Love Story, Part III of III

Sorry for the length of this post. It's kind of a time commitment, but it's worth it. Better than Titanic. (Kidding. Maybe. You decide. No one dies.)

Thomas and Me, in the first picture we took together. P.S. his sister made me that ring!

It was the beginning of May, exactly one week before I would leave school for my hometown three hours away. The last day of classes is a huge party night, and because of my recent "being free and not caring" epitome, I was going to enjoy it. The next day was a free day, called study day, and finals didn't begin until the day after that.

My angle of the night:

I first went to a newspaper staff party, and stayed there until about 9. After that I thought my night was complete. I truly had zero expectations for the evening. I thought I'd curl up with a blanket and a chick flick and get some well-deserved rest. But some of my friends wanted to continue the night, and so I went for it. I was wearing an old tanktop and jeans and my hair was HUGE so I put in a ponytail. Let me just say...not my best look.

First we went to an event here called Late Night BU at the gym. There's food and music and things, so it's worth a stop. We went and hung out for awhile, I ran into some people I knew, and then we left to go to a frat party. (Late Night BU becomes important later.)

When we arrived at the frat house, it was packed. Crawling with people. I was loving having a good time and being out with my friends, but I didn't want to dance with anyone. (i.e. guys.) I wanted to dance with my friends and not have to worry about anything. One boy even politely asked if he could share a dance with me (he said it in those words!) and I turned him down. I felt bad about it, but I really, truly did not want anyone up in my space, getting in the way of my fabulous dance moves. (Awful. I have no rhythm.)

But then, I saw someone out of the corner of my eye, kind of watching me. My friend told me he was watching me, so I glanced back and recognized him as Tom. Then I continued my dancing. Then he was talking to his friend about something, and I saw him come toward me. I got very nervous. He asked me to dance, and I said...sure!

When you attend a frat party, or most parties for that matter, you know the kind of dancing that happens. Straight up booty grinding, pop, lock and droppin' dirty moves. (Sorry, I'm really not hip enough to know the right lingo.) But not Tom and me. I vividly remember the moment I decided that he, and therefore we, were different. So we danced seventh-grade, arms around the neck style.

We danced for awhile, yelling into each others' ears over the music. "How are you?" "What have you been up to?" "Where do you work?" "What's your major again?"

My drunk friends kept interrupting, but it was still a special moment. And a critical one. He said "We should hang out sometime, if you're not too busy." He said it as we were parting, and I knew I had to make a choice. I would be leaving in one week. I could have walked away, said something offhand like "yeah, sure," and possibly never talk to him again. Instead, I asked if he wanted my number. We ended up texting more that night, the next day and the day after that. We went mini golfing on friday, stargazing Saturday, and by the time I left Tuesday, he asked me to be his girlfriend. I spent most of the summer away from him, but it still worked out. We've been together ever since.

The story gets more interesting, however.

Tom's angle of the night, as told to me:

Turns out, Tom had been jonesing for me since our speech class. (That's a word right? Like 'crushing'? I seriously hope that's what it means.)

While I assumed he thought I was just weird, he was too shy to talk to me. But two years can make a big difference. Over the course of those semesters, he became confident. And the night we danced, he decided he should finally approach me.

He was out with his friends at Late Night BU, and he saw me there with my friends. He also saw me leave. But he didn't know where exactly I was going. The party we ended up at was a good guess, because that's where most people were. See, Tom is shy. His friends, for the most part, are not. Two of them made a pact with each other to get phone numbers that night. So they entered the party and were on a mission.

But they failed, and after a short while, they left the party. Meanwhile, Tom had seen me there. He didn't want to leave.

They were walking back to a friend's apartment, and on the way there, he was talking to one of his best friends, convincing him (I don't know how) that they needed to go back to the party. So they did. And then he asked me to dance.

And guess who was the only one to get a phone number that night?

:)

Love Story, Part II of III

Let me preface this installment by saying that at the ripe old age of 20, I was ready to put love on the back burner for the next ten, twenty years. I was exhausted. I dated some, but I always preferred being on my own. Halfway through our speech class, I had started dating someone new, and I would date a few guys throughout the next year and a half.

While this happened, interestingly enough, I would run into Tom periodically. I'd see him from afar on campus or walking with his friends, and it always made me stop and think. The thoughts were never clear, but every time I saw him, something in me would go "Hmmm.."

He is a local to our college town, so I saw him at the movies several months before we would start dating. I was actually on another date at the time, and Tom worked at the theater. He sold us our tickets. I swear, we looked at each other for awhile, and we both paused. We exchanged brief small talk, but then I left for the theater, telling the person I was with that I knew the guy who sold us our tickets. He didn't care, obviously, but I really felt compelled to tell someone about it.

I saw him in March, too, walking with one of his friends. He looked very James Dean in his sunglasses, and I brought myself to wave hello to him...but he didn't see. I proceeded to pretend I was fixing my hair and ran away awkwardly.

Then came April. I hit my breaking point. It was a rough month for me, and I was sick of trying, sick of holding out hope for people who would leave me hanging. I was already a romance cynic. I had been my whole life. I believed fairytale princesses lacked substance, and anyone who graduated college with a serious relationship was selling themselves short big time. That was their chance to explore, to grow. And I was going to spend my last two years of college doing just that.

This big epitome came to me the night of a hair show that my mom had entered (considering she's a hairstylist.) I learned that someone I had been on a couple dates with had moved on to someone else, and I decided to free myself from all the drama. It wasn't worth my time, and because the next two years of my life would be absorbed by the campus newspaper, looking for a relationship was completely pointless anyway. Also, my great grandma died that night. And it was a horribly dreadful, gloomy night. At least the hair show was fun.

This was about a week and a half before I ran into Tom again one night. And that night would change everything.

(Dun dun duuuuun!)

Love Story, Part I of III

So I was going to do this about two months ago, on our one year anniversary. But then...I didn't.
I'm going to tell it now, though, because I think it's a pretty interesting story. Also I'm biased. But still.

Freshman year of college, first day of classes. Girl is majoring in journalism, boy is majoring in mechanical engineering. There are less than a handful of classes they could ever end up in together, and one of those is speech class. They both take the 9 a.m. course. (Girl takes an 8 a.m. chemistry before that class. Why she made that choice is a question she will ask herself three days a week for the rest of the semester.)

Boy and girl sit next to each other on the first day. In the front row, because they are nerds. (Or because the teacher placed them there.)

They spend every day not speaking to one another. Girl likes the way he blushes when he gives a speech, and his impeccable taste in shoes. She also thinks he finds her weird because, given that she is a morning person, she comes in daily slightly peppy and excited and one time put her pants on backwards. (Thanks to girl's roommate, who also had 8 a.m. chemistry, and let her know. Girl did not fix the pants before speech class.)

Girl also gave speeches on strange topics such as aliens and the history of Halloween, while everyone else talked about abortion. (Fun class.) Boy gave a speech about how his band won a talent show in high school. Girl is intrigued.

Girl is also intrigued when boy, who seems very quiet and shy, gives a speech one day, and she notices a hickey on his neck. She wondered what he did with his weekends. (Turns out, it was just a mosquito bite.)

One day, boy asks girl how her weekend was. Girl is stunned that boy is speaking to her. But they still don't talk much, even when they're part of the same final project group.

After that, they go their separate ways. It will be a year and a half before they speak again, aside from a few chance encounters...

Body by strength

I have been loving all the female U.S. Olympic competitors gracing the pages of fashion magazines lately. Well, fashion magazines, commercials, print ads, cereal boxes...all that.

It's pretty refreshing to see a celebration of strong, female bodies with superhuman capabilities that most people (i.e. myself) will never have.

Because I can't balance on a curb, do a proper cartwheel, throw anything heavy or jump off a 3-foot diving board without a life jacket and a chaperone. (That last part...real life story. Sophomore year of high school. The chaperone, who had to watch me jump in to make sure I didn't drown, was a senior boy. The good days.)

Coming from a family of decently capable athletes, my lack of any and all athletic ability is really sad. Except badminton. I do enjoy a good round of badminton. And playing water war with the children.

So I like to live vicariously through these people. Particularly inspiring is gymnast McKayla Maroney, 16.

Her vault at 1:05 is pretty much flawless.

(I don't know this because I'm a gymnast. I know this because that's what the announcers say, and when it comes to sports, I'm not to be trusted. But it does look perfect!)

Seriously, who is that bad-ass at 16?! That's one heck of a childhood. 

Will you be watching the Olympics this summer? I never have before, so this year I decided I'd hunker down on my couch with pj's and ice cream and catch some of the events.

Happy July 5th!

Summer Skin

I don't know about you, but my skin isn't digging this heat wave. I feel like I sweat 90% of the day, and the other 10% I'm showering or swimming. So in honor of the steambath that currently is Central Illinois, here are some of my favorite summer skin savers.

1. Baby lips. One of the best chapsticks I've ever used, plus it comes with SPF.

2. True Blue Spa Pumpkin Renewing Face Mask. After a long day in the sun, this helps sooth skin. Also, it smells like fall and reminds me of pumpkin spice lattes on a walk in the woods. And not sweating.

3. Neutrogena Spray Sunscreen. This stuff smells and feels great, and I actually looked forward to using it.

4. DIY body scrub using extra virgin olive oil and sugar. The sugar is grainy enough to slough off skin cells and accumulated sunscreen, and the olive oil lightly moisturizes. I LOVE olive oil. I use it for everything, like the dad in My Big Fat Greek Wedding and Windex. (Was it Windex?)


So there you have it! Your skin can still look healthy in these harsh conditions. Hair is another story entirely.

Have a lovely day!

P.S.-SPIDERMAN TONIGHT. CAN'T WAIT! I ADORE EMMA STONE.

My dress, a love story.

I was so excited about the story behind the dress from my last post that I just really have to share it. 

So around my birthday (which is in early February), I found this dress, and it reminded me of the one Selena Gomez wore on the cover of Cosmo. 

I wanted it. But it cost too much, even for a birthday splurge.

So I went back in April, and the price was down to $50, but they didn't have it in my size. I was determined that the dress would be mine anyway.

Fast-forward to two weeks ago. I look online to scope out some dresses. I remember the dress, check Express and–lo and behold–it's under the sale section!

It costs a grand total of $29, $20 with a coupon. And it is ONLY available in my size. Some call that good luck. I call it destiny. And it was perfect for the wedding we attended. I have a feeling that dress will make an appearance at several more summer events. Our story is just beginning.

                                                                            <3

Don't lie. You know you have a love story with something in your closet, too.

            

Wedding and a water fight

This was definitely a whirlwind of a weekend! Tom and I drove to my hometown to attend a friend's wedding and a family party. It was exhausting, and so much fun. And I kind of wish I could do it all over again.

First I showed him around Woodfield Mall.

Then we went to the most lavish, elegant wedding I will probably ever attend. (P.S.-This is the Milwaukee Art Museum. It was in Transformers 3.)

I didn't even know orchids existed in that color?!

The next day we went to my favorite little shopping town, Long Grove. 

Then we attacked each other with water toys. My favorite moment was when my 5-foot-nothing grandma walked out with the super soaker.

Christmas Card photo 2012? I think yes.

Domesticity at its very finest.

Have a good week!!!