On Monday, I’ll officially be starting my new job, and a new chapter in my life. And, in just seven weeks, Sven and I will be getting married! I’m so excited (and a little overwhelmed) with all these big changes, but something about it just feels so right! Obviously, my brain is sort of cluttered right now with excitement, a bit of anxiety, and a lot of to-do’s…but here are ten thoughts I’d like to document!
- I am nervous, even a little insecure, about starting this new job. I need to remember to believe in myself. (I CAN!!) They hired me for a reason!
- I feel vindicated that, despite the obstacles and challenges I’ve faced, I am able to emerge right where I want to be, right now.
- Be grateful. No entitlement, only appreciation.
- I shouldn’t let my ego or pride get in my own way.
- Don’t be afraid to ask for help.
- I’m going to take my “baggage” with me to my new job, just like anyone takes baggage from one relationship into the next. I need to try to be aware of what triggers this “baggage” and also try and release it as I develop more confidence in the new role.
- I can do anything as long as I don’t get in my own way.
- The universe is working in my favor, as long as I just let it.
- Sven is the BEST, most supportive partner in the whole world. I’m the luckiest girl in the world to have him on my “team,” and to be able to call him my husband in less than two months!!!
- For the first time in a long time (honestly, maybe the first time ever), I feel genuinely, truly, completely happy about every aspect of my life. Perhaps I am the happiest I’ve ever been!
Sven just returned home from five days (yes FIVE days) in Vegas for his epic bachelor party. He was there with his brother and four buddies who came all the way from Sweden to celebrate his last hurrah! They’re such great guys that they all chipped in so that Sven could literally take the plunge before taking the plunge: they arranged for him to jump off of the Stratosphere building! That’s a free fall from 108 stories – or 855 feet – or 260 meters!
), this video of Sven jumping off the Stratosphere is a must-see. Pretty awesome.
A couple weeks ago, I posted a 
: How do you know when you’re in love? What are some of the telltale signs?! Let me know in the comments below!
Yesterday,
Sven is in Vegas for his bachelor party! He’s there with his brother John, who is visiting from Sweden, and five or six other guys from Sweden…the Swedes are taking over Vegas!!!
I initially left the first comma off the title of this post, until I realized it might seem like I was writing about diabetes. In actuality, I’m posting about the unfuckingbelievable Red Hot Chili Peppers concert we went to last Saturday. It was seriously the best concert I have ever been to. I know that’s not saying much, since I can probably count the number of concerts I’ve been to on one hand, but these guys know how to put on a show. The two-hour concert felt like 45 minutes! (Note to self: Go to more concerts.)
My friends and I went to Charleston, South Carolina, this past weekend for our friend Brooke’s bachelorette party. She’s a fellow bride-to-be who is taking the plunge just one month from today! Charleston is definitely a random place for a bachelorette weekend, but it was a perfect mix of sun (the weather was amazing!), fun, and girl-bonding!
My friend Erin and I saw the incredible new musical 
Congratulations to me! My blog is officially six months old today!! When I first started this blog, the goal was to last at least a year, and I can’t believe I’m already at the halfway point! (Sven gave me at least three months max, and now I’m double that, ha!)
For ten Mondays, I’m starting the week by focusing on one of each of my 
He, of course, said, “I’m the big white kitty.” You see, Sven often likes to sit at the end of our couch, but he always leaves about six inches of space between himself and the armrest. When I come to sit on the couch, I always like to squeeze myself into that six-inch space and nestle myself right in there, between the armrest and Sven! So cozy!
So much for my anger management attempt this week. I kicked off the beginning of the week with the sixth of my ten personal mantras: 
I dump on people more often than I’d like to admit, especially on Sven. Not literally (um, gross) but I dump, vent, release – whatever you want to call it – my emotional frustrations on him all the time. It’s actually a point of contention between us: he repeatedly tells me that he hates it when I vent to him, just for the sake of venting, yet I keep doing it, not out of spite, but out of complete lack of self-control!
This week’s 
Sven and I are back in New York after an amazing trip to Stockholm. We met our wedding planners Jill and Camilla, our photographer Alicia, our priest Gunnar, and our DJ Mike – they are all incredible! We’re so excited and happy about how our big day is coming together. Just about three months to go, and we’ve finally accomplished the following while in Sweden:
I recently had lunch with a woman I had met through work. I’ll call her “Jane.” Jane is a successful lawyer who leads the hedge fund practice at a large New York City financial services law firm. Jane and I keep in touch occasionally, but when I had lunch with her a few weeks ago, I wasn’t expecting to hear perhaps the most awe-inspiring story I had ever heard, probably in my life. So naturally, I have to share it with all of you.
March has been a month full of birthdays! Here in New York, Sven and I celebrated our friends Stephanie, James, and Ross’ birthdays. Elsewhere, we’ve given March b-day shoutouts to my cousin Phil, his beautiful daughter Gabby, my friend Erez that I’ve known since high school, and my amazing 
Today is what Sven and I call “Honeybears in Love Day” a.k.a. the anniversary of the date we first laid eyes on each other. Not the 
Know what you want, and stand by it, 
I’m going to preface this post by saying that the opinions expressed here are solely my opinions based on my own experience, and I am more than happy to hear whether or not you agree or disagree in the comments below!
When I published yesterday’s post, I didn’t realize that it was my 
Three weeks ago, I wrote about my 
Minea is going to be one of the lovely flower girls at our wedding. She is so sweet and bubbly and an adorable little big girl! I can’t believe how quickly she’s grown up from a chubby little baby to a hip little girl! (Even at three, her sense of style is better than mine!)
Whenever Sven’s been what I call “a good Honey,” he loves it when I give him a “gold star.” Um, no we don’t have those packs of gold star stickers that elementary schoolteachers place on A papers, but it’s pretty much the same concept! It’s sort of a literal gold star – I’ll push my thumb down on his chest as if I’m affixing a gold star, and he puffs up with pride. All this just for making the bed!
If you know me, you may know that I’m a bit of a neat freak. However, living with Sven sometimes puts a damper on my ultimate cleaning efforts. Not that he’s entirely to blame. Even I get so busy and stressed out sometimes that there are unsightly piles of clothes inside (and outside) my closet, papers and mail collect on our coffee table, and there seems to be a little bit of mess everywhere.
For ten Mondays, I’m starting the week by focusing on one of each of my “
Sven makes fun of me all the time for having what he calls a “milkshake brain” – millions of thoughts scattered all over the place, blended together and disorganized. He says it’s why I’m so organized externally – with my spreadsheets and anally-categorized closets and drawers – because I can control those things, but I can’t control my thoughts. That Sven, he really does have everything all figured out, doesn’t he?
Earlier this week, Sven, my friend Beth, and I went to the 
Four months to go until Sven and I get hitched! As part of my monthly countdown to our wedding, I’m featuring wedding-related products and/or services that I’ve used leading up to our big day. Any bride will tell you that looking and feeling her best is a top priority, and I am certainly no exception. What other time in your life can you be as unabashedly vain and get away with it?!
Today would have been my dad’s 72nd birthday. He passed away six years ago after a three-year battle with kidney failure and lung cancer. I think about him almost every day and miss him a lot, and especially wish he was around to see me and Sven get married.
Last week, I wrote a list of my