Month: February 2014

Things My Boyfriend Loves to Hate – Page One

Confession: by boyfriend I actually mean husband. But boyfriend just sounds so much better so that’s what we’re going with. But ya, my boyfriend/husband loooooves to hate things. He really, really does. Sure, everyone loves to make fun of stupid celebrities or scoff at ridiculous trashy TV…but I’ve never known someone who gets so much amusement out of hating things.

Now if he were here right now, he’d probably say that I wasn’t being fair. That he feels equal genuine passion for things he loves. Wrong. He loooooves hating things way more than he does admiring stuff. Seriously. Let me count the ways:

Things My Boyfriend Loves to Hate / Round One:

Those “Coexist” bumper stickers – whenever we see one he’ll say “Oh, I bet whoever came up with that thought he was soooo clever”
When trilogies (or books in general) suddenly become not three but four movies – apparently this is OK for The Hobbit but not The Hunger Games
Those Bubblehead ads/art – this is the newest bane of his existence (I actually dislike these too, so can’t really blame him for his hatred…he just hates them waaaaay more than I do)
Communal tables – the worst offender is Le Pain Quotidien because they advertise their communal table, nothing is more irritating in his book
Le Pain Quotidien – while we’re at it, I think he just hates them on principle of their pretentiousness

And these are just the few I could think of in five minutes. Just wait…there will be more.

Our Wedding Book!!!

We made a wedding! And then we made a book! As any true book lover would do, no?

First off, we loved our wedding. As my dad would say, it was a true fairy tale. It was exactly what we hoped it would be: all our most-favorite people gathered together to celebrate our love and future lives together. Really, what more could you ask for?

We got married in one of our favorite vacation spots–Palm Springs. To us, it is a magical place. I swear there’s something in the air. And the light?!? The light is to die for. There’s this amazing soft glow in the desert, giving it this lovely dream-like quality. So, naturally, we were dying to see the photos (by the most awesome wedding photographer ever, Yuna Leonard). We couldn’t have asked for anything more. Seriously, they’re near perfection. But…I could go on for days, so let’s get on to the pictures…and THE BOOK!

The perfect thank you gift for our parents…a special limited edition of three.

My all-time favorite book quote. From one of my all-time fave books, The Fault in Our Stars // John Green. Featured as part of our “dedication” page (more on this book later).

And the back cover (awwww).

Below: a few of my favorite pages.

We used Blurb to create the book, and it is the best thing ever. Super easy to use, and relatively affordable. Now I want to make picture books of everything. Well, mostly just of Kilbey.

If you want to scroll through the entire book, you can click the link below…but it’s no substitute for turning real pages (pssst, it’ll probably take a while to load).

ChrisMarcyGetMarried

And a bonus! You can check out our amazing wedding video. Shot and edited by the incredible Spencer Woolcott.

Thanks for looking.

What I’m Reading This Week – Chapter One

Hmmmm, so, what am I reading right now?

Well, I just finished our last book club selection, then I mistakenly sent my library books to the wrong account (stupid Amazon), so I didn’t know what I was going to pick up next–which rarely happens, mind you. I usually know what I’m going to read next at least halfway into the current one…let’s be frank, I was getting nervous. But, alas the good ol’ library was my hero and delivered me Innocence // Dean Koontz. Now, let me first tell you that Koontz used to be my all-time, hands-down favorite author in the whole world.

In sixth grade, Koontz was the first adult book author that I fell in love with (hey, not that kind of adult). I’ve read Watchers three times…more than any other book. It stars a super-smart Golden Retriever for god sakes. How could you not love this book? But sure, I understand if horror slash thriller stuff isn’t your thing. But I swear it’s so much more than that. He really is a terrific storyteller and master prose writer…it’s beautiful in an unexpected way. It had been forever since I last read a Koontz novel (2005 to be exact), but I was instantly reminded why I love reading his stuff so much. You immediately fall into the story because the writing is just so…readable. You don’t even have to think about it, you’re just in it. Like a hot knife through butter (or is it a regular knife through hot butter?)…or like being lulled to sleep by the theme music from Twin Peaks…or, well you get the picture. It’s just good.

I’ll let you know what I think of it when all is said and done.

What are you reading right now?

Book Club: February Edition

Book club is the best thing ever. Not only is it an excuse for me and my girlfriends to get together, but we get to talk about books–my favorite thing! And drink wine (or vodka…my second favorite thing!). Our boyfriends and husbands like to tease us that it’s mostly girl talk and wine drinking and only about 10 minutes of actually talking about the book (which is sometimes true), but I stick up for us. Sometimes the book is really good and there’s lots to talk about. Sometimes we just want to drink wine. Sometimes there’s drama in book club…but that’s another story for another day.

Up next: And Then There Were None // Agatha Christie.

I read this book years and years ago, but am excited to re-read it. “Clue” is still one of my all-time favorite movies and these two are basically the same thing (OK, not really. Clue is based on the board game–which I also love–and we’re talking about the all-mighty Ms. Christie, but you get my point).

Some of my favorite past book club selections:

Still Alice // Lisa Genova – (5 out of 5 stars) – We all LOVED this book. We all cried reading this book. It was so good and left us with so much to talk about.
Helter Skelter // Vincent Bugliosi – (5 out of 5 stars) – Not all the ladies ended up reading this (it is looooong), but I still think it was one of the better book club selections. Murder, celebrities, cult, Manson…so much to discuss.
Fifty Shades of Grey // E.L. James – (2 out of 5 stars) – I hated this book (for a number of reasons…for one, it still amazes me that such an insanely horribly written book could be so popular, it makes me lose hope in humanity, sheesh), but I bring it up here because it actually made for an interesting book club meeting. Straight down the middle, half of us despised it and half really enjoyed it (pervs!), but it got us talking. Which is the whole point, right?
State of Wonder // Ann Patchett – (4 out of 5 stars) – This was a great choice for a group of women. Without giving anything away, this gave us lots to think and talk about when it comes to being a woman and becoming a mother.
Inside Scientology // Janet Reitman – (4 out of 5 stars) – I loved reading this book…and talking about this book. The people, the beliefs, the conspiracies — fascinating!