Who Mara...

[pqcollectibles]

HeHeHe! And, Mara thinks buying a house and getting married is $$$$ flying out the window! Just wait until you (if you do) have KIDS!!!

I can spend $300 and never leave the house or buy a thing I see. Lunch account money check, field trip, fees for a class or 2 and boom, $300! Or, "Mom, I need....." whatever for a class, extra curricular activity. It's amazing! Good thing I got a money tree growing out in the back yard! Yeah Right! I wish!

I hear ya Hest. Just when you think you begin to get a handle on getting ahead or just a little put back, something always comes along.

 

[Colored Gemstone Nut]

Hey Mara, I'm a little behind and just catching up on the "Who's Who" category...




Anyway, you guys make a great couple and from your writing you seem like you are full of SPUNK...Lol..

 

[Mara]

J--I don't know if my darling fiance would agree that SPUNK is the right word...though I guess I'm fulla something.

 

[69gm]

mara,

had no idea you had such an exotic look! i always imagined some nice caucasian girl with blonde hair and blue eyes. boy was i wrong!

you guys make a very nice couple. congrats!

thanks for sharing your lil' life story with us. it helps to put a little more personality to the names.

boy do i have some catching up to do!

 

[Mara]

hahah blonde hair and blue eyes!!! well i admit to wishing for that 'classic' look at some points during my life when my 'exotic' look seemed out of place....sometimes the grass seems greener...then you snap back to reality.

btw 69...i still ADORE your avatar...that is the best picture ever.

 

[fisiogrl]

Hi Mara,

Great to read your bio. Interestingly, I just used your advice on a diamond and am still following up on that (used the budget limitations etc. that you wished you had done!).....so far so good. Thanks for that!

My fiancee has been wondering who 'this Mara' person is that I refer to all the time - now I can let him know that you seem to be pretty NORMAL....except slightly nutty about diamonds

.

Know exactly what you mean about $$ flying out the window, my fiance has a HUGE family and I am finding the wedding planning overwhelming. We also just bought a new place - you are about to become just as obsessed about appliances, power drills, cabinets, and furnishing... Have fun!

 

[Mara]

----------------
On 1/10/2004 11:34:31 PM fisiogrl wrote:





My fiancee has been wondering who 'this Mara' person is that I refer to all the time - now I can let him know that you seem to be pretty NORMAL....except slightly nutty about diamonds

.

Know exactly what you mean about $$ flying out the window, you are about to become just as obsessed about appliances, power drills, cabinets, and furnishing... Have fun!
----------------

Yeah I don't have horns or anything.

Well they are hidden by the hair.

I bet alot of fiance's wonder who I am after I put all sorts of cut and size notions in their girlfriend's heads!

Diamonds are so easy to become addicted to, pretty shiny sparkly baubles. My fiance says I need to get a job in the industry so I don't make him buy me more!

As for obsessed about other items....yep right now my focus is on the house. We move in about 3 weeks so we are in the home stretch. This weekend we are finalizing most of our furniture purchases, yesterday we bought a washer and dryer (a few steps up from the ones we have now in this place which we are leaving behind). Today I am going to tackle cleaning the office which should be an absolute nightmare. Already did my too-stuffed closet a week ago and put a bunch of items on eBay, Goodwill'd some more, and then returned about $300 of stuff still with tags to stores from over a year ago. I am the worst about returning. At least they took it back and gave me what I paid. Hee Hee. That's house decorating money now!!

Fiance says that at least with me spending money on the house, he gets to use whatever I buy so he approves the shopping, as opposed to when I buy a purse or clothes item. Typical guy comment.

But hey I don't care. Him not minding me shopping? I'm all for that!

 

[sunset522]

Mara,

i'm also a bit slow and finally got to the 'who's who' category and just read your lil' spiel

You guys do make a great couple! Your Fiance seems pretty tall..! CONGRATS on your engagement (I know this may be a bit late..) and best wishes to both of you.. your new home.. upcoming wedding and 2004 i'm sure has great memories for you both to reminesce (not sure if spelled correctly) for rest of your life!! Thanks again for answering all my questions.. I truly appreciate it.

Sandhya

 

[Jaded Gem]

Hey Mara! That was a nice picture of you and your fiance. Congratulations on your engagement and house purchase.

Yeah, I know California real estate doesn't come cheap. I lived in San Jose for about four years and my one bedroom/one bathroom apartment was over a thousand dollars. It wasn't even in the best neighborhood, it was just an average hood. Anyway, I was just reading about the cheap eat suggestions posted by the others. Yeah, potatoes and/or macaroni and cheese meals are cheap, but then you also can't beat that cheap 10 cent Ramen noodle packs.

With kick boxing, I'm sure you could burn all those calories, right?

Anyway, I was just kidding about that. I just wanted to say that you could do it with the house purchase, and you probably shouldn't fret too much over your livelihood. My husband and I are looking at homes now also, and our jaw drops when we look at the price that most home owners want, and then actually walk in and take a look at the home. Most of the time, we think that the homeowners want too much, but in actuality it's really market forces. Darn!

Well, my dad and my best friend's dad (he used to work in Banking) always told me that when they bought their homes, it seemed like it was impossible at the time because it seemed like "all the money in the world." Twenty years later of course, both my dad and my best friend's dad said they wished somebody had just told them to not stress so much about it since it probably didn't help with not contributing to their gray hairs. Anyway, both of them own their homes now, and my dad had actually wished that he got something bigger and in a better neighborhood. Oh well, I think I turned out okay growing up in my hood.

So in essence, I just wanted to say "Congratulations on everything, and don't worry too much." Yeah, the grass always may seem to be greener on the other side, but there will always be something that you have that others won't have. Good luck. Keep us posted if you do go the potato, macaroni and cheese, or ramen route. Maybe one of us will fall into your shoes and may seek the same advice on what tastes the best or what actually is the cheapest meal.

Or maybe you will come up with some interesting recipes that I may have to seek your advice on when I throw all my dough in my future house. Best of Luck!

 

[Mara]

Figured I'd add some pictures too after being motivated and seeing others!

This is my maid of honor Nicole, Greg & myself at our friend Shareen's 30th bday in 2003. No that is not the Hawaiian sunset in the background, it's the flash reflecting off the window. Cool huh?!

 

[Mara]

This is the weirdest picture of me taken at an odd angle, and NOT flattering but it makes me laugh every time...so here it is.

The camera does the funniest things!! Ooh and notice the big ring. Hehee.

 

[Mara]

In the same vein...Greg put on a friend's wedding band and then affected a frightened pose. I had to snap the picture to taunt him with later....not quite his best picture moment either.

He looks so....red.

 

[Mara]

My youngest sister and myself...in Tahoe for 4th of July in 2003. Greg calls her my twin.

When we are in the same room together, he says he feels like there are two of me around. Of course a good thing. I cut my parents out of the picture...

 

[Mara]

Greg in our new jet tub on Valentine's night!

Notice the champagne glass and big grin...he drank 95% of the bottle by himself!!

 

[Mara]

and last but not least..for now! Our master bedroom actually decorated...mostly....with a partial view into the bathroom. Did I mention we LOVE our new house?!?!? Oh and we met with our accountant last weekend and our tax break is *amazing*! Yay!

 

[AGBF]

The new pictures are wonderful, Mara. I had seen at least one "regular" photo of you before, but it just showed your outsides at a staid moment. (In other words, you looked gorgeous and might have been modeling something. I didn't see your personality, though.)

These photos convey a lot about you and Greg...and the house looks awesome. I haven't been following the story of the house. I am going to try to find a description of it somewhere. Is there one in this thread?

Deb

 

[Patty]

Mara, thanks for posting the pictures. What a great smile you have! When I see the pics of you and Greg I can't help but think that you two will have gorgeous children. (IF you have them...if you don't want them, nevermind!)

 

[Colored Gemstone Nut]

Greggy Bob Looks good in the jet tub,




BUT Where's the photo of you in the jet tub...

 

[Nicrez]

Hey Mara, I noticed that the little attitude could possibly come from the Mexican side?




A little Latina attitude seems to be genetic most times...

I traced mine to my mother's side, as she's Latina too.

I love your story, and your home I am sure will be gorgeous when all is said and done! Buying is such a painful and EXPENSIVE process...the oving is what makes it worse!! That's why I actually DREAD buying...I would NOT want to discover all the crap I have, and wouldn't want to part with it either!!!




Did you find out if you get the w-ring for sure?

*fingers crossed*

 

[mike04456]

Great pics, Mara. Is that a diamond in your MOH's nose?

 

[Mara]

Hahhaa Josh...sneaky!!

Greg LOVES the new tub..we both fit in it too so that's a bonus.




LG...how sharp your 'eye' is...yes that's a diamond. This is my friend with all the diamonds...she has 4ctw diamond earrings, her diamond nose ring, a few diamond rings, a few diamond necklaces..pretty much given to her mostly all by her parents. She's so spoiled! I want to be adopted. Greg blames her for turning me onto diamonds, before I met her I was wayyyy less diamond-centric!

AGBF...I posted about the new house in the Diamond Hangout about 3 weeks back...with more pictures before it was decorated/painted.

Nic...yeah I have some sass! Greg loves to point out that it's the Latin side...he thinks the Persian side actually keeps the attitude in control most of the time.

I learned from the best, my mom and grandmother can be frightening sometimes. I'm mellow compared to them!




Moving was the hardest part of this house thing. Between us both we have alot of stuff. We are STILL unpacking and putting things away..I'm so tired of being productive on the weekends. We have an informal housewarming this weekend for all our friends, so I am on a MISSION until then. We spent all weekend cleaning and organizing...this next Saturday will be the same!

I've also got 'just a few things' to buy...

 

[KittyTiger]

Mara,

You two make a fablulous looking couple! I always love pictures!! Oh, and your MOH looks pretty cute too! I've always liked the look of blonde hair. But being asian, don't think that would look right.

And I love love love your new place~~ I really want a place of my own too. Saving real hard for our dream place too!

And I have to say, I love your taste! Very creative. I'm not a creative person by nature. I really don't want to know what my place would turn out to look like if all the decorating's left up to me. Honestly, I think when we do finally have our own place, I'll need to hire a decorator. But my fiance will probably tell me why waste that $$, he'll just do it. Which will probably be even worse!

Wanna come out and help me pick out stuff when we have our new place? All expense covered! hee hee.~~

 

[Mara]

Haha, well, I can't take ALL the credit for the decor of the MB....the model was similar in terms of blue, white and dark woods; but ours was slightly different, more us.

We LOVE our new furniture in there, the dresser and nightstand. So we got the main idea from the model, but then made it more like 'us'.

I will try to remember to snap a picture tonite of the new chest thing for downstairs and load it up.

We had a housewarming this weekend and of course had a friend spill RED WINE across the kitchen tiles, onto the wall, and into the family room carpet. Resolve got most of it out but I am going to try the new steam cleaner and see if it works 100%. The wine did get into the grout on the floor in the kitchen, which will be a pain to get out.

 

[Mara]

Okay Leota...here it is for you.

Notice how perfectly it fits in the space outside the bathroom, we were afraid it would not fit and then we would really not had anywhere else to put it! Breathed a sigh of relief when it fit.




I've also got some other pix of the house which I will post.

 

[Mara]

The downstairs bathroom, the cabinet is right outside the door....

 

[Mara]

Here is our family room...the couch takes up all the room!! We LOVE the couch, our friends had this exact same couch for a year and we coveted it openly...when we decided to buy a place, fitting the couch was top priority. We even got the same color they have.

It's very comfortable. I have fallen asleep on that couch more times since we moved than should be allowed.

Across from the couch is the entertainment unit wall.

 

[Mara]

Here is our living room aka the room with no purpose.

It's the downstairs entry 'living room' but it's got such an odd layout...we don't know what to do with it. We just got the awesome big ficus tree which we love...but figure we may move that to the other side where the table is and get a big leather chair and ottoman to put in that corner facing at an angle. The original idea was to have this be a library with wall-to-wall bookshelves, but the window there on the wall put an end to that idea. We have to have clearance to use the french doors to the patio ..whatever we decide to do. So for now it just looks nice and is very open and spacious. So many other people with this same unit are having the same problem. It's more of a 'display' room than really functional. To the right of the lamp is the wall fireplace.




The decor there now is not what I'd like the final to be either...but it looks okay for now.

Much better than packed with boxes!!

 

[KittyTiger]

That cabinet is a perfect! And I love the way the sink looks... and you've already got your magazines in the bathroom too!

Thanks for the photos. See, if it was me, I'd probably do the running upstairs for the toilet paper... and not do what you did. duh!!

Told you I have no idea with these things! I'm better at gadgets.. and electronics.. and making those things work. But anything to do with decorating, I really need help with.

I've really enjoyed the pictures!!

 

[fire&ice]

Jean jackets are a staple of mine too. I have 3 for different occassions.

Your home looks lovely & it sounds like you are really enjoying it. What color is your grout? If it white or tan, a toothbrush & a bit of clorox will work. Your friend must have felt really bad.

 

[Nicrez]

Mara the place looks so FABULOUS!!! But oddly, one thing I noticed is no artwork or wall hangings...? I know it's a new place, so my curiosity is what hangs on your walls?




My friend who designs and paints, said once, "You can tell a lot about a person by what hangs on their walls". I once knew a guy who used to have street and traffic signs on his walls as art...hmmm....?

LOL!