To Video or Not

Do we video our wedding ceremony and/or reception? Our biggest issue with video is how we hate the way we look on video. It's because we think it strange to watch ourselves or others back on video in our so-called natural habitats and thus making it very unlikely we'll ever watch it more than once and the one time we watch would be out of curiosity. The bottom line is that we do not want nor need video of ourselves, we prefer photographs.

Stepping away from what we want but what may be nice for others, especially those who are important to us and cannot attend the ceremony in Hawaii or the reception in New Jersey. Those who cannot attend our Hawaiian ceremony would be our dads, my grandparents, a lot of cousins, etc. More will be able to attend the reception but there are still key family members that will be missing. So what should we do? Do we hire someone to just take raw footage (because we can edit it ourselves, our way) or should we enlist family, who may already be planning to video, to help us out or just skip the video all together?

Don't you just love the wedding dilemmas that keep popping up?

More Car Drama

I thought I'd get up early and make my way to the auto shop to have my flat tire from yesterday fixed and I'd be on my way. I was so wrong. It turns out that the tire has more damage than I originally thought. Anyone who knows about flats usually knows that if there's sidewall damage it's all over, well that's what I have. The upside to all of this is that I bought Road Hazard Protection when I bought the tires and thus they'll hook me up with a new tire but not today. I had to order the tire and now have to wait to get it and then have it installed another day. I wonder how long this tire debacle will drag out??? I give it a week at the most, less, if I am lucky.

i CAN change a tire

I've only had two cars in the 7 years that I've been driving and two flats, until today. My very first flat tire was something I didn't even notice. Mom noticed it and even changed it for me because, for some reason, I was incapable. My second flat took place at college (Rutgers) driving on Livingston campus and it was actual a double whammy because I took out both tires on the driver's side. I didn't change them either. I called my super hero brother, Frankie, who came to my rescue and all I had to do was pay for the new tires.

Today was another story. On my way to pick up our friend 2.0 and get late lunch/early dinner I ran over a softball sized rock on a main road (everyone was dodging them and well I didn't dodge so well). At first I thought, "I'm okay" then seconds later the dreaded phllt, phllt, phllt sound of rubber slapping the road. So I pulled over and changed my tire successfully. *patting myself on the back* I am damn proud of this achievement because I did it in heels, a white shirt and was missing the metal turning thing for the jack (this missing item is the used car dealer's fault and the fact that this was Zippy's first flat).

So tomorrow will be another day. I will have to get the flat fixed (thankfully it's on the treads and not on the sidewall) and I have to find one of those metal things for the jack. A slightly sucky thing is that the tires were brand spanking new just in April of this year and one's already got a boo boo. Wish me luck tomorrow.

My mom always said "Aim High"

I think I am aiming pretty high when it's for the status of a trophy wife, what do you think? Ha ha, I'm totally kidding. I think this shirt is truly hilarious. I got this from Rannie, my brother's very lovely and wonderful girlfriend for Christmas. Today may be the right day to wear it around the town. :)

Wikipedia's definition of trophy wife :

Trophy wife is a highly pejorative term, usually applied to a physically attractive younger woman married to a man who has observed a high level of success, be it physical, financial, or otherwise. Usually, the Trophy Wife is not the first wife of the man who has a high level of success and has little to do with the achievement of that success. The term is often used to imply that the man's intent is to exhibit his wealth and success, the social phenomenon known as conspicuous consumption. The term "gold digger" is used to describe a woman who intentionally seeks this arrangement.

The marriage of former Playboy playmate Anna Nicole Smith to oil magnate J. Howard Marshall is an extreme example as at the time of their marriage, he was 89 years old and she was 26.

The Craftiest Gift of All

I am going post a little about the gifts I got for Christmas because I think they are way cool and partly because nothing much is happening during this vacation for me to post about.

So the first gift will be a craft item that I got from Nick's sister and maybe his mom too, it's been a blur ...May I present to you the JustRite Monogram Stamper! It looks great doesn't it? I can make all kinds of monogram stamps with the large and the small letters then add some pizzaz with 4 border designs! How freakin' cool is that? Unfortunately I haven't yet used it to really know how amazing it is, but stay tuned for a slew of monogrammed stuff. I may get a little wild and heat emboss some of the projects.

Sometimes Vacations are Bad

Reason #1 for vacations are bad ... I haven't posted since December 17th! How bad is that?

Reason #2 all I've mostly baked/cooked, shopped and wrapped during my vacation and it's certainly taken a toll on me.

I am so thrilled that Christmas is finally past us because I am beat, really beat from it. On top of being beat from all the Christmas festivities I came down with a stomach virus late (11pm) on Christmas. Luckily I had made it through the entire day without incident but when Nick and I got back to his father's house it was all over for me. I am finally feeling more like myself today and will make a trip to the mall to make an exchange for Nick.

Next is New Year's ... which shouldn't be as hectic as Christmas but the theme this year is "What are your plans?" We have plenty of friends and family without specific plans and apparently we'll all be making plans at the last minute. I am rooting for staying at home.

Jenny Was a Busy Girl

Where do I start?

Friday after work we went to Houlihan's with our friends, Mark and Lauren. Then Lauren and I did the 'chick movie' by going to see Will Smith's The Pursuit of Happyness which turned out to be a very good movie. The story (based on a true story) was heart warming (very chick movie) but even better was the acting. The performances by Will Smith, his son Jaden and Thandie Newton were just amazing and had me crying a bit. Lame I know, but damn it was good acting.

On Saturday I took on the annual and huge task of making our Christmas cards. I decided a couple years back that I should do this because I drop a ton of money on craft supplies and what better way to use the supplies than to make cards. I made about 30 cards this year and even had to supplement with some store bought cards. Here's a sampling of some of my designs ...

Then in the evening (were still on Saturday) I started 5 kinds of Christmas cookies; only called Christmas cookies because Nick's fantastic mother makes them each year at Christmas. 4 of the 5 were her recipes: K-bars, Mexican Wedding Cookies, Pecan Sandies and Chocolate Thumbprints. The 5th cookie was a peanut butter cookie with the fork imprints, it was from a bagged mix. After mixing all the cookies and completing only the K-bars and peanut butter cookies I attempted to bake the Mexican wedding cookies Saturday night because the recipe did not call for chilling the dough. Well those babies did not come out well at all. They were all raw in the middle and just ick. So Nick tried to fix them by putting them back in the oven and testing as the time went on. They ended up being hard as a rock and we vowed to try again on Sunday.

Today, Sunday I gave Nick's mom a call and thought maybe we screwed up the recipe but the recipe was right and somehow I followed it and still effed up. What the hell?! After some discussions, with both Nick and his mother we figured it might be out ghetto ass oven in our rented apartment. Anyhow, I got more butter to remake the Mexican Wedding Cookies, again, as well as a oven thermometer. In summary, take two of the Mexican Wedding Cookies were a success. We think it was a combination of the light butter we bought yesterday (I noticed today, the package explicitly says "not recommended for baking or frying") and the stupid oven of ours. Damn baking all to hell, this is too hard and I have no idea how Nick's mother does it each year. Here's some Chocolate Thumbprints filled with raspberry preserves to taunt you ...

Happy Birthday Frankie!

A shout out to my brother, Frankie - Happy 24th Birthday! I hope it was fabulous.

I ♥ Snowflakes

I know I ♥ a lot of things but there are lots of things to ♥ and today snowflakes are one of them. I found this article on how to make 3-D Paper Snowflake and just had to try it (at work no less). Thankfully I have reams of white paper available to me for work and some personal uses, like this really cool looking snowflake.

The project says to use squared paper and when I was chopping off the excess edge from my 8 1/2 by 11 paper I realized that it be one HUGE snowflake with a wingspan of 17 inches! So I decided to cut 2 - 8 1/2 by 8 1/2 squares into quarters and use the 6 for my snowflake.


I think the snowflake turned out pretty cool, it certainly looks cool in the picture (from my trusty camera phone). It's a bit more bright-copy-paper-white in person and lacking the cool shadows that shows up. All-in-all, I think this was a successful and pretty quick project.

Heat Embossing Rocks

How cool does this look? This is the magical craft of heat embossing! The top and bottom double happiness symbols were stamped with a Versamark Watermark Stamp Pad then covered in Gold Tinsel embossing powder and finally heated with my spankin' new Marvy Uchida embossing heat tool. The bottom one was made to show Nick the coolness of the process. He thinks this has to be the coolest craft thing I have.

The 'technique' for the center double happiness was a bit different because I used a colored stamp pad (Stampin Up Craft in More Mustard) and the left half was sprinkled with clear embossing powder and the right side with the same gold powder. So if you use a colored ink and the clear powder the result will be the colored ink image embossed. If you use a colored powder it really doesn't matter what color ink you use.

I didn't have time to try other colors or stamps but that will be a huge project this weekend because I am going to use this on my holiday cards. How exciting!

Based on the success of this heat embossing I am seriously considering doing some DIY invitations. I think it would be lovely if all the wedding stationary matched but I have to first price out my options and see if it is even worth it to DIY or way cheaper to go to Chinatown and order invites. What do you think? Wish me luck, I'll have a better idea after the holidays.

Christmas is all around us …

… well at least on our hall table. *drum roll* And now I present to you, our Christmas tree! It stands a magnificent 2.5 feet tall and smells of Christmas goodness.

Yes my darlings that is indeed a Dunkin Donuts ornament. I love DD coffee.

Last night Nick and his mother (Mama J) stopped at the grocery store, for what else but groceries, and thought to check out the small trees there. Mama J felt $20 was too much and just knew a tree could be found at a reasonable price. Lucky for us, Nick remembered that there was a local garden/landscape shop and we had ourselves an adorable tree for $10! Talk about bargain.

After dinner we decorated the adorable (Charlie Brown-esque tree) and at one point almost had the tree topple over due to a misplaced ornament. All in all the tree decorating was a success and the cutest part of the tree is the base. It’s a sawed off piece of a log that I must say lends a great deal of character to the tree itself.

Only 12 more days until Christmas, go and get your shopping done. For those of you that celebrate Hanukkah, you’ve got 2 days! Hustle!

T'was 14 Nights Before Christmas ...

... and I had my very first wedding nightmare/dream! Up until now I kept hearing about brides-to-be having these dreams but I couldn't muster not a one. My future sister-in-law even had a wedding dream for me but last night I finally had one of my very own.

This is all I remember ... my parents call me or we meet up someplace. I asked my dad if he set the date with the venue and he says, "Yeah, July 4th." I feel the panic and say, "No, July 1st." He repeats July 4th and then I tell him that the date won't work because of his business. Dad thinks about it for a second and just responds with an "oh". Some where in the dream I end up calling my mom and telling her that dad messed up.

It was a very short dream and not so terrible because it was early enough, I am assuming this, to fix the date. There was no kicking, no screaming, no crying - not a wedding nightmare but definitely a wedding dream.

Wedding Checklist: Kauai Wedding

Weddings are full of lists: guest lists, vendor lists, list of bridesmaids, list groomsmen ... but most importantly the TO DO list.

This is my (rough) TO DO list for our wedding plans on Kauai:

• Set a date - May 24, 2007 done
• Pick a wedding planner - done
• Pick & reserve a dinner venue - The Beach House done
• Choose dinner menu - March 2007
• Choose flowers
• Choose officiant
• File marriage license
• Choose musician
• Choose ceremony venue - when we get there ... scary I know
• Airplane Goodie Bags
• Welcome Bags - started
• Fiance's wedding outfit
• Wedding dress - done
• Wedding shoes - done
• Wedding jewelry
• Veil
• Wedding party attire

I think those are the major items ... I can't seem to think of anything else. Wait til I show you the Chinese banquet list or heck my Hawaii packing list!

Wedding Photography

Aside from the memories I think wedding photography is very important in conveying the emotion and helping to 'replay' the events back in your memory. When I asked my wedding planner, Manulele, for photographers she gave me 3 recommendations. Based on our preference for digital photography we narrowed it to 2 photographers: Sara Wall and Maile Weddings.

The photojournalistic syle of photography makes me swoon. I love photojournalism because of the way it tells a story and how it can make you feel just looking at a picture. Think National Geographic and Time magazine, especially those sad children in third world countries that scream, "adopt me!" After looking at the photography on both sites I am head-over-heels in love with Sara Wall's talent. She is a bit more because of her talent but I think well worth it as the photos (and memories) will be the only tangible memories we will have. Maile Weddings has nice pictures but, to me, it seems that something is missing. I don't feel the same emotions with Maile's pictures that I do Sara's. What do you think?

Now for the teensy little problem. Sara's basic package is exactly what we're looking for (# of photos, hours of coverage, price, etc.) but the problem is that the particular package is "recommended" for couples only. There are more expensive packages that are "recommended" for larger parties; the package that's recommended for the number of guests we're having is priced at $3,000 and well it's a bit too rich for my blood. I am hoping that Sara won't have a problem with us choosing the lowest package, it does fit our needs the best and we only want the ceremony photographed and I'd like to be photographed getting ready (just love the getting-ready pictures).

I know I should tell my planner to book Sara because that's what I want but I hesitate because it's a HUGE commitment and of course there's moola to think about. Give me some more time and I'll committ... I promise.

Welcome Home 2.0!

I just wanted to mark this day as our friend, Erik's, welcome back home day. Erik has been in hospitals for the past month due to a sudden medical occurrence and has made great progress in his recovery, so much so, that he is finally being released and can sleep in his own bed. Welcome Home Erik! We wish you the best for your continued recovery.

Auspicious Shmauspicious

I'm pretty sure (95%) we have a date set for the Chinese banquet, Sunday July 1st, 2007. I say 95% because my dad is handling the detail of booking the venue and I won't know it's taken care of until I hear back from him. But when I called the venue a week ago 7/1/07 was indeed available.

Why 7/1 you ask? Well that would take a lifetime to explain but basically my parents are huge believers in feng shui and luck of the like and auspicious dates is one of them. Since Nick and I are getting married on 5/24 in Kauai we wanted the banquet to take place after we return but not too far after. Between the two families (mine and Nick's) Sunday ended up being the best day of the week. Nick and I figured it was no big deal and we'd pick among 6/10, 6/17 or 6/24. Big deal it was, because not one of those Sundays was considered auspicious. Then my parents went so far as to ask us to get married on the 24th but date our marriage certificate for a different, auspicious date. NO WAY I said. So after some consideration we decided it wasn't worth the drama if their minds are set on it and it's just a party right?

I ♥ these Boots!

Admit it ... they're pretty fabulous! They are Anne Klein "Storme" Tall Boot from Macys.

I have been in the market for brand spankin' new black boots for a couple of years now. I had a pretty decent pair but wore them so much I totally destroyed them. I am much more careful now with my favorites and have even gotten to the point of taking them to a cobbler each year to have new heels put on and if needed, the soles repaired/patched.

My calves are the problem. They are too darn small for 95% of the boots out there. I am a petite girl (5'2") all around and apparently have skinnier than average calves so whenever I try on a pair of boots I can hide stuff in the room that's left. I am hoping that these Anne Klein boots will fit my feet and my calves but there's no way to know until I actually go to Macys. Right now I am scared to the go the mall because ... well it's December and Christmas is only 19 days away and the malls near me are INSANE at this time of year.

I guess I'll have to suck it up at some point if I really like these boots ... wish me luck.

Wedding Hair

Like other wedding visions, I had a particular preference and to my surprise so did Nick. First it was the veil, I didn't want a veil and he does - we're getting a veil. Now it's my hair, I'd always thought I would wear it down and have it in loose curls or something similarly romantic. Nick thinks my hair should be up. I have to agree on the updo or rather a low updo because it'll look fantastic with my dress.

I came across Hair Comes the Bride a site with tons of hair ideas. There are photos of celebrities, brides, bridesmaids - all excellent inspiration. I've already found a handful of hairdos that fit my vision.

More Double Happiness

Lookie what I found, via WeddingBee ...

Double happiness candles! Aren't' they just great?! They are available at Unica Home in two sizes, small ($25) and large ($37). I thought they'd be cute for the Chinese banquet but the price is a lot too steep for me (especially since we'll have up to 20 tables). Unica Home has other double happiness goods: magnets, coasters and even oven mitts!

On a side note, but Chinese banquet related, Brenda forwarded this site to me: MyBigFatChineseWedding and I have to admit that it's quite a read and I can totally relate now and probably more so after my banquet.

Save The Dates

I've decided to get started on save-the-dates for the Chinese banquet. We haven't chosen a date just yet but I have already designed the STDs in my head. I think we'll have the date set before Christmas and since I have about 2 weeks off at the end of the year I will be up to my ears in wedding DIY (do-it-yourself).

The other day I ordered a double happiness rubber stamp from Paper Source. It was $6.50, not including shipping. Take a look at the two versions of the STD I have in mind ...

I'm not going have two versions but these are the two color possibilities. The left one will be rich red cardstock with the double happiness heat embossed in gold (not golden yellow) metallic color. I am not sure how I'll print the information just yet but most likely I'll go to an office supply store to have that printing done so it's even and not at the mercy of my inkjet printer. The right, yellow, version will be a golden yellow cardstock with the double happiness heat embossed in a rich red. I do not know if I should include hotel information with the STD, if so should it be on the STD itself or a seperate insert? If not included, it'll be sent out with the invitations.

What do you think?

Wedding Flowers

Unlike most girls I am not a big fan of flowers or more generally, plants. I don't take care of them very well, probably because they don't tell me when they are thirsty or in need of sun (you should see the poor bamboo plant in my office).

Anyhow, I am having a really difficult time deciding what kind of flowers I'd like for my wedding bouquet. Since we're getting married in Hawaii I don't think traditional flowers, like red roses (although in my favorite color), will work. As beautiful as they'd be I think they'd clash with the tropical surroundings and seem almost cliche. My second idea was a bouquet of plumeria but I think it might be too white/creamish.

I thought this bouquet was very pretty and definitely says tropical, but is it too tropical? I wonder how big it actually is?

This next bouquet also channels tropical but toned down tropical.

So right now those two are my favorites, partly because I can't seem to find anything else that I am in love with. I'd rather not carry a bouquet but I'd then be empty handed and do not have any other alternative to carry/hold as I walk down the aisle. Any ideas?

A Tocci Christmas

As you know, Nick got his Wii yesterday and couldn't wait to set it up and play with it. As I mentioned, the Wii was intended as Nick's Christmas present but even as I teasingly threatened to make him wait, until Decemeber 25th, I could not do it.

After the Wii was set up and ready to go we each created a Mii (avatar) for ourselves, mine sorta looks like this.

I found a site that emulates the Mii creator, it's not exact but pretty darn close.

Being that we sorta had an early Christmas at the Tocci house with Nick getting his Wii, Nick gave me the red iPod he had bought for me. Between the Wii Sports competitions with Nick I set up my iPod and have about 2.5 hours of music on it and will definitely add more later when I get my iTunes and mp3 library better organized .

The Wii is truely amazing and so much better than all the other systems (old school Nintendo and new PS3 or Xbox) due mainly to the wireless, super-interactive controllers. While playing Wii sports I kicked butt in boxing (knocked Nick out twice), did a pretty good job bowling and golfing, whooped Nick (Agassi style) at tennis and even beat him at the fitness program (by a point but I still won). I highly recommend the Wii and it's definitely worth the $250 price tag.

It's Here ...

UPDATE: We got the controllers too! It's going to be a wiidiculus Wednesday!

Christmas has come early in the Tocci House!!!

Wii are Still Waiting

It's been an entire week since I ordered Nick's Wii and it is still not at our house. We've been checking the status on USPS and each day it has said that the post office has been notified (on 11/22) to pick it up. I hate to say it but the 22nd was 6 whole days ago, I know Thanksgiving happened the next day but they had Friday, Saturday and Monday to get over to the Amazon warehouse and pick it up. Seriously!

Zelda for the Wii arrived yesterday (Nick pre-ordered from Best Buy) causing some excitement over the Wii and, that one day soon, he'd be able to play Zelda on the Wii.

As we wait for the Wii, we are also waiting for the 2nd set of controllers. When I ordered the system I had planned to get extra controllers after we knew we definitely had the system and would just place a separate order. Apparently there was a run on the accessories as well because within 5 minutes of getting the system Amazon was sold out of the remote and nunchuk controllers. After some internet scouring for the controllers, and hopefully a free shipping and/or discount deal, I had to suck it up and pay for shipping and tax to get controllers before they were sold out everywhere. I got them from Nintendo's online store. After tracking the controllers, for a week, on UPS' site they will arrive at our humble abode tomorrow.

So tomorrow I will go home and just mimic playing the Wii with everything but the system.

Yi & Brenda are AWESOME

Who are Yi & Brenda? Yi is my mom's youngest brother and Brenda, his wife. They are cool for so many reasons. One of the top reasons being that they are the parents of the coolest little girls in the world, my cousins, Catherine and Victoria. Another reason, givers of our very first wedding gift! Drum roll please ... may I present to you the Calphalon Contemporary Non-Stick Cookware 10 Piece set ...I am pleased as punch over the set and so appreciative of such a generous and wonderful gift.

On a side note ... since I've registered for bridal shower/wedding gifts I've been "needing" some of the stuff I registered for. For example, the other day I bought 2 packs of chicken breasts and was prepping it for a meal and freezing the rest when I realized that I could easily weigh how much chicken was in each freezer bag if I only had the scale that's on my registry list. I was half tempted to run out to Bed Bath and Beyond with my 20% coupon and get it. If I start buying stuff for myself off the registry I'll be in big trouble because (1) I'll be out of wedding money and (2) I'll have pretty empty registry come bridal shower/wedding time.

It's Been a Week ...

I just realized it's been an entire week since I last posted. I must have been one busy bee!

My Week in Review

• went to work (3 out of 5 days)
• cleaned house (vacuumed, mopped, dusted, etc.)
• grocery shopping (3 times? because I forgot stuff)
• Thanksgiving
• Black Friday (stayed home like a smart girl)
• went to the bank
• went to the gym (twice)
• cooked & prepared food (both for Thanksgiving and the party mentioned below)
• went into Manhattan with my amiga, Michell, to visit a friend in physical rehab
• had a party at my house for former co-workers (Michell, Dita, & Josanne)
• cleaned up after the party (many thanks to Nick for his help)

At least it looks like I was busy for 4 days.

Wedding Update

It's set, we're getting married in 184 days on Thursday May 24, 2007 in Kauai! We confirmed with the planner and sent her our deposit of $200. Now I have to worry about everything else ... the marriage license, the beach, the musicians, the photographer, flowers, etc.

Also set is the venue for the Chinese banquet. Nick and I went to see it and really loved the banquet room. The next step would be to set the date, I think my dad will be choosing an auspicious date for this since we didn't go with one for our Hawaii ceremony.

The wedding planning is moving along!

Wii Got A Wii!

The hype for the new Nintendo system has been ongoing for quite sometime now and the wait, seemingly, longer. But finally, today, Nintendo Wii Release Day (also known as November 19, 2006) has arrived. Earlier this week Sony's Playstation 3 debuted to limited quantities, overnight lines, violence, and insanely overpriced ebay sales - all of which worried me about the Wii release.

Nick has been so excited about the Wii that I said I'd get it for him for his birthday and/or Christmas. Since his birthday has since passed it has become a Christmas gift, but what if I couldn't get it? I've never really dealt with toys or game releases like this and the only thing that came close was last year on Black Friday when Nick and I tried to wait outside of Circuit City for some bargain electronics and that was a somewhat failed and definitely ridiculous excursion.

So rewind to yesterday, the eve of the Wii release ... Nick and I had a game plan to be up and pound the main electronics websites for a midnight release. We had a received emails from Amazon.com about their plans for the Wii release, but it was somewhat cryptic about the time. They basically said it would be released on the 19th but based on Pacific Standard Time. So we figured that'd be 3am EST. So we figured we'd try at midnight EST, but unfortunately we didn't find anyone that had it available then. The next attempt was at 3am on Amazon and any other sites possibly working on PST (I had gone to bed by then). I awoke around 8-8:30am and poor Nick was delirious from exhaustion, frustration and of course no Wii. So he went to bed and I began my day. I saw that a local Target had the Wii listed as available but limited. I decided to take a ride over on the off chance they had one. It was definitely wishful thinking because the Target Team Member I asked just about laughed at me.

I returned home (a little sad) and arrived just before 11am EST (8am PST) and decided to try Amazon (and other sites) with the hopes that they were thinking like a business and the earliest they could get people in to launch on a weekend would be 8am, 9am the latest. After about 5 minutes of constant refreshing I thought it'd be a 9am PST release, but I decided to keep trying a little longer. Suddenly I was no longer seeing the blue box that said it was unavailable, I was seeing the magical add to my cart button. Adding didn't take right away but after a couple of tries I finally had the Wii in my cart and was able to complete the check out process. I was still in disbelief and didn't believe it until I saw the confirmation email.And as one should always do when victorious, I woke Nick with shouts of, "We Got A Wii!"

Tagless Clothing

In the past couple of years clothing makers have gotten into the whole tagless clothing thing. I love that my underwear or shirt doesn't make me itch at the nape of my neck or my lower back but I realized yesterday that tagless does make getting dressed in darkness (or in my case, semi-darkness) pretty darn difficult.

Lately I've been obsessed with Target's Mossimo shirts and they happen to be of the tagless variety. Yesterday I was dressing pretty much in the dark (as to not wake the sleeping Fiance) and couldn't, for the life of me, figure if my shirt was inside out or if I was going to put it on backwards. Normally, I would feel for the tag and figure out it's orientation but yesterday's lighting and tag situation made it pretty darn difficult. You'd think I could try and feel for the printed tag, like trying to read Braille, but that's pretty darn difficult too because the printing is like a tattoo.

Nittaya, Thai Restaurant

Last night Nick and I went into Hoboken to visit a friend in the hospital (get well soon, 2.0!) and on our way home we were very hungry. We were bouncing dinner ideas back and forth when I spotted a hole-in-the-wall Thai restaurant near the Lincoln Tunnel. We found parking and braved the wind and rain to try out Nittaya located in Weehawken, NJ.

We ordered our favorite dishes (me-pad see ew, Nick-pad thai) as a control to measure this newly found dining establishment. In addition, we got our favorite appetizer of fried tofu (you can't go wrong with it) and tried the curry puffs. The appetizers were fantastic. Nick decided he could live on the curry puffs for the rest of his life and I had to agree. As for the main entrees, Nick liked the pad thai, I tried it and thought it tasted like all pad thai so, yes, it was good (I'm not a big fan of pad thai). The pad see ew was average for me because I prefer it not to be spicy and it was a bit sweeter than I am used to. My favorite pad see ew (not too sweet nor spicy) can be found in Edgewater at Thai Tanee (or Thai Kitchen), which continues to be my favorite Thai restaurant.

So Nittaya gets a B on this visit (the curry puffs brought it up from a C+).

Wedding Card

I made a wedding card for our friends' wedding ... but I forgot to take a picture of it. What the hell is wrong with me? Anyhow, I can assure you it was pretty (Nick even admired it). I'll try to describe it for you ...

• It was 5.5" x 8.5" in size
• Burgundy cardstock
• Vertical orientation
• Cream mulberry paper (4.5" x 7.5") centered on the cardstock
• Gold mesh ribbon across the bottom with "love" rubber stamped on it
• 2 wire "wedding rings" tied together with a trimmed piece of the gold mesh ribbon

Do you get the picture? Maybe not ... so here's a little sketch ...

I swear it looked way better in person.

Chinese Banquet

Last Thursday (Nov 9), Nick and I met up with my parents in Chinatown on our first Chinese Banquet excursion. The main goal was to eat at Ming Dynasty in Chinatown and decide if a banquet in New York City was worth it.

We arrived around 2pm for dim sum and some extra dishes that my parents hooked us up with. The food we had was excellent. The venue not so excellent. When we arrived we walked up a double flight of stairs (flanked with lighted advertisements - totally tacky) and then when we walked into the restaurant and it was just *BAM* dining area. There was no mini lobby/reception area just a large expanse of room and tons of tables and chairs. The room was huge and actually had divider walls that could be moved to make it bigger or smaller (they can accommodate up to 2 parties at once). The decor and setup was just total cheese factor and no attention to detail. The thorough and seasoned wedding venue inspector that I am, I checked out the bathrooms with my mom, and they were plain. I couldn't imagine people all dressed up going to NYC and seeing this blah venue and then the blah bathrooms. A bit of a disappointment and relief at the same time (parking would've been an issue). I rate Ming Dynasty a C+, and only because it was huge and the food good.

My parents had checked out Sunny Palace, in East Brunswick NJ, the week before and really liked the banquet room. They did encounter some issues with things they discussed with the owner but later got a call back and he basically said he'd work it out with them if we booked a Sunday date. Not too bad, especially since we're aiming to book a Sunday. Here are pictures of the banquet room from their website:

Based on these pictures I am really thrilled with the banquet room's decor. It is such a HUGE difference from Ming Dynasty and other Chinese restaurant banquets I've been to. I love red but not the super-bright-almost-tacky-Chinese-red that is thrown your face at banquets. Another bonus, parking is no problem at all here! Nick and I are going on Saturday to have dim sum and check it out for ourselves. As long as we like it my daddy will take care of the rest of the details.

The wedding planning is finally taking shape!

Hersheys ... What's the idea behind seasonal Twizzlers?

I had one of these snack size Twizzlers Twists on Halloween and have become addicted to them. I began to crave more so I found a bag at CVS after Halloween (what was I think just buying one bag?) and in about a week and half's time ate the entire bag. To Nick's dismay, I am now frantically searching for any bags leftover from Halloween to feed my addiction. Why don't I just get regular Twizzlers? I would if I could but I can't because these Twizzlers are different. The flavor is better, the texture softer, the size smaller and oh so freakin good. I just found out, after some extensive googling, that it's a seasonal item (meaning Hallo-freakin-ween only).

I am actually sad, very sad that I cannot indulge in my snack size Twizzler addiction until ... next September when the Halloween candy comes out. I don't think I can wait that long. I am seriously going to check out ebay when I get home from work, this is bad, really really bad.

If anyone can find them for me I will pay you for them, I must have them.

A Member of Twizzlers Anonymous

Target does it again

I placed a Target order online last week and got most of my stuff yesterday. In the box was this headband by Behnaz Sarafpour:For only $7.99, this is one gorgeous headband. The lace is beautiful and over a white ribbed material. I wore it out last night and to work today. I feel fancy with my black and white headband and wish I could wear it everyday.

In addition to my online shopping, I paid 2 visits to Target this weekend for various reasons. But on my first trip I was scouring the clearance racks for marked down exercise gear since I joined that darned gym and now need exercise outfits. What's a girl to do? Anyhow, the best find was a cocoa brown blazer with light blue (great with jeans) and cream accents, in my size, and on clearance for $19.98! It gets better, I went to check out and the blazer rang up $13!

Also in Target news, the Dollar Spot section has a lovely selection of Mickey Mouse and Hello Kitty stocking stuff type items (pads, pens, magnets, zipper pouches, key chains, hair ties, etc.) All the stuff is of great quality and was almost cleared out when I first spotted it this past weekend.

The Best Italian Place Outside of Little Italy NYC

Today I had leftovers. Penne alla vodka from dinner last night (our 5th dating anniversary) at La Vecchia Napoli, a little Italian place in Edgewater, New Jersey. The penne was still to-die-for left over and sadly I wish I had more to eat. I don't usually like penne alla vodka but this place has the best ever.

In addition to the fabulous penne my favorites from La Vecchia Napoli are:

Carciofi Rosto (appetizer) - roasted artichokes in garlic and oil

Tiramisu (my favorite dessert item) - last night we tried a twist on the tiramisu from the dessert specials menu, strawberry tiramisu. Not as rich as the regular but also very good.

Now I'm hungry again just thinking about last night's dinner ...

Excited Mother-of-the-Bride

I was talking to my mom the other night about plans/ideas for the Chinese wedding banquet and whenever I started to give my input my mom would basically sush me so she could go on about all the ideas she had for the banquet. It was pretty amusing listening to how excited she got over the ideas she had for centerpieces, placecards, invitiations, favors, food, etc.

One of my suggestions for favors or just a big bowl on the table, was chocolate fortune cookies (I absolutely LOVE these), yes ... chocolate! I found Fancy Fortune Cookies online that have chocolate fortune cookies as well as other flavors and colors. They can also customize the fortune that's inside. I don't know if that's worth the money but my parents (having been in the Chinese restaurant business in the past) can totally hook me up with the chocolate fortune cookies from Chinatown NYC. I think it's a good idea because it's not too Chinese-take-out-restaurant hokey but more unique. I will definitely stay away from chopsticks (other than as a eating utensil) and take-out box type decor/favors. That would just be too much tackiness.

I'm still confused about actual favors, my dad suggested (and is rooting for) those mini-bottles of wine/champagne. Here's a mini-Moet and a shoe to show just how cute they minis are:

I am Doubly Happy

Since our Chinese wedding banquet will include both my distant relatives (most of whom I do not know) as well as relatives from his side of the family the event needs to have some Westernization. Since there are some people who have to travel we'd like to send out save-the-date cards. I am considering making my own but I found these pretty things online at Magic Wand Weddings ...

I am all for simplicity and beauty and the above save-the-date seems to fit. My only problem is the actual english transalation of the character ... I 'm not sure if it's just slightly tacky enough to

find one without the words or I'm just being super picky.

Also from Magic Wand are the matching table numbers, menus, thank you cards, etc.

The Countdown

I've been thinking... and realized that it's been over 6 months since we got engaged. Naturally thinking about the engagement I next thought about the wedding. So far our date is set for Thursday May 24, 2007. According to the countdown site I discovered via weddingbee, we have ...
... until our wedding day!!!

The excitement will really begin when I have to start packing for our trip then I'll be super excited and will be too giddy to function properly. This is going to be great!

Invitations for the Chinese Wedding Banquet

Growing up a Chinese American I've seen, in movies and on television as well as attended, my share of Chinese wedding banquets. Every banquet, except for one, took place in Chinatown, New York in a Chinese restaurant with gaudy red and gold decor. It is now my turn and my family's obligation to have a Chinese wedding banquet for me and my future husband.

A significant memory I have of Chinese wedding banquets are the bright red and gold invitations. Not only are they, or can be, pretty gaudy they also have a smell. I cannot really describe it ... it's not a bad scent but certainly unique, almost incense-like. Oh another thing ... the pink insert paper, it's so tacky with the red and gold invitation. So my main project is to find a Chinese banquet invitation that pleases my parents and of course can stay below the tacky factor.

These are my favorites, all from icatchingcards...

Who doesn't LOVE Target?

How many of you are in love, deeply with Target? This store never ceases to amaze me with their selection and bargains.

My most recent discovery at Target is the Mossimo Red: Long Sleeve Crew Neck Tee for only $8.99! I bought 2 (1 black and 1 white) about 2 weeks ago when they were on super sale for only $7.99 each and loved them so much I forked up $2 more to get another black and one in bing cherry red. I normally buy my long sleeve tees from Old Navy and Gap because of the quality but I have to say that Target (or rather Mossimo) is giving them a run for their money. I love how the tee is so soft, fitted and not too thick. Also a bonus it runs as a longer length tee, not super long but long enough that my XS tee lays quite nicely over my lowrise slacks/jeans. So for $8.99 these Mossimo tees are one heck of a bargain.

I think the Go International idea is brilliant. Unfortunately I haven't fallen in love with any of the clothing from any of the designers that have been featured. I always see something way cute but wish it wasn't wallpapered in cherries or was in a different color. Although this isn't part of the Go International line it's still a featured designer, Rafe.

It's not a bad deal considering it is a designer bag but my issue with it is that it's not leather. I've had my bad experiences with pleather and cannot get myself to spend $50 on a bag that I will absolutely destroy because it's made of ... plastic. I'd rather put down the few hundred for a bag I love and one that will last. Call me snobby but I just can't spend money on a bag that I just know I'll use it to death and the sad day will come when a bag I love will no longer be able to be used.

Birthday Success

On Friday, the eve of Nick's birthday, we went to Blue Moon Mexican Cafe in Englewood for dinner and then, as I mentioned, to Cirque du Soleil. Definitely an eventful night.

We arrived at Cirque just in time, took our seats (I got 4th row floor seats) and marveled at the set up of the arena for the show. At the time we had no clue, but the show began with a mini-concert which caused me to almost panic because I didn't know Delirium was that musical but after 2 songs the singer, Nitza, said it was just a preshow and the real show would begin after the 15 minute intermission ... whew.

Once the real show began, Nick and I were in awe. The costumes, the lighting, the props, the talent, etc. were all absolutely amazing. I've never seen a show like this before. I think I may have fallen in love with Cirque du Soleil.

Here's a taste of Delirium from the Cirque website: I highly recommend at least seeing one Cirque du Soleil show and maybe a second for comparision. I myself am doing some searching to find the next Cirque show in my area or some place that's not too far away.

Red Obsessed

I admit it ... I AM A RED ADDICT.


I've always admired the color red but recently I've come to LOVE it. I think it began 2 years ago when I bought my first car. It's a 2002 Mazda Protege5 in what else but red. Then I was in the market for a new coat and chose a red quilted Burberry coat. Recently I bought a red padlock for the gym and realized my bookbag from college is a red Jansport.

My red loves:

• a red trimmed Dooney & Bourke bag
• a red Mazda CX-7
• red Jaguars
• the red ipod nano
• red luggage

I think it's an illness but after thinking about it, I could like other "girlie" colors like pink (sorry to those pink lovers out there) but red is a good strong color and it stands out. Just think how easy it would be to find my red luggage at the airport amongst all the other lugguge (usually black).

Don't get me wrong I like other colors too (particularly black) but red has become a theme or a natural choice for me.

Update

4 words ... it was a success!

The fiance and I went to the gym last night and did about 40 minutes of cardio (treadmill and elliptical) and today I feel pretty darn good. I really thought I'd be an old and crabby lady today with sore legs but alas I am not. I made it out the front door this morning and even up the stairs to get to my office.

I have to take a break from the gym today because Nick's birthday is Saturday and I have quite a few errands to run that are birthday related. I had a surprise planned for him (for his birthday) since July and he was asking all sorts of questions about it the other night so I decided to let him in on the surprise. I got him Cirque du Soleil: Delirium tickets for Friday night. He's totally stoked and I really hope he enjoys it. It seems that I tend to get him tickets to something for his birthday ... last year was Blue Man Group and another year (either 2002 or 2003) we went to Niagara Falls and saw the Barnum & Bailey Circus. So ... happy early birthday Nick.

A major commitment

We did it ... we signed our lives away and joined a gym.










Nick and I have done a lot of talking about joining a gym and getting our heart rates up, etc. Up until Monday we were a lot of talk and no action. We spent Monday evening checking out all of our local gyms and then yesterday we decided to join New York Sports Club. We had intentions to start working out last night but learned that our NYSC didn't have towel service and we needed towels to shower or use the sauna so we had to call it a night.

Today will be workout attempt #2, we'll have towels so I do not anticipate a problem.

Wow

Nick found this picture online and it happens to have been taken at the Sheraton Kauai, where we are staying next May for our wedding. I have a feeling this is on the Western side of the resort as that's the part I know to have more grass and rocks. The Eastern side sits on Poipu Beach.

This picture makes me so happy to be getting married in Hawaii, I wish I was leaving tomorrow.

Ecofetti

This was too cool not to mention. I just found out about this on the fabulous weddingbee blog...

it's called ecofetti and is confetti that is enviromentally friendly because it is biodegradable. You can just leave it where it falls and let Mother Earth take care of the rest or just hose it down to make it disappear. You can get a free sample (sorta free but definitely discounted) by sending a S.A.S.E. to the company (with 2 -39 cents stamps) and they'll mail you some ecofetti to check out and play with.

I've been debating whether or not I want something tossed at me after I am married. Personally I think it's a very strange tradition and the choice of items to throw strange as well. The first, rice, I personally love rice (any carb) and think it's such a shame to throw it when I can cook it up and eat it. My other issue with rice is the fact that if it's thrown or tossed or somehow flies in your direction ... it hurts (keep in mind rice tapers to a kind of point on each end) and knowing me I'd end up with rice in my eye. The second, birdseed, not only could it hurt and end up in my eye but I have visions of birdseed being thrown and then flocks and flocks of birds descending up on the group and pecking out our eyes that are already full of birdseed. Now eye injuries and bird attacks aside, I think when the tossing is caught on film it looks so pretty... I know, I know, I don't make any sense. :)

I think I would be unscathed if we had ecofetti at our wedding. It doesn't look hard at all and in order to get it in my eye it may have to be thrown directly at my face ... what do you think? But just because I think it's cool but it doesn't mean a decision is made. A new problem arises ... the fiance HATES confetti. I know this because his sister (my MOH) used to send him cards with a little confetti surprise and it would get all over the place when he opened the card. It was funny to watch it float around after he removed the card from the envelope and then the cussing as he tried to clean up the little bits of confetti.

Ecofetti is awesome and now I must convince the Fiance that it's cool too.

Setting a date

I have to set 4 dates for wedding related events (1) my wedding (2) bridal shower (3) Chinese reception, and (4) tea party reception. We have the wedding date pretty much set (I'll know 100% in less than 2 weeks) and just yesterday the bridal shower date was set.

Lately I've been getting the feeling that the wedding has reached a standstill and nothing seemed to be getting done. Now that two dates have been pretty much set I feel much better about the progress of it all. Now I just have to sit down with my FMIL and my parents and get the ball rolling on the other two dates that have to be decided upon.

Wedding Planner

We've decided on a wedding planner for our ceremony in Hawaii. Her name is Bridget Manulele Clarke . Manulele was actually my second choice but only because I found her in the middle of my planner search and I had already been bombarding the 1st choice with many inquiries to see if she fit my requirements.

My first choice, who I'll refer to as TDW, was nice and very informative but was not good at getting back to me at all. I was reminded by TDW that Hawaii is very laid back and expect to wait for a response. Unfortunately that is not acceptable to me. I understand that the Hawaiian culture is very laid back but if you're running a business you still have to be a bit cut throat and observe business etiquette in order to succeed. Sadly, TDW never responded to my last email making a final inquiry about ceremony venues so we went with Manulele.

Back to Manulele, I have to give her the praise that is due. We haven't made any decisions at all (not even pay the deposit) but Manulele has been fantastic. We've bombarded her with so many questions and not only does she get back to you in less than 12 hours but she provides so much detail and other recommendations. I am blown away by the level of professionalism and caring Manulele has exhibited. So she gets our business (and money).

My Favorite Piece of Jewelry

Like any other girl I love anything that shines and sparkles.

Take a look at this baby ...

That my friends, is my oh-so-freakin-awesome engagement ring. My fiance and I designed it ourselves after searching high and low for the right ring. My biggest concern was that the main stone had to be set low because I am pretty accident prone and didn't want to worry a lot about knocking out the sparkle (I still worry everyday). Along the same lines of protecting the center stone we wanted a secure setting and this pretty 4-prong basket setting seemed indestructible. We figured if the setting was somehow compromised I'd probably lose my finger in the process (yes this disturbing visual allows me to sleep at night).

Initially I thought I'd be happy with just a solitaire but the fiance, Nick, insisted it needed some extra bling in the form of side stones. We saw all kinds of variations of side stones from pear shaped to hearts to pave but finally settled on 5 smaller prong set round stones on each side. (If you count up all the stones we get my favorite number 11!)

Enough about the ring itself ... Did you know that taking pictures of a diamond, in all of its sparkling glory, is difficult? I played around with my digicam and figured it out. My camera is a Canon PowerShot SD300 and to get the pictures above I used the folllowing settings ...

• Digital Macro (tulip with a "D")
• You can leave it on AWB (autobalance) or switch around to other settings (Day Light, Cloudy, etc.) to get the true coloring right.
• ISO Speed - I set it at the highest, 400.
• You can take the picture in color or use other settings like B&W or Sepia - prefer to do B&W/Sepia right on the camera rather than in Photoshop.
• Also NO flash - flash will cause your ring to catch more light and you'll end up with a blur if you use the settings I recommended flash shouldn't go off.

Groomsmen Gifts

More shopping! Can you tell I love shopping? It's certainly an addiction but thankfully the addiction is not a problem. Since I've been spending so much time thinking about gifts for my girls I thought I'd think about my Fiance' s groomsmen. Like me, he only has two in his party. I think the gifts should be ...

1. Manly
2. Cool
3. Useful

Here are my ideas (honey, are you paying attention?)...

Flask from Love Me , $35 - but do we want to encourage the drinky drinky?

Temperpedic Comfort Slippers, $65 - the bestman mentioned he thinks these are cool

R2-D2 , $120 - useless yes, but definitely cool

Some additional ideas that I came across...

Swiss Army Memory Tool from Red Envelope , $115 for 1 Gig
Heideluerg Beer Mugs from Bed Bath & Beyond, $9.99 for set of 4
Monogram Coasters from Bed Bath & Beyond, $19.99 for set of 4

I'm thinking we could get a couple items and combine them to make a gift basket-like thing. Part of the problem is that this is my sweetie's project and I really don't know what he has in mind or what the budget is for gifts.