What I’ve Learned After Two Years Of Marriage…With An Italian

written by Tiana Kai
Married in Tuscany

Today marks two years since Nicco and I married in Fiesole, Tuscany. After that day something in my brain switched. It’s like there’s a marriage switch that gets flipped on, a switch that no one tells you exists. I guess it’s something that you find out for yourself as it’s quite surprising.

Read our love story here

Some people say marriage isn’t for them because of the obligations and expectations. This may in fact be what the marriage switch is all about because all of a sudden I felt more connected to my husband, but not just in an emotional way. Obligations grow a bit, but you have to keep them in check and let the relationship feel itself out in order to grow.

Married an Italian: Marriage Advice

Before getting married I read a lot of articles about marriage advice. Many are crappy articles written just to boost SEO, so about 80% of them are useless or repetitive. There was one that stood out, but I can’t find it right now to share the link with you. It said something like: move houses and cities to share more experiences with your partner, have great sex since you’ll be having it for a long time with this person, have children, laugh things off… The author explained every point so well and made me think about how serious marriage is. She said to protect the marriage, not because it’s fragile, but because it’s worth keeping.

Now that two years have come and gone it’s time to reflect, so here are a few things that I’ve noticed about my marriage and myself. Perhaps it’s a list of things that are extremely common no matter what culture you marry into.

Marriage Advice: Wedding in Tuscany

Now that two years have passed, what have I learned?

Men People don’t change—that much. There are things that people tend to do and not tend to do, you can’t expect things to one day shift according to what you want. I realized that I need to shift more before I expect my husband to.

Accept my role. This doesn’t mean women need to cook and clean. This means that women are better at many things, so unfortunately have to take control over those things. This also goes for men! In my case, I feel that I need to accept our strengths and weaknesses more and solve the problem faster rather than just bitch about things. My mother-in-law told me that sometimes you have to pick things up that someone else put down and move on.

My husband loves to draw on things. This cracks him up, but luckily he doesn’t draw on walls like a two year old just on other things that can easily be washed off—or so I hope!

Being married won’t make anyone a better housewife. If you’re not that domesticated to begin with it’s not like your house will smell of baked goods and have shiny floors once the marriage switch is turned on. A girlfriend of mine grew up with a stocked fridge so her house is always filled with food. In my case, my teenage years were not filled with a fridge full of options, so my kitchen gets depleted often. I do like shiny floors though.

My husband isn’t macho. From my experience I feel that Italians are less macho than other men I’ve encountered in Miami and for this I’m happy. Sure there are things that I do more around the house, but Nicco works a lot, so there’s a trade. He cooks. He buys groceries. He goes to the pharmacy. These are not daily occurrences, but the man is not allergic to doing things for the home. Plus, he lets me drive…I loooove to drive!

Every man needs a man cave. I initially took over the office space, but soon moved my work space to our living room. I now call the office The Man Cave. I try not to bother him if it’s too messy, but I do harass him when it seems to have reached its limit of dirty cups and trash. If someone is messier than the other person, then they may need a room that they can go crazy in. It helps keep the rest of the house clean and everyone’s happier.

A dirty house doesn’t mean a dirty life. I’m a neat freak and really love expect to keep a clean home. The more days pass the less OCD I become, but if I don’t feel motivated or 100% that day then I need the house to be spotless. I think I’ve improved a lot from two years ago, but if you ask Nicco I’m still a clean freak.

Independence is everything. If I wasn’t able to do what I wanted to do I would be miserable. I married someone who lets me be me and do what makes me happy. In turn I can only let Nicco do what he needs to in order to feel fulfilled. Pressure only hurts love.

Supporting your partner can go very very far. My husband is better at this than I am. I feel like he supports everything I do. I’m still not sure where he learned this from, but I’m glad he got it from somewhere.

We are two people. None of this “we are one person” lah-di-dah. I married a man with his own everything— brain, body, money, habits, parents, past, hobbies, likes and dislikes. People can only do so much until they start pretending to be someone else and if you know Nicco you know he’s authentic and he expects me to be too. This means that it’s healthy to have two lives: yours and yours with your partner. I love to be with Nicco, but I also love to be social without him. He loves to be with me and he loves to work on projects without me. There needs to be a balance.

Save your wedding cake. We saved the top tier of our mille foglie wedding cake and devoured it on our one year anniversary, seriously look how soggy it looked! It was fun to share something from our wedding and since I wasn’t going to wear my wedding dress might as well eat the cake.

Getting fat may occur. I’m not gonna lie, I’m about 10 pounds (*cough cough* 15 pounds) over from what I should be and the pasta and wine is not helping. After getting married and moving abroad my diet changed, my schedule changed and my gym membership was non-existent. So, I got fat after marriage, but feel amazing because Nicco only tells me how beautiful I am. I tell him to be mean to me and not let me eat things, so he tries to help but he’s so nice that he doesn’t want to be mean because I want a big portion of risotto. This is something I need to focus on on my own.

Let the man help solve a problem. Instead of getting too angry for something I’ll tell Nicco what I don’t like and he tries to solve it. Granted he doesn’t stop doing said thing, just finds a creative way to keep doing what he’s doing, just shifts things a bit.

In order to solve the “I’m allergic to putting on the toothpaste cap” he decided that we should buy the stand-up toothpaste pump. Win-Win!

In order to solve the “I don’t understand why it bothers you that there’s coffee all over the kitchen”, Nicco put a small dish under the coffee container which is also where a spoon now permanently lives, seriously as he taped the end of the spoon to the dish! Now his coffee mess is contained in one little dish. Sometimes something so simple really makes me happy, since most people argue about the little things.

I have so much to learn. Marriage isn’t easy, at least not for me. Nicco seems to accept things more easily…but I’ve noticed that this is more of a male trait since women are notorious from trying to teach/improve their mates.

Focus on the good. When there’s a rough patch it’s important to remember all the wonderful things about your partner. In my case I love so many things about Nicco: his height doesn’t hurt, he’s funny, he’s committed to me, he supports me, he wants to see me happy, he doesn’t smoke, he’s motivated, he’s a provider, the man can cook, he’s not a drinker, he’s sweet to our dog, he loves my family, my family loves him, he’s amazing with kids… There are a few things that drive me nuts, but the good things should be great and it’s what I try to focus on when I’m cooling off.

What about you, what marriage advice can you share?

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27 comments

Maïder OYARZABAL July 4, 2014 at 10:20 am

“Every man needs a man cave” ahahah what a great observation !
Even if I am far away from these things, it is a really funny and sweet article 😉
And if somedays I need some wedding advices I know the right person…
ps : you’re gorgeous muy sexy ragazza in your wedding dress !

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Tiana Kai July 4, 2014 at 11:09 am

Thanks my dear! Ya people talk about a “man cave” a lot and it makes so much sense. It keeps the wives from going too crazy. It’s amazing how little things make life a little smoother. xoxo

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Cat of Sunshine and Siestas July 4, 2014 at 11:34 am

I love this! As Kike and I talk about marriage, it’s given me a different sense of obligation towards him and protecting our union and promise. That is, if we don’t kill one another in this house buying business!!

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Tiana Kai July 4, 2014 at 12:09 pm

It’s amazing how the brain shifts and how quickly you see how important this other person is. Good luck on planning your future, the wedding planning was so stressful. Keep me posted!

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Sophie Kruijsdijk July 4, 2014 at 4:23 pm

Well done and congrats! Loved reading your article :D. Xx Sophie

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Tiana Kai July 4, 2014 at 4:49 pm

Thanks Sophie, hope to see you and your boyfriend soon. I have a fun idea for a double or even quadruple date! 🙂

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Elena Meacci July 4, 2014 at 6:29 pm

A very nice article. You are really a nice couple, not only physically but especially for the brain and the heart that you have 🙂

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Tiana Kai July 5, 2014 at 2:50 pm

Thank you so much Elena! I hope to see you at one of Nicco’s events one day. 🙂

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Kaley July 8, 2014 at 2:22 am

Happy anniversary! We must’ve gotten married on a weekday, because we too got married two years ago (on July 7)! I like what you said about still being two people … amen!

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Tiana Kai July 8, 2014 at 2:30 pm

Amen sister, amazing what you learn the older you get. So many women can get lost in their partner and it’s a shame since doing your own thing is so much fun and more attractive! 🙂

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Becky Padmore July 8, 2014 at 7:51 pm

Such a lovely story and congratulations! Great observations too 🙂

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Tiana Kai July 8, 2014 at 11:01 pm

Thanks so much!

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Massa Marittima To Do and See July 16, 2014 at 7:35 am

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Dashing Diva January 24, 2015 at 12:25 am

He looks like a good man and I think the most important thing is having someone who supports and cherishes you. Maybe one day I’ll find mine.

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Tiana Kai January 27, 2015 at 7:01 am

Have a great time in Milan, I love that city!

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Inboxok Inboxok February 16, 2015 at 9:44 am

Support, cherish; basically. Who knows. I assume you’ll be moving to Italy for a short period, no?

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nowardev May 21, 2015 at 9:11 pm

mouhahah Every man needs a man cave” , it’s true , i am italian ehm … i guess i mean i am a male so i need my own cave 🙂 disorder it’s what i have in my cave and i love it

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Tiana Kai May 25, 2015 at 5:31 pm

Caves are useful.

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Skye May 28, 2015 at 8:56 am

The only advice that I can give (Since I’m not married) is that by the time you finish arguing, all you can do is laugh. Mostly because the argument turns silly and because you forget what you were arguing about in the first place.

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Tiana Kai May 29, 2015 at 1:59 am

If only that were true.

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Mickey February 11, 2019 at 7:49 pm

Hello. Nice article. I just met an Italian man and he seems to be serious. If it happens we get married do I have to move to Italy. Is that necessary. I’m Asian n currently living here in the State and I’m scared to move there. I just want to stay here in the US where I have freedom to do everything I want. Pls give me a good advice. Thank you!

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Tiana Kai March 17, 2019 at 10:49 pm

I’m not sure why you wouldn’t be able to do the same things in Italy as you do in the US. Italy is great.

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Ahmed June 6, 2022 at 2:57 am

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