yayyyyy!

Thanks to a snowy day we had time to book our honeymoon! Check this baby out:








Costa Rica, here we come! We're gonna stay at an all-inclusive in Guanacaste for 3 nights and then in Arenal (where the active volcano is) for 4 nights. It's gonna be a very action-packed honeymoon since they have canopy tours (read: ziplines), white-water rafting, kayaking, surfing...all sorts of stuff. I can't wait!

We also finished our save-the-dates tonight and are pretty close to having the wedding website be public soon. Or, well, semi-public...we'll have a password for people to view the site. I'm going back home next week to do more wedding stuff at home. Soooo much stuff to do, but thankfully this process has been really fun.

did you miss me?

Lots of things have been happening since I last posted!

1) I got rejected from weddingbee. =( But that's okay because it gives me more freedom to post whatever I want now.
2) W got an offer for an internship in Hartford, CT! I'm excited for him but also bummed because that means he'll be in Hartford for the summer (if he takes it, that is, which he probably will.)
3) We went to J&J's wedding in Houston this past weekend. The wedding was beautiful and it was so fun to see WashU friends. It made me that much more excited for our wedding!
4) We booked our photographer- the fabulous Miss Anne Hwang!
5) We chose our honeymoon destination: Costa Rica

I was telling someone this weekend that I can't believe how expensive weddings can be. I really hope that our wedding can show how rich we are...not monetarily, obviously, but how rich we are in our relationships, friendships, and families.

Even with this thought in mind, it's really easy to get caught up in all the glamour of the wedding. On one hand, it's the one day where I get to dress up and be pretty; on the other hand, it's just one day. Eesh. I'm gonna spend a little more time tomorrow doing wedding stuff, so after praying about it more I'll have a better idea of how I want to approach this.

Everything considered, I still can't wait to marry him. =)

honeymoon!

Back to planning-mode!

My apartment is awesome- not only is it close to two major highways, gas stations, a bank, a grocery store, a post office and W's house, but it also has a FedEx/Kinko's, CVS, TJ Maxx, and my new favorite: AAA!

I've been there once before to ask about discount movie tickets, but this time I decided to explore their travel agency. I had looked on the AAA website and saw only trips to Europe, the Caribbean, and Hawaii, so I gave up. However, W mentioned that maybe we should go inside and see if they have more options.

Totally worth it! The travel agent was really helpful, gave me a bunch of comprehensive brochures, and assured me that we could make anything work. I wasn't much help since I didn't have a specific location in mind, but she didn't seem to mind. JC had also given me a tip about Arthur Frommer's blog: frommers.com/blog. I know travel is his business, but he makes everything sound so enticing and affordable! I almost feel like I should be traveling more. I like his honest approach to saving money and exploring. If we don't book through AAA we might go through escapesltd.com. AMAZING deals...it makes me wish we had unlimited funds and an infinite amount of time off to explore the world.

Now we just have to decide where we want to go! My mind keeps changing based on what I'm craving that day. If we had to pick today we'd go to New Jersey or New York to eat Nathan's Cheese Fries. Obviously big decisions should not be made on an empty stomach. =)

A non-planning day

Let's face it- I love planning things. Is it your birthday yet? Can I plan your party? Let's celebrate the beginning of summer. When should we host the next get-together?

It takes a lot of restraint for me to NOT plan, but I managed to do it today. I had the day off, but wanted to rest and have a day where I dealt with the present, not the future. W came over later to hang out, have dinner, and do some work, but he helped me adhere to my no-planning rule for the night.

Surprisingly, no planning was involved when we were working on our wedding website! W had set it up, and all I had to do was add descriptions and pictures. There's plenty of stuff we'll have to add that involves phone calls and planning, but tonight I got to do the fun stuff. It was a nice trip down memory lane. I can't wait till you get to see it! We didn't want to pay for our own domain (and neither of us is computer-savvy enough to set it up) so we went with a comprehensive, free site: mywedding.com. W thought most of the designs were too feminine, but that was the only complaint we've had. It has lots of different categories (like attractions, accommodations, photos, etc.) and is pretty easy for us to figure out. Thumbs up!

The only thing we haven't figured out is how to put banquet information on the website. We're inviting, like, 500 people to our wedding and having a light reception immediately afterwards, but only a select few are invited to the banquet (I lovingly refer to them as "the 300".) As much as we'd like to invite all of them to the banquet, it's just not financially possible. How do we inform the 300 in a tasteful manner? That involves planning, so I'll save it for another day...but I'm definitely open to suggestions! (BTW, you readers are definitely part of the 300. ;)

the name game

I got an email from a friend referring to me as the "soon to be mrs. c____"! It was weird thinking that by the end of next year I'll have a new name.

(Haha, in my yearly review at work I should have told them I was studying for my M.R.S. when they asked what further education I was going to pursue.)

Anyway, I've decided to take W's last name. That wasn't a big decision because I was more than happy to do so. However, I don't know if I'm going to keep my maiden name. I wouldn't hyphenate it, but I have the option of having it as a second middle name, so to speak. I can't drop my given middle name because it incorporates my mom's name...and really, it's too clever for me to just get rid of it.

Pros and Cons for keeping it:
Pros- 1) I'm very close to my family, and keeping the name shows my family pride; 2) My nursing license is listed with my maiden name; 3) It asserts my independence and identity- like, this is not only who I was but also who I still am.

Cons- 1) My initials are much cuter if I just use my married name (TLC as opposed to TLLC); 2) It sounds way too long if I keep both last names...and I wouldn't want people to think it's hyphenated cuz it sounds weird; 3) We're becoming a new family, and part of me thinks I should let go of my maiden name (esp. since I have brothers to carry that name). It doesn't make me any less a part of my family if I do it.

I have no idea what to do! Or, well, okay...I think I'm leaning towards just being TLC. But a little part of me is sad cuz it's, like, the end of an era! *sigh* I'll have to think/pray about it more. Any thoughts?

Conservative or liberal?

We're not talking politics- we're talking about my qipao/cheongsam! (W's family calls it a qipao cuz they're Mandarin speaking and we call it a cheongsam cuz we're Canto.)

It looks like we're going to have a tea ceremony right before the banquet, so I want a cheongsam for the occasion. Technically I could just wear my wedding gown, but I want a cheongsam. Yes, I am aware that I'll be changing out of my gown and into the cheongsam and then back into my gown for the beginning of the banquet (and then maybe into the cheongsam again later that night) but I don't care! I'll do it!

So anyway, a friend from WashU got married in 2004 and had a BACKLESS cheongsam. Her mom made it for her, and it was purple brocade and totally gorgeous. Ever since then I was like, dude, I want a sexy cheongsam, too.

Lucky for me that style is en vogue and relatively easy to find. I talked to a seamstress in California way back when and she said she'd be able to do it for me. Here's what it might look like:




































So here are my questions/dilemmas:

1) Is the backless cheongsam too revealing? I know I'm wearing a strapless gown, but that's more acceptable. This is pretty non-traditional, and I'll be meeting some of W's relatives from Taiwan for the first time. I don't want to be offensive. (I obviously have no trouble showing skin...I AM Californian after all!)
2) Can I wear the same strapless bra with my gown and this dress?
and
3) Should I go with the traditional red or another color? I don't want white (I think that's a funeral color) and pink supposedly is the color concubines wear. I don't know if there are special meanings behind other colors, too. I tried on a red one and it looked okay (since my complexion is so pale. Thank you, Boston!) but I like to be different. Maybe blue, after my hero:



Thoughts?

wintry mix

Positive note: I called The Wedding Day and spoke to the owner about the price difference to see if they would match it. They told me the online vendor is making their own dresses instead of giving people actual Bill Levkoff dresses, which is why it's so much cheaper. Shady! Regardless, she said she'd give me 10% off my bridesmaid dresses since I bought my wedding dress there. Score!

Negative note: I'm starting to get carried away. I can feel it! Last night I was obsessing over hair, makeup, the reception, you name it, and I started to get really offended when W wasn't agreeing with me over what I thought were obvious decisions. I chatted with a couple people on gchat and was gently reminded that sometimes simple is better and when it comes down to it, people are just there to see us. It's not a circus, for crying out loud. It made me think about what I want people to think when they're going home that night.

W's three adjectives that he wants for our wedding are fun, joyful, and beautiful. Mine were beautiful, emotional, fun. Thankfully they're very similar! Eesh...it's so easy to be caught up in all of these things and forget that we're not glorifying ourselves but God. *sigh*