Flaggin' it down

I've just died and gone to wedding heaven. Just when I'm getting tired of anything and everything wedding related, I see two inspirational posts that make me literally jump up and down with joy.

You see, I've been smitten for sparkler send-off's. But a) I highly doubt that our venue will allow us to have sparklers, and b) we plan on shutting down our own party. We've been to weddings with bubbles blown and lavendar thrown at the couple as they exit down the aisle. I've thought about having ribbon wands, but those convey more of a whimisical feel, which is not what we're going for.

via The Bride and Groom via Swenson Photography

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Just as I convinced myself that less is more, Ms. Stripes over at Weddingbee blogged about flags as a ceremony send-offs. Not to mention, Boston's very own Bee, Mrs. Potato Chips also semi-DIY'd her own version. BRILLIANT! I don't care that they're considered "indie" in the wedding blogosphere. I just know that they're cute and Jake agrees that they would be a lot of fun for both us and our guests.

Ms. Stripes DIY'd hearts on muslin. Photo by Ms. Stripes.

Mrs. Potato Chips' "YAY" flags via Mrs. Potato Chips.

I'm not sure if I'll make them from scratch of if I'll start with pre-made flags. All these ideas are really making me regret not lugging my mom's sewing machine over here with me four years ago. Then again, I haven't the slightest clue how to use it.

Dressing the Women Folk: MOB

Oh how do I start this post? I know, let's start with a vocabulary lesson first. What is MOB? MOB stands for mother of the bride. Similarly, MOG would be mother of the groom.

While at home in Oregon, I took my mom shopping. We just looked at shops in Salem, OR. As it turns out, there aren't very many wedding shops in the state's capitol city. We found a couple of potential dresses, but my mom struggled with concept of alterations. She thought all "american" dresses were ill fitting and clusmy since the dresses she tried on were too long on her. OYE!

On to pictures. This first dress was our top contendor. I don't have a picture of her in the dress because I'm a bad blogger and totally forgot. Jasmine Bridals - J1168:

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I must admit, while my mom was trying on the Jasmine dress, I was thinking that Jake's mom, the MOG, would look fabulous in it. The two dresses below are the other one's we found, but just aren't it.

Too matronly!

It's OK, but I still like the first one better.

In the end, she decided not to go with my bridesmaids and me when we went dress shopping in Portland. She told me that she would go with my dad at a later date. You have no idea how much this stressed me out. But what can you do? As it turns out, she tried on a few Chinese cheongsam dresses and liked them a lot more. I speculate it's because the shop had them in her size and the dress lengths were shorter. I'm glad she decided to go the cheongsam route. I was already leaning towards a more traditional Chinese dress for her as to add a touch of culture to our wedding day.

Not too shabby. Or course she won't be wearing red
or black the day of. Also note the black dress looks
all lumpy, the dress wasn't zipped all the way.

Hiccups

When I get the hiccups, I get them bad. They are loud, violent, and they strike at will. I think they're obnoxious, but everyone else seems to be entertained by them. My coworkers have laughed at me. My coworkers have tried scaring them out tof me. Nothing works, I just have to wait till they go away on their own. However, I do know how to turn them on. Swallowing bread after forgetting to chew always does the trick. My friend Jack used to laugh at me every morning in grad school because of this very reason. 

Yesterday, the hiccups hit me twice. The first time, I was walking down the hall at work behind a random dude. After the 5th hiccup, he turned around to give me a funny look. Sorry buddy, but I have no control over them. The second time I was at home...in the shower! Apparently they were so loud, Jake could hear me clear across the apartment.

So why am I telling you about this? While I was hiccuping, it dawned on me that I might possibly hiccup during the ceremony! Of all the things that I could possible worry about, I'm thinking about hiccups. Oye!

I can just see it now, gorgeous sunset, beautiful bride, our officiant saying a few words, *HICCUP*. I start shaking/convulsing/heaving all the while "hicuuup" are escaping my lips. Which then will be followed by both of my hands over my mouth and the crowd rolling in laughter. At least everyone will be entertained.

Note to self, do not eat anything right before walking down the aisle.

Jake Can Cook

The title is a "Yan Can Cook" reference....anyone get that? Didn't think so.

Previously, I gushed about Jake learning to dance. Want to see what else he can do?

He can cook too! That's right people, he's cooking asparagus.

Live from LA...

That's right folks, we're blogging for ya from Los Angeles, CA!

Just wanted to check in and let you know that we haven't dropped off the face of the planet (yet). We were barely 3 weeks back from our annual trip to the Pacific North West before Weddingpalooza 2010 kicked it into double time. Hang tight for lots of updates. We'll recap about OR/WA, wedding planning adventures of our own (aka, dressing the mother of the bride), as well as wedding adventures from NY state and CA.

We'll be back...

Happy Feet

Previously, I shared a video from an epic first dance. Remember how I mentioned that I'm a seasoned dancer? Because of this, Jake and I do not dance together much. We'll do the obligatory hug-and-waddle once in awhile, but it's not my thing. Don't get me wrong, I don't have a problem with others doing it, I just have a problem with doing it myself.

Anyways, enough about me. Jake wants to dance at our wedding. After some research, we found a private instructor that specializes in teaching beginners AND teaches one of my favorite dances. It's not the waltz, foxtrot, or evolution of dance. But it's awesome. We're not going to reveal anything more. You will just have to wait till the day of to be surprised.

We've had two lessons with Karen to date. Jake is picking the stuff up like a sponge! I love watching him break down the movements, both footwork and arm/hand positioning, until he understands. It's fun to watch him "debug" dancing like he would software.

I love how much Jake is getting into swing of things (sorry couldn't resist the pun). He is considering learning a few other dances!!!!

Karen, our instructor, working with Jake during our first lesson.

Home Improvement

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What girl didn't have a crush on JTT back in the day? And now back to our regularly scheduled programming....

Last weekend, Jake and I helped our friend M fix up his newly acquired home. It's not a brand new home or an old fixer upper. The house just needed a bit of TLC before he moved in. Along with his parents and other friends, we spackled, sanded, painted, and assembled an entire dining set (8 chairs!). M's dad refused to paint, so he was off working on electricals and plumbing.

All this work inspired me to spruce up our place. Not long after we moved into our current place, we hit up Ikea. In addition to all the bookshelves, we also purchased some diode lights. I had intentions to install them under the cabinets in the kitchen for two reasons: 1) more lighting over the counters and 2) a light source at night time. I HATE the overhead kitchen lights because I can see them from the bedroom. Ever since we started living together, I've become a light sleeper. I used to sleep like a rock too!

It's been almost 6 months, but the lights are finally up.

Not too shabbyand I didn't even drill any holes. I hid all the ugly wiring behind my mixer :)