{Love Everlasting Project} Marni + Chaz

Marni + Chaz

June 30, 2012

Any big milestones since your wedding day?

Hmm…Not much, just…found out we were pregnant. With Twins. During Hurricane Sandy. Mastered the diaper change. Kids started walking. Moved to a bigger apartment. Kids started running. Bought a house. Leased a car. Leased a second car. Hired a contractor. Underestimated expenses. Learned how to do carpentry. And plumbing. Sent kids to first day of school. Cried in car immediately after. Traveled to Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Scotland. And Mexico, 4 times. Celebrated a 40th birthday milestone. Witnessed 4 friends’ weddings. And 3 friends’ new baby additions. Sent our kids to day camp. Then swim. Soccer. Karate. We use a joint calendar now. Traded all-nighters for night-time stories. Concerts for Kid’s Bop. And we haven’t looked back since.

Favorite memory from your 1^st year of marriage:

Finding out we were pregnant during Hurricane Sandy.  After just showering at the neighborhood New York Sports Club, we quickly charged our cell phones in the Chase bank ATM lobby before heading home. Using our phone flashlights to open our front door, we lit our candles, and finally relaxed after a long day of no electricity, to a room full of no electricity. “Chaz, what does this say?” Marni is in the bathroom shouting out to me.  She hands me something and says, “Does this say positive?”  I have no clue what this is. We had just tried to make a baby once. I thought it took a year to get pregnant, right?  Wrong. “Babe, it says pregnant.” Then it hits me. “We’re pregnant!?! Like gonna have a baby!?!” I was in such shock. So was she. We kissed and hugged. And hugged and kissed. It was such an emotional day. Here we were, in the dark ages of the 21^st century: cell phones in hand, with candles for light. “Holy s***!”, we thought. We’re about to parents…

Favorite memory of your most recent year of marriage:

Our first family vacation…without the in-laws. We were so nervous. “How can we enjoy ourselves with twin boys and no help? How would we relax? How would we sleep?” Fast-forward to the last night. Boys are sleeping in the stroller parked aside our candlelit table on the beach. The waves crashed, the moon lit the night sky. Our wine glasses full of Malbec. We raised our glasses, looked into each others eyes and at that very moment we had our epiphany. “We did it!” Cheers to vacation.

Have you learned anything new or surprising about your partner since you’ve gotten married?

Marni: Chaz would probably say, “Marni is the greatest mom, social committee chair, decorator, fashionista, …and dishwasher packer. Have a bowl and a full dishwasher? Have no fear, Marni will make it fit.”

Chaz: Marni would probably say, “Who knew my husband could be so handy!?!” “Now I put him to work on projects for the house.”

Piece of advice you’d give other people getting married:

Saying “I Do” is easy. Having kids, buying a home. This is what really makes a marriage. Because when it’s 3am and your wife is breast-pumping and you’re feeding the other twin, you can either curl up in a ball and cry or belt out a duet of “All Night Long” by Lionel Richie, laughing, as you realize you are both in it together. Forever. Thank God for marriage.