Ramblings of a Thirty-Something

Ordinarily when I post on my blog, my topics are light and fun (at least, I think they're fun). I post about television shows and wisdom I'd like to pass on to my future husband and Hobbity things. I don't feel that I'm a very serious person, and I like that my blog tends to reflect my random quirkiness. However, there has been something on my mind lately about which I feel I must give my opinion. I've been noticing lots of Facebook posts and Buzzfeed things and whatnot about the new movie  Magic Mike XXL  (although I suppose it's really not all that new). I haven't seen it, but I saw the first one. And the first one was what it was. It was a movie about male strippers. The plot was terrible, but I can't think of a single person in that theater who was there because they expected a good plot. Since the release of the sequel, I've noticed a lot of people commenting on how the men in that movie aren't  real , that a  real  man does this or wears ...

This is going to make me sound like a middle-aged woman, but I love the Hallmark Channel. I'm not a Lifetime movie kind of girl, even though both channels are quite similar. But the Hallmark Channel appeals to the idealist in me. I love the idyllic movie settings and characters...the implausible scenarios and yet ones you find yourself believing. I fell in love with their movies when they started making the Love Comes Softly series by Janette Oke into films. Granted, they aren't great films, and they aren't very true to the books, either, but they are sweet films with a great message. Since then, every once in a while, I will check out what's playing and watch a few movies. One I watched recently struck my fancy. Again, the plot is very simplistic and predictable, but the concept behind the story struck a chord with me. The movie was called The Wish List and starred Jennifer Esposito, who I loved on Blue Bloods as Danny's partner. As one might have guessed, ...

First of all, disclaimer:  I love Valentine's Day. Not as much as the girl in the movie, but I am not that single girl that hates V-Day just because I'm single. Sure, if you let it, it'll get you down, but I choose to focus on the chocolate and not who's giving me the chocolate...and that helps tremendously. Anyway, since I don't have a Valentine (aside from this delicious bottle of Pink Moscato and the guys on the 1980 Olympic Hockey Team...I love watching Miracle ), I thought it would be fun to do a Valentine's Day post for my future Valentine. Now, please note:  I do not wish for this to sound like I would be ungrateful for anything my Valentine might give me. I just always think it's fun to fantasize about different things--if I got to choose, what would I pick? The Card I spent over an hour with my friend looking for the perfect Valentine's Day card for her boyfriend. It was fun reading all the different cards and laughing at them and rolling o...

One of my favorite How I Met Your Mother moments of all time is in the second season Christmas episode, where Ted and Lily are fighting. The moment I am referring to is when Ted reveals to Marshall a secret of Lily's from college. Lily tells Ted that she has always wanted an Easy Bake Oven, but Marshall doesn't know that until Ted spills the beans, resulting in an amazing Christmas surprise for Lily. I think everyone has some of those secret wants--things you would like someone to do for you, but it would ruin the effect if you specifically told that person you wanted that. Does that make sense? I hope so. The thing is, you have to tell someone so they can tell that special someone else, whether that is a friend, a family member, or your future spouse. So, now that I have this blog--which isn't private and therefore I don't care if people read, unlike my journal--I'm going to list those secret wants here. Then whenever someone needs to read this (or pass on th...

Part two of the series...I love doing these posts. I love thinking about the crazy (and everyday) things that my husband will need to know about me. As the plaque in my summer boss's kitchen reads, "Happy Wife, Happy Life." I hope all of these make sense, as my brain was slow-cooked in a huge convection oven all day (aka, my classroom). Dear Future Husband: We will have air conditioning (not sure why this would be an issue). Remember that in most school buildings (where I work), there is not central air. When I have spent a day in a 95 degree classroom with 20 little heaters (aka:  children), the air conditioning had better be running when I get home. And you might want to have a Strawberry Lemonade Mike's Hard waiting for me :) DFH:  I'm not super into PDA, but subtlety is awesome. Holding hands, your arm around my shoulders or waist, touching the small of my back or my arm, playing with my hair, all those are good, plus whatever you want to add. Just remembe...

First of all, slight disclaimer here--this idea is not an original. I borrowed it from someone else. There are actually way more blogs called "Dear Future Husband" (or something similar) than you would think, so in all honesty, I don't think this is any kind of copyright infringement, but I'm throwing this out there just to be safe. Now, although the idea is not mine, each of the following items is specific to me. After I first read that blog some months ago, I started jotting these down in my journal whenever they popped into my head. Some other people might find relevant. Some you might read and say, "Yep, that's totally Kaitlin. No other person in their right mind would feel the need to warn their future husband about that." The basic idea:  these are things that are likely never to come up during dating or a date-like scenario. They are simply things that I  feel my future spouse will be thankful he knows before taking the plunge with me. (And ju...