Valentines

Jacob is gone to Toronto for the week and has been sad that he can't call me over the phone because of roaming charges.  He's been emailing me how much he's missing me.  This is only day one.  Clearly, I am not the romantic in this relationship.  I am very lucky to have someone who tries to express to me in many different ways that he loves me.  And sometimes I still don't get it.

This is how I spent my Valentine's evening.  I was excited to get my copy of the Sunday newspaper, so I was completely pre-occupied clipping away my coupons, while Jacob was busily working on his V-day project downstairs.  When I was finally allowed to go down, I saw the dining room table candle lit and Wall-e holding onto my card and gift. (Wall-e's been part of a lot of our special moments, and I have a feeling he'll also have a part in the wedding.)



The meal consisted of a mixed greens salad in my favorite poppyseed dressing and then a marinated pork over corn & rice.  The rice was was shaped like a heart... maybe because I dropped the hint one too many times about how one of my gf's fiance had put together this elaborate dinner with flower shaped salmon etc etc etc.  haha  I do know he put a lot of TLC into it... and the fact that he cooks every other day out of the week for me is what counts most.  There's no longer so much emphasis on one day out of the year to be a romantic (which is what I least like about V-day)... but it's like that every day.  Relationships are always hard work, but I'm grateful to know he's always trying to love me better each day.

Happy Birthday to me!

Roller skating is not what I remember from childhood.  My memories were of the hockey pockey and the limbo, but when we went Friday, it was practically a club for little kids where they were skating and dancing to 'sexual seduction'.  It was too funny when we requested an 80s songs and the dice game for nostalgia's sake, pretty much everyone else cleared the floor.  The big kids' turns to take center stage!!  It was a lot of fun. :)  I don't remember the last time I went, but I definitely wouldn't mind going again.







I have to remind myself that the best days are not behind me, but are always ahead of me.



Thanks everyone who came out to celebrate with me (and also to those who weren't able to come but were there in spirit)! :)  Will post more on facebook.

Slowing down for what matters & 365:32-40.

I have to admit that these days with work and wedding planning, it's easy to get self-absorbed and be too busy for anything else.  After going through the Purpose Driven Life with my small group (more about that on another blog), I feel the need to make some changes in my day-to-day.

I love the quote "it's all the tiny decisions you make daily that make up your character."  Or "your life is the sum result of all the choices you make."  I can't keep making excuses with my "busyness" and push certain things off until after the wedding.  Changes never happen overnight, and if I keep waiting, I may never run out of excuses.

At the end of the day, it's not about finishing X amount of tasks that day.  I want to be able to know that I've been a good friend, a good fiancee, a good daughter, and a good neighbor.  I guess sometimes I need someone to tell me to slow down and just be available. :)

"Busyness is a great enemy of relationships.  We become preoccupied with making a living, doing our work, paying bils, and accomplishing goals as if these tasks are the point of life.  They are not.  The point of life is learning to love - God and people." - Purpose Driven Life.

And speaking of 2010 resolutions and 30 before 30 goals, it's really embarrassing to see that I haven't maintained or achieved much out of my list (I'll have to have a separate blog post of my progress there).

At the very least, I started p90x all over again and we are keeping up with the 365 project for 2010 resolutions... but we do have to work on posting them up to date.  Here are the next set for the 365 photo a day for 2010.  Just 32-40 this time (see previous here).  We decided for the month of February, we'd do something different and have vertical/portrait photos.

02.01.10 Snacks straight from Japan!  CVS.  I have no creative caption for you.



02.02.10 Organizing is not my nature, but I can stack!  Dinosaurs are so much more fun to eat.



02.03.10 Yane's engagement ring and cute card from Ben.  Late-night tennis... in freezing weather!



02.04.10 Fortune or advice.  Still temporary business cards.



02.05.10  After and before.  I made the alfredo sauce (for the recipe).  It's great when recipes say quick and easy.  Jacob cooked the rest.



02.06.10  Yane and Ben's e-session.



02.07.10 Brainstorming ideas with a florist.  Superbowl Sunday.



02.08.10  My inspiration wall.  Saegye: our inspiration to grow plants!



02.09.10  One of my girls trying on my bridesmaid dress.  Praying for Haiti.

Purple is not an easy color!

Here's an update on my wedding planning.  If you're here to see my recent work, please use the links to the right to navigate through the site.

I first looked for bridesmaid dresses at David's Bridal since they have a fairly large collection in various styles and colors that you can try on the spot.  I loved the Lapis color they had, but I didn't quite like any of the styles.  I was so excited, though.  I found the color that I wanted and I began building a complete color scheme with flowers and other details all around it.   Then I browsed through all the department stores looking through at all the special occasions dresses hoping to find that color, but to no avail.   I was bummed since I put so much effort into collecting ideas just to complement that color, but I learned in the end that it's good to stay flexible.

One day when I was casually browsing the Victoria's Secret website, I stumbled across the Ruched Convertible dress in purple shock and it was PERFECT... (well, almost perfect)!

I wanted each BM to wear the same color but in different styles.  I know it's a trend that some people have grown tired of, but I love having some diversity.  This was one dress that you can wear in many different ways.   It was easy.   I just had to purchase one dress and figure out what style looked best on each one of my girls.  The second big plus was I knew it was something they'd love and wear again after the wedding.



I knew going this direction, I would have to bend a little on the color scheme since it was a complete different shade of purple.  Lesson not yet learned, I began collecting ideas for the new shade of purple.

When the dresses finally did come in earlier this week, I realized the color from the photos online and the actual dress were WAY off.  I guess whenever you're purchasing anything online you run the risk of not knowing exactly what you're going to get.  The online photos were terribly deceiving though. 

Still, I was pretty excited to have one of my girls try it on.  Thankfully, the dress came with how-to-wear instructions.  It's confusing at first.  Here it's shown as:  Double-strap one-shoulder, strapless, cross-back, and twist-front halter.  We did a lot of experimentation with it, but these four were probably my favorites.



It's going to be harder to achieve the same look that I was originally going for, but I love the dress enough to keep it.  Hopefully, my florist (whom we hope to find in the next couple weeks), will give us some wonderful ideas to work with this dress, because I'm done doing the research on my own! ha

I was talking to some other brides about where they are purchasing their dresses, and I'm finding that Dessy has a great selection.  I'm also loving some of the BM dresses from Jim Hjelm Occasions, but I figured I should save my girls their money if I'm not paying for the dresses.  If I were to do it all over again, I would have probably checked them out before I decided to make my purchase.

Now, onto the guys and the ties.  I have a feeling it's going to be tough.  I found an interesting article about a study showing certain tie colors and designs are associated with certain types of people.  And purple ties scream arrogance and gaudiness and could rule someone out of a job before they've even sat down at the interview.  Read more here.

To do list for this month:

• Wedding Dress
• BM dresses
• Caterer
• Florist
• DJ
• Tux/suits
• Ties

Yane and Ben E-session (Teasers).

Some people are just meant to be.  It's rare that you hear a story that really feels like God bringing two individuals together, but that's Yane & Ben's story.  I loved all the cute details of their story, but I'll just have to share what happened in a nutshell.

A few years back, Yane and Ben first met in passing at church while Ben was in town visiting his brother.  At that time Yane noticed him thinking that he'd definitely be her type, but how unfortunate that he's not from around Atlanta.  They said their hellos and parted ways.  Fast forward a few years later and Ben and Yane were matched on eHarmony.  It was at that time that Yane decided to close her account and while she's browsed her final matches, she stumbled across Ben's profile.  They spent the next few days talking and discovered that their paths have crossed before.... and the rest is history!

Shooting an engagement session in below freezing weather is not recommended.  We saw flakes of snow... one or two!  Although, one day I would like to photograph a couple having a snow ball fight.  Note to self.

We still had a great time and managed just fine reminding each other to think of tropical weather while we looked forward to the next indoor location.  Ben laughed at us the entire time telling us this is nothing compared to Chicago.  He's probably right, and I don't want to find out for myself.  haha  These are just a few teasers from the session.





We grabbed brunch at feast, where they had their engagement party right after he proposed.  They have really yummy food and beautiful decor.

Ring shots. Bling shots.

If I ask for your rings and sneak off with them during the reception or at any point before or after the ceremony, now you'll know what I'm up to.  I'm just such a sucker for photographing details...  especially rings & other shiny things, dresses, and can't forget shoes!  Here's one of my favorite ring shots to date.  Catholic school salt and pepper shakers at a catholic wedding.



Of course, I couldn't resist doing a "collection" of my own.  I wasn't quite manicured and ready for hand modeling, but they'll have to do.  :)  So here you have it.. in case you were curious to see it.  My bling:









These are just a few from the set I took.  :)  I'll be sure to set up a separate album for bling shots on flickr and facebook.