Marital Business Negotiations

Kris wasn't guilty of anything heinous yesterday, just a culmination of annoying events that led to me wanting to commit violent acts against him. Let's call it pregnancy-induced hormonal rage.

Needless to say, I wasn't in the mood to go to his little work client bbq last night. The solution? A business negotiation. I told him I would go for $50. He thought that was outrageous but seriously, I reminded him of my HP salary and how for a full night of exchanging pleasantries with random people he was actually getting a STEAL.

I am now $50 richer.

The end.

P.S. Turns out that we had some of the most amazing food I have ever tasted in my life. The family is from Afghanistan and it was unbelievably good. I'll probably reimburse him a little just for that. :) Business is business.

Isabella Oliver 51% off sale TODAY! (Maternity)

Ok, it's a designer maternity label so her stuff is expensive BUT I've NEVER seen or worn such cute maternity clothes...EVER.

Seriously. Even if you just want ONE nice maternity dress for your life :), you will be glad you got it here and today it is half off! Even if you aren't pregnant, I would get something to hold onto.

P.S. This stuff sells for more USED on ebay than she is selling it for today. Hurry, sizes are running out.

Check it out.

www.isabellaoliver.com

Makeup Boycott

The other day I finally used the spa giftcard Kris gave me for Christmas. Ha. I went to the spa and got the longest facial they had time for. Heavenly.

You know how when your face feels so clean and awesome, the last thing on earth you want to do is put on makeup? So I decided to boycott it. I have been SO SICK of getting ready these days.

My whole routine consisted of concealer under the eyes, tinted moisturizer/foundation, powder, eye shadow, eye liner, mascara, blush, sometimes bronzer. Ugh, I've been so over it. And while I never wore a lot of it, it took a long time and I hate feeling like I'm caking crap on my face.

Now my routine consists of eye shadow (a neutral color just to take out the shine), eye liner and mascara. Maybe a tiny bit of powder if my nose is shiny. Takes like 3 minutes and I'm done. I prob looked better before but I'm really loving this.

While on this new kick, I bought a Clarisonic Mia - I'm lazy and this makes washing your face so easy. I use it at night and then put on moisturizer and my face just feels and looks so much better (another reason I can cut back on the makeup).



It's liberating. Give it a try.

P.S. Disclaimer: I do still "get ready" for evenings out and special occasions etc and even better, now it's actually kind of fun because it's not a chore.

Secret stash....don't tell Kris

Would any of you ladies dated your husbands in high school if you knew them?

So, a few months ago I had a post about Kris in high school and how this guy paid for him to get pics taken and sent him to New York to meet with producers bla bla bla. WELL, for Christmas at his parent's house I CAME ACROSS THE PICS!

He wanted to trash them (because he looks like a total poser, let's be honest). HOWEVER, I snuck them in my suitcase and have been WAITING to post them FOR MONTHS. Hahaha. He is going to kill me. We finally got a scanner that works with our Mac so here are two of them. I would have posted a few more that were so hilarious but he may have never forgiven me ;) These just look like glorified senior pics, but still make me smile.

Enjoy! Ha.




P.S. And to answer my own question....YES, I would have...I think he was adorable. Look at that face. HOT! Love it.

What's Cookin?

February 2011 :)

Doorless

This is how our front door looks.



Right, there isn't one. Dear Kris decided to refinish the front door and promised it would be all done in a day (since I'm a little on the paranoid side and like to lock my doors at night). Don't most people??

Well, it's been like this for three days now. Shocker.

Good thing Mission Viejo was rated "safest city in the country" by Newsweek in 2007. But wait...what happened in 2008 and 2009 to LOSE the title??!

Yea, maybe I need a dog.

The latest!

EXCITING NEWS:

Since we've been on the topic and I haven't done a photog update in ages, I thought I'd record the latest and greatest. Here are some of the more exciting things going on:

• Kris recently signed a contract to allow his pier shot below to be used in the following book, “Beneath Blossom Rain – Discovering Bhutan on the Toughest Trek in the World” by Kevin Grange about a 24 day, 216 mile trek he did in the Himalayas. His journey ends at the HB pier. Kris will be featured alongside Peter McBride—a photographer who shoots for National Geographic, Newsweek and Outside Magazine. Sweet!

• A few weeks ago Kris shot the front and back cover of the book below. And apparently, in an online pre-sales screening they already sold $400K worth. Awesome!
  

Back cover (yea, that's my chair - craigslist :) West Elm)

• Kris is now booking destination weddings. We have done shoots all over the west coast but now we have one booked in Atlantic City at the end of the pier in November and a few more on the east coast next year.

• Ok, this isn't news, just shameless bragging, but that's what wives are for. Recently Kris was shooting a reception in Del Mar (fun swanky beach town by San Diego) and the woman at the reception center said she's been working there for 14 years and has seen hundreds of weddings and he is the best photog she's ever seen. I was so proud.

Kris, it's safe to say, you're rockin' it. Good job honey, and congrats!

The Hubby's response

Well, I have to say that is super sweet of you, hon. It was a challenge to not just collapse in overwhelming disbelief and then continue through the cycles of remorse until i raged out at the bride and groom... throwing a chair or something would have felt good for sure. But really, I just found a happy thought. Sounds gay i know, but i looked over at my gorgeous wife, with her cute hair cut and delicious style... She had the most apologetic face I've ever seen and she whispers, "it's OK if you use the money I've been saving up for my car" in my ear. All I could think about was how lucky i was to be married to such a sweet and loving wife...

What is money when i have the world?

I held onto that thought... and periodically glanced over at her during the night to try and meet her gaze in the crowd. Knowing I'm "stuck" with her for the rest of my life is what helped me keep my cool and enjoy the rest of the evening. I don't know what i would have done if she hadn't been there with me. Now i just need to learn to hold that thought when she leaves the wet sponge in the sink ;) Thanks for all your love and support babe. I love you to pieces.

Kris

Accolades

One of the reasons I really liked Kris when we were dating was because he is so even tempered. He just never gets riled up and mean....EVER.

While Kris and I were moving out of our rental back in December - we were already late getting everything out of the house, I was prego (and had a miscarriage), we just bought a house that was a foreclosure mess and were going out of town for two weeks while it was closing so we had to move everything into a storage unit. It was horribly stressful.

To top it off, Kris lost his ID and we had to get on a plane so he was climbing around in the dark, cold storage unit, ON his birthday, and sick as a dog, looking for his passport. One of our friends went out to help him. When he got back he mentioned to his wife that it was the first time he had ever seen Kris a "little stressed".

Well, this weekend when he had all that camera stuff stolen at the wedding ($4,500), I was so humbled I just can't stop thinking about it. He just calmly asked me to call around and try to find another 5D Mark II battery in case his ran out and he kept on shooting. The bride and groom had no clue anything had happened. Kris was smiling and laughing and dancing around all night having a blast. Who does that? I'd venture to say, not 1 in 1,000 men could be so calm and collected in a situation like that. Reminds me a lot of my Dad, who has been a lifelong hero of mine.

I'm just humbled and feel really lucky that my kids get such a kindhearted dad and I have such a nice husband. And I wanted to record that for posterity in our little blog book.

Love and respect you dearly, Kris.

Just Finished

After three of my friends declared this book a "must read" (starting a few years ago) I finally bought it and read it this past week.

Very good book. I recommend it. Very sad. Be prepared to cry a lot. I think I was already crying by page ten. But it isn't one of those sad stories that makes you super ticked off (like movies with bad endings). It's just plain TRAGIC and sad.

It's also moving, warm, funny, thought provoking, and interesting. I was surprised sometimes how the author managed to keep it a page-turner for me, even though the story spanned 20 years. Anyway, it also makes you very grateful for your life and your blessings and is a really cute love story.

Read it.