So I've been trying to recover from this nasty cold. It's really embarassing to have to call in sick on your second day of work. I slept in today until 2:30. Guess I must have really needed it because I slept without drugs. I was up a few times last night because of my coughing. We ended up spending New Years Eve at home this year. (Are we now officially a married couple or what?) We were supposed to spend it at a wine party at Chris and Corinne's, but I just wasn't feeling well enough. I didn't think that I could stand for hours on end and I knew I couldn't talk without hacking over someone.
Edwin and I have delayed exchanging Christmas gifts this year. We didn't really have time to shop for each other after the honeymoon. We're still trying to get out those Christmas cards. We are only sending them to the people that sent us ones this year. Edwin thinks that there is a date in which it's not worth sending anymore. What do you think? I don't disagree, but I feel if someone else made the effort... I have 2 I still need to mail in my purse because I need to get more stamps.
We've also tried to give ourselves a goal of writing 2 Thank You cards each per day. So far, I haven't written any and I don't think Edwin has either. So much to do and so little time!
This weekend is also Michelle and Mike's wedding. I just picked up the bridesmaid dress from the seamstress and I should be good to go. I hope that they get more sleep than we did the week before our wedding. Such a blur. Looking forward to it, but it should be another busy weekend, so I hope I kick this cold before then!
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
Thursday, December 28, 2006
After Christmas
Tomorrow is my last day at MarketTools. It's a little sad, but I'm glad to be leaving. I spent today trying to change my name. I went to the DMV this morning- I hate them. I had an appointment and it still took almost an hour. Things are so incredibly inefficient. If there's any pro bono consultant work that should be done, it's that. Unfortunately, I was told that it would take 2 weeks before I would receive my new license in the mail. I hope that I get it before next week when I have to start my new job. I don't know what I'll do because I can't prove my identity otherwise.
I also cleaned out my cube and then went to change my bank to change my bank info. I feel like every time I make one change, I find out I have to make 3 more for this name change thing. I changed the info at my bank, but now I have to order new checks and will need to change my credit cards. I am told that this name change thing takes about a year. I believe it, but I keep thinking that I can try and beat it.
Belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
I also cleaned out my cube and then went to change my bank to change my bank info. I feel like every time I make one change, I find out I have to make 3 more for this name change thing. I changed the info at my bank, but now I have to order new checks and will need to change my credit cards. I am told that this name change thing takes about a year. I believe it, but I keep thinking that I can try and beat it.
Belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Saturday, December 23, 2006
Christmas in LA
This year, we're spending Christmas in LA. My grandparents moved to LA this year and since Edwin's mom also lives in LA, I asked my parents to spend Christmas in LA. Australia kind of wiped out my PTO, so the shorter flight was also an attraction. It still feels weird for it to be Christmas and like 70 degrees outside. I know, I can hear those of you in the Midwest and East Coast groaning "cry my a river..." However, I miss the cold. Christmas is never the same without the snow. And since we got such a late start this year since we got back from Australia on the 11th (I know, I know, I still need to post all the activities from our trip), everything just feels so rushed. Luckily, we got most of our Christmas shopping done today. However, I think that Edwin and I will be getting each other late gifts this year.
We're spending most of our stay at Edwin's mom's house. My parents are coming on Christmas day and we'll go watch a movie together and have dinner together. Don't think it gets that much better than that. Reminds me of when we were kids and we would to Lisa's or Al's house and go watch a movie. Remember when we took up the first 2 rows watching "Scrooged?"
So I have been working hard at uploading the wedding photos. I am almost done. I uploaded the photographer's photos and I am almost done with the table photos. Still need to upload the honeymoon photos. Geez!
The good news is that we have written most of the Christmas cards on the flight over. We still need to write Thank You cards and clean the apartment. I can't wait until we have a garage sale so that we can get rid of some of the old stuff. We definitely have too much stuff right now.
We're spending most of our stay at Edwin's mom's house. My parents are coming on Christmas day and we'll go watch a movie together and have dinner together. Don't think it gets that much better than that. Reminds me of when we were kids and we would to Lisa's or Al's house and go watch a movie. Remember when we took up the first 2 rows watching "Scrooged?"
So I have been working hard at uploading the wedding photos. I am almost done. I uploaded the photographer's photos and I am almost done with the table photos. Still need to upload the honeymoon photos. Geez!
The good news is that we have written most of the Christmas cards on the flight over. We still need to write Thank You cards and clean the apartment. I can't wait until we have a garage sale so that we can get rid of some of the old stuff. We definitely have too much stuff right now.
Thursday, December 21, 2006
What time is it? What day is it?
So I'm sure that some of you are wondering if I have quit the blog. No, I know that it's been a while since my last update, but it's just been kind of a whirlwind since we returned. We got back last Monday, on December 11th. I decided to accept the new offer and put in my notice. My last day at MarketTools will be December 29th. I didn't know this at the time, but that's very good for taxes. I get to start at my new job with IRI on Tuesday, December 2nd. Everyone keeps asking me if I'm taking any time off. I probably should, but I don't want to push it with my new employer. I don't think that after returning from a month-long vacation I should ask for yet another week off when they have told me that they would like me to start right away. Something about first impressions...
Since we have returned, Edwin started his new job at UCSF hospital. He's still trying to figure out the best public transportation route, but so far, so good. We also started some Christmas shopping last weekend. I think that tomorrow is the deadline for mailing gifts and we are going to be severely late this year. Oh well. Christmas cards have also been on the to do list. I think this year we are only sending them to people that have sent us one. We haven't even started on the thank you notes. Guess those will have to wait.
Sleeping since we returned has been somewhat of a challenge for me. Even if I go to bed at midnight, I'll lie awake in bed for 1-2 hours. I don't know why. Waking up is always a struggle for me, but it's been after Australia. My eating schedule is OK, just sleeping is not like it used to be.
So I started organizing the wedding photos from the photographers. Yikes. There's just so many of them! There are about 1000, but I am trying to upload only about 250 so that it's a little more manageable. I have been experimenting with a bunch of the new photo sites like flickr and picasa. I chose picasa because they gave me more memory. I think that I still will need to purchase memory because these photos are just so big. But I wanted people to be able to download the actual photos that were decent quality.
We leave on Friday for LA where we will stay with Edwin's mom. My parents are flying there too since my grandparents moved to San Gabriel earlier this year. Here's a cute pic with my grandparents from the wedding. I can't remember the last time I took a picture with them. Probably Laura's wedding.
Since we have returned, Edwin started his new job at UCSF hospital. He's still trying to figure out the best public transportation route, but so far, so good. We also started some Christmas shopping last weekend. I think that tomorrow is the deadline for mailing gifts and we are going to be severely late this year. Oh well. Christmas cards have also been on the to do list. I think this year we are only sending them to people that have sent us one. We haven't even started on the thank you notes. Guess those will have to wait.
Sleeping since we returned has been somewhat of a challenge for me. Even if I go to bed at midnight, I'll lie awake in bed for 1-2 hours. I don't know why. Waking up is always a struggle for me, but it's been after Australia. My eating schedule is OK, just sleeping is not like it used to be.
So I started organizing the wedding photos from the photographers. Yikes. There's just so many of them! There are about 1000, but I am trying to upload only about 250 so that it's a little more manageable. I have been experimenting with a bunch of the new photo sites like flickr and picasa. I chose picasa because they gave me more memory. I think that I still will need to purchase memory because these photos are just so big. But I wanted people to be able to download the actual photos that were decent quality.
We leave on Friday for LA where we will stay with Edwin's mom. My parents are flying there too since my grandparents moved to San Gabriel earlier this year. Here's a cute pic with my grandparents from the wedding. I can't remember the last time I took a picture with them. Probably Laura's wedding.
Thursday, November 30, 2006
Greetings from Down Under!
Hi Everyone!
I can't believe that we've already been here for almost 2 weeks now. Having a fun and relaxing time, but Edwin is now fighting a cold. We are in Melbourne now and will be leaving for Ayers Rock tomorrow. It's been really crazy. Some of you may know, but some may not. The day before we left, Edwin accepted a new job at UCSF. We are both very excited to have him start working again. I'll let him tell you about the job, but all I know is he's getting 5 weeks of PTO. How does he do it???
On other news, I actually got a job offer as well. I'm still trying to decide what to do, but I got a job offer from IRI as a Research Manager and MarketTools is now trying to keep me. It's a good position to be in, but it is rather stressful trying to do this on the other side of the world. I'm leaning towards staying at MarketTools. The reason is that I am finally going to be able to do what I have wanted to do and that is writing surveys and doing the analysis. I also will be getting 3 more days of PTO in 6 months because I will have been there for 3 years. So, if they are willing to match IRI, I will probably stay.
So here's what we've been up to on our trip:
Sat. 11/18
We arrive in Sydney and took the Airport Link which is like taking a Caltrain for A$12.50/person or $10 US. After we checked-in, we went shopping at the Paddington Market and meandered around the area. We then walked around Circular Quay (that's pronounced like "key") which is basically the Sydney Harbour and walked to The Rocks area. It's all a tourist trap, but still very picturesque. We had drinks at the Harbor View Hotel which seemed very LA to me. Then we had German food at a restaurant called Lowenbrau to celebrate Edwin's birthday. (His birthday was actually skipped this year because we got on the plane on 11/16 and got off the plane on 11/18, so because we crossed the international dateline, his birthday didn't happen. Cool, huh?) It was this great meat platter with sausages, pork knuckle, pork belly, something that tasted like bologna, and a ham. My favorite was the pork belly. This dish was not for the faint of heart and any vegan would probably need to stay at least 10 feet away to not gag.
PS- We were able to use a Citibank at the Sydney airport (yeah!), but unfortunately, it didn't allow me to access all of my Citibank accounts and I had only $200 in my savings because I get a higher interest rate in my e-savings account (boo!) However, I actually had the foresight to transfer some money into my checking account just in case. (Really glad I did that!) So, we should be fine since I'll also get paid while we are gone and that goes into my checking account too.
Sun 11/19
We took the 10AM 1-hour Harbour Cruise which was really nice. All the guidebooks said that we should take the afternoon ferry which was like 2 hours, but I actually was fine with the morning one. I tend to fall asleep on these things anyways! It was a good intro to Sydney and Australia. Then, we went back to the Rocks Market and had a fisherman's platter (fried fish, calamari, shrimp, etc. ) at Costi's. For the afternoon, we took a bus to Bondi Beach. It was not the warmest day to go but it was still very pleasant. We had soft serve ice cream (me with a choc top which just means chocolate dipped and Edwin had a choc with nuts.) It was cold, but we both managed to get a little burned. Nothing serious, but just enough to be a little red. They also had some kind of art exhibit along the beach which was really nice. It made us seem more cultured, but I have never been to an art museum in a bathing suit before. There were close to 100 sculptures. Then,we met up with some old family friends, Philip and his wife Charlie. I haven't seen Philip for almost 15 years (we think the last time was in 1990 or 1991.) He is a friend of my Uncle Glenn's and he used to spend the holidays with my family. He's always very funny. I had never met his wife before, but she was really, really nice as well. They took us to a sushi boat restaurant that is owned by one of their friends. Really yummy. We had oysters and pipi hot pot which were these really sweet clams in a sake broth. It was really good catching up with them and they gave us some recommendations for the rest of our trip.
Well, I guess I'll have to write more about our adventures the next time because my time is almost up! See you all in another 10 days!
I can't believe that we've already been here for almost 2 weeks now. Having a fun and relaxing time, but Edwin is now fighting a cold. We are in Melbourne now and will be leaving for Ayers Rock tomorrow. It's been really crazy. Some of you may know, but some may not. The day before we left, Edwin accepted a new job at UCSF. We are both very excited to have him start working again. I'll let him tell you about the job, but all I know is he's getting 5 weeks of PTO. How does he do it???
On other news, I actually got a job offer as well. I'm still trying to decide what to do, but I got a job offer from IRI as a Research Manager and MarketTools is now trying to keep me. It's a good position to be in, but it is rather stressful trying to do this on the other side of the world. I'm leaning towards staying at MarketTools. The reason is that I am finally going to be able to do what I have wanted to do and that is writing surveys and doing the analysis. I also will be getting 3 more days of PTO in 6 months because I will have been there for 3 years. So, if they are willing to match IRI, I will probably stay.
So here's what we've been up to on our trip:
Sat. 11/18
We arrive in Sydney and took the Airport Link which is like taking a Caltrain for A$12.50/person or $10 US. After we checked-in, we went shopping at the Paddington Market and meandered around the area. We then walked around Circular Quay (that's pronounced like "key") which is basically the Sydney Harbour and walked to The Rocks area. It's all a tourist trap, but still very picturesque. We had drinks at the Harbor View Hotel which seemed very LA to me. Then we had German food at a restaurant called Lowenbrau to celebrate Edwin's birthday. (His birthday was actually skipped this year because we got on the plane on 11/16 and got off the plane on 11/18, so because we crossed the international dateline, his birthday didn't happen. Cool, huh?) It was this great meat platter with sausages, pork knuckle, pork belly, something that tasted like bologna, and a ham. My favorite was the pork belly. This dish was not for the faint of heart and any vegan would probably need to stay at least 10 feet away to not gag.
PS- We were able to use a Citibank at the Sydney airport (yeah!), but unfortunately, it didn't allow me to access all of my Citibank accounts and I had only $200 in my savings because I get a higher interest rate in my e-savings account (boo!) However, I actually had the foresight to transfer some money into my checking account just in case. (Really glad I did that!) So, we should be fine since I'll also get paid while we are gone and that goes into my checking account too.
Sun 11/19
We took the 10AM 1-hour Harbour Cruise which was really nice. All the guidebooks said that we should take the afternoon ferry which was like 2 hours, but I actually was fine with the morning one. I tend to fall asleep on these things anyways! It was a good intro to Sydney and Australia. Then, we went back to the Rocks Market and had a fisherman's platter (fried fish, calamari, shrimp, etc. ) at Costi's. For the afternoon, we took a bus to Bondi Beach. It was not the warmest day to go but it was still very pleasant. We had soft serve ice cream (me with a choc top which just means chocolate dipped and Edwin had a choc with nuts.) It was cold, but we both managed to get a little burned. Nothing serious, but just enough to be a little red. They also had some kind of art exhibit along the beach which was really nice. It made us seem more cultured, but I have never been to an art museum in a bathing suit before. There were close to 100 sculptures. Then,we met up with some old family friends, Philip and his wife Charlie. I haven't seen Philip for almost 15 years (we think the last time was in 1990 or 1991.) He is a friend of my Uncle Glenn's and he used to spend the holidays with my family. He's always very funny. I had never met his wife before, but she was really, really nice as well. They took us to a sushi boat restaurant that is owned by one of their friends. Really yummy. We had oysters and pipi hot pot which were these really sweet clams in a sake broth. It was really good catching up with them and they gave us some recommendations for the rest of our trip.
Well, I guess I'll have to write more about our adventures the next time because my time is almost up! See you all in another 10 days!
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
Ellen and ShiGoSan
This past weekend our Ellen returned home to us not to stay, but for a visit. On Friday, we had dinner at San Tung with Greg, Sin Yen, Matilde, Show, Kaori, Maika, Debbie, and her friend Caroline. It was a fun time and we ended the evening with karaoke at Kaleho for old times sake.
On Saturday, we went to Macy's to complete our registry. I'm still trying to figure out what the saleswoman did, but I'm pretty sure that it was in our favor. Then, we went to hang out with Ellen in her hotel room. Guess we're getting old because we considered that a night out.
On Sunday, we helped to celebrate Maika's ShiGoSan (7-5-3.) It's a Japanese children's celebration. Though Maika is not yet 3, I guess she's 3 by the lunar calendar. I guess the girls get to celebrate being 7 and 3 and the boys celebrate being 5. I don't really understand the significance, but I enjoyed seeing all the little girls wearing their little kimonos. When I was in Japan last year, I accidentally witnessed the same event at the Meiji Shrine. I have all these photos of little kids in their kimonos. They were just so cute. Maika was getting lots of attention in Japantown too. Poor little thing got nervous in the room full of kids and adults, but calmed down once the ceremony started. Of course, I think that candy helped too. :) We took about a hundred photos and we'll post a few. We're still getting the used to the new camera that we just bought- Canon SD800. Love it. The old camera worked fine, but we wanted more megapixels and the ability to create videos that were longer than 4 seconds.
On Saturday, we went to Macy's to complete our registry. I'm still trying to figure out what the saleswoman did, but I'm pretty sure that it was in our favor. Then, we went to hang out with Ellen in her hotel room. Guess we're getting old because we considered that a night out.
On Sunday, we helped to celebrate Maika's ShiGoSan (7-5-3.) It's a Japanese children's celebration. Though Maika is not yet 3, I guess she's 3 by the lunar calendar. I guess the girls get to celebrate being 7 and 3 and the boys celebrate being 5. I don't really understand the significance, but I enjoyed seeing all the little girls wearing their little kimonos. When I was in Japan last year, I accidentally witnessed the same event at the Meiji Shrine. I have all these photos of little kids in their kimonos. They were just so cute. Maika was getting lots of attention in Japantown too. Poor little thing got nervous in the room full of kids and adults, but calmed down once the ceremony started. Of course, I think that candy helped too. :) We took about a hundred photos and we'll post a few. We're still getting the used to the new camera that we just bought- Canon SD800. Love it. The old camera worked fine, but we wanted more megapixels and the ability to create videos that were longer than 4 seconds.
Thursday, November 09, 2006
Ring Around the Rosy
So what does a nervous bride do while she's waiting to walk down the aisle? In my case, I played Ring Around the Rosy with Hannah.
If you ever have a lot of nervous energy, running after a 2 year-old will definitely help. I loved these photos that Binh took of us. I'll add them to one of my photo links eventually, but here they are for now. So I was wondering what a posey was, maybe I shouldn't have asked...
Honeymoon update: We now have all of our plane tickets purchased and most of the hotels. Still need hotels for Darwin, Tasmania, and Cairns. Anyone have any recommendations? Also, if anyone has any recommendations for food in any of the places we are going to visit, let me know so that we can bring that list with us.
Ring around the Rosy!
Pocket full of posies!
Ashes! Ashes!
We all fall DOWN!
If you ever have a lot of nervous energy, running after a 2 year-old will definitely help. I loved these photos that Binh took of us. I'll add them to one of my photo links eventually, but here they are for now. So I was wondering what a posey was, maybe I shouldn't have asked...
Honeymoon update: We now have all of our plane tickets purchased and most of the hotels. Still need hotels for Darwin, Tasmania, and Cairns. Anyone have any recommendations? Also, if anyone has any recommendations for food in any of the places we are going to visit, let me know so that we can bring that list with us.
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
Got Wedding Photos?
So I've been trying to figure out how to display all the photos in one place. I wanted to be able to allow people to download their photos in jpg format. I've been furiously trying to research all the different possibilities like picasa, flickr, photobucket, SendPhotos, Kodak photo gallery, shutterfly, and snapfish. I thought I would try flickr, but I just don't have the time to learn how to do it in time. So here is my compromise. I am going to post all the photolinks that you all send me.
I'm going to upload our photos and put them into yahoo or flickr once I figure out what to do. Flickr is a yahoo product and picasa is a google product. I like flickr so far because it is in gamma while picasa is in beta. I suspect that picasa will become the better product over time, but currently, flickr has more functionality. I'll be updating the side bar with photos from everyone, so please send me links to your photos if you have them. I'll also post the photos from the photographers once we get them.
Even if you send me a link to your photos, please send me a CD with the full files so that I can print them out and send them in case anyone requests one of your beautiful wedding photos. If you don't have that many, you can send them to my email mfong8@yahoo.com.
This past weekend, we spent Friday returning/exchanging wedding gifts. We're realizing that we have more gifts than space, so we'll probably be holding a garage sale early next year. We also saw the movie "The Departed" which is based on the HK film "Infernal Affairs." I have to say that the acting and dialogue were great. However, I didn't like how they changed the ending in the US version. I really like how they adapted it to the Boston dynamics, but I didn't like how they had Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon's characters going after the same woman. It just added something that didn't seem plausible. Jack Nicholson was really good and I loved Mark Walhberg's character- he was hilarious.
On Saturday, I went to Greg's housewarming party while Edwin went to the Cal-UCLA game for an impromptu guy's drinking afternoon. I also spent some time planning our honeymoon since it is next week. Ha ha! Here's our preliminary itinerery:
11/18-11/22 Sydney
11/22-11/28 Tasmania
11/28-12/1 Melbourne
12/1-12/4 Alice Springs/Uluru (Ayer's Rock)
12/4-12/6 Darwin
12/6-12/9 Port Douglas
12/9-12/10 Cairns
12/11 Auckland/SF
So it looks like a lot for 24 days. We have 2/5 flights purchased and 2 hotel reservations (Sydney & Melbourne.) I know the rest of the 3 flights and I have another hotel reservation (Port Douglas) that I am about to make. So now I have about a week to plan the rest. Ha ha!
On Sunday, we went to Mike and Michelle's tasting dinner. Had to help Michelle with her invitations since she spent so many hours helping us with ours. Here are some cool photos that Michelle's bro David took of the event. http://poeticdream.com/tastetesting Gotta love that photojournalism. My recommendations for dinner- steak or chicken. Loved the apps.
I'm going to upload our photos and put them into yahoo or flickr once I figure out what to do. Flickr is a yahoo product and picasa is a google product. I like flickr so far because it is in gamma while picasa is in beta. I suspect that picasa will become the better product over time, but currently, flickr has more functionality. I'll be updating the side bar with photos from everyone, so please send me links to your photos if you have them. I'll also post the photos from the photographers once we get them.
Even if you send me a link to your photos, please send me a CD with the full files so that I can print them out and send them in case anyone requests one of your beautiful wedding photos. If you don't have that many, you can send them to my email mfong8@yahoo.com.
This past weekend, we spent Friday returning/exchanging wedding gifts. We're realizing that we have more gifts than space, so we'll probably be holding a garage sale early next year. We also saw the movie "The Departed" which is based on the HK film "Infernal Affairs." I have to say that the acting and dialogue were great. However, I didn't like how they changed the ending in the US version. I really like how they adapted it to the Boston dynamics, but I didn't like how they had Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon's characters going after the same woman. It just added something that didn't seem plausible. Jack Nicholson was really good and I loved Mark Walhberg's character- he was hilarious.
On Saturday, I went to Greg's housewarming party while Edwin went to the Cal-UCLA game for an impromptu guy's drinking afternoon. I also spent some time planning our honeymoon since it is next week. Ha ha! Here's our preliminary itinerery:
11/18-11/22 Sydney
11/22-11/28 Tasmania
11/28-12/1 Melbourne
12/1-12/4 Alice Springs/Uluru (Ayer's Rock)
12/4-12/6 Darwin
12/6-12/9 Port Douglas
12/9-12/10 Cairns
12/11 Auckland/SF
So it looks like a lot for 24 days. We have 2/5 flights purchased and 2 hotel reservations (Sydney & Melbourne.) I know the rest of the 3 flights and I have another hotel reservation (Port Douglas) that I am about to make. So now I have about a week to plan the rest. Ha ha!
On Sunday, we went to Mike and Michelle's tasting dinner. Had to help Michelle with her invitations since she spent so many hours helping us with ours. Here are some cool photos that Michelle's bro David took of the event. http://poeticdream.com/tastetesting Gotta love that photojournalism. My recommendations for dinner- steak or chicken. Loved the apps.
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
Honeymoon- what honeymoon?
So we are leaving for our honeymoon to Australia in 2 weeks. We have always said that we were going to plan the honeymoon after the wedding. We had a month, right? Well, it is now almost 2 weeks after the wedding and we still have yet to make any hotel reservations or purchase any other plane tickets. So what have we been doing? Paying bills from the wedding, opening gifts, trying to get over a cold, and celebrating Halloween.
The day of the wedding, I was feeling something in my throat that I was trying to ignore. After all the festivities, my body wouldn't let me deny it anymore. I had a cold. Hannah and Timothy came to SF with a cold and something was going around the office. I think I was bound to get something. So I worked from home for 2 days and it still wouldn't go away. I'm in Seattle right now for work and I still am coughing. It sucks having to travel and being sick.
This past week, we went to see Robin Williams at Bimbo's for a live show. Since he lives in SF, he likes to test his material in front of live audiences at Bimbo's before he does it on HBO or Comedy Central. He was funny, but he just got out of rehab and so a lot of his jokes were about drugs and alcohol. I saw him once before at Bimbo's and I thought he was funnier last time, but it could also be that I wasn't sick the last time either. It was hard getting tickets because they limited you to 2 tickets per person and there were 5 of us trying to get them off the website and I was the only one able to get through and buy the tickets.
Hope everyone had a Happy Halloween. Edwin and I found out costumes last weekend. I was a princess and Edwin was my knight in shining armor. We went out clubbing with Tom and Debbie and I realized that my costume was definitely not hoochie enough. Debbie was Chung Li from Street Fighter and Tom was Clark Kent. On Halloween, we had Sin Yen, Show, Kian, and Wendy over for a small get together. Show dressed up as a paper dress up doll and Wendy wore a beautiful cloak. We helped to celebrate Sin Yen's annual 30th birthday (which was officially the day before) and ate some leftover wedding cake. We had 2 layers left- the chocolate and carrot cake. I would say that the white cake with apricot filling was my favorite and then carrot cake and then chocolate which is surprising because most of the time, chocolate is my favorite. However, this chocolate cake is pretty mild, so I think that's why I prefer the other flavors. Don't get me wrong, I still like them all, but that's my order of preferance.
Remember that show Doogie Howser? Who knew that Doogie was the first blogger? If you need a refresher, here's the theme song. Don't you just love YouTube?
The day of the wedding, I was feeling something in my throat that I was trying to ignore. After all the festivities, my body wouldn't let me deny it anymore. I had a cold. Hannah and Timothy came to SF with a cold and something was going around the office. I think I was bound to get something. So I worked from home for 2 days and it still wouldn't go away. I'm in Seattle right now for work and I still am coughing. It sucks having to travel and being sick.
This past week, we went to see Robin Williams at Bimbo's for a live show. Since he lives in SF, he likes to test his material in front of live audiences at Bimbo's before he does it on HBO or Comedy Central. He was funny, but he just got out of rehab and so a lot of his jokes were about drugs and alcohol. I saw him once before at Bimbo's and I thought he was funnier last time, but it could also be that I wasn't sick the last time either. It was hard getting tickets because they limited you to 2 tickets per person and there were 5 of us trying to get them off the website and I was the only one able to get through and buy the tickets.
Hope everyone had a Happy Halloween. Edwin and I found out costumes last weekend. I was a princess and Edwin was my knight in shining armor. We went out clubbing with Tom and Debbie and I realized that my costume was definitely not hoochie enough. Debbie was Chung Li from Street Fighter and Tom was Clark Kent. On Halloween, we had Sin Yen, Show, Kian, and Wendy over for a small get together. Show dressed up as a paper dress up doll and Wendy wore a beautiful cloak. We helped to celebrate Sin Yen's annual 30th birthday (which was officially the day before) and ate some leftover wedding cake. We had 2 layers left- the chocolate and carrot cake. I would say that the white cake with apricot filling was my favorite and then carrot cake and then chocolate which is surprising because most of the time, chocolate is my favorite. However, this chocolate cake is pretty mild, so I think that's why I prefer the other flavors. Don't get me wrong, I still like them all, but that's my order of preferance.
Remember that show Doogie Howser? Who knew that Doogie was the first blogger? If you need a refresher, here's the theme song. Don't you just love YouTube?
Thursday, October 26, 2006
We're Married!
Wow, it's been a while since we posted. It's been about 2 weeks and boy did they fly by. We're still trying to recover from all of the events. The week before the wedding, we printed produced all of the tablecards, bagged the favors, tied ribbons on the bubbles, sent out the final schedule to the wedding party, bought gift for our parents, and finalized the music. I don't think that I went to bed before 3:30AM the week before the wedding. It definitely went by fast. Thank God we had some help from our friends. Matilde wrapped the gifts for us and Show decorated the gift box. Jinn gave us a guest book as part of our wedding gift which was great because we didn't have one.
I took Thursday and Friday off. On Thursday morning, Edwin and I went to decorate the rehearsal dinner location. It took us a bit longer than anticipated and Edwin ended up getting a $30 parking ticket. Since we were unloading to bring stuff into the clubhouse, we thought it would be OK to leave the car there. We waited for over half an hour for the concierge and they didn't say anything about needing to move the car. Oh well, the cost of parking the day before a wedding. I didn't escape from the parking nazis either. I got a $50 parking ticket because I forgot to display our parking sticker. Anyway, Edwin dropped off the liquor and reception items (signing cloth, favors, placecards, tablecards, etc.) and picked up Andrew while I had my mani/pedi with Laura and Ellen. I was so sleep deprived that I fell asleep for half an hour during the mani/pedi! We hardly got to eat anything that day. Then, we were off to the rehearsal.
Rehearsal started at 4PM. Edwin's entire family was there at 4PM. Where was my family? At my apartment. I couldn't believe that they were half an hour late. The officiant, the wedding coordinator, and my parents were all late. My dad didn't have directions and then missed the exit even though Nikki gave him step by step directions as she caravanned with them. I was definitely freaking out. If I was a bridezilla at any time during this engagement, it was this day at this time. We only had an hour and we didn't get started until 4:30. I definitely had my doubts that things were going to go smoothly the next day.
As we headed to the rehearsal dinner, we realized that the directions that we had given to our family were wrong. The signs had changed since we created the directions and the exits from the Bay Bridge were no longer correct. Nevertheless, we arrived at the clubhouse and had a very enjoyable evening with our wedding party, sponsors, and family. We finished surprisingly early around 9:30 so we were able to go home and practice the rhumba routine a few more times. Nikki had choreographed a really cool routine for our first dance song by Bebel Gilberto called "So Nice." However, we were having trouble remembering the entire routine. We finally got to bed around 12:30AM which was really good since I hadn't been sleeping before 3:30AM.
The next morning started while we were sleeping. Ellen let herself and the make-up artist into the apartment to get her hair and make-up done while I got an extra hour of sleep. I woke up at 7AM to shower and then had myself a small breakfast of mixed fruit from Berkeley Bowl. It was nice and leisurely as I sat down to get my hair and make-up done around 8AM. The rest of the bridesmaids arrived around 8AM as well. Priyanka was so thoughtful and brought breakfast for everyone. It was great. I even got to have muffin and some orange juice. I have to admit that I was starting to feel a tickle in my throat that morning, but I was not going to let myself get sick that day. Char came in to help fix the bustle because 2 of the loops had broken because the dress was so heavy. I got the dress on with the help of 4 bridesmaids because Laura was getting her hair done. Everyone looked so cute in those bridesmaid dresses. I loved them! I just wish that I had time to write a note to each of my bridesmaids to let them know how much I appreciated them.
We left for the pictures a little after 10:30 and a little behind schedule. We decided to go the the Legion of Honor and the weather was perfect. It was 79 degrees and sunny. We couldn't have asked for better weather. I was going to bring my green parasol from Dave and Ashley's wedding, but in the hustle and bustle, I forgot to take it with me. I haven't seen any of the photos yet, so I hope that they came out well. There were more posed shots than I would have liked, but maybe the photographers were being more stealthy and I just didn't know that they were taking the pictures. We were supposed to go to the Palace of Fine Arts for a second location, but there wasn't enough time and so we headed straight to the chapel.
At the chapel, I was in the back waiting. To keep my nerves down, I did ring around the rosie with Hannah a few times. Matilde had a small leak from her breastfeeding, but luckily, we caught it in time. It's funny the things you hear after the wedding about what happened during the wedding. Jeannette later told me that she didn't have a copy of the poem she was supposed to read in remembrance of their dad, so she quickly googled it on her cell phone and wrote it out. How funny! I probably would not have thought it was that funny while it was happening so I am relieved that they told me afterwards. I wouldn't have even known if she didn't confess to me later. I love having her as a sister now. She's such a great friend and now we get to be sisters! There was a slight delay to the beginning of the ceremony, but everything went very smoothly. I think that I was on cloud nine and I don't really remember too much except that I was happy that it was happening. I didn't cry at all and everything just seemed so surreal.
As I was walking down the aisle, I saw so many faces smiling at me that all I could do was small back. It was the happiest day of my life. There were a couple of little hiccups, but the funniest thing was when Jamie and Kaori forgot to take the cord off of us. They didn't completely forget, but they did hesitate just long enough for us to notice. After the ceremony, we took photos outside. I know that the photographers wanted to take photos in the church, but I wanted them outside because of the view of the city. That is the one thing that I had done a better job with- list of photographs that I wanted. I did put one together, but I have a feeling that it was not used because I didn't see them refer to it at all. Also, our family photos were not as organized as I would have liked. I think that we might have missed some pictures that we should have gotten.
After the pictures, we went to Twin Peaks for the tea ceremony. There were more people than we had planned at the tea ceremony, but it turned out really nice. We made it back to the Empress of China with time to spare. We actually had time to check in at the Hilton across the street. The night before, we decided to get a hotel room for the wedding night. We were able to get a 4 star room for $140 with taxes. I booked it and found out that was the hotel across the street from the reception. Kismet! Then, the security guard let us out on the walking bridge over Kearny so that we could get some shots with the city background. That was really cool. Then, we went to the reception and had a blast. I took a picture of the view from our room which I'll upload later.
The entire day went at a pretty good pace, but the reception just went by SO FAST. I surprised, but we actually got to eat some of the food. All our hard work practicing the rhumba and we forgot the routine a couple bars in. It was OK though because we still had fun. We also played some Chinese wedding games which I think was a big highlight. First, I had trouble with the egg up the pantleg game. I'm sure that we'll have video to post soon. Then, Sujay straddled Edwin during the guess which kisser is the bride game. I hope someone got video of that too. Vic and Jeannette did a great job emceeing. We were able to get a big group shot that I had wanted on the reception dance floor and DJ Jimbo was smart enough to start the dancing while everyone was still on the dancefloor.
We were supposed to go to Bubble Lounge for the after party, but we bailed after it looked like most of the guests were too tired to go and since we also had the BBQ in the park on Saturday. The BBQ was another blur. We had to pick up a few things from Costco and so I went to the partk early to greet guests while Edwin went to Costco. It was yet another beautiful day for an outdoor picnic. We were next to the carousel and it was more fun in the sun and I definitely felt like we got to spend more quality time with our guests. We forgot the plates and we ran out of water, but we had a great time.
Saturday night, we got another Chinese banquet dinner. This time, it was at Koi Palace with my family. It was a fun time and then we met up with Jinn, Show, Bo, Ellen, Mustafa, Andrew, and Gen at Ghirardelli for dessert. Sunday, we had brunch with Tita Gallette and Uncle Benny at Cityscape in the Hilton on the 46th floor. Then, we met up with Mom, Dad, Andrew, and Gen and made a short trip to the Palace of Fine Arts. Then, Edwin dropped off Andrew and Gen at the airport while I went back to the apartment to meet up with Joe and Nemora and wait for Janice to arrive. We didn't get too much time to hang out with Joe and Nemora, but it was good to see them anyways. Janice got to stay with us overnight before her interview at Cal-Pacific. I took Mom and Dad to the airport while Edwin took Janice shopping. Janice had a dinner event that night and so we met up with Xochitl, Eddie, Jinn, Show, Chris, and Corinne for a light dinner at Il Luna Basque. It was great to be able to hang out with them.
Then we got to have a sleepover with Janice. She had her interview the next day, so it had to be short, but then we got to have dinner with her on Monday night before we dropped her off at the airport. On Tuesday, Edwin went to pick up his mom and Tita Angie from Sacramento. We had a quiet dinner in and then realized that they had taken Tita Dori's luggage from Sac by accident. While Edwin dropped off the luggage at a relative's to be returned, I went to Sin Yen's to pick up the leftover cake. We had 2 layers left over, so we get to enjoy the chocolate and the carrot cake. Since Halloween is next week, we'll celebrate some more and finish off the cake. So yummy. OK, that's enough for tonight. We'll post pictures once we have them. Speaking of which, does anyone have any suggestions for where we should post them? I've heard of flickr and picasa and I used to use shutterfly, but I don't like how these photo sites now don't allow people to download my photos as .jpg files.
I took Thursday and Friday off. On Thursday morning, Edwin and I went to decorate the rehearsal dinner location. It took us a bit longer than anticipated and Edwin ended up getting a $30 parking ticket. Since we were unloading to bring stuff into the clubhouse, we thought it would be OK to leave the car there. We waited for over half an hour for the concierge and they didn't say anything about needing to move the car. Oh well, the cost of parking the day before a wedding. I didn't escape from the parking nazis either. I got a $50 parking ticket because I forgot to display our parking sticker. Anyway, Edwin dropped off the liquor and reception items (signing cloth, favors, placecards, tablecards, etc.) and picked up Andrew while I had my mani/pedi with Laura and Ellen. I was so sleep deprived that I fell asleep for half an hour during the mani/pedi! We hardly got to eat anything that day. Then, we were off to the rehearsal.
Rehearsal started at 4PM. Edwin's entire family was there at 4PM. Where was my family? At my apartment. I couldn't believe that they were half an hour late. The officiant, the wedding coordinator, and my parents were all late. My dad didn't have directions and then missed the exit even though Nikki gave him step by step directions as she caravanned with them. I was definitely freaking out. If I was a bridezilla at any time during this engagement, it was this day at this time. We only had an hour and we didn't get started until 4:30. I definitely had my doubts that things were going to go smoothly the next day.
As we headed to the rehearsal dinner, we realized that the directions that we had given to our family were wrong. The signs had changed since we created the directions and the exits from the Bay Bridge were no longer correct. Nevertheless, we arrived at the clubhouse and had a very enjoyable evening with our wedding party, sponsors, and family. We finished surprisingly early around 9:30 so we were able to go home and practice the rhumba routine a few more times. Nikki had choreographed a really cool routine for our first dance song by Bebel Gilberto called "So Nice." However, we were having trouble remembering the entire routine. We finally got to bed around 12:30AM which was really good since I hadn't been sleeping before 3:30AM.
The next morning started while we were sleeping. Ellen let herself and the make-up artist into the apartment to get her hair and make-up done while I got an extra hour of sleep. I woke up at 7AM to shower and then had myself a small breakfast of mixed fruit from Berkeley Bowl. It was nice and leisurely as I sat down to get my hair and make-up done around 8AM. The rest of the bridesmaids arrived around 8AM as well. Priyanka was so thoughtful and brought breakfast for everyone. It was great. I even got to have muffin and some orange juice. I have to admit that I was starting to feel a tickle in my throat that morning, but I was not going to let myself get sick that day. Char came in to help fix the bustle because 2 of the loops had broken because the dress was so heavy. I got the dress on with the help of 4 bridesmaids because Laura was getting her hair done. Everyone looked so cute in those bridesmaid dresses. I loved them! I just wish that I had time to write a note to each of my bridesmaids to let them know how much I appreciated them.
We left for the pictures a little after 10:30 and a little behind schedule. We decided to go the the Legion of Honor and the weather was perfect. It was 79 degrees and sunny. We couldn't have asked for better weather. I was going to bring my green parasol from Dave and Ashley's wedding, but in the hustle and bustle, I forgot to take it with me. I haven't seen any of the photos yet, so I hope that they came out well. There were more posed shots than I would have liked, but maybe the photographers were being more stealthy and I just didn't know that they were taking the pictures. We were supposed to go to the Palace of Fine Arts for a second location, but there wasn't enough time and so we headed straight to the chapel.
At the chapel, I was in the back waiting. To keep my nerves down, I did ring around the rosie with Hannah a few times. Matilde had a small leak from her breastfeeding, but luckily, we caught it in time. It's funny the things you hear after the wedding about what happened during the wedding. Jeannette later told me that she didn't have a copy of the poem she was supposed to read in remembrance of their dad, so she quickly googled it on her cell phone and wrote it out. How funny! I probably would not have thought it was that funny while it was happening so I am relieved that they told me afterwards. I wouldn't have even known if she didn't confess to me later. I love having her as a sister now. She's such a great friend and now we get to be sisters! There was a slight delay to the beginning of the ceremony, but everything went very smoothly. I think that I was on cloud nine and I don't really remember too much except that I was happy that it was happening. I didn't cry at all and everything just seemed so surreal.
As I was walking down the aisle, I saw so many faces smiling at me that all I could do was small back. It was the happiest day of my life. There were a couple of little hiccups, but the funniest thing was when Jamie and Kaori forgot to take the cord off of us. They didn't completely forget, but they did hesitate just long enough for us to notice. After the ceremony, we took photos outside. I know that the photographers wanted to take photos in the church, but I wanted them outside because of the view of the city. That is the one thing that I had done a better job with- list of photographs that I wanted. I did put one together, but I have a feeling that it was not used because I didn't see them refer to it at all. Also, our family photos were not as organized as I would have liked. I think that we might have missed some pictures that we should have gotten.
After the pictures, we went to Twin Peaks for the tea ceremony. There were more people than we had planned at the tea ceremony, but it turned out really nice. We made it back to the Empress of China with time to spare. We actually had time to check in at the Hilton across the street. The night before, we decided to get a hotel room for the wedding night. We were able to get a 4 star room for $140 with taxes. I booked it and found out that was the hotel across the street from the reception. Kismet! Then, the security guard let us out on the walking bridge over Kearny so that we could get some shots with the city background. That was really cool. Then, we went to the reception and had a blast. I took a picture of the view from our room which I'll upload later.
The entire day went at a pretty good pace, but the reception just went by SO FAST. I surprised, but we actually got to eat some of the food. All our hard work practicing the rhumba and we forgot the routine a couple bars in. It was OK though because we still had fun. We also played some Chinese wedding games which I think was a big highlight. First, I had trouble with the egg up the pantleg game. I'm sure that we'll have video to post soon. Then, Sujay straddled Edwin during the guess which kisser is the bride game. I hope someone got video of that too. Vic and Jeannette did a great job emceeing. We were able to get a big group shot that I had wanted on the reception dance floor and DJ Jimbo was smart enough to start the dancing while everyone was still on the dancefloor.
We were supposed to go to Bubble Lounge for the after party, but we bailed after it looked like most of the guests were too tired to go and since we also had the BBQ in the park on Saturday. The BBQ was another blur. We had to pick up a few things from Costco and so I went to the partk early to greet guests while Edwin went to Costco. It was yet another beautiful day for an outdoor picnic. We were next to the carousel and it was more fun in the sun and I definitely felt like we got to spend more quality time with our guests. We forgot the plates and we ran out of water, but we had a great time.
Saturday night, we got another Chinese banquet dinner. This time, it was at Koi Palace with my family. It was a fun time and then we met up with Jinn, Show, Bo, Ellen, Mustafa, Andrew, and Gen at Ghirardelli for dessert. Sunday, we had brunch with Tita Gallette and Uncle Benny at Cityscape in the Hilton on the 46th floor. Then, we met up with Mom, Dad, Andrew, and Gen and made a short trip to the Palace of Fine Arts. Then, Edwin dropped off Andrew and Gen at the airport while I went back to the apartment to meet up with Joe and Nemora and wait for Janice to arrive. We didn't get too much time to hang out with Joe and Nemora, but it was good to see them anyways. Janice got to stay with us overnight before her interview at Cal-Pacific. I took Mom and Dad to the airport while Edwin took Janice shopping. Janice had a dinner event that night and so we met up with Xochitl, Eddie, Jinn, Show, Chris, and Corinne for a light dinner at Il Luna Basque. It was great to be able to hang out with them.
Then we got to have a sleepover with Janice. She had her interview the next day, so it had to be short, but then we got to have dinner with her on Monday night before we dropped her off at the airport. On Tuesday, Edwin went to pick up his mom and Tita Angie from Sacramento. We had a quiet dinner in and then realized that they had taken Tita Dori's luggage from Sac by accident. While Edwin dropped off the luggage at a relative's to be returned, I went to Sin Yen's to pick up the leftover cake. We had 2 layers left over, so we get to enjoy the chocolate and the carrot cake. Since Halloween is next week, we'll celebrate some more and finish off the cake. So yummy. OK, that's enough for tonight. We'll post pictures once we have them. Speaking of which, does anyone have any suggestions for where we should post them? I've heard of flickr and picasa and I used to use shutterfly, but I don't like how these photo sites now don't allow people to download my photos as .jpg files.
Friday, October 13, 2006
One Week Left!
So one week from now, we will be married! Wow. Crazy. So this week a lot happened. Matilde and Sujay had their baby girl Kokomi Ashima. She's totally cute and very light. Parents seem very happy and relaxed. We'll probably post some pics later unless Matilde and Sujay want to keep her a secret Suri. You know how they hate the paparazzi. We went to visit the new addition to the family on Wednesday. I can't believe that Matilde had the baby on Tuesday and was home by Wednesday. Good news- I won the pot. We (Kaori, Jamie, Edwin, and me) had a wager on what day the baby was going to be born and the winner gets a free dinner paid for by the losers. Woo hoo! I said Tuesday, Edwin said Thursday, Jamie said Saturday, and Kaori said next Monday.
This week, we finished the seating chart, picked out the music, met with Cesar about the flowers, practiced the rhumba, and printed out the placecards. We still need to print out the table cards and menu cards, prepare for the BBQ, and tie ribbons on the programs and bubbles.
This weekend is also Edwin's bachelor party in San Luis Obispo. Sounds like he's going to be doing a lot of surfing, biking, and drinking. Doesn't sound like a bad weekend. It's been a pretty stressful week, so hopefully, this will be relaxing for him.
This week, we finished the seating chart, picked out the music, met with Cesar about the flowers, practiced the rhumba, and printed out the placecards. We still need to print out the table cards and menu cards, prepare for the BBQ, and tie ribbons on the programs and bubbles.
This weekend is also Edwin's bachelor party in San Luis Obispo. Sounds like he's going to be doing a lot of surfing, biking, and drinking. Doesn't sound like a bad weekend. It's been a pretty stressful week, so hopefully, this will be relaxing for him.
Monday, October 09, 2006
10 DAYS!
How can that be? 10 more days until the wedding? We have a list of 50 things to do. That is 5 things we need to accomplish per day. I'm a little scared. The apartment is a mess with all the preparations and we still need to learn how to dance. I hope that I don't trip.
This past weekend, we went to go see the fireworks for Fleet Week on Friday with the Schneiders. On Saturday, we went to Billy and Maggie's for BBQ'd oysters. Yum! Then, we ran some more wedding errands before we went to see a Smiths/Morrisey cover band called This Charming Band. It was pretty cool. Then on Sunday, we finished the photos for the slideshow and watched season 3 of 24 with the Banerjees. Still no baby yet. We have a pool going.... :)
This past weekend, we went to go see the fireworks for Fleet Week on Friday with the Schneiders. On Saturday, we went to Billy and Maggie's for BBQ'd oysters. Yum! Then, we ran some more wedding errands before we went to see a Smiths/Morrisey cover band called This Charming Band. It was pretty cool. Then on Sunday, we finished the photos for the slideshow and watched season 3 of 24 with the Banerjees. Still no baby yet. We have a pool going.... :)
Friday, October 06, 2006
Where's the baby?
So I forgot to mention that we went to Matilde and Sujay's baby shower on the 23rd. It was a lot of fun and we'll include some pics when we have the time! All I have to say is that Sujay needs a lot of practice with the diapers!
Matilde's due date was yesterday and still no baby. The woman is still working so hard that she can't even meet me for lunch. Don't these people know that she could have the baby at any time? That's probably why they are working her to the bone until she delivers. Kind of reminds me of that Pearl Buck novel called "The Good Earth" where the woman is out picking fruit (I think she's some kind of farm laborer) and stops for a minute to deliver the baby only to return to picking fruit as soon as she's done. I think that I had to read that book in junior high and didn't understand why this woman didn't want to take a break. Geez, I still don't understand. Right now, we have a wager on when the baby will be born. I'm hoping that it's not too close to the wedding so that she has time to recover.
Wedding update- this week, we finalized all the details of the rehearsal dinner, scanned in all the photos for the slideshow, printed the programs, and started purchasing gifts for the wedding party. We still have about 60 things left to do in 14 days. Yikes! That means that we have to complete 5 tasks per day. My next big project is seating charts and printing out the placecards. I am very relieved that we don't have to worry about the honeymoon for a month. All we have are plane tickets now. I suppose I'll start doing more on that front after the wedding.
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
October Birthday Shout-outs!
There are so many people with October birthdays. Happy birthday to Alex, Jeannette, Todd, Sin Yen, and Kaori. Last week, it was also Santiney, Nikki, and Leland's birthday. In September, there was George's and Greg's bdays too. Time just flies.
Last weekend, we spent most of the weekend doing wedding stuff. We determined which Hawaiian BBQ caterers to use, decorations for the rehearsal dinner, bought some of the bridal party gifts, and shopping for little things like ribbon and unity candle holders.
A lot of people have been asking me if I am nervous about the wedding. I think that I am too busy to be nervous. Besides, we've waited 7 years, what is there left to be nervous about? I'm more apprehensive that we will have everything finished in time. This week, we are trying to print out the programs, get chairs for the rehearsal dinner, meet with the florist, and figure out logistics.
Last weekend, we spent most of the weekend doing wedding stuff. We determined which Hawaiian BBQ caterers to use, decorations for the rehearsal dinner, bought some of the bridal party gifts, and shopping for little things like ribbon and unity candle holders.
A lot of people have been asking me if I am nervous about the wedding. I think that I am too busy to be nervous. Besides, we've waited 7 years, what is there left to be nervous about? I'm more apprehensive that we will have everything finished in time. This week, we are trying to print out the programs, get chairs for the rehearsal dinner, meet with the florist, and figure out logistics.
Friday, September 29, 2006
Wedding on the Brain
So we've been doing a lot of wedding stuff lately and I haven't been very good at updating. Edwin has picked out his groomsmens' tuxes, I have purchased my wedding jewelry, we have hired a chair cover vendor (this took a lot longer and was harder than you think,) had my hair and make-up trial, drafted the reception timeline, created the flower list, finalized the ceremony music, drafted the programs, wrote tea ceremony instructions for Edwin's family, purchased wedding materials (unity candle, cake cutting set, etc.) and lined up babysitters for the reception. We have 27 children who will be attending the wedding, so we thought that we should help make the wedding fun for them too so that they will be happy and so that parents can stay to celebrate. Wow- when you list it out like that, it looks like we have done a lot. However, it always feels like there is so much left to do.
Next on the To Do list, we're trying to get additional chairs for the rehearsal dinner, line up the caterers for the rehearsal dinner, ordering favors, purchasing gifts for the wedding party, and getting my reception dress altered (again!)
Example of bad customer service we experienced this week: we were in Macy's and noticed that there is a rebate for our china placesettings. You get a free soup bowl for every placesetting purchase. We have already received 2 placesettings, so I went to the cashier to ask about the offer. I asked her if the soup bowls would be sent automatically or if there was some kind of form I would need to complete since these were purchased off of our registry. At first she implied that we would only receive the rebate if we purchased them in store. So I asked if we could return the ones that we have and "re-purchase" them so that we could receive the rebate. She says, "You could, but it is kind of unethical." Unethical? I nearly lost it, but I replied, "Unethical? If we're talking about ethics here, Macy's would have sent that soup bowl to me without me even having to ask about it." She goes on to say that the reason is that sales from the Internet are not the same as ones made in store. That's when I really went off, "I don't care if your sales are from the Internet or the store. I am the customer- it should be seamless." She said something about having to get manager approval for a transaction like this and I told her that I had no issues with it because it seems pretty straight forward to me. What is really dumb about her insult to me is that she knew that we had a registry there- why would you want to piss someone off like that who is bringing in customers? Crazy. She needs to get some training in customer service.
Example of good customer service: Edwin wrote in to LeCreuset asking them how he could obtain a replacement whistle. They wrote back saying that they will send him a replacement for free- no questions asked.
Next on the To Do list, we're trying to get additional chairs for the rehearsal dinner, line up the caterers for the rehearsal dinner, ordering favors, purchasing gifts for the wedding party, and getting my reception dress altered (again!)
Example of bad customer service we experienced this week: we were in Macy's and noticed that there is a rebate for our china placesettings. You get a free soup bowl for every placesetting purchase. We have already received 2 placesettings, so I went to the cashier to ask about the offer. I asked her if the soup bowls would be sent automatically or if there was some kind of form I would need to complete since these were purchased off of our registry. At first she implied that we would only receive the rebate if we purchased them in store. So I asked if we could return the ones that we have and "re-purchase" them so that we could receive the rebate. She says, "You could, but it is kind of unethical." Unethical? I nearly lost it, but I replied, "Unethical? If we're talking about ethics here, Macy's would have sent that soup bowl to me without me even having to ask about it." She goes on to say that the reason is that sales from the Internet are not the same as ones made in store. That's when I really went off, "I don't care if your sales are from the Internet or the store. I am the customer- it should be seamless." She said something about having to get manager approval for a transaction like this and I told her that I had no issues with it because it seems pretty straight forward to me. What is really dumb about her insult to me is that she knew that we had a registry there- why would you want to piss someone off like that who is bringing in customers? Crazy. She needs to get some training in customer service.
Example of good customer service: Edwin wrote in to LeCreuset asking them how he could obtain a replacement whistle. They wrote back saying that they will send him a replacement for free- no questions asked.
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Chronic (What!)cles of Narnia from SNL
Here's funny skit I saw recently from SNL.
Mr. Pibb + Red Vines = Crazy Delicious!
Mr. Pibb + Red Vines = Crazy Delicious!
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
Alterations Part Deux
Is 5/9 considered good? So between me and Nikki, we had 9 articles of clothing that we had dropped off at this seamstress in Chinatown. We should know that we get what we pay for. At $2 per pair of pants hemmed, we shouldn't expect much. I had 2 dresses altered- one for the rehearsal dinner which needed only the shoulder straps shortened and my reception dress (cheung sam.) The rehearsal dinner dress came out fine- no complaints. However, my reception dress was not to my liking. They altered the waist down fine, but then they also altered the bust which did not need alterations, so now it's tighter than it needs to be. They did not mark it as needing alterations and she even remarked that it did not need to be altered when I brought the dress in and tried it on. So now, I am considering buying the dress again and having someone else do the alterations. I can still sell the old dress on ebay, but it's more of a hassle factor at this point because I will still need to get it altered. Since the cost of the alterations was $5 for this dress, I blame myself because I should have known better. Lesson learned. As for my pants, I got 2 pair of pants hemmed which came out fine and one pair needed repair because the belt loop broke. The pants with the broken belt loop got returned in the same condition that I gave it to them which means that nothing was done.
Nikki, on the other hand, her bridesmaids dress did not look altered to me. It still had the chalk marks along the zipper. However, they assured me that they did alter the dress, just not in the zipper like they thought they would. If that was the case, they should have at least removed the chalk marks!!! So now I have to wait until Nikki returns from her vacation in Hawaii and hope that it fits. As for Nikki's pants, she received one pair hemmed as specified and the other 2 were supposed to have a double stitched hem (which they charged her an extra $1 for) and they only had a single stitch. Since they don't write anything down, I guess that we shouldn't be surprised that they got it wrong.
Moral of the story- you get what you pay for. A place like this is fine if you really only need a $2 pair of pants hemmed and you better not need it right the first time. So, the seamstress comes with mixed reviews. Dresses, not so good. Pants fine as long as it's not too complex and you don't mind making multiple trips.
Nikki, on the other hand, her bridesmaids dress did not look altered to me. It still had the chalk marks along the zipper. However, they assured me that they did alter the dress, just not in the zipper like they thought they would. If that was the case, they should have at least removed the chalk marks!!! So now I have to wait until Nikki returns from her vacation in Hawaii and hope that it fits. As for Nikki's pants, she received one pair hemmed as specified and the other 2 were supposed to have a double stitched hem (which they charged her an extra $1 for) and they only had a single stitch. Since they don't write anything down, I guess that we shouldn't be surprised that they got it wrong.
Moral of the story- you get what you pay for. A place like this is fine if you really only need a $2 pair of pants hemmed and you better not need it right the first time. So, the seamstress comes with mixed reviews. Dresses, not so good. Pants fine as long as it's not too complex and you don't mind making multiple trips.
Friday, September 22, 2006
White and Nerdy
You guys gotta check this out. It's hilarious! Remember Weird Al Yankovic from the 80's? Same guy. Looks like he's still got it. I think I know a few guys who fit this description....
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
America's Next Top Model
OK- I have to admit that I never thought I would watch this show. But they had a marathon on VH-1 and I got hooked. It is very entertaining to watch. It's interesting to see how a look or expression can affect so much. I never really paid attention to how I look, but I it's made me think that I should be more cognizant of what I may be conveying to others. It's really easy for people to read something that you don't intend. I never put much effort into thinking about that, but this show has made me more aware of it. So, yes, it's a guilty pleasure, but it's actually been educating for me too.
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Pirates Unite!
So today was International Talk Like a Pirate Day. Did you know that? I didn't know that. However, when I got to work, my boss was wearing pirate hat and sent us this link for further pirate booty. Ha ha! It's just so fun! http://www.talklikeapirateday.com/wordpress/
Top Ten Pickup lines for use on International Talk Like a Pirate Day
10 . Avast, me proud beauty! Wanna know why my Roger is so Jolly?
9. Have ya ever met a man with a real yardarm?
8. Come on up and see me urchins.
7. Yes, that is a hornpipe in my pocket and I am happy to see you.
6. I'd love to drop anchor in your lagoon.
5. Pardon me, but would ya mind if fired me cannon through your porthole?
4. How'd you like to scrape the barnacles off of me rudder?
3. Ya know, darlin', I'm 97 percent chum free.
2. Well blow me down?
And the number one pickup line for use on International Talk Like a Pirate Day is ...
1. Prepare to be boarded.
Bonus pickup lines (when the ones above don't work, as they often won't)
They don't call me Long John because my head is so big.
You're drinking a Salty Dog? How'd you like to try the real thing?
Wanna shiver me timbers?
I've sailed the seven seas, and you're the sleekest schooner I've ever sighted.
Brwaack! Polly want a cracker? ... Oh, wait. That's for Talk Like a PARROT Day.
That's the finest pirate booty I've ever laid eyes on.
Let's get together and haul some keel.
That's some treasure chest you've got there.
Top Ten Pickup Lines for the Lady Pirates
By popular demand ...
10. What are YOU doing here?
9. Is that a belayin' pin in yer britches, or are ye ... (this one is never completed)
8. Come show me how ye bury yer treasure, lad!
7. So, tell me, why do they call ye, "Cap'n Feathersword?"
6. That's quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard!
5. Aye, I guarantee ye, I've had a twenty percent decrease in me "lice ratio!"
4. I've crushed seventeen men's skulls between me thighs!
3. C'mon, lad, shiver me timbers!
2. RAMMING SPEED!
...and the number one Female Pirate Pick-up Line:
1. You. Pants Off. Now!
Since we are getting married on Treasure Island, we have to celebrate this international holiday. That's right, this is not just a US holiday, it's celebrated around the world. Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!
Top Ten Pickup lines for use on International Talk Like a Pirate Day
10 . Avast, me proud beauty! Wanna know why my Roger is so Jolly?
9. Have ya ever met a man with a real yardarm?
8. Come on up and see me urchins.
7. Yes, that is a hornpipe in my pocket and I am happy to see you.
6. I'd love to drop anchor in your lagoon.
5. Pardon me, but would ya mind if fired me cannon through your porthole?
4. How'd you like to scrape the barnacles off of me rudder?
3. Ya know, darlin', I'm 97 percent chum free.
2. Well blow me down?
And the number one pickup line for use on International Talk Like a Pirate Day is ...
1. Prepare to be boarded.
Bonus pickup lines (when the ones above don't work, as they often won't)
They don't call me Long John because my head is so big.
You're drinking a Salty Dog? How'd you like to try the real thing?
Wanna shiver me timbers?
I've sailed the seven seas, and you're the sleekest schooner I've ever sighted.
Brwaack! Polly want a cracker? ... Oh, wait. That's for Talk Like a PARROT Day.
That's the finest pirate booty I've ever laid eyes on.
Let's get together and haul some keel.
That's some treasure chest you've got there.
Top Ten Pickup Lines for the Lady Pirates
By popular demand ...
10. What are YOU doing here?
9. Is that a belayin' pin in yer britches, or are ye ... (this one is never completed)
8. Come show me how ye bury yer treasure, lad!
7. So, tell me, why do they call ye, "Cap'n Feathersword?"
6. That's quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard!
5. Aye, I guarantee ye, I've had a twenty percent decrease in me "lice ratio!"
4. I've crushed seventeen men's skulls between me thighs!
3. C'mon, lad, shiver me timbers!
2. RAMMING SPEED!
...and the number one Female Pirate Pick-up Line:
1. You. Pants Off. Now!
Since we are getting married on Treasure Island, we have to celebrate this international holiday. That's right, this is not just a US holiday, it's celebrated around the world. Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!
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