After what feels like years of waiting, I am finally allowed to tell you something.
That ‘not-so-secret’ secret from the other day? Yeah whoops, I just realized I probably shouldn’t have called it that.
Because this is my real secret…
I thought long and hard about how to break this to you and while my friend Patti’s idea of a photo shoot featuring a shopping cart full of pickles and buckets of ice cream would be my DREAM, she’s not here to get all ridiculous in the grocery store with me. Boo. So pee sticks it is.
I’m 14w3d* –holy crow, already in my second trimester! how did that happen??!– and feeling fantastic.
So what took me so long to tell you? Oh, please don’t be mad. We wanted to share our news with family and friends in person wherever possible so that took awhile. And we didn’t even do that until quite recently because, well, I was just scared. More on that another day.
Don’t get me wrong – part of me (oh okay, most of me) was dying to tell the whole world, especially during the last couple of weeks. I feel like my head is about to explode with baby stuff and for some reason all I want to do is share it with you. But I do have to admit that having that little secret between just me and Mr Fink and our immediate families was kind of fun. It’s not often you get to keep a happy one to yourself.
That said, something tells me I’m going to enjoy sharing this journey with you even more. Hope you’ll come along for the ride.
You show me one person who doesn’t like popping bubble wrap and I’ll show you… er… an empty room. (What? Just go with it.)
It’s one of life’s simplest pleasures and now someone brilliant has thought up a new excuse for us to keep on poppin’:
It’s the Bubble Wall Calendar!
Available at Urban Outfitters for $24 or… if you’re one of those awesomesocks people who have Photoshop skillz, get crafty and make your own.
BONUS: It doubles as a lesson in self control (because I don’t know about you but I’d have a heck of a hard time popping just one each day).
This email was in my inbox this morning:
Kasia!!!
I think I found your BIG secret!!! I’m on to you girl!
Kym xo
(Image is from Post Secret, of course.)
My dear friends know me oh so well, yes they do.
SANTA IS COMING SANTA IS COMING! Five weeks away today!
And just like it does every year, my heart gives a skip and a jump whenever I see anything Christmassy. Like last night:
Dorky photo op! In Holt Renfrew*! As Holt Renfrew-ites walked by sniffing their disapproval! (Even the mannequin was disgusted.)
Oh the things I do for you.
*For my little American elves: Holt Renfrew is the Canadian version of Saks Fifth Avenue or Barneys New York. Yes. We try.
(I don’t usually post the same things here as on Weddingbee, but I’m making an exception today.)
Has it really been a whole year since this?
I can hardly believe it.
When I think back on our wedding day in Punta Cana, a crazy jumble of images tumble around in my mind: family and friends, laughter and love. For us, our destination wedding was as much about celebrating the people we love as it was about declaring our own love for each other.
But today I’m taking the time to reflect on the man I married and our fabulous first year of marriage.
One question I’ve been asked many times this past year is, Do you feel different now that you’re married?
Well, the short answer is yes.
The long answer is this…
This time last year, Mr Fink and I had known each other for five years and lived together for two. And during that time, we did a lot of growing together. We shared triumphs and failures, belly laughs and tears, and helped each other become better versions of ourselves.
It was a lovely thing in itself but getting married took it to a whole new level. Standing up in front of all the people we love most and making those promises to each other solidified it. We’ve become a unit while still retaining our individuality. We’ve become a family. And, well… Family is no matter what. Family is come what may. Family is forever.
And there’s something unspeakably delicious about that.
As for Mr Fink himself, well, you probably have an inkling of this already but I think he’s pretty awesome. He’s the person that makes me laugh louder, hug tighter, try harder, walk further, look deeper, work smarter, dance goofier and love more fiercely than anyone. He’s changed my world and added so much to it.
A year ago I told him I was very honored to become his wife, and a year later, I can only say that that honor has deepened.
Happy anniversary darling. Here’s to a lifetime of celebrating.
I was going to say that if Sex and the City was still on you could bet your boobies Carrie would be sporting one of these, but apparently I’m not the first to make this oh-so-clever connection so let’s just pretend I never mentioned it (sniff).
What is it? Why, it’s a custom made Twitter ID necklace by Survival of the Hippest.
Honestly, I can’t think of one tweeperella who wouldn’t go gaga-bananas for one of these. (I know I would!)
Now that’s what I call Good Finking.
So Bob Ross, Starry Night, Knocked-Up Barbie and Dog the Bounty Hunter walk into a bar…
… you finish the rest.
Happy belated Halloween!
Ever since I Shazam-ed it at H&M the other day, I have been totally and utterly 100% obsessed with this song:
I can’t get enough of it! The beat makes my tushie bounce around the room all on its own and I’m not even joking.
I love it so much I was compelled to look up the lyrics but is it just me or do they not seem to match the happiness of the tune?
Your heart is broken
To your surprise
You’re sick of crying
For blue eyes
So tired of living
Misunderstood
Think hard woman
I think you should
Come, sorrow is so peculiar
It comes in a day, then it’ll never leave you
You take a pill, wonder if it will fix you
They wonder why sorrow has never left you
I’m talkin’ bout blue eyes, blue eyes
What’s the matter, matter
Blue eyes, blue eyes
What’s the matter matter
So blind, so blind
What’s the matter, matter
Blue eyes, blue eyes
What’s the matter with you?
Whatsa matter matter? Why, nothing at all. Sure I haven’t blogged in awhile but truly, everything is… wonderful! Just like the tune of this song, which is probably why I love it so much right now.
Now please excuse me while my tush takes me for a spin around the room.
Well if felt like our vacation-moon was “ten million years” ago two weeks back, now it feels more like a thousand million. Is there even such a thing? Maybe I mean billion. Anyway, you get the point.
Sorry it’s been snooze-ville around here lately. I promise I will get around to sharing some photos from the rest of our trip soon (along with my less-than-glowing review of our cruise… yes, it’s true) but today instead of looking back, I’m looking forward – to this weekend and Thanksgiving!
That’s right my lovely Yankee friends – Canadian Thanksgiving is mid-October which, if you ask me, is way better than waiting until November. I mean, if you’re anything like me, it’s around this time that it’s easy to get a bit bummed; summer seems so long ago and Christmas vacation feels way too far away. But a holiday in October is juuuuust riiiiight. Let me rephrase that – a holiday in October WITH TURKEY AND GRAVY is just right. Because I know you have your Columbus Day an’ all but really, does it compare to TURKEY AND GRAVY? Yeah, I didn’t think so.
This weekend I’m flying to Calgary where I’m spending a crazy giggles-and-girl-gossip filled evening with my bestest Miss P before heading up to my parents’ place a.k.a. ‘El Rancho’. I haven’t been home since Easter so I am BEYOND thrilled. Seriously. I am so far past thrilled, that thrilled is not even visible in the distance.
Just thinking about mama’s kitchen filled with the sweet aroma of cabbage stew (don’t laugh – it’s my favorite) and dad’s horsey-smelling hugs and conspiratorial laughs with my sis-in-law and long late-night trips down memory lane with my brother and oodles and oodles of tickles and kisses for my 2 year old niece fills me with such JOY I think I will burst.
It’s funny. I was contemplating making a list of all the things that I’m grateful for in this post but you know what? I’ve already mentioned the most important ones.
When I think about how blessed I am in this regard, I am truly humbled. Because not only was I born into one of the most loving, funny, sentimental, loyal, considerate, affectionate families in the history of the universe, but I also married into another exactly like it. And if that wasn’t enough, the friends I’m surrounded with are absolutely the same (and yes, that means YOU).
So that’s what I’ll be thinking about on my short little flight across the Rocky Mountains… alone. Unfortunately Mr Fink isn’t able to come with me because of work. I was really crushed about it at first but then I realized it’s all about perspective; this way, our Vancouver family will get half of us and our Calgary family will get the other half, and isn’t that a nice way to look at it?
Have a great long weekend everybody! I’m grateful for YOU.
I’ve only been at work a week and a day and yet our vacation-moon already feels ten million years away.
I’m so sorry to have left you all hanging for so long but, well, the same thing happened to me after this vacation as after our wedding last November. I’d been looking forward to it and planning it for so long that when it was finally over, all I could do was flop in an exhausted heap on the couch – and not so much from physical exhaustion either (though let me tell you, that 9 hour jet lag sure packs a punch), but more from mental exhaustion.
You see, my mind is still sifting through memories and I’m fighting with myself as to the best way to share them. The unhappy consequence is that I get myself all in a tizzy and end up sharing nothing at all. Do you ever do that? I feel like I do it a lot. Seriously, if you know a way to fix this let me know.
Anyway.
Maybe some of those stories will make it on here one day and maybe not. But the least I can do in the meantime is share some photos*.
Here’s Part I – Our trip to Switzerland for a friend’s wedding
And the same night, a few hours later? We were on our way back to Geneva to catch a flight to Barcelona.
* I really, really, regret not bringing our D-90 camera with us. We thought it would get annoying to babysit all the time, especially on the cruise portion of our trip, but {sigh} as you can see by these pictures, we should have taken it. I’m mentioning this in case you’re having the same dilemma yourself. Just take it – sure it’ll be annoying at the time but that’s better than being annoyed for the rest of your life when you look at your photos.
