Ten things I love about you

Four years ago, Dan and I were married! Since this blog has been "list"less for some time and its theme is supposed to be all about lists, I thought it was high time to have one. This list is for you, Danimal!

I love you...

1. because you have a robotic "happy dance" that you reserve for what makes you most ecstatic: Reese peanut butter cups and snow days.
2. because you fist-bump me whenever Sue Sylvester comes on screen.

3. because you always laugh at the Fandango commercials.
4. because you are always in a pretty laid back, content mood... unless you get too hungry in which case, holy hell, are you cranky! Find a McDonald's for a biscuit, stat!

5. because you look equally sexy in a suit, jeans, sweater... or a t-shirt tuxedo.

Picture one of many we took to put on tables at our wedding.

6. because taking a walk with you is one of my favorite things to do.

7. because you are as voracious about reading a 600 page Steven Ambrose biography as a teenager with a stack of Maxims. You also go to nerdy... I mean, incredible... historical locations with me.

8. because you are a wonderful son, brother, brother-in-law, friend, and, of course husband.

9. because you dress up with me every Halloween (as long as I do all the work- ha ha!)

Picture of me putting finishing touches on his "cereal killer" costume two years ago.

10. Because no list could ever cover all my reasons.

Happy Anniversary!

Tan-er-Rama

My sister is having people celebrate her birthday at a water park this Saturday, and I'm feeling like I need to get a tan fast.

I hope none of my friends and family were eating while reading this previous statement because they would probably choke in astonishment. A tan? Christen?!

You see, I'm a religious sunblock wearer. No, make that fanatic sunblock wearer. Correction, I'm a lunatic about wearing sunblock. Anyone out there ever heard the Bud Light's radio commercial that makes fun of obsessive sunscreen users? Well, my friend Mali cackled, "Christen, this is so you!" after hearing it.

"There are 24 hours in a day.
You're wearing 80 hour SPF protection.
If the sun fails to go down, you'll be ready!"
- "Real Men of Genius" Commercial

Folks, I have two bottles of 85 SPF in my closet right now. It's sad when you realize you are even crazier than a parody.

I didn't used to be like this. I used to go to tanning beds before dances in college (although, I never used all my tan time because I was too claustrophobic when I put down the coffin-like top), and my friend Missy and I would put on oil and lay out by the nearby lake or on towels outside our dorm on the front lawn.

Little by little though, I stopped tanning completely. I gradually read more and more articles in every fashion magazine about the dangers of tanning. I'd like to say that I was just worried about cancer, but at first it probably was more my vanity that I didn't want wrinkles when I got older. Also, my sister had a membership to a tanning salon and was turning darker than Snookie on Jersey Shore. I was worried about the effects of all that time in the bed, but I couldn't very well be a nag and a bronzed hypocrite! On a serious note, the final straw was when a colleague developed skin cancer and had to have a very painful surgery on her face. That's when I started buying SPF sunscreen 40.

No judgement if you do tan, though! After all, I think I may have gone the other extreme now by now. 85 SPF? It may be time for an intervention.

But back to my problem. I don't usually care about being tan, but I don't want to be the only pasty person at the park this Saturday and need a little color. Here's where I need some advice. Ladies, do any of you know a good option for a faux glow?

"Get a spray tan!" you may say.

Nah, too costly and I'm scared after watching the episode of Friends where Ross goes to a spray booth.

I was thinking of a good "tan in a bottle" that isn't too slow. (I've used Jergins lotion before and it takes about sixty applications before I see anything.) Please pipe up if you know of any good products, or any tips to avoid orange hands. Because there are things worse than being too pasty...

Via

No cook shrimp salad

I tell ya', I've only had two days with no work, and already I feel more relaxed and refreshed than I have since... well...last August! I'm all about making foods that I have no time to put together during the year. Today, I made this:

Lemon Basil Shrimp Salad

Got the recipe (and the photo that is waaay prettier than mine) from here.

Here's my picture:

No cooking required, so long as you buy pre-cooked shrimp and don't try to make the parmesan bowls. NOTE: The bowls were the one thing I couldn't quite pull off. I followed all the directions perfectly and only succeeded in having a disk of parmesan that was superglued to parchment paper, a smoky kitchen, and a blaring fire alarm. I'll stick to the "no cook" recipes in the future. Besides that one mishap though, the salad turned out really refreshing. I'm thinking I'll serve it in the future as an appetizer or with a veggie pizza.

Enjoy! I know I did!

Date night

Dan and I aren't predicable per se, but we can get stuck in a rut like any couple. We rent way too many videos and order pizza and Thai food so much that the owners know us by name. To celebrate our anniversary early, since Dan has to teach a night class on the actual date, and to officially ring in summer (yes!), we decided that we needed to shake things up a bit. This past Saturday, Dan and I took the metro from my parents' house into D.C. to two chi chi restaurants. Man, was it fun to venture outside Richmond!

The first restaurant we went to, Fire Fly, was definitely a whimsical choice. If I had to describe it, I would say "upscale tree house" meets "A Midsummer Night's Dream".

There's a faux tree dripping with glowing lanterns in the center of the cozy restaurant, the one fairy-tale, Disney-esque touch. Cheesy? Perhaps... but I still loved it! Here's a daytime shot from here since my photo of it at night didn't come out well:

Trust me, the tree seems more magical at night (see left), even if this dark photo doesn't quite show it:
The rest of the restaurant was modern and chic, with birch subtly lining the walls and copper accents:
Oh, and that glass of prosecco I'm holding? It was on the house! Our server gave us two glasses and a card signed by the staff when we sat down (I maaaay have mentioned that we were celebrating our anniversary on the online reservation form since I had read reviews that they occasionally give out treats for special occasions...)

The night was so much fun! If you ever get a chance to visit, I highly recommend the fried oyster appetizer, the best I've ever had, and the halibut. See below for shot of intricately decorated plate of said fish dish:
Dan always cringes when I take a picture of my meal in a fancy place. He can't take me anywhere- ha ha! In my defense, I was a little tipsy after drinking all that prosecco and having an orange vodka drink (aptly named the "Fairy Godmother"... do you see why I love this place?!)

The most clever part of our meal? The bill! The server delivered it in a glowing mason jar with holes punched in the top, like fire flies were trapped inside.


Then, Dan and I took the metro to CoCo Sala, a chocolate bar a few stops away. If I had to describe it, I would say "Sex and the City" meets "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory".

First, the atmosphere: translucent gold curtains, sexy red couches, and many brides-to-be sporting tiaras and boas, but we should have know that would be the hang-out, this being a chocolate bar that serves sugary drinks. The bar was really cool:

Here's the photo of Dan and I again with our dessert, "Some More CoCo". Yep, it kinda sound like a stripper in an SNL sketch...


What you are looking at:
* A chocolate malted shooter (delicious!)
* An absurdly tiny brownie (what a tease!)
* Chocolate creme brulee with homemade marshmallow and graham cracker (oh my...)


All in all, we might not be chi chi people, but it was fun to pretend! :) If I had to describe this past Saturday, I would say the "homebodies" met the "metropolis"... and loved every second of it!

Happy Father's Day!

Dear Hallmark,

We need to talk about your Father's Day cards. Yes, I know that most dads love football, golf, and fishing. There's nothing wrong with a card that contains jokes about farting or hogging the remote. I'm sure that those themes apply to many wonderful fathers out there. But what card have you designed for mine?

Hallmark, I went down your card aisle this past Thursday, and I was disappointed with your selection.

You see, while my dad is a whiz at fixing broken stuff (like he did to my sagging closet door last weekend), I can't imagine a tool box pop-up card defining him.
He's so much more than a "Mr. Fix-It", like listening to his two daughters when they had broken hearts in high school and all those nights helping with homework in junior high.

Yes, my father always wears a tie to work,

but a card with a tie on the front seems woefully inadequate for the guy who talks smack to his son-in-law after beating him in a raft race in our pool last summer.

My dad is not just some uptight "tie guy". I mean, c'mon, he plays chubby bunny with our family!


To be honest, none of your cards quite fit the bill.

Nope... he'd rather work on his novel than watch t.v.

Uh-uh. He might do yard work, but there was no mention of how hard he works as the only guy in an all female family. You can imagine that with 3 against 1, my dad had to suffer through a lot of rom-coms and "girl talk"!


And don't even get me started about this next one! To be honest, it completely perplexed me:

Um, not all dads have problems with "direct emotional contact"! At least my open, Italian father doesn't! I could tell a million stories to demonstrate this, but my favorite would be when he whispered how loved I was as he walked me down the aisle.
Therefore, I propose you create a new card. This one should be for all the intelligent, loving dads out there who are outnumbered by female family members - tell corny jokes- write touching, sappy e-mails- are able to fix anything- play chubby bunny- raft race- occasionally read their daughter's blog just to "feel connected"- and are great listeners.

Thanks for your attention in this matter.

Sincerely,

Christen

Happy Father's Day, Dad!
We all love you!

Lighten up

Summery image via here.

As stated in my previous post, I'm shaking off the sticky remainders of my annual end-of-the-year funk. A few weeks ago, I was falling into coma-deep naps whenever I had time to lie down in the afternoons and gritting my teeth to keep from going off at my homeroom kids for launching sharpened pencils into my ceiling. I had gained five pounds so my dress pants were cutting into a developing muffin top. I felt... blah.

What's a blah girl to do? I dunno. I guess I just decided it was time to lighten up! I've cut down on my sweets, not dipping into the secretary's bowl of mini candy bars every time I make copies. I've been paring down my to do lists and having more fun: watching Glee and New York Housewives and reading the stack of books on my bedside table and celebrating Dan's bday this weekend. I've been eating fresh fruit and making my favorite salsa recipe (soooo good... try it here), swimming and running, and finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel (summer- holla!!).

Since I'm trying to lighten up, I thought I'd share my new curtains I got from Ikea. You might remember my curtain "before" that I shared in my house tour:

Yep, it was time for the too-short, blood red babies to go into storage!

Here's the lightened up after:



Pardon the lousy picture quality. For some reason, this room always looks darker in photos. In fact, I tried to make this picture as bright as possible by taking the shade off a nearby lamp. When I removed the bulb to take the shade off, it was so scalding that I dropped it so that it shattered in a zillion shards by my feet.

Woops...

Oh well, while the "after" photos are not lightened up, at least my dining room (and mood!) are!

Anyone else lightening up their decor/ routine now that summer is almost here?

Will you still read my blog...

even though I've been MIA from blogland for the past two+ weeks?!

Shameful, I know!

Somehow I always forget that I have a tough time at the end of the school year. I'm dealing with that antsy feeling of -for-the-love-of-all-that-is-good-and-holy-!-how-can-it-not-be-summer-break yet?!?! I get it every year. Seriously! Here's a whiny post from last June.

What have I been doing?? Well...

* finishing grades and firmly declining grade grubbers when they beg, "Can I pllleeeaaassee do extra credit so that I can get a 98 A for the year, rather than a 94??"

* proctoring eleven hours of SOL testing (see whiny post from last June.)

* contacting parents of failing students, who are oh-so-surprised that *gasp* their child is still failing! Even though I've contacted them frantically throughout the entire year...

* chaperoning the school dance and cringing at all the adorable awkwardness (of course, girls and guys were divided into separate groups, with only the occasional brazen couple swaying to Beyonce's "Halo")

* and, oh, having to deal with bats in attic

All this left one very crabby Christen.

On top of that, Dan was away for eight days in Florida grading AP tests. While I liked having some time with friends and Bethy, I missed him like crazy and had trouble sleeping. I got about an average of five hours a night, waking up gasping with every creak of our sixty year old house. Does this happen to anyone else?!

Now, he's back, and I'm back, though! One more week until summer break, and then I'll finally have the time to do all these posts I've wanted to do!

Just for fun, I thought I would share Dan's snail mail to me while he was away...

Not sure if it's because of the good lighting or the cloth background, but Dan always seems to love his yearbook photo that his school takes of him. It's become a running joke in our house. One year, he even put it on the fridge, like an eager ninth grader. I think he was trying to be funny, but I've noticed that he always keeps the free proofs the company gives out...

Imagine my eye rolling and smiles when I got two love notes from Dan this week with these in the envelopes:

Do you see why I missed this incredible (and totally goofy) guy??

I also missed you, blogland, and will try to be better from now on!

lovely image via here