La Petite Chic

Our Engagement Story

It's nice to take a little break from the internet every now and then, isn't it?  We had a busy weekend of visiting Jonathan's family in Pennsylvania and then it was back to work today as I started my new position.  I spent the whole day in orientation so it doesn't even really feel like I'm in a new role yet, but tomorrow I'll move cubes and start working with my new team.  So far, my anxiety has been minimal and I'm hoping it stays that way! 

Since there isn't too much else going on in my life, save for packing, I thought I would finally get around to sharing our engagement story which I promised you all a long time ago.  So without further ado, here it is...

It was 2005 and Jonathan and I had been dating since the previous September.  On a whim, we decided to go on a Caribbean cruise that December and invited our parents and siblings to join us. To our surprise and delight, both of our parents and my sister decided to come along.

In the months prior to the cruise, I couldn't help but wonder if Jon would pop the question in the exotic locale of some Caribbean island.  We had been talking about marriage pretty much since we started dating and I thought he couldn't choose a more perfect scenario than the cruise with both of our families there.  As anyone who knows me well is quite aware, once I get an idea in my head, it's pretty much impossible to get it out. (See my obsession with learning how to dance en pointe at the ripe old age of 27.  AHEM.)

I discussed it with my mom, I discussed it with Jon's mom and I talked all my girlfriend's ears off about my sneaking suspicion that Jon was going to propose on the cruise.  It just so happened that someone shared my hunch with Jon, and seeing as how he knew I was onto his plan, he decided to throw me off the trail.

One night while we were eating dinner, he mentioned out of the blue that a "little bird" shared with him that I was expecting a cruise proposal. To my dismay, he also added that unfortunately, it was not going to be a possibility as he had just bought a new car and couldn't afford to buy a ring at this time.  SOB!!

I was SO disappointed. And I'll admit it, I cried.  Poor Jon...  I reminded him of my disappointment just about every day leading up the cruise.  I was very stuck on this whole tropical island proposal thing and it seemed as if everyone else around us was getting engaged except for us.  All the while, Jon was playing it calm and cool as he was secretly getting satisfaction out of pulling the wool over my eyes.

December rolled around and we left for our cruise and I tried not to let my disappointment ruin our vacation.  On the second day of the cruise, I happened to notice that Jon's hands were extremely clammy, which is quite unusual for him. I mentioned it and he just played it off as excitement for the upcoming blackjack tournament (which I won!).  I shrugged it off and soon forgot about it.

Later that evening, we were getting ready for our first formal dinner in our stateroom. Before I got in the shower, I took off my promise ring (a sapphire and diamond ring which Jon had given to me our first Valentine's Day together) and very carefully took notice of where I placed it since I have a bad habit of losing jewelry.

After I hopped out of the shower and got dressed, I went to put my promise ring on and it was missing!  I freaked out and had a minor meltdown as the ring was very, very special to me and because I knew exactly where I left it.  It had just seemingly vanished into thin air.  I yelled to Jon in the shower asking if he had come across it, but he played dumb, knowing very well that he was the culprit!

I continued to look for it while Jon got dressed, but still couldn't find it.  It was getting late and we had to go, so I figured I would look for it later.  Just as we were getting ready to leave, Jon teased me about forgetting our 1 1/4 year anniversary the previous day. We used to celebrate every little month that first year we dated, but had fallen out of the habit.   I laughed at him and apologized for missing it and he replied that he loved me anyway and would still marry me one day.  Not one to miss an opportunity, I sulkily said, "Yeah, someday..."

To my astonishment, Jon said, "Well, actually I have a question for you" and proceeded to get down on one knee. (Meanwhile, I'm screaming in my head, "OHMYGOD, OHMYGOD, OHMYGOD!!!)  Then he pulled out the cleverest little jewelry box (it had a light in it!) and inside was a gorgeous princess cut diamond ring.  Then he asked those four important words, "Will you marry me?"

 I didn't hesitate at all.  I threw my arms around Jon and hugged and kissed him and said, "Of course!" and ended up knocking him over on the bed!  He then fessed up and admitted, "I replaced your promise ring with something better."  Ah ha!  So I didn't lose it!  We ran across the hall to tell our parents and then went to a wonderful dinner with champagne to celebrate. It was absolutely perfect and that is how we came to be engaged in the middle of the Caribbean Sea!

Photo taken at dinner right after the proposal:

For Sentimental Reasons...

I'm a recovering saver*.  I blame it on my sentimental nature. Chances are, if you sent me a letter in my 27 years of life, it's stuffed in a box somewhere next to ticket stubs and rose petals and other trinkets that I just couldn't bear to part with because they hold some sort of meaning to me. 

I say I'm a recovering saver because I'm slowly learning to let go of things.  I think that's what sharing a 690 square foot condo with my XL husband and XS dog has taught me: If you haven't seen it or used it in a year, toss it.  Now, I'm not quite ready to part with everything sentimental and fully know and accept that I never will be, but I am getting better with ridding my home of useless clutter.

This weekend, while cleaning out the closet in my old bedroom at my parent's house, I came across several of those such sentimental boxes from my youth.  Oh lord, you wouldn't believe some of the stuff I found!  And because I have no shame, I'm listing some of the more interesting things here:

• The Simpsons trading cards circa 1990 (I have been watching the Simpsons since they were on the Tracey Ullman show.  I am definitely going to see if these are worth anything on Ebay.)
• Lock of my hair from age 10 (Umm, eww.  But interesting to note that my hair is the exact same shade it was 17 years ago!)
• Old jazz shoes from 8th grade (As if I would ever wear those ugly things again!)
• Massive collection of keychains weighing in at about 3 pounds (Including about 15 scopes ranging from age 10 to 17; non-Ocean City, MD beach-goers will probably have no idea what these things are, but trust me, they are awesome) 
• My very first reed from when I played the alto sax in middle school (As in the very reed I used to suck on to get it nice and malleable before I played.  Bleh!)
• Limited Edition Air Force Barbie (Brand new in the box, with the AAFES price tag still attached.)
• Neon green New Kids on the Block velcro wallet (and also, a sheet of NKOTB stickers to boot!)
• Piece of the Berlin Wall (We moved to Germany a few months before the wall fell and it's hard to believe this happened in our generation.  I will definitely be keeping it.)
• Baggie full of used spikes from my high school racing spikes (I used to save the ones from big meets, so who knows, these could be my state championship ones!)
• Box of salt blocks from the salt mines in Salzburg (If salt can go bad, I think these did!)

Help me to feel a little less crazy here...what strange things have you saved over the years?

*I refuse to call myself a pack rat!

Fabulous Find Friday - Fantasy Edition

Oh, the things I would buy if only I were rich...

The Frenchie Slicker from J.Crew for $165.00 (in papaya, please):

What can I say?  I love ruffles and bows.  And to be completely narcissistic, I look really great in that color!

The Parker Large Convertible Hippie from Coach for $358 (in pale yellow or white):

I have wanted a yellow handbag for a reaaally long time, and alas, it looks like this spring and summer still won't be my season to have one.  For the record though, I checked this one out in the store and it hangs perfectly on my shoulder.  It's like we were meant to be!

Baltimore Skyline Silver Necklace from tigerlillyshop on Etsy for $80.00:

She has a lot of other gorgeous and unique pieces (the one above was actually made by her sister) that are in my price range, but as per usual, I fell in love with the one I can't afford!  I love the idea of buying local and supporting handmade and I really want to make an effort to do so in 2009. 

The Wilcox dress from Anna Sui at Anthropologie for $568.00:

I've never quite been able to classify my style, but it definitely leans towards girlie and romantic pieces.  I love the ruffles and bow (again with those!) but the plaid and the asymmetrical hemline are unexpected, yet completely chic.  And those colors!  Wouldn't this be the perfect Easter Sunday dress?

Happy Spring all! 

Grace Vingt-trois

Cheap dates are the best. 

My co-worker sent a mass e-mail yesterdaytrying to get rid of movie passes for a special advance screening of the new comedy, I Love You, Man, playing tonight.  It's been a while since Jon and I have enjoyed a movie in the theater (I think Quantum of Solace was the last one), so I immediately e-mailed back, pleading "Pick me, pick me!". 

I think I might have been the only one who responded because she gave them to me.  HOORAY!!  The previews actually look pretty funny and it seems guy-oriented so I think we'll both enjoy the movie.

As a treat, we're going to our favorite wings place, Chics and Wings, before the movie to take advantage of their awesome happy hour specials (½ price wings) in addition to the buy one-get one free coupon we have. 

Our whole date will probably cost less than $10, unless Jon decides to splurge on some overpriced popcorn at the theater.  He just loves that stuff, but all the butter makes me sick to my stomach!

Yay for cheap date night!

Grace Vingt et un & Grace Vingt-deux

I think I love baking so much because the idea of making something from nothing is magical, especially when they turn out as cute as these cupcake bites.

They were a huge hit at my friend's birthday party as well as at work.  Those are regular M&M's on top, to give you an idea of their size.

They were actually pretty easy to make, just very tedious.  But don't they just make you smile?

Something else that I find to be quite magical is my crockpot.  What else will turn a couple of pounds of raw meat, cabbage, potatoes, onions, carrots and spices into a yummy, homecooked meal in a matter of five hours without any effort?

Corned beef and cabbage, the delicious way to celebrate St. Patrick's day, especially when made with Guiness! 

Inquiring Minds Want to Know...

Phew, it has been a busy couple of days, and I imagine that things are just going to keep getting busier with the impending move and the start of my new job.  Thank you all for the well wishes and messages of congratulations!  All of our frantic finger and toe crossing paid off, didn't it?!

I received a few questions via comments and e-mail regarding the sale and move so I figured I would answer them here in case anyone else happened to be wondering the same thing.

So, how bad was the final outcome?

Well, despite our excitement of the condo selling, the financial outcome is still quite dismal, to put it very lightly.  We're selling for $59,000 less than what we paid for it back in 2006.  Guess who has to make up the difference of what is still owed?  We're depleting our savings, dipping into our 401k's and borrowing extra money from Jon's student loans to make up for the money that we'll need at closing.  Our fingers are still crossed that our condo will appraise for the sale price, a major concern in this continually dropping market.

Are you completely psyched, or just relieved?

I would say it's a combination of both, with a little more emphasis on the relief.  It's sad to close this chapter of our lives, but it is also completely exhilarating knowing that our next home will be the one we bring our babies home to.  But even more so, I'm just completely relieved that we can turn the page and start anew and that it happened so quickly.

So do you get to go house hunting for a two bedroom now?

Nope.  Actually, if we were just looking for one more bedroom than what we currently have, we wouldn't be moving.  Since we intend to live in our next home for a long(ish) time, we want it to have enough bedrooms for the 2-3 kids we plan on having so that we don't find ourselves in this situation of outgrowing our home again.  Sadly, house hunting is on hold for now. (see next question)

Are you still planning to live with your parents for a while or are you going to buy soon since your house sold so quickly?

Unfortunately (and fortunately), we are still planning to live with my parents for about six months to make up a good chunk of the money that we are losing.  We are very appreciative that we have this option, so thank you, Mom and Dad, for welcoming us with open arms!  It's actually good timing, too, as my dad recently had a total knee replacement so we'll be around to help with the yard work and other things that need doing.

We're going to start looking for a home late this summer, though I can't help but browse the Maryland market now.  I'm a sucker for looking at pretty things I can't have!  One good thing that we have going for us is that we're moving from one of the most expensive real estate markets in the country to a much more affordable market.  We'll be able to get a four bedroom home for what we paid for our one bedroom condo.  Kind of sickening when you think about it!

Since we go to settlement on a Thursday, we're moving out the weekend before (April 18th) and already have our U-Haul reserved and ready to go.  We've both been collecting boxes at work and have a lovely stack of them in our dining room.  The actual moving shouldn't be too bad since a) we already moved a lot of our stuff out prior to putting it on the market and b) we live on the first floor so there are no stairs to climb.  So that's another relief.

Overall, even though our fingers are still crossed and we've barely exhaled at all, we are just so eager and enthusiastic for the next steps in our incredible journey together.  Thanks for sharing it with us :)

Grace Vingt

Jonathan is on spring break this week and next and we are both loving it, albeit for different reasons.  He's just happy to not have homework looming over him and I'm happy to get to see my husband for more than just a couple hours a day. 

After this semester is over, he only has one class left before he graduates with his MBA and I feel like this is a nice glimpse of what life will be like then.  I'm so proud of him for all the effort and time he's put into this, but I can't wait to have him back full time!  I fully intend to take advantage of our extra time together these next two weeks. :)

A Little Bit of Luck and A Whole Lot of Grace

I promise I have a really, really good reason for not posting on Friday, Saturday and Sunday and for screwing up my nice and orderly 40 Days of Grace.  I think the reason for my absence and the news I have more than makes up for Grace Dix-sept, Dix-huit and Dix-neuf.

So...WE SOLD OUR CONDO!!!

As I noted in my last post, we received a counter offer to our counter offer on Friday afternoon.  Another couple came to look at the house on Friday evening and then we had yet another couple come on Saturday morning. 

To be honest, I was putting my money on the Saturday morning couple.  Their realtor made it seem as if they were going to sign on the dotted line as soon as they were done looking around.  They never did.  They really liked our condo but they just didn't want it.  Fair enough.

Jon and I were pretty disappointed and mutually agreed that if the guy didn't accept our counter offer, we would accept his original counter offer and clean our hands of everything.  The housing market is still dropping around here so we didn't want to take any chances.  We really want to cut our losses and start rebuilding.

Imagine our surprise and delight when we heard from our realtor just a few hours later that he accepted our counter offer!  We are still in shock I think.  To have our home sell in less than a month, hell, in just 24 days, is a miracle!  We didn't get our asking price, but through our countering, we were able to get a price that we think is fair and a price that shouldn't be a problem at the appraisal.  

Of course, there's still the chance that things could fall through and not come to fruition, but I'm not going to let that worry me or damper my excitement.  We settle on April 23rd...let the countdown (and packing) begin!  Oh, and guess who got to move home yesterday?  My lovely Lola Bean!  Hooray!!!

P.S.  Thank you everyone for your lovely comments on this post.  They meant the world to me and I'm working on responding to all of your kind words, so thank you for being patient :)

Grace Seize

Our second offer came in tonight!  It was low, of course, and they were asking for a lot of help in closing costs, so we countered with what we and our realtor deem to be fair.  We're hoping that maybe this will be it.  My fingers have been crossed all night! 

UPDATE (3PM on Friday):  We just received a counter offer to our counter offer.  It's still kind of a low ball, so we're not going to respond just yet.  We have another couple scheduled to view our condo at 5PM today and we want to get their feedback before we proceed.  At least this guy got back to us though, unlike the other offer!

The Elephant in the Blog

Back in October, I announced that I had my IUD removed and that Jon and I were officially not not trying to have a baby.  I noted that we had a few goals that we wanted to accomplish before getting pregnant but that we were getting the ball rolling early to give my body a chance to get back to normal.

Call it women's intuition or call it a hunch, but I just knew that getting pregnant wasn't going to be an easy feat for me.  Honestly, despite our many goals, that was my main reason for getting a head start on the baby making.  Jon took some convincing to really make him understand why, but once he realized I was quite serious and sincere and wasn't trying to get pregnant rightthisinstant he was on board. 

My cycle has been wonky from the beginning.  Before I went on the pill in college, I only got my period about three to four times a year.  Once on the pill, I was completely regular thanks to my daily hormone intake.  But then I didn't get my period the entire time I had my Mirena in.  I had a bit of spotting the couple of days after having it removed, but looking back on it now, I think that probably had more to do with my pap smear than my period.

I still had my original IUD removal appointment scheduled for February (again, I had a feeling that I would need to be visiting my hard-to-get-an-appointment-with-doctor so I never cancelled it) so I went as scheduled and had a talk with my doctor.  I left the office with a PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome) diagnosis, a prescription for Provera (to start my period) and a prescription for Clomid (to induce ovulation).  I was stunned, to say the least.  I wasn't given any "formal" test to diagnose the PCOS, other than having my BMI checked and I've never had any problems with cysts on my ovaries, so I wasn't quite sure if I believed it.

Jon and I talked everything over that night and decided that I would take the Provera to help get my period started, but that I wouldn't take the Clomid until things are a little more stable in our lives and until my body has been given a bit more time to do things naturally.  And yes, I love and trust my doctor, but until I have a diagnostic test to definitively tell me that I have PCOS, I'm not going to take any fertility drugs.  I'm a second opinion kind of girl through and through! 

Wouldn't you know, a few days later, before I even had a chance to get my Provera prescription filled, I finally got my period on it's own accord!  And lord, did it come back with a vengeance, and at work, where I was completely devoid of all supplies, of course.  (thank god for working with a lot of women, is all I'm saying). 

With the guidance of the ever helpful Taking Charge of Your Fertility, I've been tracking my basal body temperature every morning and was able to take my chart to my appointment earlier this week for my doctor to peek at.  Same verdict as before though: I'm not ovulating.  I discussed things with him and let him know that I'm not comfortable with trying the Clomid at this stage in the game, but would consider it down the road if absolutely necessary. 

Jon always laughs at me because I hate taking medicine, but I really feel that taking the natural route at this stage in the game is right for me.  It's only been six months and really, this was the whole point of getting things started early.  I want to give my body a chance to see what it can do and if it does end up needing a little help down the road, I'll gladly accept it.  In the meantime, I've been making healthier food choices, reducing my alcohol intake, exercising regularly and taking my pre-natal vitamins and Omega-3 pills.  We're going to see where we are in the August-September timeframe and take things from there. 

So...I just wanted to give you all an update in case you were wondering how things are going.  I've been putting off this post because I didn't want it to come off as being all "woe is me" because if anything, I'm grateful that Jon and I have this additional time to get our lives together and enjoy being just us before parenthood.  (Admittedly, I've also been afraid that some meanies will come out of the woodwork and say, "You weren't really trying anyway so who cares?!", but my blog is for sharing and share I will.)