This might sound mad but...

I want to run another marathon next year. Yes you heard me correctly another marathon. As much as I bitched about training for it...I actually miss it. For the last 2 months I've woken up everyday...not hurting. It's  weird. Yes I know it should be weird to wake up everyday hurting but I can't explain it. I've been hitting the gym but it's not the same. Call me a masochist I guess, but I love that feeling of every muscle in your body and every force in the universe telling you to quit at mile 16 of 18 and powering through. Running is more of a mental game than a physical one for me and I just can't get the same thing out of the gym. I sound like someone on crack. Hello my name is Marisa and I'm an addict.

My only hesitation is, as I'm sure you haven't forgotten, I'm getting married next year. I want to run the Minneapolis marathon which is June 2nd so in all reality it shouldn't be a problem. What I'm afraid of is injury. I can't afford to be injured. I won't have time for it. Also it is a very big time commitment and I don't want to half ass my training, but I also don't want half ass my wedding either. I need to make a decision and fast because I will need to start training beginning of February if I do decide to do it. 

My other option is to do 2 half marathons instead of a full. The Minneapolis Half in June and then the Twin Cities Half in October. Honestly I don't know what to do. I really really want to do the full in June but I'm thinking it might be selfish to devote so much time to training again and leave Drew to deal with the wedding for 5 months all on his own. 

Thoughts? Anyone else run a marathon before their wedding? 

Speaking of weddings....MY DRESS IS HERE!!!! I go pick it up next Thursday :)

Cheers!

Marisa

Hey I'm Over Here!

Hey everyone! So I've got a real life desk these days so I plan on being around this blog of mine more often. But if you're curious about wedding happenings please check out our wedding website! I don't update it too much right now but will probably post more over there as the big day gets closer. Here is a picture of my desk

(15%) Built all by me!

We went to Ikea on a Saturday. It was madness as usual. But we made it without fighting or breaking up, and did Liz Lemon proud. 

Looking forward to being around here more often!

Cheers!

Marisa

317 Days

Honestly it feels like 17 days. I think this is the real reason I wanted to elope and not have a big wedding. Details. Ohhhh the never ending details. What if I pick the wrong centerpiece? What if Drew doesn't decide to give monogrammed Brooks Brothers umbrellas as groomsman gifts like JFK? What if my hair looks more Elizabeth Taylor than Jackie Kennedy? Will people care if they don't get to blow bubbles at us? Should I just get some god damn bubbles?

I know, not everything is going to go perfectly. But that doesn't stop me from losing sleep at night worrying about bridesmaid dresses, or bouquets and bridal party gifts and what kind of suits the boys should wear.

Ugh.

In other news we finally got my ring sized. You know like 3 months later. Turns out I have the tiniest of fingers. Ring size = 4. Thats right 4. Like the size most peoples fingers were when they were 10. Oh well.

I'm hoping to be able to use my mom's wedding band as my own providing they can seperate it from her engagement ring. It's already a size 4. So I guess that explains where I get my small fingered-ness from. Oddly enough of all the details I obssess over the wedding jewlery is not one of them. I could care less. I'd actually rather not wear an engagement ring, it's clunky and obnoxious. Everyone was all "oh I never used to wear jewlery but I don't even notice my engagement ring anymore", well guess what people I still notice and it still drives me nuts. I take it off as soon as I get home and on weekends I often leave the house without it. Not wearing a ring does not make me not engaged. I wish the exchanging of goats or something was still popular. I love goats and would love to have one.

In other news...

My dress is still not here and that makes me sad. Yes it's been less than a week since I ordered it. I still want it here now.

317 days to go.

Cheers,

Marisa

Saying Yes To The Dress

Yesterday was the day. Yesterday was the day I went to get my dress. My wedding dress. I have never been so excited for anything in my life. Honestly I never planned my wedding growing up so I never had a plan or vision in my head from the start, but once we decided to go ahead with a non-elopement and a full wedding my Type A-ness took over and plan, vision was locked down. The vision for my dress: Jackie Kennedy. 

Having done pageants in high school and college, I've worn a wide array of dresses. Spaghetti straps, halters, strapless, sweatheart necklines, and a-lines, mermaid, sheaths and fit and flare cuts. So the only dress that said "bridal" to me was a ball gown. I wanted a simple classic elegant ball gown in organza, tulle, or chiffon. Something that would look light and airy for an outdoor wedding. No laceup back, no pickups, no ruching, and very little bling or appliques. Again, the motto of the day was "think like Jackie O!"

Lucky for me my consultant at The Wedding Shoppe in St. Paul was awesome and also a lover of Jackie and ball gowns. She also did not mind my I know what I want just bring me only these things attitude. I know on Say Yes To The Dress girls go in wanting one thing and ending up with something they thought they didn't want. I am not that girl. 

Drew's mom and my friend Andrea came along and took tons of pictures for me. I tried on some really great dresses with only one dress I just didn't like, and here they are.

This was the first dress I tried and I obviously loved the shape. I did love the skirt too, I really love textured bottoms, but it didn't fit my "what would Jackie do" theme. 

I really loved this dress, it fit perfectly off the rack and it was just beautiful. The skirt was tulle and had beading and appliques similar to those on the skirt of Kate Middleton's dress. However, while beautiful and a ball gown, it still wan't my Jakie O vision. The next dress.....this was the only dress that I just didn't like.

The bodice...not bad. A little more bling than I wanted but it was pretty and classic at least. But that skirt. Ughhhhh that skirt. The tulle would just not lay flat at all. I just envisioned my poor bridesmaids trying to corral it at our outdoor ceremony every time I moved or a little breeze blew. Not a fan. 

Then we tried on my dress. Well not quite my dress as it was the entirely wrong fabric (taffeta. the HORROR) but the neckline was perfect the overall silhouette was perfect, then we added a birdcage hair piece and everyone was sold. I knew it from the moment I saw it on the website that it was the one for me and it was true. It has been ordered and will be arriving in 4-6 months :)

A big thank you to my mom who generously gave me a budget of $1500 for my dress. However, I luckily got my dream dress at a dream price only spending about 1/3 of the budget! Which is good because I just can't imagine spending $1500 on a dress I'm going to only wear once, even if it is my big day. 

So another big thing checked off my list! I'm so excited I can't wait for it to get here. Why does it have to take soooooo long? 

Wedding Cheers,

Marisa

It's Almost Here....

I can't believe I just went on my second to last training run. It's so crazy, I feel like I've been training forevveerrrr. However, I am really excited for the marathon. I don't care about a goal time, or a goal pace or anything like that. I've never been a fast runner and most likely never will be. I'm okay with that. I like running  because, well....I just do. I find it relaxing, I get a lot of thinking done and it's great exercise. I'm competitive by nature, Type A and all that, but running was my non competitive thing. Something I just did for me. I lost that this summer training for the marathon. I know so many other people training for marathons and other races and I started to feel like if I wasn't as fast as them, then somehow I was less of a runner. That my race wouldn't be as important because I ran it slower. Like oh you didn't run a 4 hour marathon....thats not a real marathon then.

Which I know is ridic.

Finally this week (better late than never) I realized that, if my running for fun without caring about getting faster or setting a PR or going further would get me kicked out of the cool "serious" runner's club, well that is just fine with me. I'll party it up at the kids table. Because you know how many people don't run marathons? A lot more than do. I'm in the group that does. So that in and of itself is pretty damn awesome. And that is why I am so pumped to run on Sunday. 

With that I will leave you with an engagement pic taken yesterday by Drew's brother.

I call it, inspired by 007.

Marathon Cheers,

Marisa

Update: Marathon and Wedding

First the wedding deets: Montana wedding out. Duluth, MN wedding in. Thats all I really have at the moment on the wedding. We're heading up there on the 29th to scope out some venues and do some cupcake tasting (yum!) so I will have more fun things to report then.

Marathon update:

It's hard ya'll. It is so hard. Not impossible and I don't want to discourage anyone thinking about running one. However it really is just not for me. I'm a social person, always have been always will be. I like happy hours, weekend get aways, during the week get aways, weekend partying, weekend being lazy from time to time. So when you have to run so much during the week, and you are still exploring the new city you moved to, still figuring out how to make two lives mesh together in one condo, and still wanting to find time to just chill or party with friends....I just can't. No marathon training does not last forever, and maybe some people will think I'm lazy or weak willed for not wanting to give up 6 months of my life to train, but whatever. Obviously I can and I have, but trust I will probably not do it again any time soon. With all that being said, I will still be very proud to cross the finish line on October 7th.

So what we're taking away from this post is

1.) Duluth wedding

2.) running 13.1 miles or less is the best (for me)

3.) I'm sorry that I'm not sorry that I like to party

Cheers,

Marisa

It's a love story

So once upon a time, like the end of May 2012, Drew and I were hiking on a mountain in South Dakota. We talked about the future, did we want the same things etc. All those things couples talk about at a certain point to see if they'll make it in the long run. Then we took a break on the descent and sat on a rock looking at the views of the Black Hills, and Drew asked if I would marry him. I said yes and he gave me a rock. Literally it was a quartz rock we smuggled home from the hike. 

Soooooo why am I just telling you this now? Well we kept it to ourselves until now. We've finally made the rounds, told family and friends that yes indeed. We are getting married. We're doing a planned "elopement" in Montana, September 2013. We still haven't picked a date quite yet, but we're getting there. I'm not really into the whole wedding planning thing so don't expect a ton of wedding updates. Buttt if you don't hear anything about it for a while, maybe inquire about it. So I get my ass in gear. :) 

And of course here is the obligatory ring photo. It belonged to me Grandmother. I don't believe in wasting a ton of money on jewelry and also I don't support the diamond industry. Also I am all about heirlooms. 

Mountain weddings y'all.

Marisa 

Sweet Home Chicago

Wow. You guys are seriously amazing. Thank you so much for your kind comments/tweets. You have no idea how much I appreciate them. In true life fashion, things got worse before they got better. I had to have my brakes replaced when I got home. Lets just say I got off the interstate in Illinois and came to a grinding halt. Oh well. It's done, I'm over it. I wasn't going to let that put a damper on my weekend, because I was there to party and spend a stress free weekend with the love of my life and old college friends. And that my friends is exactly what I did. First up though, I had to take Drew to a Chicago land staple: Portillo's

Apparently this boy loves him some hot beef and sausage....take that for what you will.

I however, being the vegetarian I am, enjoyed this delicious concoction of grilled zucchini, onions, mushrooms and tomatoes on sundried tomato focaccia bread. Yummm...

Then it was onto the wedding! I cannot tell you how much fun it was seeing the boys again. I had such an amazing time and it was so great to have everyone together. I'll let the photos do the talking ;)

(and last but not least, the groom looking dapper.)

How was everyone's Halloween weekend? I'm getting back to it, and I cannot wait to catch up with all of your blogs and see everyone's costumes!

Cheers!

Marisa

Just a little something....

This week has been terrible. And it's Wednesday. Let's just say yesterday ended with tears in my pb&j sandwich. It didn't make it taste any better. I was working on a better post, that was full of deep thoughts and probably involved philosophical things that make me feel better than everyone. But then I got sidetracked on twitter and facebook...and I lost interest. I've been going a million miles an hour like a rabbit on crack, and if you follow me on twitter, know that I reached my breaking point last night. I desperately want to catch up on all your blogs, but I have to work tonight and I. Haven't. Packed. Yet. And I leave tomorrow early morning. Kill me now.

Once I get home Thursday I will play catch up with everyone. Providing I don't hurl myself along with my suitcase out the window tonight. You know when I'm panic-packing at midnight.

Cheers,

Marisa

Do you have somewhere else to be? A hideous skirt convention?

I watched The Devil Wears Prada and The Young Victoria yesterday. I'm pretending to be Emily Blunt today. So this weekend was Race for the Cure and it was once again, so much fun. I love seeing the Des Moines capitol building turn into a sea of pink :) It wasn't my best 5k (30 minutes) but I always end up getting choked up a few times throughout the race and I have to slow it down to prevent myself from hyperventalating. This year it was due to many a big burly men running in pink for their moms, sisters, or wives, and also little boys running for their mothers. I may be tearing up about it as I write this. If you've never done Race for the Cure I highly recommend you do. It's such an amazing experience.

I have a short work week as I'm heading home Thursday and heading to a wedding (yay!) As such, I've been working out like crazy and living off a cube of cheese if I feel as though I'm about to pass out (jk just more Emily for you!) This is more for the going home part, less for the wedding. I've discovered it's best to just be my skinniest self and avoid side eye and looks of contempt while at home. I cannot wait for Sunday, as I plan on consuming 5000 calories....for breakfast.

In true me style, I hate all the dresses that I own and am panicking about what to wear. Am I alone in this? I had planned on wearing this emerald green dress I have, but put it on yesterday and almost vommed on my cat. I have another dress that I can wear as back up but I don't looovve it. And I wore blue to the last wedding. I'm going to end up being that girl who wears blue. What do you guys do in situations like this? I'm taking all suggestions.

Cheers!

Marisa

The Hangover- Part 2

Okay on to Part 2. Wedding Day! So basically I woke up and was like oh my god what happened last night? My head seriously felt like it would explode at any second. Like any sudden movement and BOOM no more head. Will felt the same. So at least I was in good company. We did absolutely nothing exciting the whole day and couldn't even be bothered to head down to breakfast so we had it brought to us. 

(hooray for being a lazy hungover bum)

However due to the inability to get out of bed, Will and I rediscovered an old love of a television show.

(We seriously watched this for hours. Don't act like you're not jealous.)

(via google)

Okay obviously the rest of our morning was lame and I won't bore you. Finally almost feeling better, we get ready and head for the wedding. It was at Wartburg College in Waverly Iowa, which is a nice little town and the campus was cute. The wedding was nice, her dress was gorgeous and I love when people look so happy :)

So because we are drunks were thirsty and hungry and had time to kill before the reception we stopped at the Applebee's in town and got some appetizers....and maybe a drink. Don't judge me. Because now it's on to the reception where a very good time was had that I shall just display in pictures. ( Don't worry I have a great story at the end.)

(And the evening started off so lovely...)

(The lovely couple we got to spend the weekend with)

(Then maybe some drinks were had)

(Okay as you can see a lot of drinks were had)

(Then the boys had a dance off)

(And then there was a photo shoot with "Uncle Denny")

So here's the story. We were about to leave and head out to the bars because as I said we are drunks were thirsty. But before we left Will wanted to take a picture with "Uncle Denny", because who wouldn't want a picture with a huge mobster looking guy with no shirt on under his sports coat? So he gives me his camera and I proceed to snap a few pics. As I'm doing this Uncle Denny's "woman" comes up to me :

"And whyyyy are we taking pictures?"

Me: Oh we're about to leave and the guys wanted to take a pic before we go.

"No, I know what my man is doing. What is yours doing?"

Me: Excuse me??????

"Do they even know him?"

Me: Um, that's Matt's (the groom) Uncle they're really good friends of his?

Apparently that satisfied her because she walked away. Still Heather and I looked at each other like, did that really just happen? Were we almost in a fight?

This was honestly one of the funnest weddings I've ever attended. I think maybe it was just my company :) Congrats to Matt and Jamie and thanks for the great times!

Stay tuned for Part 3-Post Wedding Party!

Cheers!

Marisa

p.s all pictures are from Heather unless specified, because Will is a lazy bum and STILL HASN'T UPLOADED HIS!!!!!!!!!!

The Hangover-Part 1

Okay so here it is. Part 1 of The Hangover Weekend. Where to even begin? 

So first of all you must know that I was going to Waterloo. Lets just say....well Raygun made a shirt for Waterloo that went a little something like this:

Waterloo: You may recognize us from COPS

It got pulled though. Apparently the mayor of Waterloo thought it gave an inaccurate depiction of Waterloo. I disagree.

So, I get to Waterloo way ahead of Will and was like thats cool I'll venture out and find some dinner I'm starving. So I drop my stuff off in our room and head down and about a block away from our hotel I find this

(please note this is not the strip club we went to. We were told it was...ummm...well a little too rough)

So I immediately text the bestie and am like "I.....am in Waterloo....." Haha. Anyway I decided to hightail it out of there and head across the river. It looked nice, and I found a nice little Irish pub called Jamesons Public House and had some amazzzing mac and cheese with a refreshing Blue Moon. Drink number 1. The night goes downhill from here. 

(Soooooo good)

After my dinner I decided I should stop and get some booze for the hotel, however there is not a gas station, Walgreens to be found. The only place I could find was a seedy little "convenience" store, but after my beer I was feeling a little braver so I went for it and then hurried back to the safety of my hotel. By that time Will had shown up and we got the party started with a few drinks in the hotel, then went down to the hotel bar where we had some more drinks and played pool. Will's friend Joe and his girlfriend Heather showed up while we were playing pool so we went back up and got ready to head to the casino. Then we almost got murdered by our shuttle driver. This is how it all went down.

So as I mentioned Waterloo is....well it's Waterloo. We get in the shuttle and the conversation between Will and Joe goes something like this:

Will: Wow so Waterloo huh?

Joe: I know I'm just waiting for someone to call so I can be like....I'm in Waterloo....yeah. I know.

Will: I know this place could be nice but I mean...it's Waterloo

At this point, the boys realize that just mayyyybe this driver is from Waterloo. The conversation continued as such:

Will: So...have you lived in Waterloo long?

Driver: *Crickets*

We all look at eachother and the driver turns on the radio and turns it up. LOUD. The boys can't stop laughing and I'm beyond embarrassed that I can't even look at anyone. The casino was supposed to be only 10 minutes away but before we know it we're in the middle of nowhere cornfields, with the highway in sight right next to us. I look up at Heather and I can tell she's thinking the same thing: We are being taken out to be killed. Joe tries unsuccessfully to talk to the driver by asking if the song on the radio is Bowie. Nothing. We're all beginning to feel a little edgy as we are literally IN A CORN FIELD late at night....in Waterloo. Luckily we see the casino, scramble out of that shuttle and thank our lucky stars we're alive. 

 (Why didn't anyone tell me this shirt makes me look like I weigh 200lbs? Ugh old reliable no more)

The rest of the night is spent drinking, reliving our near death experience, oh yeah and then taking a cab to the grooms house for post party drinks and guess what? It's the cab drivers FIRST NIGHT and she has no idea where we want to go. We all busted out our phones and used our GPS to guide her there.

It was an adventurous night and I'm pretty sure I was the winner of most drunk as illustrated below:

(Joe and Heather still keeping it together looking cute)

(Aaaannnnnndddd myself looking a total hot mess.)

In conclusion, I'm awesome and this night doesn't even compare to the next night. Please stay tuned for Part 2-The Wedding and Part 3-The Post Wedding Party.

Cheers!

Marisa

The Hangover-The Preview

Well lovelies, I'm back in Des Moines in one piece still although maybe minus half my liver. I'm exhausted and don't have any pics yet but will be harassing Will until he uploads them so I can show you just how awesome we are together. Here is a little preview of the things that happened this weekend:

1.) Almost got murdered by our shuttle driver because Will and Joe were insulting Waterloo

2.) Blew a .23 

(no we didn't get pulled over or arrested or anything. Will just has a breathalizer. Don't ask questions.)

3.) Went to a strip club

4.) Passed out at the bar.

5.) Passed out on the floor in front of my hotel room.

Bet you can't wait to hear the whole story ;)

Hangover Cheers!

Marisa

William, Kate and I

Today friends, it's finally here. The Lifetime movie of William and my love (he can't take her away from me) Kate Middleton. The bestie and I have a date with lots of snacks, klennex, because we probably will cry. 

She's so British and gorgeous....*swooon*

In other news, I'm going to a wedding next weekend with my Will and I found a dress that I feel is perfect for a spring wedding. What do you think?

Please disregard my mess, and I think I'm in love with this picture because it looks like I have cleavage. Score! ( I don't actually. Sad face). Anyways, thoughts comments concerns? Let me know....God love ya. ;)

Also I don't post a bunch of pictures of myself really. So here you go, Hi! I'm Marisa!

Have a good week kiddos!!!!!!!!!!!

Cheers!

Marisa

Weddings

Weddings always get me. I tear up when seeing the bride walk down the aisle and when they exchange vows. It's bizarre because I have no desire to get married myself. The thought of having to go through all that makes me shudder. I know it's weird, but I'm not religious and marriage is at it's core a religious institution, so I just can't find a reason to get married. It's expensive, and time consuming and stressful, but for some, being able to call someone their husband or wife makes it all worthwhile. I love D, more than anything, but I don't want to call him my husband that badly. So please invite me to your wedding, I love them it's fun to attend. Also I make an excellent bridesmaid. Just don't expect an invite to my wedding or to be one of my bridesmaids.

And now a picture of me being an awesome bridesmaid.