Thursday, July 30, 2009

Don't You Think I Need This

*****
Thank you for all of your sweet comments and emails regarding my wedding dresses.  Although it's a personal thing to open up to the masses, you all have been so kind and I can't thank you all enough.  I will continue with Our Story, just as soon as I can put together another post! 
*****




This is an email I sent Hubs yesterday, no joke.  Thought we might need to open this up for public opinion.


From: Miss E
To: Hubs


Subject: Don't you think I need this? 


I found this on Etsy...


A) it's amazing
B) it's vintage
C) it's the EXACTLY right size for my itty bitty fingers
D) free shipping

I'm just saying...
















So what do you think, dear friends?  Do I need it?  {Do I? Do I?}


xoxo

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

A Very UnBride Bride

I want to continue with the Story of Us (I haven't forgotten) but I'm going to take a small jump ahead.  Kelly at Kelly's Korner started a Show Us Your Life series and this past week showcased wedding dresses.  In honor of the theme, I thought I'd share some pics from our special day.

Now, I did things a little differently.  No white dress, no veil....instead, I wore two dresses.  Go with me here, friends.  I had my reasons.

I did not want an overly traditional wedding.  I did not want the big white ornate dress and veil.  It just didn't feel right for me.  It was just too much bride for me.  And I just didn't want to be that much of the center of attention.  I already broke out in hives just thinking of everyone's eyes on me for. an. entire. day.

I based my whole vision off of a necklace and earring set that my Grammy wore at her wedding in 1947.  From there, I decided to stick with a vintage theme.  The first dress I chose was simple, easy to walk in, and showed off the jewelry perfectly.

The second dress was a sleek, elegant, 1940's-era design.  It captured my grand vintage party theme just perfectly.

 
 


More to come!  And I promise to fill in the gaps between our first meeting and wedding.  All in good time, dear readers!

xoxo

Saturday, July 25, 2009

New Music On My Ipod

Have you all heard of Marie Digby?  If not, you must check her out.  She has the most fun, catchy lyrics and her music is guaranteed to put you in a light-hearted, good mood.

Some of her hits include "Say It Again," "Miss Invisible" and a cover of Rihanna's "Umbrella."  

Her mother is Japanese and her father is Irish American.  Isn't she just cute as a button?!

Happy listening!

xoxo

Friday, July 24, 2009

BlogHer Lust


You know how in a sorority (sub-in whatever situation draws the same-type feelings), you start out as a pledge.... 

you are so excited just to be a part of the group and make new friends.... 

you look up to the older (read: infinitely more cool than you can ever aspire to be) girls... 

you want to do everything they do because they are just so dang pretty, witty, fun, exciting...?

I thought that as an adult those situations would be few and far between.  I mean, c'mon, I'm a full-fledged adult now. 

But I might as well be that 19-year old freshman Pi Phi pledge again because I wish so much that I were at the big BlogHer Conference this weekend.  Just to bask in the presence of all those amazing, strong, funny, beautiful, successful women. 

Am I the only one who feels this way??

xoxo

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Working Girl



I'm finally at the point in my job where I've been with my company for about a year.  I am no longer the "newbie."  I have established myself as a strong leader, hard worker and dedicated team member. I am helping in the hiring process of our new associates, both internal and external, and working on several projects to help further my team.  


The amazing part is that I never believed I'd get to this point again.  I was disheartened when my former company - a large banking institution - went under last summer.  I had worked so hard, made so many connections and proved myself as a young woman with a bright future.  To have all of that swept away in a short amount of time was a lot to handle.  Top that with many of my co-workers being worse off than me (I emotionally shared their pain and troubles), some moving states and one even attempting to take his life and you can imagine I was a complete mess.  Oh, and Hubs was preparing for his final semester of law school and the ramp up to the bar.  


What can I take away from all of this?  Of course, the old adage rings true: What doesn't kill you makes you stronger.  No doubt that is true.  But I also learned - and am continuing to fully grasp - my own strength.  The strength of a {sheltered} girl from Scottsdale, the strength of a strong and compassionate woman, the strength of a young wife and future mother.  I am thankful for these trials and for the lessons I've learned.  Not only because I worked to help my family through a very transitional period in our new, young life, but also because I excelled at it, I loved it, I thrived at it.  


xoxo

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

In Other News



And now for non-sleepy relatedness...


I just wanted to give you an update on my day-to-day life.  Can I tell you how nice life is now that THE BAR is done and out of our lives?  I say this with love as I know many of you, your spouses, friends, etc. are preparing for this monster at the end of this month.  And I wish you the hugest amount of luck and love.  It's not easy being the one to take it, but it's not easy being the one to watch your loved one take it either.  The silver lining is that it too will pass.  I would liken it childbirth, although I can't say from experience.  Regarding childirth, that is.  But you know how women say that the birthing is so incredibly painful in the moment and then the memory of the pain fades with time?  Well, I think it's like the bar, except without the newborn infant to care for after.  


It's still somewhat fresh in our minds, but slowly fading from memory.  There are still mornings I wake in a panic thinking that Hubs needs to do X, Y or Z.  That we still have this or that hurdle to pass before the next stage of our lives starts.  


When we're not waking in cold sweats, I can happily report that our days are filled with complete and utter normal-ness.  We get up at the same time (or if you read my last post, we get up when Hubs opens the blinds and rolls my body out of bed), get ready together, watch the news Tour de France coverage, make breakfast/coffee and leave the house at the same time.  We come home in the evenings, make dinner, drink a bottle of champagne workout and fall asleep together.  This is the first time in our whole marriage that I can say this about our life.  


I'm beyond happy with this new stage.  After all the chaos of school and the bar, I'll take a little normal - hell even boring - for awhile.  Now how can I quiet my screaming uterus long enough to enjoy this calm?


xoxo

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Part II The Results

So now for the good part...the results.  


Basically I have no clear-cut results.  It was determined that I do not have any apnea episodes overnight.  Meaning that I do not stop breathing for a significant amount of time that would interrupt the quality of sleep that I get.  I get into REM sleep, albeit it takes me some time, but I progress throughout the four stages of sleep fairly normally.  The doctor notes that I grind my teeth louder than anyone he's heard in the past 4 or 5 years.  So there's a few thoughts: that the grinding interrupts my sleep enough to make me tired throughout the day or that the grinding is an early sign of apnea that hasn't progressed into anything major (that would be picked up by the monitors).  


There is a chance that a CPAP machine still could help (if this is a case of early apnea) or that I could take medicine at bedtime to help relax me/my body/my muscles enough to calm the grinding and hopefully get better quality sleep.


I also take a medication for a heart condition that I have (nothing serious, but something I take medicine for) that could possibly be adding to and/or causing daytime sleepiness.  


So now that I've documented all of my ailments to the Interwebs (and sound slightly like a crazy old lady with all of the aforementioned ailments) the conclusion is that we will play around with my medications to see what makes me feel better, i.e. AWAKE during the day like a normal person


I have halved one of the heart medications and so far there has been no significant reduction in sleepiness.  I might have slept until 2pm on Sunday while Hubs was golfing.  However, I have experienced more hot flashes and racing heart beats than a menopausal woman.  A window into the future, if you will?  But it could take time.  Patience, dear Miss E, patience!


So, as my dad told me, being adult sometimes sucks.  Ok, maybe he didn't say exactly that.  But he reminded me that sometimes in this life there are no clear-cut answers.  Sometimes we have to keep tasting the soup to see how it tastes and add spices as needed.  So I'm making soup, folks.  And it's kinda gross right now, but hopefully I'll get it right.


***And if you made it this far, you are an amazing friend.  Muah!***


xoxo

Monday, July 20, 2009

Part I: Sleep Study

So I've gotten a lot of questions regarding my sleep study and the results.  If you wish to read on, I've detailed the story of the study studies that were performed:

I arrived at the sleep center after dinner on a Monday night showered, sans makeup/lotion/hair products and already in my comfy pj's.  The next 1.5 hours consisted of wiring me up.  I had 10+ electrodes stuck to my scalp and face, two leads on my chest/abdomen, two leads on each of my legs and an oxygen tube in my nose.  Oh, and an oximeter on my left index finger.  I do have a few pics that I'm not sure if I'll share or not....they are not the most flattering of pics.

I was finally ready for sleep just before 11pm.  I was led to a hotel/motel type room with an attached bathroom, tv and bed.  Once all of my wires were confirmed to be sending the appropriate signals back to the "command center," I was given the ok to fall asleep.

Lights went out, the door shut and I start to panic slightly; I'm supposed to fall asleep in a weird room, alone, without my husband or dogs or the comfort of my own bed?  Luckily, since my issue seems to be with staying awake, not falling asleep, I quickly fell under.  The next thing I remember is my phone ringing, waking me at 7:30am.  

I hear my name through the intercom in the pitch dark of the foreign room and I take a moment to remember where I am.  Before I know it, the tech is turning on the lights, unhooking (some) of my wires and leading me to the command center where I'm told there is cereal I can eat while I wait for further instructions.  

Now when I wake up on a typical morning, it is because a) my alarm has been snoozing on/off for over an hour and Hubs finally kicks me out of bed or b) my alarm has been snoozing on/off for over an hour and a half and now I'm late for work so I jump up to make it there a-sap.  The pressure of not being too late helps me wake, along with copious amounts of coffee.  The morning of this sleep study I am afforded neither a snooze button nor coffee.  {Well, to be fair, they offered me decaf coffee.  But I feel like that is about as effective as trying to get drunk off of an O'Doul's.  Sorry, it's true.}

A new tech comes in and explains that I will need to stay the whole day in the center for additional testing.  That they will will leave me wired and test me while "napping" which will be allowed every 2 hours for a maximum of 20 minutes.  The big problem with this?  I am *not* allowed to sleep in between naps.  The saving grace was that MJ's memorial services were televised on every station that day, so at least I had more to keep me entertained than Judge Judy or Days of Our Lives.  

Before each nap, I was asked to complete a questionnaire in which I had to tell what I had done for the past 1.5 hours and rate how "awake" I felt on a scale of 1-10.  Eh, I'm sitting in a bed watching TV pinching myself so I don't sleep.  How "awake" do you think I feel?  Oh, and did I mention they had a Vegas-like camera in the ceiling, with someone watching me to make sure I didn't fall asleep?  Yes, yes they did.  

After my fourth nap of the day, the lights turned on, the tech came in and they started pulling off the wires.  I was handed a flimsy black comb (you know, like the ones they handed out on picture day in elementary school for last minute hair taming)  to comb out the goo in my hair that had been holding the electrodes and a washcloth to remove the adhesive leftover on my chest and legs where the other leads had been stuck.  Then, I was dismissed.  

I walked out of the office at 3:30pm that Tuesday, hit with hot summer Arizona heat and the realization that most of my day off (my precious day off!) had already passed me by. 

Stay tuned for Part II:Results coming next....(just because this is so riveting)

xoxo

Monday, July 13, 2009

Bloggy Friend in Need

Hey all,

Remember how Jessica just did my big makeover?  Well, her dad has been in the hospital in very critical condition for over a week now.  Please send Jessica and her family some prayers and good thoughts. 

xoxo

Monday, July 6, 2009

Happy Birthday, Miss E!



This past week I spent time with my family on Coronado Island, CA.  It was breathtakingly beautiful with perfect, sunny weather. It was an all-around fun and relaxing time.  It's times like these when I'm reminded how lucky I am to have such an amazingly supportive and cohesive family.  We are more than family, we are friends.  And I don't mean that in a cheesy way; rather, we genuinely like to spend time with one another. 


Wednesday, July 1st was my birthday. 28! I succesfully convinced the men-folk {*ahem* my Dad) to watch The Proposal (I really wanted to see Public Enemies or Transformers, but couldn't get majority buy-in. So The Proposal it was!). Then we were off to Masala in the Gaslamp Quarter. If you are ever in San Diego and looking for Indian food, GO! The chef, Ashley Popat, is amazing and even set us up in the upstairs area at a table overlooking the main restaurant/bar. We feasted on samosas, curries, tandoori and a special white chocolate cheesecake desert. It was a great day! ***And a special thank you for all the birthday wishes. You all are the best and I'm so thankful to have you in my life. Love to you all!***


The rest of the week was spent walking our 6-mile route around the Island (sometimes twice in a day!), eating yummy food, drinking pina coladas and mai tais, playing card games and enjoying each other's company and the beauty around us.




On the San Clemente Pier





Tonight, I'm off to my sleep study.  Be sure to catch my updates on Twitter.  I'll be lonely in the room by myself without Hubs or my pups so I'll need your company!

PS - Be sure to check out my new
Makeover!

Hope you all had a very Happy 4th of July!

xoxo

Makeover


The sweet and ever-talented Jessica from This, That & My Blog so graciously offered me a blog makeover.  And how could I resist?!  Her work is uber-creative and she is so easy to work with (even though I was a complete pain-in-the-you-know-what). 

Please stop by and check out my new look.  I'd love to know what you think!  And please visit Jessica's blog design site, This, That & Your Blog, to give her some love while you're at it!

xoxo