in the first week of 2010, i have:
-worked out in some form (treadclimber or workout video) on 4 days out of 7, not bad :)
-not eaten out yet
-booked a florist for the wedding (the final big vendor)
-resolved to waste less time at work, resulting in somewhat increased productivity...
-told my prof that i'd like to graduate in the next 6 months (to a somewhat mixed but still positive reaction)
-tried valiantly and failed to start waking up before 8am... i have managed to drag myself out of bed between 8 and 8:30am for the past few days, so i'm getting close. ;)
-started walking to school again!
it's all small stuff, but definitely a promising start to the new year!
Thursday, January 07, 2010
Saturday, January 02, 2010
happy palindrome day!
menzies just pointed this out to me. today is 01022010.
when will the next palindrome day be? 11022011
haha! i am enough of a nerd to appreciate this. :)
when will the next palindrome day be? 11022011
haha! i am enough of a nerd to appreciate this. :)
Friday, January 01, 2010
2010
happy new year! big changes coming up in 2010! :) while 2009 was the year to just appreciate what i had and take advantage of the last year of sheltered life, i knew all along that 2010 was just around the corner... the year that i would finally grow up and join the real world. :)
planned so far:
january - DC trip to visit kathy!
february - menzies' family visits from taiwan.
march - work work work.
april - write thesis? (hopefully by this time i will have an idea of when i can graduate.)
may - bachelorette weekend in santa barbara!
june - camp pendleton mud run, bridal shower in san jose, and wedding preparations!
july - 7.10.10 - i am so excited for this day! :)
august - honeymoon in madrid and paris!
september - ??? find a job and start working?? *cross fingers*
change comes all at once, before you know it. just have to remember to take it one day at a time and enjoy the process.
planned so far:
january - DC trip to visit kathy!
february - menzies' family visits from taiwan.
march - work work work.
april - write thesis? (hopefully by this time i will have an idea of when i can graduate.)
may - bachelorette weekend in santa barbara!
june - camp pendleton mud run, bridal shower in san jose, and wedding preparations!
july - 7.10.10 - i am so excited for this day! :)
august - honeymoon in madrid and paris!
september - ??? find a job and start working?? *cross fingers*
change comes all at once, before you know it. just have to remember to take it one day at a time and enjoy the process.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
wedding vendors, part 2
Many decisions go into a wedding. In part 1, I covered the venue and the photographer and here I will go into ceremony details. :)
3) Dress: Brides Against Breast Cancer
The wedding dress was the first thing I found and the most surprisingly easy decision. Brides Against Breast Cancer is an organization that grants wishes for end-stage metastatic breast cancer patients (like Make-A-Wish Foundation), and their primary fundraising source is a traveling sale of wedding gowns that have been donated by bridal shops, designers, etc. I definitely went to this event with no expectations and no plans to buy, especially since it would be the first time that I would be trying on any gowns. Monica and Jen A came with me to provide honest opinions and ultimately found and approved my gown!
The event took place in a hotel ballroom, with all the dresses hung up in one room and an open changing area set up in the other room. Each person had a bridal consultant or "fairy godmother" who would ask what style of dress you were looking for and then go and grab a bunch of dresses and help you change into them. Then you would look in the mirror and tell her what you like and dislike about the dress, and then change into the next dress, and repeat. Altogether I probably tried on 6 or 7 dresses, quickly narrowing in on a strapless style dress with an A-line skirt. I tried on a lot of simple dresses while secretly coveting the ballgown princess-y look...but when I did actually get to try on a ballgown, I looked really short, like I was drowning in the dress. So it's true what they say, you can picture a style in your head but you never know what you will look like in it. I was a big fan of the ballgown with draped "pick-ups" look, but on me it just looked like I was drowning in a down comforter...
Luckily, Monica took it upon herself to go searching amongst the racks, and she was actually the one who came back with THE dress. It's strapless and made of light taffeta satin, with an A-line skirt and a lace bodice that fits perfectly so that I'm not "spilling" over the top...and then the surprise in the train, which is big and poufy and has bows trailing down it, giving it that long train and ballgown look while preserving the elegance in front. *love* And I don't have to lose any weight or anything to fit into it! Can't wait to wear it. :)
4) Ceremony Music: Strings For Your Heart
I consider this vendor the one major indulgence and the only thing that I've ever really imagined since I was a little girl for my wedding day; that is, walking down the aisle to a classical string quartet...except since the quartet was too expensive, we nixed the second violin and booked a string trio instead, heh. :) I found Strings For Your Heart while browsing the listings on GigMasters and emailed the group after listening to their samples on their website. I chose them over other live music options based on the quality of the samples and customer reviews and their flexibility in pricing. Menzies and I still have to choose the songs for the ceremony processionals, but I think I would like to keep it pretty traditional. :) Strings For Your Heart is also playing at our cocktail hour, but mixing it up with some pop selections. Menzies thinks (and I concede) that this is a little over the top, but I'm still excited. :)
5) Ceremony Officiant: Rev Clint Hufft
Menzies and I have crashed two weddings in order to book this guy! Haha...seriously though, it is strange to look for a vendor to marry you. Since we do not have a pastor or spiritual leader in our lives, we weren't quite sure where to turn on this one. There was the option of asking a good friend to get licensed online and perform the ceremony, but we weren't sure who to ask and we still wanted it to be an authority figure. I also considered asking one of my uncles to perform the ceremony, but then the whole thing would be in Mandarin (Chinese), and we were afraid that we wouldn't be able to understand our own ceremony, which would be pretty unfortunate. While we were puzzling over our options, I had the chance to meet Wen-Lin's friend Marcella who was also planning her wedding and was in a similar predicament. She was actually the one who recommended Rev Clint. :)
Although there were hiccups involved in trying to meet Rev Hufft (like driving up to Orange County only to crash the wrong wedding and miss him altogether, haha), when we did finally meet, we liked his focus on making the ceremony exactly what we want and not injecting any of his own agenda into it. He has also provided us with ~50 pages of different potential ceremony texts and will help us put together a version that is "us" and will also advise us on how to structure the ceremony. All I'm looking for is a ceremony that is meaningful and honest, delivered in a way that conveys the preciousness of the bond and promises that we are making, in words that we will remember and honor in our marriage. So, of course we are still deciding specifically what that means, whether we will write our own vows, whether to have readings, etc. But I feel confident that we are in control of our own ceremony and that we still have the time to mold it into what we want.
Up next: more vendor decisions, including hiring a coordinator!
3) Dress: Brides Against Breast Cancer
The wedding dress was the first thing I found and the most surprisingly easy decision. Brides Against Breast Cancer is an organization that grants wishes for end-stage metastatic breast cancer patients (like Make-A-Wish Foundation), and their primary fundraising source is a traveling sale of wedding gowns that have been donated by bridal shops, designers, etc. I definitely went to this event with no expectations and no plans to buy, especially since it would be the first time that I would be trying on any gowns. Monica and Jen A came with me to provide honest opinions and ultimately found and approved my gown!
The event took place in a hotel ballroom, with all the dresses hung up in one room and an open changing area set up in the other room. Each person had a bridal consultant or "fairy godmother" who would ask what style of dress you were looking for and then go and grab a bunch of dresses and help you change into them. Then you would look in the mirror and tell her what you like and dislike about the dress, and then change into the next dress, and repeat. Altogether I probably tried on 6 or 7 dresses, quickly narrowing in on a strapless style dress with an A-line skirt. I tried on a lot of simple dresses while secretly coveting the ballgown princess-y look...but when I did actually get to try on a ballgown, I looked really short, like I was drowning in the dress. So it's true what they say, you can picture a style in your head but you never know what you will look like in it. I was a big fan of the ballgown with draped "pick-ups" look, but on me it just looked like I was drowning in a down comforter...
Luckily, Monica took it upon herself to go searching amongst the racks, and she was actually the one who came back with THE dress. It's strapless and made of light taffeta satin, with an A-line skirt and a lace bodice that fits perfectly so that I'm not "spilling" over the top...and then the surprise in the train, which is big and poufy and has bows trailing down it, giving it that long train and ballgown look while preserving the elegance in front. *love* And I don't have to lose any weight or anything to fit into it! Can't wait to wear it. :)
4) Ceremony Music: Strings For Your Heart
I consider this vendor the one major indulgence and the only thing that I've ever really imagined since I was a little girl for my wedding day; that is, walking down the aisle to a classical string quartet...except since the quartet was too expensive, we nixed the second violin and booked a string trio instead, heh. :) I found Strings For Your Heart while browsing the listings on GigMasters and emailed the group after listening to their samples on their website. I chose them over other live music options based on the quality of the samples and customer reviews and their flexibility in pricing. Menzies and I still have to choose the songs for the ceremony processionals, but I think I would like to keep it pretty traditional. :) Strings For Your Heart is also playing at our cocktail hour, but mixing it up with some pop selections. Menzies thinks (and I concede) that this is a little over the top, but I'm still excited. :)
5) Ceremony Officiant: Rev Clint Hufft
Menzies and I have crashed two weddings in order to book this guy! Haha...seriously though, it is strange to look for a vendor to marry you. Since we do not have a pastor or spiritual leader in our lives, we weren't quite sure where to turn on this one. There was the option of asking a good friend to get licensed online and perform the ceremony, but we weren't sure who to ask and we still wanted it to be an authority figure. I also considered asking one of my uncles to perform the ceremony, but then the whole thing would be in Mandarin (Chinese), and we were afraid that we wouldn't be able to understand our own ceremony, which would be pretty unfortunate. While we were puzzling over our options, I had the chance to meet Wen-Lin's friend Marcella who was also planning her wedding and was in a similar predicament. She was actually the one who recommended Rev Clint. :)
Although there were hiccups involved in trying to meet Rev Hufft (like driving up to Orange County only to crash the wrong wedding and miss him altogether, haha), when we did finally meet, we liked his focus on making the ceremony exactly what we want and not injecting any of his own agenda into it. He has also provided us with ~50 pages of different potential ceremony texts and will help us put together a version that is "us" and will also advise us on how to structure the ceremony. All I'm looking for is a ceremony that is meaningful and honest, delivered in a way that conveys the preciousness of the bond and promises that we are making, in words that we will remember and honor in our marriage. So, of course we are still deciding specifically what that means, whether we will write our own vows, whether to have readings, etc. But I feel confident that we are in control of our own ceremony and that we still have the time to mold it into what we want.
Up next: more vendor decisions, including hiring a coordinator!
Monday, December 07, 2009
wedding vendors, part 1
It is now approximately 8 months until the big day! It is truly astonishing how much planning goes into just one day- I don't know how anyone manages to pull together a wedding in less than 8 months. Menzies and I have now been engaged for over a year, and we are still hunting around for our last few vendors...We still need a DJ, florist, cake...heh. Not quite there yet, I guess. :)
In any case, I thought it would be fun to do a "quick" run down of the vendors that we have booked so far, and some of the thought processes that went into picking them. :) Who knows, maybe it will be helpful to someone else planning a wedding in the future.
1) Venue: The Crosby Club
Menzies and I did a huge hunt for wedding venues back in January (see previous blog entry). We visited a bunch of places, but what I was looking for was a single site where we could have an outdoor ceremony and indoor reception. We ended up with two favorites- the Darlington House in La Jolla for its unique and quaint feeling, and the Crosby Club in Rancho Santa Fe for its posh and classy feeling. We almost put down a deposit for the Darlington House, but we couldn't quite get past the difficulty of finding parking in Downtown La Jolla or the 10pm time limit. We figured that we would make it easier on ourselves and on our guests and go with the Crosby Club. :)
As it turns out, Sara Rader, the coordinator at the Crosby, has been incredibly helpful. She lets me know whenever there's a wedding going on so I can drop by and check out the setup, which I appreciate. :) She always returns emails promptly and is very accommodating with special requests, e.g. serving drinks at the ceremony site, using golf carts for transport, etc. The only small annoyance so far has been that since the Crosby is normally a private club, anytime I want to visit I have to call Sara to put my name at the front gate, and the approval process at the front gate is always a little awkward. But overall, I'm still very happy with this choice. :)
2) Photographer: Trailbrook Photography
Menzies and I put a lot of effort into finding a wedding photographer who we thought could capture the day in an artistic and beautiful way. We met Stan and Jeanette at the SD Bridal Bazaar, and they were actually the first photographers we talked to...but because we were suspicious of their pricing and worried about being newbies, we still checked out ~20 other website portfolios and actually met with 4 other photographers of different price ranges before finally coming back to the first photographers we met!
Suffice it to say that there are AMAZING photographers in SD whose work is beautiful and whose personalities are sparkling and easygoing and who I could easily trust to capture the day beautifully. It was really interesting to learn about different photography styles- the editorial style, which is shot similarly to a magazine photo shoot where the photographers help guide the shot, and the photojournalistic style, which is shot like a newspaper where the photographers let things unfold on their own and just capture what is happening. Most photographers seem to take more of an editorial approach on the engagement sessions and more of a photojournalistic approach on the day of the wedding. I was surprised to discover that although I like the idea of photojournalism, so that the photographers do not interfere in the day, I really don't mind being told to turn a certain direction or stand somewhere else for better lighting if it's going to make a better picture. Obviously, I don't want them jumping out at me as I'm walking down the aisle, but in general I would prefer going to the trouble to get the better picture, and relying on the photographer's eye to see that.
Ultimately we went back to Trailbrook because we liked the funky, urban style of their pictures and their overall creativity and use of color. We liked that their photos incorporate the locale and the uniqueness of the surroundings as much as they do the people in them. We appreciated that they wanted us to pick a place for our engagement session that was significant to us, rather than have us go to one of their stock locations. And in the end, what really sold it was the care and personalization that they put into their wedding albums. Some photographers have these rather obvious drag-and-drop template-style albums, but Trailbrook seemed to really have a different album for every wedding. They create a nice balance between an album that retells the story of the day but also incorporates some "wow"-factor shots that can be enlarged and canvased into a piece of wall art. I liked the way Stan described it when we went into their home studio- "it's like a piece of art that you happen to be in."
Anyway, that's it for the first two vendors. Coming up: wedding dress and ceremony details!
In any case, I thought it would be fun to do a "quick" run down of the vendors that we have booked so far, and some of the thought processes that went into picking them. :) Who knows, maybe it will be helpful to someone else planning a wedding in the future.
1) Venue: The Crosby Club
Menzies and I did a huge hunt for wedding venues back in January (see previous blog entry). We visited a bunch of places, but what I was looking for was a single site where we could have an outdoor ceremony and indoor reception. We ended up with two favorites- the Darlington House in La Jolla for its unique and quaint feeling, and the Crosby Club in Rancho Santa Fe for its posh and classy feeling. We almost put down a deposit for the Darlington House, but we couldn't quite get past the difficulty of finding parking in Downtown La Jolla or the 10pm time limit. We figured that we would make it easier on ourselves and on our guests and go with the Crosby Club. :)
As it turns out, Sara Rader, the coordinator at the Crosby, has been incredibly helpful. She lets me know whenever there's a wedding going on so I can drop by and check out the setup, which I appreciate. :) She always returns emails promptly and is very accommodating with special requests, e.g. serving drinks at the ceremony site, using golf carts for transport, etc. The only small annoyance so far has been that since the Crosby is normally a private club, anytime I want to visit I have to call Sara to put my name at the front gate, and the approval process at the front gate is always a little awkward. But overall, I'm still very happy with this choice. :)
2) Photographer: Trailbrook Photography
Menzies and I put a lot of effort into finding a wedding photographer who we thought could capture the day in an artistic and beautiful way. We met Stan and Jeanette at the SD Bridal Bazaar, and they were actually the first photographers we talked to...but because we were suspicious of their pricing and worried about being newbies, we still checked out ~20 other website portfolios and actually met with 4 other photographers of different price ranges before finally coming back to the first photographers we met!
Suffice it to say that there are AMAZING photographers in SD whose work is beautiful and whose personalities are sparkling and easygoing and who I could easily trust to capture the day beautifully. It was really interesting to learn about different photography styles- the editorial style, which is shot similarly to a magazine photo shoot where the photographers help guide the shot, and the photojournalistic style, which is shot like a newspaper where the photographers let things unfold on their own and just capture what is happening. Most photographers seem to take more of an editorial approach on the engagement sessions and more of a photojournalistic approach on the day of the wedding. I was surprised to discover that although I like the idea of photojournalism, so that the photographers do not interfere in the day, I really don't mind being told to turn a certain direction or stand somewhere else for better lighting if it's going to make a better picture. Obviously, I don't want them jumping out at me as I'm walking down the aisle, but in general I would prefer going to the trouble to get the better picture, and relying on the photographer's eye to see that.
Ultimately we went back to Trailbrook because we liked the funky, urban style of their pictures and their overall creativity and use of color. We liked that their photos incorporate the locale and the uniqueness of the surroundings as much as they do the people in them. We appreciated that they wanted us to pick a place for our engagement session that was significant to us, rather than have us go to one of their stock locations. And in the end, what really sold it was the care and personalization that they put into their wedding albums. Some photographers have these rather obvious drag-and-drop template-style albums, but Trailbrook seemed to really have a different album for every wedding. They create a nice balance between an album that retells the story of the day but also incorporates some "wow"-factor shots that can be enlarged and canvased into a piece of wall art. I liked the way Stan described it when we went into their home studio- "it's like a piece of art that you happen to be in."
Anyway, that's it for the first two vendors. Coming up: wedding dress and ceremony details!
Sunday, December 06, 2009
kitty bunkbed
upstairs: moony in her classic tail wrap-around sitting pose
downstairs: sunny in his typical belly hanging out sprawled out pose
Thursday, December 03, 2009
changes
congratulations are in order~!
-to monica and don, proud new parents of a beautiful baby boy!
-to joyce and kris, on their post-thanksgiving engagement!
-to dr. greg, on his bright and shiny new phd!
-and to lisa, for successfully launching her own business! (check it out at http://www.etsy.com/shop/satsumabug)
wow, it's been a crazy time, with so many big changes to finish off 2009. it's true, change happens all at once. seeing all this rapid growth happening around me is like a kick in the butt- time to mobilize!
gotta get cracking on that last aim of the thesis... big things coming up in 2010...
-to monica and don, proud new parents of a beautiful baby boy!
-to joyce and kris, on their post-thanksgiving engagement!
-to dr. greg, on his bright and shiny new phd!
-and to lisa, for successfully launching her own business! (check it out at http://www.etsy.com/shop/satsumabug)
wow, it's been a crazy time, with so many big changes to finish off 2009. it's true, change happens all at once. seeing all this rapid growth happening around me is like a kick in the butt- time to mobilize!
gotta get cracking on that last aim of the thesis... big things coming up in 2010...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
