OyChicago blog

It’s been a busy few months for me.  And for Khloe Kardashian.  It seems like we have a lot in common.  Khloe moved to Miami and started taping a new reality show.  I moved to Evanston and entered the business school world of theme parties.  I have nearly half a dozen friends and colleagues who are pregnant, and of course, Khloe’s sister Kourtney is knocked up with her dead beat boyfriend’s love child.

David and I knew each other for almost five years when we got married, dating for three and a half of them.  Khloe and Lamar Odom got married after dating for thirty days.  We registered at Bed Bath and Beyond.  For a shocker, check out the newlywed’s registry.  E! footed the bill for the Kardashian/Odom wedding and OK magazine paid the newlyweds $300,000 for the photo exclusive.  Mom and Dad Friedson had exclusive rights to the bills from our not-quite-as-lavish affair.

Today is my two year wedding anniversary, and it’s Khloe’s…ten day anniversary?  Proportionally, we are at the same stage of our relationship.  OK – so maybe we don’t really don’t have much in common.  I’ve never had a DUI and my husband is not an Olympian, an NBA big shot, or a multi-millionaire.

But from one not-so-newlywed to another, I have a few words of advice for you, Khloe:

Marriage is hard.  Don’t get me wrong – it’s also wonderful.  But it’s not something to be taken lightly.  And it’s hard enough when you live under the same roof, much less commuting between L.A. and Miami.  Maybe next season should be called Khloe Returns to L.A.

Holy matrimony needs to be less focused on the glamorous details of wedding cakes and bridesmaids dresses and more on shared goals.   It’s important to be sure you’re on the same wavelength about things like money, children, and…in the world of celebrity relationships especially, fidelity.  Make sure to keep communication lines open and talk about everything, even the hard things.

Amy Adams said it right in the most amazing chick flick of all time ( Enchanted , obviously): “How does she know that you love her?  How do you show her you love her?”  Love and marriage isn’t about saying “I love you” when you leave the house or when you’re ending a phone conversation.   For a lasting union, you have to find ways to show your spouse how much you love him through your actions as much as your words.  Khloe, this means cheering for the Lakers and being supportive when Lamar has a bad game, taking care of him if he’s hurt, and finding unique ways to surprise him with things you know will make him happy.  (And definitely share this paragraph with Lamar.)

One of the hardest things to get used to about married life is that relationships aren’t always 50/50.  Your paychecks won’t always cover equal halves of the expenses (especially since Mr. Odom is pulling $33 million over the next 4 years – I highly doubt reality TV paychecks are quite that big!), your husband may not be so great at doing the dishes, and you may not love doing most of the laundry – that is, if celebrities like you two even have to deal with household chores.  Sometimes one person will be doing more of the traveling to see the other or picking up the phone more often – while planes and phones work both ways, they don’t have to work evenly.

Finally, when times get rough, as I’m sure they will – especially for the two of you, remember why you love him and what made you want to get married in the first place (besides all the exposure to the media, of course).