So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Goodbye

Just had a momentary panic/awwww moment as I realized that this will probably be my last blog post from the United States. The day that at some point seemed like it was so far away or was never going to actually come is here. These last few days have been crazy for me, in between trying to see everyone, eat absolutely every thing that I know I'm going to miss once I'm overseas, pack/unpack/repack, etc. Last night I went out for the Last Supper with one of my close friends from middle school. Today, I am doing one last mani/pedi/Sephora run to stock up on the makeup that I can't get over there, then one last burger at Shake Shack (those burgers are so amazing that I am about 2.5 seconds away from composing a love ballad about one). It turns out that one of my sorority sisters has a flight that leaves from the same terminal at Newark as mine does, about 30 minutes before me, so we are meeting up for one (ok, a few) last drink(s), then it's wheels up!

I promise I will resume blogging ASAP once I'm over there and will post lots of pictures! Thank you to everyone for all of your support these past few months. It has meant the world to me. Also, if you haven't done so yet, you still have some time to enter my Preppy Princess giveaway.

now I know how Nate Archibald felt

Yesterday, when the movers were here, they jammed something in my door to keep it from closing. When they left, they took it out, but the door still wouldn't close. I managed to get it closed last night when I went home. Today, when I got here, I opened the door, but could not get it closed. My mother and I cleaned here and packed up. We were unable to close the door at all. After several angry phone calls and messages with the moving company, I was able to get them to send someone out here between 10:00-12:00 tomorrow. I was supposed to meet my landlady tonight at 9:00pm to hand over the keys to my apartment and needless to say that didn't happen. It was not safe to leave my apartment with the door half open and a lot of my stuff in it overnight, so I had to spend the night here. My bed is gone. My sheets are gone. My blankets are gone. My towels are gone so I can't take a shower in the morning. My lamp is gone. I have no food here. I am squatting in my own house. Now I know exactly how Nate Archibald felt.

S-T-R-E-S-S-E-D

Yesterday, the movers came. In order to save me time and energy, and give me back some sanity, TLS and I decided to go with a full service move, which meant that the movers would pack everything up for me. After all, few things scream "safety" quite like inviting three strange men into your house to pack up your underwear.

The moving company came to my house to do an estimate and arranged to come here from 2-3pm. Then, they called me the day before asking if they could move my appointment down to 1:00pm. Even better. They called me at 2:30pm on Thursday saying they were going to get here around 5. They showed up at 6:00pm. I live(d) in a Co-op building with strict rules, and needless to say, my housing board does not allow for movers at 10:00pm. They were here for 4.5 hours and at the end, I really started questioning why we were doing this. Things that I specifically asked them not to pack- my ipod cord, a change purse with Euro coins in it, several bags of things that were going to the Salvation Army, etc. got packed. Things that I asked them to pack, naturally, got left behind. In addition, one of them left his toolbag here. They managed to pack up almost all of my summer clothes and attempted to pack my laundry hamper full of dirty clothes. Fortunately, that one I noticed right away and had them unpack it. My summer clothes did not meet the same fate. Thankfully, due to the Vineyard Vines Friends and Family sale and the generosity of my fiance, I have four polo shirts and a Preppy Whale Tee coming to Germany. (Vineyard Vines, I owe you a huge thank you- your sale could not have come at a more appropriate time and the fact that you ship to APO addresses is a huge plus!) My super saw the movers at like 10pm, and told them that they were not allowed to be here, so at that point, they just got careless and started throwing things around. I am scared to see what all of my stuff will look like when it finally gets to Germany. They left my apartment a mess and I am now here trying to clean it up and figure out what to do with all of the things that got left behind. Grrrrr.

birthday month giveaway #2

I have so much I want to say, but it is 9:48pm and the movers are still here. I am too physically and emotionally drained to type a long coherent blog post, so that one will have to wait. In the meantime, however, it's time for a second giveaway.

This giveaway is graciously sponsored by the Preppy Princess. Since I love writing, this is a stationery giveaway. The winner will receive a Sticky Notes with Notepad and a Letterpress Set which includes 6 cards and 7 envelopes (in case you mess one up!). Both will be in the pattern of the winner's choice.

To enter this giveaway, leave a comment with your favorite item from the Preppy Princess site for 1 entry.
Follow my blog through google friend connect for a second entry.
"Like" the Preppy Princess on facebook for a third entry.
Follow both the Preppy Princess and I on twitter (@PreppyPrincess and @whaleflipflops) and tweet about the giveaway for a fourth entry.
Blog about this giveaway for a fifth entry. You will also receive one entry for every person who enters and says that she was referred by you. (I'm assuming guys aren't exactly clamoring to win this one.)
Please leave all comments in one entry only.

The giveaway will run until Wednesday, June 30th at midnight EST.

giveaway winner

Congratulations to Freck! You won my 2 Preppy Girls coffee travel mug giveaway! Please email me your information and what mug you'd like and I'll pass it along! I have a few more giveaways set up for my birthday month and will hopefully post the next one tonight after all the craziness with the movers is done, so stay tuned!

Cry Me a River, Build a Bridge, and Get Over It

I am now officially at the one week mark.With all of the things I have going on, my hormone and stress levels have been through the roof. I have been a crazed mess of emotions and have spent a lot of time crying. Some times for no apparent reason. The slightest thing (good or bad) can set me off.

My friend bought me a set of monogrammed wash cloths= sniffles
Left phone charger at my mom's= monsoon
Someone liking my nail polish= ::sniff sniff::
Breaking a nail= freaking catastrophe (although, in all fairness, this is my general outlook on life regardless of hormone levels)
Receiving cards from friends= wah wah wah
Not getting to Crumbs before they close= hysterically crying

The moral of this story? For the next week or so, when you see on twitter and facebook that I am a mess and can not stop crying, don't worry, 9 times out of 10 it really is not that serious. (The 10th time, just send a roll of packing tape my way and book me a manicure STAT.) Also, for anyone who was wondering about what happened with all of my mom's China that she tried to pawn off on me- it turned out that it was going to cost over $600 to ship it all. If I'm spending that much on China, I'd rather just get my own brand new stuff, so thus my mom's plan of pawning off all of the things that she doesn't want on me was foiled.

oy gevalt, the sequel

Those of you who have been reading my blog since its inception know that I have a very special love/get away from me bond with my mother. I am an only child and am basically her whole world. This can be both a blessing and a curse. When her little princess is moving far far away from her to live with a boy and leaving her all alone with no one in this world to talk to, that, dear friends, is a curse. In addition, my mother is taking my move as an opportunity to unload years of hostess/birthday/anniversary gifts that have been given to her that she has yet to actually use. When my parents got married, the de rigeur wedding gift was sterling silver coffee spoons. They have been married for 32 years. They have all 6 sets that they received for their wedding. Still in the original packaging. My mother claims that it will be nice to have a reminder of home when I'm living overseas. Few things scream "reminder of home" quite like some things which have not been used in 32 years do. (An anecdote about my family: when my great-grandmother got married, she received a tablecloth as a wedding gift. This tablecloth was just too nice to use and needed to be saved for a special occasion. So she saved it. And saved it. Kept on saving it right up until the day my Nana got married, when she gave it to her as a wedding gift. My Nana just loved this tablecloth so much that she wanted to take good care of it and not ruin it. The best way to preserve a tablecloth? By not using it. This is what she did. She decided to give it to my mother on her wedding day. My mother has yet to use this tablecloth. Three guesses as to what I'm getting for my wedding.)

As any good Jewish mother, mine is resorting to guilt to clear out all of her cabinets. Mrs. So and So gave her these lovely wine glasses for us to use and would want us to use them well. Should I address a thank you card to Mrs. So and So thanking her for the truly heinous glasses that are still in their original packaging 10 years later? My dad's aunt had this lovely plate and it would be nice for me to keep it in my house to remember her by. Is it possible to remember someone who passed away before you were even born? I used to love these serving plates so much and always told her I wanted them for myself, don't I remember? Was this before or after I told her I was the future Mrs. Ricky Martin? 

I have only been at my mother's house for about an hour and a half tonight, but it feels like so much longer. She sat in her living room, pulling out pieces from her China cabinet  and convincing me of exactly why I needed them in my life. While most pieces got met with plenty of mocking and sarcasm, I did get away with a box of stuff that was quite lovely. And $40 to figure out how to get it all to Germany. UPS, here I come! Here are the free pieces of China that I am now paying someone to pack/ship for me.

Pinecone set of China for 6 (soup bowls, salad plates, entree plates).

This was my mother's wedding China that she doesn't use that much any more. I want my own set of China (complete with serving pieces) but this will be good to hold us over until then. The pinecones motif would be great for Thanksgiving.

Blue and white serving bowl.

I love blue and white pieces and this matches some lovely trivets, coasters, and plates that we stocked up on in Turkey!

Andrea by Sadek Buckingham Oblong Platter, Chip/Dip/Spreader Set, and Cake Plate and server set

Love all of the florals on these. My guess is- TLS, not so much.

Set of 6 red glass ice cream bowls

Set of two Spode Blue and Blue serving plates/bowls.

Wedgwood Jasperware kangaroo plate

This one is tiny, about the size of a coaster, and the kangaroo is adorable and I simply adore Jasperware!

Set of two decorative plates from Spain

It's wrong to break up a set so I had to take both, not just the one (i.e. more empty space in her China cabinet which my dad would have to fill).

annoyed- vent post

I just have some things I need to get off my chest. One thing, really. I am  moving in 9 days. I have to leave for the airport on Tuesday at 2:30-3:00pm, which gives me about 7 full days left. I told all of my friends months ago that I was moving and time for us to hang out was running out. I don't know if they did not believe me or if they thought that they had more time than they really did or what, but a few have just not been around or been there for me as much as I thought or would have liked. One friend in particular, CSK, would always im me wanting to hang out at the last possible second when I already had plans, particularly ones that could not be changed. I am holding a farewell party on Saturday night as a final get together with all of my friends. CSK told me that she can't make it as she already has a birthday party that day that she rsvp'd for a long time ago. Completely understandable. She ims me just now asking me if we can hang out one day this week to grab lunch or dinner. My reply was "doubtful." I will not be at home all day tomorrow, have plans with friends two other nights, have a meeting with my wedding planner, and have movers coming on Thursday morning, and I still need to sort a lot of my things to determine what is and isn't going with me for that. She starts telling me how she is hurt by my actions and how it's unfair of me to not be able to spare an hour for her and all this stuff. I told you months ago that I was leaving, why did you wait until the last month when things were at their craziest for me to try to make plans? And now you're trying to make yourself look like the victim here? That is completely not fair to me!

need a favor

My bathroom in our new house is pretty much crying for this beauty:

One small problem: Garnet Hill only ships via UPS and says to expect to wait at least 4-6 for delivery to APO addresses. Grr. I do not want to wait that long at all. Especially since I know that 4-6 weeks really means more like 3-4 months. If any bloggers are willing to help a girl out, can I please order the bath rug (small one in Hibiscus Pink) to be sent to your house and have you send it via Priority Mail to my APO address? Please let me know! I would return the favor with lots of German chocolate!

birthday month giveaway

My 27th birthday is now less than a month away. (Remember when you were younger and 27 was like over the hill ancient? Where did all the time go?) As a thank you to all of my readers, I am once again doing several birthday month giveaways.

The first giveaway is graciously donated by 2 Preppy Girls. The winner will receive a monogrammed/personalized coffee travel mug in her choice of pattern. Me? I'm very partial to the pink giraffe print! Unfortunately, I don't have a picture, but you can see the mug in question here.

To enter this giveaway, leave a comment on this post with your favorite item from 2 Preppy Girls for 1 entry. Follow my blog for an additional entry. Follow 2 Preppy Girls' blog for a third entry. "Like" 2 Preppy Girls on facebook for a fourth entry. Follow me on twitter and tweet about this giveaway for a fifth entry. (Please do not retweet as I don't always see those and you  may not get credit for your entry. Please tweet @whaleflipflops.) Please leave all of your entries in one comment only. This giveaway will run until June 23rd at midnight, EST.

Almost there

I am moving in two weeks. My 27th birthday is in exactly a month. The closer that I get to the date on both of these, the more I start to freak out. I am nowhere near where I thought I would be by this time. Despite having donated several bags to the Salvation Army and selling quite a few things, I still have a ton of stuff I need to get through in my closet. A lot of my things are still not packed. (It will take me about 2 months to get my things in Germany. I can have up to 2 bags on the plane with me Right now I am trying to figure out what I will need for the first 2+ months I'm there and need to either mail it over to TLS and pray that the APO doesn't lose it or bring it over to my mother's house so the movers don't accidentally pack it.) Also, every year since 1999, my best friend GNB and I have done some sort of celebration for my birthday. It is our tradition to give the other one a small gift for her birthday and then take her out for dinner, brunch, show, spa, etc. This is going to be my first birthday without her. Kinda sucky.

I am trying to stay positive. Since I am in the mood/need for some retail therapy, I have started focusing on my birthday wishlist. (Thank you for all of your digital camera recommendations. It looks like the Canon Powershot is the most popular choice, so that is the one I will be going with.) Here's what I have so far.

Lilly Pulitzer Latte Da Mug in  Crabtastic

$14.50 at Preppy Princess (I want to have a full set of all the Lilly mugs and currently only have two. They are getting packed up which means I will not see them for a while. If I get this one for my birthday, at least I can have a fun colorful one with me the entire time!)

Snoopy Nesting Doll Set

$40 at Amazon. Growing up in the former Soviet Union, I've had a love of nesting dolls from an early age.

Baccarat Crystal King Snoopy Figurine

At $250 (Neiman Marcus), I don't exactly anticipate that people will be clamoring to get this little guy for me, but he is absolutely hysterical and still very classy and elegant and I don't care, I just want him.

Louis Vuitton Damiere Ebene Canvas Neverfull GM

Y'all can pretty much guess how thrilled TLS is that I asked for a $750 purse for my birthday.

A new pearl strand.

I want a pearl strand and studs set so that the colors match.

Tiffany & Co. Notes Alphabet Pendant

Digital Camera Help

My birthday is coming up in just over a month. My I've had my current digital camera for around 4 years now, and it's starting to show it's age. It's a lot thicker than all of the cameras that are out on the market now, and it drains the battery. I can't keep the battery in it at all, because if I do, by the time I go to actually take a picture, it will be completely dead. I ended up getting a second battery for it, and on the picture-heavy days, two batteries are just barely enough (and sometimes they aren't enough at all!). So when my parents asked me what I wanted for my birthday, I told them a new digital camera.

I am not a technologically minded person at all. When it comes to new technology, I am usually one of the last people to get something. While I am salivating over the iPad, I will wait until it comes as a second or third generation product before getting one. Things like zoom, megapixel, etc. all go way over my head. All I know about technology is how it looks. I'm the same way with cars. When TLS asked me what kind of car I wanted us to have in Germany, I said "pretty." So when my parents asked me what kind of a digital camera I wanted, I said "pink." For some reason, they thought I was kidding. I'm not really sure why. This coming from the girl who used to only eat the strawberry ice cream in the Neapolitan because it was the prettiest.

My parents told me to get serious, figure out what I wanted, and tell them the exact model I want. You'd really think that after 26+ years, they'd get to know their own daughter. Like I said, I really have no clue what the difference is between any of the digital cameras that are currently out on the market is. If any of you have a model that you love, please let me know. The only thing I do know that I want in a camera other than the color is a big screen. My current camera (a Fuji Finepix V10) has a massive screen that I love.

Lilly Sale Goodies

Let me start this off by saying that like many others, I too, was disappointed in this year's sale. In November, I only went on the last two days, and got a ton of merchandise, including samples. This time around, there were not as many samples, and the ones that were there were gone way too quickly. By the time I got there at like 3:30pm on Wednesday, the only samples that were left were damaged items. Also, the sheer amount of merchandise was not as good last time. I was expecting a lot more. (In November I got four dresses, as opposed to only one this time around.) With all that said and done though, I still got some great merchandise and am very happy with my haul.

The haul (carefully being guarded by Snoopy).
Halle Sweater in Hotty Pink and White. 

The Halle is one of my favorite items that Lilly makes. It fits perfectly and is a staple in my closet. I have several already in various colors, so when I saw two in my size for $49 each (they usually sell for $98!), I grabbed them right away!
Clare Dress in Prep Green Hit the Spot

The Clare is a dress that I have been eyeing in the store for quite some time but was not sure that I wanted to spend the full retail amount on it. Luckily, I didn't have to. It fits perfectly and is extremely flattering. The picture does not do this one justice. The colors are beautiful and vibrant. I may break this baby out for my birthday this year!
Simple Skirt in True Blue Mari Time

Love the print and fabric of this one. It's a possibility for 4th of July with a red or white polo.
Casey V Neck Top in Shorely Blue, Navy, and White.

I am a creature of habit. When I find something that works for me, I buy it in every color. I already have this one in Hotty Pink, yellow, and green. You can never go wrong with a good basic item.
Vivi Top in  Cameo White Bird on a Wire

I have the Sabine Shirt dress in this print and it is one of my favorite prints. The top is incredibly
comfortable and flattering and can be worn in 3 out of 4 seasons, which makes it a winner in my book. I already wore it today. If they had had this one in more colors, I probably would have bought multiples of this one as well.
Two packs ofChristmas Cards

Not the most exciting of purchases, but Christmas cards are something that you're always going to need in bulk. I like to buy a lot of various packs and send different cards to different people. Last year, despite buying what at the time seemed like way too many cards, I actually ran out and had to buy one or two more packs at the very end, so it seemed like a great time to start stocking up. (Buying Christmas cards in Germany will be more of a challenge than buying them in England was, which is where more than half of last year's cards came from.)
Wink Perfume Gift Set

I wear Wink every day (both TLS and I love it) and since Sephora won't ship to APO addresses, I wanted to get some more before I left. Getting it on sale and with the lotion was an added bonus.

Those are all of the things I got for myself. In addition, Pagie of Monograms and Margaritas sent me a check and asked me to play stylist for her. These lovely dresses will be calling her closet home soon:
Sabine Shirt Dress Crinkle in Cameo White Bird on a Wire

See a pattern here? I am obsessed with mine and convinced her that her life and closet would not be complete without it!
Worth Shift in Casa Marina Sewn Patch

Lola Dress in Daiquiri Pink Wishing You Were Here

Thoughtless Thursday

This is what happens when you put too much bubble bath into a whirlpool.

mail call

I have started sending out our moving announcements to family and friends. I have a huge stack that's waiting to be addressed and stamped! I have been getting a lot of messages asking me about my address and when to send mail to me, so I thought I would do a post about it, instead of having to rewrite the same thing over and over.

I am moving on June 29th. The movers are scheduled to come on June 24th. After that I will be moving in with my parents for a few days before I leave. If you want to send me anything to my current address, please do it before June 17th. This gives it some leeway so things don't get lost in the mail.

When I get to Germany, I will need to apply for command sponsorship. This will put me on TLS's orders. Until that happens, I am theoretically not supposed to receive mail on base. It is not as big a deal for cards and letters as it is for packages since those need to be picked up. To err on the side of caution, for now, if you have to send anything to my APO address, please send it to TLS and put for MRM somewhere on the envelope so he knows to give it to me. (Cards and letters sent to this address just require a regular stamp and can be dropped in the mailbox. Packages sent here are charged American shipping rates but they do require a customs form.)

For our physical address in Germany (our apartment), any mail sent there can be addressed directly to me. Cards and letters to that address just require an international airmail stamp, and packages also require a customs form.

If you want either of my addresses or want me to send you a moving announcement, please email me.

The Most Epic Day of my Life (warning LONG post)

Yesterday was a big day for me.

It started off with TLS going house hunting for us. Right now is high  PCS time (Permanent Change of Station- when service members and their families move from one base to another) so the housing market is crazy competitive. Houses are gone within a day so if you want to get a house, be prepared to sign a contract on the spot! Time was running out for us to find a house (TLS can only stay in the base hotel for so long) and TLS found us one yesterday. It is a duplex apartment with four bedrooms and 2.5 baths. I am very excited because this means that I get to live out my dream of using a bedroom as a big walk in closet! That is a whole lot of shoes. And purses.

After that, I had an appointment at Kleinfeld to go dress shopping with my mom and my two best friends (MOH and bridesmaid). I have read a lot of not so great reviews of Kleinfeld online and I have to say that I was more than pleasantly surprised. I tried on probably 7-10 dresses (after a while, they all start to look the same, so I'm unsure of the exact number) and ended up finding THE perfect dress. When the consultant brought it in for me to try on, my mother and I both thought that she was deranged, and it ended up being the one that looked the best on me! It was only about half of what my Nana gave me to spend on a dress, which means I have more money to play around with for shoes and accessories! The consultant is friends with my wedding planner, so even though the dress was below my budget, they still knocked a couple of hundred bucks off which was awesome! Gracie Beth- my mom saw a ridiculously over the top Pnina Tornai dress that of course she fell in love with and decided I had to try. Fortunately, the consultant informed her that it was over $24,000 (!!!!) and being that my mother thankfully doesn't love me that much, I was spared.

After dress shopping, my mother decided to take us girls out for champagne to celebrate. It had been a while since we had all eaten and the champagne started to hit us pretty quickly. After my mother left, we decided to pop into the restaurant next door for some appetizers and girl talk. My best friend RAA and I will eat just about anything. And we clearly proved this last night. As we're hungrily waiting at the hostess stand to be seated, she notices a bowl of pillow mint-looking candies, and points them out to me. They just look so good that we cannot help ourselves but grab some! GNB looks on at us and goes "I'll pass." As we're shoving the oddest tasting candies EVER into our mouths, the host comes back to the stand, looks at us, and goes "what are you doing? Those are dog treats!" At this point, RAA and I cannot spit them out fast enough and are so grossed out while GNB cannot stop laughing hysterically. He leads us to our table and we notice that right next to us are two drag queens. You want to not look, but you just can't. Especially when two guys can apply eyeliner perfectly and you still can't without stabbing yourself in the eye. After about 5 minutes of nonchalantly pretending not to stare, enough people had asked to take a picture with them to officially not label us as "those creepy girls" so we went over and asked to take a picture with them. Once again, GNB sat this one out and took our picture. I was wearing Lilly Pulitzer spaghetti strap McKims, a Vineyard Vines seersucker skirt with seahorses on it, and a VV polo. RAA was coming from work and was in a suit. And here we are in a picture with two guys in dresses, sparkly silver gogo boots, and bouffant wigs. Only us. The manager came over to with us and at this point, RAA and I felt the need to talk to him about the quality of dog treats that is served in his establishment. Commercials usually advertise dog treats as being meaty/gamey/fishy, but these only tasted like slightly salty styrofoam. That's right, we became instant experts on dog treats. I don't even have a dog. One glass of champagne each folks. He ended up sending us a free strawberry shortcake which we devoured in record time.

My wedding planner wanted to come dress shopping with us but could not make it due to a family function, so she sent me a text message asking to send her pictures. As I was emailing them to her, I clicked on the wrong contact and sent them to an ex boyfriend. Classy. Some days I really do think it's a small wonder that natural selection has not wiped me out yet.

dirty footprints

I love light soled sandals for the summer. The only thing I don't like about them is the inevitable dirty footprint that forms once you start wearing them. It irritates me to no end and looks so icky in my opinion.

I have two pairs of the Lilly Pulitzer Spaghetti Strap McKims that I got for the summer. The Hotty Pink ones above and a gold pair. After being worn twice, they are already starting to show the outline of my foot.

Do any of you have advice/suggestions on keeping your sandals cleans and footprint free?

am I making a mistake?

Those of y'all who read my twitter, know that I have been crying a lot lately. While I hate to have to turn my blog and twitter into a constant stream of pity parties, there are some things that I have to get off my chest.

It seems that the closer we get to the move, the more and more depressed I get. I love TLS dearly and know that he is the man for me. But I am giving up a lot for him and am not happy about it. Last night I got an invitation for a  sorority sister's baby shower. This is the first event I've been invited to that I have had to say no to because I'm moving. Despite the fact that I despise baby showers and generally prefer not to go to those anyways if possible, I sat in my bed and cried for a long time. This is the start of me being phased out of my friends' lives and missing things. I have been crying every night it seems and am not sleeping well because of it. I realize that there are many positive aspects to this move, but lately, all I can focus on is all of the negative stuff.

Plus, at the end of the day, he has a job, and I will be starting over completely new, not knowing how to drive, and I will be stuck at home all day. Because we got married too late, the Air Force is not paying for my plane ticket or to move me so we have to pay for this all on our own (in the vicinity of $3-5,000). This is money that we were not planning on having to spend and needless to say, we did not budget for it. We are now trying to figure out if we can afford a honeymoon from all this, a fact that makes me cry more just thinking about it. Since TLS has to find a house and move in by July 1, it means that he will have to pick out the house on his own and I will have no say in this whatsoever. This is our first house together. The place where I will be living for at least three years. And I don't have any control in this. Not fair! I'm scared that I'm going to get there, hate the place, be miserable, and this will just cause fights and create a rift between us.

I am really scared of these next three years and if we will be able to survive them and if I can be happy or not. I love TLS more than just about anything but if I'm not happy and we spend the next three years miserable and fighting, then we will not last. I am scared that I am making the wrong decision by moving and am starting to think that maybe staying in NYC for three more years would be the best thing for us.

Le Creuset ::swoon::

CSN stores contacted me about doing a product review for them. I have done a review once before and have had nothing but positive experiences with them. The company has over 200 stores including Baby Cribs Plus, Cookware, All Modern, Luggage, and more. Being that I am in the process of packing/unpacking/repacking/registering, etc. for our first house together, obviously I jumped at the chance to get more kitchen/housewares items. Few things make my heart go pitter patter quite like Le Creuset. I adore everything about it. The quality, the products themselves. And the colors. Oh the colors! Currently, I cannot get enough of Caribbean and Cherry.

I chose to go with this beauty:

I love it so much and cannot wait to get it! I am anxiously awaiting its arrival and am pondering what I will make/serve in it first.