Feldmann Family Visit

My little sister Frances is getting married next year to a handsome young man by the name of Daniel Feldmann— a true gentleman he is.  Their story is a modern-day fairytale and we’re very excited to join them next year in Europe for their nuptials (they’re celebrating in a castle!)

Frenchy's fiance, Danny Feldmann

Just as we started discussing the big trip and talking about how much we looked forward to meeting Frenchy’s new Swiss Family, we were pleasantly surprised to learn the Feldmann Family was planning something similar. They organized an August trip to California for the first time to meet our family and explore the Sunshine State.

From L to R: Sabrina, Thomas & Charlotte Feldmann

Paul must have said something to make me laugh

Since the Feldmann’s would be arriving in Los Angeles, I planned a dinner party to greet them upon arrival. For the meal, I asked my mother-in-law, Dotty for her for her green enchilada recipe because I thought it would be great to offer the Feldmann’s a taste of Mexican cuisine and Dotty makes some killer enchiladas! To my surprise, instead of giving me the recipe, Dotty made them for us (three whole trays to be exact) and left them ready for me to place in the oven and serve. She wanted to help me avoid spending hours in the kitchen with so many other things I had to do (including taking care of Benny). I wish I would have snapped a photo of the enchiladas but I’ll just say they were simply delicious and I’m forever grateful for my mother-in-law’s thoughtfulness!

We arranged the dining room table to feature a basic table setting that included silver plate chargers, white dinnerware and fresh purple daisies. I also used a dark gray table cloth to keep things neutral and simple. We set up clear wine goblets to have a toast but in the end, Paul took over my classy affair and gave everyone a beer and entertained them by imitating Donald Duck.

For dessert, we had a tres leches mocha cake that was really tasty. I bought it from a local Mexican Grocery Store and it turned out to be quite a hit!

All in all, it was a pleasure to meet this lovely family, especially after discovering that despite the cultural differences and distance between us, we share many similarities and an overall agreement that life is to be celebrated and enjoyed every day (cheers!).

My Husband Paul

Sitting around the living room one day, I asked my husband to use one word to describe me (It was one of those days when I needed to be spoiled).

He  responded : “sunshine”. Awwwww. Very cute. He certainly scored brownie points.

Then I asked him to use another word to describe me because sunshine is cute but I wanted to hear more! The second time, he said “fantastic.”

Really? That’s not a word he ever uses but since I liked where this was going, I asked him to use a third word to describe me, this time it had to begin with the letter “F” again.

To be honest, I thought he would say “fun” but instead, he said I was fabulous!

Yay! I smacked a big kiss on his lips and walked away.

I know I set him up to describe me as fantastic and fabulous but there has to be some truth to his words if he says them, right?

I don’t think I’m amazingly, out-of-this-world fabulous nor do I usually ask others to feed my ego but in a society where expressions and descriptions tend to be highly exaggerated (I always say I’m ‘dying’ when I think something tastes delicious, for example), I thought it was quite fitting to capitalize on the word fabulous for purposes of this blog.

A day in the life of a fabulous wife focuses mainly on my family and fun, cutesy things of a positive nature, although you’ll always read about my husband Paul, like beginning now:

Paul is the love of my life. We met in college at Loyola Marymount University back in 2002. He was a shy guy; Mysterious and sexy, if I do say so myself.  But he was so shy  that  it  was me who asked him out first and I also initiated our first kiss! But once we started dating, he was so much fun!! We would study together, party, travel, laugh and spend every penny (from odd jobs and our parents’ allowance) on each other. We were two passionate college students who loved each other a lot and gained a lot of weight together in the process.

We had many bumps along the way though…our fights and break-ups were as explosive as our laughing attacks. Even our closest friends at times would tell us we weren’t good for each other. Once I graduated, I went off to Texas to pursue a journalism career and he stayed in Los Angeles and entered the world of law enforcement.   

Today, we  are MUCH more mellow than during our crazy college years. We got married in 2007 and had a rocky start, even living a part for quite some time…but that pure, deep, solid love has always prevailed and we’ve managed to make our marriage work. 

He gives me the freedom to make most household  & financial decisions, as long as there’s a fully stocked fridge with healthy foods, clean towels in the shower and proof that we're continuing to pay off our debt (those college loans, I tell ya). He doesn't ask for much and is very appreciative of the life he's been blessed with, especially after a few scares we experienced before he was diagnosed with a heart condition that he's been handling quite well these days. We have incorporated a fitness regimen into our daily lives. We believe that, yes, a couple that prays together, stays together (and we do pray). But we also believe a couple who works out together, stays together.

My husband deserves this little tribute because he's supported me, my career and all my crazy endeavors throughout the years and has showed me some good lovin' all along. He's been one heck of a father to our son Benny and will surely lead our son's Boyscout troop one day (giggles). 

Paul has always been camera shy and refuses to take part in any social media networking-- but for all intents and purposes, let it be known in cyberspace and beyond that he's my incredible partner and I'm honored to be his fabulous wife (love)!