Busy?

Life has been busy. But when you ask me what I've done, I can't really pinpoint to anything that would justify the "busy" part. It's not like I have events day after day. It's not even like I have fully picked up my half-marathon training.

I go to work. I go home. Once a week after work, I have volleyball. Once a week after work, I run with my running group (and I really should be doing this 3 times a week...). On Saturday mornings, I go for my long run. We then eat, and go home.

How is it that I'm just SO tired? How is it that I have NO time?

The wedding planning hasn't taken much time, though I admit I've wasted hours online looking at ideas. Why is it that someone who has never dreamed of a "perfect" wedding, all of a sudden becomes obsessed when it's my turn?

My mom hired a wedding planner, so she's been looking at places, finally found a photographer (just need to sign the contract), and dealing with the rest of the details. Me? I'm just wasting time online.

I am still not fully unpacked after moving. We went on vacation, I got sick, and now my place is still a mess. I just can't seem to have the energy or time to get things in place...

This is going to be a long month...

Trips!

I have spent well over a year without putting foot in an airplane, which for me is a really really long time. I grew up with a dad who was a pilot for the Brazilian Air Force, after all, and we never went more than a month without taking a trip somewhere.

But this year, it'll be a busy year... I just got back from Brazil 2 weeks ago...

In 2 weeks, I'm off to Seattle (and the surrounding hoods) to meet the Boy's family. I know, I know, with well over a year together, and a date picked for our wedding, I still haven't met them. We were going to plan on a trip last year, but when his grandfather passed away and he took time off to go there, there was just not enough days off for him to go back.

Then in May, we're off to Charleston to visit his best friend. They're having a baby shortly before then, so we will also be meeting the new baby boy.

In October we're off to Chicago, to run the Chicago Marathon (!!!!). It'll be my first marathon EVER. I have a feeling it'll also be my last marathon EVER.

In November, we're off to Brazil. To get married!!! We picked a date, November 27th (we figured Thanksgiving weekend will be the easiest for people to take time off). No, the Boy still has not dropped to his knee and proposed. We actually had a long talk about this a few days ago when, in tears, I told him that the proposal will just be a formality since we're already wedding-planning, informing people of the news, etc. We're engaged in every sense of the word, except I have no ring. He was taken aback, told me to trust him, and that he still will plan a surprise proposal so that even though we are doing things backwards, it will still be special. We will see.

On that note, lately there has been a lot of "don't come in the room right now!" "Don't look at my computer screen!" "Close your eyes really quick while I do something" and "Trust me, ok? It's for you. One day I'll be able to tell you the story and you will understand, just not now."

I'm looking forward to all the trips, even if they're going to cost quite a bit of money. We're now trying to pick a honeymoon spot. So many wonderful places in the north of Brazil, it's hard to know where to go! Unfortunately, my dream location, the archipelago of Fernando de Noronha, would cost us at least 2 grand a piece, so that will not be an option...

Quasi Engaged

I am not engaged, I am almost engaged. To the point that when the proposal finally comes, I fear it will be anti-climatic.

While in Brazil the Boy asked my father for permission to ask me to marry him. I know this, not because my parents spilled the beans (because my mom totally would have told me), but because the Boy himself told me.

So in my parents eyes, I'm already engaged ("he did the hardest part, which was asking me" -- my dad said). There is no ring (he hasn't even bought one yet). And he hasn't asked me.

But the other night in bed, discussing out timelines, which must be coordinated with his pending new job that will require training and a move, the Boy picked November. For a wedding. In Rio. Our wedding. That was 4 months sooner than the timeline I had running in my head.

And because November is this year (!!!) I had to tell my parents "No, I haven't been asked, but can you start looking at the details?"

I also found out that there are tons of things one must do in order to marry in a Catholic church. Much more complicated when the church is in a different country. And the husband-to-be is not even Catholic. (Who knew it was so bureaucratic?)

And now, I'm wedding planning. I can't ask friends for tips and I can't tell them yet to keep November open, because I am not engaged. His friends have been informed of the date, but in my end, still no proposal.

I always dreamed of a romantic proposal with tears. I'm afraid when it happens, the first word out of my mouth will be "finally" instead of "yes"

Home

I had a wonderful trip, and loved every single minute of it. Rio was hot, some would even say too hot, with the temperature wavering between the upper 80's and mid-90's, but I love the heat.

The Boy loved Rio as well, got to meet the rest of my family, and now thinks I'm slightly retarded for having left Rio for the US. At the time, I had dreams of a wonderful well paying career, who knew that I'd just end up at a job? One that barely covers the bills?

I visited Brazil many times in the past, I always go for 3 weeks, and usually by the 3rd week I'm aching for home, home now being the US. Last time I visited, that didn't happen, but I had too much going on here to move back to Brazil.

This time, I also didn't miss at all my life in DC. If it wasn't for the Boy, I'd pack things up and move back to the country of samba. It was the first time I visited, that living in the US no longer feels right.

Of course, the Boy doesn't speak the language (though he has learned how to order a beer in Portuguese), and his career, because he actually has one, would end. No US government jobs in Brazil.

I know I could certainly get a better job there than what I have now, since over there my options aren't limited to "only those places that will sponsor me for a visa."

I know that living in a place where winter means it'll drop to the mid-50's at night, is also my kind of weather.

I miss my friends there, who make a genuine effort to see me, and it's amazing how years later we pick up right where we left off.

I miss my family, their warmth, their laughter, their ability to make me laugh and feel loved.

I am missing home. Home now means Brazil. But home is also wherever the Boy is, so in DC I stay, and hope that in a year or so, we'll both be moving to a new place, to a new home. That place won't be the US or Brazil, but hope is one we can both call home.

Christmas 09

This will be my first Christmas with the Boy. (Can you believe it's been almost a year since we first met?) Except, of course, I will be in Rio with my family, and the Boy will be in a boys' trip in the Yucatan (planned before we met, "the last boys' trip" he says, seeing one of the "boys" will be a father in just a few more months).

The Boy is meeting me in Rio a week after I arrive. The week without him will be spent catching up with family and friends, and of course, consumed by thoughts of "when he gets here, I have to show him this" and "when he gets here, he'll have to try this."

The last time I spent Christmas with my parents was in 1998. The last time I spent Christmas in Brazil, with my whole family, was in 1996.

Not by choice, of course. In college, I had night classes, and my last final was always on the 23rd, at night. Seeing that flights to Brazil are overnight (best time ever for long flights), and that xmas eve is the "big" thing for us, a flight out on the 24th would be pointless.

Then I couldn't take time off because I had just started a new job. Or, during my years working for the Brazilian Government in DC, the gotta-work-12-hour-days period was always in December (our fiscal year happens is the same as our calendar year). Then I was at a new job again, and couldn't take the time off.

This year, finally, I will be joining my family. I know it won't be like the holidays I remember, my mom has warned me of that too. Family is older, too busy, not as joyful. It will also be the first time I go to Brazil after this happened. And not having my grandfather there will damper the holiday spirit. But for once, I will be spending Christmas with family.

The Boy and I will be having our first Christmas together this Sunday. We might be a tad hungover after my Company's holiday party (free food and open bar? With signature drinks in each room??). Not sure what our own menu is yet, but we might do it easy and just have fondue. We'll be exchanging gifts then. From the time our xmas starts, until we go to bed that night, there'll be no moving business. Just the two of us (and, well, Lucas). With xmas music in the background, of course.

And I'm totally looking forward to it.

Sleep Deprived

Yesterday I went to bed at 11:44pm. I don't remember the last time I went to bed before midnight. Heck, for the last 3 weeks we haven't managed to go to bed before 1am. Waking up at 7am with less than 6 hours of sleep? NOT fun. The Boy wakes up at 6, sometimes 5am, so he's been even more sleep deprived than I have.

But yesterday, at 4am (after going to bed at 2am), the Boy left for a business trip. After running a few errands after work, I was so tired when I got home, that I caught up a bit with my DVR while putting books away, and after passing out on the couch for a few minutes, admitted defeat and went to bed.

Not much got done in terms of unpacking. But though I have a pending deadline to finish it all (I must be done with the whole thing before leaving for my 3-week vacation!), I'm not feeling at all guilty about taking a break, and going to bed at a more normal time.

But when I'm off to the beach? I really don't want to be thinking of everything I have to do back home. So tonight, I definitely have to get myself motivated for more.

And because I promised an update...

I officially finished painting a little over a week ago, at 4:30am on a Saturday night.

Then the moving started. The problem? I have way too much stuff. I've always been a pack rat and I've been at my current place for over 4.5 years. Add that to the fact that we've been having a horrible pest problem in my building (one of the many reasons we're leaving), and we can't really pack things in boxes, unless we want to risk taking crawling things with us. So we've been packing in plastic crates, putting straight into the car, and unloading at the next building. Certainly not the most efficient way of moving.

So my daily routine has consisted of: drive to new place (thankfully only 2 miles away) with a packed car in the morning. Catch my bus. Go to new place straight after work and unpack (and put shelves on the walls...). Leave new place around 11pm each night with the empty crates and pack. Load up the car (it only fits about 6 plastic crates, it's a Corolla after all...). Start over the next morning.

We got a u-haul on Saturday for a trip to Ikea (now that we have a guest bedroom we need a place for guests to sleep!) and took advantage by hauling more things out. We returned the u-haul at 5:30am on Saturday night. I was up by 11am so I could build the furniture and unpack part of what we brought.

I'm exhausted. The Boy is exhausted. And my old place doesn't look at all empty. The bright side? TONS of storage in the new place. We emptied the storage room the Boy had rented when we combined households, and emptied the storage room I have at my current building. Put everything in the 2nd bedroom closet, and there's still space! (That closet alone fits 20 (!!!) 66 quart plastic crates -- without counting the two built in shelves on top.)

We hired movers for the furniture, and they're coming on Saturday. That will be our first night sleeping in the new place.

Anyway... Here is what the paint job looks like, finished. (I promise I'll post pictures of the place once there's furniture and pictures on the wall!) After finishing all the painting, I still highly recommend the paint I used.

The before and after pictures (keep in mind that the before pictures were taken in the daytime, the after at nighttime -- haven't had a chance to be there much during daylight yet...):

Living Room
Before:
After:

Dining Room
Before:
After:

Main Bedroom:
Before

AfterBathroom (no before picture, only after):

A Paint Review

Moving to a new place, a rental, I wanted to paint to make it feel like home, but wanted to save as much time as possible, since there is a possibility we might only be there for the 12-month lease.

I decided to give the new "Behr Premium Plus Ultra" paint a try, since it claims to have great coverage and be primer + paint in one.

I'm far from a professional painter, but I have painted a whole apartment on my own before, painted my bedroom twice, and even painted a faux suede bedroom, and a striped beach house-themed bathroom -- yes, totally corny, but you need to have fun somewhere, right? I'm leaving it and I still love it:


Anyway, off we went to Home Depot, and grabbed four colors of paint.

This weekend, we got our keys, and I got started on my 22 ft long red wall in the living room, and the orange/terracotta color in the second bedroom.

Having past experience with painting red walls, I was DREADING having to do that again. Last time, I used a "one coat guarantee" paint (which I know now there's no such thing as a one coat paint, as the second coat makes all the difference), and that required a tinted primer, and THREE coats of red. Three coats! And I could have still benefited with a fourth coat, but by then I was tired, running out of paint, and knew part of the wall would be covered by furniture anyway, so I could live with that. And I did.

The Behr paint I bought had very mixed reviews online, so I was expecting the worse, hoping for the best, but even my highest expectations were not a match to the quality of the paint.

Anyone who has ever painted a red wall, knows it is the worst color in terms of coverage. This is my red wall (eggshell finish, color: dozen roses) after one coat (painted on top of white walls, with no primer):



This is the terracotta bedroom (eggshell finish, color: maple glaze) after one coat, also painted on top of white paint, using no primer:


Though the boy approved, the terracotta came out too dark for my liking, so I got it lightened by 50% for my second coat.

These are the finished products (excuse the flash glare on the first picture, the actual paint is even):


This is the finished second bedroom:


So the Behr Premium Plus Ultra paint was not cheap, by Home Depot standards anyway (it came out to $32/gallon), but for the quality, the coverage, and the time saving, it was totally worth it. The finished product after two coats is amazing, definitely the best quality paint I have used so far (and my faux suede paint was a $47/gallon paint by Sherwin Williams).

The paint was thick, easy to paint, and there were no splatters or dripping (I didn't even need the plastic to cover the whole floor, as I had in the past).

The bad? The paint IS thicker than others. So I used a lot more than I expected. While usually for a bedroom that size (about 180 sq ft) one gallon has been enough in the past, this time I needed a second gallon for full coverage. There was a little bit of paint left at the end, but not even a quart.

Would I use it again? I don't think I'll ever be able to paint with anything else.

New Home!

For less than what we are paying now, the Boy and I were able to find a lovely, VERY spacious two bedroom apartment, on the top floor of a midrise building. Ah, and it's a corner unit as well, so even our new kitchen will have a window!

We will be living with 300 sq ft more space, and saving about $275 a month, since aside from the cost savings on the unit itself, we can cancel our off site storage room, needed when the Boy and I combined houses. The second bedroom will likely function as our new storage unit and office, and of course, a place for guests.

We pick up the keys this Sunday, and I already bought paint -- blue for the main bedroom, a terracota orange for the office, and a red for the dining area (I know it was a fad, but I still love red), and a grayish beige for the living area.

We won't be right by the metro, but we'll be less than 1.5 miles away, have a free metro shuttle during rush hour, I'll still be on my bus line into DC, and we'll now have a pool, a gym, and a rooftop deck. And TONS of storage. We'll have the Arlington Drafthouse at a half mile walk, and the karaoke spot where we met even closer.

This has not been the easiest month, or easiest year, for that matter. But I'm starting to get excited about moving to a bigger, better place, and getting ready for my upcoming 3-week vacation to Rio.

We're hoping to be all moved by the time we go to Brazil, so we'll have about a month overlap. Believe me, I have a LOT of stuff, so the month might not be enough, but if I can move some things little by little, we might just make it.

Once it's all painted, I'll post pictures. Right now, though I'm ok with the orange and red we bought, I'm afraid that the navy blue we chose is a tad too bright. Go figure.

House Hunting

Due to unfortunate circumstances, the boy and I are now house hunting.

As others have ranted about, it's so freaking hard to find affordable places in the area! We're looking for a one bedroom about the size of my current place, or maybe a two bedroom if the price is right.

We saw a lovely place in Pentagon City near the metro, where we would be spending as much as we do now. However, justifying the extra cost, instead of just renting by where we are now for a $500/month savings is tough. There's a lot we can do with the extra money.

Yesterday was one of many sleepless nights recently. I'm SO afraid in making yet another mistake. The Boy tries to calm me down saying that any place we pick is only for 12 months, if we don't like it, we can move on then. He is absolutely positive we will be happy wherever we end up.

I'm trying to figure out if location or money is more important for me. I'm surprising myself by not knowing the answer.

Either way, looks like we have to have a decision by Wednesday, since our over excitement of the Pentagon City place caused us to leave a deposit to hold it, that is refundable for only 3 days.

Fingers crossed we make the right decision.