um... so, i just deleted my wedding stuff bookmarks from my mozilla browser. very liberating. it's almost like deleting your ex's phone number from your cell. :D

Halloween

It's that time of the year again, where you dress up and go crazy with chocolate and candies.

What's your Halloween costume this year? Mine is gonna be.... mardi gras girl :) I know, I know.. not the most original idea, but it's easy and it's an available resource to me.

100

Wow! As if Friday's not a good enough reason to celebrate and run after work to the nearest and bestest happy hour place, it turns out that this is my 100th post on this blog :) Yayy!

By the way, would you ever consider decorating your wedding cake the impressionist style? I think it's pretty cool...

Source

To Sell or Not To Sell?

That is truly the question. When I first bought my wedding dress, I was so determined to sell it after the wedding is done. I mean, it's not like I'm ever going to wear the dress again, right? And if I were to pass it down to the next generation.... who's to say it'll still be in style, or whether it'll be the right size? So I was thinking, no big deal. It'll be easy to sell my dress since it's so beautiful. I didn't realize that I would have a hard time parting with it. Is that bad? It's crazy how attached I've become to this dress. So perhaps I won't be selling it in the end. We'll see :)

Swoon me like no other :)

10 things I love about you:
1. you bring pix out in the morning
2. you eat everything i make, even if they don't taste good at all
3. you don't mind that i like to sleep in the middle of the bed
4. you almost never forget to put the toilet seat down
5. you made my car look like new again :)
6. you don't mind if i bake cookies instead of making 'real' food
7. you always make time to listen to me even if lakers game is on.
8. you get me those books that i like
9. you made me a flower garden and an herb garden
10. i never ever felt so loved by anyone before.

Daisies

My flowers for the wedding was mostly soft coral pink / off white gerber daisies, hydrangea, and roses. Shortly after the wedding, we were gardening and we planted some coral daisies, almost exactly like the ones we had at our wedding.

With Mr. B's green thumbs tending the garden, we now have not one, but two gorgeous coral daisies blooming in the middle of Fall. I know it's not much, but I can't help smiling and thinking back about our wedding every time I look at them.

Red

I'm finding out that I love Red on almost anything nowadays... red shoes.. red lipstick.. red nail polish... Wearing red lipstick somehow makes me feel retro and sophisticate right away. Plus, here's a secret... red lipstick makes your pearly whites look even whiter :P

<source>

Happy Thursday, everyone. One day closer to the weekend!! :)

Steal

I guess the dress that I liked from Reem Acra is too expensive, but what do you think about this dress from Cachet? Similar... and on sale :)

Found at Nordstrom

Reception Dress Hunting

I love, love, love shopping for wedding gown. Thank God my friend was generously patient enough to go with me while I tried on about 40 different dresses :) I think wedding dress shopping was the most fun part of the planning process...

Anyway, we're now happily married for 4 months. Can you believe it? 4 months already! It was a wonderful wedding, but the sad part was that many of our family couldn't make it since most of our family lives overseas. Well, the good part is that we will get a chance to celebrate our marriage again in January with the rest of the family, as my husband's parents are organizing a modest wedding-like dinner reception. It's kind of like a 2nd dinner reception, I guess, but I was told that the white poofy dress is not necessary.

Wonderful, right? I don't need to plan nor worry for anything else. I pretty much just need to show up and celebrate. The best thing about this is meeting Mr.B's family, and the next best thing that comes to mind is: more reason to go shopping for pretty dress. :) *ding ding ding ding!!

I'm thinking something like this would be nice:

Olivia Wilde (House) in Reem Acra.

So pretty... :) But I probably need something more modest and covered. Any suggestion?

47minutesand15seconds

I went to Susan G Komen Race for Breast Cancer 5k walk/run thingy last Sunday.
Oh.My.Goodness.... I pretty much ran for the first 1.25 miles... then I walked (fast). then i got tired and just walked casually. then i thought to myself... man, this is taking forever!! so I started walking faster. Then... suddenly I realized that I'm .75 miles away from the finish line. so I forced myself to run, and I ran all the way to the finish line.

Wow, I what a sense of accomplishment it was just to cross the finish line. Although it took me 47 minutes, it was still a good race for a good cause. But my goodness....... the fatigue..... well, time to get back in shape, I guess. :)

Almost 4 Months

Can you believe it? Time just flies so fast. Suddenly I realized that I haven't updated this blog for a really really long time. I guess I got carried away after going on my honeymoon and catching up with work stuff etc.

So, during my 1 month hiatus, I've been working working working. Then I went to Florida for honeymoon for about 10 days. Then I worked worked worked again, then went on a mini vacation to Las Vegas, and then resume life as usual again.

The honeymoon was awesome. I love Florida seas, and I can't wait to go back there again to swim with the fishies again :)


Ahh... the joy of honeymoon. and the joy of being newlywed. The honeymoon high don't last forever, I can tell you that much. But life's too short to be on honeymoon the whole time. You want to have a complete and whole life experience with your spouse. The good and the bad. Hmm... this reminds me of that scene from sex and the city...

Samantha Jones: Relationships aren't just about being happy. I mean, how often are you happy in your relationship?
Charlotte York: Every day.
Samantha Jones: Every day?
Charlotte York: Well, not all day every day but yes, every day.

Well, it's Friday! So... happy weekend to all :)

Video

I just got my wedding video on Saturday :) it's so wonderful to be able to look back on the day with such clarity. I'm so glad we got the wedding video. This company we hired was really good and captured all the emotions on that day.

Lollipop

I stumbled through this pretty DIY project at Martha Stewart's site this morning and I think it'll be an awesome new trend we'll be seeing in weddings in the coming years...

Inexpensive, Easy, Cool, and can be made way ahead of time. Sounds like my kind of DIY project :)


Here's the instruction straight from Martha Stewart Wedding's website:

Cheree Berry's delightful display of suckers from her wedding is easy to make yourself, but you can also buy one from her website.

Tools and Materials
Styrofoam cone from Baisch & Skinner

Floral spray paint (choose a color that will match your ribbon)

Extra-wide flat washers (these will add weight to the bottom of the cone and keep it steady; to get a heavy-enough weight, Cheree used 2 and hot-glued them together. The more surface of the base that the washer covers, the steadier the cone will be; so, if you can find a "Large OD" washer that's 8 millimeters or wider from a plumbing-supply store, that would be best)

Hot-glue gun

8 yards of 5/8-inch-wide ribbon (use 1-inch-wide ribbon for a 24-inch-tall cone; Baisch & Skinner)

Gold-topped boutonniere pins (about 30)

Lollipops (some of our favorite sources include Ju-C Suckers, Hammond's Candies, CandyDirect.com, and Sugar Shack)

Flag template (download template here)

Slim wooden dowel (for flag)

Craft glue

Lollipop Stand How-To

1. Spray paint cone with floral spray paint, and let dry. Hot-glue the flat washer to the bottom of the cone, and let set.

2. Cut the ribbon into graduated lengths so each wraps once around the cone, with extra for overlap; the shortest piece (for the top of the cone) will be about 5 inches. You will need 25 pieces of ribbon for 16-inch cone, 28 pieces of ribbon for 18-inch cone, and 27 pieces of ribbon (of 1-inch-wide ribbon) for 24-inch cone.

3. Cover cone with ribbon, starting from the top. Wrap the first ribbon snugly around the cone (you will need to wrap the ribbon at a slight angle so that it lays flat on the conical surface). Fold the end under to hide the raw edge, and use a pin to secure. Continue down the cone, overlapping the ribbons only slightly.

4. Insert your favorite lollipops into the cone, slipping the sticks between the ribbons and angling them down. We used rock-candy swizzle sticks, so we used scissors to cut off the balls on the ends of the wooden sticks.

5. Stick a sign into the top of the cone, or insert a single lollipop instead. To use Cheree's flag, download her template and print it out, then use a craft knife and a metal straight edge to cut the flag just inside the lines. Glue it to a slim wooden dowel; if you like, cut a second sheet of paper and glue it to the back of the flag to cover the dowel.

First Published: Martha Stewart Weddings - Summer 2009

Youtube

This weekend, I learned so much about photoshop.... from Youtube! Who knew????


It started out with just trying to find out what kind of setting wedding photographers / editors use to make their images so soft and romantic.... it ended up being a full on photoshop crash course, which I think is very useful and interesting and fun. The things you can do to those photos..... like making the blue sky in the photo below bluer.... I like it. A lot! :)



*swoon....

Tying the knot

So, I was telling you about the "walk to remember" and the nuptial mass.... the music was one of the highlights in my opinion... We had a pianist, two cantors, and a harpist. Listening to the harp always make me wonder if this is what you hear when you go to heaven.....


But the real highlight was of course the part where we said our

I Do!

No word can properly express how happy we were to have reached that moment in our life, but perhaps a picture can caught a glimpse of the moment?







And... here's my absolute favorite picture that my friend, Daniel Tan, who just started his own photography company took right after we exited the church... check out more of his work here.

We're happily married!

Something Old....

I need to have a special post for this lovely "something old" from my mom.


These were the very gloves that my mom wore on her wedding day. My mom originally thought she had lost these gloves forever, but somehow she found them when she was moving things around the house last December when she was preparing for my engagement party. These gloves are so very dear to me..... I love them so much..... It means so much that I get to wear it on my wedding, 32 years after they got married. Somehow the color and style and everything works out perfectly with my dress! Having my parents putting on these gloves is definitely one of my favorite part of the getting ready part.

Hopefully I can keep it in its current pristine condition and pass it to my daughter someday :)

Wedding Day Recap Part Two

OK.... well it has been 45 days (according to my website at ewedding.com) since the wedding. I guess I really better write down all the things while I can still remember.

So, where was I last time?

....

Right. So, yes, we took lots and lots of pictures of me getting ready and me with the girls and me with the parents and brothers. Throughout the entire time, somehow my veil was very problematic. It kept sliding back and basically not staying where it needs to be.


You see, the veil I always wanted was a combination of a cathedral length (which is long and prone to being stepped on by unsuspecting bystanders that's stepping by too closely) and a mantilla and a little bit of a fingertip blusher (is that what it's called?) so that Mr. B can "unveil" me later during the ceremony. So my mom's dressmaker in Indo was able to custom make one for me. Exactly the way I wanted it to be. But... at a cost: it won't stay on!

Well, thankfully my mom and bridesmaids are experts in taking care of these kinds of emergencies, and they had extra hair pin etc. I'm not sure what exactly they did in the end, but the veil ended up staying put until the wedding ceremony is over :) *phew!


So, after taking the pictures for what felt like a short period of time, the photographer suddenly looked at the time and said, "I better get to the church and start setting things up there". Off he went and we were suddenly left just standing around, waiting for the limo. The cold sweat returned to my forehead immediately as I begin to realize that the limo IS actually running late! By that time, my bridesmaids were already on to my fear of being late and they did a good job of keeping me away any type of clock or watches. Not that anyone was wearing any watch... We waited for a few more minutes outside for the limo, but the wind was too strong that we decided to go wait inside the hotel lobby. Right at that moment, the limo finally showed up and we rushed back out and got on the limo. I caught a glimpse of the time then on the radio clock and guess what time it was? 1:53pm. The ceremony's supposed to start at 2pm, so I knew we were going to be late for sure. Thankfully, the church is pretty near. We ended up arriving at 2:02. 9 minutes travel time exactly. Boy I could feel the butterflies right now as I'm writing this down, just remembering that particular moment... but we ended up NOT being too late.... right? 2 minutes is forgiveable :) and another 3 minutes to get everyone ready and there I was, my father by my side, holding his arm, and walking me down the aisle.


As I walked down the aisle, I was so nervous and I felt like my heart was exploding. There's no feeling like it. I guess it was a mixture between nervous, amazed, worried, happy, touched, sad (when looking into my father's eyes, realizing that he's in a way losing his baby girl), expectant, and so much more emotion that I can't figure out the words for. My eyes began to feel warm and I was very sure I would start crying right away. But as I walked by my father's side, I started noticing things. Like.... wow my dad walks kinda fast *gotta keep up*. Uuu... my friend D and his family is here *how cute is his new baby!*. wow, there are a lot of people! and lots of camera. Then I realized, they are all here for ME! just for me (and Mr.B, of course!). I didn't feel like crying anymore.... I felt like soaking it all in. That very moment, I felt like time just stopped and you can see everything so clearly for the very first time. I prayed to God that I can always remember that moment no matter how much time has passed....

The walk down the aisle took probably 30 seconds, but to me it felt like a lifetime. When I finally was able to caught up with time, I looked past the people and saw the one face I have been waiting to see the whole day.... Mr. B.


Doesn't he look handsome? Do you see why I was the happiest lady in the whole world at that moment? It didn't matter that the limo was late. Or that the veil kept sliding back. Or that the ceremony would last 30 minutes longer than it was supposed to be. Or the fact that the pastor pretty much 'shooed' us away and forbid us from taking pictures on the altar after the ceremony (the ceremony was too long and they were supposed to have confessions). None of it matter. Right that very moment, I was taking it all in. I was the happiest, luckiest, most blessed person breathing in the whole world, and nothing else really matter.

Anyway our Nuptial Mass was beautiful beyond my imagination. I'm not gonna go into details since there were so many elements in the mass, as it was a Catholic mass. I truly thank God for everything He has done for the two of us. Two people. Different world. Different lives. How in the world could we have been lucky enough to meet if not because of Him?

Photos

I just got my photos from the photographer last week and boy are they gorgeous :) *narcissist mode on!*

This photo from our wedding just makes my day every morning now, so I thought I'll share it with you guys...

07.14.2009

This is one of those days, that even with ALL the problems that are going on in my life, I still feel that life is a series of celebrations. Indeed, what a blessed year it has been.

<Shawn Hodges Photography via source>

Happy birthday to me :)

One short long week

Wow, ever had your identity stolen? Hopefully not. It's so not fun. I've been kicking myself in the head for being in this situation. Although it is said that there is a higher percentage of being an identity theft victimg if you're a young adult living in California / LA area (0.125% if i'm not mistaken?) Anyway, what does this have to do with vintage or broadway? Nothing, really... but I just thought everyone should know the importance of protecting your identity and reviewing your credits regularly to avoid such inconvenience, not to mention financial loss.

grr.... i'm still so mad!

Yay to us!

One full month of simple wedded bliss :)

<source>

Tonight, we're gonna celebrate by eating the top tier of our musical cake. Yes, the same cake that we're supposed (and planned to) to keep frozen for a year. Why not, right?

Dahlia

Inspired by Meg's post this week about Dahlias, I thought I'd share a picture of the lovely dahlia hairpin that I made for my bridesmaids.

It was actually really really easy to make them. Even on my first try, it only took me about 5 minutes to make one. The key is to making these lovelies is only one: glue gun. Just glue, glue, glue them all together, and let it dry. That's all.... Well, maybe not too much glue, but you know what I mean, right?

They look pretty, don't they? :) Since these were the first ones I ever made, the inside part that's glued to the prongs do not look very pretty, but... hey! As long as it works :)

Lagging behind...

Wow has it been more than a week since my last post? Time sure flies...

So I haven't done my thank you cards yet.... you know me... always procrastinating. It seems that after the wedding is done, the to-do list still continues but suddenly I don't have time anymore. Or, I don't want to do them anymore. That's pretty bad, huh? It's just like not wanting to clean the dishes after eating the buffet? kind of? Hehe.. OK. Time to snap out of this lazy mode and get with the program :)

Actually, I have created my thank you card using photoshop a long time ago, but I wasn't sure how I was going to transfer it to the actual cards. I know I want it to be a photo greeting card type of thank you cards and I know I want to put meaningful verse from one of my fave musical at the back of the card. So the questions remain..... Do I send it somewhere to print? Do I print it myself? What kind of paper do I use? What kind of envelope goes with it? Arrghh..

After thinking about it for... oh almost 4 weeks now... (woops!) and after doing all my research, I decided to go with costco.com photo center. Wow, for eighty cents a piece including envelopes, I think it's a great deal! Other websites that I looked at charge at least twice that amount! And the nice thing is, you can actually customize the writing at the back like what I wanted. Perfecto!

I'm actually also waiting for my group table photos from the photographer so that I can print them out and send them to my guests along with the thank you card so they have a copy of the photos too..... hopefully I'll get the photos soon?

Buzz around the internet

read this post from the East Side Bride

so.true!

I was beginning to feel a tiny twinge of guilt after going over budget on my wedding... especially knowing that so many beautiful people out there like 10,000+ and the budget savvy bride who had awesome weddings on a budget! And especially now that we bought a house and all the house expense are starting to pile up. I can't help but to look back and think "hmm... maybe I shouldn't have spent so much on the flowers... I could've saved that money and bought myself a nice couch instead."

But.... after reading this post from the East Side Bride... I feel much, much better. My wedding was indeed the most wonderful celebration of our love that I could ever hoped/planned for, and it was definitely, definitely worth every penny. So what if I went overboard a little? It's once in a lifetime after all :)

budget budget budget.... I've now come to term with my defeat.

Good Luck

luck (lk)

n.

1. The chance happening of fortunate or adverse events; fortune: They met one day out of pure luck.

2. Good fortune or prosperity; success: We wish you luck.

3. One's personal fate or lot: It was just my luck to win a trip I couldn't take.

I don't know..... I just don't really like it when people say 'good luck with your marriage'..... it's almost as if they have underlying, more cynical meaning behind it. Perhaps I'm being to sensitive about the whole thing? (I'm not gonna lie.. I am known to be very sensitive at times). Sure divorce rate is high. Sure it takes a lot to be married. But is luck gonna help people with their marriage? I don't think so.... What we really need is love, lots of patience, lots of tolerance, and lots of 'night out with just the two of us'... and basically... lots of hard work and never giving up on each other. But that's a given, right? Who in their right mind would marry without fully understanding the intense commitment that entails with the state of being married?

A.I Wedding

I just got back from a friend's lovely sunflower theme wedding.... the bride? unbelievably gorgeous. the groom? handsome. the guest? very excited!

Just the way these two look at each other almost make you wanna giggle and say 'awwww.... Seriously... they're just TOO cute. it's so obvious that the look in their eyes will stay the same even after 30, 40, or even more than 50 years to come. Congrats you two! Mr. B and I are very honored to witness such an amazing union of love. :)

By the way, that wedding cake that they had? It's gotta be THE best wedding cake I have ever tasted in my whole life. It's sooooooo good!!

Too bad I don't have pictures to show..... I guess I'll get some pics from my friends' camera on Monday from facebook? :)

*swoon....

how cute is this....
very vintage and very broadway if I may say.... $24 from Urban Outfitters!

Wedding Day Recap Part One

So, it's been a little over a week since Mr. B and I got hitched... It seems that time just pass by so quickly these days! Both of our parents are still in town, so we've been spending as much time with them. Plus we are slowly and surely unpacking our stuff, trying to settle down - which is kinda hard to do when you have visitors, and by the time you look at the time it's already late and you have a really, really comfy bed calling your name... yea... time flies...

You know.... since I still remember the wedding as if it was only yesterday, I figure I'd write it down... just so I can remember when I'm 90 years old. You don't mind do you?

Ah yes... the wedding day.... Gosh, where to begin? I could go on and on about how the day was! The first thing I can say about it is..... It was wonderful. Can I say that? Wonderful. It's not perfect (c'mon, is there a perfect wedding?) But it was truly wonderful. *Of course not everything went perfectly, but lets save that for another day, shall we?*

Wonderful. Thus we begin...

The Morning Of !
Woke up at 5:30am! Wow..... had breakfast, wore my special 'get ready dress' that my mom found for me randomly at a consignment shop next to the salon. this dress deserve special mention because we were desperate on time, and my mom really wanted to get a 'get ready dress' for me. the dress had to be strapless and white. guess what? the day (about a week prior to the wedding) that we were supposed to go shopping was a mess, and we didn't have time to go to the mall :( so randomly, because my hairdresser was running late, we went next door, and there it was. white, strapless, size Ms. B exactly, and cheap. thirteen moolah total. Coincidence? I think not.

It's not a really clear picture of the dress... but i guess it'll have to do :)
Anyway, so.... got ready, went to the salon to get the hair done, went back to the hotel to get the makeup done, and voila. It was quite chaotic actually because we were really short on time, and we ended up being late because of the limo driver, but that's a story for another day.

So, at around noon, my brilliant photographer, Lawrence arrived at the hotel and started shooting the getting ready shots. By that time, I was all ready, and all my ladies were all dolled up. So, *phew!! We're ready right on time! I have to tell ya... I was really glad to have the day finally 'started'! All this getting ready process was quite unnerving for me coz I keep on checking what time it was and my fear of being late was starting to consume me. And you know you really shouldn't rush your hairdresser or your makeup artist at all! They need to really get down to the details and those things do take time. And so, I got into the gown with no problem, took lots of lots of pictures with the family, with the bridesmaids, and by myself too, of course :) It was all fun, and I forgot about my fear of being late for a second...


(to be continued)

So, I've been married for about a week now, and everything's quite fantastic. :)

loving married life more and more.

Wedding Jacket

Just 2 days before the wedding, after reading the -rather- pessimistic weather forecast, I decided to look for a wedding jacket to wear at the reception. You know me, I get cold easily... Especially at night, in that dress, and especially since the reception is outdoors, I really, really needed to have some source of warmth, and this time maybe Mr.B won't suffice since he'll be busy greeting the guests etc the whole time.

So, I thought long and hard.... where, oh where can I find a nice enough jacket to wear over my gorgeous dress - FAST - ??? Something warm, nonrestrictive, but still have the vintage / sweet / broadway look that I wanted? Vintage! *dingdingding.... a bell rang in my head. There's this place at downtown Fullerton that sell vintage clothing at a decent price! So, off I go to the American Vintage store. OMG, that place is pure vintage heaven! I dig through the stuff they sell (very well organized store by the way), and at the last rack at the very back, there she was. My beautiful sweet vintage broadway jacket..... Wow. what a find :) The color matches perfectly, the fabric, the lightness of the material, the warmth it provided.... the look?! And the timing too! Perfect timing. It was the only one they have in the store.

Curious what she looks like? Here she is in action....


At twenty-five bucks, she seriously made me feel like a million dollars :) Thank God!

FB

I can't believe how many pictures of my wedding is uploaded by my friends on facebook. I'm having so much fun looking at them all 'coz I get to see how the guests are enjoying themselves :) Here is my fave picture from my friend's camera:


On a side note.... how cute is this wedding cake? The inspiration for this cake came from our first date. We went to see The Phantom of The Opera, and so the cake decoration (the cream) is actually music notes from the song "All I Ask Of You". Awww... :) :) Plus, it's definitely one of the tastiest wedding cake I've ever had :)

I'm....

M.A.R.R.I.E.D!

woohooo!!

The wedding was so much fun I want to do it all over again :D

We said our I Do's, took lots of lots of pictures, danced until we can't dance anymore, and just.... really enjoy the day. I think everyone had a lot of fun, but the one thing everyone complemented on was the photo booth! Seriously, out of all the photo booth company out there that we researched on, Red Carpet Photo Booth takes the cake, and everyone agrees with me on this. You can check out their blog at: http://www.redcarpetphotobooth.com/

Wedding Day Hairsyle

*drool :)



so pretty.... my hairstyle for the day is kinda similar to the above, so now I'm looking for the perfect haircomb/pin :) downtown LA... here I come :)

Images by Stacey Hannan Design

Reception Dress

So, I've been spending a good amount of time lately researching about a second dress that I can wear to the reception so I can move around and *more importantly* dance in. I think I've found a winner.... *drumroll!

from etsy seller katesy

*drool....

It's all in the details

Could these dresses get anymore beautiful? Just look at the details and all that fabric! *sigh... I'm in love.....

Jacarandas

I love jacaranda trees.... even if they shed their blues.... even if they're sticky... i still like them.

When Mr. B and I started looking for our wedding venue, we fell in love with this place. Heritage Museum of Orange County..... especially because of the great big jacaranda tree at the background..... too bad the place was already booked for our date.



Isn't it just gorgeous? And totally vintage. Love it, love it, love it.

What I've Learned

What I've learned about wedding planning:
1. Things don't always go your way
2. And when it does, it's not always a bad thing

:)

Busy Bee

Crazy bachelorette party. Laid back wedding shower. I can't thank God enough for all the blessing I have received in my life.

My mom's an expert at making those napkin flowers. She's like a napkin flower-making machine :) Thanks Mom!

Any myself? What have I been doing? Too many thing... I don't even remember....

DIY Idea

Wow, I love this DIY idea from project wedding:


Love it love it love it. And such a unique idea for the kissing game, and worded very nicely, I must say :)

Progress

Mr. B has been so very helpful. In fact, he's doing more things on my to-do list than I am. Thank God for him.

Napkin flowers count to-date: 55! Woo hoo! another 110 to go :)

And.... overall, things are just going well so far. My dress is still in-the-making. My dressmaker lady called a few days ago saying that she's having a hard time finding the right fabric for the dress alterations... but.... I'm not too concerned. She'll figure it out, I'm sure. My beauty n exercise regime is really paying off. I don't look that much different, but I sure feel different inside ;)

And.... that's it. Plenty of things in my to-do list, but I'm sure I'll get through them. One thing at a time, I say.

<3

Flipbooks

Have you heard of flip books? I somehow got an email from Mark Brooke from Mark Brooke Photography, and I must say they take pretty awesome pictures! But what I really enjoyed is their flip books. Check it out!



http://www.blog.markbrooke.com/?p=228

Blahblahblah

June 6 is coming in 39 days, but who's counting? Well, the wedding website has the little count down button thing that keeps me updated, that's how I know it's 39 days:)

Anyways, the RSVPs are trickling in, napkin flowers are coming along, my beautiful dress is starting to take shape, my workout and beauty regime is starting to show results, supposed to get the stationary drafts this weekend, and yet I still feel like nothing is accomplished. Have you ever felt that way?

Help. Why is it so hard to ask for help, especially when you need it? I'll be the first to admit, I hate asking for help. I don't really know why. Not that there isn't anyone I can ask for help. In fact, so many of my friends have generously and repeatedly told me not to hesitate to call if I need anything. So why is it so hard for me to ask? Is it because I don't see them often enough? Or maybe they just seem busy and I don't want to trouble them? Or I'm afraid they'll say no? Or am I just too proud to ask? I personally think it's because of my ENFJ personality.... it doesn't go too well with asking people for help, but who knows why. But, since I've realized this flaw in my personality, I will follow Jack in the Box's advise and "do something about it" *rips my shirt's sleeves :D

On another note, how cute are these bando from etsy seller justmejewelry?

Too cute!

Working Out

I've been trying so hard for so long to get into the healthy habit of exercising. Nothing really works... I joined a gym so I can take the aerobic classes... but those classes are so full. I dragged myself to the pool, but ended up feeling too self conscious. I tried those home workout videos... but I'm not motivated enough to do it after the 15th minutes.... the list goes on and on.

I'm 5'5", normal weight, but of course, who doesn't want to look leaner and healthier on their wedding day? So, inspired by Ms.TTO, I started jogging around the block on Monday with my dog... and again yesterday. I heard from my friend that as a beginner I shouldn't push myself to run everyday, but rather stagger it a bit and run every other day. So that's what I did. Surprisingly enough... it wasn't that hard!

So I think I've found a secret in committing to this workout plan:
1. you must have a good support system (mr.b has been very encouraging at the very least)
2. you must have a great motivation to commit to the workout plan. Halfway through the workout, I sometimes imagined myself looking crappy in my wedding gown - this is the best motivator ever for me, and it helps me run through the last 1/4 miles. Although it does kinda give me nightmares at night... but yeah... whatever works.
3. you must not think about exercising. Instead, just put on your running shoes, grab your keys and ipod, and just go. don't even think about it.
4. you must allocate some time after running to really feel he surge of happiness and relief after you're done with the workout. that's when i really feel alive *hehe. Seriously... take some time to cool off... take deep breath, and feel the rush :)

Hmm.. that's all. After 2 days of running, I actually feel a lot better already. I haven't been weighing myself of anything, but just the serotonin and adrenaline rush after you run the 2 miles... it makes you feel good almost immediately. My legs are sore now, but not too sore (since I've been taking it easy in the beginning). Well, hopefully I can keep up this habit and commit to it.

Baby just say.... yes

I didn't know that getting a marriage license is so easy. I left work to go to the old courthouse in Santa Ana during my lunch hour, and got in and out in 20 minutes. (well, we took some pictures in front of the courthouse too, so total time spent is approximately 30 minutes) I was able to make it back to work in just under an hour.... impressive.... :) Of course it helps that we already filled out the paperwork online and had everything ready for the clerk to process.

I was almost tempted to do the ceremony there and then too.... it would've been such a simple process... but... nah.... what's the challenge in that? :)

Anyways, as we sat down in front of the clerk who was checking our paperwork, Taylor Swift's song "Love Story" just came on the radio... and as the clerk ask us to raise our right hand and asked us to confirm that all our statements in the paperwork are "nothing but the truth", Taylor crooned "baby just say.... 'yes'" :)

Coincidence? I think not :)

50

50 days to go..... :)

can't wait. why can't it be tomorrow?

April's To Do

I think i'm pretty much done with everything.... what else is there to do? Just the DIYs I guess? I'm making my own garter, the napkin flowers, garland decor for the head table, cake stand, program book, placecards, and menu. Invitations are also to be mailed out this weekend. Hmm.. I think that's all?

Aside from these, there's still the boys' vest to find. And..... what else? what else? Is that IT? Oh! Rehearsal! Need to confirm the rehearsal n rehearsal dinner.

That's all to-dos I can think of for now.

Pompoms...

Sigh..... remember these pompoms from Martha Stewart? Well, I just made 30 of them before realizing that actually, I should've folded the accordions on the shorter side (the 5" side). Hmm....

Confession of a ....

Well, this has nothing to do with wedding I guess, but since Easter's around the corner, I thought I should make a confession...

When I was about 10 years old, I begged my mom to buy me a particular doll... she flat out said "no" in the beginning. However, I kept begging and begging and showing her different features of the doll and explaining why this doll is different from the other 4 dolls I already had at home. After a while, she saw how badly I wanted the doll and finally gave in and bought this (at the time) luxurious toy. I was on top of the world, so happy and smiling from ear to ear the whole way down from aisle #12 to the check out counter.

The giddiness of having the new doll and triumph over my mom didn't last long, though. I caught a glimpse of worry on her face as she paid for the doll. A look that up till this day still stirs up sudden surge of regrets in my heart. Years later, I learned that my parents were having some tough financial problems around that time. No wonder she had said no! And no wonder she was so worried! You can imagine the guilt I felt even until today. I decided right then and there to be a good daughter and do everything my parents ask me to do. (Well, maybe not everything they tell me to do, but... almost everything?)

Of course every now and then I don't see eye to eye with my parents (especially around the age of 16 and 21). But most of the time, I try to be someone they can be proud of. Where am I going with this, you ask? Well, during the course of planning this wedding, my parents pretty much leaves everything to me. They trust me to make the right decisions, and to plan a nice yet memorable celebration. All under reasonable budget, of course!

The problem is, I think they're spoiling me too much. They want me to have a great wedding, and that costs a bit more that what I think I need. I'm happy with an intimate wedding with close family and friends at our backyard or something, but I guess they have something else in mind. So sometimes.... arguments happens. And when it happens, I ask myself, so what if my mom wants to have snacks after the ceremony? And so what if she really wants me to have favors? And so what if she wants to re-do all the menu I had set up for the reception? And so what if she wants to invite a few more of her friends to the party at the last seconds? In the end, whatever makes them happy always makes me happy, and that's that. Family is definitely, most certainly, and must always be... more important than my version of dream wedding.

That's all :)

Happy Easter!

Napkin Ring

I've been wanting to do a DIY project for the napkin rings..... something like:

this from Martha Stewart:



or this from etsy seller: The Divine You


or this from Vintage Glam Wedding's blog:

http://vintageglamblog.com/2009/04/entry-10-diy-vintage-napkin-rings/comment-page-1/#comment-6906


*sighh... they all look so pretty :) And I think it really adds to the aesthetics of the table arrangements, don't you? I realllyyyyy wanna do something for the napkin ring.... but sometimes my lazy side kicks in, and I say "screw it! why do we have flowers for centerpiece anyway if we have to do all the hassle of creating 200 napkin rings just to make the table prettier?" hehehe... er.... I probably will still end up with Martha Stewart's paper flower... :D

Ladieeess :)

This weekend is girls only weekend. Almost.

I have a friend's bachelorette party tonight, probably followed by a sleepover at her place... then I gotta get home to feed my puppy. Then I'm going to the wedding venue to peek at the wedding they have going on there so that I can have an idea how the place looks at night. It's an outdoor place and they have twinkling lights and lanterns hanging from the little strings... it looks amazing in the pictures, so hopefully I'll get to see that in person tomorrow night. And thennn..... of course when you're in that area, you h.a.v.e to stop over at El Campeon... the authentic Mexican restaurant around the corner :)

Then on Sunday, I have a brides-to-be gathering during lunch time.... These are my friends from the Indonesian Youth group here in LA area. OMG. Can you believe that there are 7 of my friends getting married from now until October? Just from that group alone! Not to mention my 2 co workers who are also engaged to be married sometime this / next year, my 2 ex-roommates from college who are also getting married this and next year, and 3 of my other friends from college who are also engaged.... I guess weddings does not know the word recession :) Anyway, I'll be so much fun hanging out with all these brides-to-be :) I can't waitt!!!

uuu.... 51st post :)

First thing's first.... Mr. B is going away on a trip for 2 weeks, and I miss him already!! :(

So, yesterday we went to Robbins Bro, and picked out our wedding rings! Yayyy :) It's one of the easiest decision we've made during this whole wedding planning process. They showed us several rings, and one just screamed "I'm IT!". So I got it. Actually, Mr. B got it for me. He's so lovely that way. Anything I want, I get. He spoils me too much.

Anyways, we also managed to finalize the floorplan for the reception venue and the reception timeline. I'm so proud of us ;) Plus, I managed to finish about 30 flowers already. I did them while watching Legaly Blond and Lakers Game, consecutively. So... that's like about 4 hours? Anyhow. Extremely proud about them flowers too. Overally, it's such a productive weekend. Wow.

The highlight of the weekend was getting Cindy's hair trial done yesterday. OMG. She.looked......ah.ma.ziiiiiiing. She's already pretty anyway, but with the little romantic ribbon bands... and the sweet flower... and the trendy curls? She looked so pretty that I almost got teary-eyed. Seriously. Gorgeous, I tell you.

DIY Wedding Sign

My friend gave me a brilliant idea last night.... he suggested that we take this picture:


Blow it up to about 20 x 15 size, stick in on a pole, and put it in front of the wedding venue as a welcome sign for our guest... kinda like this:



Brilliant, I tell you :)

Save The Date

Yayyy... the save the dates are all out! My sister's friend who designed our invitation created the digital save the date version that's similar to the invitation so we can send them out electronically. I don't know about you guys, but I love using email to send the save the dates out :) It saves so much time and effort because most of the people that we are inviting are already in our email address book anyway! So... I'm glad I can cross this line out from my to-do list.

Another option that I had in mind for the save the date cards:

source: http://www.playbillstore.com/postcardbook.html

These are old playbill postcards... how cute would that be? :) It's relatively inexpensive too... $5 for 20 postcards? Can't go wrong with that...

Supernatural

My Mr.B is a supernatural. The day that we met, he said we are soulmates, and what do you know... he turns out to be right in the end :)

Nah... actually he was showing off his card skills.... He had wanted to be a magician at one time, and so he knows a lot of card tricks etc. And so, as we were hanging out at a tea station on the day that we first met, he pretended that if he can guess what card I had picked out from the deck. When he guessed it right... you know it... he'd found his soulmate.

:D

Updates

Wedding first dance is coming along great. Who knew you can learn quite a bit of moves from youtube? :)

Can't wait to start my DIY flower projects tomorrow :) :)

And can't wait to start the weekend :) :) :)

Resolution

My new post-St Patty's day resolution:
1. to drink 2 bottles of water (this is a tough one!)
2. to go to the gym
3. to start doing the DIYs - I'm planning to go to Michaels today to look for the things I need

That's all :)

The price of love

I miss my sister. How I wish she is here.... and what would I give to have her here on my wedding day...

:(

But... I'm truly happy for her. And of course I understand. Even if it means that my dream wedding is not going to be perfect anymore since she will not be there.

House Hunting

Did I mention that Mr. B and I are house hunting?
You know... it's such a big decision to make. An even bigger decision than deciding to get married, if I may say ;) With marriage.... (with the right guy) you kinda know. You look into his eyes, and you say to yourself, "this is it". You just know....

But with houses? Oh my goodness..... well, some of the houses I visited are nice. Some are terrific. And some just make you wanna run back to your car screaming "let's get out of here". Almost. But then you take a second look around and you say to yourself, "lets put emotion aside and think rationally here. Does this house have potential?" Haha! Then you think again. Seriously. I'm gonna live here. I don't wanna have to wake up every morning looking at that ugly bathtub! So. I learn that it's a balancing act. Emotion and ration. A healthy dose of that, and hopefully things will work out.

Being an undecided person that I am... I've always relyed on other people to help me make the decisions. This time is going to be different. I'm gonna live in this house I'm about to choose, and I wanna be able to say, "hello, I live here" fabulously, just like Carrie Bradshaw did on that movie :)




*crossing my fingers*