Old Photos

It's already January and another year has passed! Don't worry, this isn't going to be one of those self-reflective blogs of where one looks back on the year past and then tries to figure out what this upcoming year is going to hold. No resolutions. No reflections. But more of a gasp that it's already January and there is only four months left for us to cross a bunch of stuff off our "wedding to-do list" which is about twenty pages long. Eek, where does the time go?!

One of the things that we're doing is asking our parents/grandparents for their wedding photos. Not sure what we are going to do with them but will figure out a way to incorporate them into evening. So far, I've received my grandparents wedding day photos and what a treat! They have been married for over 61 years which is amazing and even rare in the age that we live in. I was shocked when I only received about seven photos but according to them, they really didn't have a lot of photos. Back in 1946, you take the photos of the "key" events only and hope that the film comes out (unlike today's age where we are probably going to get a disc that contains 500+).

I wanted to share some of the photos of my grandparents wedding which is so simple and refreshing compared from the photos that I immerse myself in with all of this prep. Everything is so colorful, overwhelming with details that the average person isn't going to notice. I mean, do people really pay attention to what the linen colors really are or what specific "theme" you were going for?! I'm really glad that the girl gene skipped me and this wedding is going to be simple and fresh and hopefully, low maintenance!

So I had to share some of my latest inspiration, here are some photos from my grandparents wedding, aren't they cute?!

•walking down the aisle, august 1946•

•cutting the cake•

•the end of the night•

•the hotel bill. there isn't a single item in our wedding that is going to cost that•

•sixty years later with their kids on the alaskan cruise•

Wanted: Christmas Spirit

I can't seem to find it this year and I wonder where it went. This is as much Christmas spirit that I could muster up this year. Our home should be filled with silly decorations and the lights should be adorning the exterior of our home but it's not. Our tree have the ornaments (many of them handed down from my grandparents) but there aren't any presents underneath it. We haven't really done any shopping this year. We've watched the Christmas movies (finally saw Elf, which was lame but A Christmas Story did help a little bit for me mainly because I heart that movie), I've done my Christmas cookies baking but still, the spirit is lacking. With just a few more days until the holidays, I'm really hoping to find it. I'm looking forward to heading home for a few days and seeing the family. That should jump start it. We're also taking the Coast Starlight train up to Portland, Oregon for the New Years and being with our friends will also bring in the spirit. Maybe my Christmas spirit will hit in January or something and I'll just be early for the next year, not late :)

• i'll wear my holiday socks until the spirit hits •

One by one...

...the penguins steal my sanity.

It starts to feel that way with the limited amount of work that I am doing. For the past couple of months, my company has felt the downturn of the economy. We're an advertising agency, with only seven people and the company has been around for over twenty years. It's a great company to work for and I really enjoy it. However it's become a little strenuous as a majority of our clients cut back their budget or are folding and I have two choices: work part time or file unemployment!

If the timing was different, I could start job hunting to find another advertising/production job. The only drawback of that is the upcoming year. How does one go job hunting when they need to disclose that they need to take a lot of time off in February, May and September for their own weddings (planning two long distance weddings is a lot of work)? I think that most employers would cross me off the list. So instead, I'm determined to hang in with my current company, endure the worst of the economy and just hope that it turns around so I can work again at full capacity.

The idleness drives me a little crazy though. What does one do with all this newfound free time? Coincidentally, it does open doors for more possibilities. My personal trainer needs a producer to help put together their workout videos. Great, that helps keep me a little bit busier and I get be productive in my field of work. I've also become a mean racquetball player. I've never been a sports girl. I used to play baseball and love to go to a batting cages but besides that, I have always lacked competitiveness. Until I started racquetball. It has become a great way for me to release this pent up stress that I have from the lack of work. Although my body has taken a toll as I endure running into the walls only to hit that damn ball!

Also starting in January, I am going to flower school. Sure, poke fun here but the main reason for it is so I can do all the flowers for our wedding. With all the time off, taking the classes and having an outlet for my creativity also helps me break this idleness that I currently have. There is only so much grocery shopping, library hunting and cleaning house that I can do.

I think that this all fills us about 5-8 hours of the remaining 20 hours that I have free nowadays. Any other suggestions for me to venture on to ensure that I keep myself busy? I really don't want those penguins to steal my sanity!

Unwind Time

The first phase of the holidays are over and it went over wonderfully! The Santa Clara invasion went over quite smoothly, everyone getting along and feeling much fuller after all the food, desserts, snacks and home-brewed beer that we offered. It was actually one of the best holidays that I've had in a long time spending so much time with my parents, grandparents and really getting to know my future in laws. Having a close knit family really reminded me of what giving thanks was all about.

It's that time for family and some stress...

I am not a fan of the big Thanksgiving. I love the gathering of the family and friends but was never a fan of the food. Turkey? Boo on that. Cranberries? No thanks. Sweet potato yams? Marshmallows destroying yams delicious flavors. Pumpkin pie? The only good thing. Oh, and fresh biscuits. Since this is the first year that I am hosting Thanksgiving, I am putting my foot down and changing up the menu.

Fresh vegetable lasagna with homemade pasta sauce. Roasted green beans with toasted almonds. Homemade garlic bread. Garlic cloves baked in the oven to accompany the appetizer of fresh Dutch cheese and bread. Fresh Italian salad. Finish everything off with desserts of homemade apple pie and cheesecake brownies. Yup, that's my menu for this Thanksgiving and I can't wait to start cooking everything early Thursday morning.

Hosting the first Thanksgiving is a little stressful. I'm not stressed for the cooking part. I'm more stressed on the...gulp...two families meeting each other! Marijn's parents is flying in from the Netherlands for ten days. My parents are driving up from Los Angeles. My grandparents are driving up from Arizona. And my lovely sister is staying in Los Angeles, she knew that it was smarter to let me enjoy this all on my own.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm really excited about seeing my family and my (future) in-laws but it's natural to also feel a little stressed. The two set of parents are meeting each other the first time which is great, except for the small detail of the language barrier. The (future) mother-in-law's English is limited. My mother can also be shy on her English and will speak Vietnamese. Of course, my Dutch is super limited and my Vietnamese is pretty Americanized. So these three languages in my home will be a little overwhelming. I'm thinking of only speaking Spanish during Thanksgiving so then there will really be four languages floating throughout our home!

All in all, I'm really excited about this Thanksgiving, it meant a lot to Marijn and I to have our families meet each other before the wedding. It takes a huge load off the stress parts of the wedding. Although I'm not even feeling any of the "stress" or "bridezillaness" that comes with wedding planning (yet), especially since we've successfully crossed off a lot from our daunting to-do list.

We've booked our wedding location, we've found a wonderful husband and wife photography team, I found my dress (heehee, there is no way I'm linking to my dress!), my super talented Aunt is hand making my jewelry, the wedding party has been assembled, our website is almost ready for launching, our friend has offered his graphic design services for our printing needs, we've picked out the invites and another friend is taking the challenge of marrying us off!

So all the big items are off the list and it's now down to the little itty-bitty parts of the wedding. Like taking an evening floral arranging class so I can see if I can do my own flowers and seeing if I can actually bake enough cupcakes so we can have that be homemade (still not sure about that challenge, that's a lot of work just before the wedding but it just might be possible).

Anyway, it's going to be a wild ride for the next couple of days (and months to come) but it's something that excites me but with a sprinkle of stress. So on that note, whatever your adventures are for this Thanksgiving, have a good one!