Changing the name but not the letters

A lot of family and friends have begun calling me the future Mrs. _______. (You know what I mean, Mr. Castles last name) In fact our RSVP postcards are addressed, "The future Mr and Mrs._______. I know there are some people out there who would hate this, a lot of women find it very annoying to be called, "Mrs. husbands full name." For me, I find it really cute. In my mind it's one of the things that makes it feel "real." It gives me a giddy feeling, like a little high pitched voice in my head says, "I'm getting marrriieed!!!!."

Image via Etsy.com

But it also brings to mind the name change debate. I have always assumed I would change my name. I've never re-thought my decision, I just really understand the reasons behind not changing your name. I love my name, I've had it for 26 years and I'm a little attached to it. I think my parents did a great job choosing my name. My first, middle and last name have the same amount of letters, and they sound pleasant to the ear if I do say so myself. I've also started my theatrical career out here in New York and I can't change my name as far as the business is concerned.

You see, I belong to the stage actors union, Actors Equity Association. The screen actors union is SAG, and like in SAG there can only be one "you." Meaning there can only be one person with your name. When you see actors that include their middle name, it's probably because their name was already taken. I have a very popular last name, and it was looking like my name was already going to be taken when I joined the union. I was fully prepared to add my middle name for my "stage name." Luckily my name was available! So as long as I am a member of this union I will always keep my maiden name.

So what does that mean for my legal married name? Well like I said I love my name, but I am planning on changing it. I am looking forward to starting my new married life with a new married name. But since my name will not change in my union I have decided to make my last name my middle name. I really love my middle name, but really who ever uses their middle name? Now that I'm a grown up my parents don't need to use it for disciplinary reasons. Although Mr. Castle still uses my middle name when he's exasperated with me. He will still use it at times I'm sure. It will always be my middle name, it just won't be legally.

The coolest part is that my initials will change but I keep the same letters! I just realized this the other day and I found it to be a sign that it is meant to be, changing my name that is. I already know Mr. Castle and I are meant to be :) Right now my initials are SLT and after getting married they will be STL. I love it!

What about you? Did you/are you changing your name? Do you like your new initials?

The Things I Love...

Let's face it. Life is hard. Times are tough. I live in one of the craziest city's in the world. I watch a two year old child everyday. While I love my job, some days are really HARD. And let's throw planning a wedding into that mix. We are 10 months away and it seems like my to do list keeps growing... To put it mildly, I'm overwhelmed.

It's times like this I have to take a deep breath, and visit some things I love to put me in a better mood.

First up my cats

 My Boys. Looking a little sleepy in this picture

Benjamin Linus and Artemis. I always think, wow my life was so sad before them... Ok that might be a little dramatic but life IS so much happier with these guys. They snuggle with me, they make me laugh, and they are always happy to see me when I get home.

 The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. A GREAT read

I love books. Reading is one of my favorite things to do. and it is such a satisfying hobby. I always feel like I learn so much from every book I read. Even if it's that I learned I don't care for the author...

 Always loved this add campaign

I love music. I don't love all styles of music. I could listen to show tunes all day, but probably only about 20 mins of country. I love rock, pop, indi, opera, and my guilty pleasure weird AL... I also love to sing, so music is a big one.

 My Brothers and I.. and Rudy the dog :)

The people I my life bring me insane amounts of happiness. I have amazing friends and family.

And last but not least. The source of most my happiness. My Love.

Yes that's me hugging him from behind :)

Sigh... Now I feel better.

Isn't this thrilling???

Well hello! Whomever you are, reading this. I am attempting to write my first ever blog post. Isn't this thrilling???

Ok maybe I should back up and explain a few things. My name is Sharon and I live in NYC. I am an actress/singer/babysitter, and juggling all three can be a major challenge. So lets just throw planning a wedding in there just for fun!

Well it is fun, and challenging and exciting, but most of all thrilling. If you haven't guessed it yet. My absolute favorite word is thrilling. It's so classy, and it is such a good word for moments that are so wonderfully hard to describe. By definition it means:

producing sudden, strong, and deep emotion or excitement

My first encounter, and onset love of the word thrilling came in college. I had just been accepted into the coveted musical theater program, and was in rehearsal for my first show, Anything Goes. A classic Cole Porter musical of the 1930s. I was cast in the ensemble and one of my lines was, "Isn't this thrilling?" And it really struck a chord with me. It WAS thrilling to be at this place and point in my life. I had achieved something I had been working so hard for, I had met so many fabulous people and I was tremendously happy. 


So now 6 years later I am at another point in my life that I find fabulously thrilling. I am getting married to the most wonderful person I have ever met. He is everything I had ever hoped and dreamed my true love would be and MORE. I will be talking plenty about him on here so I won't get too mushy. But I will say he has excellent grammar and spelling skills, which I do not, so he will probably be proof reading. What a lucky girl I am :)


So in all the craziness that is my life; living in the craziest city, working long hours, pounding the pavement to get "discovered", I would like to step back and take a moment to look at my life, my love for my FI, the fact that he wants to spend the rest of his life with ME, and say, "Wow, isn't this thrilling?"