Rachel Zoe and My Marriage

Friday night we went to Arlington to see our wedding band play at RiRa, and as always, they rocked! They are such an amazing band and I am so happy to support them as they make the transition from cover band to tHE.DESIGN. If you are in North or South Carolina check their schedule to see if they are coming to a bar/venue near you! I believe this was their first trip north, and hopefully they will trek up here again and continue to get lots of exposure!

A late night out Friday combined with a rainy Saturday resulted in a lazy day on the couch. During my veg fest, I somehow got sucked into watching The Rachel Zoe Project marathon on Bravo. Throughout the bajillion episodes I watched, Rachel commented at least once per episode about how she put her work first and her time with her husband was limited. He also commented multiple times about how he never got to see his wife. I cannot imagine living like that, but I am also not a famous stylist that is building a brand and jet setting from NY to LA all the time.

However, even with Alson being in law school, we try to put our marriage ahead of everything. Some of the best advice he received was from a mentor while working at the firm in North Carolina: Treat law school like a full time job. He gets up early, studies before school, goes to all his classes (which for me is a given, but apparently for a lot of people, it is not), studies between classes instead of socializing and goofing around, and studies after class until dinner time. This gives us plenty of time together in the evening, and also allows him to time to decompress and gather strength and brain power for the next day. On the weekends he also gets up early and studies while I catch an extra couple hours of sleep. Throughout the day he continues to study, but we still spend a few hours together.

Now, finals time is a different story. If we can just have dinner together I will be happy.

I am not saying this particular schedule will work for everyone; the point is that spending time together is important to both of us and we work it into his daily schedule. Seeing a couple on TV struggle with this really opened my eyes to how lucky I am. Not that I am in any position to give Rachel Zoe advice, but it seems like they need to schedule in some QT every now and then. However, they HAVE been married 10 years, so what do I know?

Another thing that struck me was watching Rachel and her husband fight. Obviously all couples fight, but something about watching a real couple fight was informative (and yes, I know some people are skeptical about the authenticity of reality shows). I found myself thinking, I would say that or I would do that or I would do this differently, and I think it helped me to realize how I fight. I have been known to say things I don't mean, just to get a rise or reaction out of Alson. Not nice and I'm not proud. I am really trying hard to not do this anymore, and watching this couple fight and seeing both their perspectives (another thing I have trouble doing) I think was helpful.

Is that weird? I don't know what it was about them that I found relatable, but it was something! Have you seen a couple on TV or in real life fight that hit home? What, if anything, have you learned about your relationship from TV?

Bring On New Housewives

I secretly love the Real Housewives on Bravo. And I know a bunch of you do too. Guilty pleasure, right?

This season has been everything I've come to expect from the RH. Ridiculous, trashy, dramatic, etc., etc., etc.

And we won't have to worry when the NYC season ends.....a new group of over the top, not so real at all women will be "gracing" our TV's. The Real Housewives of New Jersey premieres right after the NYC finale on May 12th. The new series will showcase a bunch of strangely related women from Bergen County, a suburb of NYC. It has GOT to have some serious drama.

Who's excited?!?

TV and a Christmas Preview

The Biggest Loser is back! I love this show so much! I find it both heartwarming and motivating. It will coincide perfectly with the rest of our 10k training. Just what I need to help keep me working hard and preparing for the big race.

The only problem....the second half of the show is at the same time as Fringe, the new JJ Abrams series. As a dedicated LOST fan, I tuned in last week to see what the show was about.... and I'm hooked. It is SO captivating. If you like Sci-Fi I suggest you check it out.

For us non-DVR folk, we have no choice but to pick one show over the other. Although I love the Biggest Loser, we will definitely be switching over to Fox at 9pm.

Tangent....in the first hour of the Biggest Loser there was a preview for Four Christmases, starring Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaugn. OMG I can't wait to see it! It looks so cute. I am a sucker for any Christmas movie (two of my all time favorite movies are Elf and Love, Actually), as well as Christmas in general. I saw somewhere today it is only 100 days until Christmas. I am not sure if it is true, but I can't wait either way!

I'm No Fashion Expert, But.....

I am not sure if it is summer, the vacations, being away from home, or what....but I have been at a loss for blog topics lately. Like I said when I returned from our honeymoon, I don't want to ONLY post about the wedding and all related topics, and since that has continued to be a prominent part of life....I just haven't had any creative bursts.

Today on our drive back to DC I made a list of potential blog topics (because our week back in NY was full of fun adventures), but for now I must comment (very briefly) on Project Runway because I am really annoyed with two of the three eliminations.

Don't read ahead if you don't want to know who has been eliminated thus far....

Episode 1.... I think that Stella's garbage bag outfit was not even deserving of the runway show (um hello, she barely did anything), and although Jerry's outfit was definitely creepy, at least he created something! When he first was talking about making a raincoat out of a shower curtain I thought that was really clever. So perhaps I was routing for him.... Yes, he did not execute the design as well as he could have, but still....way better than the garbage bags. My bottom line: Stella should have been aufed.

As for episode 2....Wesley's dress did suck; sorry about your model's choice and amount of fabric. Oh, and I can't believe Stella's dress was in the top three. End discussion.

On to episode 3....First off, does anyone else have trouble distinguishing between two of the girls? The one who almost won, and the one who almost lost. Yeah me too. It makes me want to do something with my hair because, God forbid I be mistaken for some other mousy brown haired girl. Yes, I am aware of my mousy brown hair color, as I was reminded by my hair stylist the day before my wedding....but, more about her another day.

Back to episode 3....While watching the show I was very verbal about how much I hated Jennifer's dress, which makes me sad because she is from my neck of the woods (upstate NY) and she designs as a "surrealist" (one of my fav artists is Dali). But sadly, her dress was just terrible. While Emily's dress had its flaws as well, I think it was at least "savable". And again, I can't believe Stella wasn't in the bottom three....granted I don't have a shred of punk in me, but am I missing something here? I also DID NOT LOVE Kelli's or Korto's designs; neither seemed inspired from their pictures and they were both extremes...Kelli's too busy and Korto's too boring (I did, however, appreciate a non-dress...a la Michael Kors's comment). My bottom line: Boo on tonight's episode.

As a result of the disagreements between myself and the judges, I want to boycott the show....but let's be honest, when Wednesday rolls around next week, I will be glued to the television again.....routing for Daniel, because I secretly love him.