Tuesday, December 8, 2009

If you're not first, you're last

Dear Blog,

It finally happened. Aaron told me I needed to dress up more. Now, I know what you're thinking. Something along the lines of "Why on earth would anyone tell Alison she needs to dress up more? Girlfriend dresses up to go the grocery store." I will tell you why. About a year and a half a brand of yoga inspired athletic apparel happened to me. I'm not going to mention the name of the brand for google alerts sake, but I will give you a hint; I work for this company and the fruit "lemon" is included in the name. Does that help? So, over the course of a year and a half I've acquired quite a bit of 4 way stretch, flat seamed clothing that is oh so comfortable and is quite flattering and fashionable if I do say so myself.

I digress. Back to Saturday and the "dress up more" comment. Let me set the scene for you. I go to Spokane for a trunk show with one of my coworkers and Spokane is no hop, skip or jump away from Seattle. It's almost 300 miles away and you literally have to drive through a big ass mountain range to get there. (The Northwest. Sigh. I remember the days when I thought little hills were mountains. I didn't quite know what I was talking about. The skiing is waaaaay better out here. This ain't no Winterplace, WV.) We do a trunk show for these women, go see "The Blind Side" (you should see it!! it's wonderful!!) go to sleep in our cheetah themed hotel room (don't ask) wake up and then begin the 300 mile trek back over the big ass mountain range to Seattle. I drive a European engineered car and I have a size 9 1/2 foot and before I knew it I was topping out at about 95 mph on the way back. I KNOW RIGHT?!? Who drives that fast? Me apparently. I would look down at the speedometer and scream about how fast I was going, slow down and then inevitably speed back up again. Shoot. Now, I know what you're thinking again. Where was the cruise control? Well, I've only had the car for about a year and haven't taken it on too many road trips. When we do go on road trips Reliable Ron drives us there and you KNOW he doesn't speed. And that would be my excuse for not knowing how to engage my cruise control. I was making record time back to Seattle and before I knew it I looked in my rearview and saw a cop car. Double shoot. I get in the right lane and say a quick prayer to Big G that he wasn't going to pull me but who I was kidding? Me and Big G both knew I was getting my very. first. ticket. in about five minutes.

That's right. My very first ticket! I've never been pulled for speeding ever!! And I drive extraordinarily fast all the time! I love driving fast. I want to be the first one to everywhere I'm going. I blame it on my parents, they both have lead feet. Hey, I'm a member of generation y don't we blame everything on our parents? I can't believe I've never gotten a ticket actually. Nonetheless, I was very upset that my impeccable driving record was now blemished. I even mentioned that to cop in the form of; "I have absolutely no reason why you clocked me topping out at 90. It's the German engineering. Have you seen my impeccable driving record?" Big smile, casual hair toss. He was none too impressed by clean driving record but he reduced my ticket to 80mph in a 70. I think it was the smile and casual hair toss.

Then I get home and find out and we're going to dinner with some friends and all I want to wear is my comfy yoga clothes and a casual jacket but noooooooooooo, Ron thinks I need to dress up more and actually wear like real pants or something. What is he thinking?!? Real pants? Blasphemy. So I put on jeans and called it a night.

xoxo,
Al

Thursday, December 3, 2009

It's December 2?? Seriously?

Dear Blog,

Oh my, how I have neglected you. Rest assured, you have never strayed far from my thoughts.

I needed a little reprieve from the blog. I feel like blog world is getting a little...used. Back in the days of dport7 and uncle urb I thought having a blog was so cool and I couldn't wait to have one. And then everyone and their mom (literally, even my mom had a blog for a couple of days--no offense Ma, your blog was legit!) had a blog. And for me, the blog has lost a bit of the old luster. Am I crazy? Am I being a narcissistic, self involved blog elitist? Well, yes. Both actually. My blog needs a facelift. I'm tired of brown. So, this is a public request for my beloved husband, Ron, to give my blog a makeover because you are the best graphic designer in the entire universe to infinity and beyond. Thank you very much in advance. Love, me.

Another reason I haven't blogged for almost two months is because I have LITERALLY had the craziest past 6 weeks of my life. Let me regale you with my schedule. After we got home from Brooklyn/NYC, my mom-in-law came into town. Spent a long weekend with her entertaining our little hearts out. The following weekend I went to Landmark for three very long, head trippy, self excavating days. After Landmark, I proceeded to get a sinus infection and f*ck up royally at work. And for those of y'all who don't know me, I don't f*ck up. I recover from both the sickness and my lil' mistake and am then informed that I'm heading to Miami for two weeks to do some work with a team down there. While in Miami I proceed to turn 29, work my butt off, go the beach, become crazy attached to the team down there, laugh, cry, try to get a tan. I get back from Miami and celebrate Ron's 29th birthday and then am off to Vancouver for a conference where I get to see my work bff Christie! We only get to see each other once a year because she lives in Cleveland, OH and you know, I may travel a lot but I ain't goin' there. Sorry Christie.



I got home the weekend before Thanksgiving and then...you guessed it, it was time to get the store prepped for Black Friday and the crazy holidays that ensue. Call me crazy, but I enjoy the crazy holiday season in the retail world.

There you have it. Those are all of my excuses valid reasons for not blogging for almost the past 8 weeks. However, God is indeed listening and He has told me that there have many, many, MANY prayers for ole' BellaFrenchie to return and I am back and will be blogging more regularly.

In the meantime, stay tuned for BellaFrench's facelift.

xoxo,
Al

Monday, October 12, 2009

No sleep IN Brooklyn OR SoHo

Dear Blog,

You know the Beastie Boys song "No sleep 'til Brooklyn?" I mean, I get it, Brooklyn is exciting and yay! we're going to Brooklyn! But, what happens when you get to Brooklyn? You still don't sleep. Now, I like sleep, in fact I can sleep almost anywhere. It's a little known fact about me. I will fall asleep in bars and/or Nascar races, but that's another post. However, one (of many) of the nice things about traveling from west to east to visit college friends for a wedding we've all been waiting for is the fact that there is a three hour time difference and I can stay up til three and not wake up until 11 and still remain on my West Coast schedule. If this weren't the case, then I definitely would not have survived the 6 days I spent in Brooklyn/SoHo with our bff's.

So, we traveled to the aforementioned Brooklyn for the nuptials of Ron's friends from SCAD Paul and Kate. They've been dating for 8 years and you can hear about their fairy tale romance on none other than The New York Times, HERE. Now, who gets featured on The New York Times? Kate and Paul. Who has their wedding sanctioned by the Pope? Kate and Paul. Finally, who has an oil portrait commissioned by the Rybicki's of the lovely couple on a subway en route to a Yankee's Game? I think you get it by now, Paul and Kate. In Alison speak, their wedding was the bomb, off the hook, off the chain, any sort of street euphemism you can think of for 'GOOD', that was their wedding.




I love a wedding! When a bride is walking down the aisle I always get a little teary eyed, there's just something so beautiful about it. I especially love a wedding in a church. The last couple of weddings we've been to have been outside and don't get me wrong, those are beautiful too. There's just something about getting married in a church that is so special and serious and ceremonial that speaks to me. You feel me blog world? Discuss. Disagree. Just comment 'cause I love comments too.

One of the highlights of the weekend was meeting #2 BellaFrench blog fan: Linda Diehl! (Naturally, mom and dad are tied for first. They did birth me after all.) This weekend was the first time I had the pleasure of meeting Paul's parents. As soon as I met Linda, I knew we would be friends for life. She has been keeping up with BellaFrench ever since the creation of the blog and we immediately started chatting about current goings-on. What a way to start up a weekend! Thanks Linda!!



After all of the wedding festivities were over, Aaron and I traveled to meet our other friends, Spurge and Gilly for three days of fun, frivolity, drunken shopping extravaganzas, brunch, five napkin burgers and DVR.
Here is the highlight reel:
You a jerk, I know.
Trade 'em in.
Fantasia and Kandi's sweet, sweet moves
Skyline Park. You had to be there.
Why are we sitting by the kitchen?
Don't be tardy for the party; country version a la Aaron Shurts
Basically, all around foolishness. But out of this foolishness came a challenge. A 30-Day Yoga Challenge. To get yo' mind and yo' body right. Spurgeon. Alison. West Coast. East Coast. Oct 15th. More details to come. But basically the details are two cross country bff's are holding each other accountable for 30 days of yoga. We are going to be so buff and enlightened. Love us some yoga. Ommmmmmmmmmm.



xoxo,
Alison

Thursday, September 24, 2009

An extra shot

Dear Blog,

When Aaron and I moved to Seattle we knew that we would be in for some interesting sights and experiences. You can't move from the bottom right side of the country to the upper left side with there not being any changes. However, I did not in my wildest dreams think that one of those interesting things would be the so-called "Bikini Barista" stands. In case you don't speak coffee, a barista is the dedicated individual who arises before the break of dawn to make coffee for the masses! Basically, I'm friends with all of the baristas within a one mile radius of my store and you would be quite surprised at the amount of Starbucks in Seattle in a one mile radius. That is not the point of this post.

In Seattle and other surrounding cities there are drive through coffee stands on almost every corner parking lot where there isn't a Starbucks or a Tully's. Let me paint a picture for you; are you familiar with a mini barn? Just picture a mini barn with a tacky sign and a gimmick for an "almond joy mocha" or something and that's a coffee stand. Now. Just picture a coffee stand with a scantily clad young girl serving up the brew and THAT my dear friends, is a "bikini barista". It's disgusting! I can't even justify my disgust in this post. These girls are wearing lingerie and serving coffee and being blatantly exploited by the owners of these joints. It's just gross. I can't help but think about these girls parents and what they must be thinking? Even as I write this my heart rate is going up, up, up. Aaron always finds it somewhat amusing that I get so fired up about these places but in my mind it is prostitution. SIIIIIIIICK!!!

Well, looky what I found tonight on Perez. I have to admit though, when I read this I chuckled, the comments are especially funny to me.

http://perezhilton.com/2009-09-24-grab-n-go-espresso-and-a-hooker

In other news, has anyone gotten Pearl Jam's new album, Backspacer? It's so good! If you have an extra $10 and feel like buying an album, I suggest this one heavily. And in other, other news Aaron and I went to see them on Monday night! In case you're new to this blog, Pearl Jam is my favorite, favorite, favorite band and this was my fifth time seeing them and I will see them five more times when the opportunity arises. The concert, as always, was amazing and Eddie Vedder and Pearl Jam never cease to amaze me. Here is an excellent review of the show, http://www.spin.com/articles/pearl-jam-slay-seattle.

That's all friends!
xoxo,
Alison

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Huffy in a Puffy

Dear Blog,

Since I am responsible for two blogs I am going to cheat and post the blog that I wrote for work on my personal blog. It's really not cheating. Here you go!

Puffy jackets have always been an enigma to me. The burning question in my mind was how does one look NOT so puffy IN a puffy? At 5’8 and roughly 145 pounds I do not exactly have what one would call a “petite frame” and I was deathly afraid that a puffy jacket would make me resemble Ralphie’s little brother in everyone’s favorite holiday movie; A Christmas Story.

However, the Seattle winters call for a jacket that is both warm and water resistant and when l________* introduced a jacket that boasted both of these important features…well I had to get my hands on that jacket. So I did.

Believe it or not, I have already had the chance to try it out. While everyone was grilling out for the last summer hurrah on Labor Day, I was at a music festival in Seattle where the temperature didn’t get out of the low 60’s and there was light to heavy rain. I was going to be there all day and into the evening and I thought this was going to be the perfect time to try out my puffy jacket.

I slipped it on and after one or two or twenty looks at myself in the mirror at every conceivable angle I came to the conclusion that this jacket outlines my silhouette and does not make me look huge at all. It almost felt like a second skin, it was neither bulky nor bunchy. The hood kept my ‘do in tact so on the off chance that I ran into Fergie of The Black Eyed Peas after the show I wouldn’t look like a frizzy mess. The luon thumbholes on the sleeves kept my sleeves down so when I was clapping or dancing wildly I didn’t feel one raindrop or the wind. Most importantly, it kept me both warm and dry.



Now if I could just convince my husband that I need one in every color I will be set for the impending Seattle winter.

*I like to keep my employer on the DL.

xoxo,
al

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Runnin' on Empty

Dear Blog,

I love blogging, don't get me wrong, but I take this blog seriously for all you readers and I'm always thinking of the perfect, funny, sassy, saucy, authentic topic. I will sit down in my front of my computer and write, rewrite, back space, read and re-read until I think I have the BEST blog ever. I like to surprise Aaron with it and then grill him about what his favorite part was, what he thought was the most funny and generally whether or not he even liked it. So when I was bemoaning on the couch that I had nothing to blog about, I wasn't surprised when I had a pillow in my face. The bellafrench fam has just had one of their busiest weekends yet.



Friday night Aaron and I went to see one of America's greatest singer/songwriters, Jackson Browne, at one of our favorite local wineries. I know I've mentioned before how much I love music and how certain songs will elicit emotions from a period of my life that I haven't thought about in years. When I think of Jackson Browne, I will always be reminded of road trips in the family Volvo. He is an artist our whole family likes and we could always agree to listen to him when traveling to all the places we would go. (The Williams' like to drive. We just get in the car and off we go.) One of my favorite JB songs is "Late for the Sky." When I was in high school I was convinced that I could convince my ignorant youth group leader that a song deemed secular could still be religious or spiritual in nature with that particular song. I worked so hard getting ready for my 'presentation' and interpreted the lyrics and was excited to share with my youth group. I was shot down fast and hard. Be wary of chubby youth leaders who wear gold cross earrings and polyester suits. But, I digress. The concert was wonderful. The live music that comes to Seattle is a major perk of living here. Next on the plate; Modest Mouse, Black Eyed Peas and Franz Ferdinand at a local festival and then the coup de grace; PEARL JAM!! Oh how I will forever be loyal to Eddie Vedder and the men of Pearl Jam.

Saturday entailed a wedding of one of my coworkers. Aaron's mad dancin' skillz garnered the attention of the ladays. I will not go in to details but there may or may not have been some butt grabbage on Aaron from a lady admirer. Do work Ron. Shake it like I taughtcha. The wedding was beautiful. The great thing about weddings is they always remind me of my wedding , or maybe that's just me.




Around 11:30 pm after the wedding we picked up my mom from the airport!! We've been having non stop fun. Well, I don't know how much she's been having. So far she has cooked three dishes for us and done about 4 loads of our laundry. She insists she likes doing this...aight. I love having my mom out here so she can get a little taste of our lifestyle. I like showing off Seattle and the store and having her meet my peeps. So, we're all having a good ole time.



Mom is going to be here for almost another week, so more exciting stories and pics to come.

xoxo,
Al

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Slippin n Slidin

Dear Blog,

You know, it's about 80 degrees in the house and having a laptop on my lap makes me even hotter, however I have a particular spot on the couch that is so comfortable and I can then look at people.com, barneys.com, neimanmarcus.com, all my peeps' blogs, email WORK and also watch Bravo CNN. It is tres convenient and I won't give it up even if it burns my legs or makes me infertile. Laptop comes first. Little AliRon's second. (ed. note: Please do not send me any propaganda about laptops making me infertile, I won't read it 'cause I don't believe it. Guess time will tell.)

Status Update! My dad won the Williams weight loss challenge. He has successfully lost and maintained 10 lbs. Way to go Big Don! I'm still hovering between the 5 and 6 pound weight loss. I must admit that I have not tried that hard lately. I've been enjoying dark chocolate m&m's a tad too much. My dad's weight loss has inspired me to get back on track. Aaron and I ran yesterday for the first time since Hawaii, we went about 4 miles and I was fixin' (southern euphemism for 'about') to die after that one. If I'm going to run the Seattle half in November then I need to uh...run more than once a month. I wish I could be more like my friend Drew who gets up and runs every morning at 5:30 am or something crazy. Every time I have grand intentions to get up early I tell my alarm clock to quit trippin' and I go back to sleep. See how I managed to turn that paragraph about my dad back to me? It's a talent. Anywho, way to go dad! Be on the lookout for your prize in the mail.

Speaking of Drew and also trippin', Drew has been politely asking me and Ron to post pics of the SSS&SP (short shorts slip&slide party) pics. It was so fun! Here is my favorite picture of the whole afternoon/evening.




The look on Aaron's face is classic. I'm sure you're now wondering what I was doing? Well wait no longer my friends:


That's right. I was chatting. Don't judge me. It was kind of cold that day. Like I said, it was fun but I think it would have been more fun if more people came. I think people are scared of short shorts. Get over it people. It's fun. Enough said. We'll have it next year and I'm expecting you all to be here. Oh and yeah, our grass looks sad but believe it or not we haven't had that much rain in ole Seattle this summer. This being Aaron and my first summer here we didn't water the grass because we thought that would be ruh tarded. Little did we know that we are the ruh tards.

Status update: My mom is coming out here on Saturday!!! Let the games and southern frivolity begin y'all! I love it when she talks and people ask her where she's from, everyone loves a southern belle.

I think bellafrench needs a facelift. Any suggestions for new a color theme? A new snotty phrase at the top?

Also, in an effort to update more often I was thinking about adding a new section called That's What She Said, I know, original right? Anyway, in this section I would just write anonymous little quips that either I have said or I have heard from one of my friends/coworkers/cohorts/conversations with Aaron, etc. Here is a little preview:

Friend A: What do you think, Alexander McQueen or Louis Vuitton?
Friend B: Hard to say. I have a heated sexual response to Alexander McQueen. Louis Vuitton is kind of rap video.

That's all for tonight!
xoxo,
Al

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

upd8

Dear Blog,

I think we've all decided that at least french pedicures are decidedly out, I keep looking at my feet and thinking "ew." I don't know what I was thinking. My peeps at work just tell me to take it off but then I'm like, well I spent money on getting a manicure and pedicure so I might as well keep it on there because 99% of American women think they look good and the 1% that include me and my friends think they don't look good but are narcissistic enough to think if we wear it, it's automatically in style. Am I right? I think so. However, in the future I will not be repeating this mistake.

I've been in Seattle for a whole year! My actual one year anniversary was July 7th. It has been the fastest year of my life. Aaron and I have definitely had an adventure or two getting to know our new 'hood. Don't get me wrong, I've been homesick and he's been homesick at times but we both are so glad that we moved out here. I can honestly say it's starting to feel like home. The fact that we have more than 2 friends is really helping. Oh, and the fact that I heart, heart, heart my job. It's the bomb. AND in exciting, exciting news guess which Seattle suburb was ranked #1 by Seattle Magazine? Kenmore, or as I affectionately call it "Kenmo'" or "The More." You know, I think it was ranked #1 because it's about to be privy to the biggest party Kenmorians have ever seen; The Shurts' 3rd Annual Short Shorts Slip n Slide Party. If you don't know, now you know. It's next weekend folks, Saturday August 15th. Get ready. There will be photographic evidence.

Lastly, it's the end of an era. My 2004 ibook g4 has been retired and is about to be given to a new owner, my mom. Now, what does that mean for me? It means I got a new computer fools. This is the first brand new computer that I've ever had. I've always been given hand me downs, I feel so special and techy now. I told Aaron I really, really, needed a new computer because I'm a serious blogger. You would think he would have known by now. I think this new computer might be the one of the most beautiful pieces of machinery that I have ever seen. It has a built in camera and here is a picture I took of me, as proof.



I LOVE IT! Have you seen those annoying commercials where the stupid girl is trying to find a computer and she's given $1000 and there's only one mac that meets her requirements under $1000 and she leaves the apple store saying "I guess I'm not cool enough to be a mac person." Yeah, dummy, I guess you're not. Why the eff would someone promoting HP or Dell or whatever lame-o brand it is (the fact that it looks more like a Best Buy commercial means it's a terrible ad campaign in my opinion) suggest that they're not cool enough to buy a mac so they have to buy a pc? I don't get it.

Real Housewives of Atlanta is back on and it's as much of train wreck as ever. And you best believe I'm tuning in every week. The brand new season of Project Runway starts next Thursday and I'm stoked!! That's one of my most fave shows ever. Remember though, it's on Lifetime and not Bravo.

Alrighty folks that's all for tonight!
Signing off from my new computer.

xoxo,
al

Monday, August 3, 2009

What's love got to do with it?

Dear Blog,

I generally keep my fingers and toes manicured and pedicured as a rule because who wants to see gnarly fingers when they're being rung up by moi? Plus it's summer time so the only time I wear non sandals is when I'm working out. My father taught me at a young age that feet have the tendency to be very ugly so I have always taken good care of mine. Dad is also quite the extremist, he thinks that sandals should be outlawed. He dislikes feet that much. All of this to say I got a mani/pedi this morning and I decided to go french mani/pedi because I thought maybe I would like it. The verdict is still out. I used to like it. Then I thought it looked trashy. So I tested the waters to see if I liked it again and I'm not sure. What do you think blog readers? Is french mani/pedi in or out? Also, is it just Seattle or is the economy stabilizing? There were A TON of women in the nail place this morning. Usually it's just me and my nail lady watching Vietnamese soap operas.

A good friend of mine is going through a rocky spot in her marriage and is looking for comfort outside of her home...if you know what I mean. (I will be waiting for the flood of emails in my inbox asking who it is from a certain few bellafrench readers...suffice it so say you don't know her but go ahead and email me anyway! I love email!) I cannot, cannot, cannot explain how sad I feel by this whole situation. Generally, I'm not sympathetic or empathetic. Life is filled with facts and truths and non-truths, I make all decisions based on these. I'm not touchy feely, I don't make emotional decisions, I tell people the truth regardless of what they want to hear and expect the same in return. I sound like such a joy don't I?

However, when it comes to what might be a dissolved marriage I just want my friend to fight for what she said she would fight for when she said her vows. I don't think marriage is something that can be tossed to the side when something or someone comes along. This whole situation has made me examine my relationship with Aaron. The thought of something or someone coming in between us almost bring tears to my eyes and makes me want to hurl at the same time. And that is what I'm feeling for my friend.

That's all for tonight friends! Don't forget to comment about the aforementioned french mani/pedi query. It is quite pressing.

xoxo,
alison

Saturday, July 25, 2009

Too much information?

Dear Blog,

Last night I did a "software update" on my laptop because Aaron told me I needed to do these ever so often (is that a southern phrase?) in order to make my computer run faster and not slow as shit. After 4 years of having this laptop, last night I finally remembered to do it! I'm still working on not saving documents on the desktop. One step at a time people. Is it just me? I always ignore those updates because you have to do the update and then restart your computer and for a person who likes instant gratification, this does not work. Reason #121934875 I need a secretary. Gah.

So, back to the point. One of the software updates was installing the latest version of Safari. I use Safari because I hear Aaron cursing at Internet Explorer all the time. Apparently graphic designers have a hard time getting IE to use the layout that they code. Therefore, internet explorer is so 2000 and late. As is that phrase.

One of the new features of the new Safari is showing you your most frequented web sites. I lol'ed when I saw mine. It further substantiated that I am not that deep. So here they are!!

1. My work email. I gotta make sure everyone is doing their job.
2. Facebook. Cause I'm nosy, fools.
3. Perez Hilton. I'm a little embarrassed by this one.
4. People.com
5. My work's intranet.
6. Gmail. Will someone besides Barney's and All Recipes send me an email?
7. Go Fug Yourself. Because fugly is the new pretty.
8. Twitter. Even though I'm over it.
9. Bank of America. How much money can I spend today?
10. Mate's blog. Since she never calls me back this is the only way I can keep in touch with her. Hint, hint.
11. Dport7. I heart the robots.

If you have a blog and it's not one of my most visited then maybe you should update it more often. I'm just sayin'.

xoxo,
alison

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Aloha, betch


Dear Blog,

I'm a little behind on youtube humor, so when two of my coworkers introduced me to the Kelly series, by comedian Liam Kyle Sullivan, I thought it was so hilarious and started sharing with all my friends. Howevs, some people think Kelly is like so two years ago and if you're one of those people, why didn't you share with me? I like to be on the cutting edge of everything! And if you're not one of those people, then here's my fave video; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPDl2g8Upvk
It's kind of long, has cursing in it, is probably unsafe for work and if you're older than 40...well you probably won't think it's funny. Is that ageism? OH wells.

So, back to the "aloha" part of the title. Well, Aaron was supposed to be in a wedding on July 4th in Charlotte, NC and after the wedding we were going to take our vacation in the Carolina's. The wedding was postponed and we didn't know what we were going to do for our vacay! We still thought about going to Charlotte/Charleston but...we've obvy been there a million times. I was beginning to feel like every time we had a vacation we were running back to the East Coast and that we should do something West Coast style. We threw around L.A, Napa Valley, San Diego, San Fran and Hawaii. Aaron was on the project like a hound dog on a scent. He was all over the internets looking for deals and steals. He presented me with our options and Hawaii was by far the best one! He did one of those package deals where we got our flight, condo and rental car in one fell swoop. It was seamless.

After Aaron purchased the trip, I felt a feeling that I do not feel often. Guilt. I felt guilty that we were going on a fantastic vacation. We're in the middle of a recession, people are struggling to make ends meet and Aaron and I are just going to frolic in Hawaii for a week. While I am ecstatic that we can afford this opportunity, something felt weird. I told Aaron and he just thought I was spending the day in crazy-town. So, I did what any rational girl would do. I called my mom. She was like "Girl, are you crazy? Quit feeling guilty. Y'all work hard." So, I got over it! Good thing I did because we had an effing blast.

I love Hawaii! If you ever get the chance to go, GO. (We stayed on Maui.) It's so beautiful, peaceful, serene, and...beautiful! I really, truly tried to live every moment in the present and soak up every minute we were there. We had the perfect mix of activities for Aaron and relaxation for me. We usually did some sort of activity in the morning and then did the ocean/pool in the afternoon. The weather wasn't too hot, it was in the mid 80's and pretty breezy. I never got too hot and got a great deal of sun. Only downside of the whole trip is that we couldn't take Bella. The upside of the trip was learning how to surf!!

Anyway, how lame is it that this is my first post for July? That sucks. I'm going to crank out some posts on the asap. I have lots of topics on the brain.

xoxo,
Alison

Monday, June 29, 2009

So, I went running


Dear Blog,

When I was growing up my parents had to force me to go outside. I loved staying inside and reading, coloring and dressing my Barbie dolls. My parents would me take to the Cooper Branch Library and I would check out a minimum of 8 books and be giddy on the ride home with excitement about all of my books. Are you conjuring up a visual of what I was like as a child? Nerd? Check.

When I was 13 I had a subscription to W Magazine and sounded out all of the Italian fashion houses with a slightly southern accent. (Stay with me, I promise I'm going somewhere.)

When I was in middle school my mom would beg me to go on walks with her, I think I was a little chubby. When I decided I WOULD go, I got overheated and had to sit on the side of the road and get a ride home from a neighbor who was also my 3rd grade teacher. Embarrassing. Same thing happened when I was a cheerleader and had to run ONE LAP around the Flora soccer field. Are you getting the picture?

I was a nerdy kid, who loved fashion, and was a little chubby.

Then the day came when I put two and two together. I could not be chubby and wear the clothes in the pages of W Magazine. I had to start working out.

So, I started running. To me, it's the non-athlete's sport. You don't have to interact with anyone, you don't have to have any discernible athletic talent and if you do it long enough you can eventually become good at it. Check.

Fast forward a couple years and I've done a multitude of 5k's, 10k's, one 1/2 marathon and one full marathon. After the full marathon I swore up and down I was never doing that again. It was quite painful. Oh, and I completely stopped running and started doing yoga.

Fast forward a couple more years and I'm working for a very health conscious company with a bunch of young women who are all hyped up about running the Rock 'n Roll Half Marathon and convince me to sign up too. Aaron tells me he's thinking about thinking about signing up for it as well, which in my mind means that he's signing up for it.

We start training.

I convince my friend Drew to fly in all the way from Greenville, SC to run with us!! Yay!

Race day comes. Drew, Aaron and myself get up at 4:30 AM to get downtown, to get on a shuttle, to ride to Tukwila to run 13.1 miles back to Seattle. When you put it like that doesn't it sound crazy? I think it is crazy, but anyway we signed up for it so onward. The race day was beautiful, it was in the upper 60's/low 70's and not a cloud in the sky. We ran around Lake Washington and even saw a bald eagle! That bald eagle was such a diva, he was posing for the thousands running by. There were so many out of towners running the 'thon and I must admit that I was proud of "my" city as they were stopping to take pictures in the middle of the race. Aaron and I ran together until about mile 9 when we encountered a big ass hill and this diva had to stop and walk while Aaron kept on runnnnaaanng. From that point on I was about .5 miles behind Aaron for the rest of the race but I could always see him. For those of y'all that don't know Aaron, he's 6 feet 7 inches, has ganked up knees and ankles from years of playing basketball and is not a runner. He was so serious about training for this race that he made me take it more seriously. So, for the last 4 miles of the race when I was about a half a mile behind Aaron and I would spot him just running along I was so proud of him and a big smile would cross my face. (Isn't that cheesy?!? I can't help it.)

And that my friends, is the evolution of a book worm to a bona fide runner.

The end.

xoxo,
Alison

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Highs and Lows

Dear Blog,

Man, these past couple of weeks have been filled with hiiiiighs and looooooows. I will recount some of them for you.
Monday: High. Aaron books us a trip to HAWAII! We're going to Maui for our vacation the week after July 4 (my least favorite holiday, just for your information.)

Tuesday: Low. Aaron is so sick, he has to stay home from work. Effect on me: I wait on him hand and foot and sleep in the guest room ('cause I'm not trying to get sick), where we don't have a fan and it's hot because houses in the PNW don't have air condition. Little known fact.

Wednesday: High. I decide that I'm trying to evolve and I don't need all of my material things anymore. I put away the Louis Vuitton and start carrying a reusable bag because that's what evolved people do. I'm also going to stop talking about my archenemy. Aaron decided he would sleep in the guest room! SCORE!

Thursday: Low. Aaron is still sick. I wake up late and have to go to work with greasy hair. YUCK.

Friday: High. I get my bonus check for the first quarter. Low. Damn the government took a lot of my bonus. High. Oh yes, I am evolved and I am happy I got a bonus in these economic times.

Saturday: Low. My archenemy did something that made me laugh and talk about her behind her back in the most un-evolved manner possible. I knew it was wrong but that didn't stop me. Back to square one in the "evolved" department. Shit. Oh yeah, I pull out the Louis Vuitton again.

Monday: High. I've lost 4 pounds on my 10 pound weight loss journey. (I'm not sure if my dad is still in the game.) Aaron is finally feeling better!!! We go bathing suit shopping and we both find suits in under hour. For real you guys, that's amazing. Last years bathing suit search took all day, involved frustration and tears and finally finding a suit and having to order it online. It's a summer time miracle!! Also saw The Hangover, funniest movie of 2009.

I'm still on the search for enlightenment and evolved-ness. It just takes time. If any of you have any tips or tricks of the trade I would be happy to listen. As far as shopping goes, whenever I buy something I'm asking myself is this because I love it or because of status? As far as my archenemy goes, I just need to let it go. She's not in my life anymore. As far as everything else, it's just another day in the life of BellaFrench!

xoxo,
Alison

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Rugrats

Dear Blog,

Another one of my friends is preggy! Because my friend is so high profile and likes to protect her privacy I'm not going to give her a public shout out cause that is so not her style. Instead, I will give you a hint. She lives in Charlotte, she's a lawyer...and she's tall. There. If you get it, then give her a shout out! Being pregnant is exciting and fun!! I can't wait to meet their little baby!

Now, on to the next burning question I'm sure will come, (and in typical Alison fashion I'm bringing it back to me.) Are Aaron and I feeling like bringing little AliRon's into creation anytime soon? The answer is still a resounding noooooooooo. I don't know why folks, but Aaron and I still aren't ready for kids. And until we're 100% ready then that day is still far in the future. I'm not worried about being an old parent. I mean, if Halle Berry can have a baby at 40 and still look bangin', then so can I. And yes, I just compared myself to Halle Berry.

The other day I was talking to my bff Spurge via google chat and telling him about all of my friends being preggy and/or having kids and the following conversation ensued. We were talking about whether or not I would stay home with my kids or not and I'm about 99% sure that I won't. I mean, once I have the little sucker I might change my mind. I'm just sayin'. So, anyway on to the convo:

Spurgeon:
like, if my kids are anything like i was
i do NOT want to be at home with them all day
LOL

me: LOL
Yeah
kids can be annoying
aaron and i decided if we have one
we're just having ONE

Spurgeon: let somebody else handle that shiz - i'll read 'em a story

me: and then i'm getting plastic surge

Spurgeon: nah - y'all should have two
that way, they can keep each other occupied and you don't have to play with them all the time
otherwise, you end up with a crazy kid that talks to himself and eats dirt

me: HAHAHAHA

Spurgeon: or one that's all up in your shiz 24/7

Every time I read that conversation I laugh. Especially about having a crazy kid that talks to himself and eating dirt. I don't know, is it just me? I was laughing so hard that my stomach hurt, I was glad that no one could hear me because then I would be the crazy one.

Aaaaaaanyway, the point of this whole blog was to congratulate my friend and her hubby on the upcoming arrival of their baaaaaaaaaaaby!!!!!

xoxo,
Alison

Friday, May 29, 2009

My boo times two


Dear Blog,

Can you believe we've been married for two years?!? What the hell? Why does time go by so fast? Only five more to go with my practice husband. I told Ron I could guarantee him seven years.

I kid, I kid. Sometimes I'll tell him that though to keep him on his toes. I think it keeps the marriage alive.

Tuesday, May 26th, was my and Ron's second anniversary. So the past couple of times the anniversary has rolled around it has me thinking about our wedding and what, if anything, I would do differently. The only thing I can think of would be to enjoy it more and not worry about what other people thought. I got so wrapped up in what people would think of the type of chairs we had at our reception or whether people would think we weren't popular if a million people didn't come. Honestly, these thoughts would keep me up at night before the wedding. When I think of how silly those things were and now two years later people won't even be able to remember some of the silly details I fretted over, it makes me feel like a big bowl of grits.

Remember last year when I declared that every anniversary Ron and I were going to go on a "mini moon?" In true Alison fashion, we didn't lie and we took our mini moon to Lake Chelan this year. It's a beautiful lake about 150 miles to the east of us, through the mountains. What some of you might not know about Washington, is that only the area west of the mountains receives the rain and has a mild climate. Eastern Washington is dry, arid, and hot as balls. Perfect for a southerner! It gave me a little taste of home. For 48 hours Aaron and I just sat out by the pool, had some drinks and looked at all the college kids who were acting like they haven't had any home trainin'. Seriously. At one point, Aaron nudged me from my too much sun stupor and said "Those two girls are making out and there's a guy filming them." And, he wasn't lying. I felt like I was on spring break at Cancun! It was wild. Howevs, the staff at the resort gave us a room away from all of the debauchery so we could watch The Deadliest Catch in peace and be in bed by 11 pm.

You know, Aaron and I had such an easy first year of marriage that I thought maybe our second year would be harder seeing as how we moved across the country and left all of our friends and family. I was proven wrong and we've had another great year together. I still look forward every day to waking up beside Aaron and every night to when he comes home. He's my biggest supporter, he always laughs at my jokes and he treats me like the queen bee I am. And I, in turn, would do anything for him. (I know what you're thinking and luckily Aaron would never come between me and my clothes.) We are truly MFEO.

Here's to year number 3!

xoxo,
Alison

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Say what?


Dear Blog,

The following two conversations were had in the Shurts household over the past week and a half or so.

Aaron: I'm going to see a man about a canoe.
Me: Have fun.
Two hours later
Aaron: I bought a canoe.
Alison: Okay. How much was it?
Aaron: Two hundred dollars. That's how much you spend on a pair of shoes. I got a CANOE.

Conversation number 2
Aaron: We need to go weed the front beds.
Alison: I don't see any weeds.
Aaron: See all these? (Pointing to some crazy overgrown weeds, that I honestly didn't know were weeds) These are weeds and need to be pulled.
Alison: Oh. I thought those were green, luscious pieces of goodness that added beauty to our front yard.


I find my relationship with my husband to be one that is extremely humorous and I've often thought that if Aaron and I were in a reality show, it would be crazy popular and then Aaron and I would be BIG and FAMOUS! It's funny how the dreams of being rich and famous don't go away as you get older when everyone in Hollywood is becoming much younger than you are. (Please tell me other people think about things like this? I also have a daydream where Spurgeon and I host a talk show that rivals Ellen and Oprah in popularity.)

A common thread among these reality tv shows is that many couples start out married and as the cameras follow, their relationship disintegrates. What's up with that? It's very disconcerting. Who doesn't remember Jessica asking Nick about Chicken of the Sea being chicken or tuna, and now all we hear about is who Jessica and Nick are dating. The Count and the Countess DeLessups are no longer together, what will the Countess do without her title? And last but not least, Jon and Kate Gosslin who have EIGHT children to think about when they're slinging mud at each via the media and their extended family. AND, apparently they had an open marriage. Gross.

All of this nonsensical daydreaming has led me to believe that I will never be on The Real Housewives of Seattle because I would never risk my marriage for 15 minutes of fame. And I would probably never be on The Real Housewives of Seattle because I am far from a millionairess, but hey I'm only 28. I have time. I'm still banking on my talk show with Spurgeon.

xoxo,
Alison

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Oh Snap!

Dear Blog,

Sorry for the delay in posting die hard BF fans, I've been stockpiling canned foods and making emergency kits in preparation for the end times. I'm thinking to myself that surely the end times must be near with the shitty economy and then the swine flu pandemic, something just ain't right folks. But then I heard that the swine flu was just like a cold or something and I decided to come out of hiding and begin blogging again for you fine folk.

A lot has happened in the past almost month. I traveled back home to the dirty South to see my parents, my best friend's little sis get married and my other best friends newest addition to the fam; Harper Dana. Now, in preparation for my trip to the South and especially for the wedding, I was in search of a new outfit. A new outfit, wheeeeeee!! These days, a shopping trip with me usually looks like me walking around looking at clothes and Aaron following me looking at his iphone. Thank God for those things. If there's an Apple store within walking distance we'll always stop in there to appease him, oh and we always get a snack. Gotta keep the men happy, especially when they're watching you spend money. So, one thing I noticed when I was in search of my bomb outfit is that it appears as though I've gotten fat. Well, I don't really think I've gotten fat but the size I would normally wear in clothes wasn't fitting and I believe this is due to the fact that I wear stretchy pants everyday. Those stretchy pants will get you everytime. So, I've embarked on a diet. Like, a tried and true diet where I burn more calories than I consume, track my eating and weigh every Monday type of diet. I didn't think it was going to be fun but it really hasn't been that hard. I've just been consuming a lot more fruits and veggies and drinking more water and making sure I work out at least 4 times a week. To date I've lost one pound of gobby, grody fat. Only 9 more to go. I tried to engage my dad in a friendly competition to see who could lose ten pounds first but to date he hasn't lost any lb's. I don't think he's trying that hard seeing as how a little birdie told me that he's been eating sausage biscuits for breakfast here and there.

My trip to the south was so much fun. It was so warm and I was so happy sitting on the back porch of my parents house in Mississippi throwing the tennis ball with their pup. It was just sooooo laid back and I enjoyed my 5 days their to the maximum. Plus I got to spend time with three of my good friends, Faris, Drew and Leigh. As usual I cried and cried when I left my family and friends, which I can't really explain because I'm not that sentimental. Maybe I was just crying because I knew serious dieting was waiting for me back in Seattle? Who knows.

On a funnier note, yesterday (Sunday) Aaron decided he wanted a canoe. So he bought one. I know. A canoe? To me just the word canoe is funny to say. Canoe. Canoe. I let him take the canoe out on a test run yesterday but today I decided to join him. Seriously y'all, canoeing is funny. I couldn't stop laughing whilst in the canoe. I think because the only reason I was in that damn canoe is because of how much I love Ron and I knew he wanted me to go. Oh, the things you do for love. Just think of me in a canoe decked out in and Prada sunglasses and you'll get a good laugh too.

xoxo,
Al

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Tweeeeter

Dear Blog,

You may have heard of the latest internet phenomenon sweeping the nation; Twitter. If not, let me enlighten you. You get 140 characters (a character includes a letter AND a space) to tell the world what you are doing at any given point in time. Last year Crist was hounding me for months and months to join Twitter because she thought it would be a good way for me to keep up with my peeps back home when I moved to Seattle. At first, I was all "What in the sam hill is Twitter? I already joined the facebooks, isn't that enough?" But, I finally gave in, like I always do. I also decided that Twitter is kind of fun! It's one of those that takes a while. The interface isn't that user friendly so you kind of have to play around with it and then find some friends and then start tweeting away. Sadly, I only have about 12 people on Twitter who care enough to follow my updates. If you are on Twitter, come follow me at Bellafrench! It's always a party over there! My ego is hurting with only 12 peeps. Ron has more twitter friends than I do and we can't have that!

Since I'm on twitter and I have a blog and a facebook account and I read other people's blogs, everyone I know out here in Seattle of all places think I'm all hooked up in technology. Seriously. Let's all have a good laugh about that one. I have had several people call me in the past couple of days to ask me an internet question because somehow or another I've earned the reputation as being well versed in all things internet. Hi-lario.

But, I do read blogs that are good and relatively short. I can't be reading like 19 paragraphs, I'm usually done after about 300 words. I digress. One of the blogs I read, like every other woman in the entire galaxy reads is Dooce. If you haven't heard of Dooce, here's a brief bio. She was a graphic designer in L.A, she started a blog, she talked shit about the people she worked with, she got found out, she got fired, she kept blogging, she became famous, she had a baby, she had post partum depression, she entered a mental hospital for a couple of weeks, she got even more famous, she kept blogging, her husband quit his job, she kept blogging, she started taking anti depression meds, she kept blogging, she's happy now, they make enough money to live off of her blog, she wrote a book. So basically, her blog makes her famous. I am so jealous. I wish this blog made me a penny. And no, I'm not putting those ridiculous google ads on my blog. Gag. Anyway, back to Dooce. So she wrote a book and like most authors she went on a book tour. And, she came to Seattle!! To a bookstore only two miles away from my house! I was so pumped!! I dragged Aaron with me to go meet Dooce and listen to her read some excerpts from her new book, we had a grand time. She's as hilarious and honest and self deprecating in person as she comes across in her blog. She also has quite the southern accent even though she has lived in Utah for a long time. And you know Aaron took a picture of me with Dooce, and you also know that I couldn't just smile like a normal person. I was all up in her grill.



I think I got a little too close for comfort. Her bodyguards started creeping closer and closer to her as I was posing for the picture. I was all, "Whatever, I got my bodyguard here too and his name is Ron." As soon as the picture was taken we were politely asked to leave the premises.

Anyway, the moral of the story is I love the internet.

xoxo,
Alison

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Gimme a break


Dear Blog,

Sometimes it just feels good to break up the routine, to shake it up a little bit and throw things in the air and see where they land. I feel like January, February and March are three of the hardest months of the year. There's a little blip of fun on the radar with Valentine's Day but if you don't have a fabulous partner who gets you a cheeseburger, Raisinettes and watches "He's just not that into You" on this loviest of lovey days, then that holiday is prolly not that great, am I right or am I right? Lately, in typical Aaron and Alison fashion we were craving to break up our routine. We just needed to go. Somewhere. We needed to get out of town and have no plans, drink too much and eat too much and spend a little money. Well, we didn't NEED to spend any money but that is a frequent craving of mine, much to Ron's chagrin.

Since Aaron is the only 28 year old I know who still gets a spring break we thought that would be a great time to take a mini vacay. Since Aaron is a hound dog in human form, he was all over the innernets sniffing out the best deals. (As I write this, he is searching for tickets for our "mini-moon", i.e two year anniversary trip) Since Aaron is an incessant, deal searching, hound dog in human form we got down to 5 days before "GO TIME" with still no plans in sight. I was getting a little clammy in the hands because I had taken myself off the schedule for Friday and Saturday and I was afraid it was Aaron's grand master plan to have me do house chores like painting and potting plants and pretend we were on vacay by putting umbrellas in fruity drinks for me. I was getting nightmares about petunias and azaleas and reminding Aaron that we needed to book tickets like asap. Feeling the pressure from a naggy wife Aaron found us tickets to NYC for a Thursday night to Monday, perfect!!

There's something about New York that's so exciting. It's not the grimy subway, the dirty streets, the crazy horn honking but the energy of the city is contagious. I feel like I can shop all day and stay up all night drinking wine with my friends who I only get to see once or twice a year and be perfectly content. Whereas, I am fatigued by even thought of Vegas, where you are supposed to stay up all night, no thanks.
All of this is to say that I had a great time in NYC with our fave peeps, P, K, S & G*. In my perfect world all of our friends would live in the same city and life would be grand.

*Only initials are given to protect the innocent

xoxo,
Al

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Sunbathing in the Northwest



Dear Blog,

I know I've griped about this before and I'm going to gripe about it again, 'cause I can yo. Everyone in the U.S of A has a schtick about Seattle and the copious amounts of rain mist we get. "Rain" is often the first word that comes out of everyone's mouth when the word "Seattle" is merely uttered. It's like the whole U.S gets off on talking about something that's semi annoying about a city in which they don't live, and I think it's done to make people feel better about where they DO live. When I moved from Columbia to Greenville and told people I was from Cola town they immediately would say, "It's so HOT there, how did you stand it?" Really? Greenville is all of two degrees cooler than Columbia. Seriously folks. It's hot as balls up there too.

Anyway, I'm totally digressing from the point. So, this winter hasn't been that bad in Seattle. It's been cold, and we had like 18 feet of snow right before Christmas but other than that it's been legit. We've had lots of sunny days, some cloudy days, some random hail storms and snow flurries. I would say it's been a typical winter for anyone in the northern part of the U.S. None of this bothered me until just a few days ago. I'm itching for spring! I think the first official day of Spring happening last week made me want it that much more. It's still pretty cold here and lately all of the days have been really cloudy and misty making me feel antsy for some sun. I check the weather on my iphone everyday and get so excited when I see a yellow sun instead of rainy clouds, and that day came today! This afternoon was SO sunny I just couldn't stand it! Aaron and I took Bella on a long walk and then continued the frivolity in our backyard. I was so sun happy that I just layed down right in the backyard (I checked for Bella poop, don't worry) and I stayed there for about 20 minutes. I had to get my vitamin D and some color on my white, white face. I was immediately in a better mood and I think Ron and Bella were as well. There is no moral to this story other than we make our own happiness and if that is 20 minutes in my backyard sunbathing in multiple layers, then that's what it is.

xoxo,
Alison

Monday, March 23, 2009

Hair it is!

Dear Blog,

What is it about a haircut that makes me so happy? I don't know why, I don't know how and I don't know where but it's something I look forward to every 6-8 weeks. Anyway, I got my hair cut and colored today and I feel like a whole new woman. The blonde bee is back! I don't have many pics to share but I cut all of my hair off in December a la Victoria Beckham and I rocked the short, short hair for a bit but I felt my facial features were a tad too strong for the short hair so I decided to give it a little bit of length and take it back to my natural* color blonde. Here's a short hair pic of me and Kris tradin' swigs o' whiskey. To answer a couple of questions that I'm sure have arisen upon seeing this picture: a.) I'm not jeepin' on Aaron, Kris is Aaron's bff and Aaron took this picture. b.) I don't even like whiskey, I just wanted to drink it c.) I barfed until about 6 pm the next day d.) I'm never drinking whiskey again.



In a couple of months, this is my vision for my hair: a sleek, simple, blond bob. We'll see, a lot can happen between now and then. Anyway, I've always had a special bond with the person that cuts my hair. In Columbia, I went to the same stylist from the age of 5 to 25. For real! I invited the woman to my wedding. Once I was in Charlotte a couple of years and I was tired of driving to Columbia for a haircut and Brenda was getting a little long in the tooth, I took a risk on a woman named Misti at T. Reid on East Blvd and fell in love with her! She did my hair for my wedding, dyed it brown, dyed it back to blonde, toyed with putting in hair extensions, gossiped with me, etc. We had a tearful goodbye when I moved to Seattle. Upon being in Seattle I've gone to three stylists and I've finally settled on one but I just haven't forged that bond. I'm working on it though, I'm not giving up! Am I being ridiculous or do you get what I'm saying? There's just something special about the time spent in the chair while a stylist is shaping your hair!



Gripe pertaining to yoga: Make sure your feet don't smell. That's all I'm going to say about that.

That's it for tonight folks!

*I was born blonde, it's not my fault it slowly turned brown.

xoxo,

Alison

Sunday, March 15, 2009

The truth will set you free

Dear Blog,
I have a shocking secret to admit, BellaFrench has a hater. I know, I know, it's hard to believe...it was a big idea for me to swallow. After a couple of weeks of ruminating on this subject I am now understanding the ramifications of having someone dislike you. It's not fun. It appears as though an internet troll stumbled upon my little bloggy here and wasn't in love with it! Shocking. Having someone dislike my blog has affected how often I've been posting and it just dawned on me today that that is not fair to all of the people who DO like my blog. So, pish posh, I wash my hands of you hater. As Rihanna sings so eloquently with T.I, "ain't got no time for no hata's, just livin' my life."

Seattle is as cold as ever and this year it seems as though snow really likes this area. People in Seattle amaze me. Only in this city will 8,000 people show up for a 3.5 mile run in 34 degree weather, did I mention it was snowing? Oh yeah, it was snowing. This was no ordinary snow folks, the snowflakes were about as big as a quarter. They were the fattest snowflake this southerner has ever seen! I wasn't totally into waking up before seven on the Lord's day to go run in the snow, but I gave my word to my team that I would be there. Oh yeah, and I dragged Aaron along with me :) Yay for being married!! You get to do all sorts of fun stuff! The race was fun, I'm not sure what my time was but I'm sure it was superfast. I had fun seeing my girls this morning and the race was aight and then I enjoyed getting in the car and coming home! Wooo. Here's a pic of our crew and yeah, my eyes are totally closed.



So, I can successfully run 3.5 miles, only 10 more to go before the half marathon in June! Wooooooo. (Shout out to Drew! Can't wait to see you!)

In other exciting news, my ten year high school reunion is this summer!! Argh. I'm getting old! I'm debating upon whether or not I'm going to go. I mean, I think I should go but what if I fly all the way to the South Carolina and it's totally lame? What do you think peeps? Should I go to my high school reunion and drag The Ron along with me?

xoxo,
Alison

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

AliRon Shurts

Dear Blog,

Aaron and I always joke around about baby names, we already have our daughter's name picked out and I've probably told all of you that read this blog but I don't want to share with the world wide web because that seems wrong. And no, I'm not pregnant but I do seem to blog about it often don't I? I need to stop doing that. Having babay's is not my thing, not at this moment anyway. Wow, I really steered off course with that one. So, we've joked about combining our names, Alison and Aaron, to AliRon! It could be a boy's name or a girl's name, how convenient is that? Too convenient if you ask me, like, it's almost tempting.

However, I feel like this name combining has gone too far. And now I'm going to take it back to facebook. Since now everyone and their mom now has a facebook account several married couples have gone to such lengths to create a joint account. I can see the conversation now;

Wife: "Honey, all my friends at work have something called 'the facebook' and they say I should join because I can stay in touch with all of my friends from elementary school, who weren't really my friends but I just want to see if they've gotten fat over the past 20 years, and I can throw fake water balloons at people, and I can even save the earth with somethin' called the Lil' Green Patch."

(editors note: all of my fake characters have deep southern accents)

Husband: "Um hm"

Wife: "Well, if I get on the facebook, I want you to get on the facebook too because I don't want any ONLINE PREDATORS predatating on me"

Husband: "Wife, is you crazy? I sit at work all day looking at a computer and I don't even remember anyone I went to grade school with, and we don't even RE-cycle why would I want to save the earth with some g$!@#$WSn lil green patch?"

Wife: "Well, hows about this? I'll create a JOINT account and that way it'll scare away all them online predators and I can still throw fake water balloons at my old friends."

So, you know the end of this story. Husband and Wife now combine their name and become AliRon Shurts that you can too can be friends with.

Now, my gripe is this. What if I'm friends with the wife and don't know the husband? Or, I don't like the husband? Or worse, I made out with the husband?!? I'm just sayin'. I see a combined account going all kinds a wrong.
"Why are you friends with your ex-girlfriend? You still LOVE her don't you? I knew it!"

"Why are you friends with your frenemy? You talk smack about her all the time, how can you be virtual friends with her? Just so you can make fun of her? You're a terrible person."

You see how wrong this could go? I say, take a stand for independence!

Besides you could always do what I do, just memorize the Ron's passwords so I can check up on his ass.

xoxo,
Alison

Monday, February 23, 2009

My baby turns 3!

Dear Blog,

Today my little baby Bella, the namesake of Bellafrench, turned THREE! We celebrated with a trip to the dog park on Saturday and a new toy. I cannot tell you how much joy that little pup has brought into our lives and I would highly recommend one if you have the time and money. Because they take both.

This week brings lots of updates. I'll be training for my upcoming new blog-venture and will make sure to keep you all in the loop.

Right now I'm watching some crazy, crackhead movie with Maggie Gyllenhal called "Sherry Baby", I'm not sure I would recommend it. It's a little rando.

Last weekend, Aaron, Bella and I went to Portland, OR for the weekend to celebrate Valentine's Day. It was so fun to get away, even if just for a night. The weather was beautiful and we always love exploring a new city. You wanna know what's best about Portland? The fact that the shopping is tax free. Everything is tax free, meals, Starbucks, CLOTHES. Even though it's only saving like 8% or so, you feel like you're saving a fortune. I would come out of Starbucks exclaiming to Aaron that I only spent $3.50!!! Wooooooohhhh, an even number. That was really fun for me. I also came out of Portland a pair of jeans and some Tory Burch ankle booties in the good, Aaron got himeself two pair of jeans and a wallet. We like us some Portland. Bella likes Portland too, especially because she got to sleep on the bed in the hotel room (Portland is very pet friendly, even in nice hotels!).



On a more serious note, Aaron and I have decided to give up caffeine. Siiiiiiiiigh. It has not been easy. I'm on day 5 sans caffeine and I would be lying if I said that I didn't have a headache every single day since THE SWITCH to decaf. Upon telling one of my besties that I've given up coffee, he promptly told me to move back to the East Coast. Alas, I have not turned into an organic eating, composting all my extra waste, non-caffeinated, green tea drinking, Pacific Northwest bona fide hippie. Aaron found out that drinking caffeine would worsen the state of his sad kidneys, so we decided to stop drinking caffeine. I'm hoping everyday will get easier but dang, why it gotta be so hard? So, if I seem a little bit out of it let's just blame it on that.

Lastly, in the world of big updates Aaron and I are running the Seattle Rock 'n Roll Half Marathon! Did you hear that Drew?!? The Ron and I are runnnnang. This is the first year the Rock 'n Roll Marathon is in Seattle so we thought it would be fun to participate in some Seattle history. Sunday was my first foray in running since October 22, 2006 when I ran the Chicago Marathon. Granted, we only ran 1.5 miles but it felt pretty good and we will continue to run until we conquer those measly 13 miles.

That's all for tonight!
xoxo,
Alison

Monday, February 2, 2009

A Million Little Pieces

Dear blog,

There's this plague going around Facebook where everyone is telling 25 deep, dark secrets about themselves and then tagging 25 of their closest friends to do the same. When I saw the first persons list I knew it was only a matter of time before I got tagged. I got to thinking about what I would want to put on my list of 25 things that people don't know about me but are innocent enough for me to put up there? Because you don't really want to put the things that people don't know about you up there, or else, they would already know them. Or is that flawed logic? I read others' list to see a sample of what they were writing and a lot of them went a little something like this;

"I love my friends more than they know, I hope they love me back"
"I have the best boyfriend/husband/girlfriend/wife in the world!"
"I love Disney movies!"
Who freaking cares??
Many lists held trivial facts and other generally banal things that didn't really hold my attention.

There were a couple of lists that I did enjoy reading and you could tell the writer put some thought in their lists, one was a high school chum and how they came out to their family and the other was a friend who said it is possible to be single and happy. (I loved that one!!)

Really, what this proved to me was how much people are just craving to talk about themselves. People are putting their heart on their proverbial sleeve and telling such secrets as "I like the crust cut off of my pb&j". Maybe to curb the insatiable need for people to write lists about themselves, we need to actually start listening. Just think about it. You go to work and something SO funny just happened on your way to work, say the carhop at Sonic asked you if wanted salt and ketchup with your Diet Coke, and you can't wait to tell your coworkers about it and get a good laugh. Nine times out of ten, before you can get to the punchline the person on the receiving end of your story is already thinking of a story that will be funnier than yours. It's a little game I like to call topper. Who can top the other with a more outrageous story? The next time you feel the need to talk about yourself when someone is talking to you, just bite your tongue and acknowledge the other person. You'll be surprised at what you might learn.

That's all for tonight folks.
xoxo,
Alison

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Maaaaaybe it wouldn't be so bad?

Dear Blog,
I'm kind of whack. I was born whack. By whack I mean a hypochondriac. I can recount many examples and I will give you a few; back in middle school one of my friend's mother died of ALS disease or more commonly known as "Lou Gherig's Disease". Being young and not having dealt with much death in my life I did some research on ALS and found it was the deteriorating of muscles until eventually your heart atrophies and then you die. Some of the warning signs include twitching muscles, the numbing of limbs, etc. So from that point on, every time my muscle twitched or one of my limbs decided to go numb I was convinced that I had ALS and I was going to die. My parents convinced me that I was not going to die. I didn't understand why they weren't taking me seriously and they were going to be really sorry when I died. Clearly the joke was on me because I'm still alive.

If you are a faithful BellaFrench reader you will know that back in June I thought I might be prego and then found out I wasn't and life was hunky dory again. What I failed to mention in said blog post was that I was freaking out about the possibility of being knocked up. I had way too many things to get done before I could introduce a child into the Shurts household. I called my mom all crying and while she was trying to calm me down and convince me that more than likely I wasn't pregnant. Little did I know she was rejoicing on the other end of the phone on the 1% chance that I could be. She also secretly thought I was whack. Scratch that, she openly tells me I'm whack. A gene inherited from my father, or so she claims.

Now before all of you over eager readers start thinking I'm telling you this long drawn out story to reveal that I'm pregnant, I'm not. Let's just end that little fantasy right now.
Back to my story. I'm not going to get into all of the details because I know I have some sensitive readers out there that don't want to read about menstrual cycles and whatnot but I will say I had a reason to wonder if I was pregnant again.

Now, what's different about this wacky pregnancy scare is that this time I was kind of okay with it. I had the usual worries like, "is now the right time?" "the economy is shit right now...can we afford me...and a baby?" "will Aaron divorce me if I ask him 1.98 million times if I look fat in my pregnancy jeans?" but then I kind of got...maybe...a little excited.

I know. I can't believe I just wrote that.

When it came to pass that I was not pregnant I felt a little sad inside and I went to our bedroom and woke Aaron up and told him he wasn't going to be a dad just yet. I also texted my mom and said "Sorry Grandma...not yet". It was quite an eye opening experience for me because I always thought I was just going to have babies to carry on my wonderful gene pool (and Aaron's too but mainly mine). I didn't know that I would actually want one. Weird. Maybe I do have a nice gene (and a crazy gene) after all.

All I have to say is, Aaron better watch out. I always get what I want.

xoxo,
Alison

Friday, January 23, 2009

Who do you work for?

Dear Blog,

I work for a liberal Canadian company that endorses store fronts like this





Are we a match made in heaven? I think so.

xoxo,
Alison

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Thoughts from a Recessionista

Dear Blog,

I would love, love, love to say I coined the term 'recessionista' but I cannot. I read it today in a style blog and thought; "recessionista...what an amazing word. if anyone is going to look good in a recession, even though i'm not participating in said recession, it will be me. (pause and dramatic look to the heavens) DO YOU HEAR THAT ECONOMIC CLIMATE?!? YOU WILL NOT WIN THE WAR ON FASHION! (pause. regain composure) I will win. 'Cause I always do."

This recession is really cramping my style. Even though every retailer across the U.S is slashing prices and you can get really great deals on shoes and handbags and, well, everything, it's no fun to buy stuff when you hear the unemployment rate is rising and it's the highest it has been since like 1654 or something. Ugh. I guess what I'm trying to say is, it doesn't hurt to be a little cautious. I for one am making good headway in this department. Remember when I rationalized those $400 Louboutins last weekend and didn't understand why the husband didn't understand why I couldn't pass up a great deal? Well that was pre-recessionista. The new and improved recessionista tried on pair of absolutely D.O.P.E Dior's at Nordstrom, admired them in the mirror, sashayed around the shoe section and then gently put them back. Cause who needs a pair of 5 1/2 inch orange (yes, orange but trust me they are hot) heels when all you wear is luon* all day? Pas moi says newly formed recessionista. If I'm going to spend major $, it's going to be on luon. Plus, I need to wear all of the stuff I've rationalized in the past. Now those are the words of a true recessionista.

In non-recession related news, this past weekend I made an effort to make some friends outside of work and joined this random book club. It met on Sunday and I went with nervous anticipation. The women were nice enough but I just don't visualize myself hanging out with them outside of book club. So, I don't think I'm going to back. I tried. Now, on to the next venture. There's gotta be a newly formed recessionista in Seattle looking for a new bff. She's just gotta find me.

*luon=nylon and lycra blend

xoxo,
Alison

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Wake up and realize you are surrounded...

By amazing friends.

Dear Blog,

"They" (whoever the hell they are) say that when you die, moments of your life flash before your eyes. Instead of regaling you with witty banter from this past weekends whirlwind trip to the Carolinas, I thought instead I would put a smattering of some of the moments up here for "them" to remember so they can flash before my eyes before I kick the proverbial coffee can.

Laughing so loud and long with my family late night on Thursday and making myself remember this moment because it might be a while before all five of us are together again, laughing like this.

Eating a Rolaid after my first Bojangle's chicken biscuit in 6 months. It didn't sit too well y'all.

Wondering at what point my heart will stop beating so quickly when I hear my parents talking on the phone to someone at an ungodly hour in the morning. I know who is on the other line and I know it's not good news.

Eating STP dippers with my best mate and watching her child clumsily put little orange slices in her mouth, and realizing that we've known each other for over a decade and guess what? We're old.

Sitting in the back of the family wagon while driving to Charlotte and wondering how it will feel when I get there? Very scared that I won't want to go back to Seattle.

Rationalizing to myself and Aaron why I need those Christian Louboutins that are on sale at Bob Ellis for 60% off, yet are still $400. When I don't convince him, I threw a mild a temper tantrum. Then get mad at myself for said tantrum. Note to self: don't go into Bob Ellis next go round.

Seeing my best college friends, The Coles and The Youngs for the first time. You couldn't wipe the smile off my face.

Screaming in the back of Russ' car when Leigh and Kyle slyly told us they bought a beamer.

Crying at the middle of dinner when Kyle asked me if I missed Charlotte at all. Why can't I hold those stupid tears in?

Walking down East Boulevard.

Going over to a friend's house and have her offer me and Aaron weed. Ew. We declined.

Having dinner with good friends is one of my most favorite past times.

Walking into a random Starbucks and seeing an old friend and his huuuuuuuuuuuuge smile when he saw me. A big hug followed.

Burying the hatchet with an old friend over lunch and making a pact to start anew.

Running into a friend someone with whom I would like to bury the hatchet in her back.

Consciously making an effort not to tear up when I said good bye to Leigh and Miles and succeeding!

Barely making it inside before tearing up.

Thinking, "Charlotte is no longer my home. I am a visitor."

Driving home from the airport on I-5 this morning at 1 AM and thinking "This is my home, and I'm fine with that."

Feeling satisfied.

xoxo,
Alison