The day of Love 2013

When I walked out of my bedroom on Valentines morning, I immediately did a quick eye scan of the entire house. Knowing my husband, I just knew he'd have something up his sleeve. Nothing was different or out of place, so I assumed the surprises would begin when he got off work and went about making my daily breakfast burrito. Just as a sat down with my plate and my mug, I opened up my laptop to catch up on all of my favorite blogs- it's like reading the morning paper for me. He knows me well too, apparently, because there it was.

"Good morning baby, Happy Valentines Day." I know I've done this hunt for you before, but why not again since you had so much fun? Well, eat some breakfast and if you are, enjoy!"

Sure he had done this before with my birthday gifts, (see part one, and part two) but I was already smiling so hard knowing the search I had coming. I scarfed down my burrito, chugged my juice and let the hunt begin. 

"Ok, that was easy. Now on this hunt I'm just giving you clues and you have to figure it out. You're smart, you will! Ok, are you ready... for your first gift, your clue is X marks the spot arrrrrrr."

Aren't his quick little sketches so funny and accurate, by the way? I had to laugh every time. Anyway, I was stumped for awhile on just the first one and I thought, really? Am I that smart? Will I get this? Maybe he overestimated me. The clue obviously made me think of pirates so the first place I went was to our bar cart. I picked up every single bottle of rum and whiskey and vodka and found nothing. Next I went to our globe and lifted it up. Nothing. After standing in the middle of our living room and slowly spinning around to see all my options, I was officially defeated. I even called my mom to see if she knew of something I had that was at all piratey. Right when we got off the phone I walked into the bathroom and it jumped out at me like a snake. My jewelry box looks a lot like a treasure chest! He even set a pack of matches with a skull and cross bones against it so I'd really know.

"Great you got it. Congrats on finding your first gift and figuring out the first clue, yay!!!!!"

"I love you soooo much more than all the clothes and dirty clothes in the world. Ok- Next clue mama bear! Goo into the dining room and look under the first puzzle we finished. Well, the only one we've finished."

Back to the hard part! I couldn't exactly remember what fish our friend Tim brought us for Gian's birthday, but I had a feeling it was some kind of tuna. We sometimes get that canned tuna, so I looked in our pantry and there was none. Next I went to the freezer and then the fridge and all we had was salmon and no notes. After standing in one place for five minutes and letting my brain wheels turn, it clicked that in my stash of boxes used for shipping out our etsy goods, was a box with a tuna label on it! I ran and opened it up and wah-la!

"Hooray! You found it! I hope you like it! Couldn't get the flag- well not yet. I hope you'll like it since summer's around the corner and we are going to Florida and you'll be hot."

I had mentioned that I wanted to get a California flag to put up in our baby boy's nursery, so I knew it was somthing Californian. How cute is that giftbag/tissue paper combo, too?!

When he got home from work, I gave him this vintage Italian cookbook he'd been eyeing and then we got cleaned up for a night out. We went to our favorite mediterranean place called Gypsy's and got our usual. We like to get a couple of entrees and two small plates and share everything family style. This way we can try a little bit of everything and we don't get bored of one taste. It was all so delicious!

We tried something new to start and we both loved it. Domes- Grapevine leaves stuffed with rice and herbs. Then we got our favorites- Slow cooked lamb shank braised in tomato-basil sauce with persian style basmati safron rice and tabouleh salad. Along with falafel patties, roasted hummus and pita bread.

Another perfect Valentines under our belt. I can't wait for next year!

Drey $ Nicole

Our Love Story

Before I get started here, let me just say that I'm going to be totally honest in this post- even if that means sharing some personal drama that I wouldn't normally share on this space- but that drama, after all, is what brought us together, and this story just wouldn't be complete without it.

G and me first met when we were babies really. I was 16 and he was 19, and no, it was nothing near love at first sight. I honestly never saw this coming. Maybe it's because we were always with other people, but I always saw him as a close, brotherly teddy bear type of friendship, but there was definitely a deeper mutual caring for each other than most. We got closer than ever when I started dating his roomate when I was 19. I spent everyday at their apartment because that's where all of our friends always were, just playing video games, drinking half priced sonic slushes and laughing. I only left when I had to go to work, or needed to shower and change clothes, but I hated leaving. Up until G and me officially got together, it was the single most fond time of my life. Moving on.

The whole time at the apartment, G was attending culinary school and had decided to move to California to be a chef once he graduated. I continued dating his former roomate for 3 years, and we mostly kept in touch through him. In that last year of my relationship, a girl G had dated before I ever knew him (which was 7 years ago at this point) came into our group of friends, and she and I, along with my roomate at the time Ally, became bffs. We had girl's nights at our apartment, got ready together before parties, everything. Eventually, her and Ally got a place together, and my boyfriend (still G's old roomate here) moved in with me in her place. Shortly before our lease was up, we started looking at houses. I also started to get awfully paranoid about him and one of my "best friends," but was contantly reassured by him, her and the rest of our friends. Just before moving into my cute little house, I found out he wasn't coming with me. I moved in anyway with the help of my parents and a couple of good friends, and left for England with my family two days later. I didn't talk to him that whole time, or for about a week after I got back and continued to unpack and get settled in. Because he was staying with his aunt after we moved, I "temporarily" had his spazy dog and pet rat, along with my own dog, Bentley. I thought having his pets meant he'd drop by now and then, and we'd eventually get back together. It wasn't until I heard rumors that my suspicions had come true that I freaked out and demanded he come get his animals. He reassured me for probably two weeks, stopping by the house even, until one day he called and said he really needed to talk to me about something and was coming over. When he got there, he made it seem like a hypothetical situation, and asked if it'd help me get over him if he'd started hanging out with someone else? When I asked if it was her, he said no, I'm just asking if it'd help, like should I go do that with someone? We went back and forth like this for awhile and he finally confessed that it was indeed, one of my best friends. In my furious rage I let his dog right out the front door, and told him I didn't want to take care of his pets or talk to him ever again. He chased her and brought her back in about five times and tried to tell me that he was just saying all of that to help me move on because our relationship was toxic,  that he couldn't get over me until I got over him, and that none of that stuff was really true. I finally started to believe him, calmed down, and we hung out for awhile before he left again, dog safely in the house. (Which I think now was really all he cared about.) Turns out, I was right all along. A couple of days later I talked to her and it all spilled out. I felt completely betrayed by not only him, but her as my friend who I had talked to about him, who had come to our apartment many times and seen us together, and who had always told me in my suspicion that she would never do that to me. She even had the audacity to say it wasn't even a thought in their minds until I was so worried about it and made it a big deal. That it became such "a thing" that it came true, and it was basically my fault. HA HA HA HA. 

The only person I thought to call was G. Being her ex and his friend, I felt like he was the only one who could truly relate. I told him the news and he was shocked, but had more of a "we don't need them anyway" attitude that sort of helped me get over it. He checked up on me over the next couple of days, and we caught up with one another. Almost two months later at the end of December, my oldest best friend Siera, who was going to school out in California, invited me to her graduation and after party. I was there without a doubt and it wasn't until hours before the party I thought, hey! G lives out here, I'd love to see him! She knew him too from when she still lived in Texas so she was cool with me inviting him. It was up in the air about whether or not he was going to make it due to ride issues, but when I saw him walk through the door I immediatley ran across the room and jumped on him in full body hug. It may be timing and that we hadn't seen each other in 3 years, or the fact that we were both completely single for the first time, but their were instant sparks at that moment and I saw him in a completely different way than ever before. I found out later that he payed someone 40 dollars that night because he wanted to see me that bad, and before they left we shared our first kiss. No lie, it was magic. I wouldn't stop telling Siera before bed that night about how I'd had the best first kiss of my life.

I went back home to Texas a couple of days later and went on with my life. G and me would call or text every few days, but it wasn't until a couple of weeks after New Years that we were virtually inseperable. As soon as I walked out of work we were on the phone until I got home and we could have a skype date, sometimes for up to 8 hours at a time! He'd even take his laptop to work and skype from the kitchen on my days off! As soon as I had to leave my house to go back to work or grocery shop, back on the phone. Before I knew it, we were making plans for me to go back out to California! He made all the arrangements and I was off to see him in  the middle of February for Valentines day. I had never been more excited and anxious to see someone face to face, to actually be able to look them in the eye and touch them in real life with my own hands. We had practically become best friends over the last month or so, but we did however have that worry of, is this gonna be as strong when we see each other again in person, or is it gonna be awkward? Sure enough, that magic was there instantly again for both of us and it went so smoothly. After having the most perfectly planned out Valentines day ever, we were engaged! 

Our friends thought we were trying to get back at our ex's/ex best friends, and my parents just didn't get any of it. They hadn't really heard much of the situation and thought it was all a rush. When it came time for me to go back to Texas, I just couldn't. I delayed my flight for a day. And then another, and another. I finally just had to get it over with because I had a good job with the city and a house and my pup Bentley back home. As soon as I got to work though I put in my two weeks notice, and the plans to move to California began. More than ever now my parents thought I'd gone crazy. G and I just kept telling everyone, "when you know, you know." Plus, it's not like we hadn't known each other for almost 8 years at this point. Little things kept coming up that would make us laugh or give us chills, little signs from the universe if you believe in that kind of thing, that we were meant to be. Like the couches for instance that G had at his apartment in Texas that I'd spent so much time at- He stored them in the garage of one of our mutual friends when he moved away. They stayed their for quite awhile until Ally and I moved in together and he said she could have them, and those were the couches we used. Then when she moved, her new roomate already had furniture so she gave them to my boyfriend at the time. When we broke up and I moved into the house myself, the couches came with me and it wasn't until G came to Texas to help me load up all my stuff for the move that realized we were sitting on his old couches, that they'd come full circle and were now back with him through all of these people and ending with me. Not to mention we have the exact same laptop down to the details, which is not a macbook so no, it's not as common as you'd think, and our dogs have the exact same name. I'd had mine for five years at that point and named him Bentley, and he got his as a rescue with the name Bentley and kept it. Now we call them Tx Bentley and Long Beach Bentley when we're talking about a particular one. For the most part we just yell Bentley and they both come running because they're inseperable anyway. It's like they were always meant to be together too! (Dawwwwww!)

Anyway, we got married on November 24, 2012 (see the photos here, here and here) and to this day it's just perfect. We're best friends, we still give each other butterflies and laugh until we cry and everyday is a fun new adventure. Now we have a little baby coming soon and our lives will be filled with even more love! Our friends and family are obviously now all on board, and we couldn't be happier with our lives if we dreamed it.

Drey $ Nicole

Here's to you, Amy

If you know me, you know how very much I love everything about Amy Winehouse. Her vintage style, pinup girl look, and that flawless vocal ability.  Today marks the one year anniversary of her death at the age of 27, and  I being extremely heartbroken over it myself, can only imagine what her parents are going through on a day like today. Just two months after her death, my dad and I visited her home in Camden, England where she took her last breath in her bed. It was still a recent tragedy at the time, and there were tribute candles, hand written letter, empty vodka handles lying around, (kind of disrespectful if you ask me, given the fact that she literally drank herself to death) and inked messages all over the trees outside of her home. We added our own little notes to those trees, and I proceeded to break the law and reach into her deep mailbox, hoping to get an envelope with her name on it. (Terrible, I know. It was empty anyway) We also saw her spiky blonde haired dad peeping out of the window at us. I sometimes have days where I watch her music videos all day long, and then interviews with her mourning dad that just make me cry for hours and get me in the worst gloomy mood. I can't help it though, I'm addicted. There's just so much passion and eagerness inside of me that wishes I could have helped her in some way, and she'd still be here today. It's easy to get angry over it all and want to spit in the face of her awful drug addict ex husband. He introduced her to the habits and drove her to the madness and heartbreak after their split. Anyway, I will probably be doing the above today, watching interviews, blasting her music and being bummy. I may even have a shot or two in her honor.

RIP Amy Jade

Drey $ Nicole

California for Valentines

I've never been one for the not-a-real holiday they call 'Valentines,' but this year was different. Maybe I was just with all the wrong people before now, but mister certainly blew every love story out of the water. (Yes, even the Notebook.) My day started still in bed with my favorite Starbucks drink made just right, and a sweet little harmonica playing session by Gian. Then the little sneaky sneak brought out a heart covered bag of goodies, a dozen roses, a plush pink teddy, and a PENGUIN balloon while I was out walking the pups. (Did you know I'm obsessed with penguins and when they find their love they mate for life? Hint hint. Awwww!) Inside the bag was a super cute dress, hoop earrings and a lego ring that he had picked out for me at a local vintage store before I even got here. I'm normally extremely picky with clothing and would advise anyone to just not gift shop for me in that department, but he did so good I couldn't believe it! We had a day full of reservations that were all secrets to me, but the whole town knew about it already. Can I just say how sweet and friendly everyone in Long Beach is by the way? I've never gotten so many hugs, warm welcomes, and "we've heard so much about you" in my life! Everyone knows each other and looks out for each other and you can't walk a block without running into a friend! Anyhow, I was told to get ready while he chopped it up in the kitchen for our first surprise. Picnic on the beach! We had the most secluded spot with a picnic blanket, beach umbrella, and deli sandwiches to die for. Who knew sandwiches could even be that good!? The perks of dating a chef. We ate and played in the water and slow danced and spun and laughed and drew our names in the sand and it was really a big disgusting cheese fest, but it was perfect. We met up with a friend and had a pitcher of THE BEST BEER EVER called strawberry blonde, at our new found favorite spot, BBC. We've been there four times this week but that's a whole other topic I'll get to another time. We hurried home and I was told to put on something I wouldn't mind getting a little dirty...Hmm. I was so confused and nervous but it ended up being a pottery class! Que the awww's once more! I think he was just trying to impress me because he was really good at it, but he swears it was just his first time too. They gave us wine, dimmed the lights, and played the song from that pottery scene in ghost! Too funny! We get a call in 6 to 8 weeks to go back and glaze them and bring them home. So excited to see how they turn out! Next stop was a fancy smancy dinner at a fine dining restaurant called Nico's. Of course Gian knows the owner like he knows everyone so he sent a bottle of wine and desserts to our table. Dinner was candle-lit and amazing across the board, and to prove that, I'll just say it pretty much sealed the deal for the whole day, whole seven years we've known each other, and ended in a big fat ENGAGEMENT! Best life.

Happiest of happys,

Drey $ Nicole