How Many Cupcakes Would You Eat?

[Cupcake tower from Sprinkles Cupcakes]

Say you're a guest. You've just finished your first glass of wine, had your picture taken at the photo station, signed the guest book, found your table with a bunch of people you may or may not know, danced a little to Billy Idol, and then you turn around and see a a table full of Sprinkles Cupcakes.

Being the polite guest that you are, you wait until the bride and groom eat theirs first (naturally,) and then you proceed to:

a. ignore the cupcakes. Ew. Cupcakes.

b. ask a friend to share one with you.

c. eat one.

d. eat two.

e. eat three.*

f. none of the above, I'm going to grab one of your goodie bags and steal as many as I can to bring back to the hotel.

Ok, but seriously, if you had 150 guests, how many cupcakes would you order? And which flavor would you absolutely insist I must have? Red velvet and black and white are already on the list. If I can get mocha, we're throwing that one into the mix too.

*my sister's response

Fun Accessories

Lately I have been doing not so fun stuff, like pestering my mother for an invite count, trying to figure out a rehearsal time, thinking about how many cupcakes 200 people will eat--these things sounded like fun a few months ago, and now they are not so fun, so let's get back to talking about looking pretty, shall we?

[I want this bag. It is currently 50% off and $150. I know what some of you are thinking: what the freak, it's STILL $150 after being 50% off?? Should I buy it? Yay or nay? Isn't it perfect for a wedding? If I don't buy it, one of you has to buy it for your event, I command it. PS: It goes with my shoes.]

 

[These gorgeous white jade earrings are from Viv and Ingrid, two best friends who make the most beautiful jewelry. I have my eye on this pair.] 

[Pretty and organic, no? I also like how it's not in your face bold, but very delicate and soft. Boxwood Pearl Bracelets from Silver Seasons]

It feels good to shop online.

Engagement Portrait Contest

Attention SF Bay Area couples: Our wedding photographer, the lovely and talented Jessamyn Harris, is having an engagement portrait contest! (We had the privilege of winning last year!)

A winner will be announced this Friday, 1/22, so you still have a couple days to send her your creative photo shoot idea!

Our photo shoot was so much fun, and Jessamyn was a pleasure to work with. Go enter now!

A Bridal Shower To Come

This popped up in my email this weekend:

I'm excited to go to Crown and Crumpet in San Francisco with some of my closest girls (I capped the guest list at 8) in Northern California. If shabby chic Barbie had a tea party, it would be here. For anyone new to the blog, I mean that as a good thing! 

Thank you to Rosanna and my sisters for organizing this completely indulgent tea party. I'll be bringing my camera.

[Crown and Crumpet, San Francisco]

Baby Koala

[Photo of the new baby koala at the San Diego Zoo from the LA Times]

My parents and grandmother are visiting this weekend, and we are going to do some boring wedding stuff (hotel blocking, a venue site visit,) before we get down to some really serious business--seeing the new baby koala at the San Diego Zoo. The baby, who only weighs about a pound, doesn't have a name yet, but this weekend is open for voting for zoo visitors.

Say it with me now: Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!

You+Me+Everyone We Know and Their Mothers

Late last night around 11 PM...the boy was working on his computer, I was (half-heartedly) reading my articles for school...

Me: So, I guess [insert someone's name/group of people here] is planning on flying down for the wedding.

[click clack from typing]

Him: Cool.

Me: Yeah, I didn't realize that they would come, but I guess they are coming...and my parents are still counting heads for their friends so we have to tell the hotel to block more rooms.

Him: Yup.

[continues typing...tap tap tap...]

Me: I'm starting to get a little weirded out that we are going to say our vows and proclaim our love and devotion to one another in front of uncle joe's cousin's sister's best friend. Do you ever feel like we should be getting legally married in private? I feel like this is essentially between you and me and not uncle joe's cousin's sister's best friend. Aren't you weirded out that old coworkers of yours are going to witness us being bound to one another in sickness and in health? I'm starting to feel uneasy about the ceremony part. I'm starting to realize why people get legally married pre-party, or why Jim and Pam got married on the Niagara Falls boat.

Me: Do you ever feel this way?

Him: Nope [click click clack] I'll do what you're most comfortable with though.

Maybe it was because I didn't want to read about the history of the book. Maybe it was because I was really hungry and getting emotional from said hunger. Or maybe I actually feel this way?

Has this been an issue with you and your partner?

Dressing the Boy

[Dot tie by Donald Trump--on sale now for $34.99!; Silk tie by Giorgio Armani; Woven tie from Thomas Pink]

The boy's engagement shoot outfit was chosen in a frantic rush in downtown San Francisco in which we hustled from one Zara to another right before closing. I couldn't blog about it at the time because I was keeping our engagement session a secret. Looking back, it was a pretty hilarious two hours of keeping him in the dressing room and me throwing any item of clothing that was an xs/s over the door. I felt like I was on America's Next Personal Shopper Superstar; the excitement of actually being able to pick out his clothes must have been fueling all that energy because he never. ever. lets me pick out his clothes. [By the way Zara, your tie rack is super annoying with the clamps that hold the ties in place. Makes it much more difficult to grab things and shove them at my fiance.]

Thankfully I have more than 2 hours at Zara to pick out an outfit for the wedding. After a disappointing few months of realizing that nothing fits him, we are getting a suit tailored. [Anyone else who is running into this issue with buying a suit--PM if you want to commiserate with me!] The suit [I think, like 70% sure] is going to be blue and slim fit. Now I just need a shirt and tie.

I'm thinking a red tie will be nice with the blue, but I don't want him looking like a politician, so I'm on the hunt for a skinny red tie. Plus, the skinny just looks better on a small frame. Sadly, none of the above are skinny, so I'm on the look out.

Are you picking out clothes for your partner? Does your partner dress you? Tie or bow-tie?

A Wedding Ring--do I need one?

[Quick side note before this post: I had a great time with the Professional Bridesmaid. We ate at Break of Dawn, a really yummy breakfast spot in between LA and San Diego. When I got home the boy asked how the restaurant was, and as I was thinking about it, I couldn't really remember the restaurant that well because I had been talking so much!

Thanks for the awesome breakfast. :)

Meeting blogger friends in person, highly recommended! Next time we can get a whole group together, I know a lot of you are in the Southern California area. If I met a bunch of you all at once I probably wouldn't even be able to eat because I'd be talking so much.]

[Two hammered yellow gold bands from Etsy seller Silverwoods]

If you recall, I have a ring, which I love so much that when I received it I couldn't stop looking at it. What can I say, I like shiny sparkly things. I was walking with my good friend one day and I was most likely blathering on about the wedding and how we had to order a wedding band for the boy and a wedding band that would match my ring, when she said, "I never really understood why the woman needs two rings."

I started explaining that one was an engagement ring and the other was a wedding band, when a mental brick hit me over the head--good question my friend. Why DO I need two rings? Wasn't I the one who was agonizing over the symbolism of me getting a ring and the boy being ringless for our engagement? If we abandoned getting me a wedding band, we'd be even. I'd have one ring, he'd have one ring. I mean, I already abandoned a bunch of other traditions, might as well toss this one into the pile too.

Did anyone else opt out of getting a wedding band and just use their engagement ring? Do you think it's something I will miss?

Tidbits from Christmas

We're more about the prime rib and crab than we are about the boughs of holly in my family. Here's a sampling of photos I took in between bites at Christmas dinner, which consisted of prime rib, crab, lamb, three kinds of salad, yams, egg rolls, sticky rice, pasta, sparkling apple cider, Coke, pie, pumpkin cheesecake, and one freaking adorable yule log.  

[My plate: avocado salad, the most amazing pasta dish, sticky rice, homemade egg rolls wrapped and fried by my mom and dad, lamb shank made by my brother in law]

[Bucket of crab]

[The aftermath of the prime rib]

[Christmas isn't complete without holiday Coca Cola]

[Our family friend's Boston terrier oggles the crab my sister is cracking]

[A yule log brought by our family friend--my first ever. Isn't it adorable?]

[Isn't the itty bitty snowman to die for??]

[Don't worry, the dog got some good eats too!]

Hope you all ate well this holiday season!

EAD Holiday Swap: Wreath for Julia

For the Elizabeth Anne Design Holiday Swap, I sent this wreath I made to the lovely/hilarious/crafty Julia of Ordinary Saturdays and EAD Weddings. (She's doing her wedding recaps now, so head on over and check her out!)

It was fun to make, and I'm planning to make two for our wedding, one for my chair and one for the boy's at the reception. My love for paper wreaths was originally inspired by Haru, who makes AMAZING paper wreaths! I could spend hours in her flickr admiring her work, they all look so delicate and pretty. 

I made my wreath with wrapping paper and a Paper Source catalog, and the bell and flowers are attached with wire. I was expecting most of it to fall apart in the mail, but Julia told me that everything got there a-okay (phew!) so I'm glad it made it to her safely. 

I hope you enjoy the wreath Julia!

 

EAD Holiday Swap: Celine Dion and a purple headband

The holidays are over, and I'm recouping and getting back to the blogging groove. Welcome to 2010 bloggers and readers! To those of you getting married in 2010--woohoo! This year is going to be incredible. 

First up of my long delayed blog posts--the Elizabeth Anne Designs Gift Exchange!

I had the pleasure of receiving this awesome package from Maggie at The Freckled Citizen and EAD Living. 

What you're looking at is the wrapping paper Maggie made out of Celine Dion pictures. It totally cracked me up when I first saw it, because of this tragic conversation. Let's hope the boy forgot that conversation, because he didn't say a word when he saw Maggie's package. I wonder if he just saw the sparkly ribbon and didn't think anything of the wrapping paper covered in Celine Dion. Totally normal thing to do, right? Doesn't everyone wrap their presents in Canadian superstars? 

In any case, I didn't remind him that I promised to put aside my music snobbery the night of our wedding. Shhhhhh don't tell him! He doesn't read this blog anyway!

Totally awesome, no?

Inside was this super cute headband with purple feathers! I'm wearing it right now with my creme sweater, which is usually pretty boring but the headband makes my whole outfit a lot more interesting. 

A side view. 

Playing dress up on New Year's Eve

Thank you Maggie! I love it, and my Celine Dion wrapping paper. Don't let the boy in on the joke. ;)