All I Want for Christmas...

If you follow me on Twitter, you may have picked up on the fact that we've had some serious technical difficulties around our house the past few months. My husband's laptop died a painful death a few months back, but he's lucky enough to have a corporate laptop to bring home at night (a corporate laptop that ALSO crashed last week, losing all the personal data he was supposed to have on said deceased personal laptop-turned-bedroom-doorstop, but that's another story...)

I've been fighting an uphill battle with my own laptop, but have overwhelmingly tried to give it the benefit of the doubt. Oh, your battery is no longer capible of holding a charge? No problem, I'll just keep you plugged in on a 20 ft. extension cord, carrying you throughout the house on a perilously unstable teather. (Seriously, if I had a dollar for every time the power cord was accidentally unplugged from the laptop, wiping away the 50 simultaneous Internet Explorer tabs I had opened, I could probably buy myself a new Speedy 35).

Or, Dear Laptop, how about how you drop my wireless signal every 10 minutes, despite the fact that our router is seriously 8 feet away from you? If you think that *all* the work the Mr. and I put in to thinking of a super-awesome wireless signal name (also known as The Toughest Household Decision We've Ever Had To Make Thus Far As A Married Couple) just for you to laugh in its face and drop-kick it 6 times an hour, you have another thing coming. But I caressed you, I coddled you, I compensated for your wireless connection issues until my fingers almost bled from Right-click ->Repair -> Refresh.

Then, and early Christmas miracle arrived- Mr. and Mrs. Claus (aka Mama and Papa Martini) broke the news yesterday afternoon that we'd be getting new laptops for Christmas.


*NEW LAPTOPS*!


I was so excited, my head almost exploded into little pieces of candy and confetti. For serious.

High off the prospect of new technology, I turned on the Laptop of Doom last night to write the "I'm Back!" blog post, and then to begin researching a replacement for my technological nemesis.
And this is what I was greeted with:

Well played, Laptop. Well played.

xoxo,

Lulu

She's Back! Back in a New York Groove!

I've got a new life, a new look, and whole boatload of fun stories to catch you up on!

I cannot wait to finally get back in the blogging saddle, and share with you a little piece of what's been going on in LuluLand.

I'd like to give special thanks to Ashly at Blogheads by Ash, the lovely and talented designer of my new blog heading. It was high time that The Dirty Martini Diaries received a proper facelift, and I could not have chosen a better person to personify All Things Lulu in one sweet little header. Ash is a mindreader when it comes to design, so if you're looking for a fresh new look, go her way! You'll find her lovely button on the right-hand side of my blog.

I'm going to leave you with a little bit of pump-you-up music, Lulu and the Mr. style. This little ditty is a house favorite- look past the creepster '70s KISS video, if you will, and soak in a great song that totally mirrors how psyched I am to be back in Blogland!



xoxo,
Lulu

{psssssst....}

Hi.

Remember me?

Again?

I promise that I'm coming back.

Soon.

Very soon.

I miss you all very much.

I hope you know that.

Thank you for being patient with me.

In the meantime, here's a little taste of what happened 6 months ago, this very day:

(Photo courtesy of the insanely, rediculously, trumendously talented Hollye Schumacher)

Time flies, right?

Looking forward to catching up on life soon, Dear Reader.

Very soon.

xoxo,
Lulu

Going To Miss You, Little Buddy...

It's a sad day in LuluLand, my friends...I've never really mentioned this on the blog before, but the Mr. and I are the proud parents of 3 little furbabies. Sadly, my little ones are illegal in the state of New York, so I avoided their mention in this blog as I was technically breaking the law by having them (oooh, Lulu is such a troublemaker!). My little balls of furry love were actually 3 aging ferrets that I've raised since infancy. I know that a ferret isn't the most traditional choice for a pet, but they are seriously some of the best pets you could ever have.

When the Mr. and I moved to our newlywed love nest post-nuptials, we had one strong stipulation - NO pets allowed. My parents VERY kindly came to NYC, picked up my "kids", and took them back to Dallas with them so they could enjoy their golden years in a big, sprawling, sunny home.

One of my critters, Whitey, came to me 5 years ago or so, malnourished and abused. I had the choice of either taking him into my home (which at the time already had 4 other animals), or sending him to a kill shelter in Phoenix. It was a tough choice to increase my brood to a whopping 5, but an even tougher choice to know I would send him on to his eventual death. He was odd-looking- albino white fur and strange orange eyes- a face only a mother could love. Love him I did, and nursed him back to health and a long, happy life.

Sadly, my little babe passed away in his sleep yesterday afternoon.

Rest in peace, buddy...

Hi, I'm Lulu- Have We Met?

Can I even begin to tell you all how much I have missed you, Dear Readers!?!

For the last 5 weeks, I've barely been surviving the heady combination of a GIANT work project, a slow-as-molasses apartment move, and *no* home Internet access for the last 5 weeks (I can't even steal free wireless from any of the neighbors- GAH!). If it weren't for Twitter access on my Blackberry, I would have literally gone insane.

I just wanted to bootleg my work Internet access for 30 seconds to sneak a quick hello to you all, and let you know that the cable man is coming to our new apartment on Saturday. I won't be the slightest bit surprised if I jump into his arms and start crying when he arrives- I am THAT excited to see him and to be reconnected to blog society again.

I promise that sticking out my absence just a few days longer will be worth the wait, *so* much has happened to catch you up on! Stay tuned for wedding recaps, honeymoon pictures, and a whole slew of other juicy nuggets from the Land of Lu!

xoxo,
Lulu

The Big Leagues

I have an exciting announcement for you, Dear Reader~

I'm now a guest blogger for Elizabeth Anne Designs Living!

I am beyond shocked and honored to join the EADL team, as some of my *favorite* writers in Blogland now contribute to the site as well. Stop early and often to hear the latest from Mojito Maven, Erin, Liene, and many many more! (You can find my weekly posts here, too, if you're so inclined! ha) ETA: Kate has officially joined the team as well! It just keeps getting better!

In honor of this special blogging occasion, my amazing/talented/quite possibly coolest person on the face of the earth wedding photog Hollye Schumacher sent me one of our wedding photos early to use as my avitar:

(Lulu, The Mr. (sort of), and you have some seriously delicious dirty martinis)

This is the first glimpse of our wedding photos, fitting that it would be with dirty martini in hand! I cannot wait to see what else Hollye has in store... Thanks, again, Hollye!

Special thanks to my blogland friends for getting me involved with the project, and to sweet Ami at EAD for letting me be a part of such a great site!

xoxo,

Lulu

Coming Soon To A Theater Near You...

*Our wedding film!*

That's right ladies, our wedding video trailer is officially up for preview!

From the moment the Mr. and I knew we were having the wedding in Phoenix, I became fixated with the idea of having the multi-talented team at My Wedding Film do the videography for our big day. I became familiar with My Wedding Film after I discovered that they provided the videography for a few of my Kappa sorority sisters, and fell *madly* in love with their work.

Then- I lost my job, and had no hope of being able to fit such a spectacular vendor into my budget.

A month before the wedding (when I was finally employed again), a true wedding planning miracle came true - Mary of My Wedding Film let me know that they were still available to shoot our big day. I thought my head would explode into little bits of confetti when I signed their contract, as I knew that they would produce something magical for us.

And boy, ladies, did they ever!

Without further ado, the preview of our big day:

Lulu and Mr. Wonderful's Wedding Video Preview

Big thanks to My Wedding Film and Liene of The Smart Planner for making this happen!

Enjoy your Memorial Day weekend!

xoxo,

Lulu

The Post Where I Throw Out Terribly Obvious Hints

Dear Mr. Wonderful,

As you know, I'm going to be home late in order to attend that little "How To Make Money on eBay" class I mentioned earlier today. (Make money, money! Make money, money, monaaaay!)

Just in case you were wondering, we have all the ingredients for those Rachel Ray Spinach and Mushroom Lasagna Roll Ups with Gorgonzola Cream Sauce we both love so much... minus the 1/2 cup heavy cream and 1 cup veggie stock.

Just in case you were wondering.

:)

Love,

Your Wife

Just A Friendly Little Reminder

Dear Manhattan weather,

I'm dropping you a gentle reminder that it is, in fact, Spring now. I know time has been flying quickly this year, so I can relate to you being just a tad bit behind on the seasonal weather change thing. I mean, I'm a little behind on the To Do list thing myself, you know? Perhaps you were just being accommodating, since you know that I haven't done the whole Winter/Summer wardrobe switch out and all? I sincerely appreciate the gesture, but frankly am just not kosher with the fact that I wore both a cashmere sweater AND a tweed blazer to work yesterday without the slightest hint of overheating. Also, it's more than just a little disappointing to read the Facebook status of my Phoenix friends- they're basing by the pool all day while I'm in wellies and a pullover. Hmpf.

Let's make a pact, eh? I put away the cashmere blends, you bring on the Central Park-worthy sunshine.

Thanks,

Lulu

Spotted - RHNY Bethenny!

I've been stuck in a big work conference all week, which means I neither have time to 1) blog, 2) do laundry, nor 3) buy groceries. My waistline is rapidly increasing due to the consumption of copious amounts of "conference food" (you all know what I'm talking about - bagels, cookies, and vast amounts of diet soda), I'm sporting my last pair of clean unmentionables, and I'm nearly bursting at the seams with all the wedding recaps I'd like to get out to you.

I've dubbed this weekend Blogapaloosa in my little shoebox of an apartment, and will be pulling together some fun coverage of the wedding. In the meantime, I have a *great* little teaser for you! Last night I passed up a free corporate dinner (read: all the food and vino you can consume) at one of my FAVE reataurants in the city, just for you Dear Reader! And you thought I didn't love you... I popped on over to the Columbus circle Borders store and attended RHNY Bethenny's book signing appearance!

I have gossip! I have photos! I even took a bunch of video clips, so you gals could see just how hilarious she is in real life. I may or may not even have a little giveaway item for you tucked in my LV Speedy. *wink wink*

Keep your eyes peeled for the next post, as it'll be packed full of the goods!

xoxo,
Lulu