Wedding Blog Purge

I'm making good on my intent to clean up my google reader.  Finally decided to tackle my wedding subscriptions.

Bye bye:
100 Layer Cake 
Bridal Bar Blog
Brooklyn Bride
Engageology
I Love Letterpress
In The Now
Inspire the Bride 
Junebug Weddings
Ruffled
Southern Weddings
The Unbride
Weddingbee
Wedding Chicks

Will keep:
DIY Bride
Green Wedding Shoes
IDiY
The Party Dress
Elizabeth Anne Designs
I like the above blogs because the DIY crafts can be tailored for non-wedding purposes!

Now I need new blogs to replace these!  I <3 google reader. :)

Loving This: welovepictures Albums

Image via welovepictures

Saw these albums and I'm instantly in love!  We're already getting a pretty pimp album from our photog, but I know these albums would look gorgeous on our bookshelf.  I'm going to keep an eye out for something similar as these are only made to order from South Africa.

La Espanola picnic @ Angels Gate Park

One of these days, I'm going to attempt to make paella, so over the weekend we headed out to La Espanola for some ingredients.

A really random place for this shop to be at!

Cured meats in the background

Spices- I picked up paprika and saffron

Samples galore

Not listed- paella on Saturdays only (you are sposed to call on Friday to put in a reservation,
but a few other customers and I just walked in and asked for it)

Imported goods- I also picked up some medium grain rice and piquillo peppers

More imported goods

Seafood and chicken paella- tasted very homey!

My house bocadillo

Orange soda

It was a beautiful...

but a very windy day!

Jer's bocadillo- I think the ham was imported. 
It was VERY salty

View of PV

Some artillery thingy

We picnicked down there

Korean Friendship Bell

People get married here!

Korean totem poles?

I'm glad I got to explore a different part of LA.  It was a nice way to spend a meal.  We were too lazy to pick up clams on the way home, so paella making will have to wait for the time being! 

"Fans" and Facebook Diarrhea

Anyone who utilizes social networks might have had shoved down their throats, errr I mean noticed, that all of a sudden their friends or acquaintances are Giants fans (and if you're in Texas, then Ranger fans).  While I'm all for hometown pride and cheering on your team, I can't help but feel a bit dubious of the so-called "support."  Band-wagoners and fair-weather fans are fine if they acknowledge themselves as so, but I've got people pretending that they are die-hard true "fans."  (They are usually girls who are trying to look "sportsy" in front of other people.)  I honestly don't think that watching 10 games in 20 days during the NLDS and NLCS qualifies you as die-hard.  Where were all these "fans" when the season started?  When their team was playing under .500 for June and August?  Where have these "fans" been since 2002?  I'll tell you- they weren't really giving a crap! 

And I don't give a crap either when they write on their Facebook wall what happens every half inning.  Which is why I blocked them before the World Series started!  If I wanted to know what the score was...I'd be watching.

And don't even get me started on Laker "fans."  They're the worst! 

Do you ever block people with Facebook diarrhea for this or other reasons?

Don't You Love It

When you order something online and it fits perfectly? 

I recently took a gamble (although not much of one as endless has free shipping both ways) and bought some cute shoes in varying sizes.  I was contemplating on buying boots, but it doesn't rain enough in LA to justify buying Frye boots, so I decided that my boots from 2006 should hold up for another season.  I bought some other pairs instead- so fun and easy to wear! 

I read that Bandolino shoes tend to run small so I should size up.  Though I'm usually a 7, I opted for 7.5 in Navy and they fit perfectly!  I just went back to the website now and I noticed that they added a couple more colors and sizes.   I think they need some breaking in as the shoe feels a bit stiff and uncomfy after one wear, but they are perfect for walking around the office.  My oh deer black flats have been worn down to the point where it's not wearable outside, but I've been padding around the office in them since they are so comfy.  And I love, love the girly flower detail as well as the rich navy color. 

Bandolino Wynjara Flat

For my second pair I had been looking for some wedges in a fun color.  Seychelles has such a great selection and so I had to have these: Seychelles Morgan Wedge Sandals I haven't worn these yet since it's been rainy and gloomy but I look forward to stepping out in these when the weather is warmer.  The color is a nice mustardy color and not at all loud or neon-ish.  I ordered a 7 despite reading that Seychelles run a bit large.  I have never fit into 6.5 or smaller so I didn't think I was going to now.  The shoe feels well made, the heel is not too high, and I like the chiffony detailing. What I like about both pairs is that they'll look great with jeans, capris, work pants, shorts, skirts, and even dresses!  I love me a very versatile shoe. Endless had a coupon code for $25 off $100, and I was also able to get 7.5% cash back from ebates.com as well.  Sign up for ebates if you haven't already done so!  Yay for deals. :)

What's On My Plate

Crafts:
For the past year I've been bookmarking many craft tutorials and ideas to try out after the wedding.  Now that the wedding is over, I finally have the time and energy to do so!  This is going to be first project.  I'm so excited to get my creative juices flowing for something else besides the w-e-d-d-i-n-g.

Google Reader:
I'm in the process of unsubscribing from most wedding blogs and finding new blogs to read.  Any suggestions?  Somehow the search for perfect ceremony chair covers and a 4-piece band doesn't quite interest me anymore!  :P

Travel:
We've been to Toronto, Fiji and Sydney in the last couple months and each place has been great in its own way.  Due to switching jobs and wedding planning in the midst of our traveling, I didn't get to properly plan each destination.  However, we're going to Japan next spring, so I have plenty of time to plan now.  I'm really excited to explore yet another new destination!  And next summer, my family wants to do a group trip to Hawai'i, so we'll see if that works out.  We've never had an extended family vacation before so while it'll be a bit difficult to organize, I'm sure it'll end up being super fun!  (I really don't know why I keep planning trips when my rate of PTO accumulation is much slower, so thank goodness I can take time off w/o pay!) 

Eating In:
After eating out for 2 weeks straight it's been really nice to eat simple home-cooked meals.  In addition, I received 3 lovely cookbooks as gifts and am excited to try out the recipes!  We received Ad Hoc at Home, Momofuku, and the America's Test Kitchen Family Baking Book (I have ATK Family Cooking edition and it's fantastic!).  We also got some nifty kitchen tools which I am very excited to use. 

Eating Out:
I'm also looking forward to trying new restaurants and re-visiting old joints.  I want to go back to Yelping as well!  While you gotta take Yelp reviews with a grain of salt, it still has been a great resource for me and by writing reviews I feel like I'm paying it forward.  I value the opinions on chowhound as well, but that site needs some major organization!  It's so difficult to navigate.

Work:
I've been at my new gig for around 3 months now and I think I've grown more in that time than I have in my nearly 2 years at my previous job.  And, I've been out of the office for a total of over 3 weeks, so that's just really 2 months of solid experience so far.  And it's been nothing short of challenging, humbling, and eye opening.  Right before we left for our honeymoon, I was supposed to be a "junior" facilitator for some one-on-one intense training sessions (we had 5 teams of 2 for 20 groups).  However, on day 1, I found out that my more "senior" co-facilitator had a family emergency and that I'd be left on my own for all 4 sessions over both days.  I was really nervous and didn't know how efficient and effective I would be, but once I got started, I grew more confident and really felt like I was making a difference.  This is big for me, because a little over 3 years ago, I was on the receiving end of these training sessions.  And here I am, in charge!  Whew.  And speaking of which, I just got put in charge of organizing our next big training- which includes planning, facilitating, and moderating all aspects from beginning to end.  I'll admit- I'm nervous.  But I know I have a lot of support, and the only way I'm going to get better is if I give it a try, so here's to taking chances and advancing my skill sets!

Photography:
We recently bought a SB-800 flash so I'm excited to learn how to use it.  I used to be a hater of flash (I mean seriously, I cringe every time I see some SLR newb's built in flash pop up in broad daylight.  Use your meter!) but I'm willing to learn about the advantages of using external flash in different situations.

Health & Fitness:
I maintained a pretty steady and healthy routine throughout the year, but there's always room for improvement.  Something different that I do want to do is go back to is playing actual sports with other folks, like tennis or badminton or something (I think soccer would be fun as well, but I'd be the player that no one wants cus I run slow and have 2 left feet haha).  I spent the last year getting fit via more solo methods- running, swimming, weight machines.  So it'd be nice to do something more interactive.

I have many other things on my plate, but this should well occupy me for the time being.  I'm looking forward to whatever else comes my way!

I Got Lucky Today

I've been using public transpo to commute to work every day for a few months now.  Part 1 of my commute home involves buying a Metro tix for $1.50.  It's chump change right?  But for the most part I rarely bothered buying a tix because for the first couple weeks, I didn't even know where the machine was and I never got checked when entering and exiting.  (I can't be the only one who has ever skipped paying fare, right?)  But since Sept, I noticed that more and more officers were doing checks when entering the station, so I would buy tix to get in, but I never got checked when I exited the station.  So on days when I didn't see anyone checking the entrances, I never bothered with a tix, cus officers were never at my exit station.  (I always pay when I hop on the bus though, $2.20 to get home.  My commute in the morning doesn't require me to buy an extra tix- I pay $2.45 on the bus and ask for a transfer which doubles as a tix.   I see plenty of officers in the morning and they NEVER stop me to ask for a tix.  Weird.)

But I decided yesterday and today to buy tix anyway even if I didn't see any officers at the entrances.  Yesterday I didn't get checked when I left, so moot point.  Today I was debating for a sec, should I?  Shouldn't I?  So I decide what the hell I would.  So I bought my tix and rushed down to my train.  And missed it by seconds.  Literally the door closed when I was 15 feet away!  So in my head I was like, ARGH it's all because I took an extra minute to buy a Metro tix.  It was 4:15, and the screen said the next train was coming at 4:21 and my bus comes at 4:25 and 4:40.   So I resigned myself to the fact that I'd have to take the 4:40 bus.  However, a few min later another train comes so I hop on it.  (I don't get what is the point of posting schedules if it's not accurate?) It stops at 4:21 and I think yay, I have 4 minutes to catch the bus!  And since it's raining, buses are notoriously even more late.  So I rush up to my usual exit (yes, I eventually did get it right!) and for the first time ever, there's like 5 officers checking EVERYONE for tix!  Even me!  And.  I could not find.  My. Ticket.  The officer didn't believe me when I said I bought the tix and couldn't find it so he told me to move over to the wall and give him my ID.  So as I'm lugging my ass and my stuff to the side, I hand him my ID and I continue to rummage through my bags  and it was the last place I looked- the left pocket of my scrunched up blazer (I was hot from running all over).  Sigh.  So I gave it to him and he took his sweet time READING it to make sure it was legit.  By now I was sure I had missed my bus but I ran up the escalator anyway.  And guess what!  My bus was at the corner!!  And my light was green...meaning the bus couldn't take off yet even if no one was waiting for it.  So I ran across the street and got on.  I think only Jerry understands how happy I was to see the bus at the corner in the rain because there's been so many times that I've missed it even though I've followed the schedule.  I've shown up at 4:15 for a 4:25 bus only to have the bus show up at 4:35 cus it was late.  What's the big deal right?  If you miss the 4:25 bus, just wait for the 4:40 bus.  Well, I've shown up at 4:26 only to find out that it was actually on time, and that logically the next 4:40 bus should be on time, but it's not so I don't hop on until nearly 5.   Thankfully, the actual bus ride is a short 20 minutes.  Sometimes I feel like I spend more time waiting than I do actually riding. 

Still despite the craziness, I prefer public transportation over driving on 110 any day.  I'll just have to wrap up my work as early as I can, buy a tix, and keep my tix where I can find it.  And hope that the bus follows the schedule.  I can't always win, but today I got really lucky and I did!

Good thing too.  I did a bit of online shopping earlier today and spent way over the fare evasion fine.  Spend $1.50 on a Metro tix, buy shoes and dresses > don't spend $1.50 and pay a 16,000% surcharge.  Lesson: learned.

On a not so completely different note, endless.com and modcloth.com sells such pretty things.

How It's Going

People have been asking me how's married life.  It's kind of funny that people ask newlyweds that question so often instead of asking folks who have been married for decades because honestly, it's been all of a month and more often than not the answer is simply 5 letters- GREAT. 

However...

It is possible to feel the same but yet different all at once?  That you're still the same person, but that you've taken on new identities and familial roles?  That you cook the same food, but somehow using brand new dishes and silverware makes it taste just a bit more flavorful?  That you fill out the same paperwork, but get a thrill out of checking off new boxes?  Because that's how married life has felt for me.  But to sum it up for folks who want a simple answer to a not so simple question, I just say "great!"

Ask me again in 5 years and I may say IT'S BEEN AN ADVENTURE TO SAY THE LEAST.  In 10 years it might be I NEED TO BE MORE PATIENT.  In 25 WE'RE IN A GOOD PLACE.  And 50- yes, there will be a 50! :), I hope it will be SIMPLE (but not BORING).

But one thing at a time.  Year 1, here we go!

Miss Nguyen for the last time!

Countdowns & Check Offs

It feels like this whole year has been one huge countdown and check off list.  Both of those things have come with senses of accomplishments and many moments of "oh crap how I am ever going to get to K if I haven't done A, B, and C and do I even have time for X, Y, and Z??"

But with a work-week left to go (I measure my time in 5 and 2 day increments!) I feel like I'm finally in a good place both productively and mentally.

Productivity-wise, there's only a few things to be check off the list, and they're mostly things that we can't do until their proper time.  It seems silly to wash our beverage dispensers too early cus dust will probably make their way back in anyway.  I'm excited to do flowers (though it's an ambitious and daunting task), but that's not until Thursday.  But the programs, favors, seating chart, table numbers/menu, games, gift bags, slideshow, guestbook, kiddie activities, bathroom basket, and all my other zillion DIY tasks are between 80-100ish percent done and just need to be executed.  And the photobooth programming is finally done!  We would have never been able to do it w/o my cousin.  I'm so grateful he gave us so much of his time, software programming can seriously be a pain in the butt.  I'm also thankful for my BMs.  They have lent me so much from their knowledge, wedding items, advice, a sympathetic ear, to their time, etc, etc.  This wedding is a joint effort and though it's our day, we share it with everyone else as well. 

I also can't say enough about how much of a great team that Jerry and I have made in this process.  We have grown stronger together in this year because we have had to make some very important decisions both logistically and fiscally.  Jerry doesn't take me on romantical dates every week, or buys me "just because gifts", or tells me that he loves me on public forums (I don't think that's anyone's business anyway, and who really cares about someone else's love?).  I can honestly say that instead, he has pitched 50% equally in planning and executing our wedding, and let's be frank, that's 45% more than what most grooms do.  Most grooms just show up.  And they get delegated to planning the honeymoon.  Not him.  And I would rather that he help me with planning weddings, changing diapers, and holding me when I'm old and arthritic because I think those things are the most romantic gestures of all.  Every couple is different, and this is how we operate.  And I'm glad he's on my team because I honestly can't imagine a more fitting and caring partner and "teammate."  Oh and I guess he's my roomie for life! 

Mentally- I've lost my shit a few times, but overall I've kept my cool when things don't go my way and have definitely savored moments when things do go my way :)  This whole process has brought me many headaches and frustrations, and sometimes I forget that this day is about me and Jerry celebrating our love, and having our families merge together.  It's easy to lose track of the big picture when you're bogged down with details.  I haven't taken enough time to reflect and I'm a teeny bit sad because this coming week is going to fly by so quickly!  I have to work half of this week so maybe if I find myself drifting off in meetings I'll do my reflecting then. :P  I also wrote my vows 2 weeks ago and they were easily one of the most effortless tasks I had to do so far.  While most of the wedding planning has been for our guests' enjoyment and entertainment, I wrote my vows directly for Jerry and I am SO very excited to say them!

Countdown wise- thanks to the knot.com and projectwedding.com, I've been alerted that it's one year, 6 months, a few months, 100 days, 99 days, a couple of months, a MONTH?!, a few weeks, a couple weeks, OMG 10 DAYS, yikes it's single digits now!, a week, and now a work-week left to go.

Someone pinch me now :)