Dress Hunt Two

A week and a half ago I went with the soon-to-be mother-in-law to try on wedding dresses. After a not-so-fun couple days of work I thought it would be fun to let loose and do something wedding related. I went to an actual boutique called Pearls and Lace where they carry designer dresses that you see in all the wedding magazines. I have been so lucky to receive hand-me-down wedding magazines and also my mom and sister-in-law bought me subscriptions. Thank you!!

I really like Maggie Sottero and Allure, and I can picture myself picking one out with my mom when I go home in two weeks. Mom has seen all of the dresses I like and she has been giving me feedback on my choices.

Here is an example of what she might say, "Amanda, #1, love the cut and style of this dress, pretty sparkly though. #2, good choice, like the simple look with a little bling. Dress #5 very figure flattering. Dress #6 looks too tight across low abdomen, don't really care for all the junk in the trunk. Love the waist band. "

It is great to have honest people in your life.

Seattle Day

Yesterday was a big deal. We started the morning off running a little over two miles, and then we split an amazing breakfast at Shakabrah (On Tacoma's 6th Ave aka The New Ballard).

We decided to hit the Sounders game, so Paolo scurried around on Craigslist and found us AMAZING seats.

The Seattle Sounders tied 0-0 but it was an exciting game. Freddie was thrown out because a red card and I think if he had stayed in the game it might have been 1-0. I posted a picture of Freddie above. Most girls think he is pretty cute, but I think he is aight.

Next, we went to Golden Gardens after stopping at Uwajimaya for drinks and Besalu for flippin amazing pastries. I sure do miss Besalu, but we have other things worth bragging about in T-Town. There we are soaking in the sun at the beach.

We planned on hitting UW and then shopping on The Ave, but we went to U Village where the fun began. We went to the Apple store so Paolo could look at a new backpack. We did our research and found out that you can buy the same Swiss brand backpack on Amazon for 80% cheaper. It's great being in the Apple store because #1 you can use their computer to look up prices on Amazon and #2 the people that work there are super nice (Customers always think Paolo works there because we are in there for two hours and he seems to where the same color of shirt the employees do. I think he secretly wants to work there!).

So where was I? Oh yeah, we purchased new phone covers for our iPhones because the ones we originally bought weren't very good.

Then it was my turn to shop, so I went into a store called Mercer and purchased a pair of designer jeans and a Juicy Couture top. I couldn't believe it, but I thought the shirt would be perfect for engagement photos. The jeans I bought were called Degaine and I feel like a celebrity with my new clothes.

After U Village we hit The Ave for dinner and margaritas. We ate at Shultzy's and we were impressed with The Vesuvious and The German Plate. Our waitress was great and the food was pretty darn good, too.

This was the end of our busy day in Seattle and we were glad to get back home to T-town. Paolo says we take more advantage of things to do when we visit Seattle now, and I think he's right.

Our 1/2 Date

Tonight's dinner began with a blindfold. I planned a nice evening out with Paolo, but then I decided we should have a nice dinner at home. That's what I call a 1/2 date.
It started with Paolo sitting on the back porch with a blindfold on, then I brought out the beverages to try. The game was to see if he could identify all the beverages and then he could choose what he wanted with dinner.
I poured the drinks into little shot glasses and this is what I served.
#1 Strawberry Milk
#2 Cabernet Sauvignon
#3 Mocha Chocolate Milk
#4 Diet Coke
#5 Blue Moon
Paolo got #2, #4, and #5 wrong. He thought the Cab/Sav was Merlot. That's a tough one, I will give that to him. But Diet Coke and Sprite taste totally different and I have no clue how he thought Blue Moon was sparkling water. I recommend everyone try this.

Dinner was served using all the senses and we enjoyed mini-toast appetizers served with a variety of cheeses, open-faced sandwiches, fruit, and thumbprint cookies.
Thanks Metropolitan Market

More engagement photos

Yesterday, Amanda and I celebrated knowing each other one year.

Obviously, A LOT has happened in that year, so we had a lot to celebrate. We ate an AMAZING dinner at Asado and then lobbied Sergio to take some photos of us in our backyard. Here's what turned out.

I have a dream

MLK had a dream, and I think I can have a dream, too.

I have a dream that weddings can one day take full advantage of technology.

You see, weddings are a lot of work as it turns out. So was communicating overseas, but then technology came along and engineers laid cables across the vast ocean. Now we can all Skype and get along. I'd like to metaphorically lay the cables across the oceans of wedding planning.

We're off to a good start. We have this entertaining, informative blog. We can email to set appointments. But I have a dream that we realize the full capacity of technology to make the process easier end-to-end...

I have a dream that Amanda can easily design exactly what she wants her dress to look like, share that on a wiki for her Mom and friends to edit and then be able to send that directly to the designer.

I have a dream we can just send an Evite or Facebook invitation rather than send a tree worth of expensive, paper invitations in the mail.

I have a dream that we can livestream the event on the Web so that people who can't make the trip to Indiana can watch it from the comfort of whereever they are.

I have a dream that we can fill out a survey online, which will automatically determine which flowers and color scheme we should use, according to geography and season.

I have a dream that my Facebook friend list will automate into a guest list prioritizing immediate family and then most viewed friends.

I have a dream that we can just play a Pandora playlist for the reception.

I have a dream.

I Am Going To Do It

I have never been a crash dieter and I have never been the girl who is determined to fit into the size 6 dress. And believe me, I won't ever be. Out of my friends, I have always been a bit larger in all areas. My friends compare what they eat and how much, etc., but that's not me.

On occasion, there is a pair of jeans that I can squeeze into with the wonderful number 8. I am realizing the older I get the more I need to pay attention to what I eat and how much I exercise. Thankfully I am an active woman, but I love to eat so much. I recently bought a pair of Guess jeans from a second hand boutique. They are my motivation jeans.

My goal for these next 10 months is to get in shape for the wedding. I want to tone up and possibly drop a few. I act like this is impossible, yet I have 10 months. That is why I am blogging about it. Everyone will know I am a failure if this Mission becomes Impossible.

The Neighborly Cat

So far, Fabrizio has managed to meet almost all of our neighbors. We usually let him out at 5:30 a.m., and he strays across the street and meows at our neighbors' front doors. Thankfully, two neighbors have brought him back concerned that he got out by accident. They were also probably annoyed with the noise. I tell them, "He's an indoor/outdoor cat, but not by my choice. Thanks for bringing him home and I hope he didn't wake you."

So, it's true: My dreams of having an indoor cat were shattered when the boys decided that Fabrizio needed to be an outdoor cat. Sergio calls him "A warrior" and Paolo swears he was an outdoor cat already. Basically they couldn't deal with the meow-noise.

I drove to Petsmart, in tears, the night the boys decided Fabrizio's fate and purchased him a cute Seattle Mariners name tag. I am glad I did. Last night I felt a little better after talking to the neighbor boys. They told me how he has made a lot of friends and how he comes over every night to say hello. They love him and I have realized he is just a neighborly cat.

Engagement vs. MJ

Away We Go

Last night, Amanda and I saw Away We Go.

Good movie. Great date movie.

I was expecting more of a romantic comedy, but it was a fairly serious film that showed the variety of ways people build families. It was a sweet film to us because -- like the main characters played brilliantly by John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph -- we are looking at how best to build our family from the ground up.

Our date night concluded a really wonderful weekend. We explored Washington, worked hard on the yard, ate well and did it all together. Here are some pictures:

Hood Canal

The Date

May 15th, 2010 is the official wedding date.
So far we have the reception facility picked out and I am so excited. Leave it up to my mom to find a spot that would fit us perfect and also light on the budget. The average place was costing around $700 and up, but our choice hit quite a bit below.

In August we go to Indiana for my class reunion. I will be trying on dresses, meeting with different caterers, and tasting different types of cake;) Sounds like an amazing time.

Here is my favorite website for ideas.
Barn Receptions
Thrifty Fun

Until then we will continue planning for our special day.