potential

I'm starting really look for shoes for the wedding. I'm leaning towards getting shoes that are fun and don't necessarily match my dress in style or color. I want to be able to wear them again.

To be honest, this whole wedding thing is really just an excuse for me to buy more shoes!

I like the idea of sticking with our yellow and grey color scheme. Right now, I have my eye on these Prada peep toes. They're on sale at Barney's but I'm going to hold out and see if they get marked down further.

They're not so high that I can't walk in them and I know I'll wear them again.

I also really like these Oscar de la Renta d'orsay heels in yellow (not coral!) at Nordstrom. They're not on sale yet so I'm just biding my time. Don't you think a little pop of yellow would be so adorable in our wedding photos? A little bit unexpected and a lotta bit fun!

Would it be so bad of I got both pairs? I mean, since I am planning to have a couple changes of clothes, shouldn't that include shoes too?

best song ever

Initially, I thought Hunny Bunny wouldn't want to have a First Dance because he just not that kinda guy so I wasn't really thinking about it. But as it turns out, HB actually doesn't mind and said we should have a first dance. I've been keeping a mental list of the songs I might want.

After attending the NKOTB concert this weekend, I have the perfect song at the top of my list.


HB was a tad reluctant about my song choice but he has since relented. YAY!

I'm sure you can guess which song it is. If not, email me and I'll tell you.

Go ahead, laugh all you want. I <3 NKOTB!

make me beautiful

I know my wedding package at the W Hotel includes a makeup artist by Smashbox to do my makeup on the day of my wedding. But honestly, who knows how good that person will be? And obviously, I need to be the star of the day!

So my mom's friend's daughter Stace does hair and makeup and I've heard that she's really talented - she freelances for MAC and also does her own thing. She did the hair and makeup for the model in the photo. Gorg, right?

I get to do a trial run with the Smashbox artist several months prior to my wedding so I'm going to see how good she is. If I don't like what she does, I'll give the freebie to one of my bridesmaids and hire Stace for myself.

At the very least, I'll have her do my hair. She already promised me a "homey discount" and said she could bring and assistant to help with all my bridesmaids' hair.

All I know is that I want my skin to be glowy and completely flawless. And I want all my bridesmaids to have similar ethereal looks nothing too dramatic or vampy - just simple and clean. One of my BMs tends to wear pretty dramatic makeup so hopefully she won't kill me for requesting that all the girls look similar. *wink

games we play

My maid of honor is starting to collect ideas for activities during my bridal shower. Indeed, I can already tell that it's going to be a classy event.

more clothes!

My aunt stopped by the other day and dropped of the Chinese kwa that she wore in her wedding nearly 20 years ago. In the meantime, another one of my aunts also wore it during her wedding and a family friend borrowed it too! I think it's a good sign since all of these women have been happily married since.

(Now the dress that's displayed isn't the exact dress that I plan to wear during the tea ceremony - I still want that to be a surprise for HB, but it kinda gives you an idea of what it looks like.)

The quality of my aunt's dress is soooo much nicer than what's available out there today. It's mostly handmade and rather than sequins and beading all over, the dragon/phoenix symbols are embroidered in a silver thread.

Sadly, it's a tad snug around my shoulders. I can zip it up just fine but I can barely lift my arms. I guess this will give me incentive to lose some weight! So maybe it's actually a good thing.

Have you noticed that most of my wedding accomplishments have revolved around clothing? I have my priorities, you know.

i can breathe now

After thinking long and hard, my dad decided that instead of an intimate dinner for six (HB's parents, my parents and us) for the first meeting, it would be less pressure to have a dinner party with my dad's side of the family in conjunction with his 60th birthday. (That sentence seems awkward! Sorry!) More people around gabbing = less awkward silences.

Anyway, we ended up choosing Zen Garden Chinese Restaurant in Mill Creek as the location because they could accomodate twenty people easily and affordably. Food was delicious. And with all the conversations going around, no one felt the need to fill the space with idle chatter. It was a huge load off my shoulders - especially since HB was grumpy, dumpy. Phooey.

Mommy sat by Mommy and made small talk. My poor dad confessed to me later that he didn't want talk to them too much because he was afraid he wouldn't be able to hear their responses! (He's gone deaf in one ear. Boo.)

Thinking it was finally over, and forgetting how gracious HB's parents' can be, they insisted on inviting my parents out for dinner the next night! Yes, you read that right. Another dinner. I suppose it's better than them fighting for the bill that night! I remember this one time where my mom and some guy ripped the receipt in half after struggling for several minutes. Crazy.

For the next meal, we went to Tamarind Tree for Vietnamese food. Not my favorite place at all, but HB's parents didn't want us to go to some scuzzy hole in the wall, even if the food is better!

I can understand. Good first impressions right?

This time they invited their side of the family and it turned out to be a good thing because HB and I haven't seen anyone since we got engaged!

And then I went for a massage the next day. I needed it.

Peace at last!