SheShe Life

After years of never-ending failed first dates, traveling halfway around the world solo and paying too much for non-date dinners with friends, last fall I threw away the rulebook on life, and married a girl. And we both couldn’t be happier with the kick-ass life we are living.

First, because everyone appreciates a good love story, and every lesbian will appreciate the Uhaul-version of that story, I’ll let you know how these two sheshes came to be.

My now wife Julie and I had worked together for almost 10 years as acquaintances in a big advertising agency in Chicago before Julie and I co-lead a new business pitch. I was dating a boy, Julie had just broken up with a girl and we started spending more time together. One night I assumed drinks had gotten the best of Julie as she proceeded to grab my leg. Wait, was she flirting with me? She must just be drunk. Turns out she wasn’t.

About six months later Julie stepped up her game. We were at Lollapalooza together and on Saturday night after probably ten Bud Light Limes each, she laid it all on the line. And I said yes. She came back to my house and that following morning we were both in it to win it. Julie moved in eight months later, we were engaged eight months after that while on a trip to Cambodia, and we made it official at a fabulous Chicago wedding on 10-4-14.

Early on, we connected over food and copious amounts of red wine. Conversations about the newest Michelin restaurants, the hip hotel no one knew about and vacation that would leave our friends drooling pretty much summed up what made us both tick. Ya know, we were a little chichi. For those of you who aren’t up on haute French reference words:

ChiChi: adjective

1.   showily or affectedly elegant or trendy

Now let’s be clear, we are not rich girls. We both work our asses off and do well, but neither of us were born with platinum spoons in our mouths. Which is why there will be many o’ subsequent blog posts on dive bars, how to get shit for free, and really good bowls of Pho for $6.

Not rich, but definitely resourceful. We cash in airline miles every chance we get, have hotel affinities that reward us well, and milk loyalty programs for all they are worth. When it came time to get married, we even picked a venue that gave us points for every dollar we spent via the restaurant group Lettuce Entertain You and of course, put the tab on airline-mile-earning credit cards. Over a year later and we are still enjoying splurgy anniversary dinners that haven’t cost us a dollar. So yeah, we might not exactly be chichi, but we are definitely sheshe: two ladies in love with travel, the good life and each other.