18 Jun 2013
by wifemothereventplanner
in I need to tell you about this right now
Tags: all the rage, children, crossfit, Family, health, healthy-living, home, humor, Kids, Life, mental-health, Photography, Planking, stove top, Working Out
17 Jun 2013
by wifemothereventplanner
in Brave New World
Tags: Beach, Bus, End of the School Year, Family, fish, Gift, Halloween, humor, Summer, Teacher, Vacation, Yankees
The last few days of school are here. No more lunches I didn’t make. No more papers I forgot to sign. No more reading logs I forgot to send in. Phew. It’s been a long year.
I can’t wait to go into summer mom mode. Summer mom is so much nicer and calmer than, say, holiday-crunch mom – or worse yet, new-school-shopping-at-the-last-minute mom.
I asked my boy what we should get for his teacher as a thank you gift – lord knows she deserves it. He had just finished telling me about “John the bus driver”. He’s a Yankees fan with 3 grandkids. He likes to fish and go to the beach. He loves candy and once he let all the kids eat leftover Halloween candy on the way home. Thanks John. Ok – so I’m set with what to get for John.
Me: “But what about Mrs. S?” I say. “What does she like?”.
The boy: “ummm. She wears sweatshirts everyday.”
Me: “ok, like team sweatshirts? Does she love the Eagles or Phillies or something?”
The boy: “No. Not really. They’re like jean sweatshirts. All different colors.”
Me: “uh huh. ok.”
This exchange made me think of another exchange, one even less helpful than this one, about 12 years ago.
I had just joined a very tight-knit group of event planners who seemed to have a million inside jokes, were constantly making fun of each other, worked insanely hard, and had a great time to boot. The leader of this pack was a woman who would go on to become one of my closest friends, but who at that point, wanted very little to do with me. To gain some brownie points, I wanted to buy the perfect gift when her birthday came around. I asked one of the other gals that had known her the longest what she liked. Here’s the list she emailed me:
- Pugs
- The Spanish Language
- Traveling
This is not a joke. This was the list. WTF. What was I supposed to do with this list? Pugs? The Spanish Language? Come on!
Once I got over the outrageousness of it – I laughed my ass off.
To this day, when someone asks me what to get for someone else, I have to hold myself back from saying,”the Spanish language or pugs”.
16 Jun 2013
by wifemothereventplanner
in I need to tell you about this right now
Tags: birds chirping, City, Equality, humor, lots of laughs, love, magical garden, marriage, New York City, Park, Photography, Weather, Wedding
This was a weekend full of very important things. My little sister’s birthday (even though I forgot how old she was turning, damn you math!). It was also Father’s Day weekend, and I happen to know and love some of the best father’s around.
And then there was this.
Saturday afternoon, in a magical garden tucked into a park, right smack in the middle of a big city – we went to one of the most beautiful weddings that I have ever had the pleasure of being invited to. It was full of emotion, love, and humor. We only knew a handful of people at the wedding – and yet, each and every one of us there was so connected to the couple – that we felt connected. The ceremony was full of tears and joy and Madonna (the lyrics to Express Yourself were read aloud). There was even a happy heckler (the groom’s father) – in other words, perfection. The happy couple were two guys who never thought they’d be able to celebrate love in this way – legally and recognized.
The past few weeks in the East Coast have felt like the Tropics. Wet, dark, damp, humid, and hot. But not yesterday. Yesterday was divine. Literally blessed. If you listen carefully when you look at the pictures, you can hear birds chirping and the angels singing. True.
And here’s the handsome couple. The Brooms (coined by them not me!).
What did you expect? Pink boas? Well, maybe later.
After the vows we all walked to the reception and spent the rest of the afternoon drink…errr…I mean….celebrating. Lots of food. Lots of laughs.
Weddings are always beautiful. They are always touching and emotional. But, let’s face it, they aren’t always fun. You don’t leave a wedding thinking that’s the best time you’ve had in a while. You usually want to wish the couple well and get out of dodge fast. Not this wedding – this was a blast. When can we do it again!?!
Here’s some more spectacular views from that afternoon/evening/night. These photos should be titled,”God loves the gays. Here’s proof. Get over it.”
And here’s me with one of the Brooms…the one that busts my chops constantly, the one that never misses a chance to make fun of me, the one that took me on my most favorite date night of all time, the one that knows enough secrets about me to break up my marriage and get me fired all in one fell swoop….Ok – that’s it. I have to spend more time with the other one.
Congrats to Howie (uncle wowie to some) and Luigi!
13 Jun 2013
by wifemothereventplanner
in I need to tell you about this right now
Tags: drama, Entertainment, Game of Thrones, Harry Potter, Hogwarts, humor, Life, Movies, The Hobbit, tv
I wasn’t going to do a Game of Thrones (GoT) blog because:
- There are a billion posts about his already
- I know not everyone watches it
- I don’t want anyone to know how nerdy I really am
But I have to. I can’t stop thinking about it. I never read any of the books so I wasn’t prepared for this. My husband and I started watching the show together the first season. He was in for a few episodes, but they started losing him quickly. By the time Melisandre gave birth to the shadow demon that killed someone (won’t say who) – he was out. He loved the ”imp”, the whole Stark storyline, and of course the gratuitous nudity – but add magic and dragons to the mix and he’s done.
I stayed with it. Who knew this many plot twists and storylines could be so entertaining. Who knew Daenerys aka Khaleesi would be the strongest female character on TV? Who knew main characters could die this easily and all the time! Here’s an excerpt of a Rolling Stone article that described what would happen if Mad Men were written like GoT: ”imagine Don Draper has a fight with Roger Sterling. And then kills him. And then he kills Peggy. And Joan. And Peter..”
And it’s not all nudity and death. Well, it’s really a lot of that – but there’s humor too – and really good writing.
I know I’m on a slippery slope. I blame Harry Potter. If it weren’t for me buying into those dark wizards and muggles, it would have been harder to love all this Seven Kingdoms mythology. What’s next? Hobbits? Damn you Hogwarts!
Anyway – back to GoT. I’m not going to add any specifics for those of you who haven’t started the series. I’m almost jealous of you. Oh to have three full seasons of GoT to watch uninterrupted this summer. Do it! If you live close enough, I’ll do it with you. And I promise not to squirm and blurt out,”please don’t kill all the Starks!” like I do at home.
11 Jun 2013
by wifemothereventplanner
in I need to tell you about this right now
Tags: decor, DIY, glass of wine, google, Hobbies, home, humor, Life, Long Days, Magic, Paint, panna cotta, Pinterest, Reading, Website, work
It’s 10:38pm and I’m finally done with work. I’m not complaining. Just giving you the facts.
I’m a little fried. Lots of balls in the air – a few dropped here or there.
Sometimes I end these crappy days with a reality show, or a glass of wine, or by just crawling into bed early. Other days I surf the net randomly for things I think are interesting. Like – the perfect flat sandal (a little ethnic and a little modern), or I ask the great internet Gods the big questions – what’s really the difference between flan and panna cotta? Is it possible to eat carbs and still go to heaven?
But on some really exhausting days when I cannot even muster the energy to google something, I go to my all time favorite respite. The site that is more picture than words.
It starts with a P but it does not end in “orn”.
Pinterest.
Which I called PinINterest for almost a year.
I haven’t figured out how to post cool things yet. Note to self, do or own cool things to post.
But I love going on and typing things like – funky desserts, DIY paint projects, DIY furniture. Anything you can imagine is on there. It’s magic.
Tonight I typed in my go-to. My standard. But the genius of Pinterest is that you could type in the same subject every day and get different connections.
Here’s what I’ll be forgetting my sorrows with tonight: home decor.
http://pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=home%20decor
It keeps me off the streets.
10 Jun 2013
by wifemothereventplanner
in I need to tell you about this right now
Tags: Angelina Jolie, Bridges, Chicken, food, Harrisburg, humor, Life, Monsoon, Movie, Obsession, Oscars, Pennslyvania, Photograph, travel
This is the Susquehanna River, in my hometown, Harrisburg, PA. We took a quick trip over the weekend to visit family and do a joint birthday celebration for my sister and me. Me and my sister. My sister and I. Pick one.
Fun, useless fact: Did you know that Girl, Interrupted was filmed here? This is the Market Bridge, featured many times in the flick. The movie starred Angelina Jolie - in her Oscar-winning performance – and Wynona Ryder before her shoplifting days. And that poor gal Britney Murphy, before her dead days. The title of the post is an homage to one of her lines in the movie (she’s one of the patients in a mental hospital and is obsessed with owning a home with an “eat in chicken…um..kitchen” She’s also obsessed with eating whole chickens. It was a great movie. This was not a major plot line but I think of this line whenever I see a whole, roasted chicken. Freakish but true).
We came home to the below monsoon.
07 Jun 2013
by wifemothereventplanner
in I need to tell you about this right now
Tags: Airplane, Australia, australian accent, Entertainment, fashion, Flight, food, France, French, humor, inflight meals, Julia Roberts, Life, man of my dreams, Marie Antoinette, Movies, Pretty Woman, travel
I flew back home last night on a delayed flight that got me home at about midnight. So, approximately 14 hours at the airport, in transit and on the tarmac. Awesome.
But there was a silver lining. I met Leo. The French Australian gay man of my dreams. Here’s what I learned about him during our travels together:
- He grew up in Versailles. He laughed when I made my Marie Antoinette joke and asked if he lived in the main palace or the petit appartement de la reine.. I’m completely sure he’s never heard that before.
- His father and mother are both tailors. He has 4 sisters who are all still in France. He went to school to become an accountant but realized he wanted to join the family business.
- He has lived in Australia with his boyfriend for 20+ years. They almost adopted a baby some years back but spent the money on a vacation instead.
- He had a stroke at 30 and was blind for 4 months.
- At one point in the conversation he said in a very thick French/Australian accent,” I ADORE your scarf.” Then I regaled him with the story of said scarf. Bought in Paris (kismet!) by my husband. It’s a beautiful blue with what look like dark boxes from afar. Close up they are TVs. Yes. TVs.
- As we watched Safe Haven together on the flight (it was awful, I still cried at the end), I convinced him to download Sleeping With The Enemy – a much superior woman-runs-from-abusive-relationship-to-small-town movie. He admitted that he thinks Julia Roberts looks like a horse and he doesn’t know why Americans love her. I then spent 20 minutes talking about Pretty Woman, “incase I forget to tell you later, I had a really good time tonight”, “Welcome to Hollywood! What’s your dream?”. Come on. You can’t hate Vivian.
- He asked for 2 inflight meals and polished off both in an instant – which was surprising because he was small enough to carry in my pocket.
- When he first boarded the flight he walked right over to the seat and said, “hello friend”. Like Little Bill. That’s when I knew I’d love him forever.
By request – pics of my scarf.
04 Jun 2013
by wifemothereventplanner
in Brave New World
Tags: Airplane Meals, Airports, Asian, food, humor, Indian, Life, Photography, Planes, travel, Vegetarian, West Coast
Thought this would make you chuckle, or smile, or at least distract you for a minute. Your welcome.
Every once in a while (like last week and today), I have to fly to the West Coast. Per our company policy – if your flight is over 6 hours or a red-eye, you get to fly business. Before you think this is all fancy and neat, please realize that it also means selling your soul to your BlackBerry and having a phone surgically implanted on your face, but other than that, it’s cool.
After you make this pact with the devil and board your business class seat, it ain’t so bad. Free food, free booze, and enough leg room to really stretch out. All good. But in order to book these flights we have to create a profile at work, window or aisle, carrier preference, frequent flier miles and meal choices. I guess when I filled out my meal choices I picked something called Asian Vegetarian. Which I am. Which is me. So it make total sense right?
Turns out that Asian Vegetarian means that while everyone else gets a salad and some chicken with pasta, I get a full-on Indian feast. Two vegetables, rice, bread, yogurt, condiments. Delish. But also…very…fragrant. The first time I got it, I was mortified. But I still ate it. And it was so much better than salad and pasta.
On today’s flight a really nice insurance rep who was sitting next to me tried to exchange his meal for mine. No dice. You can’t just decide to be Asian Vegetarian on a whim people. Nope. Go to your travel profile and commit for life. That’s how its done.
The picture doesn’t do it justice.
03 Jun 2013
by wifemothereventplanner
in I need to tell you about this right now
Tags: Bed, humor, Life, Photography, Sleep, Sunrise, work
This is the view from my bed at sunrise this morning (over share?) It was more like a muggy rainrise.
Can’t we all just take a pass on today? We’ll pick it up tomorrow. Really.
What can possibly be so important that I have to get out of bed today??
Besides my job. And my kids. But they have my husband. They’ll be fine. Come on, all the cool kids are doing it. We should too.
No? Crap. Ok, I’ll get up. But we coulda done it. No one would have been the wiser. I bet all the really important people got out of bed – so we’re covered. Today is our only chance – tomorrow the sun will be out and we will feel compelled to be a part of society.
Still no?
Come on! Be crazy with me!!
No? Fine.
You suck.
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