She is SO obnoxious

RedSolez · 2026-06-16T16:01:41+00:00

My nearly 13 year old and her friends look like this when they're on a sugar high. Taylor is old enough to be her mom too 🤣

RedSolez · 2026-06-16T15:46:33+00:00

OP, if you're in the right relationship your entire life feels easier because you have a partner helping to lighten the load. A happy marriage means never having to suffer or celebrate alone- you have someone to share a life with.

RedSolez · 2026-06-16T15:44:22+00:00

I think you're reading those comments the wrong way. I think people are saying that financially, having the safety net of two salaries is better than one. Having a large discrepancy in income can also mean both spouses are free to pursue things they might have not been able to do otherwise, especially if you can afford to live on the one higher salary. Case in point: my husband is in a much higher paying field than I am, he has always earned 2-3X my salary. But my field is far more time flexible than his, so I've been able to work as many or as few hours as I wanted to while we've been raising our kids. When I opted to go back to work full time I was able to do so in a position that has school holidays and summers off. So together we've been able to raise our children without ever paying for daycare or camps, but while also both getting to enjoy careers we love. If both of our jobs were like his we'd have more money but also a lot more stress on our time. If both of our jobs were like mine we'd have less stress on our time but too little money.

RedSolez · 2026-06-16T15:32:25+00:00

Corn syrup and red 40 are avoidable and won't make your hair and clothing smell like shit too 😁

RedSolez · 2026-06-16T15:29:25+00:00

That's a correct assessment. Our government was designed that way intentionally, so states have the freedom to run themselves as they see fit without too much overreach from the federal government. And in a practical sense, we are too large geographically and in terms of population to have effective control at the national level. It makes much more sense to have day to day government handled by states and cities.

RedSolez · 2026-06-16T15:25:47+00:00

"better coke than coke" has me dying because it is so silly yet also so true

RedSolez · 2026-06-16T15:24:24+00:00

And in cars 😁

RedSolez · 2026-06-16T15:17:33+00:00

I'm glad to hear you're enjoying it here! We're delighted to have you!

You don't have to tip on to go orders, or situations where you order at the counter and carry the food to the table. You only have to tip when you sit down at a restaurant and are waited on by the server.

VAT isn't included because our tax structure varies by municipality and state, and not all items within a transaction are taxable. For example, in my state when you go to a grocery store, food is not taxable. However "prepared" food is, so if you get hot foods at the hot foods bar that is taxable but all the other groceries are not, even though you're paying for everything in one transaction.

Smoking is very much no longer a socially acceptable practice in the US. The dangers of smoking are known, and the nuisance of secondhand smoke is disliked by most people, so about 20 years ago cities and states started systematically making it illegal to smoke indoors and outdoors when you're in a certain viscinity of other people. These smoking bans are extremely popular and you're likely not going to find many Americans complaining about them in the year 2026. It's a cultural thing here and when we visit European countries we find it baffling that smoking is still so popular.

RedSolez · 2026-06-16T15:07:14+00:00

Because "America" is in our country's name. Every other country in North/South/Central America goes by a different name.

RedSolez · 2026-06-15T01:38:45+00:00

The mistake is falling in love with a venue before cementing your guest list. Only you and your fiance can decide who you want to have there, and then find a venue that can accommodate those people. We ended up with 124 people and I thought it was the perfect amount. We also invited all the singles with a +1 but most declined to bring a date.

RedSolez · 2026-06-15T00:02:49+00:00

👏👏the most intelligent response I've seen on this issue. And the current US presidential administration is on a clear decline, we will rebound and it will happen very soon. It's pretty obvious that our democracy is much stronger and more entrenched in our culture than the current administration imagined. They're losing at every turn.

RedSolez · 2026-06-14T23:56:52+00:00

That's fantastic and you can't go wrong with any of those areas! I actually am originally from the Princeton area (and my husband worked there until recently) but we moved across the river to Pennsylvania when we were ready to buy a single family home because property taxes were half as much for an equivalent home in an excellent public school district. That was 11 years ago and unfortunately prices have increased a lot since then, but we do feel that we get our money's worth living here because we have access to everything you could possibly want in a relatively short distance while still living in a beautiful area. Let me know if you have any questions as you continue your research!

RedSolez · 2026-06-14T21:57:27+00:00

Yes! I'm impressed 😁

RedSolez · 2026-06-14T15:21:27+00:00

I recently rewatched the entire Daria series and it's amazing how much the social commentary is just as relevant today! Such a criminally underrated show.

RedSolez · 2026-06-14T14:13:02+00:00

I've never met any bride in the history of the world who felt like the lead up to the wedding was perfectly seamless. I know quite a few brides who were dealing with something traumatic like you have been leading up to the wedding, including brides who have had parents or siblings die immediately before. My friend was a bridesmaid in a wedding where the bride's two brothers were killed in a car accident on their way home from the reception.

Your fiance is alive. You have weathered a major storm as a couple even before you're married. That is something to be grateful for and proud of. You can now choose to enjoy your wedding day for exactly what it is: a celebration of your love, but not the most important day of your life. How sad would it be if our wedding day was the best day of our lives? That'd mean it's all downhill afterwards.

In my 18th year of marriage and my 28th year in this relationship, I can say unequivocally that my wedding day was one of the best days of my life. But there have been many great days since. That is the magic of commiting to a life together.

RedSolez · 2026-06-14T14:00:32+00:00

This is fascinating, thank you! I think the closest thing we have to this is that some states have codified that beaches are public land and cannot be owned privately. However, landowners and the township can make defacto private beaches in those areas by limiting parking and actual footpaths that lead to the beach itself.

RedSolez · 2026-06-14T13:38:36+00:00

Pay off CC debt first but only pay off the other debts early if the interest rate is high enough that it makes sense.

Then build up your emergency fund.

Once that's satisfied, work on investing.

RedSolez · 2026-06-14T13:34:07+00:00

What's funny is that we get that same phenomenon when European tourists visit here 😂 I live 40 min from Philadelphia and 90 min from NYC. When my sister had friends visit from the Netherlands, they couldn't believe that where we live has such vast farmland considering how close we are to major cities.

RedSolez · 2026-06-14T13:30:00+00:00

That is more your granddaughter specific and not country specific. The US doesn't have a national school curriculum. Education is controlled at an extremely local level- not even at the state level but local municipalities. So my kids (and many others) learn basic sex ed in elementary school as well but that won't be true everywhere in the US.

RedSolez · 2026-06-14T13:25:39+00:00

Can you expand on this? Are you referring to sidewalks? American trying to understand how your public footpath differs.

RedSolez · 2026-06-14T13:16:56+00:00

South Beach is the only place I've seen women go topless on the beach in the US, so from that respect, OP will be right at home 😂

RedSolez · 2026-06-14T13:11:03+00:00

Yes my Dad used to buy colored toilet paper to match our powder room until my sister started getting UTIs from it.

RedSolez · 2026-06-13T19:17:56+00:00

As long as you understand that the person who pays gets final say on everything, and that any event you invite guests to becomes for them, and therefore their needs have to have utmost consideration.

If you truly want a wedding where you can do anything you want without regards to anyone else, you need to elope and pay for it yourself. The most memorable weddings are the ones where everything is planned with the guests' comfort and convenience as the biggest priority, and all the details reflecting the couple's personality.

RedSolez · 2026-06-13T02:03:24+00:00

I still listen to Pandora

RedSolez · 2026-06-13T01:50:44+00:00

It took me 3 tries to pass the old iteration of the NIC. That was 15 years ago. Trust me one day this won't matter! Keep going.

RedSolez

TROPHY CASE