my october

The Starbucks red cups are back! WOOT. This signals the start of my ABSOLUTE favorite time of the year. I got my first red cup of the year today. My signature nonfat peppermint mocha. YUM.

So it doesn’t seem like it but I’m around. Just lazy. As per usual.

My “vote by mail” ballot for today’s election arrived yesterday. WHICH MEANS IT IS TOO LATE FOR ME TO DO ANYTHING WITH IT. Considering I live in Northern CA and am unable to fly down and turn it in to an LA County polling place today. You’d think they’d send the ballots out early enough to give the voter enough time to you know, MAIL IT BACK.

I know, I know. I’m disappointed in myself for not registering for my ballot earlier.

I just finished watching McCain’s concession and Obama’s acceptance speeches. WOW. I teared up a few times. It’s an amazing day and even though I did not participate, I’m glad I am here to witness it.

So I’ve been meaning to share pictures of some recent events so here goes…

October 18
Rob and I attended our friends’ Eric and Amy’s wedding at the Trump National Golf Club in Southern CA. It was a wonderful event! I definitely appreciate all the little details now that I’ve planned a wedding myself. Some of the gorgeousness…

The pretty, pretty placecards. Amy embossed the cards with a lovely brocade motif. The colors of the wedding were various shades of purple. So lovely.

Trump’s outdoor ceremony site boasts an amazing view of the Pacific Ocean. WOW. And look at all the purple yumminess! The rose petals along the aisle, the hydrangea balls hanging on the shepherd’s hooks, and the pashminas laid out on the chairs.

The gorgeous bride coming down the aisle…

They had my favorite Sprinkles cupcakes instead of a traditional cake. Terrible photo but YUMMY cupcakes.

A picture of the husband and me during cocktail hour. (It is still SO WEIRD to say “husband”). And yes, I wore that blue dress to yet another event this year.

October 26
Rob, Diesel and I were invited by our friends Shirley and Grantland to attend Farm Day with them at the Terra Firma Farm in Winters. It was a gorgeous day — perfect for the farm! Shirley prepared a picnic lunch for us (turkey sandwiches, hard-boiled eggs, chips) and the farm provided freshly squeezed juices to drink (the apple was particularly yummy).

Sitting on the picnic blanket waiting for treats.

Rob and Diesel enjoying the day in the sun.

Rob picking strawberries. They were SO GOOD.

As we were leaving, we walked past a large dog that kinda looked like a pitbull. He was tied to a tree with his owners nowhere around. When Rob and Diesel walked by him (I think it was a him), he jumped for Diesel and started biting his poor little face. Rob got in the middle and Grantland pulled the crazy dog away by his leash (luckily he was there because I didn’t know what to do and totally froze). After a few tense minutes, they got the dogs separated. Diesel was shaken and had a cut by his nose but he was his old self in no time. He’s a tough little guy.

October 31
Halloween!
But also Girls Weekend in LA with my best friends. We didn’t dress up but I wore purple cat ears. No picture, though, sorry. We spent the weekend eating, relaxing at Le Spa, shopping, watching Center Stage… it was great. AND I got to have Pinkberry! YAY.

Now I’m gearing up for a tough few weeks at work and looking forward to the holidays. I love this time of year.

feeling random

UGH. Last Friday, I discovered that I made a HUGE mistake at work and even though I’ve already told my boss (the most fair and understanding boss EVER), the situation keeps running through my head causing me to second-guess myself and be totally paranoid about every little thing. It’s such a mindf**k. ARGH.

I need to think about positive things…

First. It is now October, which means it’s my birthday month. Woot. 10 more days til 29.

Second. Rob, Diesel and I are heading to LA in 2 weeks for our friends’ Eric and Amy’s wedding. I’m taking the Friday off beforehand to have some extra time to spend with family.

Third. High School Musical 3 arrives in theatres on 10/24. AND I AM TOTALLY GOING TO SEE IT. I think I can convince Rob to watch it with me.
Fourth. My best friends and I have our annual Girls’ weekend scheduled for the end of the month. It’ll be an awesome weekend of spa treatments and girly time.

Hmmm. Now that I see it all listed here, I have lots of good things to look forward to this month. I’m excited!

shirley’s wedding

As the wedding gets closer and closer (44 days!), my workload is getting bigger and bigger. WHY.

Seriously, time to blog (or even THINK about blogging) has been scarce, to say the least. But I had to make time to post some fun pics from my weekend! My high school/college roomie Shirley got married at a beautiful ceremony in Sausalito.

The touching ceremony was full of very personal details.

Cupcakes!

Simpsons-themed table numbers. Rob and I sat at the Principal Skinner table. HEE.

The bride and me! Doesn’t she look gorgeous?

Rob and I took advantage of the photobooth at the reception. So fun! We’re getting one for our wedding too.

The newlyweds are now on their way to Taiwan for a second reception — congrats guys! I feel so lucky to have been a part of your day. *hugs*

I have one more day of work this week and then it’s off to LA for a 3-day weekend and my bridal shower! Hope everyone has a good weekend.

the 2 w’s

The 2 W’s have taken over my life… Work and the Wedding.

Work has been absolutely crazy lately. It’s the dreaded “planning” season, which means looooooong days. SUCKS to be me. But our team just got approval to hire an Assistant so that’ll definitely help whenever we find the time to actually recruit and interview candidates. :/ I really, really, really want my hours to be “normal.”

But the craziness doesn’t stop at work. Oh no. I get home and go into Wedding mode. Rob and I spent the past 2 weeks working on getting all our invitations out the door. We finally got them all mailed out over the weekend. YAY! Once I get confirmation that our out of state guests have received theirs, I’ll share pics!
Now I’ve moved on to other projects — like designing the programs and menus, figuring out if I can handle putting together a slideshow to play at the reception or not, selecting our ceremony music, etc etc etc. OMG.

Not going to think about ALL THAT STUFF right now.

Anyway, this past Saturday I went to my very first Bridal Shower for my good friend Shirley. Despite the heat, it was a really fun-filled day. Her bridesmaids did a great job coordinating everything. We all met at Shirley’s place for breakfast and introductions, then we went to Napa for massages (mmm, so nice), and finally ended up at V. Sattui winery for food, games, and gifts! Shirls, I can’t wait for your wedding — 1 more month!

In TV news, I have not been keeping up with any current shows, except for Lost. It’s too hard. I did manage to get caught up with Gossip Girl (minus the season finale) while I was working on the invitations. But I have tons of One Tree Hill, Brothers and Sisters, Smallville, Ugly Betty and Grey’s Anatomy episodes saved on the Tivo. I don’t know guys. It looks like I might have to start deleting these. Smallville will probably be the first to go.

Too bad I’ll probably have even more TV piling up because I was reading the new show descriptions from the recent Upfronts and I’m totally eyeing the new 90210 series that the CW picked up (WHAT? I grew up with 90210!) and OF COURSE, the new JJ Abrams show, Fringe, that Joshua Jackson is starring in. The show doesn’t really look *that* appealing but whatever, PACEY!!!

I’m delirious and it’s past my bedtime.

real life update

I know I’m a week late but R.I.P. Heath Ledger. There’s nothing to say except his death was a horrible, horrible tragedy and he will be sorely missed. I didn’t realize that he and I were the same age until this week… it’s a little eerie seeing 1979-2008.

So… I’m doing so badly at blogging this year. My days seem to be flying by so quickly nowadays (it gets worse and worse every year)… but a real life update is long overdue!

I had a tooth extraction this afternoon… and now that the anesthesia has worn off, I’m in so much pain. *whimper* I’m such a baby.

The hard drive on my laptop is continuing to make really annoying loud huffing noises. Anyone have any experience with this? My prediction is that this is not going to end well. So I’ve been frantically backing up all my data on my external hard drive. As much as I would love to get a shiny new laptop, I so don’t have it in my budget right now. Please don’t die on me. Please don’t die on me.

Wedding planning is… going. We now officially have a DJ for the reception and a classical guitarist for the ceremony (mmm, live music, yay!). And we’ve finally started our registry. But it is FAR from being completed. It’s actually a lot more work that I thought. It’s not just walking through the store and scanning this and that! (Though that’s totally fun too, lol). Rob and I have a mish-mash of cheap-o kitchen tools and accessories so we’re in need of some quality items. But it’s been tough because we have to research the products and factor in functionality, style, cost, etc. So. Much. Work. But so far, the biggest wedding nightmare has been the GUEST LIST. Compiling those names and addresses and making sure everything is correct is kind of a pain. I just ordered our “Save the Date” postcards so I’m hoping to finish the guest list this week. *crosses fingers*

Speaking of weddings, our old roomie, Jimmy, got married this past weekend. Awww. Here’s a picture of Jimmy and me and one of Rob and Eleen (the bride, obviously)…

 

Please excuse my shiny, round face.

And I have to share a picture of the yummy cupcake bar that they had instead of a traditional wedding cake.

All the cupcakes were made by one of Eleen’s bridesmaids and let me tell you, they were SCRUMPTIOUS. Mmmm. Such a cute idea.

Hmmm. Seeing that picture of me above is making me re-consider the whole “no bangs” look. (I don’t think I ever mentioned it here but back in July, I decided to grow my bangs out because they require so much maintenance). I look ROUND. That’s not quite the look I was going for. ARGH.

Anyway, I’m so, so excited for this week because I only have 2 days of work! Rob and I heading down to LA on Wednesday for a tasting with our wedding caterer. YUM. Can’t wait.

Hope everyone has a good week!

weekend update

Had a loooooooong weekend. And I am still UNBELIEVABLY TIRED.

Rob and I celebrated our 8-year anniversary last Thursday, so… YAY for that.

We didn’t get a chance to celebrate this past weekend, though, because Rob was a groomsman at a friend’s wedding on Saturday and we had friends staying over for the festivities. The wedding was held at the Brazilian Room at Tilden Park in Berkeley, which was an absolutely phenomenal location. It’s set high up on a hill with a lush green backdrop. So pretty. Unfortunately, the ceremony had to be moved indoors due to the pouring rain but despite that, it was a really beautiful, intimate ceremony. The rain let up after the vows so the wedding party was able to take some pictures outside. Look how pretty the wedding party looks against the gorgeous green background. *sigh*

The bride also had so many little hand-made touches that made the wedding so unique… from her invitations (to die for!), to the little rocks that served as your seat assigment, to her own wedding dress… GUH. It was all so beautiful.

Following the wedding, we all went out to dinner, then to a club, and then the post-wedding brunch the next day. YOU GUYS. This is more activity than I’m used to in a weekend. So you’ll understand why I’ve been in a sleepy funk the past few days. LOL.

I really need to get some sleep…

jury duty

Argh, the dreaded day is almost here. On Sunday I have to call in for… jury duty.

ACK. I am SO not looking to calling in. I hope, hope, hope that I don’t have to report to court. I’d actually rather be at work.

Speaking of work, this is a handy site if you’re trying to disguise your internet activities from your boss. Hehehe.

Watched Hitch tonight and really, really liked it. I’m *such* a romantic comedy kind of girl. Plus, Will Smith is awesome.

So I never blogged about my cousin’s wedding last weekend. Despite the heat (I can’t get over how HOT it is in SoCal — I don’t remember it being that hot in high school?!!), I had a great time. I was in the wedding party as a secondary sponsor. I got to walk down the aisle and everything! I think this might be a filipino tradition but there’s a part in the middle of the ceremony where there are 4 additional wedding rites — coin, cord, veil, and candle. I was asked to do the veil. I carried a huge veil down the aisle and after my cousin and his wife exchanged vows and rings, the priest called my partner and I up to the altar and we had to pin the veil on both the bride and groom as a symbol of their unity. It’s a really pretty part of the ceremony.

The reception was at the Marina Hotel in San Pedro. It’s right on the water so it was absolutely gorgeous. Some pics…

The last one is of Rob, me, my favoritest cousin ever Riz (it was her brother who got married — she was a bridesmaid) and her boyfriend Josh.

congrats shirls

OK. So I was about to go to bed after typing out my last entry and then I went through my comments and found out that my old college roommate Shirley is ENGAGED. CONGRATULATIONS!!! I am so happy for you. I’m sorry I’ve been a slacker friend. We need to catch up soon.

weekend

Aaaahhh, just got back from a long weekend in LA for my cousin’s wedding. It was so HOT down there! EEEK. It made me so irritable… despite that, though, I had a really great (but busy!) time. I’ll put together a longer post and upload some pics tomorrow. Hopefully. I feel totally beat from the weekend. All I want to do is go to sleep…

the past week

Aaaahhh, it’s nice to be home. I feel like I’ve been “on the go” forever. But It’s been an awesome week. Here’s a rundown…

Fri, 6/23 – Start of Girls Weekend with my best friends. We went down to Palm Springs (115 degree weather! Crazy!) and stayed at the Miramonte Resort, which was fantastic. We spent Saturday relaxing, getting pampered (I had a massage… mmmm), and hanging out by the pool (well, that was me since I forgot to bring a bathing suit — I know, I know). I think we’ve pretty much decided to make Girls Weekend an annual (at the very least) tradition. I’m so looking forward to our next trip.

Wed, 6/28 – Trip to LA for work. Met a client for dinner at Roy’s Restaurant in downtown LA. I had the Ahi and then shared the chocolate souffle. Phenomenal food. Headed over to The Standard in West Hollywood to check-in for the night. This hotel is a TRIP. The lobby had shag carpet and bubble chairs and my room had floral curtains and an inflatable rubber chair. Pretty awesome. My co-worker and I decided to have a drink before heading to bed and while we’re sitting in the lounge, I see a friend of mine from high school that I haven’t seen in *years.* It really is a small world.

Thurs, 6/29 – Worked out of the LA office. Nothing of significance to report.

Fri, 6/30 – Drove down to San Diego for my friend’s wedding (Rob was a groomsman). Attended the wedding rehearsal and found out that I was in charge of distributing the corsages/boutonnieres to the wedding party the next day. Fun! I love being in charge of stuff. Then a bunch of us went out for drinks with the groom. I had my signature drink (Amaretto Sour), finished the entire thing (a huge feat for me), and managed not to become a giggling mess.

Sat, 7/1 – Mike’s Wedding Day! It was an absolutely *gorgeous* wedding (the colors were teal and brown – so pretty). It was held outside at the Prado at Balboa Park. The only drawback of holding the ceremony outside was the HEAT. OMG. It was close to 100 degrees and there wasn’t much shade. To make matters worse, I apparently thought it was smart to wear a black dress. The best part of the reception was the slideshow because Mike and Emma actually put together a karaoke video! HEE. That was SO awesome. The whole wedding was incredibly well-executed. And I had such a fun time.

Sun, 7/2 – After brunch with the newlyweds, we headed back to Cerritos. Tried to take a nap but it was too hot to sleep. Had dinner with my dad (and saw 2 more people from high school! Cerritos is *such* a small town) and then went to see Nacho Libre. Sadly, I was tired from the weekend and I fell asleep too many times to count. I watched about half of the movie, I think. What I saw was pretty freaking hilarious, though.

Mon, 7/3 – Flight back to the Bay Area. You know, after all the flying I’ve done in the past week and a half, I realized that there is seriously a TON of noise on airplanes. Usually I fall asleep right away so I don’t notice the noise but the past few flights, I tried to listen to my iPod and I had to turn the volume way up. I would LOVE to get some noise-cancelling headphones. Too bad they cost an arm and a leg. Anyway, when we got home, we headed straight to the TV to watch Entourage season 1. We rented the DVDs from Netflix based on recs from both online and offline friends. We breezed right through all the episodes, heh. My favorite character is Johnny Drama with Eric a close second. Can’t wait to get season 2. I also watched High School Musical. Absolutely adored this movie. It was so cheesy but SO GOOD. I have Breaking Free on repeat right now… go here to download the song (username: cookie/password: monster — don’t forget to right click, save as…).

Tues, 7/4 – Happy 4th of July! Slept in. Felt SO good to do that. Went to see Superman Returns. SUCH a good movie. And to think when the trailer was first released this time last year, I thought the movie would be horrible. I was so wrong. Brandon Routh (what a hottie!), Kevin Spacey and even Kate Bosworth (I was most skeptical about her) were great. Yay Bryan Singer! Did I mention Brandon Routh is hot? Cause he totally is.

OMG. I just found this link to the new light pink Nintendo DS. I WANT IT SO BAD. Guh. Too bad I’m trying to go on a “spending diet” so I can save money for a vacation. Maybe for my birthday?

UGH. I’m so bummed about going to work tomorrow. At least it’s a 3-day week.