anything but ordinary

I legally changed my last name...

Deciding whether or not to change your last name is a personal decision for anyone who gets married. I decided to go ahead and change my name. It was an emotional experience, surprisingly.

I was nervous all morning, from before I started the process, and even after... I STILL have nervous energy from it. I was more nervous doing THIS than I was while walking down the aisle to become a wife.

I mean, I have had my last name forever, right? As I gave the Recorder's Office the info and forms they needed, I kept feeling as if someone was going to tell me NO or that I was being fraudulant or something...like I wasn't ALLOWED...or being called out as "imposter" or something. Difficult to explain.

 

And then, everything happened so fast. Seeing the marriage certificate in person was surreal. Like...oh...those ARE our signatures. this IS real. I AM married.

 

And then at the Social Security Office, I almost missed my number being called, because it happened right away, and my heart was thumping. I kept feeling like I was going to be told "NO" for whatever reason. And then it was done.

 

And as I drove to the DMV, I kept asking myself...what have I done? Is this the right thing? Should I have kept my name? Well, it's too late now... And then, as I pulled into the driveway of the DMV, I saw one of those "running for government" signs in bright colors...with the last name of the person being the same as my new last name. Seriously, spelled the same way and everything. And I felt calm. Which made me feel happy.

 

Then the whole DMV experience...I tried to relax and read my book while distracted to make sure I HEARD my number called this time. Then it was my turn, and even though the person at the Social Security office saidIi might need to wait till Monday (that I might not be in the system yet), everything was okay and my info went thru. I had to fill out another form to change my address for my car registration, and started to sign my old last name at the bottom... had to scratch that out and sign my new name instead.

 

Then sent to the window to take a new photo. Had to sign my new name again, to put on the new license. It was an ugly signature...I'm not practiced yet. (But that's okay, cuz my current card has an ugly signature, too...)

 

Then, excited, I called my husband. I feel like celebrating.

 

Weird, but this whole time, I haven't really felt married. Keep having little flashes of it... but everyone has been asking if I feel different, and I think about it and honestly say NO. But NOW I feel different. I feel married. I came straight to work from the DMV, and feel like there is a sign stamped across my forehead now, with my new name. I just FEEL different. Kinda like when you first get your engagement ring, and it feels a ton, and you feel like it is a beacon and on show for everyone, and of course EVERYONE notices it right away (or so it feels). This was the same. Hard to explain, but NOW I feel married.

 

This calls for a celebration!

I'm MARRIED!!!

So, I'm married now. whew! All the planning and stressing came together in one beautiful day at the beach. Honestly, it couldn't have been any better. I'll have to share all the details later, but for now, I wanted to share the same-day edit preview video that our videographer put together for us. You'll find it on their blog, here:

http://charleslaurenfilms.blogspot.com/2008/05/may-17-2008-same-day-edit.html

walk...turn toward each other...kiss...

These are the words that Tony and I heard repeatedly yesterday. We were having "engagement photos" taken, which, after being engaged for so long already, was really more of an excuse to just get dressed up and have AWESOME pictures taken of the two of us.

It was a fun, but nerve-wracking day. Busy, busy, busy... I began the day with getting my hair styled by Sefe, at the Cartel Salon. I've been going to her for years now, and love what she can do. She made me look like me, but a bit more edgy. I LOVED it! (and Tony loved it, too...)

Then I headed to meet my wedding makeup artist, Berit. I had scheduled my makeup trial on the same day as the photo shoot, so that my face would be "photo-ready." Berit was simply amazing!!! She made me look HOT! She asked very poignant questions to help her out; things I wouldn't have thought of. She did fantastic things with my face...one of my complaints is that I usually end up looking much heavier than I actually am in photos, so she did a few tricks to define my face and jawline a lot more. I could definitely see a big difference, even in the "practice photos" in her studio. She even took the time to change my makeup a bit before I headed out for the day, making it more appropriate to a sunny outdoor shoot (rather than a fancy wedding look).

I left her studio at 2:00 and headed to the Irvine Spectrum, meeting up with Tony in the parking lot. We hurriedly changed into our first outfit (in our cars), and then had 5 minutes to scarf down some lunch before meeting up with out photographer, Katie, of Red Loft Studios.

She is awesome!!! I cannot stress this enough! She made us feel totally comfortable (or, as comfortable as a person can be when standing in the middle of a crowded shopping area, kissing and posing for photos). Neither Tony or myself are the "model" type...so as soon as the camera came into play, we were very aware that it was there and didn't quite know what to do with ourselves. Katie made us feel at ease, giving us a bit more direction than she might have had to use with others... and I swear we kissed more in this day than we had since we first started dating (no worries, though...Katie said that she hears that a lot). It was a bit weird at first, especially for Tony, who isn't a PDA person at all (PDA: public display of affection). It's extremely uncomfortable for him to be the center of attention OR to kiss in public...so, putting those things together, it took a while for him to relax a bit.

We started our photo shoot at the Irvine Spectrum, since it's one of our usual hangouts (and it doesn't hurt that it's got some fabulous fountains and architecture, either...and add the fact that we met there and BAM!...instant photo-ops). Funny how Tony and I spend a lot of time there, but never really noticed some things that Katie picked up on right away. I LOVE her artistic eye! She found various doorways and tile walls, etc., playing with patterns and light and shadows. Awesome!

We even got a few pics taken inside of Barnes & Noble Bookstore, Red Robin, and Champps (where we met and got engaged). Then we piled into my car (quite literally) and headed off toward Laguna Beach to continue. Once changed into our second outfits, we wandered the streets of Laguna. Again, it was awesome to see the creative sparks that Katie has... she led the way as we found various windows, walls, benches and other things to use as backdrops to our photos. One more quick "costume" change, and then it was onto the beach. Sigh...the sand felt wonderful on my bare toes after having been in heels all day... and we were able to finish with some amazing sunset pictures on the beach.

The photos came out absolutely gorgeous!!! Click here to go to Katie's blog posting of our photo shoot... http://saycheese.redloftstudios.com/2008/04/14/michelle-tonys-modern-love-story/ or just click on my photo album entitled "engagement photos" in the sidebar of this blog to see them here.

 

marriage vs. wedding...

I've been very very busy lately... (which is why my blog, among other things, have gone ignored for so long).

I have been busy planning a wedding that will happen in 2.5 months. I remember when it seemed SOOO far away, and I got to tell myself "don't worry...there's PLENTY of time." HAH! Time has pretty much run out, and now we're down to the "nitty-gritty" details. I know a LOT of people that go more overboard than I do, and I know others that don't really have their hand in many of the details at all. I like to think that I'm somewhere in between...

I think, honestly, if I had it to do all over again (hadn't already dropped LOTS of $$$ into deposits, decor, etc...), I would do it very very simplistically. Just grab a handful of friends and family and head to Mexico or Vegas or somewhere fast and easy. Simple. Maybe even just the two of us, 2 witnesses, and a photographer. Done.

I had never been one of those young girls to plan her dream wedding as a child,  and so, once engaged, I didn't know where to start. The possibilities seemed endless. And I got swept up in the fantasy of it all...surrounding myself with DOZENS of the bridal magazines available. And since we are able to do most of it ourselves, we could re-create some magazine-esqe details, for a fraction of the cost. However, I got SOOOOO into the idea of it all, that the "little things" got lost along the way... like the whole reason behind this day. The MARRIAGE of Tony and myself.

As I delved into the planning more and more, Tony found himself interested less and less. I wanted him to help more with the planning; he wanted ME back...the (somewhat) sane girl who talked about things OTHER than fabric swatches, thermography printing and head counts. I thought he was slacking, leaving ME to handle all the "stuff" that "needed" to get done; he thought I was slacking in our relationship...spending more time on this one day than looking towards the realization of the future beyond it. He started to feel lost in plans for this one day (that have been going on for almost 2 years now), as most of the details of the day aren't things that he really cares about...tablecloths, flowers, etc... what matters to him are the most important things of all: the vows we will be making to one another.

No, I didn't "forget" about the future after the day of the wedding. But I got lost in all the fluff along the way. In trying to make the day "our own," I didn't realize how much TIME and effort was spent on those things. I'm trying to find my footing back in reality (albeit, a bit too late now), and balance the details of the wedding with the enourmous fact that Tony and I will be merging our lives in a BIG way. I have been trying to delegate more wedding tasks to my matron of honor (who is a godsend, by the way, and has pretty much been acting as my wedding coordinator), and have been spending more REAL time with Tony... talking, talking, talking...and trying to take more steps to create the type of MARRIAGE we both want.

THIS is what is real.

surviving the first wedding registry

Tony and I BEGAN our wedding registry at Macy's yesterday. And I say "began" because we didn't get very far.  Let's start with the fact that Tony thought we'd be in and out of there in 15 minutes (hahahahahaha!!!). And then add to that the fact that I told him we'd be done in an hour (double hahahahahah!!!). Neither of us knew what we were in for...

We checked in at the bridal office and claimed our scanner. The person helping us made some sexist remarks about how I can choose what we get and Tony can play with the electronics (scanner)...I get to buy and he holds my bags. Um, no? At least the woman said a remark stating that she knew she was beig sexist. (And she works in the wedding department? Way to dispel all those myths and lead the way for women's rights...)

In any case...we got our scanner, I got my "goody bag" (which was nothing but a canvas bag filled with Macy's catalogs), I took out my lists I had come prepared with, and we were on our way...wandering in circles...not sure where to start or where we were going...

It went something like this: "o-kay...let's pick some nice towels...here is the towel section. oh, wait, there are some more towels over there. wait...there are some more over there... um, we're in the bedding department now somehow, so let's just pick out a comforter while we're here. ew-that one looks like raggedy ann threw up all over it. oh wait-so does THAT one. hmmm...doesn't this place make ANY solid colored blankets? is this design MEANT to resemble a coral reef? hey...weren't we after towels? where did they go???"

Getting frustrated because we hadn't scanned anything yet, Tony suggested to just start scanning something...ANYTHING. I vetoed that idea cuz I didn't want to end up with 10 random crytal vases for no apparent reason. So I found a cute picture frame and did a vicorious happy dance when we scanned our first item. Right. One item...score!

We wandered around aimlessly from floor to floor...this was a HOME STORE only and there were THREE stories to this store).  All my "prep" work that I had done with my matron of honor went right out the window...the layout of this store was different from the one we had visited before and I couldn't find anything I had liked from before.

It was like a hunt...we saw couple after couple carrying the red "goody bag" that signaled that they were in the same situation as we were...and heard nothing but the constant "beeps" of other scanners around us. Passing other couples, we almost wanted to give them "the nod" as we passed, feeling united with them somehow. However, Tony noticed a trend...most of the other couples had the girls leading the way, scanner in hand, and the guy just following along cuz he had to. Now, I'm not saying that Tony particularly enjoyed shopping for registry items (heck, even I was done at a certain point), but he is a great shopper...he has great taste, has opinions on items, and actually speaks up with those opinions and helps make decisions. Nice.

But, after a certain point, we were ready to just play laser-tag with the scanner instead. Sigh. We found a couple more things on our "list" so there was more than a few pitiful items on there, and then call it a day. We decided to call in reinforcements next time we go back... on Saturday, we're bringing my matron of honor/Tony's sis back with us so we can speed right through the place. Woo-hoo!!!

update, update, update...

It's been awhile since I've updated here...sorry. (Bad little blogger!)

So, here's a quick "catch-up" of my life lately...

On the wedding front, my matron of honor (and Tony's sis) has outdone herself, yet again... she's doing a LOT (most of the handmade stuff, actually). She (and her mother) are sewing 120 slipcovers for the chairs for the ceremony and are almost done with that. She has finished ironing the chair covers for the reception. She is starting to create the design on the aisle runner this week. She put together a few samples of silver ladybugs for me to use in my bridal bouquet. And here are a few more items:

these are the baskets for the flowergirls; they were painted silver and then satin material was added to the bottom of each basket to soften the look a bit. I LOVE that the baskets have SWIRLS in them to match the rest of what turned out to be our "motif."

These are the finished flower arrangements to be used for decoration on the gazebo that Tony and I will be married in front of.

This is one of our tablecloth overlays,  also made by Maria. These are all done.

I went with Maria to Macy's...to get some ideas of registry items to select before Tony and I actually registered for real. I totally fell in LOVE with these dishes, and Tony gave his approval...he wanted to get something simple and white, where I wanted some kind of design. So these were a perfect compromise...white with a platinum ring, and cooridnating dessert plates with a pattern. Well...it figures...the set turned out to be a "seasonal" item and it looks like Macy's no longer carries the dishes. Bummer. Back to square one... we're going to start our in-store registry TOMORROW, actually...so we'll see if we find something we both like (that doesn't cost an arm and a leg...)

IN OTHER NEWS... (moving right along from wedding stuff...)

I started teaching myself how to play guitar. It's something I'd always TALKED about doing "someday" but never got around to doing it. It always seemed like such a daunting task. Well, inspiration struck... listening to my brother and Tony play the guitar together, and then playing the video game "Rock Band" where I played the guitar...got me thinking. And I've been listening to more and more poetic, raw music (where the vocals aren't processed, and the main instruments are piano, guitar, bass, simple drum, etc...). That kind of music gives me a DRIVE to do this stuff myself, you know? And it helps that I've found a few cds of musicians that are CHICKS...so the songs are in my range and stuff I can easily sing (Ingrid Michaelson and Anna Nalick are my new sources of inspiration). SO, I came home one night and looked up the guitar chords to the song "The Way I Am" by Ingrid Michaelson... only 4 basic chords used in the song; a good starting point. SO, for now, I have this one song I am learning...trying to toughen up my fingers to push hard enough on the strings for a pure tone; practicing moving my fingers from chord to chord quickly enough. It's more difficult than it looks...but it's worth it. And I am DOING it.

SUPER TUESDAY...

I actually voted. No, really, this is a BIG thing. It's only recently that I've taken such an interest in politics and made the decision to make my little voice heard. It was a bit intimidating, and I think that the people in charge of the actual polling places need to do some work. The automated voting booths they have in place now are NOT the simplest things to operate. I consider myself to be somewhat computer savvy, but found the number of knobs and various instructions posted all over the place to be a bit much. But I cast my vote successfully, double and triple-checking that it was done correctly. I was proud to get that little sticker that says "I voted."

And one more AWESOME thing that happened recently:

I WON an XBox360!!! I had entered an online contest in December, sponsored by channel 5 news and the movie "The Golden Compass." The grand prize winner won a cruise, and there were 5 XBox360s given away as other prizes...and I GOT one of them!!! I received an email a few weeks ago notifying me that I was the winner. I thought it was fake, but nope! After confirming that it was real, I waited (impatiently at times) for the gaming sytem to arrive. It came via FedEx on Thursday night. It came with an "arcade" game (which has 5 games in it, including PacMan...yup...brand new system and we were still sitting there playing PACMAN!!!). Also came with The Golden Compass. And my brother's roommate let us borrow several other games... FUN FUN FUN!!!

Tony and I also talked about Valentine's Day coming up...we're staying home for a nice romantic dinner together instead of eating out like (most of) the rest of the world.  And we decided that we didn't want the other to spend a lot of $$ on a gift for us...and after more discussion, we decided to take whatever $$ we would have spent for a present and put it towards a new XBox game. woo-hoo! We went to a store earlier and found a few games we liked, and since they were used (which means less expensive...) we ended up buying them both...Pirates of the Carribbean and a new Tomb Raider game. Happy Valentine's Day!!!    

playing with hair

I went to my mom's house the other night so she could "play" with my hair a bit...I still haven't been able to decide on a hairstyle for the wedding, so my mom offered to test several styles over the course of several days. This was the first attempt. Not bad...who knew that my short hair could be in an up-do?

I love playing with my camera...here is just a random picture I took while trying to document the hairstyle. I love these "accidental" shots.

And here is one more...Tony had to help remove the gazillions of bobbypins my mom had used. Here is the end result...lookd pretty scary to me, so I started striking some "creature" poses.

wedding update

I had never been one of those girls who had planned their dream wedding from age 5. So, I have a lot of catching up to do! Our wedding is mainly a do-it-yourself project; the decorations, floral arrangements, invitations, programs, CAKE and even the DRESS is being made by family. So...there is a LOT to do. Who knew that one day could have so much to coordinate? Seriously.

In any case, I have put together an ongoing page of details for anyone who would like to peek as the day draws closer. You can find it on my sidebar under "pages"...simply called "Wedding Details."

wedding shoes...take 2.

so, the payless shoes are getting returned. they looked okay on my feet and were sorta comfortable, but i had an issue with my pinky-toe wanting to breathe a bit more...it kept trying to escape the confines of the straps. and that's int he first 5 minutes of wearing the shoe! also, while the shoes have a strap to keep them securely on my feet (or so one would assume) they still did a kind of "flip-floppy" thing as i walked. i don't exactly relish the idea of walking down the aisle sounding like i'm squishing my way thru mud puddles.

sigh. so, back to the drawing board. luckily, i DO have a few backup choices in mind. i'll see if i can hunt these shoes down, and if not, i'm basically planning on maxing out my credit card (or close anough to it) and buy a LOT of shoes all at once...and then keep one pair and return the rest. a lot of trouble for a pair of shoes...but hey, i'm gonna be a bride. teehee...i LOVE being able to use that excuse sometimes. don't really believe it, but it could come in handy sometimes, you know?

in any case, here is the next pair of shoes i might go for. wish me luck...

bought my bridal shoes...i think.

i am NOT a "shoe person." i know plenty of people who are...but i just don't happen to be one of them. i don't pay any attention to whose name is sewn onto the bottom of my shoe, since i'm stepping all over them anyways. and i gasp when i see pricetags above $50 for shoes, which usually limits my shoe shopping to payless shoes or target. which is fine by me...by the time the shoe is worn out, the style changes anyways...

so, i was NOT looking forward to shoe shopping for my wedding. i have to get my shoes early, doing things a bit backwards... since my dress is being custom-made by my future mother in law, it makes sense for her to know the height of my heels NOW and embellish the bottom of my gown accordingly, instead of making alterations later like most companies do.

shoe shopping...i looked online, went out shopping with friends, my mom, looked online some more... aaargh! but my feet are not shaped like "Barbie's" and thus I think it unfair to try and cram my toes into a 90-degree angle. that, and balance on stilts. for 12 hours. and look graceful. hah!!! so, i found it diffucult to find a cute, medium-height, thicker heeled sandal that didn't look like it was made for a 80 year old woman or a 10 year old girl. double sigh. match that with the fact that all of the toothpick-style shoes that WERE available were all around $300. seriously? i don't think so.

luckily, yahoo.com is my friend and i was able to track down some shoes that might actually work.

but...get this. after hours (seriously) of searching for THE perfect pair of shoes...you'll never guess where i finally found the ones i decided to go with. (drumroll, please...)

 

Payless Shoes Source. seriously. i found these puppies online for under $40. works for me...they look a bit plain-jane, but once i "bling" them up with the appropriate stones and such to match my dress, they will sparkle like the sun!

so, they are ordered and on their way. cross your fingers that they fit...otherwise i go to my backup plan... both zappos.com and shoebuys.com have free shipping both ways, so i might order a BUNCH of shoes from them and pick ONE pair, returning the ones i don't want. overkill, maybe. but i'm gonna be a bride.

wedding subculture

i've been bobbing around in the wedding world for quite some time now...who knew that it was a complete subculture? i was never one of those girls who dreamed from age 3 about what my wedding would look like; i thought that i would be "different" and "do my OWN thing" when it came my turn. man, was i EVER wrong. i'm kinda bummed that i'm turning out to love the "traditional" (gasp) approach. don't get me wrong...the whole thing will be personalized from top to bottom... but, here i am in a world where shoe shopping is a contact sport, and the debate between silk and tulle could go on for DAYS. and DON'T get me started on the proper items to include (and leave out) from a wedding invitation. hah! i don't know WHEN i became such a wedding expert, but it was probably somewhere between the 100th and 101st wedding magazine that i picked up. i find myself refreshing the messaage board on theknot.com several times a day... searching ebay, amazon and everything else that shows up on yahoo.com for the PERFECT ladybug ornament to place in my flowers (why couldn't i be have been a "butterfly" girl...THOSE things are all over the place...but no, i'm difficult and go with ladybugs). so, if my world seems a bit off-kilter lately, i must apologize. but still...i've got some planning to do.  ; )

dj? check. officiant? check! videographer? CHECK!

so, it's all starting to come together... we've been busy little bees, getting our vendors booked for the wedding. My future sis-in-law got on my case a few weeks back, finding out that we still hadn't booked some of our major players. (she's allowed to have her say...she's my matron of honor...and has done planning/coordinating for weddings in the past). it was just the kick in the rear that we needed for that extra boost of motivation.

we've had the ceremony and reception location (Hotel Laguna) booked for a long time now, so that wasn't an issue. and we followed up quickly with our photographer (Red Loft Studios).

so...next on the agenda? find a good dj. it was more difficult that we thought it would be. tony and i LOVE our music. our tastes are very eclectic, but specific to our moods...think of it as a "theme song" or "background music" to life. MOST djs we found said that they could guarantee up to 15 of our song choices would be played during the evening. only 15? uh-uh. not good enough. so we shopped around. i went on the knot website, which is very addicting. in the forum section is a "local" section for the OC, so i was able to get recommendations. i swear, within 10 minutes of posting this question, i received 10 recommendations for the same guy...Eric, from SoCal-Djs (and even more recommendations for him followed thereafter). So, we set up a meeting. tony and i LOVED this guy! not only was he VERY personable and REAL (not like he was slick or trying to SELL anything), he knew what he was talkig about. he also brings an assistant so he can work in the background...no mishaps... he said that we can make him cds of the music we would like to be played, and he said that he will play as much of the music that he can, while STILL maintaining "control" of the crowd. awesome, and EXACTLY what we were looking for. his prices are excellent, too...

then came finding an officiant. also a difficult task. tony and i aren't really religious, but also wanted to stay away from going too casual. we have heard horror stories of a friend's wedding where the minister started on a tangent where he compared marriage to the strength of a redwood tree...and kept on this subject for a VERY long time. i didn't want to have to cross my fingers that our officiant woudln't say anything inappropriate, or be forced to grit my teeth when he did. well, as luck woudl have it, we found someone perfect for us. His name is Rev. Bruce Danzara, and he's been officiating at weddings for over 30 years now.  well, on his website, he has the most amazing thing. He has written the wedding ceremony, but broken it apart paragraph by paragraph, so you can pick and choose what feels right to YOU. So, we get to pick EXACTLY what will be said in our ceremony. He has the various options memorized, so he won't need to read from the papers. And his wording is beautiful!!!

finally, we booked our videographer. this seemed to be the most challenging of all tasks, so far. tony and i are very "artsy," having an eye for light and angles...we wanted someone who would film in this style...not like "uncle bob" with a camera, but someone with an artistic eye. i saw so many videographers that i couldn't keep them all straight. i had made myself almost 10 pages of charts, keeping track f pricing, packages offered, etc. sigh. still nothing caught my eye...everything we liked seemed to be WAY out of our price range, and we didn't like the ones that we actually could afford. Enter...Charles Lauren Films.  Their prices are REALLY amazing, considering how much time and effort they obviously put into everything. Seriously, to see their demos is to see an actual MOVIE. They are shot in widescreen, and have such attention to detail. (almost) anyone could learn to add basic effects in the editing process, but these people really add them where they count. They don't add cheesy effects just to say that they've used them. nope...everything they do seems to have a PURPOSE for being there...the video just FLOWS. also, this company is more than just "effects" in editing...they FILm using such interesting angles and ideas. For example, they will travel up a glass elevator while filming their ascent thru the window...beautiful. Tony and i visited with them last weekend...watched one of the films they had actually put together for a client...we weren't even halfway through when tony said he was READY to sign the contract.  : )  it was absolutely WONDERFUL.

it's all coming together so beautifully, that we are getting so excited for the day to come when all of these people are in one place, doing their thing.

negative one anniversary...

So, i know that i'm a freak and all, and tend to get a bit mushy and go overboard sometimes. that being said, here's the story...

exactly one year from May 17, 2007, I will be married. it was my -1 anniversary that day. and so i wanted to celebrate!

i made tony this card...there's background to this inside joke here. all of you "friends" fans will get the lobster reference. to the others, long story short, a character (phoebe) remarks to another character (ross) that he shouldn't give up hope at trying to date rachel. because "he's her lobster..." she goes on to say that lobsters mate for life, and when they are old, you can see them walking along the bottom of the tanks, holding claws...

on our first valentine's day together, (amongst other things), tony gave me a stuffed lobster and a note that said "you're my lobster," and it's been one of "our things" ever since then. (he even plans on wearing lobster cufflinks at our wedding, and i am tying a lobster charm to my garter that day.

in any case, here's the card i made:

and then i took him out to dinner to one of our favorite spots...javier's, in laguna beach. romantic little place across the street from the ocean...and across the way from hotel laguna, the location of our wedding! it was nice.

our photographer rocks!!!

so, tony and i met up with jenny stafford, owner of red loft studios. this is the photography studio we are going with for our wedding. simply amazing. so artistic and wonderful!!! check out their website, and you'll see what i mean.  their styles are so cool...tony and i weren't able to decide on an actual photographer to go with for the day (the choice is down to 2)...we were going to do the "roeshamboe" (rock-paper-scissors) thing, but decided to just wait and meet with them in person later. but at least we were able to put down a deposit to guarantee ONE of them! teehee...this place is uber cool...really. the studio is not at all pretentious...very comfy and real. and, lemme just say, that i did a LOT of shopping around for a wedding photographer. this place rocks! their prices are very good, and you get a LOT for the money. and the packages are totally customizable and already include a LOT...you even get 2 photographers in each package. okay...i'm starting to sound like a commercial.

anyways, we met with the owner the other night, who was super-sweet and personable. we spoke of options, styles, all the norm. she showed us SEVERAL albums to choose from. and we talked of how we met, how tony proposed, etc... when she heard about the comic book he created, she HAD to see it! so i directed her to blog and showed her where to look. she actually saved a link to the page, she loved it so much.

and now we're on her blog!!! check it out!!! we are on the studio's blog...title of the posting is: cutest proposal ever! check it out here.

*edit* my dad visited their blog and posted a comment on it. i thought it was totally sweet, so i thought i would share it with you..."Just for the record, I happen to be Chels father. I thought this proposal was awesome. I knew Tony was going to propose but his way of doing it just totally blew my mind. It takes a lot for a man to propose, but to think about it and create an entirely memorable way as he has done is totally unreal. I knew he was going to propose because he actually asked me for her hand. Tony and Michelle have my blessing."  (isn't that the sweetest thing you've read??)

only ONE shoe???!!!

so, i had a pretty upsetting encounter with Macy's yesterday...

it started on saturday. i opened up the box of bridesmaid shoes that i was holding onto for my friend michelle. my mom had never seen the shoes before, so i was going to show her what they looked like. imagine my surprise when i discovered that there was only ONE shoe in the box!!!

so, that afternoon, i called the store where i had bought them (the Macy's at the Brea Mall, for anyone interested in AVOIDING a similar situation...), in order to make sure they had the other shoe there that i could come get. i thought this would be a simple process. silly me.

when i got through to the women's shoe department, i explained my situation to the first person who answered the phone. i even said that the missing shoe was most likely the one being used as a display...even going so far as telling them WHERE the display ws located at, so they could go right over and see if it was there. i was put on "hold"...which consisted of simply setting the phone down and continuing what they were previously doing. now, i understand that it was busy, especially since there was a sale going on. however, mine was a simple request that could be handled in under a minute...and they should have spent time with me in order to CORRECT this initial mistake of theirs to begin with. i mean, come on...who sends someone home with ONE shoe??? as we have all seen...shoe sales people are ALWAYS supposed to check the boxes before ringing up the sale.

so...back to being on hold. i was on hold for over 10 minutes. and i could hear EVERYTHING...someone just proposed to someone else...what they had decided to eat fo lunch that day...and on and on. i tried yelling "hello" into the phone to get their attention, and even pressing the * sign on my phone to try and make more noise...to no avail.

so...i had tony call them up on the other line. when the phone rang through i took it and told them that i was actually also on HOLD on the OTHER LINE and had been so for over 10 minutes!! no apologies. just asked me what i needed help with. so i explained AGAIN, to someone new this time what my situation was. put on hold AGAIN! and, as before, i could hear them talking around me. they didn't even bother to ask anyone ELSE on the floor to help out...just set down the phone and ignored me!

so, i had tony call them up AGAIN! when someone answered, i explained AGAIN!!! the girl asked for my information so she could call me back "in case we got disconnected while she put me on hold"...i told her she was NOT to put me on hold this time...that she needed to PERSONALLY WALK HERSELF over to where i told her to and handle this situation IMMEDIATELY. So, of course she said she would do this...and put the phone down again. (aaarghhh!!!)

someone actually came back on the line, and said that they had found the size shoe i needed, but in a DIFFERENT COLOR! (AAARRRRGGHHH!!!) i SWEAR i was speaking english!!! so, i tried explaining...once more...that i HAD ONE SHOE ALREADY IN MY POSSESSION...bought and paid for...i was missing the OTHER SHOE. (seriously, how difficult IS this?) so, they said, "oh" and set the phone down again.

tony was still on hold on the other line. some guy picked up, said "hello?" and then promptly hung up the phone!

in my case, i got disconnected...and had to call back AGAIN!!! this time, the girl told me that, no, they had looked and that shoe was not there.

i was FURIOUS!!! so, as soon as i could get there...i headed up there that afternoon. and, guess what? i headed STRAIGHT to where i told them the display shoe would be...and it WAS THERE!!! so, i marched up to the desk and asked to see the manager.

Luckily, the manager was actually comptetant. She sympathized with me, even getting upset herself over things from the start (the ONE shoe thing). She said that she was actually newly transferred to the department, saying that this department was actually the worst in the company, so she had been sent there to "clean things up." She thanked me for informing her of the situation, and said that she would track down the people involved and place notices of this in their employment records. She apologized profusely. And she even gave me a discount on the purchased shoes to try and make amends. She said they normally only give 10% discounts, but ended up giving me a 25% discount for my troubles.

Hopefully, things will change in that store soon...but in the meantime, I might avoid shopping in that department for a while.

it's all coming together...

so..decisions are finally being made. for me, who is THE least decisive person you will ever meet, this is a BIG deal. trust me.

i'm getting even more excited. and things are feeling more REAL.

i went to another shop to try on bridal gowns. didn't really find anything i loved, but found PIECES of the dresses here and there that i fell in love with. and with the photos i had torn from my bridal magazines, i think that i actually have the main part of my wedding dress designed. for real!!! i wish that i could give details here, but i can't...my guy reads this blog occassionally, and i really want it to be a surprise. all i can say is that there is NOTHING out there like what i am going to be wearing. and that it will be absolutely gor-geous!!!

from the bridal store, we went to the fabric store. double-checked on some fabrics that i wanted to use for my bridesmaid dresses, and decided to go with them. the dresses will be silver, with a purple chiffon overlay. here is a pic of the purple (though i don't know if the camera does it justice...). 

i still wasn't ready to go home. so we headed to the nearby mall, just wandering around for ideas...mainly looking at shoes for me or the bridesmaids. and get this: we FOUND some that were absolutely per-fect! i kid you not...they are almost the exact shade purple of the material i found for the dresses!!! one shade darker, with rhinestones. check them out. and they were on SALE. i knew they would be perfect when i reached for pair in black at the same time that mari (tony's sis and my matron of honor) reached for the same shoe, somewhere else. we were both excited to show each other what we had found...and realized we were holding the same shoe! and THEN we found them in this fabulous color!!! i made some quick calls to get the girls' shoe sizes. well...we got 2 pair. 2 have to be sent in from other stores, but that's okay...

then, walking around (and around and around) some more, i came across these earrings at nordstroms. they were a bit pricey, so we headed ALL over the mall some more, seeing if we could find ANYTHING similar. we COULDN'T. so...after a little thought, i went back and got them the next day. arean't they GORGEOUS??? (i'll probably remove the bottom "golf-ball" crystals, though)

and now i have plans to head up to Los Angeles on saturday...going to purchase the fabric for the bridesmaid dresses...and find some of the fabric for my own wedding gown. wow. it's all happening...for real now.

so, while the bridesmaid dresses haven't been completely designed yet, we have a base to work from. we know the length, and basic cut. tony and i decided on that tonight so i'd know how much fabric to get this weekend.

i know, i know...it might all sound a bit on the mundane side. but this is all new to me!

playing cinderella...

So, i went and tried on bridal gowns for the first time today (i wrote this on wednesday). it was definitely an interesting experience, and a bit overwhelming. but not for the reasons you might think...

here's the scoop. i am so incredibly lucky that my mother-in-law (to be) is a wonderful seamstress, and is able to duplicate pretty much anything you show her, as well as designing her own creations. so i am having my wedding gown custom made. this being said, i'm not sure what i want. so i still get to visit all the shops and try on anything i want, not even having to consider the price tag attached. (like a dream come true.)

today was the day i decided to start. figured i'd head to David's Bridal. they have basics in all the styles i could imagine, in all the different sizes. perfect! i called last night to make an appointment at the local store...more difficult than i thought. first off, i asked if i even HAD to make an appointment, given that i was coming in during the weekday. i was told that i could just come in and shop, but i wouldn't be guaranteed the individual attention that comes from an appointment. so i got transferred to someone else to set the time for me to come in. well, i got transferred a few more times before i reached someone to help me.

i noted that they opened at 11, asking if i could make an appointment for that time. the woman said...great. i'll put you down for 12:30. (no joke.) i said...oh...i was hoping to come in a little earlier, so maybe i'll just come in and shop around myself, then. she said (again, not joking) "no. you can't do that." (mind you...this isnt a couture shop or anything...it's stuff off the rack.) so i went ahead and set an appointment for 12:30. the woman told me to bring the style numbers of the dresses i liked. (what?) she told me to go online and look through the styles, writing down the numbers of the dresses i liked. um, okay, i guess...so i spent about an hour on my computer last night, going through the entire website and making a list of my favorite styles. i had a list of almost 20. figuring that i wouldn't be able to try them all on in one day, i put little *s next to the ones i liked the best. thought i was ready...

i invited my mom to go with me today. so we took off early...headed down to laguna beach to have lunch, and also to show her the actual wedding site, since she hadn't been able to see it in person yet (sorry mom). then off to David's Bridal.

the woman i was supposed to check in with for my appointment was kind of a, well... not so nice person. in fact, it was the same woman i spoke with on the phone last night. her attention was all over the place, even as i was answering the questions that she had just asked. she interrupted our "meeting" to answer the phone and set up another appointment. and she even belittled a salesgirl in front of me.

when i finally regained some of her attention, she asked me what style of dress i was after. being my first time, i told her that while i had one style in mind, i wanted to try on as many styles as possible, in order to properly rule them out. she started asking what style i preferred. so i reminded her that she, herself, had asked me to make a list of the numbers. i provided her my (lengthy) list, and said that the ones with the stars next to them were ones that i would DEFINITELY like to try on today. i told her that i knew i had quite a few dresses listed on there (17, to be exact), so i knew i'd have to come back another time in order to be able to try them all on. she didn't even glance up and calmly said that i would be able to try on 4 dresses today. (um, WHAT?) i held my tongue, not wanting to argue at this stage. so, she asked if i remembered exactly what the dresses looked like. um, no...but i listed details next to each style number, for my own knowledge. i reminded her that i was told to bring the style number, so she could go from that. so she puts a catalog in front of me, and asks if i could point out the dresses i wanted to try on.

i told her that i had spent all that time gathering the style NUMBERS, as REQUESTED...and asked if she could just look them up on her computer. She said no, that they don't have pictures next to the numbers. Getting a bit (more) peeved at this point, I "suggested" that she could pull them up on the internet herself, then, as she had me do. She go a bit flustered, and then sent me to the back area, saying that my salesgirl would be with me asap.

So, basically, I wasted all that time for nothing. Because she didn't even bother doing ANYTHING with the numbers I had brought. Whatever. Luckily, the salesgirl I got was absolutely WONDERFUL. (Her name was Lisa, in case anyone in the area wants a recommendation...) I told her it was my first time, and she immediately suggested that I just go ahead and try on as many different styles as possible. She told me to just start going through the racks and set aside the gowns I wanted to try on. Well, by the time she came back to check on me, I had about 10 gowns set aside. I told her that I didn't know if I had to put some back, since the woman up front mentioned something about me only having time for four (?)...she said that we'd just start with 4, since the dressing rooms wouldn't hold any more that that, but that I could try on whatever I had time for. coolness...

by the time i got to the dressing room, she had a bra inside for me to use, as well as an a-line slip. my mom came into the room with me to help me with the dresses (those who have been there all understand...). i gave my mom my camera, hoping to get a few pictures of me in the gowns. i've heard that this isn't allowed at most places, so i told my mom to be as discreet as possible. silly me...my mom isn't good at sneaking anything. she tucks the camera into the waistline of her pants, her t-shirt bulging right over it. then she "covertly" looks around before "sneaking" the camera out to take a photo. hah! could she BE any more obvious. oh well, turns out it didn't matter. Lisa let us take all the photos we wanted.

Here is one of my faves of the day...i took a pic as i was "diving" headfirst into another gown...my mom was holding the top open for me.

I wish I could post up some of the other pics, but as my fiance reads this blog...can't do it.

well, like i said, Lisa was wonderful. she brought me a tiara and veils to try on with the dresses. at one point she suggested gloves to try. i told her that i didn't think that gloves would be "ME". she suggested i try them on, if nothing more than to definitely rule them out. well, guess what? i LOVED them!!! she even had a fake bouquet for me to hold, to complete the picture.

i was proud of my mom...though she is known for being overly-emotional, she held it together pretty well...not crying until i put on the veil for the first time.

it was fun, but tiring. but...can't wait to start again!!!

ta-DA!!!

so, here it is. my wedding venue. Hotel Laguna, in Laguna Beach. it's officially my spot now...just have to sign the contract and send it back. wow...it's official. we have a wedding date set (MAY 17, 2008). Let the countdown commence!

here is the place we will marry. it is a courtyard just off of the main part of the hotel. and the entrance is very unique...you get a peek of the area as you pass through an ivy covered archway.

the reception is held in a place called THE LAGUNA ROOM. thru the hotel, enter thru separate doors on the right. head down some stairs, which keeps it separate from other hotel guests. There is a separate landing, where we can set up our guest book, gift table, seating cards, etc... restrooms for just our reception guests... then you go down a few more steps and enter into the reception room. (this picture was taken from the opposite side of the room...you can see the stairs leading in...)  and my favorite part of the place? check out the view, thru our windows...

i LOVE the ocean! and since we're having an evening wedding, we'll be in the room as the sun sets.

now starts the decorating!!! my future sis-in-law used to run her own wedding decorating/designing company of sorts, so i get the professional quality help for free! we already have soooo many ideas for this place. it's a WONDERFUL blank canvas. just wait and see...

Anticip------------ation!

so, tony and i have decided on the venue for our wedding and reception (and it's NOT the one i posted earlier...it's even BETTER!!!) now, i am simply trying to set an appointment to come see the catering manager and book our date. in the meantime, i am seating bullets, hoping that the date (or one of our back-up dates) is still available...they are taking bookings for 2008 already! i will post pics (and breathe a sigh of relief) when this detail is complete. don't want to jinx it in the meantime...

becoming real...

My mom and stepfather threw an engagement party for Tony and me, last weekend. It turned out to be absolutely fabulous! I was overwhelmed by the amount of effort my family put into the party...my mom decided to make it even more special by surprising my future in-laws (and Tony) by making Colombian food. I lent her an authentic cookbook of mine, but many of the ingredients were foreign to us both. My mom headed to a nearby Mexican market with a list of questionable items in hand. And the result was absolutely magnificent!

Here are the appetizers...chili flavored dried mango, fresh pineapple served in coconut halves, fresh mango and kiwi served in pineapple halves, fried plantains served with jalepeno sauce, and candied plantains served over shredded coconut. (wow.)  too bad, but I forgot to get a picture of the rest of the food! there were 2 different beef dishes, refried beans, and coconut chicken made by my mom and aunt. and tony's family brought a pork dish and raisin coconut rice! (yum.)

once i walked into the backyard, and saw the setup, it all started to hit me. this was for REAL. i know, i know...i've been engaged for a while now, but each time something NEW comes along, it makes me realize this all over again. felt foreign, to be the center of attention.

the backyard was gorgeous...they had decorated with round tables and purple tablecloths (my favorite color...), and had scattered large fake diamonds on the tables. there were also little tin boxes that said "love" as favors...filled with both sweet and sour jelly bellies...explained to us that marriage has both sweet and sour parts.

Mom set up a game for Tony and I to play. Earlier, she had gotten the two of us alone, and had us fill out a multiple-choice questionaire about ourselves (favorite Disney movie, where we want to travel, what month we want to get married, WHERE we want to get married, etc...). Then, for the game, mom positioned us at opposite ends of the backyard...we were asked a question, and had to guess what the OTHER person had said. Everytime we were correct, we took a step toward the other (I even had my father next to me, to "walk me down the aisle"...though he didn't even want to give me up THAT day)! It was fun, and we showed everyone that we know each other pretty well.

my dad made a really nice toast to us both...that almost made my dad AND me cry. the gist of it was may we always remain the best of friends, lovers, and partners...support each other, but give each other the room to be ourselves. my dad said how he was VERY happy to welcome tony to the family. it was so special to me, cuz my dad has pretty much NEVER liked the guys i dated before. to have his approval means the world...

and, with that, here are some of my favorite pics from the day:

me and my "lil" bro, shaun

me and my best friends...been friends since 1st and 2nd grade!!!

left to right: Michelle, me, Jennifer

tony and (most of) his women...if his mom had been in this picture, it would have been complete!

left to right: me, Tony, Grace, Tony's sis Maria, and Laura.

my "rebellious" grandma, Elizabeth

and...my honey, Tony!

Just a quick thanks to all involved in this day. From my family and all of their preparations, to my family and friends who came to celebrate this day with us...thank you for sharing in this joyous occasion...may there be many, MANY more days of celebration to come!