Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Money in the bank

In an effort to begin the transition from wedding blogging (which will always be a big part of this site!) and sharing some of our newlywed life--today is a newlywed post.

The other day I asked my hubby to deposit his meager internship check at the bank ASAP, since we live paycheck-to-paycheck [that's what one non-profit income and graduate school in Southern California does to ya].

When he came back and dumped the receipt on my desk I gasped in amazement. Our account balance had tripled! Overnight!

After coming to my senses at our good fortune I suddenly realized that the week of late nights with statements and W4s and 1040s in February had come full circle and we'd gotten our tax refund. But I couldn't make up the difference in my head....the refund was still almost double what I had anticipated.
A little bit of research led me to the discovery that we qualified for the Making Work Pay tax credit, which essentially refunded us $400 each in fica taxes.
If you're really interested, here's how the IRS explains Schedule M.
If you are vaguely interested and don't understand the IRS, here's an MSN money simpler explanation.

Alls I know is we got a bigger tax return that I planned on, and we aren't complaining!
I'm currently working on a spreadsheet to divvy up the cash responsibly.
I'll share our final decision on how we plan to spend the money using percentages.

I have to say, I actually enjoyed filing my taxes [mostly*] on my own this year. It was interesting to gather all the information and see how and where our money went and how the system works--although I can totally understand that for people with more money/more complicated situations, taxes can be a stressful time. But for us broke newlyweds, it was really pretty simple!

*I said mostly because I still consulted my dad by phone on a couple of confusing section on my taxes. He has done them for me since I've been working, and is a CPA!

Were you pleasantly surprised with your tax return this year? Do you dread tax season and suffer through it, or hire it out to avoid the pain?

Monday, March 29, 2010

Wedding Season has begun!

A couple of weeks ago, my little sister went from this:


to this:

And I couldn't be happier for her and my new brother-in-law!


The wedding wasn't perfect[one major glitch, which White Choc handled with total poise], but it was simple and sweet and loaded with emotion. My sister is very social and has tons of friends, but I didn't even imagine how many people were going to be there to wish her and her new hubby well!

My trip home was extended because of some work I needed to do in the midwest, but it allowed a couple of days where I could catch up with old friends, and I made the most of my time--staying up too late and starting my days too early.

When I got home last Sunday I crashed hard and then nursed a 3 day long recovery migraine which really decimated my week.

I'm finally getting back to the swing of things, with a promise to myself to blog every day this week! I've really been slacking in the blog department and now everything I want to share is becoming old news! So here's to a renewed commitment!

Hope you're all having a lovely, springy Monday!

*a little taste from the personal shower!

Thursday, March 11, 2010

It's time!

Well, the weekend is already here. My sister is getting married on Saturday! I'm flying out this morning, and we have every moment packed from this afternoon on.

But I have exciting news to hold you over until then--I have a new blog design! So if you're a google reader/blogger reader, please do me a favor and hop over to the blog address here!

...and then leave a little comment for the incredibly talented Joy of How Joyful! and Weddingbee, and visit her new Etsy store!

I'm so thrilled with this new identity for my blog as I continue on this blogging adventure :-) Joy did a fantastic job (don't you think?)

Hope you have a happy [early] weekend!

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Monday, March 1, 2010

Italian Honeymoon, part IXb: Tuscan Villages (and how we honeymooned with my mother in law)

Missed the first part of this story? Check it out here.

I was doing my best to forget that we were traveling basically one day behind my MIL and her friend (M) during our honeymoon, but occasionally Eric would tease that he saw them in the villages we toured. I laughed it off as a total impossibility--what were the chances? We hadn't coordinated our schedules any further than a general location and had no idea which days we'd be in which cities.

So when half-way through our day in Siena E was convinced he saw his mom's friend I slapped him and told him to stop kidding around and just enjoy the day.
But walked up closer to the steps at the baptistery to get a closer look. Sure enough, there was M and my MIL on an audio walking tour not 100 feet in front of us.

I was anxious and would have probably rather just pretended not to see them, when Eric got this idea to go surprise her. And not in a good way.

He told me to get out my camera and started creeping up behind MIL. Here's the scene:

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and he goes for it

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Let's take a look at that a little closer, shall we?

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Yes, my husband snatched his mother's purse in a busy town in Italy. But before she realized who her purse snatcher was, she screamed bloody murder, and afterwards was so shook up (from surprise at seeing us as well as being 'robbed') I felt really bad! I don't think E did, though.
Because they were on a guided tour, we had only enough time to ask how things were going, take a photo together, and be on our way.

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We didn't see them again after that, but I have to admit it was strange to come home and compare pictures of the exact same places on the same days--our honeymoon vs. their vacation.

But from now on, we're calling travel 'dibs' first!

If you went on your honeymoon to the same location at the Inlaw's vacation, would you change your plans? Ask them to change theirs?
Was I overreacting?


Sunday, February 28, 2010

Need Reader Advice: a low-key bachelorette party

K*****, if you are still reading my blog for some reason...it's time to scat!
This isn't for your eyes.



So many of you may remember my feisty sister who got engaged in December
She is planning a mid-March wedding (where did the time go!) in order for her new brother in law to make it to the wedding before his deployment.

It's been a crazy roller coaster ride trying to find a venue and secure dresses for her and the bridal party, among all the other details in about 3 months. Lots of stress, tension, long phone calls and the drama is finally working itself out. Sometimes family is tough to love!
It was especially hard for me because I've been so immersed in wedding-everything for 1.5 years now that I wanted to be able to help more. But my sister's independent spirit and the distance didn't allow that to happen.

One thing I have been able to contribute to, however, is the bachelorette party! Due to some girls having to come in from out of town (*ahem*, me) the party is going to fall on the Thursday before the wedding....
And guess who gets the honor of planning it--that's right, me!

Because a few of the bridesmaids are under age, including my littlest sister (the MOH), and because the bride-to-be isn't much for going out, and is much for girly movies....the basic idea is to stay in and do just that. But since is the only part of the wedding festivities that I am participating in, I want it to be really special and tons of fun. Here's the lowdown:

Theme
I've started to gather inspiration for a theme--Marie Antoinette meets Gossip Girl, as inspired by this bridal shower featured on Hostess with the Mostess:


and

Weddingbee not the least!

Decor
This party is going down in my parents' basement--and I don't have much to work with for setting, but here is the beginning of my decor plan:

  • pink, tan(gold) and white sheets draped over the walls
  • navy and gold tissue paper poms
  • streamers all over
  • Gift table covered in vintage floral wrapping paper
  • navy ribbon wrapped around votives
  • milk white vases filled with pink roses and peonies

Food
all kind of home-baked sweets and treat!
cheese platter
chocolate croissants

scones ?

Drinks
strawberry lemonade
sparkling white grape juice (some chapagne for those of age)
cucumber mint water

Wedding movies:

The wedding singer
My Best Friend's Wedding
Father of the Bride
Princess Bride
The Wedding Planner


and lastly, games!


i said, games....?

ok readers--this is where you come in. In addition to watching some classic wedding movies, I want to have some fun with the girls.
For my bachelorette party the game was a scavenger hunt of sorts in the city. But what to do at home? What fun, non-traditional games have you played at showers or bachelorette parties that will work with younger girls [i.e. keep it clean! I want my baby sister to stay innocent :-)]

I've thought about videoing the groom with questions, but that's about.
I know you ladies can help me out, so lay it on thick (I only have 12 days!)

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Italian Honeymoon, part IX: Tuscan Villages (and how we honeymooned with my mother in law)

Some of you may be wondering about the whole "mother-in-law on our honeymoon" situation since I mentioned in on Twitter. And I'll get to it, I promise. First I have to share my second favorite city in Italy...a very close second to Venice.

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Siena was one of the few village in the Tuscan countryside we visited to get away from the hustle and bustle of Florence life. We enjoyed lots of incredible wine and food (the food was much better outside of the big cities!)

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Siena may look familiar to you, as it was the location for the opening scenes of Quantum of Solace (the latest James Bond flick)
It was also two days before the famous Siena Horse Races, the Palio (de Provenzano). If you've never heard of them, check out the link really quick. I'll wait!

ok, back?

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Where's waldo? ;-)

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The city was totally abuzz with excitement--The 17 neighborhood flags were proudly worn as scarves, belts, bandannas and capes. Every once in a while the street traffic would get completely clogged from a large parade of men singing their neighborhood anthem. It was totally electric. We watched workers begin to erect the bleachers for the big event!

We grabbed a gelato (of course) and want on to tour the duomo and baptistry
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and this is where the story starts to get good....
I've been avoiding this post for a while because it's taken me a long while to get to this point in writing about our honeymoon, but here is the story!

Going back a little:::In the beginning of the year, E and I started talking about honeymoon locations. I suggested an exotic yet unusual place where we could have adventures (we are not just lay on the beach type people) and we tossed around some places in South America....but both of us kept returning to a dream of a European honeymoon. We were concerned about the amount of relaxation we'd have on a 'touring' honeymoon, as well as the cost so we tossed it around for several weeks before making a decision on Northern Italy-- a romantic, relaxing place in Europe that was new to both of us.

As E was doing his research, he mentioned out plans to his mom, who revealed her plans to travel to Northern Italy with a friend immediately following our wedding.
E didn't see this as a big deal and didn't mention it to me right away.

A little while later he brought it up (assuringly knowing what my reaction would be!)...and needless to say I flipped a lid. It was our biggest argument in our relationship up to that point. He couldn't bring up the honeymoon for weeks without me bursting into tears. I was devastated that our epic European splurge of a honeymoon was just going to be a fun trip for his mom and a friend. The planning was difficult because E's mom always does a ton of research and I knew he was getting a lot of guidance from his mom. I had a hard time with the fact that his mom was planning our honeymoon.***

...and then there was the possibility that we would run into them!

So what happened? Tune in next time to find out :-)

***I want to say as a disclaimer that I love my MIL dearly, and she didn't know anything of my feelings about the whole situation. In all fairness, she booked her trip before us and we planned both trips without the other knowing until well into the process.



 

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