On this cloudy day...

Friends, you are tres silly.
I love you all, i miss you all, my so glad it's break.
let's all hangout some more, mmmk?



shannon, richard and my brother

once upon a time, my maid of honor and i were zombies in a commercial

I miss you my dears!

xoxo
Rai

Cupcake Dreams

Here is the number one reason why we're registering for a KitchenAid mixer

:

I have a slight cupcake obsession.

I can't wait to make these everyday.
I want to be surrounded by cupcakes, espresso cups, and sparklers.
i am strange.

x0x0
rai

Coffee in bed

mornings with you are the best my love,

even if they're cut short by impending work.

those little minuets, mean all the world to me.

fiance, looking adorable as always

if i were a folk singer in the 1960's, this would probably be my album cover

love is all you need.

It's freezing in Bethlehem

last night, fiance, family and I went to Back To Bethlehem, which is pretty much
a Christmas reenactment of Bethlehem, complete with merchants, torches,
animals, romans, synagogue, and manger.

Sweet and charming, however:

It was about 2 degrees outside.
The line was over an hour.
We couldn't feel our toes (moi, due to some not-so-practical boots), and i'm starting
to realize that my northern-self has been living in Atlanta wayyyy too long.
i've now become sensitive to the cold.

Anyways, there were sheep, llamas, goats and chickens running a muck
throughout the little place, being chased by small children in over-sized coats
and mittens. It was tres adorable.

No pictures from moi, because my and Andrew's cameras have both lost
their battery chargers. darn you moving.

Bottom line, we spent an hour in line, freezing our little bums off,
only to spend about 20 minuets inside this thing.
We pretty much ran through it, and made our escape, completely skipping the manger.
We then high-tailed it over to our favorite Thai restaurant, Pacific Spice,
where we feasted on vegetable lo mien and general's chicken.
Yumm!

Happy Holidays!!!

xoxo
Rai & Andy

no so dance, dance party

we had a retro dance party in the kitchen...

well, kind of...

then we went to dinner at andy's parent's.

Twitterpated

Andrew Perry, oh how i love thee.
You're sitting on our bed, making up goofy songs about...well,
Christmas carols gone wrong, a 90's grunge song for our dog-baby, Peek, and...
god knows what else.

here's my twitterpated, i love love love you,
i marry you
i marry you
i marry you
letter:

We make beer runs together, at 2am for no reason.
You cook me dinner.
You wake up early to bring me coffee and breakfast in bed before work and classes
separate us for the day.
You bring me cards and flowers, just because.
You put a ring on my finger.
You hold me when i'm scared of thunderstorms in the early morning.
You don't hate me when I accidentally give you a bloody nose.
The first time you took me to your cousin's house, i got drunk on pomegranate wine &
told stories for hours, and you still loved me.
You proposed to me on the lake shore by the woods. You made it a scavenger hunt.
We both bought each other trees for our anniversary presents to each other.
Your eyes only ever look at me.
You send me cute text messages from work.
You watch me, fully, when you play the guitar.
We write songs together.
We stare at the stars.
We have picnics in the back of my jeep when we go to the drive-in.
We stay up at night planning our future.

Andrew, I love you.
xoxo
Rai

Halloween Horror Nights, October 2008

Fiance, Family and I took a little trip to Universal Studios
this past October.
Halloween Horror Nights. Haunted Houses & mayhem.
Oh yes.
Roller coasters and exotic hotels.
Yes.
Here's a brief photographic memory from your's truly,

enjoy!

Tonight has been....
interesting.
Remember my oh so lovely, shiny new {well new to me} purple pumps?
The rain got them when i stepped in a puddle.
I blame the black asphalt.

Also, during our work Christmas...gathering thing, a magician appeared.
No joke.
I was subjected to magic tricks, participation, and photos for over 30 minuets and let me just say,
it was not pretty.

The rain has become a plague.

x0x0
Rai

Thrifting with Andy

This morning was my final, final!
Fall semester is officially over and soon it will be Christmas/Andy's birthday!
I left the house bright and early this morning {aka 10:20 am}
and trudged off through campus in the rain.
My jeans got wet, despite my best efforts, although I did not fall in a puddle like my poor, dear friend Tiff.

Meanwhile, back at the house, this was happening:

Wednesday morning blues...

pekoe vs. cat

Later:

Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy went a-thrifting all about town today.
First, Tiff and I went to Plato's Closet {our favorite haunt after a test}.
I found a white wool poncho/sweater/hoodie...thing.
Tiffany says it looks like a frolic in the woods.
Aruba Red no approve.
I also purchased: some white lace, a kelly green vest, and the holy grail, purple suede pumps!
J'adore!

Oooh la la!

Then I picked up Andy at the house.
We had a date at Chick Fillet. Lemonade. Coke. Waffle fries.
It doesn't get better :)


Next on the itinerary, was Park Avenue Thrift. Yes, it smelled like old wood and dust;
and brown suede fringe jackets.
But
we had a fabulous time!
Fiance pointed out some lovely wedding gowns {complete with shoulder pads} for me to try on.
I politely declined. :P
We bought two enormous coffee mugs (one with a snowman!)
and a set of retro bright yellow and green peach-covered espresso cups.
what I find!


Then we trotted on over...
to the dollar store!
We commented on the fact that we should start buying our body wash from here,
considering it's cheap
and i finally found a smell i liked! {I drive Andrew crazy because I have to smell EVERYTHING.
The shampoo/body wash/deodorant isle is his nightmare!}
A Hanson Christmas song came on and I leaped around the isles in joy!
Andrew spotted some more coffee mugs he liked {this time with Santa's face}.
Luckily, he is strong enough to resist the temptation of shiny objects.
Unlike future wife.

my feather obsession continues...

We then ran over to wally world in the rain to get moi a gift for work secret Santa tonight.
joy.
"$10 gifts are always cheesy," we told ourselves, and so I settled on two
over-sized beer mugs.


Happy gifting!

xoxo
Rai

Rain & Mink

Some rainy days are wonderful; the kind you dream about, or at least I do. I flash myself back to the early 1960's where I would most certainly be wearing a plastic raincoat, preferably clear, with bright red rainboots and the perfect floral dress. Just jumping in the puddles, in the middle of the afternoon, only my most-loved, loves around. That's rain to me. Rain is also a damp, green island. Wet sand beach. Hut over the water. Thunder over the hut.

But today's rain...is just shitty. It's miserable outside, 30-something degrees and raining. Now raining harder. Rain doesn't make me want to do anything, i don't even want to watch it. So what can you do if you don't happen to have Mary Poppins' number and the Cat in the Hat is out of town?

I've come up with a few of these solutions:

1) Study for end of semester finals tomorrow. Watch Scrubs!

2) Clean living quaters. Update blog.

3) Clean out bathroom cabinets. Come up with new make-up looks!

4) Organize magazine rack and toss the oldies. Flip through said magazines and reminise about wonderful article on holiday cocktails.

5) Catch up with relatives. Watch history of philosophy video on youtube.

OR
1) Build unique fortress of fun to surprise Andrew with when he comes home

2) Make smoothies

3) Set up area to began our home-made ornament project for our little tree

4) Work on my jewelry collection...test on Andrew

5) Listen to Cat Power and shop for wedding gowns online

6) Do a shot of vodka with mother, wear Russian furry hat, and organize the New Year's Party...that or we'll just get some champagne and a hotel downtown


What do you do when you're plagued by rain?

Tell me, what do you all think of an antique mink coat being worn on a night out in times like today? Sure it's glamorous, but I've always been anti-fur. My grandmother gave it to me (it was her's back in her days of uber-glam NYC party hopping, aka the 1930-40's). I'm still mourning the death a possum that ran out in front of my car last week. I don't know what to do. I mean, the thing is stunning. I personally would never buy a fur coat, but the fact that it was a gift, from my grandmother, and it's warm as anything...of fuck it, I'll wear it for New Year's. Now I just need to get silver pumps, a little black dress and sparklers.

Does anyone have plans yet for New Year's Eve?!? Give me some ideas, dahlings!

xoxo
Rai

What's In A Ring?

Ever since i've been engaged, i've noticed a strange little phenomenon. I say the word 'engaged' or 'fiance' and eyes dart immediately to my ring finger. They're looking for bling, my dear friends; a great, big, sparkling diamond to symbolize eternity. Only a diamond isn't there. My ring is an antique, just what i've always wanted, and the stone is a light blue sapphire on a gold band.

To me, it looks like heaven.

Why?

Because it's my ring. It's the ring that Andrew bought for me, that we picked out together in an antique's shop on the square the day after he proposed originally (over take-out Chinese and wine), and then it was the ring that he slipped onto my finger after my scavenger hunt through the woods. My ring is everything to me.

So why is there such a stipulation with the diamond engagement ring? I do know that sapphires were the stone of many girl's dreams back in the day. But maybe an emerald is your dream rock, or peridot or amythist. My advice is get the ring that feels like you. It's all about the individual couple, not about ads in bridal magazines or ads on t.v.

What do you think? What stone do you want for your engagement ring dearies?

Love & Marriage

One rainy day, fire alarm, cut-off cellphones, bottle of Cabernet and MTV "reality" show later, and I'm thinking. Mtv's Engaged and Underage is portraying 18 to early 20 somethings showing off their "rocks", forcing their future spouses to change (i.e. career path, hobbies, friends, etc.), and doubting their very foundations. I have to ask, why are these people getting married? Yes, I am 21 and I am myself engaged, but my life and our relationship isn't like their's. We're not getting married to move out, to prove a point, to conquer each other. Marriage is a unity of two souls; it is the joining of two lives, two different sets of daily habits and routines, but most of all, it is the constant trust, companionship and love that comes out of it all. Love is beautiful and love is at the center of life, but love cannot work if other pieces fail. And by other pieces i mean, but of course, money, communication and the ability to work through differences.
No two people are alike; no two dreams, no two actions, no two tears. It can be difficult to see another person's perspective in the heat of an argument, in the belly of your pain, but if you are loved, and if you do love, the other side matters. Watching that show, i realize why there is such a stipulation against people who marry young. They aren't prepared. That first dream home that they're so excited about (hello! it's not a 8' by 8' dorm room and it's not mom and dad's basement!) is covered in layers of Mr. and Mrs.'dust around the furniture!'s bathroom mold, lanolium (spelling?) floors, and it's glittering in all it's ranch house glory (no offense to the ranch house by the way). It's just that, these are different times. Women can get an education, and they better! They have more to look forward to than their husband's fresh pile of dirty laundry. I mean, hell, I can't even operate a mixer. I have zero domestic skill and Andy is the kitchen King. But hello dahlings, that's why it works!

Moi et mon cherie amour, Andrew

He is my earth, steady, calm and consent, and I am his water, thrashing, unpredictable and all over the place. But there is a balance there; he keeps me still, I keep him moving. Do all these young newlyweds have their balance or is it just love?
And that's a tough question to answer, especially when you're living it, but I know that i've always known, deep down in the bottom of every "i love him!" young relationship, that it wasn't right. I knew I had love but I also knew that the love had no future. With every innocent (and sometimes not) proclamation of love, I never saw that dream that every little girl holds onto. I never saw the white dress, the immaculately dressed man waiting at the end of the walk. Until Andrew. With him, I saw it all; my present, my past, my future. He was the one I would walk to.
So now i'm looking at Jenny Packham and Pronovias, learning way more than I ever thought I'd know about flowers (though I love them crazy), staring constantly at my sapphire and gold ring, and studying for comm exams. I'm trying to keep my thoughts straight, especially through the holidays, and I'll be sure to let you know how it all goes!

Maybe love is knowing, that you always want to know.

Lots of love,
Rai

Life Approaching

life is hectic when your 21, taking 15 hours of school, working a coffee bar, oh and planning your wedding. Sometimes, a lot of times, it's a lot to handle. I lay awake some nights thinking, "how is this ever going to work?" Andrew is everything to me, absolutely everything. What I feel for him stretches far beyond anything i've ever felt before. He calms me down when I get crazy and he understands me in a different way. But oh isn't that so true...don't we all aspire to be

Engagement

understood? But there are some of us who rather always be a mystery; the allure of never being understood. I get that. I'm part of that. Half the time I don't fully understand myself, I just am. It's hard to explain it. A guy who once told me he loved me, knowing I didn't return the feeling, would constantly tell me how he didn't understand me. "What do you want me to say?!" I'd reply. "You don't understand me because it's not right.The only way you'd ever understand me is if I lied the words 'I love you too'." He wanted to analyze me and open my every thought. I wasn't exactly in agreeance. What I learned of love is that you have to be willing. You have to want to share yourself, you have to want to smile, be silly, talk...if you don't, if there's a block there, it may not be right. Nerves, are okay. Butterflies are okay. But fear, shaky, keep-you-up-all-night-fighting fear, c'est mal. All risks are scary but the right one won't hurt. Make sense? I hope so.

The biggest deterrence, I think, to happiness and stability is stress. We carry it everywhere; in our eyes, our feet, our shoulders, and as yogists believe, our hips (mainly women carry it there). So, it is because of this issue, that I've decided to take up yoga again. I used to do it fairly frequently years ago and then when i moved, yoga and i grew a part. Well now i've come crawling back, begging for forgiveness, and yoga said, "sure i'll take you back, but i won't make it easy." Oh how true yoga! Waking up at 5:30am during the week, 7am on a Saturday morning (this one too), and putting my upper body strenght to the test. Why in the hell would i put myself through it? Well, it calms me down, plain and simple. The posing movements, the meditation, it takes me away from school, dedlines, bills, plans, problems...even if it's only an hour, it's my hour and i'm happy with that.

In addition, I've decided i need to get my financial life together. I'm getting married in one year and i'm not exactly what you would call 'financially savey'. I do believe it all started in the first grade, when i took out more books than i could read from the public library and never returned them. I've been on the run ever since, library to library, collecting victims, opening new cards. But that's just like money isn't it? Buy more than you need, can't pay it off, get a new card, max it out too, and keep running til you've lost all your options. Although i haven't maxed out any credit cards yet, i have been wanted by several movie rental stores, and a cellphone company. I've decided, or learned perhaps, that most college students are not ready for when life happens. By life I mean, you meet that person that you can't live without, you want to get married, and if you're lucky enough to have your parents aid for the wedding,

Enaged by the water

what do you do afterwards? Andrew and I know we don't want to through our money away into an appartment, we want a place that is all our own, even if it's small. We want an old house, with wide wooden floors, all aged and scratched. We want a few acres so we can have chickens (even if we are in the city). We want walls we can paint, rooms to fill with the sound of his guitar and my typewriter. A place to truely inhabit; to live and thrive inside. We all have our own ideal first-home-paradise, but most young people may be far from achieving it. Money for the movies, money for spring break, money for rent and textbooks, food and laundry, gas and car repairs, overdrafts and concerts. Life is gleaming when you're in college. But what do you do when you find life approaching, graduation right ahead, and no job lined up yet?

I don't know. That's why we're saving, or trying to. We don't want to be slaves to money. We don't need to be filthy rich, we just want to be comfortable. To be able to go on a weekend vacation without fear of the bill. There's a lot of work in our future, but we're willing.

Okay, i've been procrastinating too much. I've really got to start research for my speech. Wedding plans next time maybe?

xoxo
Rai