True Tales of the Life of a Hyphenated Last Name

before ABN and i got married, we asked for advice from our friends and family on the last name front. there were many MANY ideas (some highlights included - trying to turn ABN's two last names and my one last name into a new last name, smooshing ABN's two last names together...which at first we loved until someone said it out loud and it became obvious that in order to say the name properly a sound effect needed to be added, or Nani's personal favorite - that we both just take my mom's family name...which makes absolutely no sense). at the end of the day, with no clear alternative in sight, i took the plunge and took ABN's already hyphenated last name. there are other's to carry on W and as long as i can keep my middle name (which is fabulous) i figured i could deal (even if i do have the longest name ever as a result). i was warned but other's with hyphenated last names - but still i pushed forward.

i should have reconsidered when the woman at the social security office laughed out loud when i told her of my proposed new name. i should have run the other way when she brought her coworker over to see the documentation because she just couldn't believe i was going to hyphenate my last name with two names that were not mine. but i pushed forward.

i would just like to announce - i am about to be at my breaking point. somehow, in 2008 the world has still not caught up to the hyphenated last name?! and every SYSTEM has a different SYSTEM for how to deal with this. in order to make this slightly more clear i'll give some examples. for safety purposes....we'll say my new name is SHMIZABETH SHMADER-SHNATAL. for american airlines my tickets say SHMIZABETH SHMADER. delta says SHMIZABETH SHMADERSHNATAL. at PN my official name is SHMIZABETH SHMADER-SHNATAL but i have to log in as SHMADER and my sales get recorded as SHMIZ. how the hell is a girl supposed to keep it all straight? when someone asks me what name goes with THAT account i have no answer!

this all became too much when on the phone this morning with someone at BofA. we opened a new account when we moved to this coast adn our checks still haven't' arrived so i was calling to find out where the hell are our checks. i gave the woman on the other end of the line our account number and she asked for my name. i started with the obvious and then went through every iteration i could possibly imagine, returning back to the name that is imprinted on my BofA credit card (which happens to be SHMIZABETH SHNATAL...so confusing) several times...but she insisted while the account existed i didn't.

i'm now on my way to the bank to straighten this all out...and then off to a 9 hour shift at work...so accept my words of warning....think long and hard about the hyphen....because once you go hyphen, there's no going back.

How Come the Rolling Sponge Rolls off the Roller?

i am covered from head to toe in paint...well not head, everyone warned me to wear a hat, but face to toe for sure (i didn't wear shoes). and i'm done. and the place looks awesome. for now, i've decided to leave the bedroom the color that it is...what looked like maroon now appears, next to the coral hallway, to be the perfect deep plum and while i fear such a dark bedroom, i'm willing to give it a try. once our stuff arrives and we are unpacked, if i want to paint it i still can, but it is for sure going to take two coats of primer and right now there is simply no time for that.

i don't think i had any clue when i bought the paint how daring i was being with color. ABN totally let me take the lead (largely because of his lack of interest in the painting to begin with) and while the caramel sugar looked a little boca-esque this morning when i arrived, next to the hacienda sun it mellows out and looks absolutely perfect. now all i need is an aqua craft room/laundry room and i'll be in color heaven.

i'm going to shower and then cook dinner so when ABN comes home we can eat and watch the convention. if i turn the water on wicked hot i'm hoping the paint will just melt off.

Aka Mickey and Sylvia

i primed the hallway and painted two of the walls in the living room. i am a painting power house and i am completely exhausted. i have learned that when painting you need at least one of the following - a large group of friends to help - or endless amounts of free time. right now, i have neither and so, i am working my booty off to finish before i return to work on wednesday...or at least finish as much as possible. after all our stuff comes THIS WEEKEND!

caramel sugar is looking mighty good on my living room walls. i can't help but think what a fresh coat of paint would have done for a few of the other apartments i have lived in over the years but...even paint couldn't have helped some of those places. i think that my work today will prove to ABN (and others) that i am, in fact, capable of painting an apartment...i think he'll be way impressed. while i spent most of the day cursing the fact that the walls are plaster, and thus not smooth...it is difficult to distinguish between what is plaster and what is a paint drip so in the end, i think plaster maybe like an inexperierenced painter's dream (although i am also convinced that when my dad comes to visit next month, he'll be able to tell the difference).

being away, i seem to be missing different people, different things, different places at various times. like on shabbat, i miss THE LOUDEST COUPLE and when celeb gossip breaks, i miss the SAM girls. i miss BESTIE when ABN is being irrational and i miss CURLY - well i miss CURLY constantly. but i try not to focus too much on who i miss...or where i miss...or what i miss. and i try to just enjoy this place...and create a life. but today, as i was painting, admiring my work and thinking about what a fabulous color i had picked out... i couldn't ignore how much i missed the CASTLE ROOMATE, and how much i needed her consultation on my redecorating project.

CASTLE ROOMATE and i met on our first day, freshman year and became fast friends (i feel like i have written about this before but can't find it now...so...) while avoiding roommates who had more problems than we wanted to/could manage. a drunken night of singing "how do you call your loverboy" followed by crawling down the hallway of our dorm (that is so gross!) to discover the truth while sucking on ice pops...seems to stick out in my mind. she has spent many jewish holidays in westport and i travelled to hungary to see the country from her family's point of view (we both vowed to keep our bathing suits on when we went in for our massage at the bath house and when we emerged an hour later, we both admitted that disrobed...the extent of our risk taking behavior). we never had a group of friends in common but through it all we remained important to each other's story. and when i moved back to boston, we picked up where we had left off in college - if there was a store opening, a new exhibit at a museum or a hot restaurant - CASTLE ROOMATE would be game to check it out. leaving boston it was especially hard to say goodbye to her, and today...today i missed her more than anyone else.

i have a picture of the two of us, long before i used a digital camera...of the two of us on a roller coaster in hungary. it captures our friendship perfectly...just the two of us...laughing hysterically at all that we encounter. for now, this will have to do:

PanOrama Bread Company, Why do you Smell so Good?

one block away from our "temporary" apartment, is home to a wonderful smell. every time i walk by my nose goes straight towards the source, a warehouse sandwiched between a uniform cleaning service and a condo complex that is under construction. ABN and i have had an ongoing argument about what is producing such a captivating smell - he argued sticky buns while i rationalized that maybe the smell wasn't coming from the unmarked building at all but rather from the uniform cleaners (you never know, cleaning solution could have that freshly baked yummy goodness smell). but then yesterday, as we were driving past, en route to a special birthday dinner (i know, my birthday is in march, just go with it), there was a truck outside the warehouse...panOrama bread company. using my trusty iphone (my best friend in these here parts) i tried to figure out where one can purchase this olfactory heaven but alas, i couldn't figure out much other than a couple of random farmer's markets. if you know the secret, please let a hungry red head in!

we have spent the last 24 hours embarking on a new challenge - painting our new apartment. we don't move in until the 1st, when our truck arrives from boston full of our stuff (!) but thought it would be a good idea to get the painting done before the heavy furniture is placed. although some might not totally understanding painting a rental (ABN) painting this fabulous apartment (and it is fabulous, but i'll wait to share more until we move in) was not open for negotiation (brown living room, maroon bedroom, brown hallway...you get it, i know you get it). yesterday we measured and picked paint. today we put up tape throughout the apartment and primed one room. i'm not going back to PN until wednesday (i did work this morning, there was a quarterly training) so i'm pretty much painting until then.

living room: caramel sugar
bedroom: dreamy clouds
hallway: scarlet sun

ABN has been sorta crabby about the whole painting scene and the more i offer to take the lead, the crabbier he seems to get. after many hours of him sulking and me prodding it was finally revealed that most of his hesitation has to do with the fact that the only painting experience either of us has ever had is me with a certain $10 set of drawers from ikea. when i moved into 52 egerton i had the brilliant idea that i could make it fabulous and bought paint and stencils. i painted it fine but then the paint peeled off (it was after all not much more than lacquered cardboard). so i started over again and primed it and then painted...and again the paint peeled off. the final result was living two years with a primed, peeling, set of cardboard drawers. so i guess i hear where his hesitation is coming from, and yet...i see the two instances as having little to nothing in common.

so while parts of painting are trying i try to keep this moment in mind (it lifts my spirits): i came to the apartment to paint straight from work so i had asked ABN to bring my "painting clothes" and since i he prone to forgetting these types of things i placed my painting clothes directly on top of his but under the car keys. guess what he forgot? in order to not delay the painting any longer, but in order to not get paint on my one pair of work pants, ABN let me wear his shorts and he painted in his boxers. so picture a huge window, looking out on to our peaceful street and ABN standing on a chair in the window painting the trim, in his boxers. funny. funnier is when our new neighbor walks onto the driveway and begins to introduce himself to ABN (the windows being open for ventilation) who is only wearing boxers...well boxers and a tshirt...but very clearly, boxers. all of a sudden painting isn't really so stressful after all.

so birthday dinner last night...so full-filling.
we went to the greens and both enjoyed the tasting menu - paired with wines


our first course was andante dairy crottin; cucumber, radish and frisee salad; olives and acme bread - paired with lucien albrecht cremant d'alsace brut rose

next i had a wilted spinach salad with gravenstein apples, goat cheese, roasted onions, pumpkin seeds, cider vinegar and hot olive oil - paired with dehesa gago tempranillo 2006,

and ABN had heirloom tomatoes with green gulch lettuces, curly cress, lemon cucumbers and creamy point reyes original blue cheese dressing - paired with b rose of pinot noir, 2006
for dinner i had a filo purse with japanese eggplant, summer squash, peppers roasted tomatoes, torpedo onions, asiago and basil. served with warm cannellini beans and broccoli di ciccio with pine nuts and pepper flakes - paired with the best glass of wine i've ever tasted: domaine vieux telegraphe 2006, chateauneuf du pape
and ABN had a chanterelle mushroom and leek tartlet with gruyere and roasted garlic custard. served with roasted green gulch potatoes, carrots and cipollini onions - paired with alma rosa pinot noir

we also had dessert - me: pluot brioche bread pudding with lemon verbena ice cream and brown sugar caramel; him: chocolate angel food cake with bittersweet chocolate sauce and raspberry ice cream...but i can't get the pictures to load...you'd be too jealous anyway :)

Home in time for Oprah

i've been working at PN for one week now, on the floor, selling, folding, processing. my feet are swollen and my closet is now full (or slightly more full). i'm exhausted. it is still difficult for me to comprehend that while i was teaching hebrew school the majority of my peers were doing this type of work - i definitely would not have been ready for it way back when. i'm thrilled to have tomorrow off to spend with ABN, hopefully beginning to paint our new place (did i mention we found a place?).

yesterday, while selling (clearly, my favorite part of the job) i was helping three heathers at once (yes, you read that correctly) when i realized that one of the heathers was taking up an enormous amount of my attention. she had brought in one dress in three sizes that she had ordered online and was trying to decide which one to keep. she would try on one dress, then the next, then the next, then the first, then the third and so on and so on round and round we went. it was late, my feet hurt, the store was about to close and i was getting annoyed with all the chatting, just make a decision, you're not buying anything anyway. about 45 minutes in though i found myself slightly interested in what she was saying. all of a sudden it dawned on me, okay, this heather might be a highly annoying customer but, could she potentially be a cool person in real life? could she be...a friend?

turns out she's like the coolest person i have ever met and i quickly became obsessed. i started telling her a bit about my story, took a deep breath, and asked her if she had a card. i'm going to be in touch this weekend and she's going to let me know about her all time favorite restaurant, which happens to be in noe valley. it just proves you never know who you'll meet in a dressing room - and i guess to have an open mind, but that seems rather unrealistic.

My Tum isn't the Only Thing that still Feels Unsettled

we have a mini-crisis brewing here - i fear i have lost my ability to shop! i have been given full permission (by myself mostly) to go out and buy work appropriate clothes - nothing crazy, but you know - a black skirt with pockets, a pair of grey pants, a cute dress, a couple of real tops with shape and structure (that don't need to be ironed). i have literally spent a few hours everyday going through racks, trying on this and that...and nothing is what i am looking for. i spend my working day picking out my favorite PN pieces for other shoppers to wear, and genuinely oooooooh and aaaaaaaaaah when they come out wearing something particularly cute, but when i get into the dressing room myself i feel like, eh, i've seen it before. what is wrong with me?! i have the ability to buy totally cute clothes at 50% off and so far, all i have to show for it is one shirt. oh, and a bunch of shoes. nothing special or particularly cute but i'm trying to keep myself standing so i'm willing to sacrifice.

i think that my issues with shopping have more to do with the fact that I WANT MY STUFF, then anything else. we've been here a little over a month (i know) and we travelled for almost a month before that and this whole time i have done it with one pair of jeans and a whole bunch of tshirts. but it's not just the clothes. i want my pillow. and my stuffed torah. i want to eat off my own dishes (they are so pretty, after all) and i want to be able to light my own candlesticks on shabbat. i want my bright blue party dress so i can decide if i'm wearing it to COR's wedding or if i need to start looking for something new (oh god, more shopping). i want my dansk clogs because maybe they will protect my feet and i want AMAZING kate spade mary janes because i know they won't.

okay. i feel better. it's time for work.

My Back is-a Breaking

i know i'm not the queen of anatomy but i thought there was more going on in my feet than just bones and skin. but after 9 hours on the floor of pineapple nation, plus the walk there (what was i thinking?) i'm convinced that my bones are going to break through the skin that surrounds - both the bottoms of my feet and my toes. it's a piercing pain. and it doesn't help if i'm not standing it up, if i take my weight off of them. the only time they don't hurt is when ABN rubs them, but then they sort of make strange cracking/popping noises.

yesterday was my first full day. other than the feet, it was a good day. i spent most of the day near the dressing rooms running go-backs and processing (i have a completely new vocabulary). everyone was very friendly and helpful and i think i helped a number of customers walk out looking better than when they walked in. the store clothes at 8 but i was on until 10 which meant i closed (refolded everything in the room) for two hours. at pineapple nation they do something they refer to as "finger spacing" with their hangers - i'll let you picture it. a bit over thte top if you ask me, but the store does look good so i guess they know what they are doing.

today it is going to be difficult to get me to do anything other than lie on my couch but i still have no clothes to wear (i've tried to shop, after all, i get this fabulous discount) but so far, no luck. i'm getting really desperate though (i'm working three more days this week and today i the only day off) so i'm off to a mall on the other side of town, hoping for inspiration. ABN did talk to the movers yesterday and it sounds like our stuff will be arriving at the end of the month. i'm just hoping i have some comfortable shoes in there!