Have a Great Weekend.

Zadie Smith is stunning beautiful and achingly chic. A friend of mine says she’s one of those people you can’t stop looking at.

I adore Zadie Smith! Great picture!

Oh my goodness, that article about the way women speak was wonderful. I stutter and am already stressed out about the ways in which I literally cannot control how I speak, but in addition to that, I also find that the strategically placed “um” or “like” give me just enough momentum to get the words out. So which is worse? Am I just doomed to never be taken seriously? Because to be honest, that idea can go eff off.

I guess I’m just already hyper-sensitive about people not hearing what I’m saying because of how I say it and these layers upon layers of “you’re doing it wrong” critiques make me want to just give up and never open my mouth again.

I always wear sunglasses, so I am regularly looking for new ones. Thanks for the link!

http://www.spring2spring.com

In the Islamic tradition, women don’t change their last names to their husband’s, and this is out of respect for the woman, her family and her lineage. When I got married, I didn’t change my name and no one expected me to and it was great. Made it easier when I got divorced too ;)

Inside Out was magic. I absolutely loved it. I’m getting married in September and I’m keeping my maiden name – it has been my name for 33 years and I quite like it that way. :)

Zadie Smith’s dress… so pretty!
Dying to see inside out

Sure I kept my own name, nothing that unusual about it. They do try to “help” women with how we talk, dont they? Altho mayhap their choice is for us to shut up completely and listen to the perfect way men talk. I also just ordered a pair of sunglasses from Nordstrom’s, that is on you!!

I live in Spain and it was funny to read the article about the maiden names since here, and I think that in most of the western European countries, nobody change her name when married. It is completely unthinkable that a woman change her last name following her husband’s one.

Inside Out was great, I hope you saw it. I’m pregnant, so I’m pretty hormotional, but all the FEELS. I just kept going “my baby is going to grow up.” Ha. It is definitely worth a watch. My husband loved it, too.

My last name is Hungarian and is annoyingly impossible for people to pronounce or spell. I’ve been waiting my whole life to change it, but turns out my hubby’s name is almost as hard. Still haven’t changed it yet (almost 2 years in–mostly out of laziness; we were moving, I’d just gotten a new license and didn’t want to pay to change it, etc). My husband actually wants me to keep mine ‘ cause he thinks it’s cool, but my plan is to change it once we have kids so we all have the family name. My mom kept our name after my parent’s divorce which I thought kind of noble of her.

Saw ‘Inside Out’ and loved it. Cried as well! What an insightful movie about the changes we go through as we grow older. My almost-four year old didn’t cry but she has revised her story to now say we all cried at the end- including her dad!

I didn’t change my last name either- I really didn’t see the need and oh, the paperwork!! The woman at the town office was so pushy with me- she kept expressing concern about it and saying how beautiful my husband’s last name is… Um, his last name is Clark!!

Anton turns 2 already! Looking forward to hearing about his birthday party. I love that you do not go over the top with your kids birthdays while still giving them something to remember…

Wow that book!
My university boyfriend kept a diary, every day ever since he was eight years old.
One day I received an envelope on my door step – a girl had stolen his diary and photocopied endless pages detailing his infatuation with her. She wanted me to know.
I wonder…. such a similar plot. Dare I read it?

I didn’t change my name when I got married. I like my surname, and my father had died the year before – as an only child, it felt important to me to keep it. I’m glad I didn’t now. Our son has a hyphenated surname, but I feel like it works perfectly well for us and retains the history of both our families. He gets to deal with it when he marries, if he does, and depending on who he marries, maybe they won’t want to change their name either. Who knows!

The ONLY reason I changed my last name when I married at age 34 was because it was so terrible: Lillicrap. See, I knew I wanted children and knew they would be made fun of at some point in their life and I couldn’t see myself effectively consoling them if I didn’t share the same last name. My husband assures me that it builds character and a sense of humor. I have to admit, there were a lot of tears getting used to it. It is amazing how full grown adults can’t help but laugh about it (at the bank, at the doctor’s office…). But it’s getting easier. We have a baby now and I am used to all of our friends referring to us as “The Crappers” and it makes me smile. What can I say? I married for love!

I lost my sunglasses over the fourth of July. Thanks for the link! I’ve also been thinking a lot about what I’d do if I got married. I think I’ve decided I’d hyphenate. But since I’m not even engaged, who knows what my final decision will be. :)

I unexpetedly had an identity crisis after marrying my husband. I told him I didn’t want to give up my last name because I’m the last in the family to hold it. There are no more after me and I have a huge extended family! He said he’d compromise if I’d be willing to. He’s the last of his family name too, so we put them together. He added mine and I added his. It makes for a long title, and we often joke that our names look like someone dropped a Scrabble board on the floor or our friends push it together into a hybrid (The Carports…not a fan). Regardless, it worked for us, the Carpenter Ortolanos (no hyphen thankyouverymuch!).

I got married after receiving an MD, and have an ethnic last name, so I’m keeping it for now- when kids come in the picture, I might change it. It’s a harder decision than I thought it would be, though.

I never thought I’d keep my maiden name, but then I married a Greek man with the last name spelled with what look like rejected Scrabble letters. A T, z and a v? Just in the first syllable!?! Thanks but no thanks. The next question is what to do when we have kids… my parents can’t even pronounce the name, how can a tiny child tackle it?

When I got married two years ago, I ended up taking my husband’s last name, after a lot of thought. Actually, as many of my friends have been getting married, it is so interesting to see who and why they do/don’t change their last names (male or female friends). For myself, I teach at an elementary school and so am referred to by last name pretty exclusively. Looking at all the kids, I have seen how there can be complications and confusion when you don’ have the same last name as a child and how hyphenated names get complicated quickly too. Plus, while I worked in school, I was going to a new teaching position and felt my “new” last name was easier to spell and pronounce for the kids. A small thing, but… I loved my maiden name- it had way more history- but ultimately am glad to have become a “unit” with my husband and with any kids I have.

I’d be super curious to hear from women in interracial couples if they plan on changing their name. I’m Scottish and my fiancé is Chinese, and I plan on keeping my name. I’ve always gravitated towards that anyways because I love my last name, but that decision is further compounded by the fact I think it would confuse people (remember Seinfeld when that girl Jerry was dating went by Chang instead of Changstein?).

I kept my name when I married. At the time, I had graduated from law school and was on my way in my legal career and I felt like, I did all of this with this name, why am I going to change it now? If anyone asks me why I didn’t change it, which rarely happens, I will turn to my husband and ask “would you have changed your name?” He emphatically says “no.” And that’s it. Most men, including my dear husband, could not fathom the idea of changing their name. And I felt similarly. The funny thing is, some people insist on referring to me as “Amanda (his last name),” despite knowing I did not change my name. It’s strange, but I just laugh it off.

Nice links, thank you!

I kept my double surname after marrying (my mother’s surname + my father’s surname.)

My husband and I gave our son a double surname with hyphen, my last surname – my husband’s surname. So the three of us all have different names.

Sometimes I would like us to have the same name, like when I see pretty door signs, but most of the time I’m confident with my choice. I have two strong names and wouldn’t give them away.

Inside Out was such a cool movie!!!
AGENDA FOR THE REST OF THE WEEKEND – Start the countdown for “Go set a watchman”. I’ve been refreshing my Kindle home page in vain hoping for the book to unexpectedly download earlier.