How Much Time is Enough? Can it Even Be Measured?

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On a day that comes once in every four years I think a post about time is appropriate. 

Today my friend Zoe called and told me how she is thinking of telling her boyfriend "I love you" for the first time. However she wasn't sure if enough time had gone by for her to say it to him and have him not freak out. The odd part of this scenario is that they have been dating a year next month. The word has never been slipped into their relationship. I told her I thought enough time had gone by for her to say it but she still seemed scared & then I drew a blank. 

After an hour of raking this over in our brains of his actions & his behaviors to her I told her to wait until their anniversary to see if he says it first. If he doesn't say it over the course of that day then she should say it. If he doesn't say it back then she may have to re-evaluate if her boyfriend even wants a serious relationship, which I know she does. But...a Year...normally 365 days...I think that's more than enough time to tell a guy the "L" word right? Or is it?

CJ sort of blurted it out after 4 months of dating. We were at a concert of a band I liked and I said to him, "I hope you don't think I'm weird for liking this goth band." To which he responded, "Melanie, I fucking love you. I could never think you were weird." He walked away before I could say anything but we exchanged the mutual "Love you's" later that night. Looking back...was that early to say it?

It just seemed so right with us and he said it first so it honestly let out some pressure on me to say it. I knew I did love him but this is an awkward subject that changes from couple to couple, I think. Another friend of mine, Samara, met a friend of CJ's in September, and by the end of October they were saying "I love you". By the end of the December they moved in together, but two weeks later their relationship crumbled. It vanished as fast as it came to be. They've both come to the conclusion they fell in love w/ the idea of the perfect this & that, but in the end didn't really know each other at all. Hmmm...

It took 500 days for Joseph Gordon Lewitt's character to get over Summer. I think in 200 or so days she realized she wasn't in love w/ him. That's almost 7 months!! After all of Season 2 & all of Season 3 Leonard in The Big Bang Theory said "I love you" to Penny, but it was too early for her. She wasn't ready. But then you have people that say it back but then don't mean it. Geez love is hard. Your right, Pat Benatar, love is a total battlefield. 

I also told my friend Zoe that she should say it when it feels right. If she feels it, she should let her boyfriend know it. A year is definitely enough time. Right?

What Do You Think? Is There Really a "Too Soon" or a "Long Since Due" Amount of Time to Say "I Love You"? When did you say "I Love You"?

Two Days I've had to be Strong & Just Do...

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The past two days have been so hard, I couldn't write about it last night. Sometimes reality & life comes rushing in and you have dive in head first & do what is needed.  A week ago my 86 year old grandmother, my mother's mother, had to go to the hospital because her sugar levels spiked sky high. She has mild dementia, but luckily she still knows who everyone is. She even knows my boyfriend's name. But she thought if she ate less her sugar levels would go down. Poor grandma, she didn't realize her body would do the opposite. From the non-eating she got sicker. Luckily she is okay but they had to check her into a nursing home/rehab center until her legs get stronger from being in the hospital bed.

Yesterday I went up to visit her and Oh I wish we could take her home. It is looking so positive that she will be going home to her house soon. She was standing up on her own and could walk w/ her cane to the dining room. I felt terrible that she got confused of why we were all there. She thought we were working in the hospital because we were trying to help her out w/ the physical therapy. I love her so much and I just want her to get better.

My Mom, my aunt & I went back to the house and cleaned it as best we could. My grandfather is 89 years old and there are just things he can't do anymore. We kept trying to tell him that it was okay to take our help. It's okay. We were just there to help. He can be very stubborn but soon after he let us help out w/ cleaning the kitchen.

I'm one of the luckiest 26 years old in the world because I have all 4 of my grandparents. Alas, today I found out my 82 year old grandfather, my dad's stepdad, also is in the hospital. It drives me crazy that my uncle & grandmother let us know 2 days after he has been in the hospital. It's aggravating that they do that, but it's just the way it is with them. He's okay but he has a large kidney stone in which they had to perform a bypass to avoid kidney failure. I went after work to visit him. He looked good and I swear he perked up when he saw me. He was bitching about politics & the economy so he must have been doing better. He's going to be in the hospital a few more days but I think it's for the best. The doctors can watch him and make sure he's doing better.

Needless the past 2 days have been intense. I wish I could do more and make them better but really I think being there and showing them how much you love them is all you can do. I hope everything turns around for the better and that they feel & get better. Here's hoping...

Sunday Stolen Moments

As I finish watching The Oscars I thought I would do this week's Stolen Moments by uploading my camera pictures for the past few weeks.

CJ's cat Angel ready to pounce

Cj & I @ The Pool Hall

I love Yogi Tea because every tea bag has a beautiful message of inspiration...

My lil Cupcake in my cubicle.

Delicious Pizza at Olaf in Nyack, NY.

Yes I coupon...ALOT! =)

Homemade Baby Shower Cookies from my friend Erin's shower. Best wishes Erin! =)

Cj practicing the guitar...My music man...

The Valentine's Card I made for CJ w/ Chuck & Sarah from Chuck.

"Love me Tender" French Toast @ Strawberry Place...French Toast, bananas, strawberries, chocolate chips, & whipped cream...YUMMY!

Me at the end of the day...

What were your Weekend Stolen Moments?

Til Tomorrow.... 

Today will be a Brighter Day...

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This was an odd week...My boss wasn't in all week so there was this eerie quiet in my cubicle that I think drove me a lil over the edge. I caught up on all my time sensitive work and finally got to go through my sea of papers. (Diet Tip: Yes, it's good to get up to walk to the printer, but it's bad to have useless print-outs that are just taking up space, hehe. Eventually you have to sift through the junk.) Cj got a great review at his job, but his raise was hmmm...not equivalent to the review. Odd?!? My grandmother is in the hospital but luckily she is okay. I'm going to visit her on Sunday. Oh yeah and paid bills...yeesh. Christmas has to be more practical next year, more DIY's I think. =)

But you have to dust yourself off and make the next day a lil bit brighter. I've owned my studio condo now a lil over a year and am in a style rut. As I prepare for CJ moving in and Spring I'm going to be making small changes to brighten up my lil home. Who would've thought switching out a few things would make all the difference in a lil dark corner...

BEFORE: 

Black Photo Frame, Mamas & the Papas Photo Album, a lil flower painting from Paris, and a DIY from a friend Debra. All beautiful but dark...

AFTER:

APT 9 Hanging Cubes, a lil plague painting, and random decor items. I still even got to use my photo frame, just vertical. Just the switch to those white cubes opened up the space and brought a lil light to that dark lil corner. 

Thank you Kohls for the hanging cubes!

Lil changes work best I'm finding. =) I hope today is a lil bit brighter for all of you! I have a few things up for this weekend so stay tuned! See you all soon! =)

So What’s going on w/ this Diet??

 

I didn’t weigh in this week because I was embarrassed to say that the scale went back up. But I completely know why and it’s something I think is fixable.

For the past 3 weeks since I started making lil changes and exercising I’ve been utterly exhausted. Last Thursday, I tried to take a small nap around 8pm and thought, “Oh someone will call and wake me up…”. Alas no one called and I woke up at 6:46am the next morning when my alarm sounded. I’m not complaining about the accidental 10 hours of sleep but geez I was disoriented & stiff. My body, I think, was trying to tell me something. 

What’s odd w/ my sheer exhaustion is that I haven’t been skipping meals or going to the gym and walking 5 miles a day or eating fast food. I’m betting this lack of energy is due to the lack of protein. I do have a yogurt each day, eating eggs & egg whites, and eating baby spinach but it could just be not enough for my body. I’ve had chicken for dinner the past few nights and I feel a lil more energetic w/ more desire to work out and exercise by the end of the day, so that’s a step back in the right direction.

I also gave up soda & candy for Lent, which could also be the source of my mid-day crashing and then eating to stay awake. Soda has caffeine & candy has so much sugar that it could have been giving me a false sense of alertness that wasn’t exactly healthy. I’m actually considering adding another cup of coffee for me or tea around 3pm for a lil extra boost.  Also I’ve tried to not eat after 7 or 8pm but almost every night I’m going to bed w/ a headache or have to eat something small because I’m light-headed. Sigh…

Nothing is ever easy and I guess I need to add more to my diet that is energy boosting. Even tho the scale has gone up, people have remarked that my face looks thinner and I just look good overall. I feel less “giggly” and I’ve noticed my curves have become a lil more defined. Perhaps I’m just in that odd week like in Biggest Loser where people work out all week long constantly and still gain a pound. Hmmm….

I will also be starting to take pictures because sometimes words or words. Maybe if I see the progress I will feel like I’m being more productive. Back to the old drawing board…

Besides coffee, what’s an Energy Booster you try to do each day? Or Dieters how have you overcome the Tiredness you might be experiencing too?

I’d love to hear…

Mignon Kitchen Co.

Mignon Kitchen Co.

Today a special treat was waiting patiently for me at my door. My order from Mignon Kitchen Co had arrived. I quickly ran up my stairs, dropped my keys to the floor, grabbed a scissor and opened the package immediately as if it was Christmas morning...And was absolutely delighted when I saw the lil note...

Mignon Kitchen Co  is a darling new lil shop for people who love cooking and lil goodies. From mini tart pans, to moon cookie cutters, to heart shaped balloons, to bamboo spoons to...there are truly cool things in her shop. She even sells small packaging. Please click the link to see what catches your eye and yes there will be tons of Ooo's & Ahh's.

The owner of the shop is Rachel, who is owner to the warm & refreshing blog, Elephantine, one of my ultimate favorites. Her cooking videos are a true delight and you will fall in love w/ her beautiful posts from food-to clothes-mini knickknacks you wish you had-to short stories-to some much more. You have to go to take a look...

I ordered the Teardrop Vase ($4), the Orange Blossom Honey ($5), the Heart Cookie Cutter ($2.50), and the Small Tart Pan ($5). Her prices are very responsible too! <3

Rachel packaged everything so nicely w/ heavy duty bubble wrap so the vase was pristine as well as the honey. I can't wait til tomorrow to have some of the orange honey w/ my 4pm apple! I was also so excited to receive the tear drop vase that one of my roses left from Valentine's day quickly found a new home...

Everyone I know I want to give them heart cookies now. I feel just like Vincent Price in Edward Scissorhands w/ the heart cookies...

Also I'm so excited to start learning how to make tarts. This lil pan is going to be perfect. I want to start off doing small ones just in case they don't taste good. Oooo I could make hearts out of the pie crust to put on the top of my tarts!! Oooo the ideas are flowing...

Well I'm off for today... Thank you Rachel for the delightful lil things. Check out this darling new shop, Mignon Kitchen Co. whenever you have moment. She also adds new things frequently! Can't wait to see what her shop will have next! =)

Moving in Together: Dressing in the Bathroom???

In the rush of the mornings when my boyfriend stays over my place there is a about 30 minutes where I'm left to putter around my small studio while CJ does his morning routine in the bathroom. I'll sometimes take out his clothes from the closet and make sure he has everything he brought over the night before. Due to the lack of other rooms in my condo I can't help but notice him come out of the bathroom, hair all cute & scruffy, grasping his towel around his waist, and walking to get his clothes &  a razor from the closet. He'll glance at the clock to make sure I still have enough time to get ready too in the one bathroom.  But then he'll go back in the bathroom to finish changing....

We've been dating 2 years this May and we've had plenty of "Alone Time" *Cough Cough* even w/ the lights on &/or during the daytime...We know every lump, bump, curve, and dimple of each other, but he will go in the bathroom to put on his underwear and undershirt. Geez, this is really personal.

He does live w/ his mother on days he doesn't stay with me, so it might be a bad habit from 5 years of living w/ her. I don't expect a full monty Forgetting Sarah Marshall event every morning but he always changes in the bathroom. He'll switch pants & shirts in front of me...it's kinda cute because he has really skinny legs and his boxers are baggy, hehe, but the changing of the undergarments is a lil weird to me...I don't know if I should copy him...

By the time I'm out of the shower he's already left for work. The time hasn't really come for me to get out of the shower and put on my clothes in front of him. I don't know if I should bring the "Changing in the Bathroom" thing up to CJ in conversation or I could be making something out of nothing. But on the other hand, we have only known each other in the grand scheme of things for a short while so maybe he sees it as unnecessary nudity and feels vulnerable when naked in front of me? I know I don't feel as confident as I should right now w/ my body but I'm working on that so I might do the tent hopping around thing Bridget Jones did in the second one. Maybe we both have the same type of body issues??  Hmmm...

For those of you who are married or in a relationship, did you ever change in the bathroom when you started to live w/ your boyfriend/girlfriend? How did you overcome, let's put it out there, shyness w/ them? 

Movie Review: The Vow

Movie: The Vow
Genre: Romantic Drama aka "Chick Flick"
My Grade: C+/B-
Actors: Rachel McAdams (The Notebook, Mean Girls, Time Traveler's Wife), Channing Tatum (Step Up), Sam O'Neil (Jurassic Park, Merlin, Daybreakers), & Jessica Lange (American Horror Story, King Kong) 


Synopsis: A car accident puts Paige (McAdams) in a coma, and when she wakes up with severe memory loss, her husband Leo (Tatum) works to win her heart again. (via IMDB)

My Review: Luckily this past Friday Cj's family invited me to the monthly girl dinner/movie night and the movie was the "The Vow". I had heard & read great reviews for this movie, but honestly I'm sort of happy I didn't drag CJ to see it and only paid $7 for my ticket through an Applebees Restaurant deal. 


The plot line hit a nerve. Every girl would want to know that the love of her life would fight again to win her heart even though he already did it once before. This story was inspired by true events as well so I was instantly intrigued. Rachel McAdams, of course, gave a 110% like she always does in movies and is very believable in the part. When she's happy you can see her smile goes up to her eyes, and when she's pissed you know. Channing Tatum is not as seasoned of an actor as she and you could tell. He is a gorgeous man but his acting is a lil flat. But I think the screenplay lacked depth in his part. 


I can't imagine what the man did in real life to win his wife back but I don't think the film showed him doing enough. They showcase a lot of lil things that he did to his wife to win her originally but when she lost her memory it didn't show him being there enough to make her remember. Some points didn't seem as realistic too...Rachel McAdams character seems to not even want to remember her husband, which seemed a bit off. In my opinion if you lose your memory you'd be more open to want to remember, especially when the man is sleeping in the waiting room of a hospital just in case you needed him...


All in all tho, I did enjoy the film. I would watch it on a Sunday afternoon on Lifetime if it was on. I didn't cry but I was a lil relieved. Sometimes you get in the mood to just watch a love story without the tears. It wasn't sappy but that too was refreshing. C+/B-


Recommendations: Girl's night, Matinee, Early-Relationship Date Movie

Babies & Weddings...Here They Come!

Penguin Cake Topper Source 

One of my old bosses used to tell me that eventually in your mid-20's you will reach a time where all it will be is Baby Showers & Weddings. Yup, the time has come for me.

At first it was one wedding for my cousin, then one of my best friends announced she was getting married, and then now one of my good cupcake friends is having a baby shower for her future lil one tomorrow, one of my semi-exe's wife is having a baby in April (yikes), & now one of my friends I've known 10 years is getting married in November of this year...Ahhhh!!! Lots of martial bliss & babies!! 

I've sort of felt like I missed all of this because a lot of my friends have moved away or are have had their babies already by the time I've met them or I didn't get invited to the wedding because weddings were kept small to just close friends and family to save money. Nope...I obviously didn't miss my time!

However w/ the exception of my cousin's wedding w/ the Bridesmaids drama from hell & the ex's baby, I'm looking forward to all the others. Tomorrow, I have my cupcake friend's baby shower and I'm so excited to go! She is so cool and honestly an inspiration to me. She's, I think 3 years older than me, and she basically is what I want to be in another 3 years. She has a great job in Manhattan, married, w/ a lil bambino on the way and she loves to make desserts. She rocks. I hope she has a great shower tomorrow.

Additionally another one of CJ's friend's wife just had a baby so I'm going to get her a lil something because she is going to be at the shower too. I don't know this girl as well, but she still had her first baby girl and you never know who will be there to call or whom you will be better friends w/ down the line...

Cheers to Weddings & Cheers to New Babies!! =)

Have you Reached that Point where your Social Life is becoming Weddings & Baby Showers??

                                                    I'd love to hear...Happy Friday too!

Tuesday/Wednesday Diet Day!

Last Weigh In on 2/07/12: 173.8 lbs

Current Weight on 2/14/12: 172.00 lbs

Pounds Lost in Wk’s Time:  1.8 lbs

Total Weight Loss since 1/31/12: 2.8 lbs

Wohoo!! Almost 3 lbs lost in 2 weeks!!! Yeah! This feels like this is going to be painfully slow but in all honestly I'm starting to see results. One pair of jeans I have is a lil looser, I've had to tighten the string on my pajama bottoms, and lil changes are starting to come naturally to me. A feel a lil weird having mesauring cups at my desk but I have cut so many calories by actually paying attention to portion size that it's all worth it.

I will be doing a post later this week on my lil switches I've done over the past 2 weeks. I haven't been following any real defined diet, except stealing lil excerpts from this book here & this site there. What it's boiling down to is serving sizes....paying attention to that & exercising...

Lil Moves to Keep this Diet Up & Running…

No Elevators. I work on the 2^nd Floor of my office building. There is no reason for me to be taking the elevator. Yes, the elevators have motion sensors so they kindly open up as I enter the building, but I’ve been passing on the quick lift.

Vegetable-Only Sushi. I am very lucky to have a Shop Rite Supermarket 2 minutes from my home that prepares fresh sushi. I used to be obsessed w/ Shrimp Tempura Roll. Seafood is allowed on a lot of diets but the deep fried tempura part is definitely not. I love the vegetable roll w/ carrots, cucumber, & avocado wrapped up w/ a small amount of rice. I love it!

                 

Side Note: Jonah Hill, the actor, contributes a lot of weight loss to switching to sushi.

Blogs: Fellow Bloggers: Hollie@ And Baby Makes Three & WindshieldDiaries have been doing two different cleanses & reading about their progress is very motivating to me.Take a look at their blogs for extra motivation! =)

Free-Weights: Target, especially, has a large selection of different weights & types inexpensively. Instead of sitting on the couch doing nothing while I watch TV I’ve been lifting simple 2-2 lb weights & 2 – 3 lb weights.Also CJ has been staying over a lot lately so while he has been doing his morning routine in the bathroom I've been working out a lil bit w/ some simple stretches and kicks...I love doing kicks...

 I kow I'm describing lil switches and changes I've been doing, but I don't know. I feel like I need to make this journey a lil more real for the reader. I could take a picture each week of the scale reading or *GASP* take a picture each week of my hopefully shrinking tummy...hmmm....

Any Suggestions on how to make this Journey more real for all you guys?

I Hope & I Hope & I Hope It Runs...

These lil cuties are my favorite cupcakes I've ever made. For my last class last semester I had the ladies make penguins. Oh, yes, I don't know if I've mentioned that fact about me, yet.

I teach an adult ed class in cupcake decorating. My first time was last Fall and it was so awesome & so scary at the same time. I stubbled my words a lil bit and made a mess of my high school kitchen but all in all it was such a rewarding experience. My Mom used to teach the class but I took over...best decision I've ever made. =)

Now I'm in a waiting game to see if my class will run this spring. It's one of the coolest things seeing your name in the pamphlet. It's such a sense of accomplishment. =) I'm really hoping the class runs because I really truly enjoy teaching the class and of course decorating cupcakes.

Another favorite thing of mine to do is making roses...I could do it all day long...

Hopefully my class runs so I can bring my cupcake creations to my new lil blog and give you guys some inspiration too. I hope, I hope I hope!

Wish me luck!!

Sunday Stolen Moments & Blurred Vision of Home...

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An old saying is "Home is wherever I'm with you", well I'm starting to learn that it is totally true. CJ's & mine's vision of home is blurring & combing a lil more each day.  

My main stolen moment this weekend was between CJ & me on the phone. No one to hear but me, CJ told me he was going to go home. He then added, "By home, I meant your place Mel." My Mom was driving and caught notice of my toothy smile at his awesome words and when I was done w/ his call she said to me, "Wow look at the two of you chatting away like lil school kids in love. What did he say?" 

I answered, "Everything I've always wanted to hear and more..." 

I've been trying to block out the past relationships from my head for some time now, but resistance is futile. I can't have a spotless mind because then I wouldn't be who & where I am right now. CJ taught me that lil fact. If certain incidents hadn't happened, his sweet words would still have been cute but perhaps they wouldn't have mean as much to me. 

My ex-bestfriend-sometimeslover turned about to be a waste of time for me, even the bare minimum friendship. He played such wicked games that I still to this day cannot wrap my head around. One thing that still boggles my mind is when him and I used to come home from an event or just a long hang-out he would say, "Let's go home." I knew he meant universal home like he would drop me off at my place and then he'd go to his house. But then he would pass my exit like as if he were just going to his house. I would have to remind him of what he was doing and where he was going. He would then say, "Oh right you, shit I forgot." Did I not mean enough to him that he didn't realize I was sitting in the car next to him or was he just an idiot and forgot I wasn't his girlfriend and didn't live with him. He pulled this odd stunt on more than occasion...I will never understand why he used to do that...laziness probably...

In an backwards fucked up kinda way I'm glad that happened back in the day. It makes CJ's words today mean the world to me and so so much more. In this case, the grass was definitely greener on the other side.  It makes me see how truly lucky I am to have CJ and I can really see what love really is, not just a silly crush. 

With CJ & I moving in together something new also came up as a possible issue...However it has nothing to do w/ us & our relationship. I thought had grazed my mind but this weekend it became really  apparent. I'll talk about it more later in the week. For now, see you tomorrow...

What were your Weekend Stolen Moments?