So today is actually my 2nd day in Hawaii. I decided to come home a lot earlier to do some wedding planning locally for a change, and if I forgot anything at home, I am hoping that Paul will take care of it. I think it's a good plan. I stuffed my wedding dress, a couple bridesmaids dresses, my shoes, and some other things. I barely made the weight limit on all my luggage. Luckily, they let me pass with a 2 lb overweight carry-on. I've never had my carry-on weighed before. I am a little pissed at Hawaiian airlines for charging me $15 for my 1st check-in luggage. It was a pretty smooth flight in general. I was happy to find out that Hawaiian still served food, even though it was a breakfast burrito and not that good. I am a breakfast burrito snob. The best ones have hash browns and bacon. This of course had none.
At the baggage claim, I was kind of worried that I wouldn't find my luggage, and then I had to find another dress. I looked frantically at all the black Samsonite luggage because there were a lot of them, and finally I spotted the caterpillar and Kings luggage tags right away.
We ate lunch at a Korean restaurant with Mom and Joyce. Afterward, Elliot gave me a tour around the new property which was amazing. Dad and his friends have already started developing the land, and the view was completely breathtaking. I can't wait to see what the land will look like when it is done.
I ate so much food!!! Yikes, if I keep this up, I'm definitely not going to fit in my dress. I told mom, let's go out for a run (she walks) at Ala Moana, and then I felt a little better about myself.
It is HOT in Hawaii. There's very little tradewinds, and the humidity is really sticky.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Wedding Veils
I decided to make my own wedding veil for 2 reasons...1) It's very expensive 2) Kathy made hers for her wedding, and it came out really nice. I figured she could help me make mine. 3) At the very least, if it really came down to it, I could always buy one.
So we went to JoAnn's which is more of a sewing/craft store, and we can get 40% off coupons. That's where we bought our material. I had plans to make 2 veils. One long, up to my finger tips, and the other short and cute. The total price of tulle for these two veils came out to about $6. We did have to buy combs to attach that on, which came in a pack of 6, I think, for $2.00, and I wanted some "bling" so I got some Swarowski crystals for 40% off which came up to $10.
Kathy and her mom helped me pick out the materials, and we came back to the house to put it all together. We cut the tulle using a cardboard cutout and a formula that Kathy developed. It was a little tough to keep it aligned properly, but once it's all bunched up anyway, you wouldn't be able to tell anything was wrong with it. In the end, it actually came out pretty even and with some nice looking arches. We had a bit of sewing to do basically you do a certain stitch that will make the material bunch up, and then you attach it to the comb. When it was finally attached to the comb, it looked pretty darn good as is. Normally, you would decorate before you do this process, but I was just going to glue on crystals anyway, so it really didn't matter.
I took both veils home to Hawaii, and there I showed my sister and mom the two choices. They recommended that I use the long one, and I loved both the veils; so I didn't mind going with that choice. I spent maybe an hour gluing the crystals on the veil. I didn't really have a pattern in mind. I kind of just picked up the veil to see how it drops and added crystals where it could be most seen and nicely placed. It came out really well.
One of the crystal decorations:
I am really glad that we took on this project because it was a lot of fun (A little time consuming, but definitely worth it.) and I have something personal to wear. Thank you Kathy and Paul's Mom. It came out really lovely. Any one else need any veils made?
Here are a few photos:
So we went to JoAnn's which is more of a sewing/craft store, and we can get 40% off coupons. That's where we bought our material. I had plans to make 2 veils. One long, up to my finger tips, and the other short and cute. The total price of tulle for these two veils came out to about $6. We did have to buy combs to attach that on, which came in a pack of 6, I think, for $2.00, and I wanted some "bling" so I got some Swarowski crystals for 40% off which came up to $10.
Kathy and her mom helped me pick out the materials, and we came back to the house to put it all together. We cut the tulle using a cardboard cutout and a formula that Kathy developed. It was a little tough to keep it aligned properly, but once it's all bunched up anyway, you wouldn't be able to tell anything was wrong with it. In the end, it actually came out pretty even and with some nice looking arches. We had a bit of sewing to do basically you do a certain stitch that will make the material bunch up, and then you attach it to the comb. When it was finally attached to the comb, it looked pretty darn good as is. Normally, you would decorate before you do this process, but I was just going to glue on crystals anyway, so it really didn't matter.
I took both veils home to Hawaii, and there I showed my sister and mom the two choices. They recommended that I use the long one, and I loved both the veils; so I didn't mind going with that choice. I spent maybe an hour gluing the crystals on the veil. I didn't really have a pattern in mind. I kind of just picked up the veil to see how it drops and added crystals where it could be most seen and nicely placed. It came out really well.
One of the crystal decorations:
I am really glad that we took on this project because it was a lot of fun (A little time consuming, but definitely worth it.) and I have something personal to wear. Thank you Kathy and Paul's Mom. It came out really lovely. Any one else need any veils made?
Here are a few photos:
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Bull Busters & a Tower of Cotton Candy: My Cali Batchelorette Party
So I had an inkling of what I was going to do for my bachelorette party in California. They told me to wear comfortable clothes (definitely no skirts), and to bring socks. In my mind, I knew we were going to drink a lot and maybe go bowling. I pretty much guessed right...kind of.
Well, it started at 6:30 pm where Kathy and Carrie came to pick me up. They gave me 2 shots of vodka chased with orange juice. I was blindfolded while Saqi and Michael dropped us off to the location. I heard directions such as Barham and such, and once they stopped and made me get out of the car, I heard music. It popped into my mind, WE WERE AT UNIVERSAL CITY WALK! Then, I just realized where we were going, Saddle Ranch, and it entailed a mechanical bull. They told me afterward that, we also planned to go to another bar after that and do some bowling. So I was half right.
I also had accessories. They bought me a batchelorette sash, pink crown, and a huge "sparkling" ring. They passed out cups that said "What happens at the batchelorette party stays in the batchelorette party." We hung out at the bar until a few more people arrived. At that time, we met a handful of cool, nice people. One of which was Gary who is a costumer for a new show at Universal Studios called, "Creature from the Black Lagoon." He kept us company once in a while and hooked us up with some cool stuff. While we were waiting, the bull rider controller signed us up for a bull ride. I thought that it was better to do it now before I got too drunk or full. I was a little nervous...I didn't want to make a complete fool of myself. The controller was really nice and explained things really clearly. He said if I just follow the directions, it will all be okay.
1) Hold the rope underhand with your weakest hand
2) When the bull goes down, lean back, when the bull goes up, lean a little forward
3) Keep your strong hand up at all times for balance
4) Keep your legs tight on the bull
So Carrie took video through her phone of my virgin ride. I did pretty well if I do say so myself. It starts off really slow, and then it gets kind of crazy. The operator was kind enough to stop at the one moment I was about to take a spill; so I looked really good and ended up not getting bucked off. It was actually a lot of fun and very TOUGH. I have a new respect for bull riders.
One by one everyone started filling in.
I was so happy to see some of the friends who could make it, some of them I haven't seen in a long time. We all had a great dinner. The proportions for this place was really huge. And then, Gary came in with a humongous cotton candy sculpture. I couldn't believe it.
Also, there was a guy who was also there celebrating his bachelor party, and we decided to take a picture together as we congratulated each other. Then his friend started taking off the bachelor's shirt off. I have to say that the guy was really buff...and so we took all kinds of photos in good fun. Jared, the best man, was really mad that we got a stripper, but I'll let him think that for the time being. (He's mad cause he thinks that I would get mad if Paul gets a stripper. I just think that it's going to be a waste of money. LOL)
So after dinner, it was time for another bull ride, and Kathy and Jennifer was going to join me. We have videos of each of our rides, and I think we are all expert bull riders. No kidding. We lasted a long time on the bull. I am also glad that I didn't have to do it alone. I did wish that more people could have tried it, just to say that they've done it at least once in their lives. I do have a lot of respect for bull riders because it does work a lot of muscles, and they are muscles that I am not used to working.
We were supposed to go bowling after, but it was getting too late for that. We ended up getting last drinks at Hard Rock and just hanging out and talking story. It was a very nice cool down to an exciting evening.
The next morning, I was really sore. Surprisingly, I didn't have a hangover. Instead, it was from the bullride, and I had 2 huge souvenirs on the inside of my thighs. I guess my bullriding left a couple bruises. Paul was shocked. Both Kathy and Jennifer had some, too. My favorite line was Saqi saying to Kathy, "What bit you?" Kathy replied with, "A bull!"
Well, I am extremely happy about this outing. Thank you girls for making it so memorable!
Well, it started at 6:30 pm where Kathy and Carrie came to pick me up. They gave me 2 shots of vodka chased with orange juice. I was blindfolded while Saqi and Michael dropped us off to the location. I heard directions such as Barham and such, and once they stopped and made me get out of the car, I heard music. It popped into my mind, WE WERE AT UNIVERSAL CITY WALK! Then, I just realized where we were going, Saddle Ranch, and it entailed a mechanical bull. They told me afterward that, we also planned to go to another bar after that and do some bowling. So I was half right.
I also had accessories. They bought me a batchelorette sash, pink crown, and a huge "sparkling" ring. They passed out cups that said "What happens at the batchelorette party stays in the batchelorette party." We hung out at the bar until a few more people arrived. At that time, we met a handful of cool, nice people. One of which was Gary who is a costumer for a new show at Universal Studios called, "Creature from the Black Lagoon." He kept us company once in a while and hooked us up with some cool stuff. While we were waiting, the bull rider controller signed us up for a bull ride. I thought that it was better to do it now before I got too drunk or full. I was a little nervous...I didn't want to make a complete fool of myself. The controller was really nice and explained things really clearly. He said if I just follow the directions, it will all be okay.
1) Hold the rope underhand with your weakest hand
2) When the bull goes down, lean back, when the bull goes up, lean a little forward
3) Keep your strong hand up at all times for balance
4) Keep your legs tight on the bull
So Carrie took video through her phone of my virgin ride. I did pretty well if I do say so myself. It starts off really slow, and then it gets kind of crazy. The operator was kind enough to stop at the one moment I was about to take a spill; so I looked really good and ended up not getting bucked off. It was actually a lot of fun and very TOUGH. I have a new respect for bull riders.
One by one everyone started filling in.
I was so happy to see some of the friends who could make it, some of them I haven't seen in a long time. We all had a great dinner. The proportions for this place was really huge. And then, Gary came in with a humongous cotton candy sculpture. I couldn't believe it.
Also, there was a guy who was also there celebrating his bachelor party, and we decided to take a picture together as we congratulated each other. Then his friend started taking off the bachelor's shirt off. I have to say that the guy was really buff...and so we took all kinds of photos in good fun. Jared, the best man, was really mad that we got a stripper, but I'll let him think that for the time being. (He's mad cause he thinks that I would get mad if Paul gets a stripper. I just think that it's going to be a waste of money. LOL)
So after dinner, it was time for another bull ride, and Kathy and Jennifer was going to join me. We have videos of each of our rides, and I think we are all expert bull riders. No kidding. We lasted a long time on the bull. I am also glad that I didn't have to do it alone. I did wish that more people could have tried it, just to say that they've done it at least once in their lives. I do have a lot of respect for bull riders because it does work a lot of muscles, and they are muscles that I am not used to working.
We were supposed to go bowling after, but it was getting too late for that. We ended up getting last drinks at Hard Rock and just hanging out and talking story. It was a very nice cool down to an exciting evening.
The next morning, I was really sore. Surprisingly, I didn't have a hangover. Instead, it was from the bullride, and I had 2 huge souvenirs on the inside of my thighs. I guess my bullriding left a couple bruises. Paul was shocked. Both Kathy and Jennifer had some, too. My favorite line was Saqi saying to Kathy, "What bit you?" Kathy replied with, "A bull!"
Well, I am extremely happy about this outing. Thank you girls for making it so memorable!
Final Results of the Invitation Making Party
So I thought that it would take me only a day to do the invitations by inviting some friends and family to an "invitation" making party, but in the end, it took about 2 weeks. On the day of the invitation party we did a LOT of work. I did some pre-cutting of most of the main part of the card. It came in about 4 pieces. I had a whole assembly line going with Jennifer cutting out more stuff (I still had to cut more silver envelopes), Chris, Kathy, Sarah, Mom Mendoza, Charissa, Jared, and Michelle gluing, folding, and taping. I even had Saqi cut some paper with his good hand since he had broken his left hand recently. Another reason for the delay in finishing the invitations was at that moment, I didn't have all the supplies ready for the invitation so we only focused on the main card. Paul and I would do the rest later.
Well, we had a really nice rhythm going, and it was a good party. Everyone was talking, drinking wine, and having a good time, but then Chris reached out to grab something, hit Sarah's glass, broke it, and spilled wine all over a whole bunch of cut envelopes. I tried to salvage whatever I could, but most of them were damaged, and we had to recut 30 more envelopes. I wasn't too upset. We had a lot of paper. So we did what we could that night, and it was enough to make it slightly easier for Paul and I to finish. At the end of the night we had made about 130 cards and about 70 silver envelopes. There were still a few more little touches I wanted to add to the invitations. The final goal was to make a 130 plus extra final invitations.
The hardest part of the invitation was...well, there were two hard parts to making the invitation and they both had to go into the envelope. It was the silver "Admit One" tickets and the map/bridal party card. I designed the Admit One ticket by looking at various movie ticket images on the internet, and I ordered a customized stamp through Staples. Paul's mom also had a cartridge that made ticket shaped paper cut outs, and we decided that we liked the embossed look. There were several steps to the stamps, first of all the silver paper had to be cut, then, Paul had to prep the paper with baby powder so that the embossing power will only stick to the parts with ink, Paul would then line up our stamp on the cutout, and I would cover the ink parts with embossing power brushing off the excess, and then I had a heating tool that would melt the powder to create my special look. We had to do this after work; so we only had a few hours to work with everyday. There were also a few other obstacles that we had to overcome, first of all, Chris (he has the darnedest luck) burned out my embossing machine so I had to buy a new one. It's a good thing, I had 40% off coupons at Michaels. Also, we miscalculated about how many tickets we needed, and after we thought we were done, we had to do dozen more.
The map/bridal party cards were made in Illustrator. I copied the directions by looking at a map of Oahu. I used the lines I made for the streets and wrapped the words along the same path. It was a little time consuming, but in the end it turned out pretty good. I also had to match perfectly my design for the bridal party on the front to the map on the back. It wasn't perfect, but close enough to make it work.
I stole the design from my reply postcards that I made on vistaprint.com by screen grabbing, took it into photoshop and made a vellum print out of the main information. It looked really good on vellum. Then, I attached the vellum with the Bedazzler. Paul stamped the monogram behind it so that a little could show through.
We finished cutting/pasting/stuffing the last elements. Then, I spent 2 hours at the post office pasting stamps and sealing envelopes. Overall, I feel very proud of everything we did. It was a lot of work, but I think it was all worth it. How about you?
Posting pictures very soon...
Well, we had a really nice rhythm going, and it was a good party. Everyone was talking, drinking wine, and having a good time, but then Chris reached out to grab something, hit Sarah's glass, broke it, and spilled wine all over a whole bunch of cut envelopes. I tried to salvage whatever I could, but most of them were damaged, and we had to recut 30 more envelopes. I wasn't too upset. We had a lot of paper. So we did what we could that night, and it was enough to make it slightly easier for Paul and I to finish. At the end of the night we had made about 130 cards and about 70 silver envelopes. There were still a few more little touches I wanted to add to the invitations. The final goal was to make a 130 plus extra final invitations.
The hardest part of the invitation was...well, there were two hard parts to making the invitation and they both had to go into the envelope. It was the silver "Admit One" tickets and the map/bridal party card. I designed the Admit One ticket by looking at various movie ticket images on the internet, and I ordered a customized stamp through Staples. Paul's mom also had a cartridge that made ticket shaped paper cut outs, and we decided that we liked the embossed look. There were several steps to the stamps, first of all the silver paper had to be cut, then, Paul had to prep the paper with baby powder so that the embossing power will only stick to the parts with ink, Paul would then line up our stamp on the cutout, and I would cover the ink parts with embossing power brushing off the excess, and then I had a heating tool that would melt the powder to create my special look. We had to do this after work; so we only had a few hours to work with everyday. There were also a few other obstacles that we had to overcome, first of all, Chris (he has the darnedest luck) burned out my embossing machine so I had to buy a new one. It's a good thing, I had 40% off coupons at Michaels. Also, we miscalculated about how many tickets we needed, and after we thought we were done, we had to do dozen more.
The map/bridal party cards were made in Illustrator. I copied the directions by looking at a map of Oahu. I used the lines I made for the streets and wrapped the words along the same path. It was a little time consuming, but in the end it turned out pretty good. I also had to match perfectly my design for the bridal party on the front to the map on the back. It wasn't perfect, but close enough to make it work.
I stole the design from my reply postcards that I made on vistaprint.com by screen grabbing, took it into photoshop and made a vellum print out of the main information. It looked really good on vellum. Then, I attached the vellum with the Bedazzler. Paul stamped the monogram behind it so that a little could show through.
We finished cutting/pasting/stuffing the last elements. Then, I spent 2 hours at the post office pasting stamps and sealing envelopes. Overall, I feel very proud of everything we did. It was a lot of work, but I think it was all worth it. How about you?
Posting pictures very soon...
Toasts....Bad Ones
So I know I am extremely far behind on my blogging. I have many in the works, but for now, here's an easy one for everyone to read. I came across this posting on TheKnot, and I thought I might share.
Bad Toasts:
The wedding toast is a chance for the bride's and groom's closest family members and friends to express their joy for the couple, share a funny story or two, and impart words of wisdom. Sometimes, though, nerves, alcohol, or a not-so-secret disapproval of the matrimony leads to a speech that leaves everyone aghast. Here are real wedding toasts that made guests want to cower under their chairs rather than raise their glasses.
1. "At a friend's wedding a few years ago, the best man made it apparent that he wasn't such a fan of the bride. The speech went something like this: '(Groom's name), man I love ya, you know I do. I hope you thought about this and that this is what you really, really, really want.' Then he said the bride's name, hit his fist against his chest twice, and pointed at her."
2. "A friend of mine from college got married, and his best man said in his speech: 'Finally John has found someone with low enough self-esteem to marry him.'"
3. "The maid of honor (the bride's sister) not only talked about herself during the whole speech, she also mentioned the possibility of an affair between herself and her sister's new husband."
4. "At my cousin's wedding, the best man ended his toast by saying he wanted the groom to know that he'd be there for him at his next wedding when this one didn't work out."
5. "The best man at a wedding I was in said during his toast, 'Congratulations to the new parents!' No one except a select few knew the bride was pregnant -- not even her parents!"
6. "I was a bridesmaid in a wedding where the best man gave a toast about how cheap the groom was and how they'd been friends all their lives but the wedding was the first free meal he's ever been offered by the 'cheapskate.'"
7. "The father of the bride stood up and said, 'I'm Jill's dad. I just want to say that I met David before Jill did because of my other daughter.' And he sat down."
8. "My cousin gave a horrible toast at her younger sister's wedding a few years ago. She began by saying that she never liked her sister's new husband throughout high school and that 'today he's still at the level of slightly below the scum on the bottom of a dirty waste pond.'"
9. "I attended a wedding where the best man commented on how the bride used to work at Hooters (which her family didn't know about) and how he was jealous of the groom for 'bagging her.'"
10. "During the toast the groom's dad (after many drinks) said that he was so happy for his son and his beautiful wife Sara. But his wife's name wasn't Sara, his ex-girlfriend's was."
Bad Toasts:
The wedding toast is a chance for the bride's and groom's closest family members and friends to express their joy for the couple, share a funny story or two, and impart words of wisdom. Sometimes, though, nerves, alcohol, or a not-so-secret disapproval of the matrimony leads to a speech that leaves everyone aghast. Here are real wedding toasts that made guests want to cower under their chairs rather than raise their glasses.
1. "At a friend's wedding a few years ago, the best man made it apparent that he wasn't such a fan of the bride. The speech went something like this: '(Groom's name), man I love ya, you know I do. I hope you thought about this and that this is what you really, really, really want.' Then he said the bride's name, hit his fist against his chest twice, and pointed at her."
2. "A friend of mine from college got married, and his best man said in his speech: 'Finally John has found someone with low enough self-esteem to marry him.'"
3. "The maid of honor (the bride's sister) not only talked about herself during the whole speech, she also mentioned the possibility of an affair between herself and her sister's new husband."
4. "At my cousin's wedding, the best man ended his toast by saying he wanted the groom to know that he'd be there for him at his next wedding when this one didn't work out."
5. "The best man at a wedding I was in said during his toast, 'Congratulations to the new parents!' No one except a select few knew the bride was pregnant -- not even her parents!"
6. "I was a bridesmaid in a wedding where the best man gave a toast about how cheap the groom was and how they'd been friends all their lives but the wedding was the first free meal he's ever been offered by the 'cheapskate.'"
7. "The father of the bride stood up and said, 'I'm Jill's dad. I just want to say that I met David before Jill did because of my other daughter.' And he sat down."
8. "My cousin gave a horrible toast at her younger sister's wedding a few years ago. She began by saying that she never liked her sister's new husband throughout high school and that 'today he's still at the level of slightly below the scum on the bottom of a dirty waste pond.'"
9. "I attended a wedding where the best man commented on how the bride used to work at Hooters (which her family didn't know about) and how he was jealous of the groom for 'bagging her.'"
10. "During the toast the groom's dad (after many drinks) said that he was so happy for his son and his beautiful wife Sara. But his wife's name wasn't Sara, his ex-girlfriend's was."
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Preview to a Batchelorette Party
So I attended a friend's bridal shower that was a combined batchelorette party (supposed to be afterward), and it was a very small and intimate party complete with wine and good company. Well, the bride-to-be's sister surprised everyone by hiring a stripper to come to the Bridal shower, and so my friend, Kim, was definitely in shock. It was a little painful to watch because she, first of all, was not prepared for this surprise. Secondly, the stripper was a little "seasoned," and he did all the cheesy stereotypical things that we see in movies. He dressed up as a police officer and said that there was a noise complaint. He had to search her, and such. I think strippers especially for women is kind of traumatizing because a strange man is paid to grope the other person, and everyone is supposed to watch. Kim did not enjoy herself, nor did I enjoy watching her. She was screaming at her sisters, "You guys don't know me at all!" She did get a little taste of revenge when she got to put her sisters on the spot, and she ran to get out a whole wad of twenties. I thought that part was funny. So after this experience, I kind of hope that when my time comes I won't be in the same situation. Really, all I want to do is just hang out with "the girls" and have a lot of fun doing it. That is all I ask. Please spread the word. No naked men please. =P
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