Bridesmaids Dresses

Wow, it has been quite some time since I've posted anything! I've been a little busy going to the gym everyday, then hitting the beach to get a nice tan. I haven't gotten a lot done, but I feel like I've taken some baby steps!

The first step, and one that I feel is a pretty big one, is that my bridesmaids have all, except for 1, been fitted and have made a deposit on their dresses! It took a little while of going back and forth with one of the bridesmaids, we'll call her Ms. Vegas, until we found one we both liked. From there, I showed it to Ms. Nebraska, Ms. London and Ms. Japan, they all approved, and we all went to get them store to get fitted and to try on the sample! It's Alfred Angelo, style 7002, and with tax and shipping came out to around $175 with tax and $25 for shipping (which is the cheapest we could find on Oahu.. frustrating!) The dress is below, what do you think?

I wanted a dress that was classy and elegant, but something that was age appropriate. We're all in our early 20s, with the oldest of us being 26, so I didn't want to stick them in something long and uncomfortable. My other reasoning behind a short dress was because I wanted them to pay for something they would wear again. I mean, it's bad enough that they have to pay for their own dresses, so of course I wanted to pick something they could maybe wear again to go out for drinks or dinner. We're thinking of shortening it just a tad, but that decision is on hold until the dresses actually come in and I can see them on the girls.

As for Ms. Vegas, it's a slight challenge in getting her measurements, because she's not here! As her name shows, she's currently in Vegas, finishing up her last bits of school. I'm pretty sure she'll be home next month, so we'll get her measurements then. I called her earlier to give them, plus her credit card info to me, but I'm in no rush.

Why, you may ask! We're ordering the dresses from The Bridal Boutique, and their specials monthly, and this month, their special is for wedding dresses, so I'm waiting to see what the special is for July. Hopefully it's a good one. Last month, their special was buy 3 bridesmaids dresses, and the 4th was free! We're all crossing our fingers for that one.

As for my dress, I think I've narrowed it down to two dresses. I'll be sharing in my next few posts the dresses and some other little tasks I've been up to. Cheerio!

Korean Fried Chicken

Since I'm going to be living on my own soon , my mom has started passing her delicious recipes on to me.

I'm going to make Korean Fried Chicken for dinner tonight as a "Congratulations Dinner" for Mr., so I'll post pix and the recipe later.


Update!

Being new to this whole blogging thing I completely forgot to take pictures while I was in the process of cooking! I'll try to remember next time I do one of these things things.. Anyway.. on to the recipe!

What you'll need:
1. 1/2 cup Aloha shoyu
2. 6 tbsp. white sugar
3. 1 1/2 tsp. sesame oil
4. 1 clove garlic, finely minced
5. Chopped green onions (optional)
6. 2 lb. chicken breast
7. salt & pepper
8. Flour
9. Canola oil (used for frying)

Directions:
1. Cut chicken breasts into strip, season w/ salt & pepper. Set aside.
2. Mix ingredients 1-5. Set aside. Stir occationally.
3. Place chicken strips into container, add enough flour to coat all pieces.
4. Shake container until chicken is fully coated.
5. Pour oil into pan, about 1/4 inch. Heat.
6. Fry chicken until light brown. Remove from pan, dip in sauce several times while still hot.
7. Place in shallow dish. Repeat frying chicken and dipping in sauce.
8. When done, pour remaining sauce over chicken.
9. Mix gently.
10. Serve and enjoy!

On the Fence

Mr. and I are moving to Maui soon, and I'm not quite sure what to do. Seeing that I've just graduated college, I'm not sure if I should be ferociously hunting for a job, or if I should be enjoying this time in my life where I'm not working. I mean, I have the rest of my life to work, right? Besides, I have a whole wedding to plan, and seeing that I have been bitten by the DIY bug, I have even more to do now!

It's an internal battle I have with myself on the constant. For the past 2 years I have worked in one the top resorts on Oahu while finishing up school. School is now done, we're moving to Maui, now what? Should I take some time off and enjoy life? Or should I keep working to keep building my resume and my personal brand?

Right now, taking some time off looks really good. This isn't the lazy side of me talking, it's the realistic side of me (with some nudging from Mr.), telling me that I need/deserve a break. I busted my booty to finish up school in 4 years, when I had originally planned to take it easy and finish in 5-6 years. Upon meeting my fiance, my goals changed and I kicked it into high gear. 16 credits one summer, and some crazy hard classes back to back. While taking crazy classes, I worked on weekends and interned after school, often late into the night. Thus said, I had no me time, no fun time, and gained 30 pounds from sitting at work, sitting at my desk doing homework, sitting at my computer and typing papers, and more sitting and sitting for school or work.

If I were to get a job, I would be doing the same thing, sitting. I wouldn't have time to work out and lose those disgusting 30 pounds or to dedicate as much time as I would like to, to the wedding. Plus, I've always wanted a dog, and Mr. has surrendured to me wanting a little Yorkie Terrier, so I wouldn't have time to play with him if I were working! And, Mr. said that if I don't work, I get to decorate the house however I want! All in all, he just wants me to take a break and have fun. Love him.

Hmm.. that said.. I think I opt for taking a break and maybe doing some part time/on-call, fun things. It's time for me to enjoy life and all it's blessings. Now, let's just hope the job I interviewed for and am supposed to be having a second interview with, doesn't call. *fingers crossed*

Inspired & Motivated

I'm here at work today, killing time by looking at wedding things. Usually it's just a day full of looking at random things and gathering ideas of what I want to do, but for the past two days I have just been completely inpired and motivated to be a DIY Bride! Whether or not I can do it is another story, but I'm going to do the best that I can.

All of my inspiration, motivation, and the flowing of my creative juices has stemmed from this blog, Road to the Aisle. I've come across her blog a few times in the past, earlier in the planning, but this weekend I seem to just be completely loving it. The blog owner's name is Heather, and she is just a crafting genius! She has DIYed her aisle runner, invitations (pocket folds!), save the dates, jewelry, and made a photo card box to name a few things. Plus, not only does she create things for herself, but for others too! Ahh! Here are some pictures of her work:

Her DIY Aisle Runner

Her DIY Wedding Invitations... Pockefolds too!!

I have decided that I want to have a go at making our invitations, creating a banner for the ceremony that reads "Here Comes the Bride", a photo-frame box, a shadow box, and our own monogram. But see, now, these items come from the inspiration of just this one website. I have also been inspired to make our favors and a few items to be featured on our candy buffet, but I'll save that post for another day. Or maybe I'll do it in a few hours/minutes, I'm pretty darn bored.

Wedding Flowers

Here they are! These are the pictures I have been sending out to my florist to get price quotes. I never would have guess how expensive flowers cost! Yano what's breaking my bank? My bouquet and centerpieces! They're so pretty though, how can I sacrifice either?

To top things off, what makes the flowers even more expensive is that I live in Hawaii, so thanks to shipping, up goes the cost of our flowers!

Allow me to break the arrangements down for you, just because, well, that's the whole purpose behind this blog!

Centerpieces: Submerged flame mini-calla lilies in 4 vases of varying sizes with a floating candle in each vase to top it off. And of course, surrounded by votives. So far, the quotes I have gotten are $100 per centerpiece. We have at least 20 tables. What a wallet buster! Perhaps I'll have a friend make them? Do them myself and become a DIY queen?

Bridal bouquet: A lush bouquet of hand tied peonies. Ready for this? $200 at the least! I've been told it's because peonies are not in season in January. SAD. I've always dreamed of a peony bouquet, but now may be considering doing a DIY carnation bouquet. Quite a down grade, but a big money saver.

Bridesmaids: I'm still unsure of what to do for them. The picture in the bottom left is what I was thinking, but I'm unsure if that's going to be too random. I was also thinking of giving them a small bouquet of the same flowers going into the centerpieces and cutting the stems short. This way, the only person with different flowers in the wedding is me (it's my day, right?). Thoughts?

Alright, that's all the extent of that break downage. I wanted to share a great website that my mother in law passed on to me. For all of you brides who are on a budget, love sparkly things, and don't mind doing some little things yourself, I highly reccomend checking out Diamond Party Confetti.
It's not just diamond party confetti, they also have edible cake diamonds, "diamond" pins for your bouquets and your hair, and the bouquet "bracelets". That's just to name a few things.

Well, the fiance is begging me to shut off the computer and stop the blogging for the night. Time for bed! I'll most likely be back tomorrow, during work, killng time.

Hello There

So, hello there. Just another girl, blogging away.


I'm getting married in January of 2010, and like a lot of you bride-to-bes out there, there are tons of thoughts and ideas swirling around in my creative little head. Instead of calling my fiance and going off on tangent after tangent, I figured it would be an better idea to create a blog and spill all over that. Besides, if I spill it all into a blog, I'll have a means of keeping track of all these crazy ideas, referencing back to them, and perhaps helping a few other brides find ideas.

I just did a whole lot of wedding talk. However, don't be surprised if you find some 'I need help, what do you think' blogs. Just a warning.

Well.. there goes my first post! Time to get this ball rolling!