Bubbles Gone Wild

Sundays are the perfect day for a bubble bath, right? Especially when you are feeling under the weather like I am today...So I lit my candles, filled up my glass with OJ, turned on Lana Del Rey and started to run the tub in the bathroom. Since we moved to a bigger apartment in our building last week, we not only got a bigger bathroom but a jacuzzi tub to boot. The only problem with the tub is that the jets don't work on their own with the button in the tub, so in order to turn it on, you have to go into the toilet area, open a secret hatch door and plug it in. Yeah, we are getting that fixed soon....So, I squirted the coconut bubble bath in the tub, turned on the hot water and 'plugged' in the jets. I probably should have waited to plug them in until the water was higher than the jets but then I just wouldn't be Erin, would I? So as I am sitting in the living room with Anthony, waiting for my tub to fill up, we heard a strange spraying sound coming from the bathroom. I run in to see the jets spraying the water everywhere like the water show at the Bellagio in Vegas. I hurried in to the toilet area to unplug the jets and quickly clean up the mess I made before Anthony could see. Just as I was enjoying the relaxing tub, the water was finally submerging the jets so I called Anthony in to plug them in for me. Such a hassle right? Just as I was finding my zen, I noticed that the bubbles were starting to come above my chin and I was drowning a bit in my own bathtub. There was nothing I could do so I screamed for Anthony to unplug the jets before I was killed by Mister Bubbles himself. We definitely need to gets those fixed...

Extreme Diets Make For An Extreme Mess

You can ask my friend Alicia, if there was a diet trend, we did it. Neither of us even needed to loose weight yet we were constantly on the heels of the newest diet trend that could make us 'skinny.' We tried the Atkins diet, the South Beach Diet, cutting out dairy, cutting out meat, cutting out food in general. We ate only baby food for a few days straight, did a cleanse that consisted of water, lemon juice, maple syrup and cayenne pepper (it tasted like pond water) and even tried the Alli pill. If anyone has ever tried the diet pill, I am terribly sorry that you had to go through what I went through and if you haven't tried it- don't...EVER!

This may make you look at me differently, but I don't care. Al Roker once pooped his pants while reporting live on TV at the White House and we still look forward to hearing his weather report every morning. Besides, I didn't exactly do what Al did...but it was close. When you take the Alli pill, it supposedly blocks the intestines from absorbing some of the fat that you ingest in your food. It sounds great until you go to the bathroom and see what looks like bright orange pizza grease staring back up at you. Disgusting. And its not only nasty looking but its kind of like you took a laxative and you can't help when or where it wants to come out. Disgusted yet? Yeah, so am I just thinking back on it. Let's just say that one morning I woke up and had to throw my sheets away. Immediately after, I threw those pills away. That's all I will say about that. Thank goodness I have smartened up and realized that the only thing that keeps you skinny is eating healthy and working out...and laxatives- just kidding! Never again. Never again!

I Said YES!

As many of you already know, Anthony and I are engaged and I couldn't be more excited to marry my best friend. But many of you may not know how it all went down. We went to the East Coast for Christmas where we would be traveling from Boston to Maine to Toronto all in nine days. (Little did I know that my engagement ring was already at Grace and JJ's house in Maine awaiting our arrival). After a few days in Boston with Grace and JJ, we drove up to my parent's house in Maine to spend Christmas. Ironically, the first thing my dad did when I told him that we would be spending a day in Niagara Falls at the end of our trip was wave his ring finger at me and wink. "Do you think he's going to propose?" he asked as he giggled like a teenager. I was definitely hoping he would but I didn't want to get my hopes up and I knew that he still had to talk to my dad. Funny enough, when my dad made that gesture, Anthony hadn't even talked to him- it must have been fatherly intuition.

As our stay in Maine was winding down, I was very aware of the fact that I never saw my dad and Anthony alone together, so I figured that the timing just wasn't right and I decided that I would just be patient and let it happen when it happened. So off we went to Toronto. The city, although freezing, was beautiful and we were definitely having a blast being American tourists. On our last day of our vacation, we planned to go the Niagara Falls (ironically dubbed the Honeymoon Capital of the World). Our train from Toronto left at 8:20 AM, which meant we had to get up early to get to the subway, which would take us to the train station. Well, that didn't happen as we planned and we had to hail a cab and pray we would make our train because of course, we were running late that morning. Once on the train, go figure the WiFi didn't work and after two hours on the Amtrak, we finally made it into Niagara Falls only to discover that we had to take another bus into town. Were we filming Planes Trains and Automobiles 2? Once we got into the heart of the Falls, we thought we were at the Jersey Shore as the town resembled a boardwalk/carnival with a Hershey's Store, Ripley's Believe it or Not Museum, Hard Rock Cafe and various haunted houses to boot. I turned to Anthony and said, "this day is going to be an adventure!" Little did I know...

After we explored the falls, ate a few hot dogs, checked out the local casino and had a drink at Margaritaville, Anthony suggested that we take a ride on the Skywheel Ferris wheel where we could sit down, relax and enjoy the view in our own enclosed and heated cart. Although I am terrified of heights/Ferris wheels, I agreed to go on because I wanted to see the Falls from 175 feet in the air. We were enjoying the ride ands snapping a few photos when he blurted out that he had a confession to make. He kept telling me that he had one more Christmas gift to give me once we got back to LA but he said that he wasn't going to give me the gift in LA now. I was completely confused and asked him if we were going on another trip and he told me to close my eyes. I honestly still had no idea what was going on and was wondering if he was going to give me my gift at that moment- maybe a purse or something? But then I felt the cart shift and realized that he was getting down on his knee. I removed my hands from my eyes to see the love of my life kneeling in front of me with a gorgeous ring. I swear to God I blacked out when I heard the word 'wife' and still have no idea f I said yes. I was in total shock! I did manage to ask him if he asked my dad and he told me he asked both of my parents when I was in the shower on Christmas Eve. What a little bugger! I couldn't believe this was really happening. I think I finally mustered out an answer and gave him a big ole smooch. I had no idea I could go from a normal girl being scared to death of Ferris wheels to a fiance whose new favorite thing was a Ferris wheel in that short amount of time but I did. Let the wedding planning begin!

Only In Maine...

When you grow up in Maine, it is common that you trek out back in the woods to cut down your Christmas tree every winter. The Demchak's were no exception and ever since I can remember, that is how we did it. And even after the kids moved out of the house, that is still how my parents, John and Rhoda do it. Last weekend, the two of them bundled up in their L.L. Bean gear, hopped in the truck and drove out back in the woods to cut down the Christmas tree. Once they found a good spot, my parents jumped out of the truck, (my dad holding the chainsaw and my mom peeing her pants laughing) and made their way through the woods to find that special tree. My dad was leading the way, chopping through the tree limbs that were in their way with the chainsaw, trying to get to that perfect tree.

Once my dad would see that glimmering pine tree destined for the living room, he would cut down the 75 footer, watch it fall, then cut off the top that would fit in the house. After a few pines went timber and my parents shunned the so called 'Charlie Brown' trees, they found the perfect one that would be ideal for the Demchak house. My mom, still peeing her pants, watched as my dad strapped the trees to the back of the truck with chains. The two found the perfect tree and not to be wasteful, a few others to use in the dining room and maybe even to make a wreath. Only in Maine....

A Sticky Situation

Two months ago, I had my friend Nicole put long, blonde extensions in my hair. I thought I would try something new because I know that my hair does not grow past my shoulders. I would never be able to have long, thick blonde hair without the help of false hair. I absolutely loved the extensions until I naturally got sick of them and they started to come out a little on the side of my head. Instead of acting like a normal person and waiting for Nicole to take them out of my hair properly, I decided to rip them out myself. After the first two I realized my mistake and when Anthony came into the bathroom and told me to wait for Nicole, I simply told him, "I'm in too deep babe!"

After almost an hour later and a bathtub drain full of real hair, I had them all out. While I slathered the leave-in conditioner in my hair and covered it with my shower cap, I thought, wow- that actually was easy! Who cares if I only have a few strands of hair left, all the extensions are out! I was feeling good until I rinsed the conditioner out and realized that even though the actual extensions were gone, the glue that held them in still remained in globs in my matted hair. Panicked, I asked Nicole what I should do and after she scolded me, she said that I needed a hair extension glue remover from Sally's Beauty Supply (which of course was already closed). I decided to Google at-home remedies to removing hair extension glue and at this moment I am sitting on the couch with my head drenched in olive oil thinking about how I would look with a short bob. Oops!

Viva Las Vegas

For anyone who has ever sang karaoke unwillingly and actually got nervous, I will let you in on a secret...alcohol calms it all. Last weekend I went to Las Vegas with Anthony and his family and after a night of drinking, we found ourselves at Yolo's, a Mexican restaurant/karaoke bar inside of Planet Hollywood. Anthony's sister Sarah urged her friend Christina and I to sing and after an unsuccessful attempt at finding a song in the giant song binder that lists every song in the history of songs (who has time for that?) we decided on a little diddy that I already knew by heart. One of my hidden talents (that's the only one I can think of right now besides opening a champagne bottle with a knife) is being able to belt out all of the words to Salt N' Pepa's "Shoop"on cue. I figured that would be the perfect song to get the crowd going in Vegas, right? Although Christina said she wasn't familiar with the lyrics, I told her not to worry and that all we needed was some liquid courage and the support of Sarah, her husband Paul, Anthony and his mom. Besides, I could hold down the fort and she would just need to chime in on the chorus. Piece of cake!

When the announcer called our names, I finished my drink and walked confidently up to the microphone. I was a little nervous when I noticed that there were a group of black ladies in the front row and hoped that they wouldn't heckle us for rapping and boo us off the stage. When the music started, we began to sing and surprisingly, the black ladies in the front were actually cheering us on, dancing and taking pictures of us rapping. Everything was going great until Paul got up front to cheer us on and stood directly in front of the monitor that displayed the lyrics. We fumbled a bit, started awkwardly dancing and improvising, then got our shit together and recovered. 

What we didn't realize about the song though was there was way more chorus than actual lyrics which led to about 10 minutes straight of us repeating "Shoop, shoop-a-doop, shoop-a-doop, shoop-a-doop-a-doop-a-doop." Oh well, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, right? 

We're Good! (Not That Good)

Last weekend, Anthony and I went to Austin, Texas for the Fun Fun Fun Festival. Of course they were selling alcohol inside the festival but they jacked up the price and gave you half the amount, so I had my own solution. Just as I usually do at most music festivals, I would smuggle in a flask. We went to the liquor store and bought the only flask they had. It was large and plastic and cheap- it would do. I knew they checked my bag at the gate the day before (not thoroughly) but I figured I didn't want to take any chances and throw it in my purse. So I wore a shorts under my dress and put the flask full of vodka in my shorts.

When we got to the festival, I confidently walked up to the gate knowing that I had nothing to hide. Of course I got a freaking TSA agent to check my bag and he went through every nook and cranny of that thing. He picked up my sunglasses case which contained my necklace, shook it and gave me an 'I caught you' look. To his surprise, he only found the necklace and then moved on to my makeup bag which I willingly opened for him proving I was not smuggling anything. He then felt the side pocket of my purse where I had my cell phone and cleverly said "Miss, you're going to have to empty out that flask!" I pulled out the cell phone proving him wrong and took my bag back. Smugly I asked him if they had confiscated a lot tonight and he pointed to the nearby trashcan, overflowing with flasks and water bottles. He replied, "nope, but if you take a look over there, you can tell we're good!" As I walked away I whispered under my breath, "not that good!"