It's like squeezing a sponge...

Justin:  So if you are a frequent visitor to our site (I'm not talking to you Nicole), I'm sure you've noticed the header change at the top.  The idea of her holding my hand and feeling like she was squeezing a wet sponge is a true story! When we first started hanging out, we kept our distances as we were "just friends" watching a movie.  Over time when I started winning her over (heh, yeah right), I was slowly moving closer to her side of the couch.  I was nervous either way, if she took my hand or if she didn't.  Thankfully she did.  However, when I am nervous, I sweat.  So when we started holding hands, she told me months later that it felt like grabbing a damp sponge.  Eventually it felt like she was holding an actual hand. LOL.

Nicole:  I think back fondly on those beginning days of our "hanging out".  They were fun, exciting, embarrassing, and just plain awesome.  When Justin and I first started hanging out, I was one tough chick, I couldn't decide if I wanted to let my guard down and let myself like him or if I just wanted to stay friends, but one thing I knew is that we always had a good time together.

As I was slowly testing the waters and deciding if we could be more than just friends we would do small things that would take friendship just a little bit farther. Sitting close together on the couch, sharing a blanket, and finally, holding hands.  I'm sure I was as nervous as Justin, but it was also very exciting.

When Justin showed me his design for our new blog header, I could not stop laughing.  Not only was it a funny and true picture, but it brought back the memories for those times and how I felt.  Reliving the sweaty hand and how I pushed on through it, because I knew I still wanted to hold his hand.  Thankfully, now Justin's hand doesn't get sweaty when I hold it, but if it did, it wouldn't even matter.  I'm never letting go.

1st date, still so great!

Justin:  It's no secret that I am a huge movie fan and since being with me, Nicole has seen more movies in the past 3 years than she has EVER in her life.  I love her for embracing my love of cinema and wanting to share in the romance, action, and drama of it all.

Movies continue to play a big part in our relationship but they were most important in the beginning.  I've talked previously about how we started to have feelings for each other when we began watching films at my parents' house.  Heck, the first thing I ever gave her was a copy of The Dark Knight. (Yeah I'm cool like that.)

We eventually moved on from watching movies at the house to watching movies in the theater.  Just as friends of course.  It wasn't until I mentioned this thing that AMC Theaters was doing where they showed all the Best Picture nominees on one day, that we would have our first official date. It was called the Best Picture Showcase.  I think it was 2 years running so not a lot of people have heard about it.  I've always wanted to go and seeing as Nic had become more than just my "movie buddy", I thought I'd ask her to see this with me.

I'm fuzzy on the details but I'm pretty sure we both decided right away that an event like this would mark our first official date.

We packed a lunch grammar school style and had a day at the movies.  It was incredibly fun and we decided to make this one of our traditions, to celebrate our first date every year with a day at the movies.

This year, we get to celebrate not on one day but two days!  We are very excited.

As I sit back watching Slumdog Millionaire (one of our favorite movies and Best Picture winner in 2009), Nic is already sleeping getting the rest she needs for tomorrow.  We will be watching the first four of the nine films and the remaining five next Saturday.

I am not ashamed to say that movies (amongst other things) have defined important moments of our relationship.  The first time she gave me something for Valentine's Day (The Princess Bride).  The first time we said, "I love you" (I Love You, Man).  The first time we made out. (Superbad...for reals). Heck we even spent this past New Years in a theater (New Years Eve).   Movies have been a huge part of our relationship and they continue to be.  We watch a lot of films and we laugh, love, and cry through them...together. 

Any thoughts Nic?

Nicole: ZZZZzzzzzzz

Justin:  Well, she will share her thoughts on next week's post when we talk about the second weekend of our third first date.  Woah...wrap your head around that.

It's like going on a treasure hunt...

Nicole:  So a little over a year ago I found this really cool hobby that I wanted to try out.  It is basically like going on a treasure hunt.  How could you not love that?!  You get a set of clues that may be specific or very vague, go out and follow them, and (hopefully) find your prize!  This hobby is called letterboxing.

So when I first told Justin about it I was very very excited and couldn't wait to get started.  Well, it turns out you need a few things to start - most notably a stamp, ink pad, and log book.

After we finally got these items I printed out a few clues from the various letterboxing websites for boxes near where we live.  Now I didn't know much about boxing at all so I didnt know that some boxes may have disappeared or been ruined or anything like that and there is a way to see when they were last found.  So as we set out looking for multiple boxes that day and didnt find a single thing, we were very disappointed.  Luckily though, I have researched it more and have learned quite a few useful tips and we have found quite a few letterboxes this past year!

We don't have time to go letterboxing a lot, so when we have an opportunity, we usually take it.  We have tried quite a few times to attend various events that have occurred throughout the year, but something always comes up and we are unable to go.  So our new goal is to try to attend at least one event!    Also, with the several trips that we are taking this year, we are trying to work a little letterboxing into the schedule so that we can find new boxes in different parts of the US.

Justin:  I must admit when I first heard about letterboxing from Nicole.  I was like cool but was like eh because I'm not really an outdoorsy person.  I don't like the heat and me standing around dripping in sweat looking for a camouflaged box didn't sound all that appealing.

But I wanted Nicole to have a hobby other then just tagging along with me to conventions.  I wanted her to find something she was passionate about too and this certainly sparked her curiosity.  I gave it a shot and the first day we went, we spent three hours in the woods and found jack squat.  I was definitely done.  I gave up too quickly but I checked my attitude and gave it another try because I could tell she really wanted to get into this and I know how much of an out doors person she is, especially during the summer.  I also realized it's good to get out in the heat and work/hike/walk off some poundage instead of staying in a nice AC'd room stuffing my face with ice cream and watching reruns of Jersey Shore.

So on the second try I actually found the first letterbox!  I was really excited and all that work with our bodies and our minds (to figure out the clues) really pays off when you find that letterbox hidden in a bush, buried in a tree, or covered by some rocks.  It's the satisfaction that you get can when you place your mark and say that you've been here that is the most rewarding.  Also it creates a way to work together.  It builds communication, team work, trust, and a sense of accomplishment when you find the box.  All key ingredients to a healthy and happy relationship.  Don't ya think?

We recently went to Louisville, KY for the Derby Comic Con and we planned a mini vacation around that.  Part of the vacation included some letterboxing at Cave Hill Cemetery in which we hit 5 for 5 boxes in one afternoon.  Quite an accomplishment for some amateur letterboxers.  Woot!

Happy Valentime's Day!

Justin: Our first date was on Feb.21 2009 which also happened to be the day we decided to celebrate Valentine's Day since we missed it. AND that was the year of the AMC Best Picture Showcase...more on that extravaganza next week.

So ever since then, we've celebrated Valentine's Day on the 21st of February each year.  Our anniversary is March 14th so we don't get presents for each other, just cards.  So with that, I always try to rock a sweet card.  We decided to go Chuck's Southern Comfort Cafe...ohhh man EAT HERE.  It's so good.  Best mac n' cheese in the world.

Anyways, before the feast we exchanged cards: 

So this image of a heart dressed in a sweater is our way of saying, I Love You.  When we first started dating Nic and I would talk on the phone sometimes and I remember she blurted, I Love Youuuuur Sweater.  It just cracked us up. 

On to the food!

We had the bruschetta as an appetizer. Nic had the BBQ Pork Nachos and I had the Crab Cake dinner.  YUMMMMMMMMM!  Go here...seriously.

 Did you have a good Valentime's Day?

Nicole:  Justin is right in that we started saying I love your sweater to mean I love you when we had begun feeling those feelings, but the actual saying originated from something else.  It was actually a dream that I had when we first started dating.  I remember telling Justin my dream and being very nervous to tell him because it was such an interesting dream that I had to tell him, but I didn't want to freak him out with the "L" word too early in our relationship and no, I don't mean lesbians!)  I was walking to the train to work in the morning when I called Justin to tell him about my dream.  The gist of it was that I had wanted to tell him "I love you" but I got nervous so it came out "I love you...rrr sweater"  It may have been my subconscious talking to me, but at the time I wasn't ready to say that out loud.  Now...well...now I just can't say it enough.  Sweater my Love.

Happy Valentimes Day!

When the girl is away, the boy will...

sit around and do nothing.  Haha

Justin:  So Nicole is on vacation this week with her family and I am bored out of my mind.  I mean I do have plans to work on my art and made a list of things to do.  But the fact that Nicole is in a whole other state (Florida, for anyone curious) makes me unmotivated. 

It's a unsappy way of saying that I miss her.  It's ok, last year I went on vacation to visit my cousin Jonathan in Maryland she was missing me crazy. (I know. She told me.)

It makes sense right?  She's my best friend and when you spend so much time with someone...not because you have to...but because you want to, its hard to NOT spend time together.

Aside from my best friend who I've known since we were kids, I don't have any other friends out by me.  I'm a South Side filipino and I have family over every other day.  Most of my friends from college live farther from me.  I was the only one of our crew to move back home. 

 When we first started dating, she would come over a lot and she was living with her parents and they lived by Midway Airport.  She would stay over til like 2 in the morning sometimes she'd sleep over and go to work the next day.  It was ok at the time cause she lived so close to the el.  We would text about the night before about he movie we watched or the book we had read together.  At one point her parents expressed concern about the staying over late and our late late nights were usually done by 10 or 11pm.  Boooooo!

However, It was a great "getting to know you, hey let's fall in love" couple of months.  Eventually she switched jobs and addresses and then I became the one that would hang out at her place.  We developed this idea that we are each others' second home until you know, we one day live under the same roof.  When I'm with her, I feel at home, even if we are not at my house or her apartment.  We could be at a Denny's grabbing breakfast or Target shopping for sweatpants, but I'd still feel at home.  I can't very well be home if we're not together and she's in another freakin' state!

So Nicole is it.  Home. Cause that's where my heart is. And to me that's perfect...it also means I don't have a heart right now so I'm like a robot...like the The Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz. 


Soooo come back already so we can go see The Green Hornet!

Wanna watch a movie?

Justin:  I had previously stated how important watching movies have been to us.  Other than being awesome, "going to see a movie" was my move.  I didn't have much luck with the ladies all throughout high school and college.  I think it was because, at that time, my interests in anything social we're lacking.  Clubs, parties, club-parties, were all non-enjoyable to me and movies were fun because it didn't bother with all that awkward socializing.

With Nicole it was different.  However, the first thing we did together was tour Downtown Chicago, which I never did and she was an expert at.  At the time I had yet seen the Cloud Gate a.k.a The Bean and well I felt like doing some picture taking and when Facebook became available to the public I found myself reconnecting with old high school people on the world wide web.

After that first day, which maybe Nic can elaborate for you more.

Nicole:  Call me lame, but just reading Justin's post about the movie nights makes me smile.  The sweetness, funniness and lameness.  It all made me smile.  K, no more mush.

Soo our first hang out day since high school.  We like to call it Sunday in the City.

Facebook was getting all popular and people were reconnecting and being friends with everyone and their mother that they had met for 2 seconds or had known but were'nt really friends with.


I talked to Justin in high school and was friendly with him but I wouldn't say we were exactly friends, he was pretty quiet and kinda goofy.  I mean, the only two things I really remember about him from high school were us making fun of my cheesy smile and him telling me that my armpits and my crotch were the two warmest parts of my body.


So back to Sunday in the City.  We started chatting because of facebook and I had found out he had never been downtown to the Bean and I worked literally across the street at the time.  It was a must, we were going, whether he liked it or not. 

So we were going to take the El downtown and since I lived close by we were meeting at my house.  He shows up on that 60 degree rainy day in shorts.  Shorts! and a tshirt, minus a jacket of any sort, or an umbrella. I look at him skeptically, make fun of him a little (ok, a lot) and we are on our way. 

So we get downtown and start walking around.  Justin's freezing but wont really admit it and we go around taking pictures and catching up.  He was so excited that I volunteered to be in pictures and was patient while he got artsy.


After a fun day of pictures and freezing we decided to go to corner bakery and warm up with some hot cocoa.  Justin bought mine and as we are sitting there chatting and answering questions from each other about our lives I remember thinking how I hoped he wasn't interested in me in more than a friendly way.


Well we head home and as we are chatting we realize that Justin's cousin and my sister are roommates in college and good friends.  I knew from that moment on we were destined to be in each others lives in some way.
  
Justin:  These were clearly ingredients for a solid friendship stewing.

So when we would hang out, most times we'd go to the movies.  It was what I was good at.  We'd talk a little on the way there and then talk about how awesome or bad the movie was at dinner or on the drive back.  It was, to me, genius set up.

As the friendship grew and the feelings began to surface, we moved the movie watching to the downstairs of my parents' house.  My dad had a projector and we would watch movies projected on the wall while chillin' on the couch.  So it was like being in the theater but we were the only audience.  The best part about that was: No arm rests...(BLOG POST FIVE!)

Ok now some nights, through no fault of my own, the dvd player downstairs would flip out and skip the disc.  I would suggest finishing the movie in my room....and at this time I still had a bed.  I would emphasize that in hopes that she wouldn't think I was trying to get her into my bed and I scratched the crap out of the disc before she got there.

One particular night, we were watching the Michael J. Fox classic, The Frighteners, which she would on occasion forget the name and call it The Firefighters.  (She's cute like that)  The disc had started skipping downstairs and I suggested finishing the movie in my room.  There we were laying in my bed. I kept a safe distance because I was nervous I might do or say something out of sheer awkwardness to send her screaming out the door.  BUT I never had any intentions like "Oh man, I'm going to score" because I'm not that kind of guy and I didn't think she liked me like that.

What happens next?  She falls asleep during the last 20 minutes of the movie!  I was like, uhhhhh what?  How could you fall asleep during The Frighteners?!  I wasn't outraged at all really because she kind of fell asleep on me...and well that was awesome!  I didn't know what to do so I just let her sleep til she woke up. And when she woke up she apologized for missing the movie and went right back to sleep.  Now I remember turning off the T.V. and just letting her sleep and I just kind of laid there and seriously thought how AWESOME this was but not to make any sudden self-celebration gestures so I didn't wake her up.  I think it was like 2 or 3am when she woke up and just kind of hugged goodbye and that was it.  It was a general stepping stone.  It gave me the notion that this friendship COULD go somewhere.  I didn't want to push it so I just let it be and took it for what it was.  I didn't want to amp myself up but it got me thinking about her and that was never a bad thing.  I was liking this girl more and more.

One of the other memorable movie nights we had was when we watched Superbad...but I think I'll leave that story for another time. Because this was just the beginning of it all and I again emphasize movies being very important to the forming of our relationship, til next time!

This is the Start of Something Good

Nicole:  Don't you agree?

In case you didn't get the reference, it's a Gavin DeGraw song lyric. Ohh do I love that music.

Anyways....

Hi!  We are Nicole and Justin and welcome to our blog.  We hope to have all sorts of things on here.  Not just random goings on in our lives, but podcasts, adventures, maybe a web comic.  Basically whatever we find interesting and entertaining.  We just hope you enjoy it too or at least get a laugh out of it!

Ok, well as you can see, I don't really know how to start this thing without sounding lame.  Maybe there is no way, but either way, here we go!

Justin:  Great intro girlfriend!  And I don't mean that in a *snaps fingers and *shakes neck kind of way.  I literally mean girlfriend.  Nicole is my girlfriend and it's awesome!  And she's awesom(er) for wanting to start a blog with me which is basically a love letter to each other....for you all to read! 

We want to talk about places we've been, thing's we done, people we've met, the things we love.  And since we love each other very much, we'll talk about that too.

Not to worry now, we won't get too romantic and sappy on here but we're not going to lie...it WILL happen and since you are reading our first post, we might as get some of that romantic sappy crap out of the way.

So why is the blog titled So Fresh and So Fly?  WELLLL before Nic and I started our "relationship" relationship, we had more of an email relationship and we would email each other at work talkin' all lovey dovey.  Most importantly we were at the point of falling in love and on email we felt we could be ourselves and express our emotions in a way we both found difficult to do in person.  So amongst one of 300 + (and counting) emails we wrote to each other.  I laid down this bit of geeky charm on her:

I'm picking up Zack And Miri Make A Porno tuesday and also Nick And Norah's Infinite Playlist...that movie's really awesome.  You should come over Tuesday so we can watch them. Anyways I'll talk to you tonight. If we were a hip hop group..I'd be SoFresh and you of course my dear would be SoFly.  SoFresh n' SoFly! TTYL

How awesomely lame and sweet is that?!  A hip hop group...that was my go-to move to swoon her.  And it was so random and silly too.  But it was sweet...am I right people? (*crickets crickets)  From then on, that SoFresh SoFly thing has stuck with us and when we decided to put a blog together it was the one name we both thought of that I guess, represented what we wanted this blog to be about.

So stick around and as my lovely other half stated, here we go!