1 Year Later...

Hello all.

So, I've realized that people still read this blog even though I stopped updating it over a year ago. I've been feeling guilty about it ever since. Kind of like how I felt guilty for six months following the wedding about failing to send out the thank-you notes on time.

But rest assured: the wedding did happen. And it was glorious. Stressful at first, but glorious. Actually, there was quite a bit of stress prior to the wedding for multiple reasons, and that's why the blog took a backseat.  Even after the Seattle honeymoon we had a lot of uncertainties and changes to sort out with our jobs, living situation, etc. But I can honestly say that with our first year of marriage under our belts, we've become stronger as a couple, in our faith, and with our family and friends. There is seriously no way that we could have pulled-off that wedding without the help of our amazing bridal party members and their families. I'll admit I can be quite the anxiety-ridden-perfectionistic-control freak at times, especially with something like my own wedding (duh), but I was amazed by how much they stepped-up and took care of business over the course of that weekend.

Throughout everything that has happened since the blog took a pause, my husband has been the strong, calm one. That may be the main reason why I married him, besides being the perfect combination of nerdy and manly. One of my favorite wedding memories was when I was getting ready with my bridesmaids, just about to get into my dress, and wondering what the heck was going on outside with all of the vendors arriving and setting-up, when he knocked on the door and told one of the girls, "Just tell her not to worry, everything looks beautiful." That's all I needed to hear.

There are way too many pretty wedding pictures to upload on here, so here are the links to my Facebook albums here and here.

One year later, we find ourselves with new jobs, in a new apartment, with our two kitties, and lots of Ikea furniture. Everyone keeps saying that they can't believe it's been a year already, and I have to agree. It doesn't even seem like last year really counted, maybe more like marriage orientation. So although I'm not in much of a position to give marital advice quite yet, I do have some advice for brides planning their weddings:

1. It may be cliché, but don't expect perfection. I thought I'd thought of everything, and I mean everything, after having over two years to plan that wedding, and there were still things that didn't go quite right. For the sake of a good laugh, I'll name a couple:

• Even though I forgot to bring glass hurricanes for the unity candles, the coordinator insisted that we still use them during the ceremony with a lighter hidden behind them as a back-up. It didn't work. What resulted were several photos of us posing with unlit candles, and several laughing guests. So if you're having an outdoor wedding, I'd try something other than candles, it's just not worth the risk. 
• In case you haven't seen the pictures yet, let me preface this by saying that we got married in a mountain resort in a very small mountain town, where there is 1 and only 1 store for many miles. About an hour before the ceremony started, the caterer told my maid of honor that apparently I was supposed to buy plastic cups for the drinks, which was never in any of the contracts that I signed, or brought up prior to the big day despite the several emails sent back and forth about many other details. So, my maid of honor's husband ran to the only store in town on a mission, and came back with red, blue, and yellow solo party cups. This is why, despite spending extra money to have real china and champagne glasses on the reception tables, people walked around with red solo cups of wine. Classy.

2. Delegate. Don't think you can do it all on your own. Seriously. Just stop it.

3. Don't bother getting your dress dry cleaned prior to the wedding if you're getting married in the woods and taking pictures before the ceremony. The extra expense went right down the drain as soon as I stepped outside. 

4. If you're having a honeymoon, don't plan anything for at least the first couple of days. We flew out to Seattle early the next morning and spent the majority of that day passed-out from exhaustion. The rest of the trip was fueled by the fine espresso of Pike Place Market. I've never been a huge fan of exotic beach-y vacations, mostly because of my pale complexion that can't handle more than 10 minutes of direct sun exposure, but I understand now why almost everyone plans a honeymoon that only consists of a nice hotel room at an all-inclusive resort within walking distance of a nice beach where cocktails are served endlessly. That's about all one can ask of a bride for a week following the wedding. Just saying.

That's about it. I might start-up another blog in the future, when I feel that I have things to blog about without embarrassing the husband. Until then, we'll be carrying on with our lives in Chino, learning more every day about how to be married. 

For those of you planning weddings, I wish you the best of luck, and don't worry, they'll be fabulous. 

Etsy is our friend.

Hello, fellow wedding-obsessers! My, the time is going by quickly, as we only have 56 days to go until I have to start a new blog and move-on with life.

There are many wedding projects that I am conquering little by little at the moment, but I wanted to take this opportunity to bask in the awesomeness that are my recent purchases on Etsy, a site for all things handmade, vintage, and quirky.

First of all, I ordered our custom guest sign-in poster about a month ago from Baumbirdy, and it just arrived in the mail yesterday. I must say, it's pretty genius. It's a guest "log" on which everyone signs on a ring of the tree print, and then we'll have some wall art for our future place. Neat, right?

Also, I just purchased my wedding veil (!!) from Alex Bridal. I've been searching and searching for months for just the right fascinator and birdcage veil, and now I've forced myself to make a decision. Darryl had requested that I wear some kind of feather hair accessory, similar to a peacock headband I have, along with a short vintage-y veil to go with my short vintage-y hairstyle. The bleached ivory peacock feathers and pearls in this veil should fit the bill.

Speaking of hair, my hairstylist friend, Heidi, influenced me to make a rather drastic pre-wedding decision last week. I've been getting some subtle highlights for about a year now, but it seemed like they were starting to wash me out a bit, so I've gone to the dark-er side and become a true brunette for the first time. So far I like the contrast with my rather pale, rosy complexion, and it makes my eyes look really bluish-green. It's only a demi-permanent dye, so it will lighten-up in the coming weeks, but I think I'm going to stick with it for awhile. Maybe I'll even be able to dress-up as Audrey Hepburn for Halloween this year.

Much more news to come! This week I meet with the florist to go over every tiny detail of the wedding day look, and we take engagement pictures on Saturday. Be back soon...

Victory.

This post is designed to commemorate the momentous occasion of me finishing the invitations. With stamps and everything. Heck to the yes.

Altar-ed

Today I had my first dress fitting at L'Mode Bridal, down the street from my house in Tustin. My mom came along since she kinda missed out on the actual purchase of the gown, so she'd never actually seen it on me in person.

The owner, Dorie, assessed the situation with the lower half of the gown as it is at least 8" too long. Having bought the dress off the rack at a sample sale, I figured that this would be a major project, and it turns out I was right. The bad news: she'll have the labor-intensive (i.e. expensive) job of basically reconstructing the lower third of the dress to make it shorter while keeping the intended design. The good news: the dress is made of good quality fabrics (silk, silk taffeta, and alarcon lace) which means it'll hold-up well to the alterations, and the bodice still fits perfectly.

Side note: the owner is a Malaysian version of Edna from The Incredibles. Imagine this conversation as I was taking off the dress in the Edna voice...

"You said this dress is from Macy's? This fabric is wonderful, darling. Silk! Not like that polyester crap those girls come in with from David's Bridal. Pssh..." I love it.

So my dress will be ready May 27th. It'll be exciting to see it all put together for the first time. Also, the tuxedos have been reserved since I last blogged, and we're in the process of finalizing the 'maids ensemble. Oh, and the invitations arrived today! Let's see how long it takes me to get around to gathering the remaining addresses I need...

Bridal Fog

The future hubby and I are sitting in a corner at my very favorite Starbucks in Old Towne Orange, having had a delectable, albeit calorically dense, dinner of philly cheesesteaks and a shared raspberry cupcake from The Perfect Circle (who, by the way, had their winning Grammy display from Cupcake Wars out on the floor!!). Since we've settled here with bold roast coffee, I finished reading through my usual daily dose of wedding blogs, Etsy hunting, and also flipping through the entirety of the latest Martha Stewart Weddings.

Hello wedding coma, back so soon?

The following things have consumed my thoughts, and my internet searches, over the past month or so:

1. Shoes.

More specifically, deciding the color and style of the bridesmaid shoes. I'll admit, I'm starting to get a little touchy about this one. My original idea was for them to be light pink ballet flats, but this is proving to be harder to find than I anticipated. So I started considering other shades of pink, like fuchsia, or pretty much any other color, that would go with the predominantly pink peony floral scheme of the ceremony and the grey bridesmaid dresses. But then most of the people I've discussed this with (not the bridal party, to be clear) have given me strange/confused looks. Tell me if I'm going bridal insane here: is the combination of grey and pink, even a dark pink, weird? Should I go for another color entirely like yellow or aqua...? This also affects the kind of accessories I get them, which has been another marathon of an Etsy search on its own. Plus, depending on what accent color I pick, I may have to alter the original color scheme that the florist put together. Even my own shoes have been an issue, since I have a very clear picture of what I want, yet can't seem to find it anywhere. I've ordered one pair of Steve Madden heels so far, which turned out to be a very different shade than the picture, and were the wrong size. At least mine won't really be seen since my dress will cover them up most of the time, but I'll still know if they're sufficiently cute or not.

2. Groomswear.

Darryl has determined that he would like himself and the guys to wear some combination of grey and black, and maybe some other accent color if it looks right. I've noticed a trend in groomswear that the groom may wear a full suit, but the groomsmen wear matching dress shirts, grey wool vests, and ties, sometimes with whatever dress pants they think fit the outfit best. I figured this would be a good alternative to tux rentals so I did some research. I did indeed find the vests that have become so popular, but I'm having a hard time deciding if this would really be the best choice or not, and also if I could find them from H&M in the various sizes necessary since they can't be ordered online. We might have to make a trip to Men's Wearhouse just to officially rule it out or not.

3. The engagement shoot.

We're taking our engagement pictures at the end of April, and we've already determined the location(s) and brainstormed some ideas. I do have at least two outfits that I think would work, but I can't help but look constantly for other alternatives, just in case I find something cuter. We also need to determine what, if any, kinds of props and whatnot will be included. I haven't even thought about what Darryl's going to wear, but I doubt I'll talk him into doing much of a shopping spree for clothes when we haven't even shopped for his ring yet. I'm sure regardless of what we end up doing, the pictures will be stunning, as I have total faith in our photographer. But I have made it clear that I will die happy if we're featured on Green Wedding Shoes.

4. The bridal shower.

My maid of honor is planning my bridal shower, which has officially been set for Saturday, May 7th. Invitations will be in the mail as soon as I get around to emailing her the addresses... heh.

5. The honeymoon.

We decided after much calculation that it would be better to just fly to Seattle than to drive all the way there, since the gas and extra motel expense would make the cost pretty much even. So I've booked our plane tickets to fly out the day after the wedding at noon. We are saving a great deal though since one of my dearest friends hooked us up with an apartment rental for our weeklong stay outside of Seattle in Kent, WA, for a substantially lower cost than a hotel in the city. We'll be able to pretend like we're locals in our very own little place, just like we've wanted for so long now. So exciting :)

6. Post-wedding life.

I'll be honest. It's a bit strange to think about the fact that in less than 4 months I'll actually be married. Don't get me wrong - I'm thrilled that we'll finally be able to move on with our lives and our plans that don't involve a color scheme, besides maybe paint and upholstery colors. It's just odd that when I come home from work everyday, he'll already be there and doesn't have to drive home to Riverside at the end of the night. And that when we go grocery shopping together on Sundays, we don't have to get double of some of the same things because we only have one fridge to stock-up. That when we meet new people they'll be right when they assume we're married. That Dewey and Ginger will finally cohabitate. That we'll actually have to look for a place to live, and that we have no idea yet where that may be. That all, only some, or even none of our current plans may actually happen, and that's ok. That life as we know it will never be the same, and we couldn't be more pleased.

Well, I feel better now. The fog of the wedding coma is starting to clear. Thanks again for making it this far through my rant. More details coming soon...

The 4th and the Last

This past weekend we celebrated the 4th anniversary of us meeting and becoming a couple. This year we had a beach day in Laguna and split celebratory Macaroni Grill baked penne. We also saw "Love and Other Drugs" at the dollar theater, but it wasn't the most outstanding movie we've seen lately so it doesn't really count, haha.

Darryl wrote in my birthday card this year that he knew 3 weeks after he met me that he wanted to marry me :) And since the dream is coming true in less than five months, giving us a new anniversary, this will probably be the last time this January anniversary date is a huge deal. Unless maybe we use it as an excuse for a winter vacation, as if I really need an excuse to plan one of those.

Lovecakes

Today one more thing got checked-off the master to-do list: cake tasting! While this is perhaps the highlight of many couples' planning process, I will admit I was a bit apprehensive.

I wasn't quite sure what to expect from the one cake designer that was included in my catering contract. The slightly out of date pictures I had seen didn't leave much to the imagination, other than your typical topsy-turvy cakes, and buttercream creations loaded with fresh flowers instead of sugar work. And the fact of the matter is that everyone knows I'm a cake-making-aholic, with rather specific opinions on what is cute, as well as what has crossed the line into tacky. I tend to gravitate towards the more simply-decorated creations, however those can sometimes be harder to make than more busy-looking designs, with lots of swirly-type things or unnecessary use of stencils. I'm all for unique wedding cakes that put a personal touch on a celebration, but some of the ones I've seen leave me to wonder. I mean, a hot pink and zebra-striped wedding cake is enough on its own without crystals dangling from all five layers, regardless of what may have been aired on Cakeboss or even Ace of Cakes. Just sayin'.

So anyway, I had gathered dozens of pictures from Martha Stewart Weddings and The Knot of cakes that I thought were doable for most any baker, but still kept my expectations at bay. I was fully prepared to give-up on the idea that she would be able to create sugar flowers, or even use fondant properly, and settle for a more simple rustic-looking buttercream cake. This morning while waiting for Darryl to get back from SAT proctoring, I narrowed the list down to about five, having received his opinions from the night before. Traffic was terrible on the way up to Twin Peaks, but lucky for us there wasn't really any snow left on the roads to cause further delays.

Much like the other preferred vendors I have met thus far from our venue, I was pleasantly surprised. She had brought more recent photos of her work, which were much more impressive than the ones I had seen. Turns out, she has been dying to do the kind of cake that I had envisioned, and had several magazine clippings that either matched the ones I had, or were better. She did her sketches while we devoured cake samples, and in the end we decided to have three small two-three tiered cakes on vintage cake stands, each a different flavor, and covered in fondant with pipped vintage-y designs inspired by the glassware that will be on the reception tables. Taste wise, the samples were better than expected as well, especially the signature champagne cake with chiffon filling which will be the main center cake, flanked by a red velvet and a spice cake on either side. While I'm still going to expect the unexpected when the time comes to actually see the final product, I'm positive they'll be amazing.

In other news, I'm working on getting whatever vendors we need booked by the end of this month. Honestly, I wasn't in much of a rush until I found out that the DJ I had in mind has already been booked for our date, so we need to decide soon if we should hire an alternate, or go iTunes style with help from family and friends. There are pros and cons to both. On the one hand, a DJ can prevent all-out disasters from happening, such as music cutting-out in the middle of a song, or the sound not working at all. They can also insure that the party will move along as planned without unnecessary delays. But on the other hand, good ones are expensive, and I've been to weddings where they have hired a not-so-good one who totally disregarded the couple's music taste, or didn't announce things at the right time, or even mispronounced their names. So, still thinking about it. In the mean time, I will be accepting song requests on facebook soon, just in case.

First Stress Post of 2011

I think I'm about due for a good long rant.

So I finally was successful in contacting the coordinator, after finding out that apparently I have been assigned to a different one for unknown reasons. During that lunch break phone discussion, I at least was able to confirm the menu selections for the reception dinner, and also the cabin reservations... well, except for one minor hitch. Apparently after "multiple attempts" to contact me, they did not reserve the wedding night cabin for Darryl and I after sending an initial e-mail that we had won a contest to stay there for free, despite the fact that I had e-mailed them back. Twice. And called 4 times over the course of three months, never being able to reach the coordinator who had originally attempted to contact me. So although they supposedly tried to confirm it with me first, another couple has booked the cabin for our wedding night, so we are out of luck. I'm assuming that none of these "multiple attempts" involved calling me, or even Darryl, and I had been checking my spam email as well, so I'm left only to assume that they simply dropped the ball and allowed a lapse in communication. Now, typically in the hotel business, this kind of mistake on their part would entitle me to some kind of compensation. So far all I have received from the new coordinator is a sincere apology. Well, that's great, but it's not going to get us a honeymoon reservation, is it? So far I have sent one email, with my previous emails attached for proof of response, and suggested that one of our other cabins reserved under my name could be comped, or they could book another studio cabin for us using the contest certificate. But surprise, surprise - no response. Honestly, I'm kind of at a loss as to what to do at this point. If we still had about 9 months to a year until the wedding date, I'd be tempted to cut our losses at this place and make other arrangements for a wedding site, and although it's still tempting, it might make matters only more stressful and costly in the end. The issue is not so much the lost cabin, or having to stay elsewhere that night, it's more just the fact that I should be able to contact my own coordinator and expect a response within a timely manner, not several weeks or months, and they should be aware of at least what I have already paid for and arranged, especially considering that I'm using mostly their vendors. Perhaps the only thing left for me to do is to show up at their front desk and not leave until everything is settled. Or start crying. They may think I'm crazy, but crazy gets things done.

Upcoming post: We go for cake tasting this weekend :) It should be a sugary-sweet, snowy day.

The Home Stretch

As of this weekend, we have less than 6 months to go before the wedding! Now no one can say I'm planning way far in advance, because I actually have to get stuff done now instead of just pondering every detail incessantly. With the holidays upon us, I haven't had a whole lot of time or cash to deal with any major planning, but I have started on some more long-term projects.

One long-term ordeal has been trying to contact the wedding coordinator. Not really sure what's going on with that one. I tried emailing several weeks ago to no avail, called last Wednesday and left a message which has not been returned, and now I'm really starting to wonder what the deal is. The thing is, she is the only person who can set-up the remaining contracts with the caterers and cake bakery, so we still need to make one more trip up the mountain to hammer this stuff out sooner than later. So if this blog has indeed become more popular than I am aware of on the web, maybe someone at the venue will get the hint and I won't have to go bridezilla on them. I have two years worth of pent-up wedding angst, and that just wouldn't be pretty.

Anyhoo... My other project has been to find the vases/bowls/etc. with which to create the reception table centerpieces. So far I have won 4 eBay auctions for lots of several antique milk glass pieces, and I have 3 more to go. After that I'll have to wait for the shipments to come in so I can re-evaluate the situation. It's easy to get carried away with those things. If I get too many, my florist will hate me and there may not be space left for food at the tables. But if I get too few, well, that'll just look kinda sad. I like the concept I've finally landed on though, with all white milk glass pieces of various shapes and sizes scattered on the robins egg blue tables, filled with peonies and ranunculus. No more stress dreams about that one, I hope.

I think the thing I'm most excited about though, is the plan we've conjured-up this week for the honeymoon. Now that we have a better idea of our budget and time constraints, we're planning a week-long road trip up to Seattle, and possibly further to Vancouver, BC for a day or two. I'm researching our specific stops, which may also include Big Sur and Portland if we have time. The main priority is, of course, Seattle. It'll be hard to come back, I'm sure.

So all of that plus plans for the bridal shower and bachelorette are in the works. The real planning starts now! Wish me luck!

Progress Makes Perfect

This month, we have three major items checked-off of my to-do list.

First, the photographer is booked at last! Roya Jade will be our super-awesome picture provider, including an engagement shoot in the near future. See her work at royajadephoto.blogspot.com

Second, we met with Debra from Fleuris Flower Studios (at her really cool house on a hill in San Bernardino) today. I was nearly convinced we wouldn't even be able to afford flowers at all, but she seriously made it do-able for us and our trimmed-down budget. And I still get my pink peonies and yellow ranunculus! So, our official colors are now: light pink, fuscia pink, light grey (from the bridal party attire), butter yellow accents, and robin's egg blue and ivory table linens. Now I just have to scour the internet, thrift stores, and garage sales for inexpensive vintage vases or bowls for the centerpieces, and they'll do the rest. Whew, huge weight lifted. Maybe I can have a non-decor related wedding nightmare now.

Third, I'm in the process of booking a really nifty surprise for our favors. Only Darryl and my dad know what it is, and I think it's super awesome. Hey, I have to have some mystery left in the big day, right?

Oh! Also, I added another registry to our list. We are now registered at Williams Sonoma, for anyone who would prefer shopping there. Particularly for the Le Creuset Dijon yellow pots I like. :)

So the next major things to figure out are cake, and how much to budget for a DJ. I have one quote for the DJ so far, and it was about double what I expected, however that particular one knows the sound system at PineRose the best, so we would avoid a lot of potential problems with technical malfunctions, and also seems to have a good personality and music selection. But, talent doesn't come cheap. So... yeah. We'll see. Also have to decide how much stuff I should/need to go DIY style on, like programs, veil, etc. Feeling good about my progress so far, though.

Menu Tastings

This week in wedding news...

Darryl and I went for the dinner tastings at the home of the caterer in Fontana. First of all, let me point out that according to South Park logic, "this place must be legit, just look at the fountain in the lobby..." Well, front yard. The use of fall decor inside would also, I must say, put whoever is in charge of Fall merchandizing at Michael's to shame.

The tasting itself definitely brought out my inner Top Chef judge. Points for presentation; although microwaving the samples in front of the judges is probably a no-no. Higher points for taste, which is always what really counts anyway. Darryl voted for the lemon buttermilk chicken, and I voted for the marinated sirloin with peppers, so I guess that's our two main courses. The side of buttered assorted squash was nice. Other sides will include: a spinach green salad, red skinned potatoes, pasta salad, and appetizers that I haven't decided on yet. Should please everyone, right?

I think my main goal is to keep everyone nibbling on something for the majority of the day. Maybe even some snacks before the ceremony, and something on the tables. My number-one pet peeve of weddings is being hungry and waiting for the dang reception to start. And we all know how I get when I'm hungry...

9 months until the birth of our wedding!

Wow, we're into single-digit months now! And it just so happened that yesterday was the open house for our wedding venue, Pine Rose Cabins. The last time we were there in April, there was still snow on the ground and everything was covered in a thick layer of ice. So needless to say, we were eager to see what the place will (hopefully...) look like for our June wedding. Thank goodness that now I have a much clearer image in my mind of the whole set-up than I had previously, which means I don't think I'll be spending as much on decorations as I was anticipating since the natural surroundings need little help...

(All photos by Julie Wilson/Pine Rose Cabins)

So let's see how my master to-do list is going...

1. Venue - check!

2. Dress - check!

3. Bridesmaid dresses - check! but still need shoes and the flower girl dress

4. Save-the-dates & invitations - check! and will order the invites later

5. Catering - going to our tasting in two weeks!

6. Cake - I know what I want, and going to tastings after the menu is confirmed

7. Music - talked with the DJ at the event, will probably book him soon

8. Drinks - talked with the bartender, have to decide on buying our own stuff vs. his package
9. Photographer - talked with one, waiting to hear back from another

10. Flowers - need to call, and thus be forced to decide on colors

11. Favors - we have a super awesome idea in the works :)

12. Cabins - so far 2 are reserved, still waiting to hear if we need to reserve another for more family members

13. Honeymoon - ... well, depends on if we'll have enough money left over to survive after the wedding, haha.

It looks like I have a lot of phone calls to make, but at least some progress has been made!

Keep Calm and Carry On

I love these British WWII posters, originally created as a kind of positive propaganda for a population under intense enemy attack, not knowing if they would live to see another day, or what the future may bring. Those phrases are still so true today, in particular the last one of which this post is named. That logo has become increasingly popular on t-shirts, vintage posters, and eco-friendly water bottles as of late. Perhaps because of the rather depressing state of the economy, which directly affects peoples' careers, such as my future husband's.

I cannot truly understand why the timing of it all has to be like this; why our plans have this potentially giant chasm in them thanks to the state education budget crisis, and perhaps other factors that remain a mystery. I remember being so happy that Darryl decided to go into teaching because of how relatively secure that field is (or was). Who knew that the same year he began to work towards his credential, so many teachers would be laid off that entire schools shut down not far from where I live. To be completely honest, we're pretty worried. It's hard not be become completely consumed by the whole situation; the situation being, 40+ teaching applications sent, 7 interviews, and 0 job offers. A lot of it really doesn't add up, considering that almost all of the interviews seemed to go very well, but then again it's hard to say exactly how many people are out there applying to the same positions. For one of the jobs for which he interviewed, the applicant number was around 200. And with each interview comes a new set of hopes and nervous anticipation, which ultimately lead to greater disappointment. It's all rather draining.

The only reason that I even bring this up on my otherwise upbeat wedding blog, is that part of the reason I created this publication of mine was to document the reality of our 2.5 year engagement, mainly for myself to look back on one day. As of now, this is our reality. Each week brings a new set of "what ifs" and "plan B, C, and D's." Personally, I have released whatever plans I had for us and have allowed myself to be open to other prospects as far as where we might live, what I might do as far as working or going to grad school, when we may have kids, etc.... I could get excited about pretty much anything at this point. I have released it all into God's hands, and now we wait and see. And if there's one thing we've had to get used to, it's waiting. We must have faith that it will work out for the best, as it always has before, and in the mean time I keep reminding myself to "keep calm and carry on."

Bridesmaid dresses, check!

We finally picked out a bridesmaid dress! Yesterday I was sitting in Starbucks browsing Modcloth.com, as I do everyday since their inventory changes every few hours, and found the perfect light grey chiffon dress...

This isn't your typical embarrassing bridesmaid dress, right? And you really can wear it again, even if you never do! Plus, it's a neutral color, so I don't have to make-up my mind yet about light green vs. robins egg blue vs. cherry blossom pink. Now to find a freakishly adorable flower girl dress...

I heart this fabric.

I just saw this in the textiles section of the new Ikea catalogue that arrived in the mail today. I love how retro-forest-y it is, although completely different from what I've been thinking about so far. Table runners, or cloth napkins, perhaps? Hm... great, once again just too many cute ideas...

In other news, this summer has pretty much been consumed by Darryl's job hunt. There are lots of positions out there, it's just a matter of convincing the right person that you are the best fit for their school. It's been quite the emotional roller coaster, for sure. Hopefully something moves forward soon. Keep us in your prayers!

Also, if you haven't received it already, the first batch of the save-the-dates have been mailed, and the second batch will be out as soon as I stop procrastinating and put them together. Still kind of adjusting to not being in school, I suppose. Sometimes too much free time is just as bad as no time at all.

Sweet Ideas

One of the many things which I have spent literally hours, days even, pondering in regards to the wedding is the issue of the centerpieces. There are quite a few factors which make these pesky arrangements more complicated than one might assume. For one thing, flowers, or more specifically florists, are rather expensive. We could easily run-up a $3,000 floral bill without even trying if a professional does everything with the flowers that I actually like, which (of course) are more expensive than one might assume. One way to get around this is to buy the flowers ourselves at the LA flower market and do the arrangements ourselves the day before, which would save a significant amount of money, however you are at the mercy of whatever the market has available that day. Also, we would have to find a way to keep the flowers fresh overnight, and enlist our bridal party members to spend several hours at least preparing every single one of the flowers in vases which I would have to buy wholesale on ebay and etsy. This is an option I'm still considering, however my main concern is that I will hate myself when that day comes if the workload is way more than I'd bargained for, or if it doesn't come out as I'd envisioned and I have only myself to blame.

Regardless of the DIY decision, I have always gravitated towards using vintage vases and cakestands with the flowers at each table to bring some girly-ness and parisian flair to our outdoorsy venue. I'm always amazed how easy it is to find these things in lots of a dozen pieces for less than $10 online, which makes more sense than renting them, if I figured out a way to use them after the wedding anyway. And then, inspiration struck! I saw the above photo on the hi-fiwedding blog and thought it was the best idea ever. Why not pay homage to my love of all things baked, cute, and sugary and just put desserts on the cakestands at each table? Each table could have something different, or maybe three tables per treat variety, and everyone would have something to nibble on as they chat during the reception. They could also visit other tables and swap treats on cute vintage dessert plates. The only thing is figuring out how to tie-in the woodsy theme with this, and also making sure that the treats survive the elements of the outdoors, but I'm positive there's a way to put a unique spin on this. So exciting. Now we'll just have to figure out what real food is going to be served, haha!

Pre-Anniversary

Yesterday, June 18th, was our pre-wedding anniversary. We have been married -1 years and counting. Which means that as of today, we have less than one year to go until the wedding! Holy cow, it feels amazing to have made it through the first year-and-a-half of our engagement, and now we're in the home stretch. To celebrate we went to Ruby's on the Huntington Pier, which is always more windy and cold than I expect it to be, but still fun. For the rest of the night, we looked at the clock and thought, 9:17 - we will be dancing at the reception... 11:30 - wrapping things up and heading on the honeymoon... or possibly still dancing...

364 days! The real craziness begins now...

Graduation, etc.

Let me start off by apologizing for being so impeccably absent over the past few months or so. This past semester, along with all kinds of drama at work, and perhaps the occasional nervous breakdown, have caused me to use my precious little free time to curl up in bed, turn on hulu/netflix, and veg. I do feel bad, though, and I promise to make up for the lack of posts and other forms of online communication this summer.

In other news, I graduated! Well, walked anyway. I'm officially done with my BA July 14th, 2010, and then life can re-commence, or at least the wedding planning aspect of it. Graduation was exciting, though. One thousand times better than graduating high school, for a few reasons. One was that I'm not so much of a loner this time around, and have wonderful classmates whom I'm sure will be long-time friends, at least on Facebook. Second, I'm not in a neckbrace and braces this time. Third, I had a strong cheering section made up of my family, co-workers, and Darryl, of course. Fourth: better hair. And lastly, in high school I missed graduating with honors by about .05 grade points, and this time I made it to the gold cord status. Not that that will ever matter again in the future, but for that one night it counts for something. It's crazy that I'm actually done with this stage of my academic experience. Also odd that although Darryl and I graduated from the same school, a year apart, we didn't actually meet there. In fact, I wouldn't have even chosen Vanguard as my transfer school if it weren't for Darryl's sales pitch for them two years ago. And if it weren't for that, I'm almost positive I wouldn't be anywhere near done yet. So thank you, love, you were right. :)

So the inevitable question following graduation is, now what? What are you going to do with your bright, shiny, expensive degree? Funny you might ask. I've changed my mind over the past year more than ever before as to what career would best suit me, besides Domestic Goddess and (future) mommy. And yes, I could stay a dental assistant, but the thought of having to work overtime with my school-age patients during the same vacation months that Darryl will be off of work as a teacher kind of depresses me. Among other reasons, of course. One of them being radiation exposure. So what I've learned about myself as I have gone through my psychology program is that I love the field of psychology and learning about disorders, assessment, etc., and I still love working with kids/teenagers, but I'm not big on your typical marriage/family therapy-type counseling. I admire those who can do it, but it's just not really me. So the best combination of my strengths seems to be school psychology and teaching. The plan is: get married, get a teaching credential, (hopefully) get a teaching position, go back for a masters in educational psychology with a PPS credential, complete an internship, and then land my dream job. Then work just long enough to afford to quit and have babies, haha! Luckily, despite the school budget crisis, there are still jobs out there for school psychologists, which was surprising. So, that's the plan, we'll see how it goes. It's not written in stone by any means, but it's a direction to move in. We've had plans before which haven't worked out quite the way we expected, but the good news is that in many ways they seem to improve with time. Cheers to the end of one era, and on to the next!

A Venue at Last!

Ladies and gentlemen, the deposit has been placed! Get ready for a fun-filled mountain wedding weekend extravaganza on...

June 18th, 2011

at

Hidden Creek Lodge at Pinerose Cabins Mountain Resort

Twin Peaks, CA

I'm so relieved to finally have this one big decision over with! Over the past few months, I have been crazy busy with school like never before (remember how I said previously that this semester would be cake? Yeah, I was sorely mistaken). In what precious little free time I did have, I was vegging in front of the TV and scouring through any and all possible wedding venue websites, considering eloping once every other week. At least. But, we didn't give up on the promise of a real wedding to share with everyone else, and considered several different possibilities for a location. Pine Rose won the contest for several reasons:

1. Unique and picturesque landscape

2. Includes guest cabins of various sizes to rent and one big cabin for our wedding party to stay the entire weekend, so no worries about partying the night away

3. Once the insurance deposit is placed, the whole place is our's to do whatever we want with it, so long as nothing is permenently damaged

4. Complete freedom of choice with vendors

5. Day-of coordinator included, who gave us the tour and seems very helpful and responsive

6. Very (very) reasonable pricing, including the catering costs, including being able to purchase any and all alcohol on our own to avoid crazy bartending fees

7. Available sound equipment with which we could have an iPod DJ if we so choose

8. The starlight dance floor (see above)

9. The TV in the living room of the main cabin where a Wii/Xbox station could be erected (you're welcome, Ethan)

10. Including cute forest creatures somehow in the decorations :D

So although this isn't exactly what I had always pictured my wedding to be like, it's clearly the best choice out of what we had available. We will be going back up there in May for their wedding open house where we will meet the caterer, baker, and such to see how we like them. In the mean time, I'm still quite busy with school for the time being, but graduation is coming in 3 weeks (eee!), and then there's just two more (hopefully easy) summer classes to go. So, as of July 14th, I will be DONE with my bachelor's and ready to complete my MRS. preparations.

3 = perfection

Today (well, yesterday, but we celebrated today) marks the third anniversary of our first date. As always, we commemorated the event with dinner at Jalapeno's in downtown Orange. On the one hand, I can't believe it's already been 3 years, and at this time last year we weren't engaged quite yet. On the other hand, with everything that has happened in both of our lives since we've known each other, it seems more like at least 5 years. So I guess it evens out.

I love you, D! Cheers!