Splurging

With some unexpected car issues in the past few months (partially paid for by Mama and Papa Peterson, thank you, thank you, thank you), we've had to cut a few corners in our budget.

Then, last weekend, we were walking to Harris Teeter and saw a Johnny Rockets (50's-style diner) on the way. We looked at each other and both said at the same time "let's eat there!!" This is only the third or fourth time in our marriage that we have eaten out (unless certain parental units were paying for it... thank you, thank you, thank you again!).

All through our $20-combined meal, we kept on saying to each other "I can't believe we're eating out!!" We were pretty giddy about it for the rest of the day, and actually for a few days after. It was quite the splurge for us.

This got me thinking about "splurging," and why people splurge. My guess is that people like the euphoria of temporarily living at a higher/more expensive level than they are used to. Makes sense -- that's how we felt. Then I thought, what if we did eat out a lot? Then what would we have to do to get that same feeling?

It's interesting the splurging doesn't feel like splurging if you are "living large" all the time. I guess an unexpected benefit of being poor is that moderate indulgances like eating at Johnny Rocket means a lot more!

25 Random Things about Richard

Richard was too busy to join in on the fun, so his loving wife compiled this list on his behalf:

1. His handwriting is nearly identical to the font that J.K. Rowling uses for Hagrid’s handwriting in the Harry Potter books.

2. In the year that we were dating/engaged/married (August 2007 – August 2008), he lived in 6 different homes: Academy Arms apartments, French Foreign Language Housing, his parents house in Draper, our house down the street in Draper, our apartment in New York City, and our apartment in Alexandria, VA.

3. He likes most foods but has a purely psychological aversion to sour cream. (Much to my dismay.)

4. Every once in awhile, he will go through distinct clothes phases. Last summer, he wore a solid-colored Old Navy t-shirt and jeans every day. Then, in the fall, it changed to a collared shirt under a sweater nearly every day.

5. His goal in life is to live in a red brick house and drink mint juleps on the porch every night.

6. He always signed his name, Richard Peterson, Esq., even before he realized that he actually will be Richard Peterson, Esq. after he passes the bar!

7. He named his biceps Steve and Phil.

8. He sings what he wants to say in the car every morning on the way to the metro station instead of talking. But he never sings on the way back home in the evening.

9. You know that he is upset with a car on the road if he calls them “dude buddy.” (As in: “Watch it, dude buddy!!”)

10. He doesn’t like it if I either (a) squeeze the toothpaste tube from the middle, or (b) forget to put the cap back on. We now use different toothpaste tubes to avoid conflict.

11. He hates gum.

12. His brand kind of car is Audi.

13. He beats me at nearly every sport and game we play, except Set. He now refuses to play Set with me.

14. He wants to be a law librarian as his “retirement job” after working at a firm for most of his career.

15. He does not at all like the idea of me publishing under “Emily Bylund” if I decide to go back to grad school.
16. No matter how much he eats or what he eats, it is essentially impossible for him to gain weight (lucky!), but…

17. …he still works out to “The Biggest Loser” DVD.

18. He spends at least 3 hours a day reading the news.

19. He loves Yoplait Whips and Yoplait Thick & Creamy, but won’t eat regular Yoplait.

20. He is extremely careful about chicken juice. If I touch raw chicken and anything else (knife, seasoning jar, etc.) before thoroughly washing my hands, he patiently reminds me of the dangers of raw chicken.

21. He quotes “The Devil Wear Prada” movie. (Although, this could be because I make him watch it so much with me!)

22. He is very good at being a human beat box, but rarely does it.

23. Sometimes he talks in his sleep about his Contracts class or other law school classes. Apparently, he is having very exciting dreams.

24. He absolutely loves herbal tea, especially chamomile, and often drinks it right before bed.

25. He is a wonderful husband (not random, but true!)

Best Day Ever!

Yesterday was an awesome day. Here is why:

(1) I am married to Richard!

(2) My niece was born!

(3) I went to the PRSA Professional Development Board Meeting to plan out our activites for the year and managed to say several intelligent things.

(4) I pitched our Oscars Cocktail Night menu and got tons of positive responses from journalists (doesn't happen all the time!)

(5) Sarah and I spent a half-day at the spa at Lorien Hotel & Spa (opening today!) in Old Town Alexandria. They were doing a run through to prepare for opening day and needed "guinea pigs" to get massages, facials, etc. for FREE. Of course, I took one for the team and volunteered. Check out Lorien here: http://www.lorienhotelandspa.com/

(6) I got 4 Betty Crocker cookie mixes and one Betty Crocker frosting for FREE at Safeway. Check out the coupon matchups here: http://www.moneysavingmom.com/money_saving_mom/2009/02/randalls-safeway-freeplusoverage-betty-crocker-cookie-mixes-and-frostings.html

(7) Lost was on! (Although, I have to admit, it wasn't my favorite episode...)

Anyway, it was just one of those days where everything goes right! Don't you love those days?

Six Free Valentine's Day Cards!

Get six free Valentine's photo cards with free shipping when you go to (http://stories.scrapbooksetc.com/landings/valentine0209.php) and use the coupon code Valentine at check out. Valid through February 1, 2009.

I still had to put in my CC but it said the total was $0!

I had fun making ours:

Inauguration Madness

In case you hadn't heard... Richard and I joined 2 million of our closest friends to attend Obama's 2009 Inauguration swearing-in ceremony yesterday.

Reader's Digest Version: Crowded, cold, awesome.


Getting There

Our adventure-filled day began when the alarm rang at 5:30 a.m. on Tuesday morning. Well, it actually began the night before when we set out our clothes, toliet paper (!), snacks, camera, money, etc. before we went to bed. This ended up being a very good idea as we most surely would have forgotten everything if we rested solely on our early-morning brains.


I was very nervous about the chilly weather as I am getting over a cold, so I may have overdone it a bit on the layers. By the time we left the house, I had on underarmor, jeans, track pants, a t-shirt, a sweater, another wool sweater, a puffy coat, a scarf, ear muffs, a hat, gloves, wool socks, sneakers, and an extra blanket. I felt a bit like Randy from "A Christmas Story." Richard was similarly dressed, but somehow managed looked much more urban and chic than me in his clothes (how DO men do it?).



Our game plan was to drive to Richard's school at Virginia Square, take the metro about 12 stops (no transfer, woot!), get off at the mall, breeze through security and find a spot on the lawn. Sounds easy enough, right? I foolishly thought we would have our seats by 8-ish. Umm... yeah. Didn't happen.


I should say here that I was actually very impressed by the Metro. They managed to accommadate millions of people without any major problems, which is WAYYYY better than anyone expected. But we did end up waiting quite a while for our orange train to come at Virginia Square, which we later found out was because of a "sick passenger." Luckily, our car didn't smell like puke.

We finally were able to get onto a train car! It was insaaane. I have been on the NYC metro during rush hour traffic and was nothing compared to this. I could not move, could not see my feet, etc. Once, the train stopped abrubtly, but I didn't even move an inch because there was literally nowhere to go. It was crazy, and we were glad to get off and be able to breathe again!

Lines, lines and more lines

Since Richard was able to score us some tickets to the swearing in, we were pretty close to the festivities. Upon exiting the train, we were informed to go to the blue section, and followed a "line" which went up the street about 3 blocks and then coiled in on itself in a parking lot. As you may have guessed, the coiling didn't go so well, and as soon as the gates opened, the line dissolved and people just started running toward the security gate. It was pretty frustrating, as there was no direction, no police or volunteers trying to keep people under control or anything. You just sort of had to fend for yourself. And fend we did. We ran like our lives depended on it (well, they actually might have, because if we would have stopped, we might have gotten trampled!)

After securing our spot in line, we waited... and waited... and waited. Luckily, everyone was in a very good mood, and Richard and I met some fun people in line! It was really a festive and patriotic morning. We finally made it through sercurity, and found a decent spot on the lawn (about 1,000 feet away) about 5 minutes before the festivities began (around 10:15-ish). We were right around here:

Which was a LOT better than being here:

Well, the rest is history. Obama came, everyone FREAKED OUT (good). Bush came, everyone FREAKED OUT (bad). I felt really bad for him, and unsuccessfully tried to shush the people around me. Seriously, they were just being so rude; we're not 5-year olds. But I digress. After the Inaugural Address was over, we wiped our tears and bolted to the nearest metro stop. Since we were so close (as opposed to people in the latter photo) to a stop, we were able to get on, get a seat and head back home before the crowds hit. Good thing, too, because I heard that after we left, people were waiting in line for over 2 hours to even get on a train!

Basically, it was an awesome day!! I'm glad that I finally decided to go and be a part of such a historic moment. I felt really proud... er, pleased, to be an American and to welcome in a new president. Here's to the next 4 years!

Inauguration and Waxing

Unlike Emily, I'm not having the internal struggle about going to Inauguration (or eyebrow waxing for that matter: never, never, never). My basic argument goes like this: This is going to be a very historical moment by any account. Also, it will be a good prep for this weekend's winter campout with the scouts to stand outside in the cold for several hours. Indeed, I've heard it puts hair on your brow, or something like that...

Blogs I Haven't Written in the Last Month

-An Encomium to Omaha
-An Encomium to IKEA
-Eyebrow Waxing = Labor
-GRE Prep
-My ardor for arduous (well, not too arduous) cooking, thanks to a special cookbook from Kevin & Emily
-Internal Debate: To attend or not to attend Inauguration?