Weekend Stolen Moment...A Garter & A Bouquet...

Source

What a week that just passed. A sleep-infused much needed weekend followed. I've never been so emotionally tired. Each morning tho, I woke up in CJ's arms and it was just so wonderful & peaceful I barely wanted to wake up. If CJ & I wind up together for the long haul I love that I have pictures of when him and I first met. There is even a picture from the night when we first became boyfriend & girlfriend. I wonder if one day I can show our kids these pictures and say this is when Mommy & Daddy met. How cool is that?

This weekend I went over to my grandparents' house to start organizing old photos and found pictures of the day my parents met. It was a classic story of a girl catching the bouquet & a boy catching the garter and a wedding. My mom's sorority sister was my father's cousin, ergo they both were this lady's wedding.  It always sounded so romantic to me. Then my Mom called my Father for the date 3 days later and they went to see Star Wars. =) 

Well now I can actually see the story unfold before me. It was so awesome I had to share...

The day my parents met in pictures in 1978. 

My Mom caught the bouquet as my cousin katie tried to grab it.

My cousin Cookie & abula tried to help my Mom up.

I love my Mom's hair in this picture... She looked so pretty. I've actually worn this dress...<3

My father is the handsome man in the purple shirt & vest w/ the garter in his hand.

Apparently my Mom said to my father you can go up a lil higher...

My Mom says she still remembers this kiss...she knew then & there she had to see him again...

I am so happy to have found these pictures. I will cherish them always...

What Were Your Weekend Stolen Moments? 

I'd love to hear...

Monday, Monday...

 Source

Good Moring, Monday Morning. I can’t help but hum “Monday Monday” by the Mammas & the Pappas today. It seems like it’s going to be just “one of those days”. I’m already at work trying to jot down these quick ideas before I start the multitude of work I have to complete. If there only was a way to squeeze out a lil more time in the morning for daydreaming and organizing…hmmm…

This weekend was full of love, birthdays, memories & sinking ships. I saw all 4 of my grandparents over the course of the 2 jam-packed days and hearing “I love you Melanie” from each of them warmed my soul. One of the greatest stolen moments. I know I say this a lot, but I’m truly lucky to have them all in my life. One of my grandmother’s turned 87 yesterday. Unbelievable & she is still feisty as ever.  Hehe. Saturday night my friend Zoe and I went to see the movie Titanic on the 100^th anniversary of the infamous day. She and I went to see the movie 15 years ago when it first came out. I still cried, but how could you not?  A lot of things have changed since then that it’s truly crazy. We didn’t even have cell phones back then & couldn’t get into the movie without a parent present. Lol. Seeing it on the big screen again I noticed a few new things too. I didn’t realize it was Billy Zane’s family who funded the whole expedition for the Diamond & at 11 I didn’t know that the Guggenheims were on that ship. Poor people, may they all rest in peace.

This week is going to be a mish mosh of cake pops, more family visits, possibly seeing CJ’s new band rock it out in their very own studio space, and the Bridal Shower for my cousin’s fiancée. I’m basically going to hold on and let the roller coaster take me where it wants to this week. Here’s hoping it all pans out alright! 

I have to start working, but I want to leave you guys with this thought. 

“It’s never too late to start something great.” 

While Zoe and I was waiting to see Titanic, we went to Barnes & Noble real fast. I was rummaging around the bargain books and there was this lil coffee table book about 172 things that it is never too late to start. It was so motivating thumbing through it’s pages I have to pass that thought on to you. 

Happy Monday & Best Wishes for the week! 

{Pin} 

Easter Holiday Madness...Stolen Moments...

Remember that movie, Four Christmases? Well  Cj & I did just that...Easter version. I'll give you a timeline...

Saturday 1pm = Visit one of my grandmother's in the hospital. 

Saturday 3pm = Passover Seder at CJ's Mom's friend's house

Satuday 9pm = CJ's cousin Sam's birthday party

Sunday 10am = Easter lunch at my other Grandparent's house  in Connecticut

Sunday 3pm = Easter Dinner at CJ's cousin's house. 

Somehow we squeezed it all in. It was a lil tough to be honest. By the last car ride home, I was so quiet CJ asked me what was wrong? I told him sheer exhaustion, which is a serious understatement. hehe.

Long story short, here are some photos from my weekend! 

Be back tomorrow! =)

Sunday Stolen Moment...

via pinterest

Over the course of the crazy weekend, while I was at one of my boyfriend's friend's birthday parties, CJ walked up to me and told me, "Wow Baby, You are Beautiful. I love you so much." I told him he was everything I have ever wanted and that I loved him too.  He smiled his silly grin at me. He put his forehead to mine and we danced to the house band playing a cover of "Flagpole Sitta" by Harvey Danger, singing the lyrics we both know all to well. Not the most romantic of songs, hehe, but it was a moment I never want to forget... =)

Stolen Moment...

"Life's all about moments, of impact and how they changes our lives forever"

- Leo, "The Vow"

This weekend has been a completely Cj and Melanie weekend. From the craziness of St. Patrick's Day weekend and other bits and pieces of here & there drama, we haven't had much time to just ourselves. Ironically he's taking a nap right now, and I never realized he snores because I always fall asleep first. hehe. It's not a constant bear in the woods snore, just a cute grumble here or there. I do fall in love w/ him a lil more in each moment like this one.

Moments. Sometimes you can get lucky or unlucky to experience a moment with someone that let's you know just what you mean to them. Yesterday I ran around like a crazy woman cleaning up my condo because I knew CJ was going to set up camp for the weekend. I was all frazzled as hell. We decided to stay in and make tacos together. I had my arms outreached trying to manuever getting two plates out of my kitchen cabinet when CJ came up next to me and kissed my shoulder. Just one brief kiss that went straight to my heart and brought my stress to a screeching halt. He didn't say a word after, just passed on by and continued to cook the meat. I looked at him w/ the two plates now in my hand and he simply smiled at me. I smiled back. It might seem as simple as it all truly is, but in that moment, all the times CJ says he loves me, well he means it, and that is the best feeling I've ever felt. 

I have never had this before in my life. We are reaching the two year mark and people are starting to ask the "M" questions and why are delay of the moving in together part. I frankly right now don't care. I'm happy w/ the current situation and when all those future moments happen I will be ready and cheering w/ bells on.

I think I'm going to go join my sleepy bear. Everyone have a great rest of your weekend!! =)

Just You...You Being You...

Men truly boggle my mind, especially my boyfriend CJ. I’ll explain…

 I have gone to great lengths over the past almost 2 years with him to look my best and always be show-room ready when I would visit him or hang out; kinda like first-date ready every time. I think it’s because I honestly read too many magazine articles about not letting yourself go, makeup – musts everyday, or watched  too much NICK @ NITE seeing all the ladies in the 50’s & 60’s shows looking perfect every time. I put on pajamas right before I go to bed and usually stay in my nice outfit until then, even tho CJ may have been in sweatpants since I got there. He will beg me to put on pjs but I’ve spent all that time getting ready so I’m not going to just be dressed for the car ride over there. 

BUT, last night I did things a lil bit differently and hell, got the result I wanted…

Thursdays are a rough day for me at work. I order about 3 million newspaper ads to be placed in NY & NJ. It’s a long arduous process and yesterday was spiked w/ more action. I came home washed my hair & then saw my yoga/pajama pants begging me to put them on at 6pm. That’s early for me to be wearing pjs. But I was so tired so I just put them on & an old jersey shirt from college & said Fuck it. My hair was a mess of curls but I did put make-up on and straightened my bangs. 

CJ strolls in to my apartment around 7:30pm and puts his bag down. I haven’t seen him this week because he was helping his mom a lot, so I missed him. I ran up to him and gave him a kiss and he looked back at me and says, “Wow you look really pretty tonight, babe. I like you in those pants…” Uhhh What??? I walked to the kitchen and he followed me to put his arms around me to give me another kiss. He proceeded to tell me, “I love when you’re like this, just you being you.”

So apparently, crazy hair, lil make-up, and comfortable dress-down clothes is what he wants……….It would have been great to have discovered this years ago…LOL. I’m shaking my head as I write this because seriously I didn’t understand what he meant when he would say to not try so hard. It was because I had already won him over, he was in love, and I just needed to be me. It all makes so much sense. I sort of feel like a big load has been lifted off of me. I love him a lil bit more now…yeah definitely! 

 

All I have to do is be “Me” in my relationship…I guess it really is that easy…=) It is true, you learn something new everyday.

This weekend,  I’m crossing my fingers, hoping it'll be fun…Happy St. Patty’s Day!! Be Safe & Best Wishes!

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.... 

Sunday Stolen Moments & Blurred Vision of Home...

Source

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?

New Firsts & Stolen Moments...

After a couple has been dating for over a year the amount of "Firsts" decrease. It's only natural. However Cj and I have actually been through a new first in the past few days. When him & I met we accidentally skipped over the "Meet the Parents" part because it just so happened that my father worked with his mother. We didn't know it at the time we met but we never had the awkward dinner or meeting with the long drawn out silent pauses.  Whew...

But this weekend we decided to mix things up a bit and start integrating our families together. All in all it's been actually a success. My Aunt & Uncle loved CJ's Mom & today my parents met one of Craig's Aunt & Uncles and it was awesome. The conversations flowed, stories were shared, there was smiles & laughs, and Cj & I let out a breath of fresh air. I really thought it was time to start combining the families a least a lil bit. We've been dating almost 2 years...it was definitely time.

I've always dreamed of a wedding where everyone is all over the place, laughing, eating, talking, and having a blast...not one where my family would be on one side & the groom's family be on the other not talking. After these few meetings I really think that if CJ & I get married one day I feel like our families would mesh very well. I think that's half the battle. If the families like each other...geez well that's one of the best bonuses you could ever hope for...

What a weekend...I'm still trying to process it. I've been sick so things have been a bit of a blur. The "E" word got dropped and I'm wondering if I heard it out of context. The "E" word that is attached to a ring...........I think that was a stolen moment I wasn't supposed to hear....I don't really know what to make it at this moment.

My life is suddenly very real, very live and in technicolor. The decisions and actions I do & make mean something and will have an effect on others. I grew up a long time ago, I had to in some cases, but now it's time to think like a true adult and make some life choices. Just breathe...


Cj stayed over most of the weekend, which will be a post in its own later this week, and before he left he told me it's going to be impossible for him to sleep tonight because I won't be there with him. I smiled at a the sweet saying but he's totally right. I'm going to have some trouble too. =)

What was your experiences meshing your significant other's family with yours?

 I'd love to hear....

Source

Weekend Stolen Moments...

Source

Sometimes the weekend is a blur. It just flashes by you and then your sitting on Sunday night saying to yourself "Where the hell did the weekend go?" But then a smile appears on your face because you're remembering those few STOLEN MOMENTS that you always want to remember. 

Here are my weekend's Stolen Moments...

On Friday night I left work immediately at 5pm and rushed to my local mall. About 3 weeks ago a Comedy Club called Levity Live opened up and the comedian Jim Breuer was the the headliner for Opening Weekend, however seating is first come first serve. Jim Breuer is one CJ's favorite comedians & this was the perfect early Valentine's Day gift for him. I waited in line an hour and was victorious in getting front row seats. Seeing CJ's face light up like a Christmas Tree was worth all the rushing around. He turned to me and said this was the best Valentine's Day gift ever! The show was awesome and Jim Breuer was right in front of us the whole time. Definitely a once in a lifetime event. Hell yeah! 

FYI - He totally looks just like this in person still! =P

Southern New York got their first snow fall of 2012 this Saturday. Apparently my car sucks in the snow and I eventually got stuck trying to leave CJ's place. Thankfully there are truly nice people in this world. Two neighbors of Cj's helped push my car back up the hill. I'm ever so grateful.

Along with getting my car stuck in the snow, I had a bad reaction to my Jamba Juice. Perhaps they didn't clean the blender enough or something so I wound up breaking out in hives. I'm allergic to some fruits. As I stared at my red face, Cj came into the bathroom to see. He looked at me, kissed me on the nose, and said, "Your still pretty to me." <3

I teach a cupcake decorating class in my local high school. I'm really hoping the class runs in the Spring if I get more than 5 people to sign up. My Mom opened the booklet of all the classes and saw my name. She turned to me and told me she was proud of me. I gave her a big hug after. It felt awesome to hear her say that to me. 

Source

When Cj and I walked up to his place in the snow we noticed our cars were the only car tracks in the new snow that had fallen. The tire marks were intertwined and our footprints were the only ones seen. I pointed it out to CJ and he began to sing "I will follow you into the Dark" by Deathcab for a Cutie.  Sometimes he knows EXACTLY what to say. 

What Were Your Stolen Moments this Weekend?  

*This will be a Weekly Feature on Sunday nights...I got the idea from a bottle of Wine I found at Stew Lenard's Wines called Stolen Moments.*

Goodnight, Everyone! Nice to see you some of you again & Welcome Newcomers! =)