My Husband in a Tux

One day, I'll be your plus one.

When we're a little more important.

You swanky man, you.

Put A Star On Your Chart

Remember how when you were a kid they had those charts with chores and you got a star if you did one of your chores?  Yeah I never had one but I sarcastically tell Nick to "Put a star on his chart" every time he does something useful.  However, lately I seem to have become a nagging wife.  I dunno where it came from but out of nowhere I just can't stop myself from nagging him.  It's like word vomit.  I don't mean to be so irritating - I swear.  But seriously I just wish that we had a clean house and when he is playing computer games our house is not getting clean.  And to be honest I get a little bitter.  I know I'm not the only one here....

However, Nick swears he does the same if not more than me!  Therefore I devised...

Put A Star On your Chart!  

The DeCourcy Family Chore Sheet

It's an excel document to keep track of who's done what.  Annnnnnnd it really brings out the competitive side of him.  Which is totally useful.  Oh no honey I can't believe you've scored higher than me on the chore chart again!  Damn it *wink*wink*

The chore chart is in trial stages at the moment but if you think such a chart could help you deal with your lazy husband/wife/life partner, let me know and I will share it with you on google docs.   

Oh and also I would like to give a shout out to my favorite of all housewives (even if she isn't technically a wife) Martha Stewart for creating some stellar cleaning charts, which mine is loosely based off of.  

Anniversary Round 2

Yesterday was our anniversary.

Two years.

I'm not gonna lie now, last year when I wrote a really super mushy post about how fabulous married life was and everything I was kind of lying....

 I mean I just found the first year pretty hard, and not that fabulous.  

Even though I was in love with him and everything.  

I just hated England, and I was unemployed, and we were poor,

 and I missed being an independent woman.  

(And by independent I mean living with my friends 

and calling my parents up whenever I needed a bank refill.) 

But anyways being married is soooo much better now.

But it's still annoying sometimes, for instance yesterday when Nick got me gardening books for our anniversary.  I like gardening, but he had told me that he was shopping for my present in a jewelry store, and had also told me that he took time off to get his passport renewed the week before.  

This is when my imagination starts running wild.... 

Needless to say... my face looked something like this when I opened my pressies....

And then I threw a major bitch fit.  

He's still getting hell for it now actually.  

Luckily after two years I have learned a little something about forgiveness.

And I try not to be a huge bitch.

Even though I fail most the time.

In fact I'm probably failing right now 

since I am sharing this anniversary drama with the world wide web.

Oh well.  I want you readers to know that I love him.  

Even though he messes up sometimes.  

Cuz I mess up even more than him and he still thinks I'm cute.  

And he's nice to me 99.9999% of the time.  

And he is awful at holding grudges and he forgets why he is mad at me really quickly 

which is great for me because if I were him I would be mad at me for weeks at a time. 

 And I guess that is what I've learned about this whole marriage thing this year.  

Forgiveness is super important.  

I love you, Nick.

Husband Repellent

I have been wearing the above grey high waisted Zara pants on repeat since before Christmas probably.  I am like that.  I tend to find a piece of clothing I like and live in it.  That is a problem in general, but it is really a problem when you're wearing man repellent pants.  For me... high waisted = no muffin top, however, the husband just admitted that he thinks high waisted = big wide ass.  Thanks husband.

Being married is such a learning experience.  I retired my grey pants this week.  And Nick is attracted to me again.  Holler.

Must work on grown up wardrobe.  That is all.

Come See My Green House!!

Hey Friends,

Check this out.

Nick and I found this little greenhouse at the grocery store for only £25 (score!) 

and we put it together yesterday.

It's not the most classy looking green house ever, but whatever - 

even Martha Stewart had to start somewhere.  

Anyways, come on in!

It's actually quite cozy inside, 

and I let my little seed babies spend their first day out today. tear...

(Momma's got separation anxiety...)  

Until now they've been growing in the kitchen.

I still have to bring them in at night, in case they get too cold, 

but I am so pleased with their progress.

And the fact that it appears I may in deed have a green thumb!

Here are my tomatoes and sweet peppers.

We also have eggplant, strawberries, mint, basil, and tomatillos growing now.

And here are my little carrots.

They got attacked by some weird green fly thing,

 but I went on a crazy fly slaughter and killed them all....

with my bare hands.

Ahem.... anyways my carrots seem to be growing pretty well now, 

and there are no more flies brave enough to hang out around here.

So yeah I've become a crazy gardening lady. 

But I'm just so excited to eat something that I have grown.

I've got so much more to plant in the next few months that

Nick is worried we are going to run out of room.

But there is a plot of land behind our house that is totally overgrown and unused

so I am plotting to make a little vegetable plot there.  

(Overuse of the word plot?)

Nick is also worried (notice a trend here?)

 that this is trespassing, but seriously, what are they gonna do?

Arrest us for growing corn?

If they do....

 I'll have to sacrifice one of my phallic vegetables to a place where the sun doesn't shine.  

So be it.  

Hope you had a fabulous weekend.

The Big Freeze

I've totally been slacking on my blogging, but last week we had the most fabulous weather.  

It snowed like crazy!!

The first day Nick and I had a bit of a spat because when we woke up the roads were covered in snow and he wanted me to iron him a shirt for work... I, of course, am more experienced in snow and knew this would be unnecessary because there was no way he was getting to work... an hour later his work called to tell him they were shutting it down for the day!  How good is being right?  I think I like it more everyday.  He had to tell me "touche" and it was the best touche ever!

Sorry Neener.... you win some you lose some!

But even better than getting to say "I told you so..." 

was we got to have a snow day together!  

It was so fun!

Heidi had a really fantastic time with her dog friends too.

And then my friend Stuart came, from Australia.  I was pretty worried he wouldn't make it because lots of trains and buses were canceled, 

but he did and I don't think he's ever seen this much snow in his entire life.

We ate snow, and made snow angels, and tarnished untouched snow.  

I passed down my Grandma's favorite piece of snow day advice to him 

"Don't eat yellow snow"

 And then we did it again.

The day was even prettier because the skies cleared and it was nothing but blue for miles.  

We walked around the reservoirs and we hiked up a massive hill and went into this really old stone church that had tombstones from the 1700s.  But of course I forgot to put my memory card in my camera so there are no pictures of that.

The snow isn't so pretty anymore.  It's mostly just a lot of ice.

Oh well, Nothing gold can stay - right Pony Boy?

Since We're On the Topic.... of Gifts

Holiday Gift Guide - Gettin' Busy Style

The other day Nick asked me what I wanted for my birthday / Christmas.  Yes I'm a December baby, bring on the double whammies.  (You summer babies wouldn't understand, it's the type of gift us Christmas babies get that have a card on them that reads, "Happy Birthday/Merry Christmas")  Don't worry - this provided me with ample whoa is me moments to cherish over the past 23 years.

But truth be told, as much as I want things, I don't actually need anything.  And with all do respect to my fellow bloggers, a lot of these Holiday Gift Guides you've been compiling are filled with a bunch of crap.... eek did I just lose half my followers?  Look it's pretty and it's nice but do you actually need it or will it just add more clutter to your already over flowing life/house/closet?  Personally I am getting a little fed up with these fancy and expensive things that are showing up in my reader lately that people seem to be convincing me I need or need to give.  For what?  Knick knacks or barely used clothes that can sit on a shelf or in a closet gathering dust?  No thank you.  Call me Scrooge but this consumerism is out of control.

Now don't get me wrong, I think the act of giving a gift is great and I do love to receive gifts (even if I am notoriously hard to shop for and end up returning most of what is purchased for me - hello I'm just making sure you didn't waste your hard earned cash!)  

Anyways here are a few ideas up my sleeve that I would much rather see under the Christmas tree this year than a $40 shot glass or some other rubbish.

• Help Them Start A New Hobby or Add to an Old One...
• Camping gear for your Bear Grylls wannabe husband
• Running shorts, an itunes gift card, or a heart rate monitor for your sister who's in training for her next big race.
• A set of oil paints for a mother who wants to be a painter somewhere down the line - why not now?
• An empty notebook and a gift card to a fancy restaurant for a little sister who wants to be a restaurant critic.
• A day at the golf course for Dad... because all the other golf gadgets we buy him end up in the basement.  Might as well stick to the real deal.
• Canicross gear for an energetic puppy... Ok I would benefit from this too.
• Take A Class
• belly dancing, learn to sew, drawing/painting, beekeeping, cooking, survival skills, rock climbing, sailing, photography.... to name a few.
• Everyone has something they'd love to try - sometimes we all just need a little push! 
• Create an Adventure or a Memory Together
• My good friend Cecilia came to visit me last winter, and her family decided not to do presents that year, instead they all went on an adventure to Germany (where her brother was living at the time)!  I would love to start this as a Christmas tradition with my family.
• Obviously, it doesn't have to be that far - a weekend get away or mini road trip can work wonders!
• Or what about a day of playing tourist in your own city, going on a hot air balloon ride, bungee jumping, sky diving, going to a comedy, ballet, or concert; matching tattoos? (kidding mom....kinda)  These could probably mostly be done without traveling too far - depending on where you live of course!

I guess none of these specifically answered Nick's original question, so if you must know, my personal picks for a gettin busy Christmas would have to be.... 

A diana mini lomography camera (My inner hipster/photography lover has been lusting over it for 6+ months).  

Hunter Fleece Socks, to keep my toes warm while on Doodle adventures in all this snow...

A class in photography, sewing, bee keeping, mushroom gathering or rock climbing.

Via

Prismacolor pencils to unleash my inner artist.

A honeymoon anywhere that ticks off a goal on my Bucket List.

A holiday in Thailand is hands down my dream destination, 

but I would be content with something a little less exotic (and less expensive!)

Via

A ticket to see Mama Monster in person...

Via

A hybrid bike, so I can ride through the countryside AND run errands all while getting skinny, saving money on gas/bus fares and not complaining about my lack of transportation and cellulite.

Also, I would also be forever grateful if he took me dancing for the night.  

I've been begging for a year!

I hope that maybe this list has inspired you to think a little outside the box when it comes to gift giving this year!  I'd love to hear more of your non-dust collecting ideas!  Please do share!

ps.  Truth be told I am not immune to wanting stuff, and I will confess I've been lusting after Zoya's sparkly nail polish for quite some time, and I "need" a pair of brown knee high boots - the zipper on mine broke over a year ago.  

pss.  Sorry if I offended any bloggers who put together a gift guide, they're just not my thing.  Except I REALLY loved Krystal's idea of a 5 year diary.... eeek I can't find it now - where did it go Krystal??  So up my alley.

psss.  Sorry this is SUCH a long post.

A Little Wedding Magic

We had such a fun weekend!  

Saturday morning we had an early start and took a very long train ride 

down south for a beautiful British wedding! 

Such excited newly weds!

Look at the groom in his morning suit - soooo british right?  

Beautiful old stone church.

Big white tent reception.

Nick is friend's with the groom, Ed, from college where they studied technical theater.

He sure didn't skimp on the lighting design for the wedding!

Oh hey and there's us.

How cute are they?

Welcome to married life Keeley and Ed!

ps.  Remember the other day when I said the groom had his eyebrow shaved off?  Yeah well understandably the bride was a little pissed off, so what do you do when you work in theater and are missing an eyebrow before your wedding day?  Call in the make up artist from Harry Potter of course!  Yep that is why both his eyebrows look intact, what a great story huh!

A Fall Weekend Photos and Flavors

Hi Friends,

How was your weekend?  I know it's Tuesday but it feels like Monday to me because I don't work on Mondays.  My weekend was fabulous and very busy. Nick went away for the weekend to a rowdy bachelor party, he came back intact, but the groom is missing an eyebrow!  They get married this weekend - how mad would you be?!  I would be soo mad!

The Doodle and I had a much less crazy girls weekend enjoying a little much needed sunshine.

And playing with lots of friends.  New and old....

This is Heidi's new friend Chili.  

I really liked the way she matched the fall colors.

Such a model, no?

I also did lots of DIY and cleaning and baking!

Like this delicious loaf...

You should definitely try this New York times No Knead bread recipe - right now.  

So easy to fit into your day, and whats better than fresh bread?

Nothing else can make your house smell that good.

I've been getting SO busy in the kitchen this week.  

I can't wait to show you what I've been making, 

but its a birthday surprise so I can't reveal it just yet!

It's Heidi and Nick's birthday on Thursday.

I'm sooo excited!

More on that later, but rest assured, Thursday will be mouth wateringly delicious!

Things That Make Me Happy : Starbucks

Confession : I'm not that good at being a wife.  It took me about a year to figure out that being married wasn't just a state of being, like being alive or breathing.  But being married is a skill.  It's something you have to learn how to do.  Like sharing or algebra.  And I'm learning.  Sometimes I think maybe I'm learning too slowly.  I get tired of compromise and collaboration.  And considering Nick and I were dating long distance for 8 years, it's no surprise that some days I miss my independence.

Yesterday I threw a temper tantrum.  To be honest I was just tired of having another person infiltrate all of my being.  I just wanted to not have to ask questions like...

"What do YOU want for dinner?"

"Can WE go to bed now?"

"When are you going to do that DIY project that

I've been nagging you about for a week so we can stop living in chaos? 

Or answer questions like...

"Have you done the laundry?"

"Have you ironed my shirts?"

"Where is my ____ ?"

And then there is the always looming even bigger question -

When can I peace out of this country?  

Because God knows if it wasn't for this (big shiny) ring on my finger I would have done so SO long ago.
In fact, are long distance marriages possible?  And do people judge you for that?  Because I met someone on Thursday whose wife lived in DC and he worked at the University and I couldn't help but wonder if that is the best or the worst relationship ever...

Long story short: I went to bed in a horrible mood, and then I couldn't sleep because I was in a horrible mood, so I was in an even worse mood in the morning.  All of these things being my fault.  Plus I was REALLY tired.

Then I passed Starbucks, which is the point of this post, I'm trying to identify 100 things that make me happy for Day Zero.  And I would like to say  - Starbucks, you make me happy.

This freestyle is for you.

Starbucks, you warm my cold fingers.
I like the way that peppermint mocha lingers...
On the tip of my tongue, that caffeine's got me sprung.
Elizabeth and James, we think the same.
A delicious mocha, twins come on ova.
Mary Kate is great, but I think Ashley is more like me...

Gee.. I really feel cooler when holding this recycled tree.
Just sippin on a latte, walking through the fray.
Whatever country I'm in - in each Starbucks that I have been,
Everything is the same,
and while some hipsters think that is LAME
I totally disagree, you see
Because even in England,
you look the same as my main S-bucks location,
in my homeland, a great nation.
It is a good thing I must say
to have a place where I can go on any given day,
That doesn't feel so foreign.

I hope you enjoyed my rhymes.  Anyways after my Starbucks I felt much better and called Nick and apologized for my temper tantrum.  This is the truth.  I'm lucky he holds no grudge.  Someday I'll be a good wife.  I just wonder how many soy peppermint mocha latte's later?

ps.  If my obscure pop culture references were lost on you MK and A like Starbucks.  And I like MK and A.  Hope you are having a good Friday! 

French Onion Soup - A Delightful Kitchen Fail

Friends I am back in the kitchen!  On Saturday I spent the day slaving away over a delicious French Onion Soup, which I saw on Closet Cooking earlier in the week.

It looked so delectable, and we had a plethora of onions from our Riverford Organic vegetable box left over from the week since I don't really cook with onions too frequently.  Let me tell you, this soup was a labor of love - blood, sweat and tears all went into the making of this French classic.

I got to work on Saturday morning cutting up 4 pounds of the things. This is where the blood and tears came into to play - I cut myself and duh onions make you cry.

I didn't want to start the soup making process just then, so I popped them in the fridge for a bit.  When I went back a few hours later, the smell had permeated our entire kitchen.  Nice little foreshadowing of things to come.

The onions take about 2-3 hours to caramelize, and need to be stirred every 15 minutes.  Like I said labor of love right?  By that point our whole house smelled of onions.  I followed Kevin's recipe exactly, (except I replaced beef stock with vegetable stock) and soon I ended up with this....

The crusty french bread, the melted emmental, oh boy, my mouth is watering just thinking about it.  It was simply perfect for a crisp fall lazy weekend dinner.  So perfect in fact, I went back for seconds.  Nick on the other hand, was not feeling well, and only ate a tiny bit.

Now you may think the review of this soup should end there, and maybe some of you more sensitive types should stop reading now, but if I were to recommend for you to make this soup I feel like I would be doing you a huge disservice.  Yes I know I said it was good and I went back for seconds and yes that gooey cheese may be calling your name, but don't do it.

You see by 6am the following morning I woke myself up with a thundering case of the French Onion Soup Dutch oven.  When my darling husband awoke to the putrid lingering smell of my onion puffs, he had to immediately remove himself from the same room as me.  I'm not sure even my dog wanted to be around me.

I had many errands to run on Sunday, but my French Onion shame nearly left me housebound.  In the end I decided that the show must go on and I didn't have time to be embarrassed, so I did go out.  One of my tasks was to get a dress to wear to a wedding, and let this be a public apology to the fitting room assistant.  Darling, that je ne sais quoi you smelled, that was me.

What came first, the soup that made the French man smell, or the smelly Frenchmen that the soup was named after?  I may never know.  But I do know that the leftovers of this labor of love were thrown out by my husband who said, "If you love me, you will never make this soup again."

Trust me, je t'aime, baby.

Since We're On the Topic....

...Of doing ridiculous things to our dogs.

My darling husband

does not believe me when I tell him that we have

 A LOT of things that we NEVER use and for the sake of saving space, 

we should get rid of.

I came across this while unpacking.  

Proof we (he) are (is) hoarders.  

If you must know, it is a "Hound Dog" Elvis wig.

Pun Intended.

See the resemblance?

Yeah, me neither.

ps.  It was a gift.

Bedroom Inspiration : Oh Deer!

When redecorating our new house, we chose to to do very neutral colors so it would be appealing to lots of buyers should we decide to up and move back to America.

For this reason, I am loving the bedroom of Nikole Herriot, as featured on design*sponge.  So much, in fact, that we chose to  paint a chocolatey brown feature wall in our bedroom.

I think what really gets me are the antlers.  Wouldn't they be perfect for hanging necklaces?  Remember how I desperately wanted to buy a head, but Nick put his foot down?  Well I think since antlers are a little tamer version of that, maybe I could get away with it.... maybe...?  (If you're inclined I would appreciate you leaving comments on how classy and fabulous antlers are for Nick to read.  Comments on how he should give me free reign in the decorating department are also appreciated.)

Though I would have to find a vegetarian friendly antler option.  Any tip offs?  I know I saw wood carved ones online but I can't seem to rediscover them.  Oh and while I'm on the deer kick, isn't this duvet cover the coolest? (brought to my attention by Krystal of Village)  I'm pretty sure I wouldn't get away with this though.  Maybe it's a bit of deer over kill (pun intended - yes, I think I'm funny), but I LOVE it!

I think it would be the perfect combination of chic hillbilly.  

Whats not to love?

Well thats the decoration inspiration for now.  If any one else has neutral bedroom inspiration please share it with me!  I am having the hardest time deciding on a color to paint our guest bedroom which has a weird blue/grey carpet.

Other than that we are trying desperately to get everything in a live-able state, but we are having trouble coordinating trades people.  Very frustrating!

New House Stats

1.5 - Weeks since we exchanged keys to our new house
7 - Days I have spent stripping wallpaper
3 - More days I predict I will be stripping wall paper. 
2 - Number of wall paper steamers I have broken.  Who knew you had to refill them before they turn off?
0 - Major fights with Nick.
6 - Number of major fights I would have had with Nick had I been DIYing with him for a week straight this time last year.
79 - Pages I have read of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, which I credit with helping me fight less.
3 - contractors we have met with.
13 - days we have both been sick (just a nasty cold - no worries)
2 - weeks till move in.
0 - Rooms that are complete.
2 - Rooms that have flooring.
4 - awesome new neighbors we've met.  
5 - times we went to B&Q (DIY store)
19 - paint samples I have bought.
2 - colors of paint that we picked that are not in stock at our local B&Q.
109,284 - times I complained about not having a car.
1 - Pinky toe of Nick's that is still broken.
0 - Number of times Nick has complained about not having a car while walking on broken toe.
1 - New guest bed that has been purchased.
17 - days till our first guest arrives.  


Yikes!  That my friends is stressing me out.  And my blog is becoming so full of words and no pictures and I hate that.  I hope I will have some before and after shots to show you soon, but right now we're still plowing away through the before phase.  Wish us luck!

ps.  I'm pretty sure I stole the number post concept from Emz.  

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

One of my goals for my USA trip was to make sure the bride had the best bachelorrette party.

In the history of bachelorette parties, this one was going to make it into the books.

The essentials for such a rockin B party are...

 Lots of spicey gifts, in spicey gift bags....

The best roommates in the world - reunited, with Chi-town as our playground.

A few old dudes to hit on us... complete with hawaiian shirt and mustache.

Pop rocks lined martini and a phallic lollipop.

Cute boys to fall in love with us on the dance floor.  

Let it be noted, Kelly Leigh's love to dance....

Husbands of Kelly Leigh's HATE to dance.

We have an agreement regarding this.

Please note the tongue action on the below photo.

Go shawty!!

When bachelorette's get tired, they require nice,

 cute boys to carry them to their next location.

And when bachelorette's get hungry, 

they might ask said dude to carry them to a subway at 2 am.

And that my friends, is how you help your fave little Asian 

have her last night on the town as a single woman!

What do you think?

One for the books, eh?