A "Free Saturday"

Saturday was one of those rare days where we didn't have to meet up with people or run errands. Lately it seemed that our commitment plate was getting quite full, and so it was very nice to have a day to ourselves. And we took full advantage of it.

So what did we end up doing? While some ppl might treat a free day as a day to sleep in, lie in bed, and lounge all day we:

Both woke up at 5am. Couldn't go back to sleep. So restless. So we decided to go running along the Strand. It was super nice outside! We weren't the only ones out there, there were quite a few early birds out and about!

(taken in Dec 2007, but this is basically the view as we ran to the pier and back, except it was much darker)

The run was perfect b/c I need to digest the 10 course Chinese meal from the night before (wedding tasting menu, blog entry to come). So what do you do when u digest a 10 course meal? You eat some more! So we took advantage of eating at Uncle Bills right when it opened at 7am. Any time after 8:30am and expect a 1-2 hour wait (in that case, we have gotten Uncle Bills as take out and just eaten it along the Strand, it's just as nice that way too!)

Also taken in Dec 2007, but I didn't bring the camera along yesterday and these pics were in my archives

After a yummy breakfast of omelets and waffles that was washed down with freshly squeezed grapefruit juice, we went back home where I surfed the web a bit and Jerry napped. (Although since when is 8am considered a nap time?)

Then it was time to paint our room! Except we found out we ran out of roller covers so we had to drive to Home Depot. Luckily we only live a few min away from one. I loved the grey color we used (from Lowes though, HD paint is crap). So pretty!

I hate, hate, hate the prep work but I hate, hate, hate correcting my mistakes more, so we take great care in prepping right. It's so tedious but definitely worth it. Jerry is a much better painter than I am which is why he does all the hard to reach detailing.

We finished in the late afternoon so we decided to go for a swim. It was the perfect activity to do given the weather. However, there was this annoying guy in the pool who thought that he would plant his butt in the middle of the pool and just stand there. Doing nothing. He wasn't even swimming! I hate it when ppl are hogging the pool but not doing anything. That is what the lounge chair is for!

After an early dinner (we ate leftovers from the 10 course chinese meal), I decided that I was craving some sort of dessert, specifically the peach-kiwi smoothie at Boba Time in Gardena (I have very specific cravings). Since it was only 6pm, we decided to go for a drive as well. Then came the decision of where to go. Btwn the two of us, we had ventured almost every inch that was a 10 mile radius of us. (We didn't want to go that far) So we annoyed each other by going back and forth and vetoing each others suggestions of what place to go to. Then finally we came up with the idea that we should pick an activity to do, rather than a place to go to! We immediately decided to go miniature golfing since neither of us have gone together before. It was the best decision ever as an impromptu date-night. We went to Mulligan Family Fun Center in Torrance and had a blast!

We did two diff rounds of mini-golf (the 18th hole eats your ball, so what u do is finish at 17 and hop over the rope to the other course to start a new round). We got stuck in this crowd but we were patient. However, the girl in one hole behind us was so...weird. During one of the holes, we were sitting on the bench waiting for the couple in front of us to finish and she just waltzed right past us and plunked down her ball! And I was like..excuse me? And she said, oh sorry you are in front of us? ...DUH. So for the rest of the holes, she kept going ahead of her group and crowding in our space. On one of the holes, I went first and got my ball through. Jer went next, except his ball went into a weird place and he wanted to try again. As I went to get the ball, she stood right behind him (her group was still on the hole behind us!). So instead of tossing the ball to him to try again, I walked it over to him and practically wedged myself between her and him. And. She. WOULD NOT. Move. What a weirdo. So then, I stared her right in the face and with a smile, I said, would you like to go first? And she looked taken aback and said, uh...no thanks.

So we ended up getting the last laugh b/c since she was so eager to do every hole, on the last one (which we had skipped in favor of doing course #2), she played and it promptly ate hers and her group's balls. We saw them look around for at least 10 minutes for their balls, it was hilarious. And the thing is, they kept looking at US, wondering why we were able to keep playing! We had such a good laugh about it. Suckers!!

We capped off the night with me getting about 25 cuts at the batting cages. Yay, another thing to cross off my list! It was really fun, however 2/3 of the way through, my body was getting tired though and the bat felt so much heavier. So I think I can only handle 1 or 2 sessions at the most, well spaced apart. Looking forward to doing it again some day!

I think for one of our bdays we're just gonna have all our friends buy the unlimited pass for 15 bucks and we'll just play all night long. They even have lazer tag! Call me nerdy, but this is my idea of fun :)

What's your idea of a free day?

Day 5

Day 5 of my hair and if I haven't been annoyed by it now, I prolly won't be annoyed by it later (if the bangs grow out, I'll just bobby pin it in btwn trimmings). Mostly I've been wearing it down and it hasn't bothered me at all. On my non-hair washing days, my hair does tend to get greasy so I bought a bottle of Klorane Extra Gentle Dry Shampoo with Oat Extract to see if it actually works. I read many many reviews of dry shampoos before I settled on this one. The verdict? It worked for at least 12 hours! After spraying it on in the morning, letting it settle for a couple min, and then brushing my hair out, it looked and felt like I had just washed and blow dried it. Awesome! We were at a concert that night so by the time I got home it was looking greasy again but I don't really expect miracles out of a bottle...just quick temp fixes that'll do the trick.



Though the reviews were overwhelming positive, one fallback was that u don't get that many uses out of the bottle. One reviewer even complained that she only got 2 uses! While I hope it doesn't happen to me, I don't plan on using it very often since it does cost about $15 a bottle (after 20% coupon). I also want to try homemade mixtures of cornstarch, baking powder, baby powder, etc to see if they work just as well. I definitely don't want to leave the house with salt n pepper hair, haha. I never splurge on hair products since I don't use them, but I'm glad I tried this one out.

What's your fave hair product, if any?

Calm Before the Storm

I am enjoying the next few noncommittal days before we get sucked into a whirlwind of activities.

Upcoming: chinese food tasting, weekly ballroom dancing lessons, bff's first visit to our place, signing our venue contract, hosting his parents' visit, dinners with his parents' friends (in OC on a wk night, yikes), dinner with OUR parents (they are meeting for the first time next week, in SGV on a wk night, yikes again), John Williams at the HB, a trip to nor cal, meeting with photog, bday celebrations, MB 10K, Miramar Air Show. On top of that, Jer has a dude trip to Portland and 3 EMT classes (they run 8-5pm on Sat/Sun). It won't be until mid Oct when we can both wake up with nothing to do a weekend. But maybe while he is away I can use that opportunity to do girly stuff like dress shopping and flower hunting.

I don't mind that we're going to be extra busy. It's pretty much fun stuff on our agenda. I guess I have the best of both worlds! I'll enjoy it while the feeling lasts. :P

Vote for the New Hope Diamond Design

Have you seen the Hope Diamond in person? It's housed at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History. (The Gem/Mineral exhibit is so dope!) I'm fascinated by the Hope- not necessarily by its 4Cs, but more so by its history.

Now we have a chance to vote on a temporary design (I think it's about 2 years). I think they all look kinda bleh, but I'll vote for the first one. Here's a chance to be a part of its growing history!

New Haircut

Rest of 2009- fringe bangs
Early 2010- transition to side swept bangs
Mid 2010- grow out for wedding
End of 2010 (after wedding)- wavy perm
When perm grows out- chop it

Yeah, I have big plans for my hair. Priorities ppl, priorities.

Food Shows Bring all the Freaks Out

Yesterday we watched:

1. Tuesday night's Hell's Kitchen (since I was out watching 500 Days of Summer with Christina)
2. Top Chef Las Vegas premiere
3. Top Chef Masters finale

Thoughts:
Hell's Kitchen is such a cursing, chain-smoking, and ***bleeping*** trainwreck, yet we can't turn our eyes away. We are obsessed with finding out where it is. Google-ing showed various locations in LA but we think it's Culver City. Now we know. I recognized a scene shot on Duquesne (going into Culver City park since I used to run that path a lot) and Jer, the fire truck aficionado, spotted the Class 1 signage (CCFD being the only one in the West Side to be a Class 1) when the ambulance came to pick up Robert. Again. Even though our curiosity is satisfied we'll still keep watching. There's no real Paula or Danny for this season though. Van cracks me up though! And Kevin looks exactly like Scott and might just win since the women seem clueless. Cannot stand the girl with the weird eyebrows. And Tenille thinks she's Whoopi Goldberg. I'm telling u, we are easily entertained.

It was so nice to have Padma back. Even though everyone says she's spacey she's so much better than Kelly Choi. Tom trying to be hip with it by adding a vest to his attire is kinda funny. I have a crush on Gail Simmons. The cheftestants are mostly annoying tatooed and pierced freaks. That one sexist guy needs to shut up. Not all women are pastry chefs! Some chefs stand out- Jen who works at Ripert's restaurant, the brothers (Michelin Star and James Beard finalist!) and the MIT dude with the major facial hair. Everyone else is a forgettable mess it seems. Ugh, the girl who got eliminated first- cannot stand her "ear""ring". It was nasty. Who knew earlobes could be stretched that wide? GROSSSSSS. Thank goodness she's gone already.

I think it's all agreed upon that we heart Hubert Keller. Too bad he didn't win :( I loved how the finale didn't have any dumb twists and turns, and that the chefs could just cook. But I'm glad that Rick Bayless won- what a genuine and humble dude. Someday I want to eat his mole. Even though I don't like mole that much, but that's because I haven't had his. But I love how he is trying to give Mexican food the respect it deserves. Anyways, Chiarello prolly got a bad edit, but no one can deny that Osland had it in for him for some reason. All in all, I enjoyed it. Except for the judges and Kelly Choi. I wonder if they'll do another season of it. If so, Anthony Bourdain needs to be on it!

I love TV.

Do you have a favorite food show? If so, which and why?

DIY Photobooth

I'm inspired:

http://davidcline.wordpress.com/2009/08/16/diy-wedding-photo-booth/

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2009/08/wedding-photo-booth-apple-macbook-mac.html

(scroll down to see my comment!)

Wedding planning made easy:


If all goes according to plan we should have a really kick ass photobooth! Excited :)

25 Things During 25

25 New Things I Experienced/Ate/Discovered in my 25th year (in no particular order)

1. Accomplished Half Dome
2. Devoured spider crab for the first time
3. Shacked up for reals with a boy
4. Graduated with MPH
5. Went to court to fight a tix which later got dismissed
6. Made my own ice cream from scratch
7. Did a man push-up
8. I ran my first 10K w/o stopping
9. I swam in the open Merced River!
10. My grandma passed away
11. Watched shooting stars on the sand dunes in the middle of the night
12. Learned how to shoot photos in manual
13. Presented my first poster at a conference
14. Rode the Ferris Wheel for the first time
15. Made tomatillo sauce from scratch for the first time
16. Watched fireworks at the Hollywood Bowl with DCFC crooning in the background
17. Asked a question and then Jonathan Gold answered it!
18. Competed in my first real scavenger hunt (Urban Dare)
19. Had my photos published in an online magazine
20. Ate at an Iron Chef restaurant (Bar Americain)
21. Walked the length of the Brooklyn Bridge
22. Saw my first ballet (boring)
23. Went to my first airshow and saw the Blue Angels perform
24. Explored the Channel Islands
25. Got engaged! :)

I would link to the above events but I'm lazy right now and I haven't even blogged about half of those things. But that pretty much sums up my 25th year. Here's to a great 26th year!

Mini Wedding Cupcake Favors

Photo courtesy of Martha Stewart Weddings

I have seen mini wedding cakes but they're usually slathered in some sort of fondant concoction. Pretty to look at, but not quite so edible. When I stumbled upon this simple and yet lovely idea of stacking 3 diff sized cupcakes together to resemble the tiers I couldn't stop thinking about how I could incorporate that into our wedding.

We know that cake can be pricey, so we've been flirting with the idea of having a smaller cake to cut, but also having sheet cake in the back to serve our guests as well. I definitely would prefer to serve our guests a more substantial hunk rather than a sliver of cake that's been cut so thinly u could see through it, hence the sheet cake. That being said, in lieu of favors, why not present each guest with their own 3 tier wedding cupcake?? Each cupcake can be a flavor (oh the possibilities already in my mind!) and we would go light on the frosting. The guests can eat it there, or bring it home to eat. Two birds, one stone. :)

While in theory we like the idea, we still have to figure out cost and time efficiency. For sure I would not force my bridal party to do it. Either we outsource it for a good price, or we don't do it at all, and we go back to the regular cake idea. Which is not a bad idea either, b/c cake is good anyway you can get it rightttttt? Hehe.

I know I'm ahead of myself at the moment since we haven't secured the big 3- (date, venue, and photog), but I can't resist thinking about these little fun details. :)

Derrriciousssness

I had a food headache driving home today. The first thing I did when I got home? Shoved one of Nancy's red velvet cupcakes in my mouth, then washed it down with a glass of milk. It was good. Really good. My headache went away. And that is all.