Tagged! (We Feel So Special!)

The A to the Mazing budgetsavvybride tagged us to reveal six quirks about ourselves. What the?! Only three quirks each? Where to begin...

Three quirks about DomestiGal Sue:

1.  She is willing to wear a white beekeeper suit that comes with a veil, but refuses to ever wear a white wedding dress, with or without a veil.

2.  She is known as "tank top girl" even when it's 32 degrees out and friends question why she sweats like a fatty.

3.  She is convinced that all newborns look like they are Asian even when they're not and ooohs and coohs over said Asian buddhas.

Three quirks about DomestiGal Jen:

1. She keeps an ongoing list of baby names on her computer, with different fonts for boys and girls.

2. She is the only female member of her university's Powerlifting Club.

3. She always has to set her alarm clock, TV channel volume, microwave time, and other such devices at even numbers. Never odds.

Welcome to our quirky world!

So. Here are the rules:

1. link back to the person who tagged you

2. mention the rules on your blog

3. tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours

4. tag 6 following bloggers by linking to them

5. leave a comment on each of the tagged bloggers blogs letting them

know they've been tagged and

6. you can now display this charming dalek image Songy at Style

Discovery created when tagged!

We tag:

It's a Jaime Thing

Michelle Woo

Jenn and Erin, the Fit Bottomed Girls

The fabulous Renee

Caz from Cherry Blossoms and Vodka

The lovely Bekah, AKA Country Mouse

Cheers, Gals!

xoxo,

Sue and Jen

DomestiGals Welcome Country Mouse!

Sue and I and all you lovely ladies in DomestiGal Land are so lucky to have with us today the lovely Bekah from Country Mouse. Bekah is one of the funniest, fabulousest, most genuine gals we know (via the blogosphere, obv). Her photos are gorge, her house is adorable, and her hubby is the cutest! And if you have any doubt about that, ladies, read on...

Slow dancing amongst the paperbacks

I am not romantic by nature.  I played cowboys and Indians as a child, I didn't dream about meeting Prince Charming or falling in love.  I really just wanted to live it up, be myself, and play in the mud.

When I started dating my husband I was immediately wary of how romantic he seemed to be. Any man that remembers that ONCE three years ago you mentioned that you love chicken stir-fry and actually makes it himself for your first date is up to something right?  I had never been treated the way he treated me, and I wondered what his deal was.  I just kept waiting for him to reveal his true nature, to catch a glimpse of what he was really up to, basically I was waiting for him to fail.  

Months went by and he still hadn't shown what I thought must be his true colors.  I just KNEW this guy had some sort of end game, I mean, that's what men do right? But as much as I couldn't figure him out, I also couldn't get enough of him.  I would warn myself repeatedly not to fall too hard for this guy, but then he would wrap his strong arms around me and I'd find myself falling harder and faster with each and every kiss.  

Eventually I came to trust his sweet nature, I let myself  believe that he simply acted on his impulses and I even came to like it, but sometimes his wildly romantic displays embarrassed me.

We used to go to Border's bookstore on wintery nights, get coffee and browse the bookshelves together.  One night while we were still dating we were sipping our coffees and flipping through paperbacks Surgery by Joe Purdy started playing.  Surgery had come to represent a little of our relationship, and we both liked the song.  He came over to me, took my drink and put in on a shelf, and started slowdancing in the aisle with me.  Right there in the bookstore!  I was mortified.  I pulled myself away, grabbed my coffee, and took off for the women's health section (where I knew he wouldn't follow).  

Later that night I called my mom just to chat.  I explained the dancing situation and how I just felt so silly when he danced with me and no one else was dancing.  'Mom' I whined, 'He's just SO romantic sometimes, it sounds cute to other people, but it embarrasses me! He was dancing with me in a bookstore!'

'Bekah' she said, 'Take the time to dance.  That option might not always be there.  I wish I had danced with your father more.'  I was speechless.  My parents have been divorced for over 15 years.  They are both remarried and love their spouses dearly, but both will say that they consider their failed marriage to be one of their greatest regrets.  

I always thought there was some mystic formula that kept great couples together.  Sure I had heard people say it's all about making that commitment to each other and sticking to it, but could it really be that simple?  There had to be more right?  Maybe we muddy it up with our predisposed opinions on what real romance SHOULD be, or how we should act.  I lost a good chance with dance with the man I would marry because I was embarrassed that the other people in the bookstore would think we were silly.

Could romance really be as easy as dancing amongst the paperbacks?  Of course not, but I still feel unbelievably close to my husband when he holds me in his arms, and slowly sways with me to the music.  Do I still feel embarrassed sometimes?  Oh you bet, and we generally keep our dancing to our own home.  But I know that I will cherish those moments with him for the rest of my life, and when we don’t have time to dance, I will be able to think back on these days and remember that feeling.  Sometimes, it's just worth it to step out of your comfort zone to find new comfort in someone's arms. 

Word. Thank you for this a to the mazing post, Bekah!

Be sure to check out Bekah's blog here.

xoxo,

Slow-Dancing Sue and Jump-Jivin' Jen

DomestiGals Welcome Caz!

Hello ladies! We are so excited to bring you another fabulous guest writer, Caz from Cherry Blossoms and Vodka. (First of all, how fab a name is that?!) Caz blogs about - well, let us quote her: "my new life in Australia, adjusting to 'the real world' out of uni, sports, shoes, and nights with too much wine. I live to snowboard, and want to see the world before I'm 30. Plus, if you ask nicely? I can say the alphabet backwards, really, really fast."

Enjoy the fabulosity that is Caz!

XOXO,

DomestiGals Sue and Jen


First guest post ever!! (Can you tell I’m excited?!?! Because I am. Fo’ realz.)

So there are many things I have in common with the DomestiGals, thus prompting quite a few potential posts to run through my head in the past week. I could write about living as an ex-pat and getting used to being the Canadian in Australia… but I kinda feel I’ve done that to death on my blog. I could write about AB’s and my life as “domestic partners” and our back-and-forth decision to apply for my de-facto spouse Visa (although I’m more like Jen in that I totally want to be a Bride!!! Just in 5 years. Maybe.) I could write about my plans for eventual grad school, but considering I JUST graduated in May, I have a long time before I plan on an MBA and have done nothing more than poke around at my dream schools on the internetz.

Instead, I decided to share my plan to jump back on the fitness wagon, and how having all the knowledge in the world doesn’t necessarily make it easy. Here it goes…

As I mentioned, I recently graduated from university. I graduated with a degree in Human Kinetics actually. Which means that for the past 4 ½ years* I have studied fitness, health, and sport. I know every muscle in my body; I know the biomechanics of eating an apple, or climbing a ladder (yes, these were actual exam questions, and yes, we totally mimed reaching out and picking up an apple and biting into it, or stood up out of our desks and climbed imaginary ladders.) I know the medical consequences of smoking and the treatment for type 2 diabetes, hypertension (high blood pressure) and acute myocardial infractions (heart attack). I took classes on fitness training for everyone from sedentary senior citizens to Olympic athletes. Basically, I know pretty much everything and anything about being physically fit.

Somehow** I still managed to gain the Freshman 15. And the Sophomore 10, and the Serious Relationship 20… ok maybe not that much, since I pretty much refuse to step on the scale, but let’s just say that 6 months after high-school graduation I could no longer fit into my prom dress. And I’ve just kept gaining weight since.

Recently I’ve realized that all this weight I’ve gained, has stuck around for 5 years!! 5 YEARS PEOPLE!!! It’s been 5 whole years that I’ve hated my body, dreaded wearing a bikini, and ‘attempted’ to lose weight.

Actually, I lie. It’s been a lot more than that. For as long as I can remember, I’ve always thought of myself as ‘fat’, but only the last 4 years that I really have been. And now I’m no longer in university. I can no longer use the excuse that drinking 12 beers in a night is the norm, and that the reason I ordered pizza at midnight was because everyone was stoned. I don’t live with 5 other people who always provide a more fun activity than going to the gym, and I can’t use studying as an excuse to eat an entire box of Smarties. Mmmm I love Smarties! Did you know there aren’t Smarties in Australia? Or the US? Just M&M’s. They’re missing out. /end tangent.

While I’ve started many weight loss attempts before, they always got derailed when fun parties and communal dinners got in the way of gym-sessions and salads. And after one night of bad eating and the inevitable hangover breakfast I always say “screw it all.”

Basically? I have NO willpower. And I know it. I am the QUEEN of making up excuses to skip the gym, or eat more than I need to. I WANT to lose weight; I just don’t want to give up all the yummy things I eat. I KNOW HOW to lose weight; I’ve just been lacking the discipline to work out when going out is more fun.

But this time? No excuses. I’m no longer in college and I can no longer keep eating and drinking like I am. Unfortunately, it’s time to grow up. I know the consequences and I can’t plead ignorance or lack of knowledge. The upside? Is hopefully I’ll be physically fit, no longer be anxious about team sports, and have a wicked new body to showcase. Maybe for once in my life I’ll actually feel comfortable in it.

The plan: Starts Now. Ok it actually started 2 weeks ago, but then I had a week of vacation with Red (the skinniest girl ever, who eats more junk food then I thought possible), Grand Final weekend –the first big BBQ/drinking weekend of the summer, and the bad news about AB’s Nan and so diet and finding time to exercise were the last things on my mind. I’m back on the bandwagon this week.

Exercise:
• I’ve joined the gym nearby and worked out a schedule for going right after work. (Once I’m home at night, you can never convince me to leave again!)

• Start going to 6:15am classes Note: before this happens AB needs to teach me how to drive the manual car. Because while it’s a 2 minute drive, I know I won’t get out of bed to walk the 10 minutes. 6:00am is an acceptable wake-up time. 5:45 am is most definitely not.

• Keep running the 4.7km loop around work. Do this at least 3x/week***.

• Make plans to incorporate exercise into my weekends. Don’t let AB’s love of couch-potato-ing convince you to stay in. It’s gorgeous out so explore the city!

• Try the Cycling classes. I need someone to kick my butt. Plus needing to cancel 24hrs in advance will keep me from wussing out at the last second.

Diet:
• Measure out ½ cup portions of pasta and rice, and then fill out the rest of the meal with veggies. I am terrible at eyeballing portions, and I loooove carbs. Sure they’re almost always whole-grain, but I could seriously eat 2 cups of pasta if I let myself.

• Eat soup first. I’ve been on a miso soup kick, and the hot broth totally fills me up so I am satisfied.

• Make lunches in the evening to take for work. Bring enough food, and don’t bring cash to work.

• Get over things needing to be fair. Life’s not fair, and AB will always be able to eat 2 cups of ice cream every night without gaining weight. I can’t. He is a very skinny boy with a very fast metabolism and while I can physically fit as much in my stomach as he can, I shouldn’t be able to. Buy his 2-litre tub of cheap ice cream, which he will eat in 4 days. Buy the yummy, 500ml, expensive stuff for me, and save it for as long as possible.

• Go shopping even when AB hates to. Make sure there are always salad fixings in the fridge. Wash and dry the lettuce immediately, so I’m not too lazy to do it later.

Obviously, I’m going to work each of these goals into my life as it comes. Starting out all at once is one of the easiest ways to burn out. I want to develop habits people. Things that stick with me, no thinking required. I know I won’t lose all this weight overnight… It took me 4 years to gain it after all. But I want to be healthy. I want to be able to run 10km in less than 60 minutes (I’m at 72 minutes right now, and I could do it in 60 min 6 years ago.) I want to be comfortable in a bikini, and I want to have more than “such a pretty face”, I want to just be “pretty”.

The advice that’s worked the best for me so far? Make better choices EVERY time. Don’t let one bad decision wreck the rest of your day, or week. Start over the VERY NEXT time you’re faced with the healthy and unhealthy possibility.

*yes it took me more than 4 years… shut up, I went travelling, I didn’t fail anything!

**By somehow, I mean joining the Ski and Snowboard Club and spending about ¾ of my university career drunk. Or hungover and curing it with greasy food and more beer. While snowboarding is athletic, it’s not athletic enough to counteract the 80 Jagerbombs we bought one night (between 10 people!).

***I ran yesterday and my leg still hurts today. While it often hurts when running, it always goes away the second I stop. Must consult ze internetz on possibilities of what could be wrong***

*** While I never condone diagnosing medical conditions online, I have taken many, many anatomy and physiology classes. If I had my textbooks here in Oz, I’d look it up in there. Alas, anatomy textbooks weigh about 50lbs each, and I decided I’d rather bring shoes to Oz then textbooks. I am knowledgeable enough to determine what is crap and what isn’t. Plus, if it continues to hurt, I’ll totally go to the doctor.****

**** Ok I’m lying, I won’t because I don’t have medical insurance here. Shhh… don’t tell my parents. But that’s a whole other can of worms, so please spare me the lecture!*****

*****Must stop using *’s now.

DomestiGrad Student Jen Starts School

First things first. Gals, thank you for your feedback regarding my first day of school outfit!

The winning outfit is...

Look out Blair Waldorf, Queen J is in town!

Thanks to you, I will be feeling fierce and fabulous as I enter these doors... 

... of my new business school this morning.

(Yeah, don't even get me started on the wacko color scheme.)

Ack! I'm so nervous! But I know this will be a great step for me, even if it means adding "DomestiGrad Student" to my title. Sigh. Move on over, Domestic Goddess. There's a new nerd in town.

Now that I'm abandoning my Domestic Goddessness! Nope! I cherish my Dyson too much to consider myself anything less than a DomestiGrad-Goddess hybrid. But I will miss my leisurely days of Domestic Goddessness. They already feel very far away.

What will I miss most? Thank you for asking, ladies. Let me list the ways...

1. Rotating among my warm-ups, pjs, sweats, and workout clothes. While I am ready to dress a little more formally, I will sorely miss oozing fabulosity in my Lululemon ensembles all day long.

2. Twice-weekly workouts with Colossus. More on this soon (see my post-script below)... but I will now only be seeing Colossus once a week. My butt might be grateful, but the rest of me aches with sadness (and lack of soreness).

3. Leisurely, wine-filled lunches with my newly engaged fellow lady of leisure. These lunches were my biggest indulgence these past months... and were totally, completely fabulous. I will miss them dearly. Not that I won't be drinking in the middle of the day during my MBA. But it just won't be the same.

4. Awaiting The Lawyer's return from work every night. I know this is super-cheesy and rather un-feminist of me, but the best part of each Domestic Goddess day was the return of The Lawyer from work. After all this time, and all we've been through, the sound of his key in the door still gives me butterflies.

5. Keeping up with all my Gals in the blogosphere. Rest assured, ladies, I will continue to post here all the time. And I will keep up with your blogs as best I can. There are so many amazing writers out there, and blogs chock full of inspiration for my wedding and my life - I will miss checking in every day. But I will still be around! I promise!

Ok, off to school I go. Holy crap.

BIG BIG BIG love,

DomestiGrad Jen

P.S. As mentioned above I had an AMAZING last pre-MBA workout with Colossus the other day. Will be posting about it soon. Stay tuned... you do NOT want to miss this post, trust me!

Eureka! An Orange Wedding Dress!

Ok quick post here because I cannot resist.

Sue! Look what I saw while trolling the interwebs for wedding deliciousness this morning!

Photo from Waterlily Pond

One of my favorite bridal bloggers, the fantabulous Kathryn from snippet & ink, is guest-blogging over at {ritzy bee blog} this week, counting down her top ten fall wedding favorites. I have been drooling over each and every entry and Kathryn's accompanying inspiration boards (I mean is she or is she not the queen of inspiration boards? Sue, I know you have no idea what I'm talking about but our ladies in the 'osphere surely will!) but her post about non-white wedding dresses is to die for.

Not that I would necessarily have the guts to wear an orange wedding dress. And I don't think The Lawyer would necessarily dig it, nor would my mom's wallet be particularly keen on purchasing it... but WOW. Just knowing a dress like this exists has made my day.

xoxo,

DomestiGal Jen

Happy BlogDay!

BlogDay is here! Oh boy!

Ok so maybe we just found out about this a few days ago, but nevertheless we are super psyched to be taking part in this wonderful day.

We have been enjoying writing to each other (and you, dearest darling readers!) on our blog so much, and through our blog we have discovered other A to the Mazing gals out there oozing fabulosity into the blogosphere.

That being said, it was rather horrifying and ridiculous trying to choose only five of our faves. As we're new to this, all these blogs are new to us - and the more blogs we read, the more blogs we love. But there are a handful who are special to us for reasons we denote below.

So today, on BlogDay, we honor these gals thusly.*

First up: Veronica from a bride in the making. Veronica was one of our very first supporters - she even posted about us! - and we love reading her chronicle of her wedding planning. Pulling off a fab wedding in NYC is not an easy feat, yet we have the utmost confidence that her nuptials will be fantastic.

Next: Bekah from Country Mouse. If the name of her blog weren't cute enough (I mean who did not have that children's book on the bookshelf back in our more innocent days?), her writing is refreshingly genuine. This post is one of the most courageous we have read. Kudos to you, Bekah!

So, one of us (Domestic Goddess Jen) was born in Chicago and has a soft spot for gals who are making a living there. Especially if they appreciate the Bean! But that is not the only reason we are singling out Jessica today. Her blog, The Everyday Adventures of Me in the City, is sweet and highly entertaining. She's one of those girls with whom you can't help but think you'd be bff even though you've never met.

Another Chicago gal and budding domestic goddess (!!!), Renee, has a delightful blog called A Beautiful Day in the Reneeborhood. Her live-blog post of the Olympic closing ceremonies is a classic. We love her dry, keen wit and the fact that she calls her new apartment Club Guac is hilare.

Last but definitely not least, we must recognize the gal who alerted us to BlogDay in the first place: Jenn from Free and Flawed. Her blog is so intelligent, we love the design, and Jenn is a superstar in the blogging community. She keeps us all motivated and organized!

You go gals!

There are so many other blogs that delight and inspire us. We will be sharing more of our favorites in the posts to come...

xoxo,

Sue and Jen, your DomestiGals

*Ok, so we are not following the BlogDay rules perfectly... oops. Maybe next year! In the meantime, we will still use BlogDay to spread good karma throughout the interwebs. Can't argue with that!