Work has been kicking my butt lately. I've been given additional responsibilities which is great since it shows that they are trying to grow my skills. But not so great since I've been overwhelmed with other aspects of my life. All the hats I'm juggling are getting to me. This morning I was ready to call everything quits all because Clyde forgot to take out the trash/recycling/compost causing me to have to scramble this morning to get it all out. This then caused me to be 20 minutes late and it was like the world was ending.

I think the biggest thing weighing on me right now is that my wedding business isn't doing so hot. I keep telling myself it's the economy and I just need to be patient. I'm not the only one in the biz who's feeling the pinch. But I'm so discouraged. I wonder if I should take it as a sign that I need to close this chapter and move on.

I'm sure I will return soon, restored back to my silly self obsessing over whether or not to get a bathing suit with horizontal stripes. Until then, I'll take the advice of a twitter friend and focus on breathing.

So we decided to take our vacation in Italy. This is our first real vacation since a couple of years ago when we visited Dana in Paris and then spent another week getting dehydrated in Mexico. (Last year's trip to Florida doesn't count since we spent it with his family so I couldn't ever really relax. Plus we also spent it on a pull-out couch that was really just a bunch of metal and springs held together by strings so I couldn't sleep either). Needless to say, I am ridiculously excited and my mind has switched to full on obsession over planning. It is bad timing for me to be doing this because it's really important that I focus on work right now. Both my jobs are in crunch time right now so I really need to stop reading tripadvisor reviews and do some WORK.

Adding to my obsession is Clyde's lack of interest in all things vacation. For example, I asked Clyde for his opinions on where we should stay in Florence and his response was, "I don't care, you plan it all, stop hassling me." And it's those last three words that make me want to strangle him. Then I remember that this means I get to plan everything so Clyde really won't have any choice when I plan half-a-day for shopping at the Prada, Gucci, and YSL outlets. Yes, poor him.

Since my husband is apparently disinterested in planning and I am obsessed, I'll probably have to just become obsessed on this blog. So apologies now for the many posts to come which I am sure with bore you to death (all 3 of you).

The sister and I got to see a screening of 500 Days of Summer last night and seriously, you should all go see this movie when it comes out. Reasons why you should see this film:

* You will be so engrossed in this movie you will not notice things like discomfort. For example, the sister and I ended up sitting in the very front row, craning our necks at a 90 degree angle during the entire film and it was fine with us because Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel were mesmerizing.

* You might lose weight if you watch this film. The sister and I had been debating about which ice cream flavors to choose and I would've left to get said ice cream had I not been gloriously distracted by the music. So ear candy and not mouth candy equals less calories! And as an added bonus, also equals less guilt for skipping yoga class.

* You will hopefully walk out feeling like falling in love is awesome. Sometimes I am total asshat and I forget that loving feeling. Ya know, that feeling when you first fall in love with someone and everything in the world is so perfect and you want to break out into choreographed dances in the park with strangers and birdies? Well sometimes I forget that I felt all of that when I met Clyde. And sometimes I take him for granted and I forget that he did all of that for me and even made me a mix CD introducing me to the Smiths and Morrissey which I played over and over in a very dramatic way but loved every stinking moment of it. And every day I would wake up feeling so entirely awesome. Well sometimes I forgot all of that and wake up cranky instead of remembering how lucky I am. But after this film I went home and hugged Clyde lots and tried really hard to not wake up cranky this morning.

* You will develop a girl crush on Zooey, if you didn't have one already, and perhaps pick up some fashion tips resulting in an increased sense of self-confidence. Already I am liking my naturally wavy hair a little bit more, all thanks to Ms. Zooey.

So if you are even a little bit dramatic like me, this movie is a must-see. And even if you are not at all dramatic, still a must-see. And if you are super dramatic, well you should probably see it and then take all your friends to see it and then send me a letter thanking me for pushing you with my blog post to go see it.

I want to share something Ariana of Becoming Mom posted on her blog regarding marriage and parenthood:

1 ) Don’t ignore your problems, they will not go away, but your love might.
2) If you are pregnant now, take the extra effort to connect with your partner and sure up your relationship.. it will be tried in ways you can’t even imagine.
3) Schedule time for one another no matter how insurmountable or insignificant a task this may seem with a new baby.
4) Make time for each of you to do the things you loved before becoming parents so you don’t lose yourselves as individuals.
5) Never, ever take for granted that your partner will always be there just because you are “married”.

I feel grateful Ariana took the time to share something so private and painful with her blog readers and it reminded me how marriage and love is not something you can take for granted. I am frequently guilty of taking Clyde for granted and forgetting to nurture our relationship. So thank you Ariana for the reminder.

Today is not off to a good start. I slept in an hour due to my alarm clock not going off or my not hearing it. Then during my drive to work, I got a nosebleed. Let me tell you, it is quite difficult to drive while trying to stop your head from gushing blood. Then I got into the office and realized I didn't have my laptop with me. My bag had felt like it was the right weight when I left the house thanks to some library books. So then I had to get back in the car to drive home and retrieve my computer.

Now I am finally back at the office. I feel so exhausted and I haven't even done a single lick of work yet. I feel somewhat like I already put in a full day due to my double commutes this morning. This is going to be an awesome day. I can totally tell.

I ran some errands during lunch today which somehow landed me at Old Navy. (I hate that I'm such a shopper). Old Navy had all of their dresses on sale for $15, too good of a deal to resist. Ten minutes later I found myself in the dressing room trying on a maxi dress. My debate on whether I should buy the dress went something like this:

And that is how I ended up buying the maxi dress. Fast forward a few hours later and I am feeling buyer's remorse. Seriously I don't think I should be buying items solely based on how lazy they will allow me to be. Otherwise why bother prettying myself up at all? It would be so much easier to just wear juicy couture elastic waist pants all the time.

So dress is going back. However I'm now wondering if I should buy the chiffon flutter sleeve dress in navy or linen-blend ruffle dress in berry instead. The flutter dress had a vintage quality about it. I showed restraint with this one since I do have a gazillion dresses already like it and I started to wonder if it was a bit matronly. The linen dress was flattering on but again, I was wondering if it was verging on the matronly. Many years of having strict conservative parents has sometimes left me with the fashion sense of an old marm. What do you think? Which dress do you think I should've gone with? Should I keep the lazy day maxi dress? Or none of the above, I should instead head straight to Anthropologie.