Obsession...

So we are back from Vegas and I have found yet another fabulous wedding obsession.

I was always kind of sure that I did not want to wear a full veil down the aisle. Until I met the mantilla veil. Hello mantilla:

These are fantastically beautiful veils with a Spanish touch that I am oh so in love with! After a little drooling over the mantilla veil, I discovered there are so many options to veils. I searched the internet and discovered a new obsession.

Her name is Jennifer Behr. She's a little pricey, but let me introduce you to her work:




































Always in an effort to save a little cash, I jumped onto Etsy and found these by Hair Petals :





































It takes everything out of me not to buy one these right now! ....but, first the dress



...to be continued.....

Vegas baby!

See ya'll on Tuesday!

Blog, blog, blog...

We all know if there is something you need to search on the internet, there are a million sites to help you. While looking for wedding ideas, colors and dresses I have stuck to the same handful of sites to be safe; the Knot, Weddingbee, Brides.

A couple of weeks ago I was looking to be inspired and discovered that there are hundreds of other brides , and some wedding designers, out there with much better blogs and way more creativity than I have. Here are a few of my favorites for your viewing pleasure:

Something Old, Something New

Vintage Glam

Etsy Wedding

Wedding Tulle

Seriously, I can go on and on with the blogs that I peak into daily. These ladies have so many creative ideas and are welcome to share them with anyone looking for them. They are all my heroes and I can't wait to steal everyone of their ideas.

I have found so many sites that I am addicted to I needed a way to properly organize them and take them everywhere. A blogger on Weddingbee posted about a wonderfully inventive, and much needed website called Delicious. It allows you to log in from anywhere, and organize all of your bookmarks! How fantastic is that! Now from work I can sneak into Etsy without having to remember the url. Yay for me!

Oh, and if you are an Etsy virgin like I was until recently, please take a peak. You have no idea what your missing!

Lola's Antics

This is what Lola does when she needs attention. The video is a little dark, but you should be able to at least here what we have to deal with everyday. Oh, and she hit her head on the coffee table. That is why we were laughing so hard.

Engagement: A Time to Cherish

Right after Kodo's Dad proposed, we were visiting with some friends that had just been married and the bride gave me one piece of advise. She said, "Enjoy your engagement and don't rush to have the wedding." We took that advise to heart which is why we went to Mexico for a week (which was a great location for our engagement pictures) then took another month to start looking at locations.


Although we don't have a "date" yet for the wedding, I am in the constant state of anxiety that I need to find my dress, and pick my colors and invitations and all that fun (and potentially stressful stuff) right away. I am a firm believer that if you start planning early you can save money in more places than you thought possible, and let's face it, we need to save money in as many places as possible.


I am already surrounded by bridal magazines, planners, Tivo'ing Platinum Brides and even Kodo's Dad will sit down and watch Bridezilla with me. I am dragging my sister around to bridal shops and I send her on internet searches for wedding stuff. I really think I need to take a breathe and let the planning work itself out at a normal pace. That would be the smart thing to do, but let's face it, that's just not who I am.

Engagement is not a time to cherish, it is a time to start planning and break out in zits, and strange rashes that your doctor doesn't even know what it is. It is a time to call your friends for every favor you can think of and begin searching for least expensive way to have the BEST photographer for your wedding. It is a time when you begin dreaming about how you will look 20lbs thinner in a wedding dress, but are too pre-occupied with the thought of it to actually do something about it.

When I woke up this morning, I thought to myself, today's the day I won't logon to weddingbee.com, or google my favorite wedding dress designer, or check for more pictures taken at Rancho Las Lomas. That lasted about ten minutes ya'll.


Luckily, I discovered that Ferndales Bridal Shop is having a clearance sale this week. How can I not go?!


Do you all see my dilemma now? Thanks for listening.

Spaweek.org

I was reading this mornings paper (yes, I can read) and discovered that during the week of 9/15-9/21 several spas in the Southern California area will be hosting "spa week". Each spa is offering a few treatments for the low, low price of $50!!!

www.spaweek.org

Just log in and you can get a list of spas offering the services. Some of the places are even offering laser hair removal!

Just a friendly notice from your neighborhood deal finder.

Your all very welcome! Have fun!

Decisions, Decisions..

Because I am still pretty undecided on our wedding colors, I have been scouring the thousands of website available for something that would spark my attention and would help me get on track. I want my girls to wear chocolate brown, but I am undecided about the accent colors.

I love to view pictures of actual weddings so I figured I would start there. I searched weddings that have taken place at Rancho Las Lomas and found this bouquet. I love the greens, pink and reds together.

Then I found this picture inspired by a wedding I found in Ceremony Magazine. I love the yellow and greens with the chocolate brown.



Or maybe something with a little more drama like these girls in brown with red flowers:


Okay, another yellow and brown:



I am leaning towards the yellow, green and butter cream colors. But I am having a hard time deciding. I guess I have time to decide so I won't push it, but I will take any suggestions you got.

Thanks!

So Short Am I?!

Today someone sent me a link on ways short people can dress to make themselves look taller. I am not normally a sensitive person, and I can't say my feelings were hurt, but it made me wonder "Do people really see me as being THAT short?".

I started to think of my friends and my height in comparison to them. I am 5'1" and most of them have a few inches on me. Kodo's Dad is 9" taller than me (so he says) and my Mom is definitely taller than me. I do have sisters and a couple of friends who are "petite", but they are petite in a way that make them weigh 20lbs less than I do, so I don't really think of myself as petite. I am just plane SHORT. So I decided to Google "short people".

The obvious stuff came up; Randy Newman's Song Short People, short people jokes, and you know wikipedia has a ton to say about short people. Then I dug a little deeper and found some other very interesting facts (and if the Internet says it, it must be a fact) about short people:

1. Shorter women are more likely to have long-term relationships with men, and more likely to have children

2. A new study reveals that some short women have a gene linked to longevity

3. Short women with long legs and large busts are the most sexually attractive to men

4. Short women drive nicer cars than tall women

(OK, I made that last one up)

So here is what I have come up with....

I may look like a little vertically challenged when I wear crop pants and flats, but the boys love me and I will live longer than the rest of you giants!

Good Night and Good Bye.....

Location, location, location.....

When Kodo's Dad first proposed in May, we decided to wait a while until we started looking for a ceremony/reception site and pick a date for the "big day". We thought it would be easy to find a nice place at the right price. (Is everyone laughing? OK, just making sure)

Then we started our search......

As we started we discovered there are so many other things we need to consider. If we want to be married in OC or LA, if we wanted to be married in a church, if we wanted just appetizers or five course meal, yada, yada, yada. We sat down together and came up with three things that were important to the both of us; 1. we want to have the ceremony outdoors but the reception indoors, 2. we want to have great food, 3. we want people to dance, drink and have fun...on us *all night long*!

In putting together our list of things that are important to us, we started looking at places that would fit our three requirements.

This is a list of some of our favorite places:

http://www.molaa.org/ Museum of Latin American Art in Long Beach

http://www.ebellclub.com/ The Ebell Club in Long Beach - One of my favorites

http://www.csulb.edu/~jgarden/ Japanese Gardens in Long Beach - Very chic

http://www.patinagroup.com/tangata/ Bowers Museum in Santa Ana - Anyone who has been here has thought of a having their wedding here

http://www.nixonlibraryfoundation.org/index.php?src=gendocs&link=PlanYourEvent&category=Main
Nixon Library - great site for an indoor outdoor event

http://www.temeculacreekinn.com/ Temecula Creek Inn - Great site for outdoor ceremony and reception

http://www.pontewinery.com/php/index.php5 Ponte Winery, Temecula, CA - Gorgeous!!

http://www.lamountains.com/planning_river.asp Los Angeles River Center and Gardens - Great location between OC and the Valley

http://www.thebungalowclub.com/weddings/ The Bungalow Club, Hollywood, CA - Ah, Hollywood, where it all began

I could go on and on about the places we have seen and called and been quoted between San Diego, Temecula, Orange County, Long Beach, Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley. But I won't. If you want a list, please ask. I can send spreadsheets! :)

About a month and half ago Kodo's Dad and I were told of a little secret at a much coveted Orange County wedding location. There was a way for us to afford a location that we never thought would be possible. We took a tour on an early Saturday morning, and since then have been hooked. No place we have seen before, and no place we have seen after, can compare with the beauty of it. Let me welcome you to Rancho Las Lomas.....

http://www.rancholaslomas.com/


Stay tuned......wedding date to come soon.

Hello...

While I realize I am new to this blogging thing, and that my day-to-day is not nearly as interesting as others, I think it is time that I reach out an touch someone (not like that Shasta you nasty thing).

With our recent engagement, it became apparent to me that I needed somewhere to vent my frustration and share the excitement of wedding planning. From start to finish I plan on sharing as much as possible without giving up too much information to Kodo's Dad. I know the wedding is important to him too, but he doesn't obsess quite as much as I do, so I thought this would be the perfect solution for everyone involved.

You will also get a sneak peak at what it is like being the owner of two of the laziest dogs is town. First there is Lola, our goofy looking boxer, and then there is Kodo the wonder chihuahua. We call him that because we wonder if he's a chihuahua.

We also have a water turtle, his name is Buster. I don't remember the specifics as to how we ended up with him (BROTHER!) but we have learned to love him and can't drop him off at the park pond.

This is just the beginning all. Please stay tuned for future installments of "Two dogs, a turtle and a crazy house."