We shouldn't own nice things

Remember that time Dave lost his wedding ring in the snow? And then I found it? And squealed with delight?

Well, bring on the panic attacks because it's lost again.

This time, we're convinced it's somewhere in the apartment. Dave says he took it off at some point on Sunday evening and put it on the dining room table before walking the dog that night. On Monday, sans ring, we went to Home Depot, got a ton of paint and started painting the bedroom. This included moving all the furniture, sweeping and creating multiple trash bags. On Tuesday before work, Dave didn't see the ring in plain sight so we both went to work without worrying about it.

And now here we are. Wednesday. No ring.

The thing is, Dave's not the only guilty party in this whole I-lose-nice-stuff fiasco...

It also appears that I have, um, misplaced a diamond earring, part of the set he got me as a wedding gift.

So, this morning, I tore the bedroom apart looking for it -- nothing. I finally confessed to Dave that I couldn't find it. But my guilt was quickly replaced by panic when he confessed that he still couldn't find his wedding ring. We shifted into high-gear and started scouring the apartment for it... and, of course, turned up nothing. Could it have been swept into one of the trash bags from painting? Did Rocco get a hold of it? Will it ever show up again?

Start praying to St. Anthony, folks. He came through last time. Let's see if he can do it again.



UPDATE: He found it! It was buried in a bag. Perhaps it's time to get that thing insured, no?

The case of the lost wedding ring

It was a dark and stormy snowy night.

Kind of.

Dave was taking the dog out for one last shit before bed. I was in the apartment alone.

The phone rang.

"WTF," I say. It's 10:30 at night!

I look at the caller ID and I see it's Dave, who left the apartment not more than 1 minute ago. This can NOT be good.

"Hey," he says. "I just lost my wedding ring in the snow."

I am silent. Is this a joke? Because I am about to rage.

"Come help me look," he says before hanging up.

I throw on my boots, jacket and gloves, and head out. For the next 30 minutes, we comb through the snow in front of our neighbor's house. With all of the shoveling, the ring has most likely sunk down 8 inches into a snow pile. We, of course, find nothing.

The next night, we drive out to somewhere the trains don't go and rent a metal detector. With a new sense of hope, we bring this bright yellow (why?) device to our neighbor's snow piles. And let me tell you, I've come to realize that there's nothing more suspicious than two hooded 20-somethings lurking around in front of a home at night with a large metal weapon. But whatever. After nearly an hour of searching, still no ring.

The next day, we decide that the missing element in all this is daylight. Dave goes back out to the snow piles to try yet again. This time, a woman comes out to get her mail and looks at Dave quizzically. He tells her that he lost his wedding ring somewhere in the snow.

She says, "Oh noooo. Oh noooo. Oh noooo. Oh shit."

Oh shit is right, lady. Oh shit is right.

Everyone who walked by and heard the story shared the same sentiment. Whether they chuckled or gave the Sad Eyes, they all agreed that the ring was never going to be found. Especially after a few extra days of snowfall and shoveling.

By the end of the afternoon, we were ready to agree.

So, here we are, defeated.

Dave's new plan is to sit out in front of the neighbor's in a lawn chair once 40 degrees hits, in hopes that the snow will melt and the ring will magically appear. Hey, we've tried everything else.

In the meantime, he'll buy a $10 band from Target. And once we're rich, we'll get him a new, real band to replace the lost one. Because, really? That thing is GONE.

Almost famous

Our wedding photos got featured in an ad for Hotel 71 in this month's issue of CS Bride! (p.103)


Can I just rave one more time about our amazing, amazing vendors?

Flowers: Lala from A Golden Leaf -- where our flowers are featured too
Photogs: Nick and Frank from Orange2Photo
Makeup: Renee from LoveHowYouLook (site's gone?)
Hair: Miles from Paul Rehder
Music: Kate and Rachel from Toast & Jam (nothing to do with the ad, but they were AWESOME)

The significance of today

Today might be MLK Day (not that we get off work for that around here, which I'm still not totally convinced is legal), but, as my mother reminded me yesterday, it's something else too.


Mom: You have an anniversary tomorrow, you know.

Me: I do?

Mom: Yes. Do you know what it is?


Mental check: I was married in September so there's no way this is a wedding anniversary. Phew.


Me: Ma, I really hate these games. It's always a trap.

Mom: No trap.


For some reason, I ignored the "anniversary" part and instead just started running through a checklist of random holidays or events.


Me: Tomorrow, let's see... MLK Day? Nah, that wouldn't make sense for you to bring up. Your birthday's coming up but that's not until February. Oh, the dog's birthday! No, wait, that's January 23. What is tomorrow? The 19th?

Mom: Seriously?

Me: January 19th...? Ohhhhhhhh. Right.


Two years ago today, Dave proposed.




Happy engagement anniversary to us, even though we probably forgot about it last year too. Pseudo-anniversary fail!

Australia, Part 1

It occurred to me recently that I never posted pictures from my honeymoon. We went to Australia for two weeks -- spending half our time in Sydney and half in Port Douglas.

Since hearing about Jørn Utzon's passing, I figured now was as good a time as any to show you a few shots of Sydney and the Opera House...

Oh, also, after the ridiculously grueling flight from LA to Sydney -- well, grueling for Dave; I took some sleeping pills and felt pretty good -- we immediately dropped off our things and went straight to our Opera House tour. So there aren't many pictures of us, being that we looked like death.

Very first view of the Opera House.

I couldn't get enough pictures of it, honestly.

Oh, heeeyyy.

Do we look exhausted?

Inside the Opera house.

Unbelievably gorgeous.

So much more than just opera happening here.

Again.

Inside.

I highly recommend this tour, by the way.

So open and bright.

Many levels.

And lots of stairs.

Two sections.

Again, SO beautiful.

More of the architecture.

Not sure WHAT this schitzoid what doing, but I wanted a picture of it.

RIP, Jørn. Guy designed the Opera House and never actually saw the finished structure in person himself. Sad.

Wedding present

From my boss -- she MADE this for us.










I LOVE having original artwork in my apartment.

Wedding, Part 4

We went straight from the ceremony immediately into the reception. Hotel 71 is awesome because we herded everyone into the cocktail area for an hour while our florist and the amazing hotel staff transformed our connecting ceremony area into the reception space.

Aaand massive drinking ensued.

PART 4: RECEPTION, BITCHES

Sister with friends. By the bar, of course.

I was beyond thrilled how everything turned out.

Woman's hand + alcohol = Drunk Grandma (who else?)

Holla.

I threatened violence if he smashed cake in my face.

Cake was chocolate with real raspberries crushed in chocolate ganache filling.

Looooves you.

Mom, find me Dad's written speech and frame it. Seriously.

Laughter, just before tears. (Mine.)

Best man speech. Also incredible.

We love Joe.

BFFs.

Sister speech.

I look like I'm telepathically threatening her if she says anything embarrassing.

One of my favorite pictures of the wedding. I almost always tear up seeing it.

Photos were SO good. We never even noticed them.

Looks like a stock photo, but it's not.

No idea what was funny, but I was drunk. Could've been anything.

First dance. Wanna hear the song? Click below...

BEST FIRST DANCE SONG EVER

Look at his dimples. How adorable is that?

What a wonderful world.

Such a Daddy's Girl.

Mama's boy, dancing to Frank Sinatra's Shadow of Your Smile.

With sis and mom.

DRUNKY IS BACK. Along with the family friend who made my amazing veil.

Mom and Dad

Leave room for God, boys. Leave room for God.

HORA

We're very excited.

I SWORE I wouldn't do this. Drunk people lifting chairs? No, thanks.

Dave got dropped. He says he "bailed" but this was Attempt No. 2.

Hey, why not?

Ang and Mel!! Who's surprised Ang has bubbles?

Yeah, I wish I knew what the hell this was all about.

Our moms dancing.

Sneaking away from the reception for a few nighttime shots.

On Wacker.

And we're done.

Hope you guys enjoyed the wedding!!

I'll post honeymoon stuff next. I still haven't uploaded the pictures and I've been home for a few weeks now. I'll get to it, I promise. But not this weekend because I'm going to The Best Bachelorette Party Ever at some wineries just outside of St. Louis.

Have a fantastic weekend. :-)