Omakase at Toshi Sushi part 1

It's been 2 short/long (however you look at it) years since Jerry and I started dating.  To celebrate, we ate copious amounts of sea creatures.

We started off with this lovely presentation.

Baby oyster.  I even ate the onions. 

Slightly seared tuna

Baby squid

Some kind of tart salad which I ate and then forgot to take a picture of.

Various nigiri.  A little bit of wasabi was tucked in between the rice and the fish.  Yum.  Speaking of which, the wasibi was freshly grated!

Jerry is a sushi snob now.

Chef Toshi

I love Japanese sushi chefs.  They are so funny!

I loved, loved, loved this.  Miso cod.  SO GOOD.

Slightly seared scallops and salmon with foie gras.  SO GOOOOOD.

Again, here's my favorite!!  I just want hunk of fish over a big bowl of rice.  My idea of comfort food is claypot catfish over a bowl of rice, and this comes in a close second!

That's only half of our meal- stay tuned for the other half!

Inspiration: I Spy Photo Kiddie Scavenger Hunt

Seriously, how did people plan weddings before there were INTERNETS?

I'm floored by the plethora of ideas and inspiration out there.  I'm also overwhelmed.  I've bookmarked hundreds and hundreds of tutorials, tips, and templates and I haven't made the time to sit down to sift through them all.  But I've made some goals for this long weekend: I will clean out my starred reader items this weekend.  Serious!!  I'm also planning on cleaning out my closets.  I will also clean out our DVR of all its No Reservations reruns. I'm a pretty ambitious person, you see.

Speaking of ambitious, here's another wedding DIY that I want to add to our growing to-do list:

Via MS Weddings 

I'm thinking of incorporating this for the kids, to keep them occupied throughout the event.  I think some of the kids will probably be bored with it at some point during the wedding, but it has the potential to engage enough kids that hopefully we'll end up some fun and creative shots!  On more than one occasion I've handed off my old Olympus C7000, our former XTi, and our current D300 to my cousins and about 1 out of every 10 pictures come out pretty decent...or interesting.  Kids have unique angles and ways of seeing things.  I'm not all too concerned with the quality of the pictures, I'm more concerned with keeping them busy and maybe getting something fun out of it!

Next step: find a great deal on disposable cameras!  We're only looking to buy btwn 15 and 20 of them.  There should be around 25-30 kids that will be coming, but some of them are quite young so maybe I'll give them some boxes to play with.  (Just kidding.)  (Have you noticed that kids younger than 4 are more interested in the wrapping paper and boxes than the actual gift?)  I'd like a disposable camera with less than 20 exposures, but most seem to come with 27, and for some reason the ones with 15 exposures are more expensive?!

Step #2: jazzing up the cameras.  I found this great tutorial on Weddingbee for camera casing templates from Miss Cola.  Since we aren't making that many, I don't see this step being too labor intensive.  I also, want to build on that idea and create a camera "strap" for the kids to hold around their necks.  I think it could be as simple as inserting eyelets on each side, and then knotting some sturdy ribbon through them.  We'll see :)  Kids tend to set things down and they'll run around, thus losing whatever they had before, so I want to take even another step further and label each camera with their respective names.  That way, we'll know which shots came from which kid!

Step #3: creating the I Spy Cards.  This is a really nice template from MS, but I think I'd like to adapt it to our wedding colors, and I'd probably change the font as well as the size.  This font is really cute, but not that readable for a 6 year old.  Also, the colors are pretty, but too light for readability, esp as the sun goes down.  I'd also like to change some of the items as well.  Mrs. Bee came up with this humongous list that I will definitely be drawing inspiration from!

Step #4: buy mini pencils. I'm trying to think of a way for the kids to hold onto their pencils and I Spy Cards. Those little pencils are great for small hands, but I know they'll lose them.  I may have Jerry drill a small hole in the pencil, and then I'll run a piece of string through them and attach it to either the camera or of the I Spy card.  But as I progress with this project I'm sure I'll come up something. 

Via Creatieve Puzzels

That was the only picture I could find.  I guess drilling holes in pencils isn't a popular thing to do!

Okay.  One step at a time.

edit:  I just had a thought.  Will kids even know how to use a disposable camera!?  What if they want to "see" the image after it's been taken, b/c that's what they are familiar with?  Ahhh to grow up in the 2000s.  :)  Oh well, they'll learn.  :P

Organic-Shaped Salad Plates - Leaves

I'm in love with this set:

All images via West Elm

 

We're only planning on registering at Macys and Amazon though, so I'll stalk these myself until they are on sale!  $38 for 4 plates?  Really?? :P

*edit*  It's on sale for $29.99 now! :P  Hmm...do I still want to pay 8 bucks for a plate though...

My First Real Tree

I've had a fake tree my whole life so it was such a treat this year to get a real tree!

Home Depot has reasonably priced trees.

They smell lovely!

Gotta load them on the cart

Lines weren't too long, we had fun watching other families pick out trees.

Tree needs to be trimmed and prepped

Assembly line style



Jer said that when buying a real tree look for one with a hefty trunk.  It'll be trimmed later, but best to buy one that is big in the first place!

For easy transport

That "tree skirt" is really a vinyl tablecloth from the 99 cent store.  Waterproof, yeah!

Slowly opening up

I bought all my xmas decorations after xmas last year, so they were massively on sale.

I forgot to buy hooks, and I was too lazy to go out, so we used paperclips.  Does the trick!

So pretty! :)

I love clear ornaments with stuff inside.  After xmas I'm going to find clear fill-able ornaments on sale and fill them up with cute stuff!  I'm thinking about making an ornament for every year.

I need to figure out how to show bokeh on the tree.
For those of you who are curious, this is the tree I had growing up.

I still decorate it for my parents every year.  Same ornaments too!  While new things are nice, I also embrace some traditions that haven't changed. :)

Happy holidays!

Where Can I Find This Blue Vase??

via Lifehacker

I love the blue vase with the multiple holes!!  Sigh, yet another thing to google stalk.  :P

edit:  I found it but it's not for sale!  Boooooo.  The other colors are adorable as well!

http://www.amazon.com/Tag-Handmade-Ceramic-Floral-Medium/dp/B001VNBKOA

Made by Tag LTD.

I Found It!!!

I found THE wedding dress :)

People are right when they say that when you put on the right one, you just know it. 

I will eventually blog about the process, but I don't want to show pictures b/c I want Jerry to be absolutely surprised on our wedding day.  I'll play it by ear. :) 

Okay, I'm throwing a pretty big holiday party in a few hours, so more prep awaits! 

20 Questions, Engaged Version

There are quite a few things that I've learned since we got engaged.  These are things that I was guilty of prior to being engaged, but that I now refrain from doing when I hear about others' engagements.

Before I was engaged:
The second an engagement was announced:
Me: "Omg!!!  Congrats!!! I'm so happy for you! When's the date?  Where are you getting married?  What are your colors???  Where are you going for your honeymoon?!?!"

via istockphoto

Engaged friend:

via istockphoto

When I got engaged:
Friends: "Omg!!!  Congrats!!! I'm so happy for you! When's the date?  Where are you getting married?  What are your colors???  Where are you going for your honeymoon?!?!"

Me:

via istockphoto 

Now that I'm engaged:

The second an engagement was announced:

Me:  "Omg!!!  Congrats!!! I'm so happy for you!"

Engaged friend:  "Thanks!!!!"

I didn't realize how overwhelming those questions were to my engaged friends at the time until I went through it myself.  As soon as we got engaged, left and right people were asking us questions that even now, nearly 5 months later, we still don't know the answer to.  I mean, I think I spent the first 2 weeks just staring at my finger, researching vendors wasn't even on my mind yet!

No matter how un-surprising or surprising an engagement is, there is always a period of soaking up the actual experience, and reliving the moment over and over and pinching yourself that it actually happened.  It's a really happy time that doesn't have to be hurried by thoughts of budgets and types of bouquets.  Nothing has to be planned or decided upon in that moment.

So I'll refrain from playing 20 Questions until the bride-to-be has had time to soak it all in.

The next day:

Me: "When's the date?  Where are you getting married?  What are your colors???  Where are you going for your honeymoon?!?!"

Just kidding!  I'll wait a week.  :)  And then I will unleash my spreadsheets on the poor engaged sucker!! Muahahahha.  :P

Wedding Colors

So, back to this little shindig that we're hosting in oh, 10 months, 9 days, and 5.5 hours from now.

It really does seem far away, doesn't it?  But I know the big day will come faster than I realize, so it's onto phase 2 of planning, the ideas and the details.  (Phase 1 was booking all the vendors, which I will get back to.  Eventually.)

So apparently, everyone is really curious as to what our colors are.  I don't really know why.  However, I'm curious about other ppl's wedding colors too.  And I don't know why I care.  I mean, it's just colors.

via jewelry coloring service

I spoke too soon.  Just colors?  Having colors is the best thing ever!!  It decreases the amt of thinking that I have to do.  It's awesome.  Once you decide your colors, pretty much everything is narrowed down for you.  Bridesmaid dresses?  Check.  Groomsmen's ties?  Check.  Flowers?  Check.  Envelope liners?  Check.  Lanterns?  Check.  I could go on.  The point is, once you decide on your colors, instead of looking at ALL the dresses, u can narrow by color!  Instead of looking at a rainbow of flowers, you can just focus on a few select hues.  And that has really helped to not overwhelm me in the process so far.

Okay, so that's the easy part.  The hard part was actually deciding on what colors I wanted.  There are so many GORGEOUS color combos out there.

Red and aqua:

via Hot Pink Brides

However, years of my mom shoving red down my throat as a "lucky" color has scarred me from using it voluntarily.  (Our venue has some nice red architecture, which will inevitably show up in pictures, but I'm not going to be bridezilla about it or anything.  I'll just freak out about what I can control. :) )

Dove grey and yellow:

via Tres Chic Bride

This is so dreamy!  However, I knew my mom would say that grey was too "sad", and yellow is a terrible color on Asian skin.  So I will admire from afar.

Green and purple:

via Distinctive Weddings

Proof that purple and green don't necessarily have to be associated with Barney!  In fact I think purple and green was one of my BM's color schemes as well and it was beautiful!

Blue and orange:

via Brilliant Event Planning

Anyhoo, I have loved the blue and orange combo long before I even met Jerry, but I wasn't quite sure what shades I wanted.  I have seen very vibrant weddings that used bright and baby blues and oranges, but I also loved jewel tones.  For a while, I considered changing the blue to plum, but I couldn't quite commit.  It was too moody.

via COLOURlovers 

 By the way, I love COLOURlovers.  It's such a fun site to experiment!  Anyhoo, so I played around some more and came up with this:

via COLOURlovers

It wasn't exactly what I was looking for, but I was getting there.  I think I wanted a more brighter blue and a more subdued orange.  Also, I didn't mean for the silver to look so grey and dark.

Here's an example of an inspiration board with similar colors:

via Charm City Bride

via Bridal Buds

So, I played around with the settings some more, and I think I'm pretty happy with this result.  Introducing our colors: sapphire/cobalt/blueberryish blue, light orange, cream, and silver.

via COLOURlovers

I definitely wanted to stay away from baby blue or too bright blue.  I also wanted to avoid Sunkist orange.  I haven't found an inspiration board that quite encompasses these colors  So now I am scouring the internet and the stores for anything that are these colors.  Except I already broke the color trend and bought something that is decidedly NOT any those colors haha.  Stay tuned to find out what it was!   

Flashback Fridays 11.29.04

Monday, November 29, 2004

YEP IT'S MONDAY! lots of things going on! lots of learning to do as the qtr is nearing the end! lots of AAPI research to conduct as viet women breast cancer stats are still lacking! lots of ppl to see cause they make me happy happy! lots of books to read, and plenty more to re-read! lots of chapter writing and editing in THE book! lots of holiday-ish stuff to do, like picking the perfect gifts and making pretty things for ppl i love! lots of morning runs at veteran park cause fall mornings are so beautiful! lots of growing up to do, learning about myself, not only accepting change, but moving with it, etc! lots of embracing the little moments, and fully living the big ones! and no, i havent been drinking or doing drugs or anything of the sort! i'm just....HIGH ON LIFE! any of you who've been talking to me recently know that i've been sorta down and not as positive. but i've decided to take a more proactive role in my life. i'm not going to pretend that everything in life is going fantastic and that i have no problems. but instead of being moody and dwelling over them, i'm going to try to see what i can do to alleviate my problems and overall improve my outlook on life =D yep, so here's to MONDAY, the beginning of what's gonna be a great week!

8:12 AM - 3 views - 2 eprops - 1 comment - email it

5 years later, some priorities have changed while other things have reassuringly stayed the same.  Deep down I'm still the same person I was when I wrote the above entry but since then every new experience has brought a different dimension to my overall outlook on life. 

Turkey Weekend 2009 part 2

My wknd of gluttony and games continued Friday night after work:

I love having friends who like to cook!  We attended yet another potluck at Cams and Chris' place.  What I loved most about this potluck was that almost nothing was store bought.  (Except for the Kings Hawaiian rolls.)  I've been to so many potlucks where ppl bring store bought desserts from a place like Ralphs, icky.  The worse item I have ever seen at a potluck was cut up oranges.  Yeah, you read that right.  Who in their right mind brings up cut up oranges to a potluck?

We even had home made chili!

No dinner at Cams is complete without some MJ.  I love playing this game!! I really want to buy my own set hehe.  Can we register for it? Lol.


The next day, we had dim sum at Elite.  The wait wasn't as bad this time, maybe 25 min.  Better than 40 min last time.

Again so much food!  The person sitting in the background to the right?  Our dining companion from the previous night!  So random.  Cam and I gushed about Elite so she took her parents there the very next day. 
The only thing I was disappointed about was that they ran out of my favorite chicken pastry dish and the egg tarts. :(  Next time, gotta go earlier.


Okay, I'm not done eating yet. 

A mere few hours later, we went to ANOTHER potluck, this time hosted by one of my BMs Jenta & her bf Ainsley.



Played more taboo.  This taboo set was way more update- "wikipedia" was in there!

All in all, it was a great wknd of family, friends, food and fun.  But it really took a toll on my body and I haven't recovered since.  But it was worth it :)  I've got a couple weeks before the next rush of holiday festivities so time to rest now!