...I could be allergic to my engagement ring??? Say it ain’t so! This requires a bit of explaining. :)
Over the last year or so, every now and then I get these little bumps on the inside of my ring finger for a few days and then after they are done being a nuisance, they make a speedy departure. No major harm done and I’ve even coined the finger my “lizard finger” (aka Lizzy). Don’t ask. :) Anyway, I got to thinking about how it would be a pain in the butt to have ‘Lizzy’ make a surprise visit around the wedding so I bit the bullet and made a doctor appointment.
If I may digress for a moment…this was the speediest doctor appointment I’ve EVER been to! I literally had just got done giving the somewhat annoyed looking receptionist my insurance card (sorry for making you do your JOB sweetheart!) and before I could even sit in the lobby chairs and settle into the People magazine I was eyeing up since the moment I walked through the front doors, I was called by the nurse to follow her. After getting to the examination room, I was thinking, “Shoot! I should’ve snagged that People magazine before leaving the lobby because I’m sure I’ll be in here waiting for a while.” Seconds later, the doctor arrived! I was amazed. Less than five minute through the front door and I’m already face to face with the doctor. Nice!
To sum up the diagnosis, I have a mild form of eczema on my finger. Turns out it’s heredity…so yet again I find myself cursing my family. HA! It’s no big deal, though; a little cream and we’re good to go. The interesting part, though, is that the doctor said eczema sometimes creates an allergy to nickel which is likely within my 18K white gold engagement band. Ruh roh! Scooby doesn’t like that. The doc and I both got a good chuckle out of the fact that I might need to be upgraded (Beyonce style - ”lemme upgrade you…”) to a platinum band. :) As much as platinum is awesome and all, I’m actually hoping I don’t need to upgrade. Weird, I know. I like my engagement ring and the new wedding band I’ll soon be getting and I don’t want to give them up! Hopefully the doc was just in cahoots with Jared and made up the nickel allergy part. Ha!
On another funny note, the prescription was called into my local Walgreen’s pharmacy. And let me tell ya - the pharmacist on staff could use a lesson or twelve in discretion. During the standard “do you have any questions about this new prescription” portion of our interaction, she blurts out (with the capitalized words emphasized rather loudly), “Here is your STEROID cream. This should alleviate any REDNESS, ITCHING, and BURNING.” I was like, really??? I’m pretty sure the person behind me in line thought I was a transgender with some sort of funky STD. Good times. HA!
Oh, for the Pushup Challenge – the end of Week 2 resulted in 17 consecutive (non-girl style) pushups. My progress isn’t quite as far as I would’ve hoped, but I’ll take it. On to Week 3!
~as
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Monday, May 18, 2009
Change is good
First things first - sorry for my lack of recent postings! Bad Anne. Last week was quite busy and unfortunately, blogging got pushed to the back burner. My apologies to my loyal followers…all two of you - thanks, mom and dad. ;)
With all that last week brought, one resounding theme kept popping up…excitement for new beginnings and experiences. I’ve always thought of myself as a ‘glass half full’ kind of gal, so my ranting in this post probably won’t come as much of a surprise to most of you. Here goes…
Optimism is the name of the game! And what better time to be optimistic than when presented with the onset of springtime. This is the time of year when everything is “waking up” from its slumber and new opportunities and experiences are presenting themselves. Last week’s (and some upcoming) activities serve as great examples of all there is to be excited for that we sometimes overlook in the fast paced lives we live: A college graduation celebrating the start of a new and wonderful career, an upcoming high school graduation marking the start of adulthood and “figuring oneself out” (usually through many mistakes and many cases of beer – ha!*), a 30th birthday party commemorating the start of a new decade and another year wiser, and a new marriage celebrating the start of a new family and a lifelong commitment.
That reminds me of something else new….the new last name I’ll soon have! While I’m very excited to change my last name to match that of my soon-to-be hubby’s, I must admit that I think it’s going to take a little getting used to. I’m sure anyone that has changed their maiden name knows what I’m talking about. It’s going to be odd not having what I’ve grown so accustomed to my whole life….22 years is a long time! ;) To prepare myself, I went all sixth-grade-style while listening to a less than riveting conference call at work the other day and practiced writing my new name. Don’t judge me and my 12 year old ways. ha! I successfully made it through about six or seven full signatures before I had the inevitable screw up and reverted back to using “Schwartz”. Whoopsie! (This was an intention choice of Stefl words - found it fitting due to the topic. Most of you are probably confused right now…) Anyway, I blame my screw up on the “S” that threw me back into my autopilot ways.
As a side note, another upside to changing my last name will be the luxury of trying to forget the childhood nicknames and monikers that I’ve endured over the years. Schwartzenegger (it’s not a tumor!) and “May the Schwartz be with you” were classics through the years. Oh, kids and their torturous, playground ways.
In other news, how awesome is it to find cash?!?!? I was at Mayfair not long ago just minding my P’s and Q’s when suddenly, I look down and there’s a dollar bill! Score. I know it’s just a measly buck, but I don’t care! There’s something about finding free cash that brings such joy. Now fast forward to this morning when Eric walked into our office at home with his fist outheld asking if I wanted what he found on his morning run. At first I was a bit apprehensive to take what his sweaty palm had to offer, but I figured what the heck. And what the heck was right!!!! It was a five dollar bill!!! Oh man…a hubby that gives ME the free cash he finds??? This is a match made in heaven. HA! I tried to do the polite, ”Oh, you should keep the money you found…” (all the while hoping he’d decline, which always the gentleman, he did.) Nice.
*Disclaimer: I, in no way, condone the practice of consuming alcoholic beverages until the legal drinking age has been reached. And NO – you cannot ask at which age I consumed my first ‘beverage’.
~as
With all that last week brought, one resounding theme kept popping up…excitement for new beginnings and experiences. I’ve always thought of myself as a ‘glass half full’ kind of gal, so my ranting in this post probably won’t come as much of a surprise to most of you. Here goes…
Optimism is the name of the game! And what better time to be optimistic than when presented with the onset of springtime. This is the time of year when everything is “waking up” from its slumber and new opportunities and experiences are presenting themselves. Last week’s (and some upcoming) activities serve as great examples of all there is to be excited for that we sometimes overlook in the fast paced lives we live: A college graduation celebrating the start of a new and wonderful career, an upcoming high school graduation marking the start of adulthood and “figuring oneself out” (usually through many mistakes and many cases of beer – ha!*), a 30th birthday party commemorating the start of a new decade and another year wiser, and a new marriage celebrating the start of a new family and a lifelong commitment.
That reminds me of something else new….the new last name I’ll soon have! While I’m very excited to change my last name to match that of my soon-to-be hubby’s, I must admit that I think it’s going to take a little getting used to. I’m sure anyone that has changed their maiden name knows what I’m talking about. It’s going to be odd not having what I’ve grown so accustomed to my whole life….22 years is a long time! ;) To prepare myself, I went all sixth-grade-style while listening to a less than riveting conference call at work the other day and practiced writing my new name. Don’t judge me and my 12 year old ways. ha! I successfully made it through about six or seven full signatures before I had the inevitable screw up and reverted back to using “Schwartz”. Whoopsie! (This was an intention choice of Stefl words - found it fitting due to the topic. Most of you are probably confused right now…) Anyway, I blame my screw up on the “S” that threw me back into my autopilot ways.
As a side note, another upside to changing my last name will be the luxury of trying to forget the childhood nicknames and monikers that I’ve endured over the years. Schwartzenegger (it’s not a tumor!) and “May the Schwartz be with you” were classics through the years. Oh, kids and their torturous, playground ways.
In other news, how awesome is it to find cash?!?!? I was at Mayfair not long ago just minding my P’s and Q’s when suddenly, I look down and there’s a dollar bill! Score. I know it’s just a measly buck, but I don’t care! There’s something about finding free cash that brings such joy. Now fast forward to this morning when Eric walked into our office at home with his fist outheld asking if I wanted what he found on his morning run. At first I was a bit apprehensive to take what his sweaty palm had to offer, but I figured what the heck. And what the heck was right!!!! It was a five dollar bill!!! Oh man…a hubby that gives ME the free cash he finds??? This is a match made in heaven. HA! I tried to do the polite, ”Oh, you should keep the money you found…” (all the while hoping he’d decline, which always the gentleman, he did.) Nice.
*Disclaimer: I, in no way, condone the practice of consuming alcoholic beverages until the legal drinking age has been reached. And NO – you cannot ask at which age I consumed my first ‘beverage’.
~as
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Oink, oink!
Oh, the good ol’ swine flu…an outbreak which caused such a media frenzy that you couldn’t turn on a TV or surf the web without seeing it. Not to mention the ‘pandemic plans’, face masks (ala Michael Jackson style), and HR policies that were created to support what now appears to have just been one helluva standard flu. Let’s see...we’ve had Monkey Pox, the Bird Flu, and West Nile, so why not? For pig’s sake!
I’m not trying to down play the fact that some people were actually seriously ill and some sadly died. I just think it’s amazing how the media gets its tight grip on a juicy flu story and tries to make the world think it may be facing its end. It’s crazy! Those media outlets just get everyone in a tizzy. And then it snowballs from there and causes all sorts of problems for everyone.
For example, Eric and I are all booked for a week in Riviera Maya for our honeymoon right after the wedding. The first concern was wondering if our passport applications were going to be held up since we indicated our travel destination as Mexico. Luckily, that was not the case. We just got them in the mail on Monday. Phew! Maybe this is the government’s new population control tactic – “Sure guys…go to Mexico…we’ll even expedite your passports!” :) I’m on to you, Obama. haha! Of course, the next concern was the huge bulletin on the resort website noting that if anyone wished to cancel, you could do so without penalty. You know that’s not a good sign since resorts and hotels (and pretty much anyone) will try their best to sock you with cancellation penalties at any opportunity they can! This, too, has now disappeared. The last hurdle we have to cross is our company HR policy regarding travel to Mexico. Assuming that sorts itself out, which I fully expect will be the case, then we’re home free and Mexico-bound. Bring on the tequila! (I still won’t drink the water, though.)
I did get a nice chuckle today when I went to the resort website and found a new bulletin posted titled, “Flu-Free Guarantee”. Of course, my interest was piqued. Upon reading the note I couldn’t help but laugh out loud. The article was the standard, “We are taking every precaution to ensure the resort is thoroughly cleaned, blah, blah, blah.” Here’s where it gets good. The site then stated that if we did, however; somehow manage to contract the flu, we get three vacations for free!!! HA! Okay, so let me get this straight…I’ll probably be very ill and might not survive, so you’re offering three vacations that I might not even be able to take you up on. And if I do manage to fight my way back to health, you think I’m going to want to come back?? Haha! Awesome.
PS - This is why I don’t eat pork. I knew those dirty little fattys would be up to no good one day. hehe! At a minimum, I’m sure Eric is rolling his eyes right now since I’ve said this before and he makes sure to remind me their meat had nothing to do with the flu…which I’m actually fully aware of. I just like to ruffle his feathers, though, so I continue to say it. ;)
~as
I’m not trying to down play the fact that some people were actually seriously ill and some sadly died. I just think it’s amazing how the media gets its tight grip on a juicy flu story and tries to make the world think it may be facing its end. It’s crazy! Those media outlets just get everyone in a tizzy. And then it snowballs from there and causes all sorts of problems for everyone.
For example, Eric and I are all booked for a week in Riviera Maya for our honeymoon right after the wedding. The first concern was wondering if our passport applications were going to be held up since we indicated our travel destination as Mexico. Luckily, that was not the case. We just got them in the mail on Monday. Phew! Maybe this is the government’s new population control tactic – “Sure guys…go to Mexico…we’ll even expedite your passports!” :) I’m on to you, Obama. haha! Of course, the next concern was the huge bulletin on the resort website noting that if anyone wished to cancel, you could do so without penalty. You know that’s not a good sign since resorts and hotels (and pretty much anyone) will try their best to sock you with cancellation penalties at any opportunity they can! This, too, has now disappeared. The last hurdle we have to cross is our company HR policy regarding travel to Mexico. Assuming that sorts itself out, which I fully expect will be the case, then we’re home free and Mexico-bound. Bring on the tequila! (I still won’t drink the water, though.)
I did get a nice chuckle today when I went to the resort website and found a new bulletin posted titled, “Flu-Free Guarantee”. Of course, my interest was piqued. Upon reading the note I couldn’t help but laugh out loud. The article was the standard, “We are taking every precaution to ensure the resort is thoroughly cleaned, blah, blah, blah.” Here’s where it gets good. The site then stated that if we did, however; somehow manage to contract the flu, we get three vacations for free!!! HA! Okay, so let me get this straight…I’ll probably be very ill and might not survive, so you’re offering three vacations that I might not even be able to take you up on. And if I do manage to fight my way back to health, you think I’m going to want to come back?? Haha! Awesome.
PS - This is why I don’t eat pork. I knew those dirty little fattys would be up to no good one day. hehe! At a minimum, I’m sure Eric is rolling his eyes right now since I’ve said this before and he makes sure to remind me their meat had nothing to do with the flu…which I’m actually fully aware of. I just like to ruffle his feathers, though, so I continue to say it. ;)
~as
Monday, May 11, 2009
Cutting back?!? What's that?
For those that know me well, you know that my number #2 love (with Eric being #1…awh…even I’m gagging right now) is shopping. I could do it every day, all day if I could afford it. No joke. I think some people think they could do it every day, but I’m positive I could. I’m probably one of the most indecisive people I know, so to actually make a purchase takes a great deal of thought and sometimes even requires a second trip to the store to actually pull the proverbial trigger. This is usually then followed by some carefully crafted reason why I HAD to have it and how much I saved with coupons (I love coupons!) and how it would've been a crying shame to not have bought it. This is all done to justify the expense to myself as well as to get it past the firing squad (Eric). :) All of that takes a lot of time and reassures me to the fact that I could indeed shop all day everyday.
With that said, it has pained me to have to cut back on shopping over the past 10 months while we’ve been planning the wedding. Luckily, planning a wedding still allows me to shop...it’s just a different type of shopping. Not so much shoes and handbags, but more invitations, table decorations, etc. While I am happy to at least fulfill my shopping habits with something, I definitely look forward to restocking my closet very soon. Eric – if you’re reading this…close your web browser NOW. (Okay guys, keep this on the D.L., but I’ve still managed to squeak in a few shopping trips for shoes….not nearly the quantity or quality I would have liked, but it’ll do for now.) So while all of you are out and about stimulating the economy, please think of me and make an extra purchase in my honor. Ha!
In unrelated news, it’s the final day of Week 1 in the Pushup Challenge. I’m up to 12! Sweetness. Now I’m rewarding myself, Snoop Dogg-style with some gin and juice. Okay, really it’s a vodka tonic. It’s the best I could do with the supplies on hand.
~as
With that said, it has pained me to have to cut back on shopping over the past 10 months while we’ve been planning the wedding. Luckily, planning a wedding still allows me to shop...it’s just a different type of shopping. Not so much shoes and handbags, but more invitations, table decorations, etc. While I am happy to at least fulfill my shopping habits with something, I definitely look forward to restocking my closet very soon. Eric – if you’re reading this…close your web browser NOW. (Okay guys, keep this on the D.L., but I’ve still managed to squeak in a few shopping trips for shoes….not nearly the quantity or quality I would have liked, but it’ll do for now.) So while all of you are out and about stimulating the economy, please think of me and make an extra purchase in my honor. Ha!
In unrelated news, it’s the final day of Week 1 in the Pushup Challenge. I’m up to 12! Sweetness. Now I’m rewarding myself, Snoop Dogg-style with some gin and juice. Okay, really it’s a vodka tonic. It’s the best I could do with the supplies on hand.
~as
Saturday, May 9, 2009
I'm cursed!
In two short weeks my little sister, Adria, will be graduating from high school and moving to WI for college. To get her acclimated to the "big city", she will be living with us in our guest bedroom. Although I might live to regret saying this, that is NOT the curse. :)
Here's the curse part... In preparation for her arrival, I've decided to paint the walls in the guest room to freshen it up a touch and also make them match the new comforter set we picked out together. I am, however; the WORST paint-color-picker-outer in the world! I spent more minutes than I choose to recollect standing in front of Home Depot's paint chip area, fretting over which color to pick. MANY minutes later, I proceeded to the counter where two fine gentlemen convinced me to go with Behr's new paint line - the "paint and prime in one". I'm a sucker and a marketer's dream. Thirty dollars and twenty minutes later while standing in the guest bedroom (paint in hand), I can't believe I have managed to do it again. I have picked out the wrong color! Ugh. I haven't slapped a coat on yet, but by the initial looks of it, it is way too dark. The funny part is that this is at least the third time in the last three years of us owning our house that this has happened. Word to the wise...I can paint like a mad woman once I get going and I do a pretty darn good job if I do say so myself, but don't EVER ask my opinion on what colors to go with. haha! Maybe once I throw a coat on it won't look so dark? One can only hope! Otherwise maybe Adria won't mind living in a dark cave. I'll tell her that's how we roll in the city...dark style. :)
Week 1, Day 2 of the Pushup Challenge: I'm up to 9! Only 91 more to go. Yikes. When I say it like that...yowza! The good news is that less than one week ago I started at five and I've almost doubled that so far. That's gotta be a good sign, right? We shall see...
Oh - and Happy Mother's Day to all out there!
~as
Here's the curse part... In preparation for her arrival, I've decided to paint the walls in the guest room to freshen it up a touch and also make them match the new comforter set we picked out together. I am, however; the WORST paint-color-picker-outer in the world! I spent more minutes than I choose to recollect standing in front of Home Depot's paint chip area, fretting over which color to pick. MANY minutes later, I proceeded to the counter where two fine gentlemen convinced me to go with Behr's new paint line - the "paint and prime in one". I'm a sucker and a marketer's dream. Thirty dollars and twenty minutes later while standing in the guest bedroom (paint in hand), I can't believe I have managed to do it again. I have picked out the wrong color! Ugh. I haven't slapped a coat on yet, but by the initial looks of it, it is way too dark. The funny part is that this is at least the third time in the last three years of us owning our house that this has happened. Word to the wise...I can paint like a mad woman once I get going and I do a pretty darn good job if I do say so myself, but don't EVER ask my opinion on what colors to go with. haha! Maybe once I throw a coat on it won't look so dark? One can only hope! Otherwise maybe Adria won't mind living in a dark cave. I'll tell her that's how we roll in the city...dark style. :)
Week 1, Day 2 of the Pushup Challenge: I'm up to 9! Only 91 more to go. Yikes. When I say it like that...yowza! The good news is that less than one week ago I started at five and I've almost doubled that so far. That's gotta be a good sign, right? We shall see...
Oh - and Happy Mother's Day to all out there!
~as
Friday, May 8, 2009
Hmmm...
Okay...so even as I create this blog, I'm not entirely sure what, in specific, it will be focused on. All I know is that everyone and their mama has a blog these days and I'm not about to be left in the dust. No, sir/ma'am. I have a bad case of what I like to call "my buddy syndrome" and if others have it, I've gotta have it, too! I figure this blog will *probably* be about the wedding, which is right around the corner, and then our journey into married life together and just life in general. Cheesy, yes. But possibly entertaining? I hope. Brace yourselves...this is going to be interesting. Or who knows...maybe it'll be a colossal failure of huge proportions and one day you'll come to the site and "poof!" - it's gone. :)
Oh, and you might be thinking to yourself..."we are the stefls"... hmmm...she's not technically a "Stefl" yet. True. But close enough.
As I mentioned earlier our wedding is right around the corner. Only six weeks from this Saturday! The most asked question (as you can imagine) has always been, "Are you nervous?". Quite honestly, I'm not. I did, however, have a tiny hint of a queasy stomach the other day when I had my first dress fitting. Obviously, I'm not nervous about marrying Eric, but I got a little nervous about the fact that this is going to be one of the biggest and most important days of my life (not to mention the most expensive...) and like every bride, I want it to be perfect. As I stood in my dress in front of the mirror with the seamstress buried somewhere under the million layers of tulle, I felt some butterflies in the good 'ol tummy. Most of the thoughts were based around, "Am I going to get something on my dress? Am I going to trip down the aisle?" ha! If it's possible, I'll find a way to do it. Actually, I'll probably find a way to do the impossible, too. Oh well - nervous or not...perfect or not...I can't wait for the Big Day to get here!
On a totally unrelated topic...I've somehow been conned into participating in a 100 push-up challenge. What the...?!?! Eric and his convincing self somehow rounded up me and about 20 other suckers to join him in his quest. I'm up to 7 so far - it's Week 1, Day 1. Stay tuned for my progress. If all goes well, I'll have ripped arms by the wedding (the challenge is exactly six weeks long). I see this ending badly...after a few drinks at the reception, I'll likely be asking guests to arm wrestle me. And who can turn down a bride's request on her wedding day. Uh oh. :)
~as
Oh, and you might be thinking to yourself..."we are the stefls"... hmmm...she's not technically a "Stefl" yet. True. But close enough.
As I mentioned earlier our wedding is right around the corner. Only six weeks from this Saturday! The most asked question (as you can imagine) has always been, "Are you nervous?". Quite honestly, I'm not. I did, however, have a tiny hint of a queasy stomach the other day when I had my first dress fitting. Obviously, I'm not nervous about marrying Eric, but I got a little nervous about the fact that this is going to be one of the biggest and most important days of my life (not to mention the most expensive...) and like every bride, I want it to be perfect. As I stood in my dress in front of the mirror with the seamstress buried somewhere under the million layers of tulle, I felt some butterflies in the good 'ol tummy. Most of the thoughts were based around, "Am I going to get something on my dress? Am I going to trip down the aisle?" ha! If it's possible, I'll find a way to do it. Actually, I'll probably find a way to do the impossible, too. Oh well - nervous or not...perfect or not...I can't wait for the Big Day to get here!
On a totally unrelated topic...I've somehow been conned into participating in a 100 push-up challenge. What the...?!?! Eric and his convincing self somehow rounded up me and about 20 other suckers to join him in his quest. I'm up to 7 so far - it's Week 1, Day 1. Stay tuned for my progress. If all goes well, I'll have ripped arms by the wedding (the challenge is exactly six weeks long). I see this ending badly...after a few drinks at the reception, I'll likely be asking guests to arm wrestle me. And who can turn down a bride's request on her wedding day. Uh oh. :)
~as
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