when I have to. 

The past few weeks I’ve finally finally finally felt baby move for real on the outside – I had felt what I thought were a few flutters, and sometimes I could feel what I would consider ambiguous movement, but no legit kicks. I was never sure if I was feeling the infamous “flutter”, or the rumble of an intestine; now that I know it’s 100% baby, well it’s just the best – I know I’m going to miss these so much, even when I’m snuggling my little man for real. My favorite is when he moves into a position that I can feel his little bum or head on the side of my stomach. But also super crazy to me – like that’s my HUMAN in there that I’ve built from scratch. It’s pretty neat feeling my little ninja moving and shaking in there, I can’t wait for the kicks to get even stronger and feel them more and more – and for the grandparents and husband to feel it (he’s still a little wigged out so far, but this past weekend he finally felt a kick and I wish I could’ve recorded the mixture of amazement and shock on his face when he went “WOAH, what was that!? Was that it!!?”). And then they’ll eventually get so strong he’ll boot my rib or nail me in the bladder and I’ll chuckle to myself while I change my pants. Ahh pregnancy, tis beautiful.

Planes, Trains & Cruiseships – The Stuchberrys do Europe.

Recently a couple of people we know have been in Europe, and between that, the pasta and pizza they get to devour, and the fact that baby is currently the size of a French pastry, it’s made me so nostalgic for our honeymoon. So I’m going to talk about it. Only 5 months late. (and no, to answer the burning question: baby Stuchberry didn’t join us in anyway in Europe – he waited to be a Canadian made baby).

When we were figuring out what to do for the honeymoon, we brainstormed a lot. Did we want to do something relaxing and just go to Hawaii? No, we definitely wanted to do Europe, but what parts? Paris was a non-negotiable for me, and Croatia was a spot Jake really wanted to see because his Grampie was from there. We wanted to take a cruise for at least part of it because it was the most efficient way to see numerous cities without having to book hotels in 6 different places, but then what else? So, we booked flights in and out of Paris, 3 weeks apart, and then we figured it out from there. 2 nights in Paris, a train down to Barcelona for a night, get on a 7 day cruise in Barcelona that took us to Gibraltar, Marseilles, Genoa, Livorno & lastly, ended in Rome. Spend a few nights in Rome, train to Venice for a few more nights, then an overnight train back to Paris for a day, then home. Whew! It was a lot.

And it, was, PERFECT. I am so incredibly happy this is what we decided, because not only was it just the most amazing vacation I’ve ever taken, it was the most incredibly romantic 3 weeks. Something about discovering new cultures, languages you don’t speak, regions, food & people with your brand new husband – there is nothing like it and I will cherish this trip for the rest of my days.

I won’t go into too much detail about the trip because quite honestly, it would end up being 6 parts. I’ll stick to our 3 favorite stops, our least favorite stop, and maybe throw in a tip or two. First up, both of our undeniable favorite place, Paris.

Paris has been on my bucket list for as long as I can remember, and it not only lived up to the hype my head created, it far surpassed it. We were warned of “rude Parisians”, and we honestly never met one.  The weather was beautiful – hotter than either of us expected it to be and incredibly humid, but never did one rain drop hit us; we referred to our gorgeous weather the entire trip as the honeymoon gods smiling down on us. Our first day there after arriving to our hotel around 9 am, we quickly changed out of our airport gear and set off for some refreshments. We ventured a few blocks and settled on this corner café, and took a seat outside. The most chic, tiny, lovely man came to our table and started speaking to us in French, which quickly reminded me: in all the midst of planning a wedding, I had forgotten to brush up on the languages we’d be speaking!! And did you know, the French you learn in school is NOT the French they speak in France – make sense of that. So thankfully I knew to say Please, thank you, numbers & Café au lait – the very basic, very important things. He decided what we would have for lunch – Croque Monsieur – and even though Jake ordered a beer, he brought us two café au lait (this will forever be the moment Jake became a coffee drinker). It was the most delicious meal, like, I’m still thinking about it. A man came up to our table to ask for money and within 30 seconds, our lovely waiter was ripping a strip off of him in no time, sending him on his way to ensure our lunch wasn’t spoiled. We loved him, and we came back every day we were in Paris. I asked him at one point, “Parlez-vous Anglais?” to which he replied “No.”, so our relationship existed of very warm smiles and the very basic words.

From there, we walked. We had grabbed a map at the front desk of our hotel, and we walked and walked and walked – cost effective and in my opinion, the best way to discover a city. Everywhere you go in Paris, it really feels like the scene of a movie – it honestly is that beautiful; Montemarte feels as though you have travelled back in time when you’re wandering through the cobble stone streets, listening to street musicians playing on their accordions and passing the most quaint, beautiful little boutiques . We learned really quickly that traffic is insanity, and when you’re crossing the street – move it or literally lose it; they will honk mercilessly at you if they have to even take their foot off the gas to allow you to cross. The first day we decided to really go for it – walk to the Eiffel Tower – about 5 km each way from our hotel. It was about a 45 minute walk and it was worth it. When we caught a glimpse of it poking out over the trees, I literally gasped and my eyes welled up with tears. Even Jake was absolutely blown away when we got to it. It really does take your breath away. Of course it was insanely packed, but we walked around the park beside it, grabbed some drinks and parked it on a bench to admire where we were. Every part of me was bursting with excitement that after years of dreaming, I was here.

We arrived in Paris at 9 am, but had been up and travelling technically for 27 hours and trying to stay awake until bedtime was a massive challenge – the first night I woke up every hour and thought I had slept for 7; jetlag is weird. The next day we ventured out again, and strolled down to the Louvre which again, thanks Honeymoon Gods! Was not very busy at all, for Paris standards. We spent 4 hours in there and felt as though we barely hit the surface of what could be seen. We made a stop and introduced ourselves to the Mona Lisa (along with 3000 other people), ooh’d and awe’d at the jewellery exhibits (okay, just me), and took in as much history as possible. I hate to admit this, but most of the time I was more into the ornate gold frames than the artwork itself, except for the floral pieces, I was super into those. After even 4 hours, we probably only saw 1/3 of what the museum had to offer, but after a certain point our brains just couldn’t take anymore in. After a hotdog and water break, we went off adventuring again. The next day when we woke up, both of our legs were so sore we couldn’t understand what was going on, until I looked at my steps tracker and realized that in two days we had walked roughly 25 kms each day. It made my steady diet of butter, cheese and pastry feel a lot more deserved ;)

I knew I said I wasn’t going to go on and on, but as it turns out you can’t summarize how magical these places are in only a few paragraphs. So next up, I will tackle the cruise week, and Barcelona.

But first! Tips for a European City:

•    Walking shoes. You will see lots of locals in amazing get ups & footwear, but since you’ll do most of your adventuring by foot, just accept that you’ll be wearing sensible footwear. My Birkenstocks MORE than paid for themselves – after the first day and one blister, it was like walking on clouds.
•     Learn at least a few words in the native language. A lot of the locals speak a bit of English, but I found they were a lot more polite if they could see us trying. Then they’d humor us and switch over to English.
•    Don’t bother trying to wear your hair anything other than what it naturally wants to do. Atleast for us, when we went it was extremely humid, so I stopped wearing makeup after the second day, and let my hair do it’s own thing. Much more low maintenance, and you’ll fit right in. The running joke was if it was humanly possible for my hair to get bigger & curlier - & it always did. 
•    Pack a vibrant scarf and colorful lipstick – the two things I was bummed I didn’t have, every second woman had amazing scarlett lips and I didn’t even think to bring any. We only brought carry on luggage and I literally packed the day before - I was still in wedding fog and if I could, I'd have packed much better & smarter. Oh well, next time! 
• Use a map. Unless you buy an international sim card (and I will go into the pros and cons of that one later), your phone is going to be useless unless you’re in a WiFi zone – which thankfully a lot of restaurants do provide. All of our hotels had old school maps, and a lot of them have the landmarks displayed to make it easier to find them.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Bumpdate

My very first bumpdate! I loved reading this from other bloggers, so I have to admit I'm pretty excited that I get to do my very own. 

how far along: As of today, September 28, 2018 I am 14 weeks & 1 day.

baby size: baby is the size of a peach! Or 8.6 cm and 42 grams, to be technical. A peach just sounds so much cuter.

gender: as of yet, unknown – 20 weeks can’t come soon enough! I feel like it’s a boy, but all of my dreams where peanut is there, it’s a girl. I’m 50/50 for old wive’s tales on what it will be, because my hair is greasier than normal but my skin is nicer than usual, and I’m craving everything in general. Some days sweet, some days salty & sour.

showing? I certainly think so. I’ve got a fairly small frame and I feel like I started showing at 8 weeks. Prior to that it was just bloat that I was hoping was a tummy, but now it’s a legit teeny little pooch and I love it so much. It’s firm and I just rub it on the daily all the time. Every morning I used to wake up and check out my abs, and now I wake up to see how much more my belly has grown.

weight gained: I like to think I was still holding about 3-4 pounds of Europe baking/pasta left over when I actually got pregnant, so I’m up about 5-6 lbs, right on track for first trimester; but a good 10 lbs from true pre-pregnancy weight though.  Truthfully this part of the pregnancy has been the hardest for me. I’ve always been very fit and pride myself in being active and lean, and this first trimester just did not accommodate that. I would go to the gym maybe twice a week and just walk with some light weights afterwards – I was just too nauseous and exhausted to care. My brother got married on Labor Day weekend and the dresses I had lined up no longer fit me, and it was then that the realization truly hit that I needed to say goodbye to my pre-baby body until 2019. Thank god I’m pregnant during layering & leggings season is all I gotta say.

symptoms: This first trimester was a rough one. I was extremely nauseous all day – whoever came up with the phrase “morning sickness” can honestly get fucked, it’s all-day and I bet my money it was a male doctor who came up with that gem. I only actually threw up once, which if you know me is a blessing since I am phobic of throwing up of any sort, but every morning on the button I would have the worst dry heaves that I had to sit and breathe through. Brushing my teeth is a dangerous game because if I do it for too long or realize I have a toothbrush in my mouth, the heaving starts. I was also exhausted. I mean I would take hour long naps daily, and still be ready for bed at 7:30 – however that hasn’t really left yet. I started to experience physical changes almost immediately. I was bloated what felt like immediately, and I got boobs for the first time in my life by week 6! Jake’s favorite part of this whole thing, except they’ve been so tender he’s barely allowed to graze them. Also, good LAWD the mood swings. I’m already a fairly moody person, but holy dina the mood swings were next level. Thankfully they’ve started to calm down, but my poor husband was dealing with a crazy pants for a solid 2-3 weeks.

cravings: My cravings have been random but not too over powering as of yet – except the other week when I had the strongest craving for jello at like, 8:30 pm; not only did Jake deliver and bring TWO flavors home (he had been at hockey when I texted him), it was literally the most satisfying snack in a really long time. Apart from that, Tomato sandwiches with just tomatoes, pepper and mayo have been on my weekly rotation, and I haven’t had those in years. Mainly my cravings are crispy chicken and alfredo, so basically its father’s child just coming through in case I wasn’t 150% sure. Anything vinegary or sour, I can’t resist. I make greek salad and drink the brine when I’m finished. And, bread. Bagels, and sandwiches to be precise. That’s more because for a solid month or so it was the only thing I could stomach eating. Apart from sour fruit and the odd veggies & dip, veggies weren’t high on my list which surprised me since pre-pregnancy that made up 60-75% of my diet. I always said I would be the healthiest pregnant lady, nothing would slip... So basically something someone who's never been pregnant would say, because I legit did not care whatsoever.

aversions:  For the first 6 weeks, it was just vegetables. Literally I had a delicious veggie soup in the fridge that I eventually made Jake get rid of, because just looking at it sitting in the fridge would make me heave. Even as I type this, the thought of disposing of it STILL makes me feel sick. Week 7 the infamous “meat” aversion kicked in, basically if I have to cook it – I’m not going to eat it. I can’t even be in the kitchen as it’s cooking. However if I haven’t had enough protein and the hunger strikes (and DAMN is the pregnancy hunger real), I will crave protein like no other and will murder a burger. Although we had meat lover’s pizza the other night and the meat grossed me out so much I picked all of it off until it was just a cheese pizza and Jake looked at me as if I had just smeared it all over the walls.

A few weeks ago we had our first ultrasound, where we finally got to see our little peanut. It was the most surreal, amazing, wonderful moment of my life. Jake and I in that dark little room, and all of a sudden – there’s our peanut! It’s real, and really in there!! I could’ve watched it move and squirm for hours on end, it was just the neatest thing I’ve ever experienced. The tech made a comment about how active it was, and how strong the heartbeat was – the pride that swelled in my chest over my active little bean almost made me cry. The week after, we met with our OB/GYN and actually HEARD the heartbeat – Jake recorded it and I’ve watched it a good million times. It made it just so much more real, like okay, you’re really in there, small tiny human – I haven’t just had the world’s longest flu this summer. And it kind of made everything more tangible and manageable. Like, if feeling sick everyday and having a stuffy nose and turning into a she-dragon on the dime is what it takes to keep you happy and healthy and safe in there to summersault away for the next 6 months, let’s do this kid. Worth it.

Hi Peanut

Hi Little Baby Stuchberry,

We're so very excited you decided to join us, we can't wait to meet you.

March 28th, 2019 

Top 10 Tips to keep the Bridezilla at bay.

Well, the wedding has come, and the wedding has gone. 14 months of agonizing planning and decision making, and it was gone in the blink of an eye. And the day was PERFECT. If anything went wrong, I was blissfully unaware, drinking my expensive ass champagne I splurged on (because *hopefully*, you only get married once), and enjoying every little piece of the day - from the wake up, to getting ready, to the ceremony, to the dancing. The only hiccup that I was even made aware of was that the caterers didn't bring wine glasses. LOL, k. The entire day was filled with love, laughter, happy tears, gangsta rap (what else would I play in the car on the way to the ceremony!?), my favorite people/colors/flowers, ahh I'm still just on cloud 9 thinking about it. I wish I could do it 100 times over again. Wedding Groundhog Day. However, I was not alone in being surprised that I wasn't a gigantic Bridezilla asshole. I'm not even being self deprecating, it's in my nature to become an asshole and edgy when I'm stressed, so the fact that I stayed mostly chilled out is in part of: my amazing support team, my husband being very understanding and knowing when we needed to talk my "hulk with a veil on" down (aka our nickname for my anxiety), and the unreal team I hired. Below I have a quick 10 tips that I either picked up from past brides, or learned myself that I would recommend to any future bride:

1. Hire a wedding planner - at the very least, a day of coordinator. I had both and let me tell you, worth every single penny. Were there hiccups the day of? Couldn't tell you, because if there were, I never knew. When we originally hired Gabby, Jake was reluctant to see why we needed to pay someone to make sure all the details were going as they needed to. Let's just say that by the end of the day, he no longer felt that way. Plus, Gabby was seriously the shit and just kept everything calm and happy. I would recommend her to anyone in the Okanagan area.

My Seester, aka the MOH of my Dreams <3 

2. Give your cellphone to your MOH. I had read this tip months ago and what my sister (MOH) did to take it one step further was give her phone number to my day of coordinator, so while I was blissfully enjoying my day, getting ready etc, Alicia was in constant contact with Gabby over scheduling, etc. You'd be very surprised how many people will text the bride the day of the wedding asking questions, so handing your phone over to someone who can politely text back "Kindly send this message elsewhere", is very encouraged. I had my phone on me while getting ready to see well wishes, but any time Alicia saw me texting anything other than "thank you", she'd stick handle to have me stop and replace my phone with a glass of champagne. It was lovely.

3. Don't sweat the small things. For instance: my place cards were printed at Staples and on Friday when we were organizing them at the hall, we realized 5-6 were missing. It was too late to re-print them at staples but I still had the template, so when I got to my parents house after the rehearsal we printed the missing ones from my dad's computer. So 5-6 placecards were different colored cardstock paper, and I didn't give a singular f-ck. There are so many details at play here, you can't lose it over little inconsequential things or you will be a vibrating ball of stress. Plus you need to remind yourself: apart from you & maybe your groom, no one else knows if certains details haven't been executed perfectly.

4. *Try* to stay relatively sober. Not because you don't want to be the drunk bride (unless you do! You do you.), but because you're going to want to remember everything, and the more coherent your brain is, the easier to achieve this. I had glasses of champagne the morning of, but once the day started I don't think I actually finished a single drink. I was too busy saying hello to everyone, dancing, and just trying to take every second in. Everyone thought I was drunk because the euphoria you're feeling makes alcohol all but unnecessary.

5. Understand that you're not going to be able to say hi to everyone, and that's okay. There was a chunk of guests I either didn't even see, or only said a very brief hello to. At first I felt guilty because they're there to see you and celebrate you, but it's just not going to be possible to do that unless you have a very intimate wedding. We had 96 guests total, and even then I feel like I only said hi in passing to a few people I really wanted to talk with, or I didn't even see certain guests at all. And you know what? It's okay. And if they're pissed about it, they need to lower their expectations.

6. Stay hydrated! With something other than champagne. The nerves/heat/adrenaline all take a toll on you and the last thing you want is a headache halfway through the night. Poor Jake had a nasty headache and definitely rallied through to the end, but if you can avoid it, even better.

7. Do plan for plenty of photo time, or even extra. Photos were super important to me, and I didn't want to feel rushed or like we didn't get the shots we wanted. Also, make a list of shots you want and give them to your photographer ahead of time - it speeds up the family photos immensely and cuts down on wasted time.

8. Do mental check in's with yourself, and physical check in's with your husband. Every once in a while I would stop and think "B, are you taking everything in? If not, come on back down to earth please. Look around you, you love every single person here, and they're here for the two of you!" because I just so badly wanted to make sure I took stock of everything. It's so cliche but god damn does the day go by fast - you have to make it a priority to stay in the present and take it all in. You also need to take a few minutes with your new husband, look around together, and take in that blissful feeling as a couple. It is intoxicating to say the least.

9. Test run your hair & makeup, and don't use brand new products. We chose May for the wedding because I sweat like a Hungarian Log thrower, and I didn't want to be a melting bride in July, gross. However, mother nature decided our day should actually be July like weather, and it was hot AF. Thankfully I had test-runned all the makeup I was wearing that day for longevity & it's ability to keep my oiliness at bay; I don't remember touching up my makeup once, except my lipstick. I had also tested out my hair style numerous times before the day, so I knew it wasn't something I was going to be fidgeting with all day. I know I'm the 12,345th person to say this, but, the week before your wedding is NOT the time to try any new facial products or regimen. Stick to your tried & true, test out the new stuff afterwards, or months ahead of time.

10. Don't be afraid to Delegate!! I CANNOT stress this enough!! So it just so happens that 8 weeks-ish before the wedding, my boss decided to go on a spiritual awakening and find himself (not really, he just jumped ship at THE WORST TIME EVER), and suddenly I was left in a spot where my once comfortable, stable job was still stable, but now with a lot more responsibility and tasks and projects, and literally could not have been worse timing. Professionally, an amazing opportunity, 100% - it just would've been wonderful to have had it happen in June instead. Nevertheless, it was one more thing on my already full plate, that I didn't have the option of ignoring. So after weeks of them badgering me to give them jobs, I finally unclenched my hands off my to-do list, and let my parents take on some tasks. Let me tell you, even the most menial little things (ie, pick up poster board and glue sticks for the seating chart) being done accurately, without you? It's amazing how much it takes off your shoulders. If you have things that can be done by someone else - who you A)TRUST  B) will do it how you have instructed - aka they won't put their own spin on it, and C) will do it within your deadline, DO IT. Don't be a hero, it's actually what will ensure the Bridezilla Hulk comes raging out. Delegate.

Last but not least? My god, have fun. It was truly the best day of my life, I'm pretty sure it was for Jake too ;), but we both cannot believe that just like that - it's done. Enjoy every single moment, dance to every single song that comes on that you love, take a look around and realize that every single person there is special to you two in some way or another, and just enjoy the absolute shit out of the day, hiccups & all - they will make for great stories.

"That's what Makes you Beautiful" will ALWAYS make me deliriously happy on a dance floor. Especially my own. 

"Hey, remember when we bottled 150 bottles of wine for the wedding, our caterers didn't bring glasses, and now we have like 120 bottles of wine left in our garage? Yeah, good times" *clink*.

Mrs.

I have a husband! I am officially someone’s wife. 
I have a head full of memories.
I have a heart bursting with joy that makes happy tears come real easy.
We are home from the most epic honeymoon & when jetlag gives me my brain back I will begin sorting through pictures and putting everything into order to share every little detail with you! Including how to keep from losing your mind. 
Until then, thank you for well wishes & love, boy did we feel it - as we told anyone we met, married life is the best and I fully think everyone should do it ;) 
Xo

The terrible, no good day.

Only slightly dramatic title for what really can be boiled down to a hangover, but I digress. Fresh off of an epic, amazing, wonderful bachelorette party - which I will blog about next because it needs its own moment - Monday came hard and fast and I wasn't ready, and what's worse is I feel like as I slide down my late twenties, every time I drink I catch a cold too. Clubs are crawling with germs and I always pick them up. So my ears were plugged, I am coughing and my throat hurts, and my voice is about 3x louder than it should be (on account of the plugged ears), and I sound like I'm a lifelong smoker. Despite my best efforts and the workhorse that is MAC foundation, nothing could hide that my insides were feeling green and not living their best life.

So Monday morning hits me like a ton of bricks, and instead of taking it off - preplanning for my inevitable uselessness - I booked a client meeting. Two hours out of town, in what would be my first official in person meeting and my chance to make a good impression; why wouldn't I plan for that the day after my weekend? Well I didn't, I just didn't look at my day-planner properly and didn't realize until Friday, and by that time it was too late to reschedule. I am nothing if not a professional, and with the wedding being mere weeks away, my time is pretty booked so I needed to get it done. 

I won't get into how it went per se, but the meeting wasn't the best I've ever had. However, if it doesn't challenge you it doesn't change you, and my charm will win out in the end, let's just put it like that. But still, a girl could've been sleeping and having a relaxing coffee instead & it wouldn't have been the worst thing. Who knows, maybe the fact that my voice was 10 times louder than it needed to be didn't help matters, but it's anyone's guess. 

So I begin my trek back home and am down to a quarter tank so I stop to get gas, pay with my credit card and choose the type, then get to filling. Except it took me a solid 60-90 seconds before I realized that my selection hadn't gone through and the gas wasn't pumping - that beeping I could hear was in fact the pump telling me to fucking look alive. I say 90 seconds and I think it was embarassingly longer than that still. Tequila, you beautiful evil liquid, I blame you for this. 

But like any terrible, no good bad day - there's a light to the end of the tunnel. After stopping for groceries which should never been done hungover for the mere fact alone that you WILL get the brand new cashier and she WILL be slow and God damn it Marjorie can you just enter in the code properly so I can get the frig out of here, after that, I was home. And waiting for me at home was an early wedding present from my mom & dad that had been delivered & set up earlier in the day that sang a seductive tune to me as I got out of the car, and whimpered up the stairs. "Climb onto me B, you earned this." "Come for a spin girl, feel what luxury feels like". At age 28, hungover, maybe definitely sick but mostly just complaining, a brand new mattress & bedding has never looked so god damn sexy before. 

And what a wonderful, lovely afternoon from then on it turned out to be.

Was this also an opportunity to try out my new teeny tripod I'm taking to Europe? Maybe, maybe not.