So I creep....toward waterfalls...but I don't want no scrubs...

This morning, I went to the gym. No, this is not an attempt to get a pat on the back for going to the gym. I just need to frame the story appropriately. Because Bravo no longer plays repeats of such classy shows as Real Housewives of "anycity" or Top Chef Masters, I had to look for my morning entertainment elsewhere. MTV apparently plays videos in the morning. AMAZING.

Five minutes into my sweat session, I hear a familiar beat. Oh. No. You. Didn't. TLC. Scrubs. I had to sing. HAD. TO. I didn't care if I looked ridiculous. I danced too. Who cares? NOT ME. As I was informing my coworker of my silly morning behavior, and we discussed the real merits of TLC. (R.I.P. Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes"), a story popped into my head.

The year was 2003. A young girl was coming off a month in Rome, ten pounds heavier due to a diet consisting mainly of mozzarella cheese, gelato, and vino casa (rosso, claro!). She had arrived in the most beautiful, mountain-flanked country of Switzerland, Interlaken to be precise. She and her friends were enjoying the heck out of a long weekend at a hostel called Balmers, spending the days doing fun adventurous activities like white water rafting or canyoning, and the evenings eating a sandwich called the Three Species (had to keep that Rome weight on SOMEHOW) and partying in the disco. OK, so the young girl was me. And yes, I got a rather fat ass from eating too much. So what?!

Oh. Did I mention that Balmers had a disco? Oh, it sure did. We could dance away the evenings there with the adorable Swiss tour guides with silly names such as Lukey (he was SO DREAMY). Of course, the music ran the gamut to sort of old to REAL old. As in, CrazySexyCool old. Oh yes.

I was a HUGE TLC fan back in the day. I'm fairly certain that I wore out my CrazySexyCool CD back in 1995. (The 1990s were all about the compact discs, dontcha know?) Of course, that gave me a certain level of familiarity with all of the songs. In fact, it just so happened that I remembered the lyrics eight years later at a crowded disco in the basement of a hostel in Switzerland.

We were dancing the evening away when "Waterfalls" started playing. For those of you were not such huge TLC fans, there is a part toward the end of the song when Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes raps...it starts out "I seen a rainbow...yesterday..." (For those of you who might have only heard the song on the radio, you might not be aware of the rap part. They edited the song to exclude that part on the radio, a fact that used to irritate me to no end, leading me to rap right over the part where they skipped it, including when it went into the chorus. YOU WILL NOT RUIN MY SING/RAP-ALONG, RADIO STATION.)

Of course, I remembered all the words to this particular part of the song as well. I started belting out the lyrics at that part. Apparently, I was quite the novelty to the Europeans staying at our hostel because these Europeans formed a circle around me, as my fellow American students attempted to keep themselves upright. You see, I'm blonde. White. If I attempt to "rap," it's quite hilarious.

NO MATTER. I was in SWITZERLAND. The Swiss wanted to see me rap, I gave them what they wanted.

In retrospect, I imagine I looked quite the fool rapping an eight year-old song in the middle of a Swiss disco. I imagine I looked the same amount of ridiculous this morning working on my fitness as I sang (and danced) along to "No Scrubs."

I suppose I might have grown up. But some things will never change. That's just the way it is. (Did I mention I loved 2Pac too?)

Only seven years.

This past weekend, P.I.C. and I had the opportunity to celebrate our wedding with our extended family. Aunts, uncles, cousins, canine relatives, they all trekked out to rural Wisconsin to visit and celebrate.

Including one particular cousin. Remember this one?

Well, we had a lovely cake with a bejeweled "Z" as a cake-topper. Well, this "Z" looked kind of like the number seven. My uncle jokingly asks me, "Hey, why do you have a "7" on the top of your cake?" My smart ass husband responded, "That's because we're going to have seven years together."

My response? "YOU ARE NASTY, P.I.C."

Of course, cousin says to me, "Why did you call him nasty?"

I told her, "You didn't hear him say that we were only going to stay married for seven years."

She then proceeded to give him a look that would wither a lovely rose (and likely make someone cry if they weren't expecting it) for a good thirty seconds. She then looks back at me and says, "That's not nice."

I said, "I KNOW. That's why I called him 'nasty,' obviously."

She then went back to eating her full plate of baked beans and side of "monster" cheese.

Clearly, my specialness runs in the family, doesn't it?

Here's to the next seven years of my life.

Wedding appropriately celebrated...moving on.

Our wedding has been celebrated. Again. Now time to focus on the celebration of our new life together.

Because our actual wedding was in such a small space, P.I.C. and I could not invite our extended family. We had to limit our guest list to our immediate families (huge in P.I.C.'s world) and a few of our friends. Since I have a rather large extended family, and I knew they would want to celebrate the nuptials, my mom and Auntie Em (and her wife, April) came up with the brilliant idea to have a summer celebration at Auntie Em's house. We would invite all of the family, and any friends that couldn't come to the actual wedding. There would be a tent, roasted pork sandwiches, potato salad, and a keg of Spotted Cow. I would don my wedding gown for an encore viewing of "the dress." A D.J. named Hugo was added to the party later. (Gotta have a serious soundtrack for a serious backyard bash!)

Well, this past Saturday, we celebrated, backyard-style. While a very small number of friends made it, the family came out in full force. We had some photographs taken in small-town Wisconsin and along some country roads with a background of corn fields and rolling hills. We stayed up entirely too late attempting to make the keg float. We laughed, we danced, we hugged, we drank beer, we went for seconds on the pork sandwiches, we drank more beer, we ate wedding cake...and it was all photographed by a wonderful photographer (and her fantastic husband, both great friends of ours).

Now, early Monday morning, I officially can say that our wedding has been celebrated to the max.

To add to our celebration, on Friday, the day before our second celebration, we found out that New York lawmakers voted to allow same sex couples to get married. It gave me great joy to revel in the loveliness of a wedding knowing that finally, equality was starting to spread to the bigger states. EQUALITY. I hope from the bottom of my heart that this is a greater trend across our country.

The happiness I felt as I married the love of my life shouldn't be limited to straight people. Every single person on this earth deserves that feeling of joy. They deserve to marry the person of their dreams. Every single time another state votes to allow this to occur, I am hopeful that soon all states will follow suit.

May each person be able to not only find that special person that makes them smile each and every day, but also be able to marry them. Let us all celebrate our happiness equally.

My addiction.

Addictions run the gamut in our society. Cigarettes. Alcohol. Drugs. Shopping. Sex.

Me? Well, aside from occasionally dabbling with a shopping addiction, I have one very serious addiction that has recently come to light.

BEEF JERKY.

It all started when my coworkers and I began using this calorie-counting fitness website called myfitnesspal.com. (It's actually a pretty good website...I recommend it for counting calories and keeping track of your exercise. And it's FREE.) We got to talking about good snacks. We all agreed that we like beef jerky.

I mean, I always knew I liked it. On my travels to far-away counties for work, I almost always have to stop for some sort of jerky-related snack. I then have to apologize to P.I.C. "Sorry, I made your car smell like jerky again." But the road tripping was really the only time I ate beef jerky.

'Til last week. It was on sale at Walgreen's. Jack Links. (You know, the kind where you can mess with Sasquatch?) $2.99. Low carb. Low calorie. All delicious. So I bought one. And ate it. The next day? Same drill. And the next day? By this point, I wasn't even telling my coworkers about my trips to Walgreen's. I was prefacing my trips with a "I'm going to go buy some nail polish" excuse, but I really knew what I was after: cheap jerky.

I stopped eating at the end of the week when I realized it seemed problematic. My weekend was jerky-free. Until coworker sends me a photo of his dehydrator. Yep, he was making us HOMEMADE JERKY. Sigh. Of course, today he kindly brings me my very own Ziploc bag of it. Within an hour, it was gone. I ATE THE WHOLE BAG.

Hi. My name is Fabulously Awkward.

(Hi, stupid-blog-name-girl.)

And I'm a beef jerky addict.

(That's the first step, right? Admitting you have a problem?)

And, in other, non-beef jerky food-related information, I added a new entry to my sometimes-used cooking blog: mishapsandmasterpieces.blogspot.com. Check it out. But only if you're really bored.

Hats.

I love hats. I always have loved hats. When I was younger and my mom would bring me shopping, I would always beeline it straight for the hat section. I would try on every single one of those hats. Why? Why not. It was fun.

Today, my coworker and I went to blow off some steam. We found ourselves in the hat section at the local bargain basement store. My eight year-old self came out in full force. Fortunately, my coworker is a great sport and she joined in on the fun. We tried on the most GORGEOUS hats we could manage. After a few hats, we noticed a group of three younger girls, probably in their early teens. They were aiming for the same idea as us. As they huddled around some lovely green brimmed hats, we posed with our pink bejeweled versions.

I suggested a hat to them to which they looked at me like I was crazy. Um. Not. The. Truth. Really, I'm not the creepy old lady talking to kids. (1) I'm not that old. (2) I'm a nice girl. (3) I really pointed out a GORGEOUS hat to them. (I guess I never really was good at the whole "don't talk to strangers" bit, huh?)

Really, I think the problem was that my coworker and I hoarded all the good hats for our own personal Blackberry photo session. Those adolescent girls were JEALOUS. Obviously.

No one is better at me than honing in and trying on THE most ridiculous GORGEOUS hat in the bunch. Give them ten to fifteen years, then they will have some serious skills.

In love.

I got some sad news today. I'm not sure why it takes a really sad occurrence to make one take stock of the good things in his or her life. Obviously, that is what is going on with me at the moment. After gaping at my computer this morning, mouth open, tears not quite forming in my eyes, I began to feel grateful and very happy about my very fortunate life.

These days, I am in love. With life. With my husband. With the sunshine that dares peek out from behind the clouds. With my family. With my friends. With my cat. With my entire life. (That one was worth repeating.)

I love the smell of coffee first thing in the morning. I adore the way Oxford jumps on the bed for a snuggle when he hears us waking up in the morning. The alarm sound of a new email from my equally goofy coworkers makes each day at work infinitely better. An email from a far-away friend reminds me of all the love in my life. The photos being sent to me every day by all of the friends and family who shared in our wedding day make the memories of that day more pronounced and wonderful.

I am grateful to be here. I am happy to be healthy. Today, I am not going to worry about the things I want to change. Nope. Today I'm going to embrace my life and be happy with the hand I've been dealt.

Summer, where art thou?

Seriously. I woke up for the second morning in a row to thunder and lightning. I know that it's not officially summer til the solstice (June 21, I believe) but believe you me, I'm ready for it now. Those few days of hotness only whet my appetite for all things summer.

I bet you might be wondering, "Well, I wonder what Fabulously Awkward is going to be up to this summer?" First, I'd correct your grammar. (But not really, because that would make that really awkward and while I'm awkward in most aspects of my life, I try to speak so people can understand me.)

BUT REALLY. Since you've asked, and since it's Friday, and since I am in a funk due to our gray skies and flooding alleys of the past two days, I will just tell you. Why not, right?

1. Lollapalooza. Choice, right? Last year was my first yea,r and I had more of a blast than I ever imagined possible. This year it is the 20th anniversary. Cool. For a gift to our two ushers in our wedding, we bought them a day pass of their choice. So my brother will be experiencing Lolla for a day with us. I'm so excited.

2. Wedding party up north. Since we were unable to invite our extended families to our wedding due to an incredibly small venue (and budgetary constraints), we shall be having another party at Auntie Em's place complete with some roast pig, a key of Spotted Cow and a DJ named Hugo. It should be amazing. Plus I get to wear my wedding dress again. Awesome.

3. Weddings. Lots more people get married this year. I didn't have to plan any of it. I just get to show up and dance and act a fool. I mean, I have been told I am a "required dancer" at weddings. So I show up, have some champagne and dance. It's my thing and I love it.

4. Travel. By this time last year I had been to Florida and to New York (well, almost). This year, due to wedding stuff, we didn't get to take any trips. However, starting next month, we will be traveling fools. I have spent more money on plane tickets this year than I ever have in the past years. Well, after we buy our tickets to Spain, that will be true. I can't wait to start having some fun.*

5. Being in town on the 4th of July. Chicago around the 4th of July is fabulous. Lots of people leave town, so things seem to be quiet (unless you venture to the Taste of Chicago). We get three day weekends to match, hopefully some sunshine, and really just a bonus staycation weekend.

What are some things that might bring YOU joy this summer?

*I'm ignoring my financial issues for a bit, I have decided. While P.I.C. and I might be a DINK-couple currently, we still find ourselves broke on a fairly regular basis. I blame our stupid decisions to go to law school and our wise decisions to partake in Chicago restaurants far too often. (Maybe it's not wise, but it sure brings us joy.) That's not to say I'm throwing out my budget. I'm just going to stop beating myself up for occasionally living outside my means. It's way too fun to stop right now.