Our 1st Home

Click here to see a slideshow of pictures of our 1st house. Pay attention to the notes on the bottom to see our plans for the house. Enjoy!

They Say It Gets Harder

Ummmm ... I think we just bought a house. I'm still in a little disbelief that our offer was accepted so easily and quickly. We saw this house on Thursday and I immediately knew that it was a great house for us as well as a good investment in a great neighborhood. Dave took a bit longer to agree but after he did we submitted an offer on Friday for $10k below the asking price. On Sunday night our offer was accepted.

The house is a 3 bed / 2bath split level located within a country club and is 1800 square feet. Six months ago a similiar house in the same neighborhood sold for $529k. Our house's price: $428k ;-)

I Love Weddings

Holy cow. It seems like our wedding is approaching like a wild fire. I'm quickly realizing that I have so much to do before the big day. Less then 4 months! I'm really excited but at the same time I'm trying to drag my feet. I know that the day will go by so quickly and I really want to savor this whole experience.

This week I've been focusing on the poem:
Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue
My something new is my wedding dress.
Something borrowed will be my Grandma's pearls
Something blue will be this cute set of bra & panties (or something similiar)

Any ideas for the something old???

My biggest accomplishemnt this week has been selecting the invites. THANK you einvite.com for ending my invitation saga!!! I absolutely love this design and I love the paper it's printed on. In real life the color is less grey and more sage. Most of all I love the price: $342 for 100. WOO!


And in the last bit of news, I found the perfect jewlery for my bridesmaids. I'll post pics of that after I buy the other bridesmaid and groomsmen gifts.

Maggie & Me

Do you hear that sound? It's the sound of pigs flying. I have found a wedding dress that I love. Actually, love doesn't even portray the true extent of my emotions. I LOVE love this dress. I can't stop starring at pics of it on the internet, that's how much I love it. Laaaaaa, Laaa, LAAAAAAA!!!!! (That's the beer in me singing. Dave started drinking at 4pm, I started at 6pm. Dave practically never drinks especially since 5 weeks ago he quite smoking. I think we're getting drunk tonight. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for some sex making later on. But anyways, I digress).

On Saturday, one of my bridesmaids and I went shopping in downtown SD for some bridesmaid dresses. I was looking forward to scoring a deal at the nearby Demetrios Outlet but was surprised to find that their bridesmaid dress rack consisted of a dozen dresses that looked like they could have come from the early 90's. In desperation we went to an actual brick and mortar store to look at overly priced dresses. We were looking for a tea length, celadon colored, summer dress. I think we found it perfectly:


While I was waiting for my bridesmaid to try on all 20 dresses (tea length is all the rage right now), I decided to pass the time by looking at a few of the bridal gowns that had been tried on by brides earlier and were sitting on a rack waiting to be hung up. One of the dresses immediately caught my eye since it had all the components of a dress that I was looking for: beaded corset top, asymmetrical gathering, and gathered skirt. I tried it on and knew immediately that it was THE dress. I never intended to be a "Maggie Bride" but it looks like that's what I'll be and to be honest, I'm actually kinda excited. I never got caught up in the whole Maggie sensation but I think that was because I never thought that I'd be able to afford a Maggie Sottero dress. Here is the dress that I purchased in a different color (minus the sleeves). And below that is a picture of a real bride wearing the same dress in the exact shade that I ordered.




OK. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some beer drinking to do.

How We Met

I was surprised to go back through my blog archives and find that I hadn't written much during the time that Dave and I met and first began dating. So in honor of Valentine's Day ...

It was in August 2004 when I moved to the East San Francisco Bay town of Pleasanton. I was living in a new town, with new roommates (Scott and Steve), and with a new job (same agency, different office). I was excited for my new life but also a little lonely. I've always been a girly, girl and enjoy being surrounded by many girl friends. In search of new friends I decided to join a co-ed softball league for the city I lived in. The problem? Besides the occasional high school gym softball game, I've never actually played softball!

To help prepare me for my new co-ed softball team, I decided to make a post on craigslist.org asking for someone to teach me the fundamentals of competitive softball in exchange for cookies (or other baked goods of their choice). I thought it was a pretty lame request and would be happy just to receive one offer for assistance. Was I surprised when the next day I looked in my email inbox and found over 20 offers to help me (all from men, go figure)! I quickly took the top 5, wrote them back and began scheduling training dates. I was tempted to just delete the other 15 but at the last minute figured that they at least deserved a response. I wrote back and told them that I appreciated their willingness to help but I had already received more help then I knew what to do with.

At this same time, Dave was looking for a female to complete his co-ed softball team (all co-ed teams must have an equal number of women and men on the team). Dave saw my request on craig's list and figured that after helping me with fundamentals, if I was good enough he would ask me to be on their team.

As I was going through the 15 emails, declining their assistance, I noticed Dave's email address. It made reference to Eta Beta Sigma so below my one sentence copy and pasted statement, I asked if Eta Beta Sigma was a social or academic fraternity. Dave quickly responded back that he wasn't a member of Eta Beta Sigma, he was actually a member of Sigma Chi, the eta beta chapter. At that point my interest was picked. I've always had a thing for fraternity boys, especially Sigma Chi boys. For the next few weeks, Dave and I maintained a platonic email exchange. I already had more dates then I knew what to do with plus at that time I was fooling around with my roommate Scott.

One Wednesday night, my roommates were at band practice so I decided to do a double class at the gym: 30 min abs class followed by one hour of yoga. By the time I got home I was a stinky sweaty mess. I was going to jump right in the shower but figured I would check my email first. The first email was from Dave and it had only one sentence "Are you there?". At first I was a little freaked, but I responded back saying "yes, i am". He quickly told me to call him and I did. Dave's first co-ed softball game was about to begin and one of the girls had bailed out on the team. If I didn't get there in 15 minutes, they would have to forfeit the game. Of course I jumped in my car and drove to the softball field.

I remember getting out of my car and walking across the parking lot. I was nervous as at this time because Dave and I had never seen pictures of each other and I wasn't sure how I would find him or his team out on the field. I saw a tall guy at the gate to the softball park and I thought to myself "wow. what a cutie". I continued to walk past the gate, towards the softball field. As I was walking I heard someone call my name. Surprise, surprise. The cute guy was Dave.

After the game, as a thank you Dave offered to take me out for drinks that weekend. Since then it's been a happy ever after. The end.

Things That Suck

I went wedding invite shopping today. I had done quite a bit of reading and research on-line before going to a local invitation vendor. Boy was I surprised when I sat down to look through the books and price out my invites. They are expensive! Outrageously expensive.


These are letterpress invitations. I love them but knew before I went shopping that they would be out of my price range. Cost (not including tax) is $1250 for 100.


These are the invitations that I love and *thought* that I could afford. According to the website they are $293 for 100. They conveniently forget to tell you that the green ribbon, brown ribbon, ecru ribbon, envelope lining, 2 color printing, and response cards are all extra. Total cost (not incl. tax) is $750 per 100. This may not seem like a lot to most until you think that this would be equivalent to sending $7.50 to every person that we plan on inviting. If you were invited to my wedding which would you rather receive, the card or the cash? That's what I thought. Moving on.


These are the invitations that we will most likely be getting. I like them but don't love them as much as the invite above. After looking through hundreds of sample invitations it was the only invite that I would seriously consider buying. Plus at $300 for 100 it is well within my budget.

OK. I'm off to scour ebay and on-line wedding invite vendors for a cheaper and more fashionable deal. I've been reluctant to buy on-line because I would prefer to feel the paper quality before I buy but at this point I'm not sure that I'd be happy with invite #3.

Update: I looked at many websites and found several cute and affordable invites. I *think* these may be the ones we go with. I love the color, ribbon accent, price ($200 for 100! and that includes everything), as well as the contemporary yet classic look. I've requested a sample so hopefully that arrives soon. Yay for the internet!

Wise Words

"In the end, we conserve only what we love.
We will love only what we understand.
We will understand only what we are taught."
- Baba Dioum, Senegalese ecologist

5 Things ...

Five things you may or may not know about me:

1. I hate taking my birth control pills each night. The taste of them makes me nauseous. Each night I have to bribe myself with a piece of chocolate (or something else that is sweet) so that it covers the taste of the pill and prevents me from getting sick to my stomach. I've tried changing brands of pills but unfortunately I'm ultra-sensitive to the hormones in birth control. The only thing that helps is if I take the pill as close to bed time as possible so that I sleep through the queasiness. God help me if I ever get pregnant. I fully expect to be nauseous all 24 hours of each day.

2. I have a really hard time "making" friends. What I mean by that is that there are certain people who are able to walk up to someone in yoga class and start a friendship. For me friendships just tend to happen over a very gradual process. A very slow gradual process which kinda sucks if you're like me and have moved around quite a bit in the last few years. In the past I've tried my hardest to "force" a friendship such as chat someone up at the gym that is a regular and invite them out for a drink. Unfortunately, I can never get over that forced feeling and loosen' up enough to actually enjoy my new friendship. I think making new friends is worse then dating.

3. I HATE clothes that are tight, binding, constrictive or otherwise uncomfortable. Skin tight jeans are the worst! This applies to shoes too. I see women wearing high heeled boots or pointy toed shoes and I can't understand how they can bear the torture of feet that hurt. My ideal daily wardrobe: flip flops, yoga pants, t-shirt and polar fleece pullover. Maybe I should become a gym trainer?

4. I'm extremely organized. Like Martha Stewart organized. You know the 'get organized' articles you read in a magazine that show pics of perfectly organized bills, home finances, drawers, dvds, and closets. Well that's me. ALL the time. Even my car and office are just as organized. I'm a little obsessed with everything having a proper place to be. Sometimes I think that I should open an organization business.

5. I didn't lose my virginity until I was 18. If I could go back in time and change one thing this would be it. At the time I was desperate to finally have sex and so I didn't fully appreciate how important the moment would be. I wish that I had saved myself for someone who was more important to me and that I had tried to make the moment more special.

People I'd like to learn 5 things about: Tam & Erin

I Thought This Was Supposed To Be Fun

Alternate Title: Things That Suck - House Hunting

We've been house hunting for a month now and so far we've toured seven houses. Of those seven:

1 was an attached home with a huge kitchen that I loved but Dave did not.

1 was located 300 yards from a major freeway and was therefore LOUD. No thank you.

1 we really liked but the realtor was a pompous ass. Another offer has been accepted by the realtor and the house is now in pending status (aka beginning stage of escrow).

1 is in the same neighborhood as the house above and even has the same floor plan. But it desperately needs updating and is selling for the exact same price as the other house. Dave and I both agree that we like the house but don't feel comfortable paying the same amount for a house that needs much more work.

1 was 2 stories but there was no staircase to unite the floors. You entered the house through the front door on the second (ground) level. To get to the bottom floor you had to walk around the house to the backyard. Unfortunately, the two rooms on the bottom floor were without a bathroom so if someone was sleeping down there they would have had to walk around the house and use the front door to access the restroom. Otherwise the house was exactly what we were looking for: gorgeous views, recently updated kitchen, nice layout, and as a bonus it had an awesome courtyard in the middle of the house.

1 is above our price range ($450k) and has been neglected by the previous owners (it is currently vacant). An offer had been made on the house on it's 1st day on the market but that offer was rejected and it is now back on the market. It's larger, newer, and generally more awesome then the other houses we've seen. As I said the house has been neglected but I'm optimistic and think that new flooring and paint would greatly improve the house's shabbiness. Dave tends to not agree with me and thinks that a combo of the high asking price and need for improvements would leave us on too tight of a monthly budget. This is our 2nd choice so far.

1 is our first choice and 2 weeks ago we put in an offer. It is 1700 square foot, 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 2 story, with an awesome view from the backyard. The problem is that the house is a short sale so our offer was made to the bank (not the owners). Banks tend to think in terms of money not people so they've been taking their sweet time deciding whether our offer is worth the loss they'll be taking. I wouldn't be surprised if we don't hear from the bank for another 2 weeks. This is driving Dave crazy.







** Side note: Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately for us), there are quite a few short sales on the market lately. Of the above houses that I mentioned 4 of them are short sales or close to foreclosure.