I love the weekends!

This week has flown by. Work was crazy as I had predicted. Friday we spent out in the East Bay since I had to fly into Oakland anyway. Saturday, we picked up my wedding ring and I finally bought the ribbon for the invitations (don't ask!) Since Edwin was hanging out with the guys that night for Nirav's last night with the guys before fatherhood, Mihu and I went out for some pho and watched a movie called Mrs. Harris. This movie was about a socialite in the 80's. It was an interesting movie and I can't say that I liked it, but I thought that it was very well done. Annette Bening and Ben Kingsley starred and it was not a very happy story, but it was really interesting to see how eccentric rich people can be. It is definitely a different and strange world.

This week we accomplished a lot for the wedding. We finalized the rehearsal dinner location and Edwin bought a tux. I also worked on the wording for the invites. The directions were a big pain in the butt. I wonder what people used to do without google or yahoo maps. I'm also trying to get them printed on the page in a way that minimizes the number of cuts. Not as easy as you would think. This week, I'm gonna try and start printing stuff like the addresses. I'd also like to finalize where we'll be going for our honeymoon too. We know we're going to Australia, but we don't know what cities we are going to. Next weekend, we're going to LA and then we're going camping the weekend after. Car camping, no backpacking- there's a BIG difference, but I'll talk about that after we go.

100 Days

So the countdown begins. We have 100 days until we get married. Everyone keeps telling me how fast we are on the planning front. It always makes me laugh because it certainly doesn't feel that way to me! I feel like we won't have enough time to do everything. Though, last week, we did order Edwin's wedding ring (woo hoo!), I sent my wedding ring to be engraved (I love it!), and we have finalized a rehearsal dinner site. Stuff we're working on: honeymoon research, wedding invitation and inserts, transportation and schedules, hair and makeup (for me), and tuxedos (for Edwin.) This is supposed to be fun, right?

It's been a stressful week so far at work. I'm going to Seattle this week for work and that means trying to cram 5 days of work into 3. I also somehow got selected for some photo shoot at work. I think that I fit into a few desireable demographics (female, Asian, etc.) I'm not sure if it will be for a brochure or corporate website, but no autographs please! So again, I have to do everything I normally do in a shortened timeline. I'm starting to feel overwelmed with all I have to do. I feel like I am barely prepared for all my meetings this week and I hate feeling unprepared. I get out of one meeting to start prepping for the next one without doing all the due diligence that I should be doing. I hope that I don't go postal working here. But if I do, you heard it here first! JK!

Maybe I'll try and take a break this weekend. Sometimes I think it's like having a second job. I don't get paid, but the perks are pretty good!

Patriotic & Kindred Spirits

We've been to 3 BBQs in the last 4 weeks. That's a lot of eating. I keep telling myself that I have to fit into a dress in 3 months, but with the food just sitting there in front of me, it's just hard to say no. The SF symphony orchestra was very enjoyable. Brought back memories of Blossom in Cleveland and Ravinia in Chicago. Except without the mosquitos. The music was great and they showed movie clips while they played. It ended with some great fireworks accompanied by some patriotic favorites.

Last night, I was up until 4AM. I had no intentions of staying up that late, but I found this hilarious blog and I couldn't stop reading. Basically, this woman is like me- Chinese American trying to plan a wedding this year, but lives in NYC. She's going through a lot of the same things with wedding planning, but I think that she must be able to type a lot faster than I can because she writes in excrutiating detail about the things that she is working on. She had me in stitches because of the amount of labor she is putting into her invitations. I laugh maniacally because I am not doing the exact same thing, but close enough and wondering if anyone else will realize how much labor we are putting in. She also wants her wedding to be unique with some Chinese tradition thrown in. She's gone to 3 different ribbon stores- I've been to more, but it makes me feel a little less crazy for doing so. It's taken so much effort that spending $65 on 75 yards of ribbon is actually sounding good to me. Check her out if you feel like reading about someone else's wedding instead of ours (http://bigfatchinesewedding.blogspot.com) I almost feel like a kindred spirit because she also talks about the battle with the belly bulge and not having enough time for her other projects like knitting.

Happy 4th of July!

I love 4 day weekends! It's been so nice to have a break. On Friday, we had a night in and relaxed. On Saturday, we worked on our registry and saw a horrible movie called "The Family Stone." It was the one with Diane Keaton and Sarah Jessica Parker, but it was more painful to watch than funny. On Sunday, we went to church and then to Stern Grove (http://sterngrove.org/070206.php) which is an outdoor music pavilion for some New Orleans brass music and a picnic with friends. They just redid the pavilion and the field, so that it is much more comfortable. We thought it was going to be cold, but it turned out to be quite nice.

Today, we cleaned the apartment and then we went shopping. Tomorrow, we have another day of big eating with a BBQ at my cousin Billy's and then more music at the Shoreline ampitheatre. This time it will be the SF Symphony and then fireworks. Don't forget to wear your red, white, and blue! Then, it's back to work.

I wonder what I will do after the wedding. I feel like this takes so much time and planning. How did the time go by before? Well, at least it feels like we have most of the big things taken care of. We met with Cesar to talk about flowers this week. He has such great ideas, I'm totally not worried. However, he did get me to start thinking about details and timing. According to the Knot, we have 109 days left before the wedding. We're going to be focusing on the honeymoon, rehearsal dinner, and invitations over the next few weeks.

Let Them Eat Cake!

This week, we decided on to go with the baker that we saw last week for our cake. I've also been shopping a lot on ebay. I bought bubbles, but I have also been looking at ceremony decorations and tulle. We have also started our registry at Macy's and Crate and Barrel. Registering is a lot harder to do than I thought it would be. There's a lot to think about in terms of what to coordinate, what to replace, and if we really need it or not. We have also been making the invitations. If I had to do it over, I think I would recommend buying the invitations. They are more expensive, but the it is SO time consuming to make them. Thanks to Show and Matilde for all their hard work. Only one papercut so far. On Friday, we made over 50 invites. This is just step one. We haven't even created the inserts yet or printed anything yet. Guess I should think about what should go in them! We also met with our photographers Alfio and William at L2 Photography (www.l2photography.com.)

Today, we spent most of the day up in Santa Rosa for Greg's BBQ. I feel like we have been to a BBQ every week. I think we have a break next weekend, but then 4th of July is bound to have at least one BBQ. As a bride, I'm supposed to be losing weight, but with all these BBQs, it's been kinda hard.

I've been trying to ride my bike to work at least once a week. I didn't do it at all this week. That means that I have to do it twice this week. What's worse is that the weather has been very nice these past couple of weeks. I enjoy riding my bike to work. It's just such a pain preparing and changing for it. It's also hard because it seems like there is always something to do after work for the wedding, so it's not convenient to ride my bike. Riding to work is easy. It's the ride home against the head winds that is much harder. Need to take advantage of it more.

Dancing Queen

Megan showed me this hilarious clip:


Brings me back to the 80s!

Love is a Battlefield

This weekend, we went to karaoke at the Music Tunnel (http://www.musictunnelktv.com/rate.htm) and we sang one of the classics, Pat Benatar's "Love is a Battlefield." No one seemed to remember the video and the "cool" dancing that was in it. It was a classic, so I had to remind them. Check out the video:


This weekend, we also interviewed a baker. She seemed really reasonable and the cakes were very tasty. We didn't sign with her yet, but we really like her so far. Check out her website and let us know if you like what you see (www.thepastryprincess.com.) We also found shoes for the bridesmaids.

We also saw X-men 3 this weekend. It was enjoyable, but I would say that I liked X-men 2 the most. Not enough character development.

My Precious...

So we bought my wedding ring today. Woo hoo! I'm really excited about it. It is so pretty and shiny and goes well with my engagement ring. It won't be ready for another 5-6 weeks, but even then I can't wear it! I'll just be able to look at it. We are pretty close to getting Edwin's ring as well.

I also finished reading Angels and Demons by Dan Brown this past weekend. I actually think that I liked reading DaVinci Code better. It may be because I read that one first, but it felt like the pace was faster. However, do not be confused. I was not a huge fan of the movie. I am normally a big fan of Tom Hanks, Audrey Tautou, and Ian McKellan (ha! ha! note the double entendre to the ring to unite them all- my precious, the trilogy that Ian McKellan stars in), but I didn't like how they changed the ending to the movie. They followed the book pretty well until the end. A lot of people say that Dan Brown is un-Christian. After reading his books, I would say that he was trying his best to be neutral and academic. I suppose the fear is that people will believe his books as the truth. However, that is really the reason he is such a good storyteller. There are people that might believe this could happen. If anything, I think that it causes people to think about religion and maybe do some more searching. I think he provokes thought and discussion more than condemning Christianity. He talks more about DaVinci's views and theories about the crusades. Makes me think that I should be reading the Bible more often. Maybe I don't feel as offended because I'm not Catholic and I don't think that the Pope has any more authority than any other priest or pastor. Anyway, I enjoyed his books. Made my commute to work and several plane rides much more interesting! :)

Congrats Dave and Ashley!

Attended a beautiful wedding this weekend for our friends Dave and Ashley in Sonoma on Saturday. Had a great time, though I wish we could have spent more time with the wedding couple, but I guess that always happens, right? There's just not enough time. Kian was thoroughly amusing as he was taking copius notes during the reception. Wishing Dave and Ashley happiness- always and forever.

Went for a run with Edwin and Show this weekend. Yes, you read it right. I went for a run and I wasn't being chased. Confirmed that I still don't like running. I can't imagine it ever being enjoyable. I'm noting this run because it probably will not happen for another 10 years. I used to run 2 miles a day when I first started working because there was nothing else to do in the hotel and Todd used to go, so I would go. I am feeling a bit sore, but not too bad.

Wedding news- I found the bridesmaids dresses at the Jessica McClintock outlet! I was very excited. This has been one of the more difficult tasks for the wedding and I am happy that it ended well. We also started our registry this weekend. I always thought that part would be a lot of fun. While I would not say that it was horrible, it was definitely a lot harder and more exhausting than I would have expected. Part of me is thinking, "Do we really need that?" and then the other part of me is saying, "Well, these may not be things that we would normally buy for ourselves, but we would use them." Then, I have another part of me saying, "Where are we going to put all this stuff?" There are SO MANY decisions! We're having fun though. Makes us feel like grown-ups. :)

Cool quote from Amadeus

I saw this today and kinda liked it:

"A man of ordinary talent will always be ordinary, whether he travels or not; but a man of superior talent (which I cannot deny myself to be without being impious) will go to pieces if he remains forever in the same place..."-Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

LA and more discounts

Spent last weekend in LA visiting friends and doing wedding stuff. Found out that I have more talented friends than I realized. I have been stressing out trying to figure out how I was going to get my dress altered. Well, I found out that my dear friend Char has been freelancing as a seamstress in LA and has altered many a wedding dress and prom dress. How thrilled was I to hear that?

We also did some more research on wedding rings and bridesmaid dresses. The bridesmaid dresses are proving tougher than I would have imagined. The dress that I picked out is no where to be found. So I guess I'm starting over on that front.

I was also able to get discounts on American Airlines, Avis, and the Hilton in Union Square. The Holiday Inn didn't work out, so we won't be recommending that one anymore. Check out the wedding website for these updates.

Hotels, bridesmaid dresses, and my poor little car. Spent a lot of time today researching stuff for the wedding. Then, my Jetta's check engine light came on AGAIN! Last year, I had to take in my Jetta 6 times because that light kept coming on. Luckily, I have the extended warranty and 5/6 trips were covered. Word of advice to anyone who will listen- get the extended warranty. So worth it. It was a last minute decision for me, but dealers will usually negotiate this to almost nothing at the end. DO IT.

Visited 3 hotels today. We are recommending the Comfort Inn and the Holiday Inn. As I mentioned before, it is going to be a busy weekend for hotels because of the Nike marathon and the Oracle conference. Please book them as soon as possible.

Happy Memorial Day!

We spent Memorial Day in Portland, OR this year with the Banerjees and the Schneiders. We had a great time shopping tax-free, seeing the Gorge and Multnomah Falls, and eating TON of good food. I recommend Oba! for dinner and Papa Hadyn for dessert. Will be posting pictures soon.

On the wedding front, we have been shopping for wedding rings, bridesmaid dresses, wedding shoes, and hotels. We're having fun, but there always seems to be more to do. We're going to LA this weekend, so we'll have more wedding planning. I need to learn more about these Filipino wedding traditions!

Wedding Alert! Bad Oracle!

I just wanted to warn people that I found out this week that there is going to be a big Oracle convention in San Francisco during our wedding weekend. I suggest that you book your hotels early because they will fill up fast. I am trying to block off rooms for you at a few hotels. The Hilton in Chinatown is the closest hotel to the Empress of China where we are having the reception and will offer us rooms at $279/night if we book at least 10 rooms. If you think you would be interested, please email me or Edwin ASAP so that we can try and reserve a room for you. This would probably be easiest for anyone that would like to stay as close as possible to the reception. Here is the link to their website if you want to see what these rooms look like:
http://www.sanfranciscohiltonhotel.com/?cid=goo

I am also working on some lower priced options and will announce them on the wedding website as soon as I can.

Bike to Work Day and Bay to Breakers

It's been a pretty busy and stressful week at work. I'm really looking forward to the weekend. I just wish that it wasn't supposed to rain all weekend. Supposed to work on invitations this weekend with Show. Booked the organist too.

Bay to Breakers is this weekend. For those not in the Bay Area, this is kind of a fun walk/run from Justin Herman Plaza to Ocean Beach. People get dressed up in costumes (or run around naked) for the 7 mile course. I do like doing the walk, but I don't like the walk in the rain. It gets really wet and cold. Oh well, I'm not really signed up for it anyways. We'll see if I motivate.

Today was the first time I rode my bike to work today. It only took 15 min to ride to work and coincidentally, it was also Bike to Work day. I'm told that there were free give aways for participants, but I didn't see any. I just thought that there were a lot of people riding their bikes to work. The ride home was a lot harder. It was really windy and it made it seem a lot longer. This is definitely the shortest and cheapest option. I'm not riding tomorrow though because Edwin said it was going to rain.

Wedding Menu Finalized

So we finalized the menu today. Glad we got that done. I just hope that we'll be able to eat some of it! LOL. If you want to see what's on the menu, check out our wedding website.

Last week, I also did some initial drafts for the invitations and programs. I spent 2 hours at Papyrus studying invitations and programs- I felt like I was back in school. (Now if I could only find where I put my notes...) Next on my To Do list is to finalize the organist, research area hotels, and finding bridesmaid dresses. We have started looking at registries, but we haven't finalized anything yet. So much to do!

So, to recap this weekend, we went to Nirav and Bhavana's baby shower on Saturday in Fremont. It was a beautifully warm weekend. (It's almost like summer here! So strange for this time of year in SF.) Congrats to Jen and Vic on their new baby David! You can see their pics on their blog. Vic is going to be one of our emcees at the reception so I can't wait to meet David.

Here are some pics from the Napa Diabetes ride last week:

The dog didn't eat my homework- my computer died!

So I'm here is Seattle right now for work. As most of you know, I come up here about once a month. Most of the time, I love coming up here. However, this time, my computer died and I feel completely paralyzed!

5 reasons you have to admit your computer is dead:

1. You get the C: prompt
2. You can't open any files
3. The background on your desktop changes (and you didn't change it!)
4. You computer tells you that you have a Trojan virus (do not open files from IM unless you know that the person on the other end is truly your friend- it came from a friend's IM address, but they didn't send it to me...)
5. You push the power button and nothing happens so you have to remove the battery and unplug
6. You start getting weird popups
7. Your screen starts to meltdown etch-a-sketch style

Getting any work done is proving challenging when you work for a company that is web-based. Anyway, if you don't see any posts for a while, it's because my computer died. :(

Fun in Windsor and the Napa Diabetes Ride

So this past weekend we had a lot of events. We went up to Sacramento on Saturday to celebrate Gianna's first birthday (daughter of my cousins Barry and Gigi.) Then, we spent the night in Santa Rosa with Greg and had dinner in Windsor. After dinner, Greg took us to probably one of the coolest candy stores I have ever been in. It was called Powell's Candy Shoppe in downtown Windsor. As you can see in the pictures above, we had a lot of fun watching "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" and Edwin dressing up a the dread pirate Roberts.

There were all the old candy favorites that you don't see anymore. The coolest display was the one in a converted card catalog. Remember those? It also had a soda fountain with all the old soft drinks that in those old fashioned bottles. Really fun. I think we must have spent at least an hour just "reminiscing."

We also did the Napa Diabetes ride on Sunday. I'll post pictures up later, but it was a gorgeous day for a ride. There were about 35 of us on Team Vino Velo. I did the 10 mile with Kaori, Maika, and Jamie's dad. Edwin did the 50 mile. Our ride was only about 1 hour. Maybe next year I'll do the 25 mile ride... :)

Good stuff in Waikiki

We had a really great recommendation by the front desk in Waikiki for a Japanese restaurant. Here are some good eats:

Menchenko-Tei
2255 Kuhio Ave.
808-924-8366

Kaka'ako Kitchen in the Ward Center

Here's a funny pic of Maika from yesterday at our place. This just cracks me up! She is just too cute.

Fun in the sun!

So we're back from Hawaii today. We flew back on the red-eye, so work today was a little painful, but at least we got to go on vacation. Not a whole lot to report, but we did eat and eat and eat. While we were there, they had a Spam Fest. Unfortunately, we missed the Spam Fest because we were snorkeling in Hanuama bay. I'll post pics up soon.

The month of May is going to be busy. We are doing the Tour de Cure on Sunday. My parents are coming next weekend for a week and then we go to Portland for Memorial Day with the Schneiders and Banerjees. At least I don't think we'll have to worry too much about wedding stuff since we got most of the stuff taken care of. Put in a deposit for the reception the day we left for Waikiki.