Sunday, October 17, 2010

1, 2, 3, 4.....and 15

Jeez, this weekend has flown by. I feel like I've accomplished nothing. I kind of did in the room aspect but not really in the wedding aspect. Up until 30 minutes ago.

I spent about an hour designing and tweaking our table numbers layout to D and mine's (I's?) liking. I printed while D set up the cool (and cheap!) Ikea Tolsby frames we bought. Actually my bro bought them for me....he works by Ikea. Thanks bro! Anyways...They only cost 99 cents PER. FRAME. $20 dollars later, we're in business. I designed the each table number using a combination of InDesign and Illustrator. Here's table 1 which happens to be our table....(the color is more blue than gray-ish)...

And here's table 2 which is the same look for tables 2 through 15.
FYI - I haven't mentioned my guest books because it's a surprise. In true Y-fashion, I can't do anything traditional and that includes just having one guest book. Not for this bride!

After printing, I headed home with my newly assembled frames and my mom and I slid each table number into the frame. (Pardon the crappy pics...I used my phone)
The whole project took a little over an hour - design and everything. Which wasn't that bad....I can now cross one project off my list....which is definitely progress!

Saturday, October 16, 2010

2-for-1 special

Two posts in one day? Yup. This topic deserved its own post.


About a month ago when D and I shot our engagement pics with our fantastic photographers - Ashley and Phillip from 13:13 Boutique Wedding Photography - they asked me to model for one of their concept shoots. I was very flattered because let's face it, who thinks one could model? Definitely not me.

Thankfully, watching 10 seasons of America's Next Top Model AND seeing Ashely's many inspiration shots, I somehow pulled it off last week. The shoot was incredible. Ashley shot while Sarah from Sarah Elizabeth Designs styled the shoot and Phillip and D played awesome helpers.

The following are my favs from 13:13's blog!


Love the bird!

Can we say va-va-voom?
And oh yes, I totally pulled off "bedroom eyes."

So I won't lie, I kind of wanted to post every single pic. But I didn't want to be full of myself....I LOVED these pics!

Bad blogger!

....I've already used the wedding excuse one too many times. Let's try, I had a bad stomach bug for a solid week which set me back way too long. So that's my new excuse for not blogging in forever. :)


Wedding-wise, we're down to less than 30 days! I'm not in full panic mode yet - I'm trying my best to avoid that. I've started making a list of things to get done and I'm slowly accomplishing those. Today I woke up @ 8-ish and started organizing/cleaning/sorting my room. I'm moving in with D and we don't have a whole lot of space so needless to say, I had to get rid of some stuff. I'm either donating or selling things....got two enormous bags in my trunk already. Good news is I completely emptied out one of my two closets of "crap." Bad news, I filled it right back up with wedding gifts. At least now my mom can reclaim the exercise room. It was overfilling.

Moving on. Last night my best friend and her boyfriend, who also happens to be D's best friend, were suppose to go on a double date to Barton G's. I was so excited for it. But that didn't happen. Instead, when we got to her house and walked in, our friends surprised the (excuse the french) shit out of us. Literally, I was so scared, I started walking back out the door. My reaction was hilarious to everyone else.

Our best friends threw us a Las Vegas-themed bachelor/bachelorette party and it was amazing. We are so incredibly lucky to have such great friends. The party was very our style - it was perfect. And we had a GREAT time.
(the only pic I had someone take from my phone)



Saturday, September 25, 2010

Oh hello. My name is Y and I use to blog here. A long, long time ago. Before the 2-month pre-wedding chaos hit.

A lots happened in the 2+ weeks that have gone by. I sent out my wedding invitations.
Different post for another day. All I say is that they were a labor of love. :)

I also had a surprise Shawshank Redemption-themed bridal shower at work. Strange theme to have, but see, my all time favorite movie, without a doubt, is Shawshank Redemption.It's about a prison break, essentially. How many to-be-brides can say they've had that type of bridal shower?
But it turned out to be a really awesome party. I loved it! And it was a total surprise, I had no idea.
Our advertising department can get creative every once in a while....

Chess board from the movie and my favorite item of the day....
The hammer Tim Robbins used to carve the escape hole...he hid it in my bridal magazine, lol.

Funny story as to how they surprised me. My VP called me downstairs to discuss my honeymoon. I went to her office and told her we had already booked it. She took the elevator with me back to my floor and in the process, handcuff me. I kid you not. Then she led me down a dark hallway into the conference room. It was hilarious.
And last but not least, one of my favorite gifts. A custom Shawshank Redemption Prisoner t-shirt with my wedding date as my prisoner number.
I have some great co-workers. :)

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Anything to blog about....

Our invites are 75% done. They're technically assembled with the exception of the inside envelope, mailing envelope, and the actual sealing of the pocketfolds. I'm waiting on two Etsy purchases to come in the mail so I can finish them off. My goal is this weekend. Although what I'm planning to do, is probably going to drive me off the edge. Oh wells.....I'm almost done. With my invites that is.


Last weekend, I went to get my dress altered. I'm kind of over the wedding already - so sad to say, but stress does that to you. Got my dress altered with some lady one of my friends recommended. My mom wasn't too fond of her. Let's hope I still have a dress in a week, haha.

I also scheduled a makeup trial with a makeup artist some peeps recommended. The actual wedding day cost is cheaper than I was expecting. The trial run cost however, is a little steep. But I'm doing it the day of my bridal shower so I'm killing two birds with one stone.

What else....D's working on his attire and groomsmen attire. I keep stressing over it but there's nothing I can do about it. I'm sure everything will turn out. I do not have the time nor energy for that.

Jeez, I'm such a debbie downer today. Let's put a smile on my face. One thing I'm looking forward to our my engagement pics. This Saturday will mark 2 weeks so hopefully I'll have my pics. Can't wait!!!!!!!

Happy hump day...2 more days of work. I can do it!

Saturday, August 28, 2010

I've been bad...

...with my blogging. 18 days since my last post? Ouch.


I've got my usual excuses...wedding and work...those two things are turning my hair gray, lol.

Anyways, my invites are almost done printing. I already started making my pocketfolds.
I've only folded them because I'm waiting for the actual invites to make the pockets. I could probably start addressing them, but I've been lacking on the motivation lately.

D and I have also been getting ready for our engagement pics with 13:13 Boutique Wedding Photography. We were up by 6am this morning, and headed to the Everglades by 8am. I chose the Everglades because I didn't want the typical 'Vizcaya" or beach images. The Everglades goes hand in hand with our nature-y, rustic wedding.

Let's just say, this morning was probably one of the best. I LOVE MY PHOTOGRAPHERS. I'm seriously trying not to get overly excited because I have to wait a few weeks before we get our pics (there will be lots of retouching due to some stressful weeks, lol). I really want to jump up and down and just sit by my computer constantly checking my email, but I'm going to be strong and try not to think about it. Ha, let's see how that goes. I'll go into details when we get the pics.

After our (amazing) pics, D and I had some lunch at Taco Rico. D had never been there. We ate there but he took home another quesadilla for dinner, haha. After lunch I headed up north to order my flowers. Went to Fields of Flowers in Dania and met with the wedding consultant. Figured out my flowers, which by the way, flowers don't really do anything for me, hence my lack of excitement and pics. But they were extremely helpful and I think I'm good to go.

Next up, finishing/sending my invites, figuring out my whole cupcake crisis, renting chairs, and a whole bunch of other things. Ugh, less than three months to go and I'm free from wedding planning!

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

My pocketfolds....

I just did something that I may regret later on.


Let's rewind.

Last week, after finalizing my invite design, I went to order my pocketfolds and envelopes. If you have no idea what a pocketfold is....look here....
Pocketfolds allow you to have your actual invite and any other "extras" (i.e. RSVP card, map/directions card) in one place, nicely organized.

So I went online and tried to remember which place I had ordered my samples. Turns out I ordered samples from a couple of places. And turns out the one pocketfold I really liked (more the color than anything else) was NOT the one I had designed the invite for. See I had accidentally designed using another pocketfold which had different measurements. WHOOPS.

I refused to panic so I just chose a similar color hoping it would look good. The pocketfolds and envelopes came in yesterday. And. I. Hate. The. Color. Last night I told myself to suck it up. Today, I told myself to somehow get what you want.

Enter Google. And "diy pocketfolds." Turns out, with the help of a scoring board, making pocketfolds is actually really easy. So I went on the site with the color I liked and instead of ordering the pocketfolds that won't fit my invites, I ordered the same paper they use to make their own pocketfolds in the color I love.

Enter my soon-to-be headache. I'll be hand-making 60 pocketfolds.

But right now, I'm kind of really excited. I'm starting to like this crafting stuff and I think I can actually do it.

But that's right now. :)

P.S. I'm returning the other stuff I hate and this new project is actually coming out cheaper! Of course, that doesn't include the cost of my labor....but that's another story....

Saturday, August 7, 2010

3 months + 1 week to go

This wedding is fast approaching. And I have a few more big to-dos list before it's smooth sailing (I think).


My mason jars came in. That little thing made me so happy. My mom and grandmother couldn't understand why I was getting so excited over some jars.
It signals the start of getting my centerpieces ready!

Next big to-do crossed off the list?
Our wedding bands! That's D's. The pic doesn't do it justice but it's really nice. D and I went straight for it.

Next up....cupcakes, chair rentals, flowers, decorations, D's and groomsmen attire, and so on.

Thursday, July 29, 2010

You got to love online shopping!

Two nights ago, during my to-do list panic attack, I ordered a couple of wedding-related items.


First purchase was.....MASON JARS! Not just any old mason jars, I ordered aqua mason jars!!
I tried to stain normal jars but that totally failed so I went on Ebay and scored 15 quart jars. I'm going to use these throughout the tables with white flowers.
If my wedding was at night, I'd totally put candles in the jars.

The next purchase involved my wedding day attire. I had purchased heels a couple of months ago but I wanted to be comfortable so I returned those. I found these and thought they were very "me."
My mom's not crazy about them - it's not very traditional but nothing is very traditional with me. :)



My sister is googling what type of pen to use to hand-address my bridal shower invites.


Apparently, it's a popular question.

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

110!

I signed on to my registries a couple of minutes ago to update some stuff and I realized that I have 110 days to go. Oh dear.

I opened up my to-do list to see how I'm doing. Good news is I crossed off 5 things, one of which was a epic fail. Bad news, aside from the epic fail, I added another 5 things to my list.
Cupcakes, tables, and decorations are coming up next....


OMG I have to schedule my engagement session - crap! Another thing to add to the list. :-/

Sunday, July 25, 2010

One big to-do!

I have finalized my wedding invitations. I think. I'm nearly certain. Everyone's approved. I think. Enough with the thinking. I'm pretty sure they're good to go. Now I have to print them. But I don't think I bought enough paper. I think. We'll see.


And no sneak peek. For now. I think. :)

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Shower for the bride

To say I've been slacking is an understatement. Life's busy. Wedding planning is crazy and stressful. Meh, you know. I even contemplated putting the blog on hold. I was that frazzled.

Anyways, a lot's been happening. With the wedding less than four months away, I've got so much to do. My sister and my mother-in-law are planning the bridal shower. I told them to keep it a surprise (aka leave me alone, I'm stressed enough as it is). But I found these cute invites from Paisley Prints and I couldn't help but request them.
They also come with these blank recipe cards, so everyone can give me their favorite recipes.
I love Etsy!

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Oh how the tables have turned. My sister is officially freaking out about her wedding...which is one year away! Mine's in FOUR MONTHS. I can't help but laugh at her, hehehe.

Monday, June 28, 2010

My new year's resolution....for July

You know how every January, everyone makes their New Year's resolutions? Yeah, well I've got July resolutions. Some are health resolutions (aka get in shape, drink more water) and most are wedding resolutions. Case in point, I made a to do list.Pink is my sister, yellow is D, and the blue...is me. Can we say FUN?

Thursday, June 17, 2010

My love affair....

...with Amazon. If it wasn't for my iPhone and apps, maybe I wouldn't have one, but since technology makes shopping so convenient, I'd like to share my love affair. At least once a month, I place an order on Amazon. But every once I while, I shake things up. Like this month, I placed two orders on Amazon in one week.


First order was for three books. My sister just got engaged (in Venice, Italy nonetheless!) and I wanted to get something she would actually use. Enter, a wedding planning book!
The Wedding Book had great reviews which means, I'm hoping she'll enjoy it.

Next up, I couldn't leave my future brother-in-law hanging, so I got him this book, Groomology. It too had awesome reviews and I may even let Dustin borrow it beforehand.
Last but not least, I had to find a third book to fulfill my Amazon Super Saver Shipping discount. After a couple of searches, I found this book/journal.
What I Love About You has you answer questions about your significant other. It's just a really cute book, which I plan on filling out for the wedding. It may be a little silly, but I'm sure I'll get a smile out of D. :)

Sunday, June 13, 2010

My five-day weekend

I had a long weekend to say the least. I only worked two days and the rest of the week I spent most of my time in D's truck. He was finally done with training in Oklahoma and he was ready to come home...yeah! So I hopped on two planes, got patted down by a TSA officer right before boarding (for the eighth time this year alone), and landed in Memphis four hours later. I won't bombard with details but we drove from Memphis to Mississippi to Georgia and finally to Florida.With five hours to go before finally arriving home, we were getting hungry so D opened up the trusty Yelp app and found Yellow Dog Eats.Let me just say, moving forward, every time I drive up to Orlando, I'll be stopping at this place. I seriously wanted to try every item on the menu. I went for "The Rufus" which was a pulled pork sandwich topped with thick cut Brie cheese, cherry ring peppers (I picked them off) and drizzled with their famous raspberry sauce. Wow. I would've taken a pic but I was too busy inhaling my food. Next time you're in Orlando and you have time to spare, I highly recommend this place. The food is delish and the atmosphere is great.

Monday, June 7, 2010

Sky-high heels

I get into moods where I start blogging and I don't stop for days. And then I get into moods where I blog and then disappear for weeks. Sorry. I'll try to be more consistent.


Anyways. This past Saturday I bought shoes. Possible "wedding" shoes. I'm not 100% percent set on them. Perhaps because I haven't decided if I'm wearing flat sandals or heels. I am getting married by the water. But we're not exactly sure if that'll be on the beach in sandy conditions, under a tree, or inside the restaurant because of the potential hurricane-like weather we've been experiencing lately may stick around till November. I'm sorry, was that even a grammatically-correct sentence? All I'm trying to say is that now till November 30th is technically hurricane season. Something to think about. If I plan on wearing 5-inch heels.

Speaking of which, these are the shoes.

They look plastic-y in the image but they're not. It's more of a soft leather material.
They're not traditional wedding shoes, but if you know me, you know I'm going to fight traditional till the end. And they're also really, really tall. But D is taller than me, even if I end up wearing these suckers. And another but, my bridesmaids will be little shrimpies standing next to me.

You can call me the jolly white giant.

Sunday, May 30, 2010

My wedding hiatus needs to be over

So this is me attempting to get back into wedding planning. I was sitting on the couch watching Sweet Home Alabama with my mom and suddenly thought, I could be doing something wedding-related. I then convinced my mom to start working on one of my wedding DIY projects. I needed my mom for this because it involves sewing. Yea, sewing.


Long story short, it involves these escort cards and table napkins. Let's start with the escort cards.
Wherever I got this image from (too long ago), the blogger had created custom napkins from different patterns and incorporated it into her seating chart. So her guests would look for their names and match the fabric pattern on their card to the table with the corresponding napkins. Adorable right? And definitely a must-have.

I ran this idea by my mom and surprisingly she was OK with it. So I started buying fabric and after sitting on it for a good two months, I decided today, to get the ball rolling.

So here we go. Start with fabric.
Measure it. In this case, we're shooting for 18 or 19 inches. Once you have the desired length, cut the fabric in a square.
Then watch your mom attempt to sew the edges. She had to attempt because the sewing machine was acting up.
Read the instruction manual because the sewing machine is acting up.
Give up after 20 minutes, fold it nicely, and stick a draft version of your Menu card into the napkin fold - and then take a pic of it for your blog.
Ta da! The end.

P.S. This will eventually continue at a later point. When the sewing machine isn't acting up.

Monday, May 24, 2010

Uhh, how cool are these shoes?

Oasis Feather Peeptoe Shoe from Asos

Tonight

So my goal for tonight was to go home after work, write a wedding-related blog post, and pass out. But today, one of my co-workers brought me a big ol' bag of ripe bananas...which was code for, "make me banana nut bread." Which I'm happy to do for everyone. But now I won't be writing a wedding-related post. Instead, you'll be reading this non-wedding related crap.

Back to bread. I thought I already wrote a post of my famous banana nut bread but apparently that was on Monkey Bars. If I would've realized this earlier, I would've documented my whole process. Because, well frankly, my banana nut bread is GOOD. Like awesome, incredible, lick your lips, and drool good. I promise, I'm humble
most of the times.

I wish I could say I was brilliant enough to come up with my own recipe but I'm not. I use the Extreme Banana Nut Bread (EBNB) recipe, but I make one change. I'll share it just because it's so good, everyone should go out and make it. Like now. Are you ready? Here's my secret. Use. Brown. Sugar. That makes the biggest difference in the world. Trust me.
And if you're skeptical about this delish recipe, read the notes below from the recipe-creator-person.

  • Tips
  • 1) Do not taste this in advance of serving.
  • 2) Do not cut loaves prior to serving.
  • 3) Hide it from yourself, your spouse, kids, neighbors and contractors who may be downwind until ready to serve.
  • 4) Cut at the last possible moment, and finally,
  • 5) pre-print 8 or 10 small recipe sheets and leave them wherever you put the EBNB (seriously) otherwise you'll have lots of people bugging you for the recipe.

    This is so true. G'night!

    P.S. Lost was awesome last night. It deserves it's own post. And 100% of my brain power. Which is currently lacking right now.

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

D's birthday was yesterday. I bought one of those big cards that also plays a song and had everyone I could find, sign it. That boy is loved.Really loved by some of his friends.
I can't wait for him to come home!