Since I haven't officially asked...

I won't reveal yet the names of my actual bridesmaids. But I thought that since I wrote a little tidbid about the husband to be, that I would reflect back on the amazing women that will become the official witnesses of my marriage.

In no particular order....

Bridesmaid 1. For almost two whole years, she enjoyed being the center of the universe for two happy young couple. That is, until little ole me popped out of my mother's stomach crying....and crying...and crying for what must have been forever (from what my mom tells me). During her kindergarten or first grade graduation, I cried because I wanted to be up there with her as she received her diploma. In 1990, she finally ran far away enough for me to follow. In 1994, I was back in her face again determined never to leave her side. I followed all of her interest...the Flyers, the Braves, and Ace of Base. She may not know it but I always wanted to follow. I always strive to be like her.

Bridesmaid 2. If there was one person in this world who knew exactly how to piss me off, it's her. She's Dart Vader and I'm Yoda...which proves that even the most optimistic and patient of a person can have a short and angry side. But just like Dart Vader, she has within her a good side. Ok, that was one too many Star Wars analogy. lol. Anyway! Despite the occasional tension between us which we so often keep bottled up inside, magically...and out of nowhere...things go back to the way they've always been. Two people that genuinely care and love each other...and no matter what, I know she'll always have my back.

Bridesmaid 3. I remember the exact moment that I knew we were going to to be great friends. We were taking a stroll on the beach and she asked me a question that I hadn't heard in a very long time... she asked casually and genuinely.... "So, what do you like to do for fun?" And in the years to follow, we combined our "what do you like to do for fun" list and did them together. Partied in Vegas, relaxed in Puerto Rico, went to happy hours, talked about boys, and jumped up and down hand in hand as we celebrated her engagement. And through the years... when you realize that the party is over and you have to face the difficult parts of life, it's those that stay right there with you that are your friends for life. I'm so lucky to have met this person and one of these days, I'm going to have to give her an unforced and totally NOT akward hug. HUGS!

Bridesmaid 4. Like any other middle child, I had (and still have remnants) of extreme middle child syndrome. I was super sensitive to jokes and I felt slighted when people joked at my expense....and being the jokester that she is, we were a match made in hell from the very start. She constantly made fun of my FOB tendencies pushing every little button in me. But through those tortuous jokes, I learned that it is absolutely ok to laugh at yourself...because after all, I did do some pretty laughable things...like flip over my inside out shirt outside of a church... ::crickets::
As it turns out, behind all the jokes was my best friend who patiently listened and told it to me straight up. A no nonsense - no bs friend. When I was being a brat, she told me so. When I was acting crazy, she told me so. And when life was good, she celebrated with me. What more can you ask for in a friend?

Bridesmaid 5. On occasion, I do read up on my zodiac sign (Cancer). And all the information that I found says that Cancers are ridiculously sensitive...which causes us to act on emotion...ya know, act like one of those crazy girlfriends that leave multiple text message and voicemail? ummmmm anyway! Luckily, I met a very special friend that made me feel normal for once....for she, a fellow Cancer, was just as crazy as I was. To us, it was perfectly ok to plan our weddings before we even got engaged. We dreamed and gushed and talked about our perfect day. We gushed about our significant others to each other only to text an hour later saying that we were through and that our worlds were over. Perhaps it's not so healthy to have someone reaffirm your craziness but in actuality, she has been a person to make me want to be a better person. She taught me how to be honest with myself because not everything can be peachy and great all the time. And of course, she stood by and helped walk me through the difficult stuff.

Bridesmaid 6. Women talk alot so it's pretty rare to find a girlfriend whom you can just sit or watch tv with and not say a word....and it's perfectly ok. No awkwardness. No pressure to talk about something. A person, confident about who she is and unbeknowst to her, taught me to be confident about the person that I am. Because its ok for me to have my own taste. It's ok for me to have an opinion different from others and it's ok to express them. But what I treasure most about her is her ability show me a different perspective - to make me see how lucky I really am when I'm sometimes feeling ungrateful...because after all, I have a friend who despite all the craziness going on in her life will still be thoughtful enough to get my favorite cake on my graduation.

So there you have it. Now guess who!


Disclaimer: this post was induced by a bottle of Summer Nights.

I Used to be Crafty..

...waaay back in the day.

But I think it's safe to say that since I actually had friends (which didn't come until much later in high school), all my free time outside school was spent socializing and basking in all that I missed by being such a hermit at home. But during those 'I'm a loser with nothing to do on a Friday night days', I actually started to learn a few things here in there.... like knitting, crocheting, origami, etc. I even even made my high school graduation invitations.

Well, what better time to bring back the ole crafty me than planning for my wedding? Due to a limited budget and still over a year and a half before our projected wedding date, I plan on accomplishing the following DIY projects:

Centerpieces
Bridal Party accessories (probably a belt)
Table place cards
Save the dates
Isle decor

.....at least for now. I'm sure that looking online will give me a lot more ideas.

Here's a practice run at an origami flower project for possible place cards or just as napkin decor. Seemed pretty simple when I started but it turns out that each petal has to be individually folded. But hey, one flower down....200 more to go! errrrrrrrrrrrr times 5 petals = 1000 petals to fold!!!



Bridesmaids and girlfriends - Get your fingers ready for my bridal sweat shop = )


(excuse my terrible handwriting)

Now that the sappinness is over...

...Let’s talk about the fun stuff!

To me, the most fun wedding related activity is dress shopping. If you’re anything like me, I’m sure that you’ve been looking online for a wedding dress since the web was invented. I remember sketching mine when I was still in middle school. It was quite hideous…as it was a short body hugging inner layer with a sheer and poufy outer layer. But I watched a lot of Sailor Moon around that time and I’m sure I modeled it after one of her get-ups.

In high school, I wanted a huge ballroom gown with a cathedral train and veil. And of course, this had everything to do with the fact that I was completely and utterly in love with Prince William. I was sure he was the one. And I was going to be the ultimate princess bride.

In college – the emo days – it was all about the simple dress – no poof – and I was getting married on a beach somewhere….maybe even Boracay. But after college, I all of sudden started having hot flash issues and having a beach wedding where I would sweat profusely didn’t seem like such a good idea anymore.

And through further refinement of what I think would look good on me…what I think would be classy…would hide the pit fat…and flatter everything else, I found THE dress online about two years ago. Unfortunately, because I found it two years ago, it seems that the dress is actually nowhere to be found other than on the web. The style is called Alvina Valenta 9906. If anyone can find this dress for me, let me know ASAP!

AV9906

In the meantime, I didn’t waste any time taking advantage of a good sample sale. Last week, Priscilla of Boston had one of their blowout sales where sample dresses were an additional 50% off their already marked down price. It was the first time I had actually even tried on dresses and I acted like a little kid…no, a little kid deprived of any sweets…in a candy store. Thinking that it would be running-of-the-brides-esq, I arrive early just to ensure a spot…and of course, I felt just somewhat crazy when I find that I’m the only one waiting for them to open upon arrival. I walked out of that store with not one, but THREE dresses.

The first dress was nothing like I had envisioned myself in. It was strapless dress trumpet style dress with two bows in the back. Strapless was a big no-no to me but to my surprise, it didn’t make my pits look unflattering. I suppose that I was convinced because the dress fit me almost perfectly. I would really only need to adjust the height and that’s it! This dress cost me the most and I don’t wanna post how much because I’ve actually decided to try selling it. Here’s the listing

The second dress was very similar to what I had envisioned myself in. A dress with straps, flowy fit and flare, simple, and flattering. I felt great it in not only because of its stye but especially the price. I purchased that dress for a whopping $100. It was originally $4K and I just couldn’t, in my right mind, walk out of that store without that dress. (Not showing pics of this one =)

Lastly, while waiting from a fellow bride-to-be friend to arrive, I sifted through the bridesmaids gowns and found a gorgeous long black formal dress on sale for only $35. Someone have a black tie wedding so I can wear this dress please... And if not, maybe one of my bms can wear it to mine =)

So that’s my dress shopping journey so far. I’m still eyeing others (because I not getting married til 2012 and wedding dress shopping is just TOO fun) but I know that I have budget and there's really no room for me to exceed that.

A Wedding Story Begins...

with a memorable engagement story. That once in a lifetime moment when time stands still- the moment where all of your dreams of a man proposing finally comes true.

It all began at Christine Cueto's house. He was sitting in her kitchen looking salty and unhappy. And when my roommate slyly nudged me and whispered "That's him...he's single" followed by two eye brow gestures, I couldn't help but roll my eyes. Really? The cranky guy?

Almost exactly three months later, I sat on my bed and read out loud an email that I'll never forget. It read:

WILL YOU BE WILLING TO BE SEEN IN PUBLIC WITH ME, WILL YOU HELP ME MAKE IT OUT OF PHARM SCHOOL, WILL YOU JOIN ME ON WALKS IN THE PARK, WILL YOU GO WITH ME TO THE MALL TO PICK OUT CLOTHES, WILL YOU EAT PHO WITH ME, I guess what I'm trying to say is : WILL YOU GO OUT WITH ME ????

Without hesitation, I look up at the man sitting by my side and said Yes.

Two years later, we're unloading a uhaul full of boxes into our first apartment together in Virginia.

A year past that, and he is graduating from pharmacy school. Our families meet for the first time during his graduation lunch and as he begins his "thank you for coming" speech, my sisters jaws drop because they think he's about to propose to me in front of everyone.

Yet another half a year passes and I get a pink eye staying up all night writing my final paper for my master's program. He gets up periodically to make me coffee...to keep me company....and in no time, I finally received my diploma as well.

And through more happiness, celebrations, tragedies, and life-hurdles, I sat in our apartment and waited...just like any other day...for him to come home from work.

I was a mess. My hair unkempt. My mascara and eyeliner smudged behind my eyeglasses. If you can imagine the least bit lady-like bum, that was me that night. When he finally arrived home, I was greeted with "Hey beautiful!". I smiled thinking to myself that Mr. Cranky was not cranky tonight.

Giving him a play-by-play of what I had done earlier in the evening, I gushed at our friend's recent engagement story. I joked that our friend had hidden the ring in the garment bag of his suit and that I was getting ready to sift through his garment bags too just in case. I suppose my story panicked him just a little. As it turns out, he had been hiding my ring in his suit garment bag as well.

The moments following were nothing but the two of us being silly with our guessing games. And as I opened my eyes from correctly guessing that I had nothing but a coin in my hand, I see him on his knees with a ring placed in his palms.

This was the moment when time stood still. I remember a big silly smile on his face. I remember a big silly smile on mine. I remember thinking if this was really happening right now. I remember thinking that I looked like a horrible mess. But the important part is that I remember saying....

Yes!














I'm not gonna lie...the ring makes it much more enjoyable to type ; )