Life

Life: Art+Online Shopping = Cute Stuff

Art, Life
One of my favorite wedding photographers, Max Wanger, has taken his passion for photography into a new direction.  About a week ago Max launched his new online shop where and uses this wedding photography to inspire t-shirts, prints, and postcards.  I swoon at the sight of his work and I’m sad that he wasn’t available to do our wedding.  You should really stop by and check his work out because he is only producing limited quantities of the shirts and for $35 (+ s&h) I think they are worth it.

Another noteworthy site you should check out is Poketo.  If you’re a fan of art and want to support upcoming artist you should check out the cute things they have on their site ranging from wallets, apparel, stationary, to homeware, etc.

Quantities are limited so check it out soon.  The wallets start off at $20 and shirts at $15.

Life: How to deal with stress?

Life
When I was planning the wedding I felt little stress (well at least that’s what I told myself) but then again remember this.  On our wedding day I was unbelievably calm and stress free because I was determined that I wanted to enjoy our wedding.  I have finals this week and I’m beginning to get that strange feeling that usually crawls up my stomach as finals begin to approach.  I begin with telling myself that nothing good can come from stress but that just stresses me out more.  This time around I’ve attempting to exercise my stress away but so far it isn’t working.  The only time I feel stress out like this in regards to schoolwork.  When I used to work I usually never felt stressed.   
So my question to you guys is how on earth do you deal with stress?   

Goals: Living a healthier lifestyle

Life

Last week I told you about my obsession with the Biggest Loser and about the goals I have to live a healthier lifestyle.  I’m not necessarily exercising to lose weight but I’m doing it to live a healthier life.  Although I’m not the thinnest individual in my family my overall health is relatively good.  I’ve had physical exams done and my cholesterol levels and other test have came out very good.  We live a pretty straight edge lifestyle in regards to drinking, drugs, and smoking.  I’m telling you this because I wanted to put it out there that my decision to exercise doesn’t come from anything more than wanting to live healthier life which is something that I had never felt before.  It has been about a month now since the hubby and I began exercising 5 out of 7 days a week.  I haven’t lost any weight that would warrant a “WOW” however I have noticed that my softball skills have gotten better overall.  The best part is that I don’t get out of breath in my attempts to out run  my hubby.  So now that we feel like we have taken this lifestyle change seriously we have begun the second part of my goals which is to run a half marathon.  I first asked the hubby a year ago to run a half marathon with my and he turned me down so I asked one of my friends and he said yes.  Fast forward to a few days ago as I was signing up for it he said, “sign me up for it too.”  Can you can imagine my excitement as he uttered those words?  I was completely excited because he is my other half and with him by my side there is no doubt that I can do it.

The half marathon I wanted to do was the Disneyland half marathon but since we’re frugal we decided to go for the Long Beach half marathon.

Ready or not we have until October 17th to practice for our half marathon.  We’ve walked a few 5k’s before but nothing like this so we are really excited about challenging ourselves.  I’ll keep you posted on our progress as the time gets closer.  For those of you that are wondering I’ve lost 4 lbs which means that I’m losing a pound a week.

Have you ever run a race?  If you have do you have any pointers for us?

Update: We conquered the 1/2 marathon and signed up to do another one!

Dating: What happens to it after marriage?

Date Night Fridays, Dates, Dating, Life
Let me begin by saying that the hubby and I have been going out since 2001 and have been married since last year and we still enjoying going out on dates.  He stole my heart when he first asked me out because he gave me three choices which didn’t include dinner and a movie.  At that time I was tired of the typical date and was glad that along came a young guy who was more imaginative.  As a matter of fact it wasn’t until the past couple of years that our dates include dinner and a movie.   
Our dates have ranged from going to museums to concerts to comedy clubs and plays the hubby always seems to surprise me.  One thing that changed last year as we were planning our wedding was our frugality in regards to dates.  We began to get really creative with our dates since we were trying to save up money for our wedding.  Since we live in Southern California we haven’t had a problem finding places where we can to without spending much money.  Once of our favorite places to go is the Getty if you have never gone there you should check it out.  
Now that we are married and our week seems to fly by we have found that it’s just as important that we find time to go out on dates.  The best part of the dates are that we get to reconnect and re-energize with each other after a long week of work and school.  We are often asked by my younger cousins what are our secrets for being so in love after almost 9 years of dating and we tell them that they are are to whisper sweet nothings and wooing each other.
So do you and your significant other find time to go out on dates? Can you share with me where you like to go?         

Life: On chores…Who does what?

Life

The hubby and I have been living together for more than a year now and we finally got the hang of who’s responsible for doing what.

{Source}

As I sit here waiting for our laundry to finish drying it occurred to me that it was never this easy.  When the hubby and I moved in we knew it was going to be difficult but we never imagined to what extent.

The Background:
The hubby was living at home up until we moved in together. On the other hand I had moved out of my parents house when I was 18 years-old. I lived with different roommates for almost ten years.

The Expectations:
I was supposed to take it easy on him because he was never required to do anything at home.  I was supposed to teach him what his mom never taught him.  I expected him to be a clean freak just like me and nagged him when I realized that he was on the other end.

The Compromise:
Finding a middle ground took a long time but it was really worth the effort we put into it because now we have an arrangement that we are happy with.  We both agreed that we want a clean and organized apartment and it was going to take both of us to accomplish that.  When one of us is not available to help out because of school or work demands then the other one steps up to do it. Doesn’t it sound dreamy?  Some might say it even sounds fair which it is, but it really took about a year to really work and get all the kinks out.


Who does what:
Laundry- we both do it.  When one of us does the laundry the other one puts the clothes away.
Ironing- he does it.  I HATE ironing. I don’t really know why but I really do so he irons everything.
Dishes/Kitchen/Bathroom- that’s all me.  Once in a while we do the dishes together but usually I do them as I go.  I don’t mind cleaning the bathroom and I feel like the kitchen is my domain since I love cooking and baking so I tell him to stay out.
Living Room-we both clean it as we go along.  He usually does the vacuuming because he knows how bad my allergies are.
Bedroom- we both do it.  He usually makes the bed and I organize the rest of the room.

I have to admit that at the beginning I nagged him about the little things like his shoes in the living room but I soon realized that it took less effort for me to ask nicely than to nag.  Working together has not only brought us together but has strengthen our marriage.  We are in a partnership and we now both take pride in what our apartment looks like.  When I have finals he’s usually the one cleaning up the kitchen and getting us dinner.  When he has deadlines to do I clean the apartment from top to bottom.  Learning to compromise and to break the usual gender roles was the key to our happiness and our chore dilemma.

So how are you handling the things that have to be done around the house?  What have you learned from living together with your significant other?

I’m obsessed….

Exercising, Life
I am so glad that the the Biggest Loser is back after a two week hiatus.  When this season began something clicked inside of me that I had never experienced before.  That’s right I’m admitting it here in front of all of you, “I’m not happy with my weight.”  The obvious remark that I might hear some of you say is, “Stop eating sweets and that should fix your problem.”  My aunt told my mom this week that if I keep baking cakes and eating them I’m going to gain a crazy amount of weight.  What my aunt doesn’t know is that when I bake a cake I only taste it and the rest I share with others.  Part of my problem is sweets but the biggest one is the lack of exercise.
So, what exactly clicked inside of me?

Every Tuesday as I sat in front of my t.v. seeing the contestants weight themselves in I realized that I hadn’t done that in a while.  When I finally got around to purchasing a scale I was shocked at how much I had gained since the wedding. (If you Google weight gain and marriage you’ll get a list of links that show the correlation between them.) This is when I realized that something had to change. 

Three weeks ago I didn’t begin a diet but a lifestyle change.  My hubby and I went from not working out at all to jogging 4 days a week.  
My goals:
Short term- run/walk/jog 5 days a week
Mid term- 1/2 marathon 
Long term- marathon
Other changes I have done:
Stopped eating after 8pm or at least 4 hours before we go to bed 
Added more veggies in our diet
The hubby and I have decided that we are worth the effort it takes to exercise daily and that a balanced diet is doable.  I will keep you posted on our progress through our newly adapted lifestyle change.  Weight loss is great but becoming a healthier individual is what we are striving for. 
Since your wedding or since you met your significant other have you gained weight, your partner has gained weight, or both of you have gained weight?  Are you doing anything to change it?

Grocery Shopping…

Life, Savings
I was reading a post on My Money Blog about grocery prices in different cities and it got me thinking about how couples nowadays handle this task. 
{Source}
I have appointed myself the official grocery shopper of our household.  So yesterday I did my monthly grocery shopping and I was wondering how often others go shopping and if they have a strategy to it.  

Here is what we do:

The hubby and I subscribe to the L.A. Times, which we got an awesome deal on, so that we can get the coupons.  Every Sunday morning I sit in front of the t.v. cutting my coupons and organizing them into different categories.  When I first began clipping coupons I would always forget to take them to the grocery store with me so to fix this problem I bought a small folder that I keep in my car. I also upload coupons into my grocery store club card and make a list of things I need as they run out.  I usually have an idea of what I’m going to be making throughout the month but nothing is written down, maybe one day I’ll get to that level but not now.  Before leaving to the grocery store I usually spend about 15 minutes going through my coupons and separating the ones I’m going to use from the others (remember I’ve been collecting them for a month) and looking through my pantry to see what I need to add to my list.  One thing that I always do before I leave my house to the store is EAT because going to the grocery store in an empty stomach is such a bad idea.  Once I have my tools I head over to the store where I usually start from left to right and going only through the aisles I’m getting things from. I tend to stick to my grocery list because if I stray off I end up spending more money.  If I have a coupon for something I look at how much I save compared to what the store brand cost.  I don’t use a coupon just because I have it that just doesn’t save money.  I use coupons on items I was going to purchase anyways.  Grocery shopping has became like a game to me where I try to save more money every time I go and so far I’m winning.
 
Yesterday I saved $75 on my groceries and earned more points for our rewards card. I also used my credit card to pay and earned 1% cash back.  You have to love all those savings!  Who does the grocery shopping in your household?  Do you have any tips for me that might save me more money?