Fashion Friday: 9 wedding rings for men

<div align="center"> </div><a href="http://rookery9.aviary.com.s3.amazonaws.com/13882000/13882176_e7de_625x625.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://rookery9.aviary.com.s3.amazonaws.com/13882000/13882176_e7de_625x625.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 0px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 659px;" /></a>We've <em>ooohed</em> and <em>ahhhed</em> over <a href="http://melissabxoxo.blogspot.com/2010/11/engagement-rings.html">engagement</a> <a href="http://melissabxoxo.blogspot.com/2011/07/engagement-rings.html">rings</a> <a href="http://melissabxoxo.blogspot.com/2011/10/engagement-ring.html">for</a> <a href="http://melissabxoxo.blogspot.com/2011/11/fashion-friday-two-pretty-engagement.html">women</a>, but remember my <a href="http://melissabxoxo.blogspot.com/2008/12/hot-men-trend-wedding-rings.html">wise words</a> so long ago, friends?<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">There is nothing sexier than a man wearing a wedding ring</span>. So, with that in mind, I thought it would be fun to round up some of my favorite wedding ring finds for the gents! Some of them are quite unique...<br /><br />*<a href="https://catbirdnyc.com/shop/product.php?productid=17471&cat=369&page=1">Twisted band</a>, $600.<br />*<a href="https://catbirdnyc.com/shop/product.php?productid=18108&cat=369&page=1">Concave wedding band</a>, $530.<br />*<a href="http://www.verameat.com/collections/under-100-ring/products/foxy">Foxy ring</a> (<span style="font-style:italic;">because he's such a fox...</span>), $220.<br />*<a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/83456449/hammered-silver-gold-mens-wedding-ring">Hammered gold ripple ring</a>, $115.<br />*<a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/84930614/hammered-gold-mens-wedding-ring-14k?ref=sr_gallery_41&ga_search_query=mens+wedding+rings&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_ship_to=ZZ&ga_min=0&ga_max=0&ga_search_type=handmade">Hammered gold ring</a>, $625.<br />*<a href="https://catbirdnyc.com/shop/product.php?productid=17778&cat=369&page=1">Belt ring</a>, $860.<br />*<a href="https://catbirdnyc.com/shop/product.php?productid=16562">Rope band</a>, $150.<br />*<a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/75820012/the-6mm-original-custom-fingerprint">Fingerprint wedding band</a>, $225.<br />*<a href="http://satomikawakita.com/521-13572/MR0104_men`s_wedding_band">Gold wedding band</a>, $200.<br /><br /><strong>What do you think, friends? If you're married, what does your husband's ring look like? Did you pick it out? Did you personalize it by having it inscribed? Or did you opt for a classic wedding band? xoxo</strong>

Fashion Friday: 9 wedding rings for men

We've ooohed and ahhhed over engagement rings for women , but remember my wise words so long ago, friends? There is nothing sexie...

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Five-Year Engagement

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj22S3L1gt2WpICDEje1R-lzm63aoDrYIGePvI00RbXJVTf2PBcsp03Pm9VGmFmg4fGfTdl2P_mfOArhHhfrr98dELUWy0oh2DX0PKDJuOziw2ihn2ivnH9XxQaGq94xZd7MC3smhmr_4/s1600/img8.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5735703160008369522" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj22S3L1gt2WpICDEje1R-lzm63aoDrYIGePvI00RbXJVTf2PBcsp03Pm9VGmFmg4fGfTdl2P_mfOArhHhfrr98dELUWy0oh2DX0PKDJuOziw2ihn2ivnH9XxQaGq94xZd7MC3smhmr_4/s400/img8.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 0px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 185px;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHaWh1smTMtMr6SoPxyyK0Q5aL-WqHVw4BdlzM0ggNIfAqbaYiaAuXF60x7itEETghFkuavPR-0qFsq-SL4Iq9VUC1-cNQykdAqPtTnA6WGqzbsp3qjhgdOXQd8oAvSTxr-eigx7W-NqU/s1600/img1.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5735703150241590994" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHaWh1smTMtMr6SoPxyyK0Q5aL-WqHVw4BdlzM0ggNIfAqbaYiaAuXF60x7itEETghFkuavPR-0qFsq-SL4Iq9VUC1-cNQykdAqPtTnA6WGqzbsp3qjhgdOXQd8oAvSTxr-eigx7W-NqU/s400/img1.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 0px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 185px;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK8jN9zCaym5BwA_Fx7GL0PMi-VkpKOWL6599BwyRCpe8XGisXqszRLgcP0d0m2CICOKHpDaIbMrjUGMhAiwd4Zx6JWDu9rNaaHfrSTv50rCQWSqrMxSgp_4bX1ShfWpb3p6vAmu7CLnE/s1600/img10.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5735703148711664850" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK8jN9zCaym5BwA_Fx7GL0PMi-VkpKOWL6599BwyRCpe8XGisXqszRLgcP0d0m2CICOKHpDaIbMrjUGMhAiwd4Zx6JWDu9rNaaHfrSTv50rCQWSqrMxSgp_4bX1ShfWpb3p6vAmu7CLnE/s400/img10.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 0px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 185px;" /></a>Have you guys seen the trailer for <a href="http://www.thefiveyearengagementmovie.com/">Five-Year Engagement</a>? The romantic comedy starring everyone's favorite funny man (<em>and <a href="http://melissabxoxo.blogspot.com/2009/03/man-candy-monday_23.html">Man</a> <a href="http://melissabxoxo.blogspot.com/2009/04/i-love-you-jason-segel.html">Candy</a> vet</em>) Jason Segel and Emily Blunt follows the couple's adventures and misadventures on their long walk down the aisle.<br /><div align="center"><iframe width="400" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/xiDittXjJ9E" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>And in a clever nod to modern engagements, there's even <a href="http://tomandviolet.com/blog/">a blog</a> written by the fictional couple, Tom and Violet, which includes their story, videos and a guest book. Genius! Plus, the film is produced by the same people who did <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1478338/">Bridesmaids</a>, so you know it will be laugh-out-loud funny! Will you be seeing it, friends? xoxo<br /><br />P.S. I'll be writing more about long engagements next week, but until then, a <a href="http://melissabxoxo.blogspot.com/2012/04/central-park-engagement.html">Central Park engagement</a> and <a href="http://melissabxoxo.blogspot.com/2011/10/zombie-engagement.html">Zombie engagement</a>. :)

Five-Year Engagement

Have you guys seen the trailer for Five-Year Engagement ? The romantic comedy starring everyone's favorite funny man ( and Man Candy v...

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Love Lounge: How old were you when you got married? Did you feel any pressure to tie the knot?

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8p2SFy2R1lanT0m-5SSPTCRCTgkykIgjIl5AtmQ7QHkm8rEfVD9BxQ6Gs9V-mDSYnvEufqR5LeSbne24OBm6gFv1PmwTtK9xGxCrPhVvcdqMI54zKvqj5xEAcwAW1cAl9Y73LvhGP1tI/s1600/marry2.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5735026557417471186" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8p2SFy2R1lanT0m-5SSPTCRCTgkykIgjIl5AtmQ7QHkm8rEfVD9BxQ6Gs9V-mDSYnvEufqR5LeSbne24OBm6gFv1PmwTtK9xGxCrPhVvcdqMI54zKvqj5xEAcwAW1cAl9Y73LvhGP1tI/s400/marry2.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 0px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 284px;" /></a>It's sort of an odd coincidence: Most everyone in my mom's family (<em>her mom, her sisters...</em>) got married when they were 22. And although I <em>haven't</em> given much thought to is the age I'd like to be when I tie that knot, I did find myself going though a bit of self-doubt when I turned 22.<br /><br />Then, when my best friend got married a few years ago, I found myself bringing out the old metaphorical yardstick yet again. It's not that I actually wanted to get married <em>right then</em>; I just wondered if I <em>should be</em>. With so many of my peers marrying in their mid- and late-20s, the whole subject of marriage was hard to ignore. <br /><br />"The peer pressure to marry doesn’t necessarily suggest a problem with marriage itself, but a lack of other cultural models," says <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/23/reasons-to-get-married_n_1447389.html?ref=weddings&ncid=edlinkusaolp00000008">psychologist Lyla Cicero</a>. "This results in a lot of people choosing marital and family structures by default rather than by intention -- a kind of compulsory monogamy."<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmFzK8i5v6Sq3ggmvgbNo_dOgSjv5670w-dqjsWZQXryzaGZ1zXOm23JVzjgPN-O6BmQAy3Aw_V_uI8a1iUx54YK-z9kg83gXIh1E55CnwNAgRGmMiUhzrFrJ9Vd7BFsqkDWXEOcD_aSk/s1600/marry.png"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5735026566722403106" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmFzK8i5v6Sq3ggmvgbNo_dOgSjv5670w-dqjsWZQXryzaGZ1zXOm23JVzjgPN-O6BmQAy3Aw_V_uI8a1iUx54YK-z9kg83gXIh1E55CnwNAgRGmMiUhzrFrJ9Vd7BFsqkDWXEOcD_aSk/s400/marry.png" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 0px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 227px;" /></a>And, as it turns out, the mid-20s is the perfect time to get married, at least according to <a href="http://www.cosmopolitan.com/celebrity/exclusive/marriage-age?hootPostID=ee8d539df8da463f0806b035a2b7c824">new research</a>. Having higher education, financial security and a firm sense of your goals and values in your mid-20s make for a perfect marriage recipe -- and lower the chances of going down the divorce path. <br /><br />But honestly? I don't want to get married until <em>I'm</em> ready, not when my peers or society think I should be ready. I think a lot of women -- and men -- feel this way too. Marriage, at the core, is such an individual thing. It can't be placed on some sort of arbitrary time table, full of neat little boxes of steps to check off. It's something you have to feel in your heart instead of calculate in your head. <br /><br /><strong>So, I'm curious, friends: Are you married? How old were you when you got married? Did you feel any of that peer pressure? Would you do things differently now if you had the chance? If you're not married, do you envision yourself being married by a certain age? xoxo</strong><br /><br />[Photos by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/superbomba/">superbomba</a> and <a href="http://www.rachelthurston.com/">Rachel Thurston</a>]

Love Lounge: How old were you when you got married? Did you feel any pressure to tie the knot?

It's sort of an odd coincidence: Most everyone in my mom's family ( her mom, her sisters... ) got married when they were 22. And alt...

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Letters To My Future Husband: Letter #155.

Dear Mr. Melissa Blake:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYInugEOGOLspzvKiWDKmaAR5Sg9Jli8nwBQierk563fn70KZF20PaqWh90Gz7nEqGAihn2aJCCm99zpHYZ-lKrV0n2HN9m3R1wUPaloKvMQ10IXdCkis3qYYB4fiulgOpc64mfHt5iJg/s1600/02.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5732085986452072418" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYInugEOGOLspzvKiWDKmaAR5Sg9Jli8nwBQierk563fn70KZF20PaqWh90Gz7nEqGAihn2aJCCm99zpHYZ-lKrV0n2HN9m3R1wUPaloKvMQ10IXdCkis3qYYB4fiulgOpc64mfHt5iJg/s400/02.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 0px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" /></a>I'll be honest, Sweetpea: You would have hated the person I was a few years ago. I was that woman. I chatted on my cell phone as I dashed through the supermarket, rolling my eyes and wondering why the little girl with the pigtails and pink puffy dress couldn't move any faster. I even avoided the under-six set at church. <br /><br />Even <span style="font-style:italic;">I</span> hated me.<br /><br />The plain truth: <span style="font-weight:bold;">I didn't want to have kids</span>. I wanted a high-power career as a New York City magazine editor instead of a high-power position as president of the PTA. I wanted to be roused every Saturday by the morning sun sweeping through the nearby window and the smell of freshly brewed coffee instead of being jolted awake by shrieks from the next room or the smell of a not-so-fresh diaper. That's how I viewed motherhood. Not a very flattering portrait, was it?<br /><br />All the sippy-cup, Dr.-Seuss, bubble-bath fun? Well, I'd just leave that to the Mommy Bunch. I considered myself a Career Woman, and the two shall never meet. <br /><br />It wasn't that I grew up with horrible motherly role models. My childhood was quite the contrary, in fact. My mother threw herself into motherhood raising my younger sister and me. Herself a stay-at-home mom, the three of us spent our days rummaging through large piles of children's book at the library or sitting on the banks of the nearby lagoon feeding the ducks. If anything, you'd think I'd want to be my mom, Part II. But one lap around my bedroom would reveal I'm no where close to filling her large shoes. My bookshelves are lined with writing books, various anthologies and the AP style manual; my mother's shelves were lined with family health books and framed family photos. I keep cold cans of Coke in the fridge; she always had fresh juice boxes on hand, the plastic wrapper already removed from the straw, of course. <br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRwsLva5B581srgVd05jf8BRBpZsqW7ZSZCaZxNlIGMOJOGiTCQHXDVaGcV8gnODonq4739o_6VQ-jMM4wb_85emLefPk5r7gr-43vy-Zb_9Y0n3e9ZZceoBz-ASXOzjMns71d_aADjrg/s1600/03.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5732085984155471538" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRwsLva5B581srgVd05jf8BRBpZsqW7ZSZCaZxNlIGMOJOGiTCQHXDVaGcV8gnODonq4739o_6VQ-jMM4wb_85emLefPk5r7gr-43vy-Zb_9Y0n3e9ZZceoBz-ASXOzjMns71d_aADjrg/s400/03.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 0px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" /></a>That all changed when I met a set of tiny triplets.<br /><br />After years of trying to conceive, my mother's coworker gave birth to their three bundles of joy. I visited them in the NICU, all curled up under a blanket and the overhead heat lamp. For some reason, I felt an instant connection with each of them. We continued to visit them every few months, first as content eight-month olds, then as clap-happy ten-month olds who could sit up.<br /><br />Then one fall day in October, with orange and yellow leaves swirling in the front yard, my mom and I found ourselves on their doorstep. There was one of the triplets, his face and hands making homemade window clings on the front window. His mother opened the door with one hand as she steadied another one of the triplets on her hip. And the third little boy? He held tightly to her knee and buried his head in her jeans.<br /><br />“Oh, I'm so sorry about the mess,” she chirped as we entered the living room.<br /><br />Picture books dangled from the edge of the coffee table, a toy car had found its way smack dab in front of the fire place and small bags of Halloween treats lay strewn across the brown carpeting. I’ll admit I felt a bit out of place, almost as if I’d stepped into a room I didn’t quite belong in. A private club. <br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFREKMRqKNioTeJdQNfk-7Yc5yQ_xQa1sDjesoRvlDneRte_IZ3GwHGXcanMk9Avv2_UIvyjP2hd_LcFWF1Hd_roUsgS5n19Tr2UCadtHzmZyqZ1uyzNwhBs82rD-37EMkKqLZdnqVqas/s1600/01.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5732085993609144002" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFREKMRqKNioTeJdQNfk-7Yc5yQ_xQa1sDjesoRvlDneRte_IZ3GwHGXcanMk9Avv2_UIvyjP2hd_LcFWF1Hd_roUsgS5n19Tr2UCadtHzmZyqZ1uyzNwhBs82rD-37EMkKqLZdnqVqas/s400/01.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 0px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 322px;" /></a>As I sat down, a bit nervous, the quieter of the three boys came over to the couch and proceeded to offer me his pacifier not once, but twice. I declined, naturally, picked up the picture book that lay next to me, and the two of us sat down for a little reading and relaxing. <br /><br />“What’s that? A yummy pie,” I said as he pointed to a colorful picture.<br /><br />“Oh, that’s a tri-an-gle,” I said, neatly sounding out each syllable of the word.<br /><br />Was I really using what people call <span style="font-style:italic;">baby talk</span>?<br /><br />Over the next two hours, we (<span style="font-style:italic;">yes, me and three 18-month-olds</span>) shared laughs, more books, strawberry Pez dispensed from a Jasmine dispenser (<span style="font-style:italic;">a big hit</span>) and even shook and swiveled our hips to Shakira tunes. <br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUtLPNHpBHIksO7FG72DhQGJBl_SJTo5IBm6mD7t5JnhWVf2ZtBlN1JDpnhR6CLeaJbNs7x2sRt9XlBZELTzUwkSV46Jc08ZWkoV6EAETTPcrxO92RYPPP5Bw1i3t-kJx3pk8tykB9k3w/s1600/04.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5732085980030093586" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUtLPNHpBHIksO7FG72DhQGJBl_SJTo5IBm6mD7t5JnhWVf2ZtBlN1JDpnhR6CLeaJbNs7x2sRt9XlBZELTzUwkSV46Jc08ZWkoV6EAETTPcrxO92RYPPP5Bw1i3t-kJx3pk8tykB9k3w/s400/04.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 0px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 263px;" /></a>I may have entered that house a cynical independent woman who had resigned herself to a life of spinsterhood, but I left a woman who, for the first time, could actually, perhaps, maybe see herself with a baby in her right arm instead of a cell phone clasped to her ear. Maybe someday, Sweetpea. What do you think? Until we meet... xoxo<br /><br />P.S. More on how <a href="http://melissabxoxo.blogspot.com/search/label/Disability">my disability will affect my having children</a> later in the week... :)<br /><br /><em><strong>**Don't forget to enter the <a href="http://melissabxoxo.blogspot.com/2012/04/shopbop-100-gift-card-giveaway.html">Shopbop giveaway</a> for your chance to win a $100 shopping spree!**</strong></em><br /><br />[Photos via <a href="http://weheartit.com/">We Heart It</a> and <a href="http://iheartbaby.tumblr.com/post/12854163876">i heart baby</a>]

Letters To My Future Husband: Letter #155.

Dear Mr. Melissa Blake: I'll be honest, Sweetpea: You would have hated the person I was a few years ago. I was that woman. I chatted on ...

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Central Park engagement

<div align="center"> </div><a href="http://rookery9.aviary.com.s3.amazonaws.com/13504000/13504001_74ca_625x625.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://rookery9.aviary.com.s3.amazonaws.com/13504000/13504001_74ca_625x625.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 0px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 542px;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrXzGk3CZxgHaEMMxu_KK608yvP21KVDFIGWYoDo4R8Vl8-2B-fiN5cxH7zT6gLFeeQySaOBrPnHEtQdGSLZOzrlx-v7_FhmtkfXE5xSUWtzBhyvXfosiFskkgYmWIkGXsX9JhAL0DApk/s1600/03.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5729538416746148466" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrXzGk3CZxgHaEMMxu_KK608yvP21KVDFIGWYoDo4R8Vl8-2B-fiN5cxH7zT6gLFeeQySaOBrPnHEtQdGSLZOzrlx-v7_FhmtkfXE5xSUWtzBhyvXfosiFskkgYmWIkGXsX9JhAL0DApk/s400/03.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 0px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 299px;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlXE1utOFDV8cEJ-XPyMwiEnl-wp1zhdHlp88OXMTE5Q2jeQq1n3BInByy7T2I3kYZAsi1UnVNxjamfQmBNGv_dhmf88bMUvn8NBateEvXvZmAsAkmUtc2Mysk_SlX-4QwZjwepDvA8p8/s1600/06.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5729538413531662386" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlXE1utOFDV8cEJ-XPyMwiEnl-wp1zhdHlp88OXMTE5Q2jeQq1n3BInByy7T2I3kYZAsi1UnVNxjamfQmBNGv_dhmf88bMUvn8NBateEvXvZmAsAkmUtc2Mysk_SlX-4QwZjwepDvA8p8/s400/06.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 0px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 265px;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDUS4nju6hGPWiensbFKX6HHG7zWh2-UQZudfOKPjohEs90iQjVQ0paJppFyLXJ2CPdfQ_cmY4MZGoDX_nEmB0A5i5qATQ86z1PK8AY_ZKiODzgwOW_sGTREbm_Y-fhzdBJ1dZ_BPNYRg/s1600/07.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5729538662469001330" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDUS4nju6hGPWiensbFKX6HHG7zWh2-UQZudfOKPjohEs90iQjVQ0paJppFyLXJ2CPdfQ_cmY4MZGoDX_nEmB0A5i5qATQ86z1PK8AY_ZKiODzgwOW_sGTREbm_Y-fhzdBJ1dZ_BPNYRg/s400/07.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 0px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 297px;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-1cch8usYdsOjwO4udHWl83m47a49TqQ9IoePDjy-a7oHaTCzmNjk8QI6Sfzx0-TiJxmRc6kacy9lYV9cznzIOCwLhy_R91-s-tuQVWEVpLs3ini10oS_sgkAwM_bSPtlgva2exYu6zg/s1600/02.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5729538429313571538" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-1cch8usYdsOjwO4udHWl83m47a49TqQ9IoePDjy-a7oHaTCzmNjk8QI6Sfzx0-TiJxmRc6kacy9lYV9cznzIOCwLhy_R91-s-tuQVWEVpLs3ini10oS_sgkAwM_bSPtlgva2exYu6zg/s400/02.JPG" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 0px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 270px;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib4vUbZHcHHEHe9-7BA2CroDQIkxib01uLPTc2ItZcVm1w17S4JBe8RVknQ0z6MO3RQZZXcbHKsrsuBka1cwcIV7JB1IEJk-q2Qif-a8_9l-QRNk8MYKqPoQEBBp3-rFMyrIMEdjYHMVU/s1600/04.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5729538418779810162" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib4vUbZHcHHEHe9-7BA2CroDQIkxib01uLPTc2ItZcVm1w17S4JBe8RVknQ0z6MO3RQZZXcbHKsrsuBka1cwcIV7JB1IEJk-q2Qif-a8_9l-QRNk8MYKqPoQEBBp3-rFMyrIMEdjYHMVU/s400/04.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 0px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 270px;" /></a><div align="center"> </div><a href="http://rookery9.aviary.com.s3.amazonaws.com/13504000/13504150_9447_625x625.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://rookery9.aviary.com.s3.amazonaws.com/13504000/13504150_9447_625x625.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 0px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 601px;" /></a>Let's kick off this wonderful Tuesday with <a href="http://melissabxoxo.blogspot.com/search/label/engagement">a</a> <a href="http://melissabxoxo.blogspot.com/search/label/marriage">little</a> <a href="http://melissabxoxo.blogspot.com/search/label/Weddings">love</a>, shall we, friends? Dave popped the question to Erica in a rowboat on the lake in Central Park. Aren't these photos from their special day breathtaking? It's simple, romantic and you can feel the couple's love leap off the photos -- plus, I can't stop staring at the rich color of that lake. Perfect! And I love how New York City becomes such a perfect backdrop, don't you?<br /><br />P.S. Yikes -- <a href="http://melissabxoxo.blogspot.com/2011/10/zombie-engagement.html">a zombie engagement</a>! :)<br /><br />[Photos by <a href="http://www.trentbailey.com/gallery/erica-dave/">Trent Bailey</a>, via <a href="http://www.snippetandink.com/photo-features/love-shoots/central-park-row-boat-engagement-photos/">Snippet & Ink</a>]

Central Park engagement

Let's kick off this wonderful Tuesday with a little love , shall we, friends? Dave popped the question to Erica in a rowboat on the ...

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Barack and Michelle

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje_mTEHRbg4zcQEzc2_gdmFTA7KpfnN8GfyRz4jxATe4w9lYhMepDH3UXbHE-2oSGnKnCEECUq6tEeXaQl054xahyphenhyphen23TYP8jELzWXZwkVpHaZUBtEQ3bh9OeH4z1BdNLab3X8rDuKyZfw/s1600/01.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5726966679646640562" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje_mTEHRbg4zcQEzc2_gdmFTA7KpfnN8GfyRz4jxATe4w9lYhMepDH3UXbHE-2oSGnKnCEECUq6tEeXaQl054xahyphenhyphen23TYP8jELzWXZwkVpHaZUBtEQ3bh9OeH4z1BdNLab3X8rDuKyZfw/s400/01.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 0px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" /></a>It's official: President Obama is on <a href="http://pinterest.com/barackobama/">Pinterest</a>. Here's a <a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/276408495849969543/">sweet photo</a> of the First Couple to make your heart swell just a bit on this Tuesday morning. How adorable are they? I wonder what Barack was whispering into Michelle's ear...<br /><br />P.S. More Obama love, including <a href="http://melissabxoxo.blogspot.com/2009/01/man-candy-monday_19.html">Man Candy</a>, the <a href="http://melissabxoxo.blogspot.com/2009/01/crowds-begin-forming-in-washington-dc.html">2008 election</a> and <a href="http://melissabxoxo.blogspot.com/2012/01/swoon-alert-obama-singing-al-green.html">channeling Al Green</a>.

Barack and Michelle

It's official: President Obama is on Pinterest . Here's a sweet photo of the First Couple to make your heart swell just a bit on th...

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Letters To My Future Husband: Letter #154.

Dear Mr. Melissa Blake:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzMJBBePU55d1SkgfAC-9RF43HI86E-bPJpWRIU6i6-FPsTsPl1kLAgrIQSEcnmXoLr1-sRxASrmdTnGk5hln4bSBkPUGPt8v8VmINzs2v7c7eiXdr-MLphUy7uR9JjZHsv7Ew84IZVAM/s1600/01.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5726878364694518194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzMJBBePU55d1SkgfAC-9RF43HI86E-bPJpWRIU6i6-FPsTsPl1kLAgrIQSEcnmXoLr1-sRxASrmdTnGk5hln4bSBkPUGPt8v8VmINzs2v7c7eiXdr-MLphUy7uR9JjZHsv7Ew84IZVAM/s400/01.png" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 0px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" /></a>I’ve never cared much for phrases like “<span style="font-style:italic;">The past is the past</span>” and "<span style="font-style:italic;">You can never walk the same path twice</span>." But my least favorite, the one that flames the raging fires deep within my soul? <br /><br />“<span style="font-style:italic;">You can never go home again</span>.”<br /><br />I'll be honest with you, Sweetpea: For someone who is a tad bit weary (OK, <span style="font-style:italic;">more</span> than a tad bit...) of change, the idea that home can be such a fleeting notion leaves me, well, a bit unsettled. It's sort of like being lost, I suppose. Home ties us safely together, and without it, we're sort of left to wander the metaphorical streets alone, looking for any sign of our home. Yes, we may leave home -- and say we'll never come back -- but somehow, we always do. Home, like the mafia, just seems to pull us back in. Its pull is stronger than anything in this world. We can't imagine wanting to be anywhere other than the comforts of home.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr4jxOTvtDByNcgAXLojOOv2m3-oT88sQ1HAFmF5sIuJb3APcoq_x-WmwA2gV9mOOo0swVzGO5WLOVOigqTFtOtYLMkomGtPR1kIo0q0lCs4L7rHXePJ20Gf5OPWHknm0I-k-MJLkKR-E/s1600/02.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5726878362254325778" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr4jxOTvtDByNcgAXLojOOv2m3-oT88sQ1HAFmF5sIuJb3APcoq_x-WmwA2gV9mOOo0swVzGO5WLOVOigqTFtOtYLMkomGtPR1kIo0q0lCs4L7rHXePJ20Gf5OPWHknm0I-k-MJLkKR-E/s400/02.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 0px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 270px;" /></a>Every so often, I get to thinking of my childhood home. It was a small apartment, but there was so much life there. So much life that even now, nearly 10 years after we moved away, the memories flood back every single time we drive passed it. Memories of doing my homework at the dining room table. Memories of baking cookies with my mother in the teeny, tiny kitchen. Memories that haven't left me.<br /><br />That's what going home really is, if you ask me, Sweetpea. Which brings me to one of my favorite songs, Sweetpea. I'm sure I'll wax poetic quite a lot about this song once we're married; after all, it's a song by <a href="http://melissabxoxo.blogspot.com/2009/10/man-candy-monday_12.html">this guy</a>, full of straight-from-the-heart sentiments...<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Another aeroplane<br />Another sunny place<br />I’m lucky, I know<br />But I wanna go home<br />Mmmm, I’ve got to go home</span><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWJoZHrYuEiuJtnHBicUVY4v2pd3yfTkaV_4-Xj1R92B7T4BbTpeK5Dzph_5-1msY82bP33b2Ruc0igacboOkc8EYV2FtCsC_lJliNZNB4fvMTxPizrlefATIpWi7UHUj2StvNc_CEbrY/s1600/03.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5726878355480967650" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWJoZHrYuEiuJtnHBicUVY4v2pd3yfTkaV_4-Xj1R92B7T4BbTpeK5Dzph_5-1msY82bP33b2Ruc0igacboOkc8EYV2FtCsC_lJliNZNB4fvMTxPizrlefATIpWi7UHUj2StvNc_CEbrY/s400/03.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 0px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" /></a>I like to think that you can go home again -- that there <span style="font-style:italic;">is</span> a home waiting for you. At the end of the day, that's all we really want, isn't it? A safe place to land. Because, in the end, when life gets really scary, sticky and just plain screwy, the only place we can think of going is home. And it might not even be 'home' per se; it could be a smile, a mother's loving arms, a good book, a cup of coffee on a cold winter's morning. Not everything is linear, not everything has a beginning, middle and an end. I talked about that <a href="http://melissabxoxo.blogspot.com/2012/03/letters-to-my-future-husband-letter-153.html">last week</a>. There are many ways of going home, and I say you CAN go home any time you want to. Don't feel bad about it, either. I don't. Until we meet... xoxo<br /><br />[Photos via <a href="http://www.leloveimage.blogspot.com/">Le Love</a>]

Letters To My Future Husband: Letter #154.

Dear Mr. Melissa Blake: I’ve never cared much for phrases like “ The past is the past ” and " You can never walk the same path twice ....

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My 100-Word Love Story: On remembering a quarter century of love, marriage and children

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-6Nv-I9KGKSGradzn4uVGCGwlIIqu6YESm-1suFcZMPRiwiLdSTA77edoUNHBJX_icd_5IMR6fomZjbThlRL3hnUWil6VSQminw31x5fwcRGL9Q4NhLk3kPTJZFXQrmT8ivedcgri830/s1600/aa.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5713621242907940178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-6Nv-I9KGKSGradzn4uVGCGwlIIqu6YESm-1suFcZMPRiwiLdSTA77edoUNHBJX_icd_5IMR6fomZjbThlRL3hnUWil6VSQminw31x5fwcRGL9Q4NhLk3kPTJZFXQrmT8ivedcgri830/s400/aa.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 0px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 316px;" /></a>When Melissa asked me to write a few words for her <a href="http://melissabxoxo.blogspot.com/search/label/100-word%20love%20stories">Valentine's love column</a>, I gladly agreed. Then I spent the next week hemming and hawing about what to write. I couldn’t think of anything that would be “<em>Valentine worthy</em>.” But, then I got to thinking: Isn’t a marriage that lasted almost 25 years and produced two beautiful children enough to call it a love story? And, isn’t a marriage where my husband rubbed my back every single night for those 25 years enough for a love story? What about the memories I carry close to my heart, even today, almost 9 years after his death? All the days spent in the hospital with Melissa during her 26 surgeries ought to qualify us for some sort of place in the annals of devotion! Being able to be with Brian every single day for 4 months during his cancer treatment was indeed a gift for our marriage. Even the ordinary days were special when we were together. There was always laughter in our home and hearts. Even today, long after I ceased being a wife, I can feel him with me every day. I guess ours is a Valentine-worthy love story after all! Happy Valentine’s Day, Brian.<br /><br /><strong>--By Sharon, mother of the blogger</strong>

My 100-Word Love Story: On remembering a quarter century of love, marriage and children

When Melissa asked me to write a few words for her Valentine's love column , I gladly agreed. Then I spent the next week hemming and haw...

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My 100-Word Love Story: On the lovely little things he does for me

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha4rvRFPc-o_hQPu9j0npGmLt64CKI3csVEI-j_mT4rlM0yQZkBy24_rrIj-lvGrg04Swd_M94PKZysZwsXOfGvxFzJzmIh1tEkFqrdELF8EPV_mA4UYonVPf3W3bmdScLg-nS8whXiho/s1600/Pirates_ride_2.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5712777911329312114" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha4rvRFPc-o_hQPu9j0npGmLt64CKI3csVEI-j_mT4rlM0yQZkBy24_rrIj-lvGrg04Swd_M94PKZysZwsXOfGvxFzJzmIh1tEkFqrdELF8EPV_mA4UYonVPf3W3bmdScLg-nS8whXiho/s400/Pirates_ride_2.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 0px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 304px;" /></a>Love is the little things he does without me asking: Putting my phone in the charger before we go to bed, filling up my water bottle, rubbing my back whenever I’m on my stomach and checking the lock on the doors at night to keep his family safe. Every action and every word from him is a gesture of love, and I have never gone a day without feeling completely and utterly loved by him.<br /><br /><strong>--By Tiffany from <a href="http://dancingbranflakes.blogspot.com/">Dancing Branflakes</a></strong>

My 100-Word Love Story: On the lovely little things he does for me

Love is the little things he does without me asking: Putting my phone in the charger before we go to bed, filling up my water bottle, rubbin...

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My 100-Word Love Story: On marrying my best friend

<div align="center"> </div><a href="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7198/6886379433_b317dc55cf_z.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7198/6886379433_b317dc55cf_z.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 0px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 535px;" /></a>I realized that I loved him late one night. March 2008. Watching a movie. Sipping a red <em>way</em> past its prime. We had just attempted our <em>second</em> first date -- sushi. <br /><br />I sat there nervously, hoping he wouldn't notice the ferocious pounding in my chest. And after four years of friendship, I didn't just want him to kiss me, I wanted him to want me. And he did. <br /><br />This August, he asked me to share my life with him. I, of course, agreed! After knowing him eight years, I'm still surprised when I must remind my heart to be still. <br /><br /><strong>--By Ryan from <a href="http://www.thismustbetheplaceryan.blogspot.com/">This Must Be The Place</a></strong>

My 100-Word Love Story: On marrying my best friend

I realized that I loved him late one night. March 2008. Watching a movie. Sipping a red way past its prime. We had just attempted our seco...

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Letters To My Future Husband: Letter #150.

Dear Mr. Melissa Blake:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVgljf9bJM57p47HW0He2WoolxDnsnKaCEAcrSjsI_eHB673XtyoWLgQiteF2xw3zK3FzyCcI4XcxIC-MkxTi-p_x-6xWzrhLxzRzq27NUueJL1uqHBWHd8MrQo9NJ9uXNAJ-Yoz_JR4o/s1600/aa2.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709071734797756018" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVgljf9bJM57p47HW0He2WoolxDnsnKaCEAcrSjsI_eHB673XtyoWLgQiteF2xw3zK3FzyCcI4XcxIC-MkxTi-p_x-6xWzrhLxzRzq27NUueJL1uqHBWHd8MrQo9NJ9uXNAJ-Yoz_JR4o/s400/aa2.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 0px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 240px;" /></a>Well, Sweetpea, today marks my 30th Valentine's Day eating from my small box of assorted chocolates as a singleton. It's sort of weird to fathom. As I sat in the waiting room this morning waiting to get my blood drawn (<em>ironic, on Valentine's Day, I know...</em>), I watched as several beautifully decorated bouquets arrived for doctors, nurses and lab technicians. You'd think it would have made my heart ache just a teeny tiny bit.<br /><br />Surprisingly, it didn't. At all. A few years ago, I may have ended up a puddle of tears right there on that linoleum floor, scared that love would never find me, that I'd be left to live the rest of my days as a spunky spinster and waxing poetic about how I was just generally unlovable.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj-Z1M52PcgiZmunatAyAWU9Ej63-KM7oMLnM9U1viSb6wZpOMQsMixI9GcIqVBtc1MneW4xK1JVyVDUcjqkJNewhD0snvq0yIY8vq_AABFQBJDiVwMmDNS5F8ZXCoQ2iPMH3kD8qRIr0/s1600/aa.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709071736239116210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj-Z1M52PcgiZmunatAyAWU9Ej63-KM7oMLnM9U1viSb6wZpOMQsMixI9GcIqVBtc1MneW4xK1JVyVDUcjqkJNewhD0snvq0yIY8vq_AABFQBJDiVwMmDNS5F8ZXCoQ2iPMH3kD8qRIr0/s400/aa.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 0px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 296px;" /></a>But not this year. I've vowed to embrace my singlehood. And you know what, Sweetpea? It all feels very liberating. It makes me want to burst into song a la a Broadway musical. Now, it doesn't mean I'm not looking forward to meeting you, or that I don't need you in my life because I am -- and I do. I suppose it's just that right now, in 2012, I'm realizing that my world isn't going to end if I'm unattached for awhile. I'm probably the one making a big deal of it, not everyone else. Maybe I just need to live and let things fall place naturally. <br /><br />But I do wonder: At what age do you qualify for spinsterhood? I can't help but laugh at the thought of that. After all, if you don't laugh, you cry, right, Sweetpea? Until we meet...<br /><br />P.S. Oh shoot, Crimson and Clover just came on the radio on the way home. Is that a message from you? What? You don't know about my secret wish to have that as our wedding song? Well, more on that later?... :)<br /><br />[Photos via <a href="http://www.weheartit.com">We Heart It</a>]

Letters To My Future Husband: Letter #150.

Dear Mr. Melissa Blake: Well, Sweetpea, today marks my 30th Valentine's Day eating from my small box of assorted chocolates as a singlet...

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My 100-Word Love Story: On listening to the beat of your heart

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqle0toF8_SoXM5nkodARKbVW_ZFjVSO711gtDDvGdmXIOwhfbhUMBopOebfFPb4dC4DemIGRg27bwjbqhWzPDV8lXyxHryQG6aO98LImvsnD1A-wF94G-rLO2YuOsYaxVeA3b9Hr95lc/s1600/merpaulwedding.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709017165253792338" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqle0toF8_SoXM5nkodARKbVW_ZFjVSO711gtDDvGdmXIOwhfbhUMBopOebfFPb4dC4DemIGRg27bwjbqhWzPDV8lXyxHryQG6aO98LImvsnD1A-wF94G-rLO2YuOsYaxVeA3b9Hr95lc/s400/merpaulwedding.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 0px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" /></a>I had an unrequited crush on my fellow band-class drummer, Paul, in 6th and 7th grade. By 8th grade, we became friends -- and I fell in love. I was convinced we’d one day get married, but he asked out another girl in our class -- a huge blow to my life plan. When they broke up a month later, I walked 20 minutes uphill in a blizzard to see if Paul was okay. On the phone that night, I asked him to be my boyfriend. He said yes. And I said yes when he proposed a decade later.<br /><div align="center"> </div><a href="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7057/6875975643_e23819306c_z.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7057/6875975643_e23819306c_z.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 0px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 596px;" /></a>(<em>The couple in 8th grade -- they'd been dating for five months</em>)<br /><br /><strong>--By Meredith Bodgas from <a href="http://www.meritalbliss.com">Merital Bliss</a></strong><br /><br />P.S. I'm honored to also be guest posting on Merital Bliss today. Read my post about what my <a href="http://meritalbliss.com/2012/02/why-get-married/">parents taught me about marriage</a>. Thanks so much, Meredith! :)

My 100-Word Love Story: On listening to the beat of your heart

I had an unrequited crush on my fellow band-class drummer, Paul, in 6th and 7th grade. By 8th grade, we became friends -- and I fell in love...

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My 100-Word Love Story: On meeting my soul mate in elementary school

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKfKXM5UtSZ-WEVbmWNwb_elPsM94-RuYCC0EWSMLEGMMTHvnU7jgt2LcT0s9UbF7d_fBsvl6nTTe9xtNE_j29tAj5UDvDxAobi_cI-MPSv24FMuw9Hh4Pu0hwBHL-U1iCLNnvRmyZFMM/s1600/aa"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5707504332723680818" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKfKXM5UtSZ-WEVbmWNwb_elPsM94-RuYCC0EWSMLEGMMTHvnU7jgt2LcT0s9UbF7d_fBsvl6nTTe9xtNE_j29tAj5UDvDxAobi_cI-MPSv24FMuw9Hh4Pu0hwBHL-U1iCLNnvRmyZFMM/s400/aa" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 0px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" /></a>My husband teased me in elementary school. He wrote me love notes in middle school. And he was one of my best friends in high school. After we graduated, he was my confidant and my rock; he called me long distance to give me advice, tell me about his day and to make sure I was doing okay. We grew up together, we saw beautiful places together and then one summer night as we stared up at the stars, he said to me, "I've loved you for as long as I can remember." And I've loved him back ever since.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE1MUIzxja2-m8Uh3wA-Je0e8EBUmaGjUQOGmLH8ro8TUp7k55CXSEuH2wEys4a4b8_tuK78rzAKI8I2JFpxbBF-uyk4ourmj3RlMJywv_oCJwUi7zxKnpExlMzAbFCHx9OseTCo82FII/s1600/aa2.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5707504330257672674" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE1MUIzxja2-m8Uh3wA-Je0e8EBUmaGjUQOGmLH8ro8TUp7k55CXSEuH2wEys4a4b8_tuK78rzAKI8I2JFpxbBF-uyk4ourmj3RlMJywv_oCJwUi7zxKnpExlMzAbFCHx9OseTCo82FII/s400/aa2.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 0px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 299px;" /></a>(<em>The couple in middle school</em>)<br /><br /><strong>--By Stephanie from <a href="http://artistwifemom.blogspot.com/">Adventures of an Artist, Wife and Mom</a></strong>

My 100-Word Love Story: On meeting my soul mate in elementary school

My husband teased me in elementary school. He wrote me love notes in middle school. And he was one of my best friends in high school. After ...

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Wanted: 100-word love stories

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmuVSC82evvcEzNx-FpNl0dQcgLayl4qdusovnTajEgdoqAD4s4WgrFKtUs0-7taUiHX0nhrPJzWrWDF_SBuQ48ktO0gHamjw_xYDto7nGXfTXvTpJU9RtVlDJyWQxcz7smmLXkuL7_CE/s1600/01.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5706066645050142274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmuVSC82evvcEzNx-FpNl0dQcgLayl4qdusovnTajEgdoqAD4s4WgrFKtUs0-7taUiHX0nhrPJzWrWDF_SBuQ48ktO0gHamjw_xYDto7nGXfTXvTpJU9RtVlDJyWQxcz7smmLXkuL7_CE/s400/01.png" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 0px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 223px;" /></a>As part of our <a href="http://melissabxoxo.blogspot.com/search/label/valentine%27s%20day">Valentine's Day celebration</a>, I want to feature <em>your</em> stories, friends. Your loves. Your heartbreaks. Your first crushes. Your most embarrassing moments. I want to hear it all...stories about your significant other, mother, father, best friend, former best friend. The fun twist? I want to hear these stories in 100 words! Doesn't that sound like fun, friends? I'd love to hear from you, so feel free to email me (mellow1422 [at] aol [dot] com), and look for stories this week and next week! Are you in the Valentine's spirit yet? xoxo<br /><br />[Graphic by <a href="http://www.someecards.com/valentines-day-cards/valentines-day-date-boyfriend-girlfriend-love-funny-ecard">Someecards</a>]

Wanted: 100-word love stories

As part of our Valentine's Day celebration , I want to feature your stories, friends. Your loves. Your heartbreaks. Your first crushes....

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Floral wedding dress

<div align="center"> </div><a href="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7162/6807276687_a9aae7e6c9_o.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7162/6807276687_a9aae7e6c9_o.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 0px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 600px;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwHf8AzZSIGBMrW-omfZEjKqbqRB7TGg4kD7kTdNh4R3wLDk_-36uhODMrhQY_ymOJG_dWK1MOhKuLgekwp9FsrzNRJGoBpfTpKEZIXLiqxHm7KQEQdZQPbiipf2iTerkGsm78nq9mx50/s1600/03.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5704572871824743762" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwHf8AzZSIGBMrW-omfZEjKqbqRB7TGg4kD7kTdNh4R3wLDk_-36uhODMrhQY_ymOJG_dWK1MOhKuLgekwp9FsrzNRJGoBpfTpKEZIXLiqxHm7KQEQdZQPbiipf2iTerkGsm78nq9mx50/s400/03.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 0px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" /></a><div align="center"> </div><a href="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7025/6807278563_1399523f62_o.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7025/6807278563_1399523f62_o.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 0px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 616px;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9aAIVY4IHvZP8deALZU-Yua4FXhJttUOBaUU7H9CCWdmJ8SExbh0m8lP8lPHiQ00BltWBFvtrA-T49MDnUsscZB-9OwFG5W2KcPwdjIKJmqVZEqlKmyWvd1N5QtBjm6rF6P_cd8nzGDE/s1600/04.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5704572872200907826" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9aAIVY4IHvZP8deALZU-Yua4FXhJttUOBaUU7H9CCWdmJ8SExbh0m8lP8lPHiQ00BltWBFvtrA-T49MDnUsscZB-9OwFG5W2KcPwdjIKJmqVZEqlKmyWvd1N5QtBjm6rF6P_cd8nzGDE/s400/04.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 0px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" /></a>I've always leaned toward more <a href="http://melissabxoxo.blogspot.com/2010/05/inspiration-spring-wedding-dresses.html">traditional</a> <a href="http://melissabxoxo.blogspot.com/2010/12/elizabeth-dye-wedding-dresses.html">wedding</a> <a href="http://melissabxoxo.blogspot.com/2011/03/wedding-dresses.html">dresses</a>, but how perfect would this floral dress be for a spring bride? Can't you imagine getting married in a garden full of blooming flowers?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">What's your dream wedding season, friends? xoxo</span><br /><br />P.S. Two more unconventional wedding dresses: The <a href="http://melissabxoxo.blogspot.com/2011/11/fashion-friday-everyday-wedding-dress.html">everyday wedding dress</a> and the <a href="http://melissabxoxo.blogspot.com/2011/01/salvation-army-wedding-dress.html">Salvation Army dress</a> (<span style="font-style:italic;">for a whopping $69!</span>).<br /><br />[Photo by <a href="http://becjohnsonphotography.blogspot.com/2012/01/mary-lewis.html#comment-form">Bec Johnson</a>, via <a href="http://shannoneileenblog.typepad.com/happiness-is/2012/01/a-floral-wedding-dress.html">Happiness Is...</a>]

Floral wedding dress

I've always leaned toward more traditional wedding dresses , but how perfect would this floral dress be for a spring bride? Can'...

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Letters To My Future Husband: Letter #149.

Dear Mr. Melissa Blake:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGV1_5a8HXhpPB44G7m8EG-Ifi2URLG-aHq2cGGgC0LRUqsmJTehFjuEJmCUuBDxwyzPcBOspL1v9t8Dm6zEm1shOZDE4BPwYUefRAcZVEihvJLuG5Nzgo6x-4hQqWlw-S3SEJPykbkyI/s1600/aa3.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5703438392348599026" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGV1_5a8HXhpPB44G7m8EG-Ifi2URLG-aHq2cGGgC0LRUqsmJTehFjuEJmCUuBDxwyzPcBOspL1v9t8Dm6zEm1shOZDE4BPwYUefRAcZVEihvJLuG5Nzgo6x-4hQqWlw-S3SEJPykbkyI/s400/aa3.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 0px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" /></a>I was looking at the calendar a few days ago and realized something: It's almost February 2012. I had to just stop for a moment as I felt a little lump form in my throat. I tried to cough, but it wouldn't budge. It intended to stay there until I acknowledged it. So I suppose I had no choice, I thought, as my mind drifted slowly back to almost one year ago -- to a few days before Valentine's Day in 2011.<br /><br />It's the last time I was in the hospital for <a href="http://melissabxoxo.blogspot.com/search/label/Tuesday%20Update">my depression</a>. <br /><br />There. I've said it. I sometimes wonder if I talk about it a lot with you, Sweetpea. Do I? I only say that because from where I am now, everything about that time in my life is still so fresh, so vivid in my mind. It's like that one movie scene (<em>usually the gruesome one...</em>) that you just can't seem to get out of your head no matter how hard you try. And that's not to say it's a bad thing. It's just, well, the way things are at the moment. <br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibx0EzYBjP8WAfU2MHFWQ5-mvsAGk1g0ThymIdART1-UeGzZYeuOiLRSBtsaafj9NJUtYzhig6GpzsCNGNHh-iaHgOJpHpgIxoaZ95-JOTfauFQJa0aJnuoTPbxOC2k-odm-GD-a0hN34/s1600/aa.png"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5703438397502782946" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibx0EzYBjP8WAfU2MHFWQ5-mvsAGk1g0ThymIdART1-UeGzZYeuOiLRSBtsaafj9NJUtYzhig6GpzsCNGNHh-iaHgOJpHpgIxoaZ95-JOTfauFQJa0aJnuoTPbxOC2k-odm-GD-a0hN34/s400/aa.png" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 0px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 265px;" /></a>I know it probably sounds crazy, but I can't help but feel as if my struggles with depression define my life more than all my other surgeries combined. Not that it defines every aspect of my life, but I've certainly never marked anniversaries for my surgeries like I'm doing with my depression this year. So that has to mean something, doesn't it, Sweetpea? I've never been so excited and yet so terrified to reach a milestone -- so excited because I can finally look back and see just how far I've come, and terrified because I sometimes feel as though I'm always looking over one shoulder, making sure I don't let the depression somehow creep back into my life. It's all a fine balance sometimes, and I'll be the first to admit that I'm still trying to figure it all out.<br /><br />I often wonder, too, where I'll be a year from now. Well, you already know the answer to that, but I don't, so just humor me here. A lot can happen in just one year, can't it? My entire life could change -- another thing that sounds both exciting and terrifying -- but I do know one thing: I want to still feel the way I feel right now. Because I feel strong. I feel like I've come a long way in the last year. <br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQUvnmMyDNtfPmwOZE5HRMfP3Q-doG9XDPIx0YVb04o3v4_eeAdVklWvhd_crYrcycOgVilAygmj8qzN2m6GFFz5yoGIotqiuaiNy130oakzZs1bWGHLWR7mpVP-bPyUPmm5hko0qY8jc/s1600/aa2.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5703438392867269554" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQUvnmMyDNtfPmwOZE5HRMfP3Q-doG9XDPIx0YVb04o3v4_eeAdVklWvhd_crYrcycOgVilAygmj8qzN2m6GFFz5yoGIotqiuaiNy130oakzZs1bWGHLWR7mpVP-bPyUPmm5hko0qY8jc/s400/aa2.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 0px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" /></a>I won't pretend I'm all cured. I won't pretend I don't still have some days that are a heck of a lot easier than others. And I won't even pretend that I have all the answers. I don't. But my mom said something very interesting a few days ago. She said that the day I <a href="http://melissabxoxo.blogspot.com/2010/08/do-you-sing-in-shower.html">started my classic singing</a> around the house was the day she knew I was getting better. I think she may be on to something, Sweetpea, don't you? Until we meet... xoxo<br /><br />[Photos via <a href="http://www.leloveimage.blogspot.com/">Le Love</a>

Letters To My Future Husband: Letter #149.

Dear Mr. Melissa Blake: I was looking at the calendar a few days ago and realized something: It's almost February 2012. I had to just st...

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Fashion Friday: Disney wedding dresses

<div align="center"> </div><a href="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7158/6731428721_cba9e779c0_o.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7158/6731428721_cba9e779c0_o.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 0px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 317px;" /></a>If my <a href="http://melissabxoxo.blogspot.com/2012/01/talk-nerdy-to-me.html">inner geek</a> was smiling this morning, my inner child is dancing and twirling over Alfred Angelo's debut collection of wedding gowns. The dresses, inspired by Disney's classic princesses, make me want to bust out Disney movies and break into song. Here are a few I've been eyeing...<br /><div align="center"> </div><a href="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7026/6731425891_08f355d626_o.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7026/6731425891_08f355d626_o.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 0px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 535px;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUc8yW5qTkbE4GCh3NwD5BYfIFruG7S_XDtp_0-KhxfkKRGCTmiR5o15YMXw23ucRQ1R0P-_6cO09MC9SJhM59t9lbJHBCpA0lqh6l-HXDEjUCYe_VRRfp08hyphenhyphenxPVPIpvXnvMnRLrjCe8/s1600/01.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5699754758808604850" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUc8yW5qTkbE4GCh3NwD5BYfIFruG7S_XDtp_0-KhxfkKRGCTmiR5o15YMXw23ucRQ1R0P-_6cO09MC9SJhM59t9lbJHBCpA0lqh6l-HXDEjUCYe_VRRfp08hyphenhyphenxPVPIpvXnvMnRLrjCe8/s400/01.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 0px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 276px;" /></a><a href="http://www.alfredangelo.com/collections/productdisplay.aspx?productID=51283c80-8222-4990-992c-7d4f403b7ee0&categoryID=1975d565-34d2-4d81-90c9-437deabe902d&pg=1&colorId1=">Jasmine</a>, for following her heart.<br /><div align="center"> </div><a href="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7144/6731426191_8709e4c9fc_o.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7144/6731426191_8709e4c9fc_o.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 0px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 531px;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIoMynykQ7E6rxvYOBREya-nGwRlIfaoz4TyxLvZU_0B1Ox_Lk9d7p5SJ57feCCDB-76YsOmjCCu638iIt7D17h6Vz0Xx3agdUoE9E71LKtIxMXLaK1bApTw37i5kiNhWCwujvIRt4mqU/s1600/02.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5699754760762225426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIoMynykQ7E6rxvYOBREya-nGwRlIfaoz4TyxLvZU_0B1Ox_Lk9d7p5SJ57feCCDB-76YsOmjCCu638iIt7D17h6Vz0Xx3agdUoE9E71LKtIxMXLaK1bApTw37i5kiNhWCwujvIRt4mqU/s400/02.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 0px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 285px;" /></a><a href="http://www.alfredangelo.com/collections/productdisplay.aspx?productID=672066ba-c1e3-4dd2-84af-138fa3e3bf99&categoryID=1975d565-34d2-4d81-90c9-437deabe902d&pg=1&colorId1=">Ariel</a>, for dreaming big and being fearless and fierce in going after what she wants.<br /><div align="center"> </div><a href="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7013/6731426539_475e20f95c_o.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7013/6731426539_475e20f95c_o.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 0px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 530px;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5ZRRwvcd2Usy4om64FSsa5VgRCU5Pauk1_ztGyXUm0H2KSZFAX-BOlGZbA8JO5EEaoGntbqOT1Ztpp1eZQ4R4aXAWWN0kdst6TvRQnc7IuLLSpOG4rZfXHCFE9AwIHjcc_z2bV-ssvLU/s1600/03.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5699754760980732482" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5ZRRwvcd2Usy4om64FSsa5VgRCU5Pauk1_ztGyXUm0H2KSZFAX-BOlGZbA8JO5EEaoGntbqOT1Ztpp1eZQ4R4aXAWWN0kdst6TvRQnc7IuLLSpOG4rZfXHCFE9AwIHjcc_z2bV-ssvLU/s400/03.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 0px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 284px;" /></a><a href="http://www.alfredangelo.com/collections/productdisplay.aspx?productID=4ff26054-46fb-4639-b0df-ad83dc596199&categoryID=1975d565-34d2-4d81-90c9-437deabe902d&pg=1&colorId1=">Snow White</a>, for not letting anything get in her way -- not even an evil stepmother. <br /><div align="center"> </div><a href="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7002/6731426791_ac531efc42_o.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7002/6731426791_ac531efc42_o.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 0px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 529px;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvXsnlhz1r2zHhm5srwzrkSnFMGBSk2wIMv49OKHyjwbUajjwOJJz8vDcVbmP_kahCbO75sNJht3KAnHjvmMtpXOBRWocz0b56qoMuqUCk7iCL0LAFZg5aFgB67b5G_VX5bdvpzmwu0tk/s1600/04.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5699754755930529122" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvXsnlhz1r2zHhm5srwzrkSnFMGBSk2wIMv49OKHyjwbUajjwOJJz8vDcVbmP_kahCbO75sNJht3KAnHjvmMtpXOBRWocz0b56qoMuqUCk7iCL0LAFZg5aFgB67b5G_VX5bdvpzmwu0tk/s400/04.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 0px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 276px;" /></a><a href="http://www.alfredangelo.com/collections/productdisplay.aspx?productID=7f10717f-3879-4f77-acd0-cb6a71d65ffe&categoryID=1975d565-34d2-4d81-90c9-437deabe902d&pg=1&colorId1=">Belle</a>, for looking beyond the surface and loving someone for who they are.<br /><br /><strong>What about you, friends? Which dress is your favorite? Who's your favorite Disney pricess? xoxo</strong>

Fashion Friday: Disney wedding dresses

If my inner geek was smiling this morning, my inner child is dancing and twirling over Alfred Angelo's debut collection of wedding gow...

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Letters To My Future Husband: Letter #148.

Dear Mr. Melissa Blake:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHpM0VPePSm-75V2s8Nm8gm_L1-J5ETrsbV6QKEkGXFGpYSVRIgiU9-C4oxgJax-cF7um8hxOCkQS0KhjyK1KE-anPRIyfgjiUJY-SKF3q_LYpv-OvSMDXb0yooubxkczl4rZQgIBEwjU/s1600/01" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5699439118056937602" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHpM0VPePSm-75V2s8Nm8gm_L1-J5ETrsbV6QKEkGXFGpYSVRIgiU9-C4oxgJax-cF7um8hxOCkQS0KhjyK1KE-anPRIyfgjiUJY-SKF3q_LYpv-OvSMDXb0yooubxkczl4rZQgIBEwjU/s400/01" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 0px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 277px;" /></a>Well, leave it to <a href="http://melissabxoxo.blogspot.com/2009/11/glee-ful-joy.html">Glee</a> and a little ditty by Rihanna to get me thinking about you on a freezing winter's night in January 2012. What's that, Sweetpea? I've never told you about my love-bordering-on-obsession fondness for the show? I blame it all on the fact that I was in my school's choir in junior high and my freshman year of high school, but that's a topic for another time and another letter.<br /><br />Tonight, though, I can't help but feel like a bit of my life was played out on the small screen. This week's Glee saw two main characters, Will and Emma, getting engaged, but not before facing some real insecurities and serious questions about Emma's illness. There's no sugar coating it; Things won't be easy. Things are going to seem overwhelming sometimes. Things are going to seem hopeless sometimes. I won't lie and say I didn't want to reach through the television and punch Will square in the face when he said, "I know it’s not your fault that you have this disease, but some days it just seems so hopeless. How will you handle spit-up on your special Wednesday sweater?” No one would have faulted Emma from walking away at the prospects of all that. But she didn't. In fact, she did quite the opposite, using words like incomplete person unabashedly. She made no excuses. She made no apologies. She made it clear that she wasn't the least bit sorry for who she was.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXCj4Gb9tRb58ILboeDkNqmtGXjf7beSyFemwUY0s8daumNe5DrqzRfBzMB25zY_e5iT_Mpj06K6OH13bRTGo_f6VUcyWtk5YyEevlyTnwBb_0Lra0cqd86qHeh9LdKKD084YMKG-T2as/s1600/02.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5699439117548590402" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXCj4Gb9tRb58ILboeDkNqmtGXjf7beSyFemwUY0s8daumNe5DrqzRfBzMB25zY_e5iT_Mpj06K6OH13bRTGo_f6VUcyWtk5YyEevlyTnwBb_0Lra0cqd86qHeh9LdKKD084YMKG-T2as/s400/02.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 0px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 250px;" /></a>It was inspiring, to say the least, Sweetpea. Why? Because <a href="http://melissabxoxo.blogspot.com/2011/07/letters-to-my-future-husband-letter-129.html">last</a> <a href="http://melissabxoxo.blogspot.com/2011/07/letters-to-my-future-husband-letter-130.html">summer</a>, I definitely wouldn't have had the courage to react that way. Maybe I would have just been too scared, afraid that everything would come crumbling down. Not today -- not right now. So, yeah, we could probably think of thousands of reasons why this will never work and why it's a waste of time for us to even try. And maybe we'll even start convincing ourselves that these reasons are actually true. But I have to believe that even in those hopeless of places, you can still find love. Just because the odds are stacked against you doesn't mean you should go down without a fight. Because in the end, love is worth fighting for. Quirks and all.<br /><br />I'll jump of the edge of glory if you'll jump with me, Sweetpea. What do you say? Until we meet... xoxo<br /><br />[Top photo via <a href="http://src.web.buddytv.com/glee.aspx">Buddy TV</a>, bottom photo via <a href="http://www.leloveimage.blogspot.com/2012/01/think-of-you.html">Le Love</a>]

Letters To My Future Husband: Letter #148.

Dear Mr. Melissa Blake: Well, leave it to Glee and a little ditty by Rihanna to get me thinking about you on a freezing winter's night ...

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Wedding bouquets

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD5Ua1VboTXT505JHQ47QGXLOkWZqZ6KTGw2hmJ5f9lBXHQCmFQ8FQzcTrjp9Z60_tph2NvN_HMn_pvCQxnH6_8zX-FkwZ6ihHb97L1TVHmvmB_RZstjq3ZgKgJqp-1KLlhg4m6LUvvPs/s1600/aa.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5699164549887422290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD5Ua1VboTXT505JHQ47QGXLOkWZqZ6KTGw2hmJ5f9lBXHQCmFQ8FQzcTrjp9Z60_tph2NvN_HMn_pvCQxnH6_8zX-FkwZ6ihHb97L1TVHmvmB_RZstjq3ZgKgJqp-1KLlhg4m6LUvvPs/s400/aa.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 0px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 298px;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik0e3hEpqbtc3YoKLegOBvC3fcldlQq6CqEU8lEAs_1tjxLk1BStuoszXLejT8mAVRSWwt45QaVGuhydRMpe0_9xFGxnIEcE78ysHn2Rh1RfGve2NIhfnpJLt7RehU6HW0EJBaVg2eYIk/s1600/aa2.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5699164544723774066" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik0e3hEpqbtc3YoKLegOBvC3fcldlQq6CqEU8lEAs_1tjxLk1BStuoszXLejT8mAVRSWwt45QaVGuhydRMpe0_9xFGxnIEcE78ysHn2Rh1RfGve2NIhfnpJLt7RehU6HW0EJBaVg2eYIk/s400/aa2.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 0px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 296px;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjunMK7LtuJe5fOqwzwdTfuce-J9M7HMEK4qdezxwAZpd3awmFbJFnLrM1qg7YoiIrifPcIz87PVITCvMOZVTtPh9ieZlL0G4dveZg1SrFpjuQSyux_m16P52ZCg3Av1C4zdvUbVZPkwsQ/s1600/aa3.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5699164540342215666" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjunMK7LtuJe5fOqwzwdTfuce-J9M7HMEK4qdezxwAZpd3awmFbJFnLrM1qg7YoiIrifPcIz87PVITCvMOZVTtPh9ieZlL0G4dveZg1SrFpjuQSyux_m16P52ZCg3Av1C4zdvUbVZPkwsQ/s400/aa3.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 0px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 284px;" /></a>Besides the frigidly cold temperatures and <a href="http://melissabxoxo.blogspot.com/2011/02/snowstorm.html">blustering snowstorms</a>, one of my least favorite things about the winter months is the lack of color. Everything is bare -- the trees, the ground -- and I just want take a spray can full of eye-popping colors and go to town a la those classic paint-by-number books. Until then, these wedding bouquets put a little cheer in my winter step this morning; they're so beautiful and romantic. Wouldn't they be perfect for a winter wedding, friends? xoxo<br /><br />[Via <a href="http://www.bellethemagazine.com/2012/01/25-stunning-bouquets.html#.TwtAa0pAOIN">Belle The Magazine</a>]

Wedding bouquets

Besides the frigidly cold temperatures and blustering snowstorms , one of my least favorite things about the winter months is the lack of co...

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