Dear Santa

Here's a list of just a few things I'd love to find under the tree this year....

In order of upper left to lower right...

1) Lululemon's 'Don't Hurry Be Happy' Pullover - Long ago were the days of me saying "Who the hell wears $90 workout pants? - only to try on my first pair of Lululemon running pants and realize that the answer is "I do."  Although I've never purchased a non-technical item at Lulu, I knew when I saw this top that it too was a must.  It's so soft and comfy.  The cowl neck is huge, but you can let it drape, or fold it down and let it do its own thing.

2) Laura Mercier Makeup Brush Set - I purchased a set of MAC makeup brushes almost a decade ago and still use them to this day.  Although they've served me well, it's time for some fresh brushes.  These brushes look very high quality and the set basically contains every kind of brush I need.

3) Alexis Bittar Delano Rose Gold Earrings - Alexis Bittar is probably my favorite fashion jewelery designer.  I just love the look of the rose gold next to the smoky quartz on this one.

4) ASICS Running Shoes - I'm desperate for a new pair of tennis shoes.  I also signed up for the New Year's Resolution 5K in DTLA on January 5, 2013 and am hoping I can use that opportunity to break these in!

5) A trip to Rivendell - I suppose this will be the most difficult to find gift on my wish list as Rivendell only exists in J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle Earth.  Fresh from seeing the Hobbit this weekend, I thought it would be so nice to visit our beautiful and wise elf friends Elrond and Arwen.  Rivendell was always my favorite place because it was so beautiful and really the only place anyone could ever feel safe.  Did anyone hear that? I think that was the sound of a Nerd Alert. 

6) Viktor Rolf's Flower Bomb - I wore this fragrance on our wedding day, but all I have his this teeny tiny miniature bottle.  Unfortunately for all my friends, office mates, and family, I could bathe in this stuff.  In case I do get this for Christmas, I apologize in advance.

Hope you all get everything on your wish lists this year!

Our Holiday Cards: 2012 Edition

As this was our first official holiday card as a married couple, I took the time to make them extra special by letterpressing each and every one of them myself (again).  We were married on that same bridge and this photo was one of the first photos taken taken after our ceremony. Thanks so much to Brandon Humes of Couture Foto for beautifully capturing such a happy moment!  Hope you all love the card as much as I do!

Electric Run

Last Friday night I celebrated the end of the billing year by participating in the Orange County Electric Run 5k.  I have no idea how I even came across this race, but after watching the promo video, I knew I had to sign up.  It was like a dance party in Tron universe.

It rained most of the day on Friday, but cleared up just in time for the race to start.  I had low expectations as to how many people would be there and how it would actually look in real life, and it pretty much knocked my socks off! There were over 10,000 people! This basically made it impossible to find friends, but in a sea of neon lights and tutus, I did manage to find my sexiest friend Sanaz and we ran most of the race together.

As for what it looked like?  Hot damn.  The people who put together the race really did a phenomenal job of making it visually stimulating.  If I couldn't see where I was going because it was so dark, at least I could be mesmerized by the sea of lights.

Finish Line

The race itself was not very difficult and honestly, I don't think it was a legit 3.1 miles.  That being said, I had a blast fist pumping my way past the finish line! 

Starbucks + Rodarte: Taking Your Coffee from Hot to Haute

Sunday morning, Marc and I took the dog for a quick stroll to the local Starbucks. While Marc hung out with the pooch outside, I went in to order my first coffee of the week. The entire store had been redone in holiday red, but there was a display of lime green, silver, and shades of grey that I simply could not ignore.  What was it? It was the Rodarte + Starbucks limited holiday collection! 

Available at Starbucks

The "holiday" collection includes a travel mug, a reusable cloth cup sleeve, a gift card, and a tote — all splashed with a Starbucks-gone-pixelated to the point of non-recognition print (No, it's not your computer not loading pictures properly). And of course not a snowflake or reindeer in sight.

With prices ranging in the $6-$15 range, it was finally some Rodarte that I could afford! (Rodarte is probably otherwise most famous for creating Natalie Portman's striking ballerina costumes in Black Swan and their dresses cost in the thousands of dollars!)

In my opinion, there's no better way to start the day other than a great outfit and an even greater cup of coffee. I just loved the modern, crisp, and minimal look of the entire collection. So the coffee-lover and fashionista in me simply had to have it. 

So on this Manic Monday, I brought in my fancy new designer mug to the office. And even though it was just for one brief moment, I got to imagine that I was an exciting executive working at a haute couture fashion house in Paris, instead of a lowly associate attorney at a small-midsize law firm in Irvine, it made my $12 investment all worth it.

Halloween Confession: I'm a Secret Sociopath.

Halloween is right around the corner, and to get everyone in the spooky spirit, I thought I would share with all of you the scariest do-it-yourself project of them all.  

When Marc and I first got engaged, I spent hours and hours plowing through various wedding blogs for inspiration (life before Pinterest).  Some of my favorite ideas were all the cute and unique ways floating around on the web on how brides have asked their best girls to be bridesmaids at their weddings. I knew one thing for certain that I too wanted to find a special way to ask my wedding party.

My initial inspiration was the Once Wed paper doll project which I am sure by this point every recent bride and bride to be has seen.  It's pretty much adorable.  And looked so easy to do.  Don't you just love how they all have cute little haircuts?

 

But of course, I thought I'd kick it up a notch.  I knew from the beginning that I didn't want matching bridesmaid dresses and wanted all my girls to be able to pick their own gowns in a metallic neutral. Although non-matching bridesmaid ensembles are pretty common now, I felt like everyone looked at me like a crazy person when I told them I didn't want them to match and that I'd like for them to choose their own dresses in the same metallic palette.  So I thought I'd cut out little gold, bronze, glittery gowns for each of my paper dolls to wear to illustrate my idea (which cost hours of my life and all feeling in my thumb for about a week).  At this point, I was thinking that I'm pretty much a creative genius.

Inspiration:  Martha Stewart of course.

But then I thought about how some of my bridesmaids didn't know each other. Some haven't my sister, law school friends haven't met non-law school friends, etc.  And I thought, why don't I also include their pictures and names on each little paper doll so they'll know what everyone looks like?  And that's where it all went wrong:

Eek!

So Scary!

My dear bridesmaids - I'm sorry I'm a secret sociopath.  Even I had no idea.  I had the best intentions to make you something crafty and sentimental.  But you don't have to guess why you never received a "Will You Be My Bridesmaid" card from me.  I didn't want you to call the police to report that you thought I was going to murder you.  And by the looks of these little dolls, it would've been completely understandable.

So you all had to make do with a phone call, but I think it was safer this way.  I, on the other hand, will never pick up an x-acto knife or glue stick again.  

Happy Halloween!

  

A Run Down Memory Lane - Chapman 5K

 
Bright and early Saturday morning, I had the pleasure of running the Chapman University 5K.  The race course takes you on  a scenic route through the Old Towne Orange Historic District, and at the end of the race you get a goody bag containing a t-shirt and treats (my favorite was the orange-flavored lip balm from Toyota of Orange), a medal, and a healthy “breakfast of champions."  The proceeds from the race go towards the Scholarship Fund, which I certainly benefited from during my undergraduate years.

Participants running down Glassell St. around the Plaza.

For anyone who has ever been to Old Town Orange, you've probably already fallen in love with its architecture, scenery and charm.  It has an old-fashioned, small time feel that gives you a glimpse of what life was like for Orange residents from 1888 to 1940.  For some you, Old Towne Orange reminds you of antique shopping with grandma when you were a little kid. Or you might have seen it featured in movies like "That Thing You Do," or "Big Momma's House."  But most of my favorite Old Towne Orange times were during my undergraduate and law school years at Chapman.  So for me, the Chapman 5k is more than a race, it's a run down memory lane.

The race started at Schmidt Gate next to Beckman Hall, which was built when I was a freshman at Chapman, and the place where I took so many business classes as an undergrad. It continued down Glassell Street past the School of Law, which was built when I was a sophomore.  For the longest time, it was just the freestanding facade all by itself, as the current building was built around the facade of an earlier building.  It would also be the place where I would spent countless days and nights hitting the books and building life-long lasting relationships with so many of my friends.  As I ran down Glassell St., I thought about all the questionable chicken tenders I ate at Dairy Treat (now Bruxie), Andy Bugman getting a haircut at the barber shop, the Filling Station when it was actually a closed filling station (or something else equally forgettable), St Paddy's Days at O'hara's (and how I could still smell the stench of it from the street), the time I took the bus from east Orange with my girl scout troop to Watson's, how the Plaza hasn't changed a bit with its fountain, palm/pepper trees, and rose gardens, my bridal shower at Paris in a Cup, and my friend Tenaya's dad's apartment building which housed so many friends and was the place where I had access to air conditioning and a clean bathroom during the Street Fair for so many years.

The race progressed through the historic neighborhoods which reminded me of all the college/law school parties I went to, places I looked at when looking for housing as a student, friends' former homes, and the homes of some of my friends today (I would've knocked but it was 7:30 a.m. on a Saturday).  I even recognized the name of one of the mayor candidates because I went to school with some of her children.

My favorite part of the race was that it took me past the Sycamore house (dubbed "the Stoop," by Eli) which is owned by the University, and I knew its various residents during both my undergrad and law school years.  The current resident was standing in front to cheer on all the runners!  I stopped to chat with him and told him a couple stories of funny events that happened there. We both had a good laugh and I continued on my merry way.

The race continued back to campus and concluded where it started.  I'm not sure what my official time is, but I was assume it's somewhere around the 38-39 minute mark. I blame it on my reminiscing of good times past.  It's okay.  I'll take my bad time, and all my good memories.  I still feel like I won.

UPDATE:  My final time was 38:04.  A 75 year-old man pushing his wife in a wheelchair beat me.

Happy 20 Years of ObaMa-trimony!

Happy 20th Wedding Anniversary to our President and First Lady!

I bet most of you didn't know that we invited Barry and Michelle to our wedding.  Unfortunately, they couldn't make it, but they did send us this kind message:

I can't think of a less romantic way to spend your 20th wedding anniversary, but I certainly hope B gets Michelle a REALLY great anniversary gift!

Happy Anniversary to Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale!

Happiest TENTH anniversary to my favorite celebrity couple Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale! 

I'll never forget the first time I saw pictures of Gwen in her wedding gown.  She wore a custom-made pink and white silk faille wedding dress designed by John Galliano for Christian Dior.  It was bold, unique, and the perfect blend of tradition and fantasy.  On anyone else, it might've been an epic fashion fail.  But I couldn't imagine a more perfect dress for my Gwen.

I too wanted to wear a bold color for a wedding dress, but just didn't think I could get away with it!

Vera Wang Spring 2013 Bridal Collection - Hello Lover.

See you on December 4th, Gwen!  I'll be 33 years old and "partying in the pit."

Weekend in Review

Did everyone enjoy a nice, long weekend?

Marc and I have yet to take a honeymoon so we decided to take a little anniversary trip to San Diego where we went last year for Engagement Weekend.  Yes, it's already been an entire year since we got engaged!  As many of you may recall, our Engagement Weekend was pretty much the world's worst kept secret, yet Marc still kept me waiting until Day 3 of a 3 day weekend to finally pop the question.  As much fun as it was, all I could think about all weekend was whether he would propose at dinner that evening and what the perfect outfit would be, whether I should double check there wasn't a sparkly diamond ring sitting on top of my peach champagne sorbet before I devoured it, or perhaps at our tennis lesson when he got on one knee...to tie his shoe.  This trip was nowhere near as nerve wracking, but just as fun!

On the way to dinner last year.   I'm big as a HOUSE.

On the way to dinner this year.  Same dress.  Why didn't anyone tell me?!?!

One of the highlights of the trip was dinner at Market Restaurant and Bar in Del Mar, which we discovered on our trip last year.  This restaurant is pretty much amazeballs and has quickly escalated up my list of "favorite restaurants" and even deserves a "one of the best meals I've ever had."  While Zagat is hardly the foodie bible, it gives Market a 29, easily making it one of the highest rated restaurants in all of Southern California.  And if you're a yelper, it has an average rating of 4-1/2 stars based on 300+ reviews!

The service is incredibly knowledgeable and you can tell that they genuinely love to eat.  Although the restaurant doesn't load up their menu with exotics like foie gras or squid ink noodles, they have a daily menu that incorporates only the season's freshest/best ingredients to ensure that even ordinary items tasted extraordinary.

I started out with the crispy duck confit & shaved french  melon salad with organic mission figs, wild arugula, pommery mustard, and a fig balsamic dressing.  Totally amazing.  I also had the cabernet braised prime beef shortribs with a sweet corn saute, heirloom cherry tomatoes, onion puree, and haricot vert.  It was bomb.com.  For dessert, I had the peach champagne sorbet, of course.  (No diamond ring this year either.)  But my favorite part was probably the amuse bouche.  It was just one bite, but so delicious.  Besides, who doesn't love an amuse bouche?  I wish I had pics of each of my entrees, but I didn't want to embarrass Marc by being That Asian Girl Who Takes Pictures of Her Food.

We came back from San Diego on Sunday afternoon, went to the Street Fair with our friends Andy and Sarah, and then managed to watch the entire first season of Breaking Bad.  Oh and then I worked for a few hours on Monday.  It was a pretty eventful three days, but a wonderful weekend.  I hope you enjoyed yours too! 

After "I do": Living Together

As most of you already knew, Marc and I did not live together before the wedding so the last two months have been quite an adjustment.  I haven't shared a bedroom since one semester abroad in college, and before that, probably since I was in the single-digit age years.  As much as I may think that I am the model roommate, I took inventory of some of my "habits" that I have had to change (read: completely get rid of) since we've been married:

1.  Sleeping in the middle of the bed.  I used to have a queen sized pillow-topped mattress all to myself.  All mine.  Not only did I sleep completely sprawled out in the middle of the bed like a giant starfish, I also always had heaping piles of clothes and stuffed animals strewn about on top of the comforter just to keep me safe.  I am now confined to the left side of the bed, although I occasionally find myself wandering to the middle for safety in the middle of the night.

2.  I have about 30 items on my bathroom counter (face wash, toner, SPF, anti-aging serums, daytime moisturizers, nighttime moisturizers - yes it's necessary to have both as they serve different purposes, face masks, hairspray, hairbrushes, leave in condition, and a variety of other concoctions that I simply MUST have to look my best).  This doesn't even include the most foreign type items that most guys don't even know what purpose they serve or what the can do (i.e. eyelash curler, bags of hair extensions, false eyelashes).  Although I haven't had to "get rid" of any of these items, I have had to make the effort to neatly stow them away in a drawer.

3a.  I don't have a bedtime.  Instead, almost every single night, I "do do do" until I am so exhausted that I can't even keep my eyes open.  There's almost no wind down time for me.  I call them "sleep attacks" only they happen every night around 12:30-1:00 a.m. 

3b.  On the off night that I don't go to bed by "sleep attack" I like to read e-books, doodle around on Facebook, or in general, do anything on my iPad.  Unfortunately, Marc is a ridiculously light sleeper and even with eyes shut, and the iPad brightness on its lowest setting, it disturbs his sleep.  Hence, I have to either iPad in another room and then wait for "sleep attack," or go to bed and wait to fall asleep like a normal person.

3c.  As a result, I am a horrible morning person.  I used to snooze for an hour before I could even imagine opening my eyes to start my day.  Now, for the most part, if Marc is up and getting ready for the day.

4.  Keeping the thermostat below 80.  It's August and, if Marc is home, I'm wearing a sweatshirt or wrapped up in a blanket.  Apparently, my comfort temperature is much higher than his.   

5.  Leaving my unfinished projects all over the house - this is the habit Marc would like me to fix most, and I've been the worst at.  But it's all wedding related. I'm still not entirely done wrapping up the wedding chapter of my life - mentally, emotionally, logistically.  I still have unwrapped gifts, thank you notes to write/send, photos that need frames, and a dried out bouquet that I just don't have the heart to throw out but aren't sentimental enough to keep/preserve.  I swear, I'll get there soon.  I want to host parties without being embarrassed of the KitchenAid mixer, food processor, crockpot, and ice cream maker that's stacked up to the ceiling in a corner of our dining room (sorry bookclub friends).  Perhaps that'll be the goal of September.

It has certainly been adjustment living with someone, but there are certainly many wonderful things that have come along with it:

1.  Having someone to talk to all the time.

2.  Cooking for two.

3.  Learning to be more other-centered and less self-centered (sharing the iPad, folding laundry, feeding the the step-dog).   

4.  Living with my best friend.  

Happy Friday!

Pandamonium!

I'm Walking on Sunshine (whoa oh)...

Our wedding date has finally showed up on www.weather.com's 10 day forecast.  Looks like it's going to be a beautiful day!!!

10-Day Forecast for Pasadena, CA

High / Low (°F)

Precip. %

Fri Jun 22

Sunny

80°/60°

0 %

Sat Jun 23

Sunny

80°/61°

0 %

Sun Jun 24

Sunny

80°/60°

0 %

Mon Jun 25

Sunny

79°/59°

0 %

Tue Jun 26

Sunny

80°/60°

0 %

Wed Jun 27

Sunny

82°/62°

0 %

Thu Jun 28

Sunny

84°/63°

0 %

Fri Jun 29

Sunny

84°/64°

0 %

Sat Jun 30

Sunny

84°/63°

0 %

Respondez S'il Vous Plait - Pretty Please?

Next Tuesday is a big day for us - the RSVP deadline.  Although there's technically a week left until our RSVP deadline, I'm starting to panic because we only have 65 percent of the responses!  After the initial burst of beautifully letterpressed and stamped envelopes by yours truly, there came a lull.  I know there are a few of you that can't make it, and I know there are many of you who will definitely be there.  Please friends and family, regardless of your answer, I'd still like to see that RSVP card I worked so hard on to find its way into my mailbox!

The Making of the Wedding Invitations: Part II

Once the design was finalized and plates created, I made an appointment at LaLa Press in Silverlake to rent studio space and print my invitations.  I blocked out an entire Sunday from 10-6 to do the actual pressing.  Mabel runs LaLa Press, and let me just tell you, she's amazing!  She has such a wonderful spirit, truly loves the art of letterpress, and is a former-law-school-candidate-turned-stationary-business-owner.  She is pretty much my idol.  Not only was she incredibly helpful, she was such a pleasure to spend the day with.

Lucky for me, the ink color I chose came ready out of the ink can, which saved me the time and trouble of mixing inks!

Letterpress plate with Pantone color guide

So the first thing we did was cut up all our paper into roughly the size of the invitations.  When I was at the Irvine Fine Arts Center, all we had was a regular cutting board, but LaLa Press has this incredible  guillotine cutter which cuts several sheets at the same time!  I wish I had a picture of the cutter because it was so old, but so incredibly efficient with safety levers and everything!  Basically, it took two hands at once to get the machine to cut so that your fingers would never be under the blade!

Polymer plate mounted onto bunting base.

Once the paper was cut, we mounted the polymer plate onto the bunting base on the letterpress machine.  In my case, I used a Vandercook Universal I.  Her name is Maddie.  She was my dancing partner and we did the side-step hundreds of time that day.

Me feeding envelopes into the Vandercook

Me and Maddie

As I wrote in a prior blog entry, every color is it's own run on the letterpress machine.  For my invitations, we had to do two runs - one for the inked portion, and one for the blind impression.  I made approximately 120 invitations so that means for the invitations (2 runs x 120), rsvp card, directions card, return address on the envelopes, return address on the RSVP address, I had to press (do the side step twirl with Maddie) at least seven hundred and twenty (720+) times!!!  At the next day, I was so exhausted.  I had a blister on my hand and my shoulders were super sore! 

First complete invitation! I almost cried.

Pre-trimmed, but already still so pretty.  Just look at that texture.

Once everything was printed, we did final cuts on all the prints, and shrunk wrapped everything for me to take home!

And here's a little video on the whole process that I found on YouTube:

Next, I'll talk about assembling the finished product!

The Making of the Wedding Invitations: Part I

I'm not a really an artsy-craftsy, person - I don't scrapbook, decoupage, or really do anything that involves a lot of cutting and pasting.  But, the one part of our wedding that I knew I wanted to do myself was design and print our invitations.  That being said, I still wanted them to look elegant, polished, and knew they had to be letterpressed.  There's just something about the soft, buttery thick paper and the crisp, sharp impression of letterpress that just made my heart go aflutter.  I had already taken a few letterpress workshops at the Irvine Fine Arts Center so I had an idea of what kind of commitment I was making.


My first step was designing the invitations (only after weeks of looking at hundreds of invitations for inspiration).  This part took me probably 3 months to come up with something that I loved.  I knew that I wanted to incorporate blind impression (letterpress with no ink) onto the invitation for a subtle added texture, and that I wanted to use both a script and non-script font (both were purchased at www.myfonts.com).  I'm not a designer, but I was lucky and got my grubby little hands on a copy of AI from a friend who was awesome enough to install it onto my computer.  After another several weeks of clicking around on the screen, watching how-to youtube videos, but mostly help from my AI-savvy friends (thank you Megan and Mary!), I finally had the design done. 

Once finalized, I sent my design to Boxcar Press who specializes in making polymer plates for the letterpress machine.  They have incredible customer service, and very quick turnaround times.  They were such a pleasure to work with and I would use them again in a heartbeat!

Metal-backed Polymer Plate

I was also very picky about the type of paper used for the invitations. I wanted paper that was ultra plush and thick.  I ultimately picked the Savoy 620gsm (2-ply) weight paper in Natural White.  Although Crane lettra is probably considered to be a "superior" paper by some, I found the Savoy to be a much cleaner cut and I really loved the smooth matte finish.  I ordered all my paper and envelopes (I used Crane lettra envelopes in Pearl White) from Keldon Paper, who were so amazing to work with!  They are also conveniently located in Commerce so I was able to pick up all my paper/envelopes myself, rather than pay the astronomical shipping costs (the paper is very heavy!) 


Next step:  Pressing the invitations! 

What is Letterpress?

metal type

I’m a little bit of a stationary nerd so when it came to printing our invitations, I knew early on that letterpress was a must-have for our wedding.  What was most surprising was that when I told people about our invitations, the most common question was “what is letterpress?”

Vandercook Press

Letterpress was invented by Johannes Gutenberg in the 1400s and is the oldest form of printing in existence. It was the preferred method of printing until the late 19th Century when it was replaced with offset printing.  For the past 500+ years the process has remained relatively unchanged:  a type and artwork (or in modern times, a polymer plate) are placed on the press, a single raised surface is covered with ink and the art work is then pressed into the paper by the pressure of the printing press.  In my case, I had to hand feed each piece of paper, and repeat the process for each separate color that I used.  

It’s certainly not the easiest or cheapest way to print, and is a very time consuming process, but nothing compares to the unmistakable impression pressed into a soft cotton card. I love letterpress because of its tactile qualities.  You can run your finger over the writing and feel where the ink has been pressed into the paper.  Even a simple line of tiny type says "Touch me!" with its vivid, three-dimensional appearance. 

For the invitees that have never seen or felt letterpress printing on paper, they are all in for a real treat!

Coming to a mailbox near you...

Nom Nom Nom

It is less than 3 months until the wedding and we just had our food & cake tasting!  While I already knew we would enjoy every delicious bite, I was not prepared for the barrage of intricate decisions that we would face.  Did you know there's more to a tasting than just what the food tastes like?  We had to consider food placement, whether or not there's enough "color" on the plate, whether the progression from hors d'oeuvres to appetizer to salad to entree to dessert made "sense."  Lucky for us, Marc and I LOVE to eat, and like everything else in this wedding, nothing was haphazardly chosen. 

We were also lucky to have my lovely FMIL Judy, wedding coordinator, Ruth Wang of Behind the Scene, and our amazing Langham Huntington Special Events Manager, Chelsea Rowe tasting beside us and helping us make some of the final menu selections.  Not only that, after each "course" - salad, entree, dessert, pastries, the Langham chefs in charge of creating each item came out to greet us, answer our questions, and give us recommendations as to what we could do to create our dream menu!  It was a really nice touch on behalf of the Langham and really made our experience even more special.

Here are just a few of the tasty selections we got to try:

 

Grilled lamb porterhouse with balsamic lentil and Humboldt goat cheese - It was www.bomb.com!

Herb crusted sea bass with artichoke ravioli and roasted artichoke, veal jus.  Delicious!

Pear Cheesecake with poached pear, caramel sauce.

In the end we were happy, satiated, and stuffed!  In fact, I'm so glad that restaurant was almost empty because you could probably hear us laughing and having fun from the hallway! 

I better find some time to eat at the wedding—there is no way I want to miss all this glorious food!

I'm back!

As it turns out my blogging duties went into hibernation for the remainder of winter, but with the passing of the first day of spring, it looks like I’ve risen from my slumber and the Constance Comment is BACK!  Although a hiatus was not my intention, the last several weeks have been ridiculously busy with starting a new jobby job, wedding planning, family and social events, extreme dieting, sprinkle in a short bout of Hunger Games obsession and finishing the entire trilogy in a little under ten days, and I just have not been left with much time for anything else! 

But just so that we’re all up to speed, here’s a brief recap of the last several weeks:

Although it was no surprise, the 15th Annual Super Bowl Party was another great success! 

Cocktails at the Cosmopolitan.

Hummer limo ride to Downtown LV.

The Hostess with the Mostess.

What else do people watch the Super Bowl on?

Winners of the Super Dollar.

Shortly after the party, I started a new jobby job at a firm in Irvine that does the same kind of work from my prior firm.  It's keeping me busy!



 Lauren and I caught Ryan Adams at the Walt Disney Concert Hall.  He was nothing short of amazing.

Ryan Adams at WDCH.

Also, our two favorite Kugelman boys are now officially off the market.  We had the pleasure of celebrating Lars and Margaux's and Alex and Lauren's engagement during in the same month.  Marc and I are so happy for these love birds, and I'm particularly excited because it means I can vicariously live through another bride's wedding planning journey. 

Unfortunately, we also had to say good-bye to Alex and Lauren as they embarked on their new lives in DC together.  Alex is doing his second clerkship for a judge there, but Marc and I are excited to visit them soon!

Finally, all things wedding-related (dieting, planning, dieting, planning) have kept the remainder of my time very busy!  I'm in the process of designing our wedding invitations (time consuming due to my Adobe Illustrator illiteracy) right now, but just writing about them makes me giddy with excitement!  I'm so looking forward to sharing them with you.

As for the diet, I'm down 12 pounds. Woop Woop! It's hardly noticeable, but it makes me happy to see a difference on the scale.  Tomorrow is my very first dress fitting so we'll see how much more I'll have to lose then!

I'm sure I'm forgetting lots of events from the last few weeks, but for now, I must indulge in my inner-nerd and rush off to catch the Hunger Games.