Ten short weeks ago, I met the man I’m going to marry.

Trust me, we’re courageous, not impulsive (he’s from the Midwest ).

Since he figures so prominently in my life, and since wedding product reviews will be coming along shortly, here’s the silly story of how we met.

I was fresh out of a stormy relationship, already playing the field but not at all looking for something serious, when I stumbled upon his Craigslist ad.  Yep, we met on Craigslist. (I’d love to say instead that one day, while roaming the palace grounds, he rode up to me on a white horse and melted me with one gaze, and so we rode off into the sunset, but honesty is the best policy.) I never look at the personal ads, honestly - I was only on to post in reply to someone I’d met at a show earlier that night - but somehow I came across this man’s ad and, lo and behold, he replied to my reply.

We only exchanged a few emails before meeting for Cinco de Mayo (Drinko de Mayo) drinks that weekend.  (Don’t lecture me on Internet security - I know my way around this place pretty well by now, and his emails were too sweet and honest to be anything but authentic.) I made the plan to meet him at my favorite divey Mexican restaurant, forgetting that the romantic outdoor cabanas would be full of loud, drunk groups. He got there early and found us a table anyhow, in true responsible, upstanding fashion.

I was nervous, he was nervous, but we talked up a storm - so much that, after four margaritas each, we had covered life stories, future plans, and past failures. I learned that he had worked for animal control (think: dog catcher), I confessed my secret love for pop music and my dislike for Kirsten Dunst, and he mentioned again that he was moving to Los Angeles at the end of the summer, a fact which he’d brought up via email but which didn’t concern me at the time…surely we’d just be a summer fling, anyhow.

After drinks, we met up with some of my friends who live just down the block…we were in no shape to drive, and that’s not something on which I compromise.  We went for pizza and more drinks (Sofia Coppola canned champagne, anyone?), and met up with more friends…more talking, much more laughing, and definite chemistry.  He even laughed when we were walking to the car and my shoe’s heel got caught in a hole, causing me to briefly disappear as I had fallen off the curb (we were sober by then, I swear).

Nearly 8 hours after the date started, we went back to his place to keep talking. He also introduced me to Arrested Development, now one of my very favorite shows (and I’m known to be reasonably anti-TV!). It was a wonderful, magical evening of deep connection, but no one knew where it would lead….

One of the things that I learned while becoming happy was to take care of myself. Similar to the “pay yourself first” idea that can keep you out of debt (more to come on that!), taking care of yourself first is one of the best things you can do to keep your life running smoothly. How can you manage your daily tasks and responsibilities, let alone carve out some soul-searching time or leisure time, if you’re tired, out of shape, and avoiding the mirror at all costs?

My family has a history of dry, sensitive skin, and I’ve tried to improve mine with many products (and non-products) over the years…expensive lotions, cheap lotions, olive oil, honey, salt scrubs, sugar scrubs, and yogurt baths, just to name a few. I ate more almonds, walnuts, and flax, I devoured avocados like they were going out of style, and eventually, I just gave up. I didn’t have time or money to try any more skin experiments, so I resigned myself to wearing long sleeves and gloves for the foreseeable future.

Enter: Alba Botanica - Very Emollient Body Lotion. I purchased a tiny bottle on my way out of town to meet the pre-fiance’s parents last weekend (travel is always a chance for a spa day, or at least a spa hour!), and I used more than a quarter of it in the car on the way to Illinois. It was amazing - a great scent, a great texture, and most important of all: no irritation to my skin, and both immediate and *lasting* improvement to my skin’s texture and elasticity. It’s like a dream - an inexpensive, silky, organic dream. I’m stopping on my way home to buy a real bottle - pre-fiance definitely approves.