There was one point during my wedding-planning process that I was afraid I was losing my mind and becoming what I feared and hated most — the bridezilla. Keep reading »
Tag Archives: marriage
Girl Talk: Friends With Benefits? I Don’t Think So
Not long ago, I met a guy that reminded me of that sexy NPR storyteller Ira Glass. Instantly, I fell in nerd-love with this doppelganger. After dating for a while, though, we realized we had only one thing in common: sex. So we decided to be friends with benefits. According to a Michigan State University study, sixty-percent of college co-eds have been involved in an FWB relationship, and plenty of my thirty-something girlfriends were doing it to stay satisfied, so I figured I’d give the laid back, no-romantic-attachments approach to getting laid a whirl. A year later, faux-Ira and I still hang out and hump. After our most recent rendezvous last weekend, I began to wonder what I’m doing. What are the real benefits to friends with benefits? Sure, now I have an in-case-of-sexual-emergency-hit-Glass-lookalike. At the same time, I’ve started to realize my situation is causing me to question the meaning of friendship, challenging my chances at romances, and wobbling my emotional stability. Keep reading »
Wife With A Life: How My Mom Planned My Entire Wedding and Nobody Got Hurt
I worship my mother. She’s smart, funny, annoyingly good at most things she does, determined, stylish, everything. And I’m still kind of scared of her. We’re talking about a woman who booked the date of my wedding before I even knew I was going to get married. That’s right—between the time that my soon-to-be-fiance Steve asked for my parents’ blessing and the time that he actually popped the question, Mom made a few phone calls. She already knew she wanted the wedding to take place in the fall. Many years earlier, she had told me this, and I had casually mentioned it to Steve in one of my casual reminders during the home stretch of our five-year courtship that I was ready to move forward. When he spoke to my parents, Mom asked what time of year he was thinking for a wedding.
“Fall?” Steve said.
“What a great idea!” she said. Of course it was a great idea—it was her idea. Keep reading »
Thoughts From Guys On Our IM: The “Before Marriage” Sex List
The other day, one of the Guys On My IM told me, “Guys want to bang a model, a stripper, a famous chick, and maybe a flight attendant before getting hitched.” I’ve heard such sentiments before, though not from any guy I truly respected (I actually respect this particular guy, despite his pre-marriage hump list). Given how many guys go to strip clubs and get all google-y eyed for Gisele Bundchen, couldn’t this general statement apply not only to the men I know and love, but also most guys, period? I decided to ask the rest of the Guys On My IM for their opinions — and while it turns out that none of them have a strong desire to schtup a pole dancer, they all do have SOME sort of ideal bedpost notch list…. Keep reading »
Star Couplings: Marriage Is In The Hands Of The Jolie-Pitt Kids
- Brad Pitt says he’ll marry Angelina Jolie when it’s important to their kids. Hasn’t little Zahara already been bitching that mom and dad aren’t married like Shrek and Princess Fiona? [Us Weekly]
- Dear Robert Pattinson, please do not date Camilla Belle, she has been tainted by a Jonas Brother. Love, The Frisky [Us Weekly]
- Kelly Rutherford, who plays Serena’s mom on “Gossip Girl,” is expecting her second child. She and her husband already have a son named Hermes. Start placing your bets for the new kid’s name — Gucci? Birkin? Fendi? Louis Vuitton? [DListed]
Debate This: Should You Live Together Before Marriage?
For many women, moving in with a serious boyfriend is not merely a stepping stone in the evolution of a relationship, it’s a practical way to both give the mundane realities of marriage a test-run and deal with the exorbitant expenses of modern living. When it comes to co-habiting with a significant other, we’ve come a long way since that old chestnut about not buying the cow when you could get the milk for free.
Or have we? Some research shows that living together before marriage actually increases the already stacked odds that the union will end in divorce. It might seem old-fashioned, but there are plenty of progressive, independent women opting to hold off on living with their dudes until after “I do.” Of course, there are no hard and fast rules for ensuring a marriage succeeds. I talked to two women with opposing views about whether co-habitating with a partner was good or bad for the long-term health of a relationship.
Keep reading »
Sex Will Bring You Closer to God
A pastor in Texas thinks the best way to get closer to God is to have a ton of sex (if you’re married, that is). Rev. Ed Young, pastor of the evangelical Fellowship Church in Grapevine, Texas, issued a “sexperiment” challenge to his congregation of 20,000: sex every day for seven days. Sex, Rev. Young explained, “will bring you closer to your spouse and to God. You will perform better at work, leave a loving legacy for your children to follow and may even prevent an extramarital affair.” But for those of us unmarried folks, us social pariahs who really don’t deserve the benefits of intimacy, Rev. Young suggests we just “eat chocolate cake.” “Do not deprive each other of sexual relations” Young quoted from the book of Corinthians to his congregation. Unless you happen to be single, of course. [via NYTimes] Keep reading »
Sleeping Around Is Good For Bloggers
Egads! Jessica “Washingtonienne” Cutler, the former congressional staffer who blogged about her DC sex-for-money frolics with various political appointees, is engaged. Now 30, Cutler plans to marry Manhattan lawyer Charles Rubio. (He looks, um, nice?) Since Wonkette‘s Ana Marie Cox exposed the identity of the once anonymous sex blogger, Cutler wrote a book, got sued by an ex-lover, declared bankruptcy, and is having her torrid tale turned into an HBO series by none other than Sarah Jessica Parker. (“Sex and the City” meets “The West Wing”?) So how did the lovebirds, who plan to wed next month in a city hall ceremony, meet? “Randomly in a bar,” she reveals. “I was so wasted,” she adds. “I wish I had a more romantic story to tell you!” Us, too, Jessica. Us, too. [Gawker] Keep reading »
The Monogamist: The Name Change
My sister practically clutched her heart when I first told her. “But what about the children?” she demanded. I shook my head, completely speechless. Now, I have an answer: What’s going to happen to our — at this stage — hypothetical children if I don’t change my name? They’ll survive. Keep reading »
Who Wouldn’t Rather Be A Mistress Than A Wife?
I tried marriage and I don’t understand the attraction. I hated it. It’s such hard work. I had to organize the maids, the chef, assistants, chauffeurs, gardeners. All that staff. Exhausting. What really did it for me was when my husband told me he wanted children. Can you imagine? Ruining your figure for babies; those smelly things that leak at both ends?
At the beginning of a marriage everyone is on their best behavior. Everyone is pretending to be something their not. He’s pretending to be terribly fascinated in everything you say, he brushes his teeth, acts like a super stud in the bedroom, and living room, and kitchen… And we women pretend that he’s our “super hero,” we wear high heels and naughty little teddies, we shave our legs everyday. But six months and he’s turned deaf and dumb, your legs are hairy, neither one of you has brushed your teeth, you pick your nose and he picks his butt. He farts, you burp. The teddies have been replaced with sweats; he sits in front of the TV with the “game” on, mumbling, a beer in hand. You barely speak to each other; you’re too tired to have sex. Marriage. What is the advantage? Keep reading »
