The Dirty Martini Diaries

Life and Love, By The Numbers

noreply@blogger.com (Lulu) — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 20:25:00 +0000

3 years ago last week, a little gal by the name of Lulu was sitting at her desk one afternoon, wondering how to fill up a little bit of free time left by her job as an assistant at an interior design studio in SoHo.

Energized by the new-found creative energy she held from quitting her job in Corporate America, ditching her heels and suit jackets and jumping ship for a life of Starbucks runs, fabric sample hunts, and scouring 20,000 square foot mansions in Greenwich top to bottom to count the number of doorknobs and window hinges she need to custom order, she decided to start a blog.

I keep thinking back to what life was like back then... Some days it seems like I left New York City last month, and other days it feels like I never lived there in the first place. Then I take 1 step further, and realize what a journey the Mr. and I have been on together thus far.

The Mr. and I have been together for 6 years in December. In that time...

23 - the number of times we have collectively moved apartments (!!!)

11 - the combined number of jobs we have held

5 - the number of different countries the Mr. has lived in

5 - the number of ferrets yours truly has owned

3 - the number of times one of us has been "funemployed"

2 - the number of times we have moved cross-country

We've gone on vacation, gotten engaged, lived in an Ikea loft bunk bed while sharing a 1,000 square foot apartment with 2 other roommates and 3 ferrets, gotten married, and have survived (the first half of) life on 1 salary while the Mr. slaves away in graduate school to complete his MBA degree.

When you break it down by the numbers, it's all been quite the adventure.

However, one number sticks out far more than all the others combined:

1 - the number of babies we're expecting in March 2012

xoxo,

Lulu

Greetings!

noreply@blogger.com (Lulu) — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 15:39:00 +0000

Well, I didn't expect my first post back from an unintended blogging hiatus to be some random link the virus currently nesting in my computer decided to post! haha

I wish I could say that there has been some fun, super-secret reason why I temporarily abandoned this little blog of mine, but that just isn't the case. I've been equal parts lazy & over-committed with extracurricular activities, life has been vanilla & perfectly lovely.

I'm still very much alive & kicking, hope to get back into the blogging swing of things in the near future. In the meantime, you can find me on Twitter if you're interested in hearing from me more than once every 2 months!

xoxo,

Lulu

Bradley Cooper Speaking French.

noreply@blogger.com (Lulu) — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 21:12:00 +0000

You're welcome.

Where I've Been...

noreply@blogger.com (Lulu) — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 03:26:00 +0000

... and a little...

Stay tuned...

xoxo,
Lulu

A Little Friday Royal Wedding Fun

noreply@blogger.com (Lulu) — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 22:03:00 +0000

Proof that as a wee babe, I a) had a rockin' rainbow of an 80's nursery going on, and b) had a mother on a mission for me to marry a prince (check the poster in the right-hand corner of the photos).

She knew I'd marry a prince all right- she just picked the wrong one out for me! I'm happy to say that I've found my Prince Charming (and even happier that he still has all of his hair...!)

Happy royal wedding weekend to you all!

xoxo,
Lulu

2 Years.

noreply@blogger.com (Lulu) — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 13:00:00 +0000

730 days ago I walked down a long, sunny terra cotta-tiled aisle at high noon, and met the love of my life in front of the church we had our second date in.

We stood before the Lord, and vowed to take care of each other for the rest of our lives.

He placed the thin, filigreed wedding band on my finger- a band I haven't removed for one single second in the 730 days since he slipped it on.

We drank dirty martinis, danced to Ray LaMontagne's "You Are The Best Thing", cried and laughed and smiled so much our cheeks hurt.

We spent the afternoon celebrating in the sunshine, surrounded by family, friends, and the most wonderful wedding vendors we could have possibly been blessed to work with.

730 days later, I still have trouble finding the words to explain how I felt on that day... but watching this cherished video just may give you a small idea.

I love you, husband. Happy 2nd anniversary.

xoxo,

Your little Lulu

Watermarked photos courtesy of Hollye Schumacher , video preview courtesy of Darby Simon and the crew of My Wedding Film

What's In My... Carry-On Toiletry Bag

noreply@blogger.com (Lulu) — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 03:20:00 +0000

Look at me - I'm vlogging!

I found out recently that one of my sweet Twitter friends has never been on an airplane before, and that she was preparing to pack her bags and hit the skies for the first time this week. She'll be carrying on her luggage for the short trip, and wasn't sure just how to navigate the whole TSA Security "pack your liquids, 3 oz. or smaller containers" situation we all have to deal with.

I decided to create a little packing vlog (my first!) for the ol' blog here, in order to illustrate all the packing rules I didn't think I could explain in 140 characters or less. Since I'm a pretty frequent traveler myself, and always carry my luggage on, I decided to post on the blog since there may be a tip or two in here that even the more well-traveled gal-on-the-go may find helpful.

A few brief warnings- The sound on the file doesn't seem to quite sync with the movement of my mouth. No, I'm not a talented ventriloquist... I just have low-budget recording software. Also, this is just how I prefer to pack my own liquid goodies for each of my trips. There are other things I pack in another make-up bag, like all my powders (blush,eyeshadows, pencil liner), eyelash curler, and the like; I just chose not to drone on about them here. If you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comments below!

xoxo,
Lulu

Life As We Know It

noreply@blogger.com (Lulu) — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 03:13:00 +0000

Here's a little brain dump- or I guess life dump- to archive what we've been up to this last busy month of ours...

- I'm 3 weeks into my first NutriSystem plan and I *LOVE* it! Love the food, love the convenience, love the fact that I am actually doing something about the extra weight I keep complaining about in my head. So long, squishy love handles that prevent me from bending properly to the side!

- I've had the urge to give myself a string cheese mustache every day during my afternoon NutriSystem snack. I finally caved.

- If you don't follow me on Twitter, than you don't hear about how my husband broke his nose playing in a rugby game a few weeks ago. And had emergency surgery to correct the damage. For about 12 hours, I was married to a brunette Owen Wilson. And they gave him purple socks to wear with little bear paw non-slip grips on the bottom. I would lurrrrve to post some of the photos of the eventful weekend on here, but a) he would kill me, and b) they would probably turn your stomach. Consider yourself saved.

- We finally moved 'out tha ghetto'! Words cannot properly express how much I am obsessed with our new town house. His and hers offices! Formal dining space! A vegetable garden! I'll give you a little tour once I finally have the place in shape for guests.

- My mom came to visit and help us relocate, since I perfectly timed our move to happen during my husband's midterms and a busy workweek. The plus side? Our move also fell during the same weekend as Junior League of Phoenix's Rummage Sale, so we were able to take our moving U-Haul TO Rummage!

This was my first time at Rummage, and we certainly made the most of it. You bet we filled that U-Haul *full* of furniture and electronics (hello, $10 televisions! )for the new house.

- The Mr. turned the big 3-0! We celebrated with a seafood dinner, complete with dirty martinis. The whole meal was just comically horrible. Terrible service, wierd food, even the cocktails were off. I don't think we'll go back for another round of blue cheese-stuffed olives in our dirty martinis, since there are fewer things wierder than chunks of blue cheese floating around in your vodka. But you know what? We had one of the best nights ever. A complete blast.

It just goes to show that even the worst of times can be the best of times when you have the right company. The Mr. was expecially excited that night, because he received an extra-special birthday present:

A (terribly photographed posterity photo of) an iPad! Welcome to the future, Husband!

That's a brief little glimpse into the Martini household over the last few weeks... What have you been up to?

xoxo,

Lulu

Happy 30th Birthday!

noreply@blogger.com (Lulu) — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 15:36:00 +0000

You're my favorite.

Have fun on your adventure...

xoxo,
Your little Lulu

The Kate Spade Sample Sale Will Be My Downfall

noreply@blogger.com (Lulu) — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 18:06:00 +0000

I think the retail gods know that I'm trying hard to keep me personal finances in order, because they keep throwing Lilly Pulitzer gift-with-purchase and Kate Spade online sample sale e-mails at me. Absolute torture.

I'm going to blog out my shopping impulses right now, to avoid actually acting on them and making purchases I know are unwise right now...

Kate Spade Sample Sale by dirtymartinidairies on Polyvore.com

KNIGHTSBRIDGE QUINN at kate spade
$178 - katespade.com

25TH STREET STRIPE STEVIE BABY BAG at kate spade
$169 - katespade.com

Does it matter that I was already gifted this Knightsbridge purse in red over the holidays? Does it make ANY sense that I want another, just like it, in pink? I guess not. But this little purse is giving me *serious* heart palpitations!

Also... a baby bag???

I DO NOT HAVE CHILDREN.

Enough said.

Someone, help me break the spell these bags have on me!

xoxo,

Lulu

Valentine's Day

noreply@blogger.com (Lulu) — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 04:33:00 +0000

Today has been about a lot of surprises, a little bit of wine, and a heavy rotation of Juliette Greco.

I die into a thousand pieces every time I hear this song.

I didn't think a think about Valentine's Day, leading up to the 14th... In fact, I didn't even thing to plan anything until the night of the 13th, when I was driving home from carting the umpteenth load of the the weekend over to our new rental town home. I e-mailed the Mr, who was studying in the campus library, to see if I should pick up 'fancy' groceries on the way home in order to cook a Valentine's Day spread. His response? A plain and simple...

'no.'

From then on out, today has been a real gem of a day.

He sent me flowers to work! A BIG surprise, since the last time he sent me flowers was when we were dating and he was living in Doha.

In 2006.

He's never been a 'send flowers' kinda guy, so you can imagine the shock.

Then, when I opened the front door after a stellar 1.5 hour commute in the car, there was dinner and wine waiting for me on the dining room table. And the Bobby Darin Pandora channel streaming through his laptop, which had been propped on top of the flip-top trach can.

My sweet Italian man had made a spread of house salad (with his Grandma Violet's signature homemade salad dressing), portobello mushroom and artichoke heart raviola a la puttanesca, and a killer tiramisu chilling in the fridge.

We ate, we reminisced, we slow danced in the living room.

It was simple. It was a surprise. It was wonderful.

xoxo,
Lulu

The Lust List

noreply@blogger.com (Lulu) — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 03:31:00 +0000

Now I know that I've been all 'be responsibile about your personal finances' up in here for the last few weeks, but that doesn't mean that I haven't been completely immune to all the wonderful Spring goodies all you stylish ladies have been posting... I'm not made of stone, for goodness's sakes! I have retail wants and needs!

I have serious shopping lust like many of you, and this time of year makes me particularly vulnerable... This time 2 years ago, I was steadfastly accumulating pieces for my honeymoon trousseau, which one of the most fun shopping experiences I've ever had. I think the emergence of straw hats, sandals, and swimsuits across the web each February will forever remind me of that honeymoon prep-and will have me itching to buy a slew of loosely coordinated swimsuits, cover ups, and dresses all over again!

I know that the Bible says 'Thou shall not covet', but good gracious... I'll admit that I am coveting these items in a major way! Here are a few things on my current Lust List-

Monogram Necklace by Jennifer Zeuner Jewelry

Tom Ford Anouk Sunnies (sadly last season and thus sold out)

Fantastically Retro Beach Blanket Bingo One-Piece Swimsuit

Monogrammed Derby Hat

Super Bright Lilly Seamus Dress

Chic Gold Wedges

What have you been lusting over so far this season?

xoxo,
Lulu

February Finance Challenge - An Update

noreply@blogger.com (Lulu) — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 17:15:00 +0000

I hope day 1 of the February Challenge was successful for you thus far!

I'm thrilled that a few of you have pointed out that using the website Mint.com is a great way to automate part of the February Challenge- and you're right! For those of you who don't yet have Mint accounts, I highly recommend doing so. It's a free online tracking service for your personal spending, and has lots of great bells and whistles to take advantage of. I've been a Mint subscriber since early 2008, and have found it to be a very integral part of my personal finance journey.

Feel free to use Mint as a tool in your Challenge toolkit, but I want to point out a couple of things before you let Mint do all of the work for you this month.

The first may be a little obvious, but is worth making note- Mint cannot track any cash that you spend out of your pocket. It may be able to log that $40 ATM withdrawal you made yesterday, but what you ultimately spent that $40 on will remain a mystery to you if you don't track it. Did you buy lunch with that cash? Pay for parking at the airport? Get a Diet Coke from the office vending machine? Buy some new chapstick at the drugstore? Each behavior is different, and important, so please make sure your Challenge tracking reflects where your cash goes as well.

The second thing I want to draw attention to is that there may be more to tracking your spending with pen and paper than just learning where you put your hard-earned dollars. Some studies show that writing things down may help you learn better. You can read an interesting article on LifeHacker here about how you may learn better by writing things out instead of typing, as an example.

I'm not trying to get all psychological here and quote studies I don't know too many things about... I just know that for me personally, the act of taking notes by hand helps me connect more to the topic I'm actually writing. If you're the kind of person who benefits from hand writing your To Do lists, work notes, or the like, doing the whole month of pen and paper thing might help you to connect with your spending behavior in a new way.

That being said, you know yourself better than anyone else, so feel free to track your spending using the best method for *you*!

How did day 1 go thus far? Let me know!

xoxo,
Lulu

Are You Up For A Challenge?

noreply@blogger.com (Lulu) — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 17:43:00 +0000

Pop quiz, hot shot-

How much did you spend on gas in November?

What's the 12 month average on your electricity bill?

Do you know how much money it takes to feed yourself/your household each month?

Can you answer any of the above questions?

If not- that's ok! But you're going to learn how to do so, stat.

We have ourselves a February challenge, folks!

As you've probably guessed, the cornerstone of personal finance is the big, scary B word...

B-U-D-G-E-T.

But first things first- A budget is really just a plan for how you're going to spend (or save!) your money each month, right? So let's change things up a bit and call it a Money Plan for now, shall we? I think the B word sounds so restrictive, and automatically conjures up thoughts of sacrificing fun stuff, going without, and setting yourself up for failure. NO FUN.

The term Money Plan, however, sounds a lot more proactive- you're planning on how YOU want to allocate your funds. You're in control. And being in control is a nice feeling to have when it comes to money!

Now that we've covered that, let's get back to the challenge...

The real question is this- how can you set a realistic Money Plan when you don't even know what your spending patterns are?

It would be all well and good for me to say "I think I'm going to allocate $250 for fuel in my Money Plan this month"... But guess what? I spent almost $450 in gas in the month of November alone because of my insane work commute (try not to envy me too much). If I just pulled a number out of the air and plugged it into my Money Plan, I just set myself up for a big fat fail.

You cannot create a successful Money Plan if you don't know what your spending habits are- so the challenge this month is to learn your spending habits.

I want you to write down EVERYTHING you spend for the next 28 days.

Now hear me out on this- I am not asking you to change your spending habits one bit. This isn't a challenge to cut down your spending or start using coupons or to change anything about your behavior.

I'm going to say this again, so it really sticks in your mind-

You cannot create a successful Money Plan if you don't know your spending habits!

All you need for this is a pen and a cheap little notebook and the commitment to log every penny for 28 days. It's not a difficult challenge, but I promise that if you're really interested in taking control of your finances, this challenge will do *wonders* for you.

Are you with me?

Ready, set, go!

xoxo,
Lulu

Where I've Been...

noreply@blogger.com (Lulu) — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 16:57:00 +0000

I blog about finally getting this personal finance discussion show on the road, and then disappear! Yeow! Sorry about that folks... Somehow I blogged, blinked, and opened my eyes to February just around the corner!

It hasn't been for a lack of desire that I haven't blogged lately, just a lack of time. We've taken an oddly adventurous turn since the calendar struck 2011...

We've gone hiking-

Explored downtown Phoenix and shopped the farmer's market-

Visited the Arizona Mining Museum

I took an intro to photography class to learn how to use my new DSLR camera in manual mode (check out my mad skills! haha)

Took a day-long road trip to tour mining towns and Indian reservations around Arizona

Broke out my sponge rollers for a little day of beauty while I cleaned-

I joined my first Bible study group... and to top all that off, the Mr. bought an old Volvo (huzzah for being a 2-car family for the first time!), signed up to study in Europe for part of this semester, and we're now moving this month!

Moving this month!!!!!!!

I'm excited as all get-out about the changes taking place... I just hope I can catch a breath long enough to recap the month for posterity, and share all the new goings-on with you!

Be back soon(ish)...

xoxo,
Lulu

Happy Birthday, Roey!

noreply@blogger.com (Lulu) — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 17:54:00 +0000

Today is January 19th, but in China - where my best friend Roey lives- it's January 20th. Do you know what that means?

It's Roey's birthday!!!!

We started out here- (she's the bride, I'm the... uh, gold lame space princess?)

Survived middle school (playing our classed-up version of 'strip poker'- first person back to their normal clothes wins)

And ended up as two happily married gals, in our 25th year of friendship-

Happy, happy birthday to my white wine drinkin', Lionel Richie dancin', uber-stylish best friend Roey!

We wish we were in Bejing to celebrate with you! Love you, and hope you have a wonderful day!

xoxo,
Lulu

Let's Talk Money, Honey

noreply@blogger.com (Lulu) — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 02:29:00 +0000

Stick with me here, friends- this may be a long one, but we're gonna get a little crazy and start something new here. I'd really love to start a dialogue and get your 2 cents on the topic.

(Heh Heh, get it? Cents? Money? Carry on.)

So there's a pretty big side to me that I have never written about on here before.

I have a serious, deep down, honest-to-goodness passion for personal finance.

I can spend hours on end analyzing spending patterns, retooling budgets, tweaking spreadsheets. Probably 50% of the books I own, and 95% of the books I actually read, are on the topic of personal finance. I'm sure some part of this comes from the fact that I'm a financial analyst by trade, but it goes way deeper than that.

Finance -money, really- can be this big, mysterious, overwhelming thing at times... Especially when you don't have any, or feel like you don't know what to do with it or don't have control over what money you do have.

I think that our generation really got short-changed in the financial education department. How many of you out there had classes in personal finance in high school? Learned about the perils of credit card debt? Knew what an amortization schedule was? Forget learning how to balance a checkbook- how many of you out there even use checks on a regular basis?

I think that most of us learned how to manage money by seeing the way our parents did- which could be a good thing or a bad thing, something you'd like to emulate or something you're trying to avoid at all costs.

After some great financial discussions with my Twitter friends today, I realized that on some level or another we're *all* trying to get this whole personal finance thing figured out. Maybe your big New Years resolution is to spend less and save more, maybe you're wondering if you should start saving for retirement already, or maybe you just want to start this whole personal finance thing from the beginning and figure out the answer to the "what the heck am I supposed to do with my money?!?!" question from square one.

I've decided to finally bring my passion for all things personal finance on to this little blog of mine. I'm going to start sharing with you some of the tips, tricks, gems, and major errors I've encountered along the way... I'm not a professional wealth manager or personal financial planner, remember... Just a girl with passion and a paycheck, some debt and some lofty goals, trying to set up a strong financial future.

I look forward to sharing with you, hearing from you, and having you along for the ride!

xoxo,
Lulu

Happy 2011!

noreply@blogger.com (Lulu) — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 02:41:00 +0000

The only decent photo we have of ourselves from our 3rd engage-iversary/3 night retro hotel staycation/Mad Men-themed New Year's Eve weekend, since we were too busy having one of the best weekends of our lives.

Here's hoping we have as much fun living 2011 as we did ringin' it in!

xoxo,

Lulu & The Mr.

Where It All Began

noreply@blogger.com (Lulu) — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 17:29:00 +0000

5 years ago today I was sitting in a classroom, impatiently waiting for my capstone class to begin. I was taking an executive international business certificate program with a few coworkers, because it was a great opportunity to get more educational exposure (and to be honest, was paid for by my company and would look killer on my resume). But frankly, I wasn't anxious for the final class to end and to receive my completion certificate- I was anxious for him to arrive.

That handsome boy, who had kept my attention way more over the last 3 months than all of the brilliant professors I had been learning from, hadn't arrived yet. And I was slowly working myself up into full panic mode.

The plans my girlfriends and I had meticulously hatched on the car ride over, to to get his number "so we could have a little class reunion meetup at a bar once the program was over", clearly wouldn't work if he wasn't actually *in* class. The stress of it all!

But true to form, he arrived a few minutes late. And for the first time in a semester, took an empty seat next to me.

My face flushed. I flashed a nervous, shy smile. And my pen started to shake slightly in my hand as I took notes.

Then, somehow, it began.

On the graph paper I was taking notes on (and by notes, I mean making a To Do list- vacuum, pack lunch, book hotel for Collin's wedding, figure out NYE trip), I passed him a quick note:

"Julie has a cannoli in her pocket"
(Julie was one of my girlfriends in class, who had smuggled desserts from our pre-class dinner into the auditorium)

He scribbled something back.

Back and forth, the little yellow piece of graph paper went, filling with teases and torts and snippets of personal information.

"Your job may be interesting, but that doesn't mean the person doing it is interesting... I'd have to learn more about you" he wrote.

"So, now you know how to run the world, eh?" I later jabbed back.

The professor, one of the most influential people at the graduate school, glared at us during her lecture as though we were two insolent schoolchildren. But that little yellow piece of graph paper continued to be passed, twisted and turned this way and that to find blank spaces among the increasingly crowded writing.

The final class ended altogether too quickly, with the distribution of completion certificates, and an impromptu group photo.

Our grand plan for a suave phone number exchange became a little muddled, but the handsome boy and I ended up exchanging e-mail addresses before leaving for the evening.

Little did I know that 5 years later, I'd be waking up next to him.

I still have that little yellow piece of graph paper.

xoxo,
Lulu

(PS- I wrote this, no less than 4 of all-time songs that remind me most of him came on my Pandora station. All a part of the greater plan, no?)

Housekeeping!

noreply@blogger.com (Lulu) — Sat, 04 Dec 2010 17:46:00 +0000

Good morning to you!

A new month, a fresh start, and the *holidays are here*!!!!

I'll be doing a little bit of housekeeping on the blog over here this weekend, including a clean up of the label categories to make navigation easier to handle. So, apologies if your e-mail subscription or Google Reader starts sending a bunch of random archived posts your way. Just think of it as a fun way to dabble in the archives over here, eh? *wink wink*

Here's hoping you have a fantastic weekend!

xoxo,
Lulu

This One Is Hard To Write.

noreply@blogger.com (Lulu) — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 16:14:00 +0000

Disclaimer: this isn't a happy post. But it's one I need to get off of my chest. My hope in sharing this with you is that you make the most of every day you have with family- Thanksgiving Day and every day.

This is very, very, very hard for me to admit- I am not a fan of Thanksgiving.

Actually, scratch that. I'll say exactly how I feel- I do NOT like Thanksgiving.

Now don't go judging me right off the bat and think I'm an ungrateful, heartless person. I am thankful for my life and the people in it *every single day*, and grateful for all I have. But Thanksgiving means something very different to me than it does to most people.

Most people anticipate the 4th Thursday in November with excitement and appreciation... Planning menus, making travel plans to reunite with family, knowing that all the orange and yellow fall decor will soon be ushered out and replaced with twinking lights and Christmas trees and packages wrapped with paper.

I? Get a knot in the pit of my stomach. Followed by a tightening in my chest as that 4th week on the calendar arrives. When people ask me what my Thanksgiving plans are? My hands get clammy and my body starts to feel flush. Thoughts of large, bustling, family-filled dining rooms overwhelm me greatly. The day before Thanksgiving? There is a lump in my throat that will not budge. This warm, happy, love-filled holiday has been transformed for me, and as hard as I try I've never been able to look at it the same.

12 years ago this sleepy 16 year old crawled out of bed in her second floor bedroom and headed to the staircase, ready to begin the long-standing Thanksgiving tradition routine. Morning coffee. A warm blanket on the couch. Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade on the TV, with the volume turned extra high to drown out the cooking sounds from mom in the kitchen.

But as I sleepily made my way down the staircase, I stopped halfway- there were no chipper cooking sounds coming from the kitchen. Only sobbing.

Something is wrong. Something is very wrong.

"They're gone." My mother said simply. "The Foleys are gone."

What do you mean 'The Foleys are gone'? I thought with confusion. How does a family of 4 just disappear?

"They went to their tract of hunting land in Kansas for Thanksgiving, and were staying in the mobile home they'd put on the property. There was a fire last night, honey... Nobody survived. I'm so sorry."

Nobody survived.

Jim and Donna- My parents' very best friends, close since childhood. My godparents.
James ("Jimbo") and Joseph ("Connor")- My godbrothers, ages 13 and 9.
Their 2 hunting dogs.

All gone.

We found out that the the barbecue smoker on the back deck, containing the Thanksgiving turkey, somehow knocked over in the night... I remember someone saying that the back deck has been recently re-sealed, and so the fresh chemicals took quickly to flame. The fire consumed the trailer. And since they were in the middle of a patch of private land, nobody was around to stop it. The scene wasn't discovered until early the next morning, when a farmer on nearby land saw a faint trail of smoke in the distance and went to investigate.

The rest of Thanksgiving that day went on just as planned, in theory. Food was cooked, family arrived for dinner. But needless to say, there was nothing jovial about the scene. Everyone was numb, robotic. The spirited political debates that were a mainstay of the holiday dinner table had been replaced with discussions of when we were going to pack up and head to Kansas to help prepare for the wake and the funeral.

I just remember thinking over and over again - "How am I'm supposed to be thankful for THIS?!"

There was a long, weary roadtrip from Colorado to my parents' hometown in Kansas. A traditional wake held in the home of my godfather's parents- a stately victorian mansion in the center of town, gorgeously decorated inside but now holding a jarring addition- 2 coffins in the living room. My godparents in one, godbrothers in another.

Funeral. Burial. The long car ride home. An attempt to pick up the pieces.

I know that Thanksgiving is used as a time to verbalize your appreciation for friends, family, and the gifts God has given you. But I can't help but also think of the gifts God has taken away on this day.

I'll still be celebrating this year, mind you, but in the way I feel most comfortable- a day full of mind-distracting cooking (and wine), followed by a casual late-afternoon dinner of turkey, Tofurkey, and all the trimmings. Just my husband and I, in our PJs. Followed by 364 more days of being thankful for everything in my life.

An Ethical Shopping Dilemma- What Would You Do?!

noreply@blogger.com (Lulu) — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 22:48:00 +0000

So I work in the Airline industry.

And I learn a lot of new things each week about the world of travel.

But this discovery?

*Blows My Mind.*

I'd like to introduce you to the Unclaimed Baggage Center.

That's right- a merchant warehouse FULL of all the the goodies lost in suitcases and never reclaimed.

Like a giant Goodwill full of randomness to buy, from iPods to purses to...

{gasp!}

Wedding dresses.

Now on one hand- this place sounds like the absolute trophy shopping trip of a lifetime. I mean think about it: when you're going on a trip, you most likely pack your best, most favorite outfits and accessories. So you're probably shopping the creme de la creme of a person's closet.

{now, whether or not said person has ANY style to begin with is a different story, but you catch my drift...}

But on the other hand- you're buying the clothes and jewelry and electronics lost by some poor devastated traveler, who was never able to recover the cherished things they packed for their special vacation. Items they genuinely lost- not donated like thrift stores or Goodwill like your typical used goodies shopping- and never planned to give up for sale in the first place?

I'm dying to know your opinion- Would you:

A) Shop there, knowing how the items came to be there, but not care about the history?

B) Feel too guilty to buy from there?

C) Be too afraid that purchasing there would mean instant lost luggage karma for you forever?

Let me know your thoughts!

xoxo,

Lulu

Another World, Another Life

noreply@blogger.com (Lulu) — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 16:34:00 +0000

Early wake up, long commute, work/conference calls/meetings/spreadsheets, long commute, dinner, sleep...

Lather, rinse, repeat.

The weekends are full of laundry and groceries and crockpots and Costco and Softscrub. A little bit of of fun here and there, but mostly only chores and tidying and coupon clipping and To Do lists scribbled on scraps of paper.

Did I think, back in my high school days, that this is where I'd be in life? Spunky little Lulu- who listened to hip hop, ran with graffiti artists and professional inline skaters, and attended a non-traditional high school- finding excitement and satisfaction with a job based on sitting in front of a computer in her cube for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week?

What would she, with her long blonde hair and quirky fashion sense, think about why the skate tees had been replaced with J. Crew Jackie cardigans? And how the pristine Adidas shell toes were replaced Revas and 4 inch patent leather Weitzmans?

Would she gasp that her prized long hair was now too short to even graze her shoulders? Or would she be too busy marvelling that, for the first time since 6th grade, it was her natural color {a shade which she couldn't even recall}?

Sometimes my past 'self' seems so foreign, so distant and far away, that I have to focus very hard to remember what life was like back then.

And I wonder what happened to the people I used to spend so much time with, in this past life of mine. The ones full of creative energy and humor and rebellion. Where would this 14 year time delay have taken them in life? Would they have become as different as I have?

A quick Google search on any of these old names shows me that things haven't changed a bit- the professional skaters are still professional skaters. The kids that were interested in hip hop and writing poetry are now burgeoning hip hop artists with released albums and positive critiques from MTV and Spin magazine.

Am I the only one who didn't stay the same?

It's funny how the timing works out- As I pondered just how different things were, I received an e-mail that very moment from one of these old friends. A very close friend, maybe even a best friend in these old times, long lost after years of moving and traveling and growing up. This ghost of childhoods past was in Phoenix for the weekend- blowing through town, filming a new video for his successful skate company.

We met for a quick lunch between church craft bazaars and grocery runs (me) and road trips to film more sections of a skate movie (him). Was it strange, me sitting in my riding boots and skinny jeans and Hopsy bag next to tattoos and overgrown hair and hooded sweatshirts? It didn't seem so, but the looks we received from the Denny's staff made me aware of how different we'd become on the surface.

We talked childhood, the whereabouts of old friends, and past travels. He spoke a language of skate videos and partying and the "industry". I spoke of Corporate America and marriage and budgeting.

"It's great to see you," he said. "You look exactly the same."

I was happy to know that, inside, this couldn't have been further from the truth.

Foul On The Play

noreply@blogger.com (Lulu) — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 18:32:00 +0000

I've been watching a lot of football this season, mostly college ball, thanks to my many sweet southern blog and Twitter friends. One of my favorite things in football is when the ref calls a foul, and you hear the loud whistle "TWEEEEEEET" before the announcer proclaims "foul on the play" over the TV set.

This got me to thinking this morning- if life was like a giant game of football, what would I be fouled for? Here are some of my answers:

TWEEEEEEEET!

*Excessive use of jazz hands- both the action and the actual phrase*

TWEEEEEEEET!

*False start of telephone calls, by failure to lock keyboard before inserting phone in purse or pocket*

TWEEEEEEEET!

*Encroachment- hoarding too many cooking magazine tear sheets in a tiny office- clutter penalty*

What would your penalties be?

xoxo,
Lulu

The Family Just Keeps On Growin'

noreply@blogger.com (Lulu) — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 21:13:00 +0000

Meet *Jordan*:

Jordan (he came with that name, not my choosing) is the newest 'member' of our family- our adopted turkey from Farm Sanctuary's Adopt-A-Turkey program!

We have a dual Thanksgiving at our house every year: The Mr. gets himself a full bird with all the trimmings, and I treat myself to the one and only Tofurkey- which you can't knock until you've tried, yo, because they are quiteful delicious:

Do I feel a little more than slightly guilty for having a turkey roast up in my oven each year, even though I don't eat it? You betcha! But I am *NOT* going to be the vegatarian who tells other people how to live their lives, or what to eat for their holiday meals. Besides, do you think my husband would just roll over and agree to a turkey-free Thanksgiving? I'd say the chances of that are about the same as Heidi Pratt's odds of winning a Grammy. You catch my drift.

I've decided to start a new holiday tradition and adopt a sanctuary turkey each Thanksgiving. It's not as animal-friendly as not serving a big, fat turkey in the first place, but it certainly makes my little veggie heart feel a bit better about the whole thing. I look forward to adding to our turkey family each year from here on out!

Would you consider adopting a sanctuary turkey for Thanksgiving?

*gobble gobble*!

xoxo,

Lulu