Things That Are Happening

Can you believe it's September? I hope everyone is doing well and gearing up for the Fall. I know that I want Summer to leave. It's just way too hot and since I still work during the Summer, there's really no reason to hold onto it. Here's what's up in my neck of the woods.

[Source]

+I'm going to Seattle for a week at the end of September. I haven't been to Seattle since I was...8? If you have any restaurant recommendations for the solo traveler--send them my way! I eat everything.

[From our caterer's website]

+We booked our caterer! Everything is really coming together now. The menu is Italian-themed--bruschetta, steak crostini, a pasta bar, berry and feta salad, shrimp+prosciutto, mango+brie quesadilla, grilled vegetables--the tasting was really good, and I'm happy with our decision. We're also having a lemonade and punch bar (above.)

Since we're having children at the wedding, we're also happy that they are willing to make different food for the kiddies--chicken fingers and pb&j--if needed.

+Our parents booked a restaurant for a Chinese banquet and tea ceremony a week after the wedding in northern California. With 300 guests. It's gotten to the point where it's clear this is going to be like having two weddings in two different cities with two different sets of guest lists. I've dubbed our events as 'wedding #1' and 'wedding #2'.

A conversation between me and my Dad.
Me: "300??! How do you know there are going to be that many people?"
D: "Oh, we counted our friends and family."
Me: "But... what about our friends?"
D: "What friends?"

Mmmhmmm.

So, I'm on the hunt for cheongsam ideas and I also need a red or pink evening gown to change into.

A conversation between me and my Mom.

Me: So...red or pink? Floor length? With straps or sleeves?
Mom: Yes, no strapless! No black, red or pink. Y'know, you can just wear something you already have.
Me: Mom, in what fashion world do I have a floor length red gown just sitting around in my closet?
Mom: {chuckles} Well, I don't know what you young girls buy these days!

Mmmhmmm.

When You Need a Little Cheering Up...

...watch this clip!



I had an anxious evening of watching the news and making multiple phone calls because a wildfire broke out about 2 miles from my parents and our family home. Both streets that lead to our house were closed to traffic--that's how close the fire was. Unfortunately over 50 homes were lost today in the small foothill community where I grew up, but our home was spared since the winds were blowing in the opposite direction.

The fire is finally dying down and I feel more at ease than 4 hours ago, so I'm just going to watch Puppies Dressed as Cats a bunch of times to make myself feel better.

Puppies Dressed as Cats!

Fabric Backdrop Options

[Mauve Mirabelle by Liberty of London, $38 a yard]

I've been brainstorming with our photographer about fabric backdrops for our photo station.

I have to find a way to securely hang fabric at the venue, so if any of you out there have experience with this, I'd love to hear it! There are not many trees and it's all outdoors, so I'm starting to think we have to create something out of PVC pipes. Did I mention I don't even make my own IKEA furniture? This wedding is really flexing my limits.

I know you haven't seen them yet, but the Liberty fabric (above) totally matches our save the dates and is just perfect!
It's so pretty, but would cost me $38 a yard {insert wide-eyed face here} and unfortunately, we need more than one yard!

Repro Depot has some pretty fabrics.

[Aunt Grace Carnation and Hoedown Sweet Flowers from Repro Depot]

IKEA is also an option, and I'm liking the sound of $5.99 a yard more than $38 a yard!

[HJÖRDIS from IKEA]

I've also looked at Urban Outfitters, which has some nice bedspreads which would work.

[Bohemian Bouquet Tapestry from Urban Outfitters]

Anyone have any building tips for our photo backdrop? The fabric is going to be on the floor, so I'm thinking it has to be about 10 ft. long.

My 300th Post (sort of)

I'm lying, this is my 299th post, but I couldn't think of anything to blog about, so let's just make this one our celebratory post, shall we? Wheee!

I can't believe that I blathered on and on and on about the boy and cupcakes and cute design and what to wear and trips I've taken and movies I've missed and food I ate and anything related to weddings for 299 posts now!

Yeah ok, I guess I can. Ha!

For this post, I'm sharing a sweet gift given to me by my cousin this past weekend. She was working at Maker Faire and bought it from Recover Your Thoughts. It's a notebook made out of an old library book about Chinese art. It combines so many of my geeky obsessions, including 1. art history, 2. libraries, 3. stationery, and 4. recycled books. Very thoughtful, thank you cousin. I love it.

Kitten Heels+Your favorite online shops

This morning, I opened my inbox to find an email from a good friend with several links to kitten heels! She must have a black belt in online shopping, because I had never seen any of these shoes.

Both of these are still available in my size and are super cute:

[Kitten Heel Pumps by Miu Miu]

[Butter Women's Tessa Pump]

I think both would go well with the dress, what do you think?
Also, I need to update my online shopping knowledge--what are your favorite online shopping websites?

Digital super8: The Zumi Digital

[The Zumi Digital, from Photojojo]

I want to buy this and play with it.

It is a zumi digital, a fun toy from Japan that is being sold at Photojojo. It's digital but takes video and photos that have that vintage "I watch Wes Anderson movies and hang out in dark cafes with my copy of Dorian Gray" aesthetic. Take a look at the examples!

We are not hiring a videographer. The budget just can't handle it, and I don't think we really need a video if we have good photographs.

We will probably have someone sitting in the front row record our vows and speeches with something that has audio so my nasal monotone voice can be captured forever, but it'd be fun to have this little guy there too! It'd be fun to bring on the honeymoon too, right alongside my DSLR.

Are you having a videographer? Don't you want to take this little camera, ditch work, and play with it all afternoon at the beach?

Returning the Shoes

Remember the shoes? Well, they're going back to the store. I have had five people (not in blog world) tell me that they don't match my dress and that I need something daintier, preferably with a heel, to match the gown. So, bye bye Kate Spade.

You were fun to look at while I had you.

My dress is coming at the end of September, so onward with the shoe hunt! If you see something that fits these parameters...you know who to contact!
-red (our main color), blush colored or light green or anything in the pastel family
-chunky heel
-preferably round toe

Today I tried these, which were super cute but 1) did not fit me (they don't do half sizes) and 2) were too dark of a color

[Budding T-Straps by Miss Albright at Anthropologie]

I also adore the shoes from the super cute tree house wedding photographed by Ben Blood!
They are by Pink Studio (thank you Vintage Glam weddings!)--no surprise on why I like them, I already own three pairs of Pink Studio shoes. And look, they come in red! But they don't have them in my size! It's like Nordstroms is toying with me.

[Pink Studio "Violet" Pump from Nordstroms]

Why is this so hard? No one will even see them, right??

Help me make our alter pretty

This is a picture of the layout for the ceremony. I was trying to scout other locations on site (there is a picnic area in the back with more trees,) because I always had this vision of beautiful flowers or ribbons hanging from trees. But if we moved the ceremony area, then you miss the rolling vineyards, and really, what's the point of getting married at a vineyard if you can't enjoy the scenery as much as possible?

As you can see, there are no trees to be married under in this picture. There is also nothing to hang items from. Do you have any suggestions on how to decorate the alter? I was thinking maybe we could have a fabric background, but how do I hang that up? Help!

[Image from Here Comes the Guide]

My Sister's Wedding: Polaroids

[That's my Mom. Doesn't she look pretty?]

And that's the end of the recaps! Thanks for indulging me and sitting through my pictures. It's time to work on their blurb album now!

Blogging about my wedding and random stuff happening in life o' Mo will resume shortly.

My Sister's Wedding: The Speech + Dancing

There were no speeches except one given by the groom, and the dancing (80s/90s/top 40) was fantastic. My family is not big on the dancing. But brother-in-law's family sure is!

[Ok, the DJ was pretty much awesome, and I'm not just saying that because she played both of my requests. Isn't her outfit and wig adorable??]

[The groom made the only speech in which he thanked people, introduced close family members, and spoke a little about his relationship with my sister.]

[It was a very sweet speech.]

[They danced to Dream a Little Dream of Me which faded into White Wedding, and then everyone was out on the dance floor!]

[There was a lot of dancing! This is the groom's nephew break dancing.]

[This is my favorite picture of the night. My brother-in-law's parents painted henna on their hands. This says my sister's name in Arabic. I can't read it, but I'm told that it is very legible.]

We're almost done--more polaroids up next!

My Sister's Wedding: The Food

The food was AMAZING, and my taste buds know food. It was catered by my sister's sister-in-law, who is the chef at Organika.

[The servers were so nice and kept coming up to me and asking if I wanted one, and I kept saying no because my hands would get greasy and I didn't want to touch the camera after. Now I wish I had just had someone stuff one in my mouth!]

[This was a vegetarians' paradise. I believe there are six different salads in this picture.]

[The kitchen was right around the corner from where they served the food, which was convenient for the servers, and for us so we could ogle the food before it made it to the dining room!)

[My sister did not really have cake, hence no cake-cutting. At the end of the night, they served coffee and had these adorable mini-cupcakes from Baked by Melissa which were DELICIOUS. OH EM GEE. An entire box was forgotten, so we had a whole box filled with these peanut butter cupcakes while we were cleaning up, and this is the picture I took of them. Oh my.]

Next up...the groom's speech!