In the past month...

1. James' sister and nieces came to visit from Washington. We had a lot of family visiting time with them and others from our area - very fun!

2. We had new counters installed in our kitchen and both bathrooms! I really, really need to get around to doing an updated house tour.

3. We went to two Giants games - one with my family and one with my coworkers.

4. I finally completed our wedding album and ordered it from Shutterfly, just in time for our anniversary! I'm a little disappointed in the quality, but not sure that I care enough to do anything about it.

5. We celebrated our first wedding anniversary in Santa Cruz. It was lovely - the best part was our sailing trip on the Chardonnay II. We saw a whale and dolphins, drank wine (chardonnay, naturally) and met another couple that was also celebrating their anniversary and also got married at Lighthouse Point - just a year earlier than us! I told the captain my name and he said I was the first passenger named Chardonnay that he'd had :)

Free anniversary cake from Hoffman's Bakery

The view from our private balcony at the Babbling Brook Inn

6. I've been busy planning our housewarming party, which is October 2. Should be a good time!

7. Finally, BIG NEWS: I quit my job!! This was a huge decision and something I had never done... I quit without having another job lined up (Other than the time I quit my high school job to move away to college, of course). I had not been unemployed for a single day since the age of 18. I'm lucky to have a husband with a job, so I was able to do this. It was the best decision for me. I didn't like the work, I didn't like the way I was treated, so what's the point? It's a strange position for me to be in - one that I'm not used to. But I know that it was the best decision for me.

I'm going to try to get a house tour put together in the near future, and pick up blogging in general. Trouble is that lately I do NOT feel like sitting in front of a computer, and have no motivation to blog about life... I hope I get inspired soon!

Anniversary plans

We're coming up on one year of marriage - wow! A lot has happened and on one hand it flew by, but on the other hand 9/18/10 seems like so long ago. We've been planning a weekend back in Santa Cruz for a few months and we're so excited to go back and celebrate one year of wedded bliss ♥

Our weekend getaway plans include...

Staying at the Babbling Brook Inn, where we have a room with a fireplace, private deck and hot tub (We've never been to this inn before. It's pricey but this is the perfect excuse!)

A picnic at Lighthouse Point, the beautiful location where we said our vows last year.

Heading to Hoffman's Bakery - the bakery that provided our wedding cake - for our free anniversary cake. Oh heck yes we're cashing in on that!

A lunch or dinner at Kianti's, which catered our rehearsal dinner.

Sailing on the Chardonnay charter sailboat - we planned to do this on our honeymoon last year but they cancelled it last minute. I'm super excited to step foot on my namesake boat, haha.

Dinner at Michael's on Main, the restaurant that hosted our reception (Hopefully we can eat on the back deck where our party was held).

Hmmm most of these seem to revolve around eating :P Our vacations are often go-go-go, see everything and walk many miles. For this trip we're going to try and take it easy and relax! Can't wait!

P.S. If you want to see lots and lots of photos from our wedding weekend, check out the "Our Wedding" tab at the top of the page.

Best husband award

Tonight I came home after a long day, and look what was waiting for me!

James knew I'm having a hard work week (yeah it's only Monday) and this put a smile on my face (and a tear in my eye). Thanks love!!! Made my night ♥



Taken last weekend

Getting to know me & my hubby

I've seen this little survey on several blogs lately and since I can never think of anything to blog about other than house hunting lately, I thought I'd play along too.

How long have you been together?

Almost 5 years! We met on July 8, 2006 and our first date was the next day. We got engaged 3 years later and we've been married for 7 months now.



Our first picture together (August 2006?) - San Francisco before a Giants game

How long did you know each other before you started dating?

Oh about 20 hours...

Who asked who out?

He asked me, after I dropped plenty of subtle hints first.

Did you go to the same school?
We went to Sacramento State together my last two years. We met through a community college summer school class (Art History), coincidentally the semester before he was transferring to Sac State.



Graduation - May 2008

Who is the most sensitive?

I am, but J is sensitive for a man - meaning he notices when people are upset, etc.

Where do you eat out most together?

Sushi Cafe, Giovanni's and Chicago Fire. Sushi and pizza in general!

Where is the furthest you have travelled together?

Victoria, British Columbia. It was so beautiful and such a fun trip!



Butchart Gardens, Victoria, BC

Who has the worst temper?

I am much quicker to get annoyed, but he is worse when he's really mad.

Who does the cooking?

I do! J can cook frozen burritos, scrambled eggs and pancakes. The good thing is that he's so far from picky it's not even funny! Everything I cook is delicious to him :) I like my cooking most of the time but there have been some serious fails that I refused to eat... and he happily finished them.

Who is more social?

I am, by far. He's become much more social in the past few years though.

Padres vs. Giants in San Diego - 2007

Who is the neat freak?

Neither! We're both medium-cleanliness.

Who is the most stubborn?

Him.

Who hogs the bed?

I don't know, we're equal - but I know that I want a California King!

Lake Tahoe - 2007

Who wakes up earlier?

J is such a morning person. He's always up early.

Where was your first date?

Dinner at Outback Steakhouse, and then we went to the movies and watched Pirates of the Caribbean (whichever one came out in 2006). It was such a boring movie... I have a short attention span for movies I don't like!



How long did it take to get serious?

Fast! A few weeks. We were pretty much inseparable immediately.

Music in the Park - 2009

Who eats more?

J does.

Who does the laundry?

I do - I like to do it! He puts it away half the time, and I always make him match up the socks. I never want to do that. But I control the actual washing the laundry.

Who drives when you are together?

Whoever's car we're taking usually drives. Except when we're going downtown - I always drive because he gets stressed out finding parking! Often other times I'll ask him to drive my car because I prefer to be the passenger... but it's about half and half.

Tacky Sweater Party - 2010

Who is the first one to admit when they're wrong?

We're both good about doing that, I think.

Who wears the pants in your relationship?

It's about equal. Some things are important to each of us and we can compromise.

Who eats more sweets?

Most likely me.

♥

I love my hubby and being married to him! I didn't know how much marriage would mean to me before it happened. It's priceless to have someone that I know will always be there for me and loves me no matter what.

Legally Mrs. K

I've finally gone through the process of going to the Social Security office, then the DMV to legally change my name to Chardonnay Maiden Married. Both were amazingly simple - I was out of each office within 15 minutes (make a DMV appointment, don't just show up)! Now I just have to notify...

• Bank/credit card
• Student loans
• Car/renter's insurance
• Health insurance
• Employer
• Utilities
• Cell phone

Anything else I've forgotten?

To be honest, I'm still not even close to being used to my new name. I think it will help once all my mail, etc. starts calling me that. I also just ordered new business cards, so that will be exciting!

Sorry I can't seem to think of anything exciting to post lately. Wedding day recaps are coming soon though... our CD is in the mail as of today!

Bridal shower #2

Yes, I am already married... but I still got one last wedding celebration this weekend! The ladies at my mom's church in my hometown offered to throw a bridal shower for me. It was just weeks before the wedding at the time, and we didn't have time to fit it in before.

So yesterday it was! The pastor's wife graciously hosted a beautiful shower in her home. There were almost 20 women there, many of whom have known me since I was born.

We played a few games, ate delicious cake and I received many generous and appreciated gifts! The cake even looked a lot like our wedding cake, although Zora didn't even realize it when she bought it.

Sadly, I forgot to bring my camera so I don't have any pictures to share :(

Going to the...

... chapel ocean, and we're gonna get married!

I totally love the title/first sentence of this post and typing it made me choke up! We're taking off for Santa Cruz this afternoon... I probably won't post again until next week.

Even if things go wrong, if we get married then the day was perfect. It's easy to forget that amid all the appointments and projects, but I have to keep it in mind! The point is to marry the man I love - I am so thrilled that he will be my husband in just 3 days!!

Wish us luck!!

Almost legal

Today I took a half day at work. James & I went out to lunch, then went to the County Clerk's office to get our marriage license!

We were there for about 15 minutes. We had already filled out our application online, so we just had to sign, raise our right hand and swear that everything was correct, and listen to how to complete it.

I have also officially decided what my name will be after we're married. Chardonnay MaidenName MarriedName. Chardonnay P. K. I'm dropping my given middle name and making my maiden name into my middle name, because it's more important to me.