Not just curtains, lamps or pillows

There is nothing special about our China blue paisley duvet cover, our jute rug under the dining room table, the color of our bedroom walls or even the silver chafing dish that sits proudly on our mantle -- except for one common theme: my husband and I chose all of those things together.  Sure, anyone else who wants our duvet with matching shams and pillows can go to Restoration Hardware and pick it up, just like someone else could find the same rug at Pottery Barn -- the chafing dish, however, is an antique.  It, along with everything else in our apartment represents decisions that my husband and I have made together throughout the year and half that we've been married.  Odd as it may sound, I enjoy the fact that we debated for nearly six months on both of the area rugs in our apartment.  We knew what we wanted but we just hadn't found them yet.  Now, we have exactly what we want (and the old stinky rug is thankfully long gone :) )  The table linens and pillows he sewed sit proudly on the couch for which we waited over 2 1/2 months after our wedding. . . yes, that's a long time to be watching Real Housewives of New York in lawn chairs.

The things themselves aren't important but the stories behind them are pretty spectacular. . .

Oh, hi? I win.

Being married is fun.  You know what is just as fun as being married? Being right.  Generally, attorneys prefer to be right. I consider myself in the happy-medium group -- who like to be right only 95% of the time.  It's just my personality.

I have a bad habit of eating chocolate chips after dinner.  Every night.  I don't eat many but I feel as if it is my reward for working all day.  I don't snack at work and most of the time I work until 6 or later.  I deserve chocolate chips!!! So this evening, my husband looks at me as I reach for the Oxo container with my beloved chocolate chips.  Rewind to yesterday for a moment when during a visit to the Dr. she asked if I had ever had my cholesterol checked.  My reply: I hate needles, of course not.  After a brief PSA re: anyone over 25 who hasn't had it checked . . . etc. . . . I agreed to come back in a few months (probably around the same time that I agree to have a tetanus shot -- the 32nd of never).

Back to my chocolate chips, he looks at me and says, "You should really watch it.  Those have cholesterol in them."  I, already knowing that I was right, said, "You are WRONG."  I pulled the package out of the cabinet and what do you know?  There are 0 milligrams of cholesterol in chocolate chips.  I proceeded to eat an extra handful just to spite him :).  Then, he said that my butt was better than Kim Kardashian's . . .

Put in context, I don't think that's a compliment.  

Our domestic life . . .

My husband and I are very domestic.  It is not intentional.  I know many people who try terribly hard to be domestic.  It comes naturally -- especially to my husband.  Among many things my parents taught me, I learned to feed people and clean pretty quickly.  I enjoy cleaning, organizing and decorating.  I've always been a list-maker and constant reorganizer.  When it comes to cooking, I am a pretty good baker.  However, when left to my own devices, the menu will typically consist of a fried egg (with a solid yolk), a piece of whole wheat toast and some steamed broccoli.  Lame, I know.  This is an improvement from law school when I could live on Cap'n Crunch and coffee.

When it comes to truly creative cooking, my husband is a pro.  I think that it serves as a means of stress relief or catharsis for him.  (which is why I don't get in his way/watch Real Housewives of ___________ or the Nightly News while he works his magic).  Regardless of how much time he spends working, he comes home each evening and makes dinner and our lunches for the next day. We try to be financially conservative & health-conscious.  I avoid eating out during the day because it cuts into my productivity.  READ: I want to take a nap by 2:00 p.m. when I eat tater tots.  Often, I find that I end up consuming far more calories when I eat out, as well.  The financial aspect is certainly a deterrent when you consider that you can't get out of most group lunches for less than $20.  $20 spent 2-3 times per week can add up quickly.  All that aside, I like knowing that there are only two people who could have prepared my lunch -- and both of them washed their hands first :)  I also love when I get e-mails containing photos of tomorrow's lunch from my husband, who has the day off of work.  On the menu tomorrow: curry chicken salad. Yay!

The ultimate in temperature battles: Midnight edition

**If you're not familiar with my air temperature battles with my husband, see previous posts re: this issue.

Last night was the ultimate battle.  If we were to commemorate it with a catch phrase, I would call it: THE SNEAK ATTACK.

  

But seriously, let me set this up for you: 

It's around 1:30 a.m.  I am SLEEPING.  We have a space heater and an electric blanket in our room to keep us extra warm, since most of our bedroom walls are outer walls.  ANYWAY,  I'm sleeping.  I wake up to this. 

H: "I'm ROAASSTTTING!"

Me: "Mhmmm...." 

Cue H getting up out of bed.  Stomping around the bed to the electric blanket.  Snapping it off and snapping at me: 

H:  "YOU forgot to turn off the blanket!!! AND you're hot too! You're sleeping on top of the covers!! In a bathrobe!" 

Then he remembered that I turned the house heat up to 68 right before I went to bed -- as previously discussed -- an unGodly temperature in this household :) 

In the midst of tossing and turning, I slipped out to turn the heat back down.  I know when I am losing. . . 

Me: <awake-ish and a little annoyed> "I did NOT know that there were rules about who turns the blanket off.  Now, I am wide-awake!!!"  

Grumbles from both of us. 

Cue both of us tossing and turning for the next hour.  

However, he made me a waffle this morning.  TRUCE.  I'm over it :) 

Even more fun than dressing myself . . . dressing my husband!

I like to change his wardrobe every spring/summer too.  These are a few of my favorite things right now.

Kiel James Patrick Slim Fit Bracelet - John Galt


So preppy and fun!

1901 Saddle Up Oxfords


Vineyard Vines - Elliot Plaid Whale Shirt


J.Crew - always love gingham


Banana Republic Heritage Casual knit blazer



Southern Proper - Sweet Magnolia Gent tie



Brooks Brothers Milano plain front lightweight chinos



Brooks Brothers Bermuda Shorts



Ralph Lauren Aberdare Plaid swim trunks



Ralph Lauren cardigan  -- love this look!

A cold mess . . .

We've been through this once already.

The battle over apartment air temperature begins anew with the changing seasons.

My husband and I don't fight about many things.  On occasion, we disagree about things like where we're going to sit in church, the appropriate position of the dish washing sponge in the sink, which dishes are hand dried and which dishes can be air dried, the arrangement of the food in the refrigerator, and redecorating our apartment.

However, we FIGHT about temperature.  Throughout the winter, I have survived in near frigid conditions.  Our thermostat is set at 66 degrees.  He'd probably set it at 64 if I let him.  When we have parties, I make sure to turn up the heat two hours prior so that our guests don't have to borrow sweatshirts and blankets.  Our fireplace has helped but it is near the thermostat.  The rest of the house will freeze if we use the fireplace too much.  Alas, I have learned to dress in layers when going outside -- and when I'm indoors, as well.  My parents are not stingy with the heat or the air conditioning.  They were shocked when they heard that we don't keep our home temperature above 68 degrees.  (side note: this is a massive understatement.  An indoor air temperature of 66 degrees during a Chicago winter is akin to spousal abuse in their eyes . . . . just kidding-ish).  I suppose that it is easier to manage heating and cooling when you're in a more temperate environment.  Ahhhh the South . . .

So all of this temperature turmoil was precipitated by a conversation we had one morning last week when I was preparing to leave for work and he was arriving home from the night shift.

Me: It's warm outside.

Him:  Yeah! I turned the heat off. Did you notice? <smiles devilishly>

Me:  Yes. I was so comfortable that I didn't even notice.  Look, I'm not even wearing house shoes!  <teeth chattering grin/grimace of triumph>

That's when I knew that the battle was back ON.

His domination over our air temperature started last summer when we moved into this apartment.  It has very high ceilings and is a little draftier than our old apartment.  Rewind to one of the warmer summers I can remember since moving to Chicago.

Me:  It's so hot in here! You have to turn on the air -- we're having people over!

Him:  I bet that you'll complain that it's too cold in here in the winter. You are never the right temperature! (while he's right . . . )

Me:  No, I bet you money I won't complain about being cold.  I'll never be able to cool off again after being this HOT!

FF to Snomaggedon 2011 in Chicago: I came home and the temperature was set to 68.  It must be really cold for that to happen.

FF to this week:  The heat is off once again, ladies and gentlemen.

Now that spring is coming . . . I'd better prepare for battle round 2 . . .

I guess that there are worse things to fight about than temperature.

After!!

Separate bathrooms (and closets for that matter) make our marriage run very smoothly.  However, I still feel like it's my job to make sure that his bathroom is fabulous.  It doesn't hurt that my husband loves practical gifts.  He was thrilled with the results! 

AFTER

New towels, shower curtain, rug, apothecary tray, and new stoneware accessories for his vanity made a huge difference! I love cleaning with my hot pink rubber gloves but I may or may not have nearly asphyxiated myself with bleach.  It certainly smells clean in there! We're hoping to paint the whole bathroom a shade of white/blue/gray this spring when it warms up enough to keep the windows open for awhile.  

Yay for redecorating! 

Happy (early) Valentine's Day Pt. II! 

Since V-day is on a Monday and my husband and I won't really get to spend much time together, I decided to surprise him.  For weeks he has had his eye on a bathroom collection at West Elm.  His old bathroom accessories have been with him since medical school.  PLUS his bathroom is also the laundry room so it could use a good dusting.  Here is his bathroom before a deep clean and some new accessories: 

Check out the results tomorrow! 

How I rang in 2011

Typically, my husband's friends from college always find a way to get together on New Year's Eve. Our parties have become very tame house parties as the years have passed.  This year was much the same.  It was phenomenal to see our friends who are moving to London for four months and our friends from San Francisco.  There is only one wedding this year so it will be tough to make plans to see everyone as regularly as we have in the past three years.

I had to attend  the party alone, as my husband was on-call.  Seeing all of our friends is like seeing family, though, so I never mind getting together with everyone solo.  I stopped by the hospital with Subway for dinner so that we could eat together before I headed over to the party.  Around 11:55 p.m., I heard my friend's door phone ring.  A few minutes later, my husband appeared at the door (sweaty because he had run from the hospital & it was unseasonably warm in Chicago that night) to kiss me at midnight.  Even though he was paged almost immediately after arriving and had to run back, it was one of the happiest NYE moments I've ever had.

The heat is (not) on

It's cold, folks.  Granted, it is not nearly as cold as it's going to be in January, February, etc.  But it's still cold.

and

my husband refuses to turn on the heat.  Refuses.

So what am I wearing?

A bathrobe, socks, yoga pants, a t-shirt, and a sock cap. I've got to prove my point. :)

It's going to be a looooooong winter