Home Sweet Home….with a pool!

So I just got approved for one of the apartment I liked in Philly (not the one i posted about last time)…YAY!  I’ll have a home!!! I was actually getting kind of worried since i’ll be moving in a month or so and hadn’t really looked at anything (I hate the whole apt searching process, so i was putting it off).  I will be living right on the border between philly and the montgomery county suburbs….like literally on the city line.  I think since I’m on the east side of the street, I’m still considered as part of Philly, so my address reads as philadelphia  Not that it matters or anything….but I think it’s fun that if i cross the street, i’ll be in the suburb…tee hee. 

Anyhow, it’s one of those luxury type apts, which I am VERY excited about since I’ve never lived in one of those before…and rent is pretty cheap for what I’m getting compared to NY and Boston prices.  I’m paying $200 more than i’m paying now…for literally twice the space, a HUGE balcony with partial downtown views, a 24 h doorman, pool, gym, my own washer/dryer etc.  My favorite part is that I’m high enough up that there’s no other building next to my window, so I get a nice view…and I get afternoon sun, meaning I’ll get to see the sunset every night.  I feel like I’m getting totally ripped off now…in my tiny, old, badly managed apt.

I love philly already!!!  And, some pics….

The Gym (WITH TV’S!!!)

The pool…and pool deck

This is the same view i’ll get, but i think this is from the penthouse level….I”m lower down   probably about where those other buildings are…i can only see the tips of those skyscrapers in the distance

The lobby

My apt!!! Spare bedroom with full bath…

Who’s coming to visit me????????????????????

And one, two, three….

So last week at salsa class, the girl teacher finds out that i had some classical dance training.  Then she got all excited, talking about all these jumps and tricks she wants me to try since my back is flexible.  I was like woah woah…this is lesson number two…and my back is no longer flexible…it creaks every time i twist.

Anyway, at the end of class, she insisted that we try this one move.  She was like…oh this is easy…you stand side by side facing the mirror, then on count one, you jump up while he kind of does a squat…the you land on his lap, facing him with your right leg extended and your left leg folded under you…  I was like…uh….i don’t know if i can jump that far…she was like OH, you can…you did ballet.  (like 20 years ago!!!).  THEN she was like, ok, right after you land, the guy throws you up and off and back into the side by side stance…then you do two quick turns…and then back into the basic step.

I just stared at her.  Then she made us try it, but we couldn’t get the timing down.  So she come over and was like, okay, i’ll be the guy, try it with me.  I was like um, you want me to JUMP and LAND on you?!!!  I’m small, but I’m not really THAT light…especially to another girl.  She was like, it’s okay, i can do it.  OMG…that girl was SO strong…hahaha as soon as I landed in the leg extended position, she just THREW me maybe four feet up and 4 feet to her right to get me to the basic position.  I actually had a little hang time from her throw…I had time to do that bicycle move with my legs (like when people in the movies fall from tall buildings…or like in the long jump), although I’m sure that wasn’t very elegant looking.  But,  I was very impressed.

I guarantee you, this is probably one girl you wouldn’t want to get in a fight with.

My favorite salsa song so far: Marc Anthony – Tu amor me hace bien

*EDIT*  I found shoes that I LOVE……i don’t care if they hurt…i’m wearing them.  Because honestly, I’ve never worn shoes that don’t hurt…they all hurt a little.  Hint: they are NOT white…far from white actually…tee hee.  The mom will not see them until the day of…hahahahaha.  She will flip.

I LOVED penelope cruz’s hair from last night.  Swept back cleanly, but not pulled to tightly against her head.  I liked her makeup too!

I also liked Naomi Watts (or cate blanchette….i can never tell them apart) hair…I wonder if my hair can do this.

Did anyone see Lisa Ling?  I can’t find a pic, but she looked butt.  She had this short black dress with a long train attached at the waist…then her hair was up in this super high ponytail (think 80′s).  She looked like a HS girl going to prom….

Home Sweet Home?

I’m in Philly now….found an apt i liked!!!  It’s in Ardmore…a jappy, waspy suburb…reminds me of bronxville HAHAHAHA.  But it’s two blocks from the train station….and one blcok from Suburban Square…this huge outdoor upscale mall!!WOOHOO!!!!  And a few blocks away is Lancaster Ave…filled with stores, shops and restaurants.  I will soon officially be a suburbian……now i have to do all teh paperwork…ugh

*EDIT*  So another apartment is now in the running due to what seems like signs of shady management.  This other one is a little more expensive, but has a lot of nice amenities…like pool, washer/dryer in the apartment, gym, doorman etc.  One of those fancy, schmancy apartments.  The area isn’t as convenient to shopping and stuff like that, but it’s across the street from the train station.  At least being farther from the mall will prevent me from shopping all the time!!! 

Say what???

Yesterday, my very good friend tells me, “y’know…I like Melissa Sweet’s dresses…they’re really nice.”   I was like what?  you know bridal gown designer names?!  And it’s not like i’ve shown him pics of melissa sweet dresses because there is no way that I could ever afford that, so i don’t bother looking.  I only show him pics of dresses from my favorite designer (even though i can’t afford him/her either), who i will not tell…since that may give away my dress (not that I bought from that designer…but i was inspired by him/her).  But I was fairly impressed (and somewhat frightened).

What color shoes did everyone wear under their dress?  I don’t want to wear white/ivory shoes…i’ll never wear them again and i KNOW i will get them dirty within 5 minutes of putting them on…then all my shoe pics will be of my dirty shoes.  but no one can see your shoes anyway right?  I can wear like my wedge heel winter boots and no one will know.  hahahaha.  I’ve seen pics where brides wear like leopard print pumps…it’s kind of cool looking in that “i’m actually a bad girl underneath my white dress” kind of way….although that wouldn’t work for me because I would never wear those again either.

Doomsday, come and conquered…

So, last night was the dreaded meeting of the parents.   I thought it turned out okay.  There were a few awkward silences here and there…but most of the time there was some conversation….and there were no fistfights.  HAHAHAHA.  Not bad for meeting for the first time. Luckily my sister and his brothers also went, so at least we could talk amongst ourselves.

WHEW.  So now we’re “officially” engaged. hahahaha.

So I’ve chosen my “the one” dress.  It’s final.  I refuse to try on anymore dresses.  Now onto the stupid veil that I am being forced to wear.  I’ve stood my ground on most of the issues thus far…but my mom is insisting on the veil.  She wants to make it herself…so I agreed to wear one.  I always thought veils were made of tulle…but when we went to check out bolts of tulle, it felt so stiff and scratchy.  The ones I tried on (more like forced to try on) at the bridal store were much lighter and much more flowy.  Those weren’t tulle also were they?  They felt like English Net…Can veils be made from English net as well?  I kind of want the really long veils….but I think I’m too short to pull it off   We’ll see…..

The other “The One”….. (I dedicate this entry to my biggest fan, Mr. Lucas, who admitted to avidly reading my wedding blogs….of course, “only when I’m bored”.)

So I went dress shopping for the last time this weekend with the mom and the sister.  Tried on “the one” from last time and picked out several other dresses that had similar shapes since I now know what looks good on me.  So, I found another “the one”…hahahaha.  I like them both….but they’re so different in style…it’s hard to choose which one.  I wish I could wear both hahahahaha.  I actually found a third “the one”…but luckily, I didn’t like the fabric (and I couldn’t change that), so it got taken out of the running.

Is there really a “the one”?  I’ve always wondered if girls actually cry while trying on wedding dresses.  They do.  I witnessed it, much to my horror.  What made it worse was that the girl looked horrible in the dress.  She had a fairly large chest, so she looked amazing in those lower cut v-neck gowns that I could never pull off.  But she kept going after this one really busy strapless dress, which just made her torso look like all boobs…so it made her look thick and fat.  Anyhow, she cried…and sobbed.  I just wanted her to hurry up and finish so that I could get my turn in the dressing room.

I don’t believe in “the one”….I could have easily picked several dresses that I would have been equally content with wearing.  I ended up choosing based on how the dress would look in the setting of my reception hall…and price, of course.  If i didn’t have a price limit, omg…i would end up trying on dresses until the day of!!!

So now I’m debating…should I get the first “the one”  or the second “the one”.  And I refuse to go dress shopping another time…so the choices are limited to these two.

Big clunky boots…test 1…

I wore my big boots out to dig out a car…spent about an hour outside…standing on mounds of ice.  My feet were toasty warm….i didn’t feel any of the chill.  And i could stand on these mini glaciers and walk around with no problem!!!!

They were AWESOME!!!!

Hair-raising…..

So I went to the mall today to see if I could find any cute hair combs.  They’re all so blingy….i guess that’s the point.  Anyhow, i saw one that had a mix of pearls and crystals, so it was less blingy..it was long, and it curved upwards at the ends away from the comb.  I thought that was weird cuz usually it curves downwards so that it fits against the bun or hairstyle. 

Anyhow, the asian lady manning the cart tells me, “ok i help you try it on”.  So I said fine, since i couldn’t figure out how it worked (because i kept thinking it was supposed to curve down to fit the hairstyle”.  So she proceeds to tell her co-worker to give her a rubber band….like a regular, brown rubber band.  i HATE those…they ALWAYS get stuck in my hair.  So before i can say anything, she grabs my hair and starts wrapping the rubber band around.    I was like, okay, if I have to cut off my hair because that thing gets stuck, i will not be happy.

So then she splits the hair about the rubber band in two and starts stuffing the actual ponytail in the hole (think topsy tail…or whatever that thing was called).  It didn’t work the first time…”wow, your hair so slippery”…then she just RIPS that rubber band out…along with my actual hair.  And does it again, this time wrapping the rubber band even MORE times around.  So basically, after all that ponytail stuffing, my hair formed this U-shaped thing.  Which i guess fit the comb.  But it looked weird….

So i try to start dismantling my updo.  And then she goes, “wait!!! you can add more”  And starts attaching those mini-clips like all over my head.  (this is in the middle of the mall).  I was like oh ok…very nice…thanks…and i start ripping all those suckers off my head with a quickness.

Then she asks, “oh, you vietnamese?”  I was like…uh no….Taiwanese.  And she goes, OH…from Thailand.  I didn’t even bother.  I just thanked her and left.

I’m still on the hunt for an affordable vintage looking hair comb…….Yach recommended Westchester Mall…..I may have to check that out….wherever that is.

 Mr. Freeze visits Boston…..

So…everything that came down the past few days has turned to solid ice.  And since no one shoveled, everything is ice….including the sidewalks.  And i’m not talking like slush with bits of ice in it…this is like ice skating ice.  I had a pretty good pair of flat winter boots with awesome treads last year, but i wore them out….the seams split on top.  So all I had left were my faux fur winter boots…but those have a wedge and was more for just plain old cold days….and my timbs, which have good treads but aren’t lined, so my feet are always freezing.

On my way to work, I kept getting stuck on plateaus of ice.  I literally would get stuck up to a point and just stand there, looking around…trying to find a way out.  At one point, I actually considered just getting down on my hands and knees and crawling.  Anyhow, i ended up just walking in the street.  So i’d wait til there were no cars, then I’d book it as far as I could until the cars started coming again…then i’d step to the side and wait.  So my normally 5 minute walk to the train station took 30 minutes.

There’s an REI by the train station…so on the way home, I told myself that i would buy WHATEVER they had (these deep freezes usually stay until the weather warms up….so it’ll be here for a while)….no matter what price…..no matter how ugly.   If they had Uggs, I would buy Uggs (I’m anti-Ugg btw).  All I needed them to be were warm, waterproof and walkable…and most importantly, they need to have deep treads.

So into REI I went…and lo and behold…they were having a 50% off already marked down prices on boots.  So I said….okay, if there’s something here in my size, or close to my size, i’ll get them.  I’ve already realized that you can’t get a pair of chic looking winter boots with deep treads….deep treads usually means big and bulky.  So in the entire pile, there was only ONE pair that was anywhere near my size…size 38 European (i’m normally a 37).  I tried them on…a little big…but adjustable….and I have wide feet anyway, so they were comfortable width wise.  They were super bulky and super ugly….but fit all my criteria….warm (up to -40 degrees)…waterproof (you can see why in the pic)…and super duper deep treads.  They looked like moon shoes…or the boots that people wear when they’re on National Geographic missions to Antarctica.  And i think they were meant for kids/adolescents…but hey, they fit.

I bought them.   $16.   Can’t complain….except about how they look…but i don’t care.  Uggs are ugly too and people love them.  At least they’re a cute color.  hahaha.