12.23.2008

Have Yourselves a Nutty Holiday!

These look tasty to me, but it may only be because I tasted them...
Here is my (ahem... MOH's) recipe for these easy Candied Pecans:

* 8 cups pecan halves (approx. 2 lbs.)
* 2 egg whites
* 2 cups light brown sugar (add another 1/2 to 1 cup of sugar if you want them extra sweet)
* 1 tbsp vanilla extract
* 2 tsp cinnamon

- Preheat oven 275 degrees
- Beat egg whites til firm
- Blend in everything else besides the nuts
- Add nuts and coat
- Spread on cookie sheet
- Bake for 30-40 minutes
- Let cool completely
- Munch da crunch!

And no holiday is complete without remnants from your wedding if you just got married that year! The delicious pecans will probably be packaged in boxes and ribbons left over from projects like this one and given to friends and family.
OH! OH! OH! (source)

12.17.2008

Disconnected

I always knew being without the net would be less than awesome, but I really didn't anticipate the level of irritation I'm currently experiencing.

AT&T and FedEx aparently both hate me, so I'm surviving on web lunch at work. This is ruffage.

Image by Photo David

12.12.2008

Food for Thought

Happiness is...

1. eating delicious meals vicariously through others (pic: one of the holiday meals from da hubs' work, yes that's prime rib)

2. 100% (virtual) taste, 0% calories/guilt

3. having a husband who knows I'd enjoy this picture, and still married me.

12.10.2008

DIY Wedding Invitation Ornament

Got left over wedding invitations lying around and don't quite have the heart to throw them away quite yet? I've got a holiday suggestion:


1) Chop up a couple of them into long strips of varying widths showing the key lines.
2) Roll 'em up really tight (I trimmed the strips so that the words show up at the end of the rolls).
3) Toss 'em in one of those glass globe ornaments available in most craft stores.
4) Hang and go 'ooo' and 'aahhh' at your good work.
I still have over a dozen of these suckers left since the minimum order was 100, so they may very well contribute in a holiday bonfire this year. Grr... I hate waste.

12.08.2008

My New Mug

The guys at work often give me crap about not wearing my e-ring, this 2 carat cup for my morning coffee at the office oughtta shut 'em up, huh?

12.04.2008

I shoulda been working on the TY cards...



I'm not a game person, but I wasted hours on these TWO GAMES because I can't stand not beating them and I'm too stubborn to cheat. I'm also sad to say that I'll probably buy that first game when the deluxe version comes out.

12.03.2008

The Tea Party: The Fashion (Faux Pas) Show

Previously: 1. Prelude , 2. Tea Ceremony , 3. Getting Ready, 4. The Kids

Did everyone but me know that there are so many rules on wedding guest attire before planning a wedding? Different resources yield varying info, but I guess black can be to too somber and red can be too distracting... and holy crap people get all kinds of worked up about wearing white!

I honestly didn't think I would remotely care if anyone showed up to the wedding wearing white. In fact, there were quite a few guests who wore white dresses with brightly colored accessories and they were all gorgeous! But when I first saw the hubs' grandma for the first time that day dressed entirely in white, my first thought was... 'Oh no!'
(his g-ma, my g-ma,
my mom, his mom)


Now that's not the 'Oh no, everyone will mistake her for the bride!' or 'Oh no, now she'll take all the attention away from me!' Rather, considering that the hubs' grandmother is pretty traditional, it honestly crossed my mind that this was her way of showing her disapproval for our marriage. I had only met her less than half a dozen times and don't know her well enough to tell you much besides that she's a very nice lady. I searched for an answer in my mind but then realized it was pointless, and so I moved on. The busy day kept my mind off the matter except for the moment when she came to speak to me (with hugs and nothing but kind words) at the reception.

My FIL called one day inquiring what he was suppose to wear to the wedding. The hubs asked him what nice clothes he had, and if he had a tie. His honest response was 'Oh man I have to wear a tie?' Needless to say I was ready for his nice outfit (the 80's suit with cowboy boots), though MIL made him get a new suit and a matching red tie instead. Thanks to her, I got a chance to fully see where some of the hubs' good looks came from.
I didn't care so much to put anyone in tuxes, but the hubs put his traditional foot down on this one. Since these were his boys, I didn't bother to protest.
The groomsmaids (left pics) were hard at work helping set up prior to the ceremony and we did not all get ready together. It was hot early in the evening and both of them had the button to the mandarin collar undone. I think it is as reasonable it is for me to assume they would have it buttoned, as it is reasonable for them to assume that it need not to be. No matter though, they were all beautiful regardless! But the lesson learned: if you're asking those who are unfamiliar to don cultural wardrobe, provide instructions because self-explanatory to you isn't necessarily to everyone else!
Here is a closeup of the 'fits modeled by MOH & BestMan. The girls appreciated my choice of fans over flowers in the heat, while the groomsmen complained about the hot tux the hubs put them in.
Mom: share da shade!
G-ma: No!
As you can see, there were red, black, and even white everywhere. Most were planned, some were not, but it all turned out wonderfully. As for my suspicion for disapproval, I will just have to take the hubs' word that it is not the case.

Anyone else caught off guard by wedding guest attire?

Images by Travis Hoehne

12.01.2008

No Originality

I came away from Thanksgiving at the in-laws with these and thought they would make cool cuff links (would've been a good idea for the groomsmen but it's a little late now!). After a quick search I found that I was sooo not alone.

And don't even get me started on them Scrabble tiles.

11.27.2008

Get in my belly!

Around this time of year, everything starts to look like turkey to me...

Happy Thanksgiving y'all!

(Image Source)

11.24.2008

The Tea Party: The Young and the Fussless

Previously:
Prelude
Tea Ceremony
Getting Ready
Right before the ceremony began, the wedding party were lined up and prepped for launch. The ring bearer (RB) and flower girl (FG) were being overseen at the end of the line by their mom and the MOH, who reported the following conversation:

FG asked in her big girl voice: Are you nervous?

RB put on a thoughtful face, then responded in a casual but equally grown up manner: No

FG said with confidence: Yeah, me neither

RB, as assured as can be: Don't worry, (pointing to the rings being held in Optimus Prime's hand) the light will guide us

(Photo by me)

RB's eyes lit up like a Christmas Tree when he saw Optimus Prime upon his arrival for the rehearsal. His parents did not allow him to open the box, let alone transform him, in fear that the 'ring pillow' will be ruined before the big day. I insisted that he be allowed to play with the toy and he promised me he would be very good with it. On the day of the wedding, RB happily reported that he fully transformed Optimus into a truck and then back to the robot for the ceremony. I couldn't have been more proud.


I tell ya, if my brother got an Optimus Prime and I was stuck with a stupid Barbie, I would be pissed. I was worried that FG's dreams would be broken also with a flower girl dress far from what she probably envisioned, but this little princess loved and reveled in it all! She was delighted by all the attention and endless 'Oh look at how cute she is!'-like comments that made her feel quite special.
She was free to carry the bouquet, the doll, or both down the aisle - whatever pleased her the most. She chose the bouquet, as if she knows just how it's properly done. You'll see how perfectly elegant she was strutting her stuff in an upcoming recap post.

She came to me throughout the day reporting on all the happenings - how she was taking care of her bouquet by giving it water, how much she loved the cake, how it was past her bedtime but that she was glad to still be here... etc. She absolutely adored Zelda, and part of me wants to keep it for her turn one day even if just for dress up fun.

(photo by my friend Rob)

We had fans scattered among the ceremony seating, and she took it upon herself to check every single one making sure they 'worked' prior to the ceremony. She went from fan to fan, opening each of them, test it by fanning herself a couple times, closed it up and put it back, then moved on to the next. Here she is with one of those products she inspected, the precious bouquet I made for her, and her own escort teabag personalized with the nickname "princess" in her hand.

(photo by my friend Rob)

Us Asians, we looove pictures (though "we" sadly excludes me). I'm surprised that the hand peace signs were left out of this one below. That dear child was like Mickey at Disneyland that day as everyone wanted to pose with her in pictures, and they were mostly strangers! No matter though, she loves attention, and the camera.

(photo by my friend Rob)

That's right people, we matched, I ain't ashamed!The only other underage participant was the RB and FG's beautiful baby sister. She was perfect as always, though I barely got to hold her that day (usually I'm the baby hog but I was kinda busy!). I left her out of the whole matching gig even after serious contemplation. She was so cute in her little red dress that mommie picked out for her, and I was glad to see her comfy and happy. Here is that little angel with grams, aka MIL GT.

Even though I have seen some outrageous kids-at-wedding antics, it never even crossed my mind to worry about these three. In fact they were behaving better than an increasing number of adults as the night went on! I wonder if and how brides deal when expecting young guests with extra spunk. Or, is it just all part of the fun?

Images by Travis Hoehne except as otherwise indicated

11.21.2008


Helloooo day-when-i-am-too-old-to-still-be-sporting-my-college-sweatshirt! Finally we meet, and I'm dressed for the occasion. Shall we dance?

Image by Shelby Nycole

11.19.2008

The Tea Party: Into the Poof

Previously:
Prelude
Tea Ceremony

After the tea ceremony it was our cancer fighting warrior princess' moment to shine in all her sparkly poofy glory.

Zelda's closeup:

Midna's Turn:
I felt pretty useless not being able to dress myself (though I'm proud to announce that I managed to pee while in the dress without assistance!)...
fortunately I had sexy helpers...and real love for real buttons!
I downgraded to only ONE padded bra with Zelda, and reminded myself not to forget putting on the Optimus Prime tattoo (aka my something blue):"Now pose for the picture like you are gazing dreamily out the window, GT"
"ehh... OK"
"Wait! There are people out there! Hey I know that guy!""Wow that fool really did show up in a shirt with orange and blue flowers! I knew I shouldn't dare people to do stupid things on my wedding day!"


Quick rewind:
I have one of those faces that apparently screams 'AHH MY WORLD IS IN SHAMBLES!' whenever I am thinking. I know because I always get asked what's wrong with me. So when the mister and I went to check on the set up after our tea ceremony and found things that needed changing, I had to quickly put on my thinking cap (and with it, the damn thinking face) trying to figure out how to fix things. Since our wedding party consisted of mostly the mister's peeps who don't know me super well, I basically scared them all off when my 'solution mode' turned on. Everyone kept asking me what I was upset about and what they can do, but all I wanted was a moment to process it all in my mind! Oh all those poor souls who were only trying to help...Lesson learned - Have someone else oversee the details!
There I was on 3-4 hours of sleep after being beaten up, I just got yelled at by my parents, my cousin was missing and we were pressed for time on the portrait taking...etc. and the guests hadn't even arrived yet! Switching myself to work gear at this point was probably a bad move, but we were lucky to be surrounded by great people and everything worked out wonderfully in the end.

While hindsight is 20/20 and I should have known better about... well, lots of things... topping those should have been to give myself much more leeway for unexpected stress and delays. I hope the sharing of my experience will help some of you out there take a little off your own plate on the day of. After all, you've worked so hard to get this far. If there's a time to just kick back and let it happen, that's the time!

That and, don't forget to pee before getting in the dress.

*Last 2 images by my friend Rob, the rest by Travis Hoehne

11.14.2008

Bitter Sweets


Bought my last bag of Mother's Cookies yesterday. They will be missed.

Image by Ephemeron

11.13.2008

Free Photo Book from Snapfish

I missed the Oprah episode, but I'm not gonna miss the deal! You can get the credit through Friday and must redeem it by Sunday. Go HERE for details on the offer.

Enjoy!

The Tea Party: Tea with a side of discipline and faux boobs

Previously:
Prelude

We scheduled the Chinese tea ceremony at the venue in the afternoon, prior to guest arrival. I was yapping away with the fam when the mister saw me for the first time that day. It took me awhile before I realized it was a significant moment, as he was grinning at me like this:


Seeing him happy always makes me happy, plus I was really glad I was no longer the ONLY person everyone stared at.
Generally, a special tea set is used for the tea ceremony. Fortunately our centerpieces consisted of tea sets so we didn't have to buy another, and those given tea didn't have to share the same teacups (gross otherwise, right? but that's how it's usually done).

Right before the ceremony started my parents scolded me in front of evvverybody for not having prepared a tray for serving the tea. Someone, I think my brother, rounded up the extra red charger from the escort card set up and saved my life. And hey, it even looks pretty good in the pictures!

Side note: DUDE! Check out my boobs! It is more noticable in some pictures (like this one below) than others (3 pics above) that I was wearing TWO padded bras in an attempt to fill out that tailored-not-so-fit qipao I ordered online.

Normally the groom's parents would be given tea first but since I knew they were nervous about the participation in the ceremony, I requested for them to go last. I had explained to them the simple steps, and even shown them a YouTube video of it. I'm not sure if it helped though because there was still plenty of whispering like "Do I say something now?" "Do I give you the envelope now?" They were trying so hard not to 'mess it up'... it was cute, and pretty funny.
After the tea ceremony we took some required family portraits that I won't bore you with. Next, I will illustrate how not to scare off the hubs' side of the wedding party...

* Images by Travis Hoehne