Your Birthdate: October 7

Calm and understated, you struggle to express your love with words. Over time, your partner learns to recognize your passion by the actions you take. You're good at wooing someone slowly, without them even realizing it! Number of True Loves You'll Have: 1 Number of Times You'll Have Your Heart Broken: 2 You are most compatible with people born on the 7th, 16th, and 25th of the month.

What Does Your Birth Date Mean For Your Love Life?

New York, New York

I'm in NY for a couple of days with Amanda and loving it! We've been here many times before and staying with Jen - it feels so much like home! Especially today... its -5C and -15C with the windchill! Brrrr! It's freezing cold out!

We got here Wednesday night and I'm leaving Monday morning (Amanda's flight is Sunday night). Do I really have to go home??? ;)

Our bio is up!

Finally! Now we can start spreading the word to get votes... We don't want to get our hopes up but it would be amazing to win a honeymoon vacation.

Here's a link to our bio:
http://www.perfectcouple.ca/couplesBios.php?coupleID=15

When is it going to start?

Still waiting for confirmation that we're in the contest but nothing yet. Heard from another couple in it that voting starts December 11. We want to start campaigning but pointless to send people to the website when its not updated....

Anyway, we're excited and I made a simple flyer:

Hmm...

What Your Face Says

At first glance, people see you as warm and well-balanced. Overall, your true self is moody and dynamic. With friends, you seem logical, detached, and a bit manipulative. In love, you seem mysterious and interesting. In stressful situations, you seem selfish and moody.

What Do People Think Of Your Face?

Mississauga's Perfect Couple Contest

Last month, I submitted Shaun's and my application for a contest that the Mississauga News is holding. The prize: A honeymoon vacation! Now, we already booked something but it can be cancelled and we can save thousands of dollars. Also, it would be just cool to win a big contest like this. Basically the premise is that they randomly select you to be one of 24 finalist couples who vie for the honeymoon. The winner is determined by the most votes. These electronic votes can be from anyone and not just Mississaugians. I will need everyone's help!

We found out the day before that we're selected to be one of the 24!!! I will post the details for voting shortly. Basically, we have to get votes in December and the end date is January 11 for voting. We find out the winners on January 14 at the Mississauga Bridal Show.

Our info and pics aren't up yet but to see last year's contest, go to www.perfectcouple.ca.

Asian Glow/ Blush

So those who know me know that I turn beet read after one - two drinks (depending on the libation). Now, after years of drinking in university, I'm not a lush but definitely look like one. With certain types of alcohol, I actually break out into a rash which is super unattractive.

After reading Weddingbee the other day about remedies for this problem (it's actually a genetic defect as we're missing an enzyme to break down the alcohol). After some googling, I found out there are H2 blockers that minimize the effects of the redness (some people actually turn purple!). And the most commonly available one marketed for other purposes:
I tried it Saturday and while I only had two drinks, I didn't turn as red as usual. Hallelujah! I'm glad to find this out before the wedding as I'm planning on partaking in the open bar.

I've been neglectful...

It's really too easy not to post. Of course, the usual excuses, too busy with work and life...

I'm currently working on our wedding guestbook which will be a photobook that our guests will sign (like a yearbook). I was originally looking at My Publisher but because of this great deal (FREE!), I'm going with Shutterfly:

Each TripAdvisor visitor who submits a total of 10 photographs that are ultimately posted to the TripAdvisor site between October 23rd, 2006 and November 20th, 2006 will receive a coupon redeemable for $20 worth of free prints from Shutterfly.com. Each customer who posts 25 photos during the promotion period will receive a coupon redeemable for a free 20 page Shutterfly® photo book. Here are the details: http://www.tripadvisor.com/pages/shutterflyoffer2006.html
It's coming along and hopefully we'll get the order in this weekend.

Engagement photos

While Shaun was away last week in Vegas (yes, I'm jealous), I picked up our disk of high res images as well as our 11x14 enlargement. They all look great! This is the picture we chose for our enlargement:

My crinoline up close:

I dyed my crinoline pink!!!!

Will post pictures of it tomorrow when its dry. :)

China

Picking a china pattern was hard! So many options and so many look so pretty. We actually couldn't pick one the first time we went registering with the gun but the second time, Wedgwood Vera Wang Grosgrain just stood out. We went to William Ashley's for some ideas and was hoping the pattern was at The Bay (we're already registered at four places and I didn't want any more registries!). It was on display and it's gorgeous. The downside? It's not dishwasher safe. Then again, we'll be using it only a couple times a year so handwashing it won't be too bad. :P


Now if only we could pick some flatware!

Engagement Pictures

Jen is amazing! We loved our engagement pictures experience and we love the pictures. :)

Here are a few and the rest are in this gallery.

My engagement pictures are today! :) Had another rough week including travelling from 7am tp 10pm yesterday (a long painful story).

I am getting a well needed trim and styling and getting my makeup done with Alysa Lyons. I don't think I'll be posting before no make up shots (scary!) but maybe my after makeup shots.

We're getting our pics done this afternoon with Jen of Jennifer Images at Adamson Estates. I'll post some and the link as soon as I get them from Jen.

I did want to post my "Something blue" dress tag:


I'll get my mom to stitch it in the day of (great shot) or maybe I'll do it myself (a funny shot).

Pictures of my dress!!

My dress came early last week and after another busy week, I was able to take pictures of it today. Here is a link to some pictures of it.

I'm very excited and will have pictures me of me in it in a couple weeks.

As a campus recruiter, September, October, November, January and February are busy months and the business has started. I was in Montreal and Edmonton this week and it was the worst trip ever. Between lost luggage, misplaced display booths (many of them), I'm glad the week is over but the hell starts again Monday with going to Kingston and then Atlanta. For an idea of how much I travel for work, I made Elite status this week.

Quite a bit of wedding-related events and items purchased. I'll give a quick overview and post pictures when I get a chance.

Wedding registry updates at the Bay and Homeoutfitters... So far so good. Deleted what was "quick-started'" at the National Bridal Show and picked a couple things at each store... We didn't pick china or flatware yet. Too many choices! Hard to match towels to our bath mat - next time we've got to bring it in and not just a thread sample.

My rose for my hair from Lindsay Designs came in. It's pretty and I'll definitely wear it in my hair.

Tracy lent to me her veil and I'll have a picture of both the rose and veil together in my hair.

I bid on some ivory ribbon for a sash for my dress on eBay and its here too! I was going to go with pink but don't want to to distract from my dress. I may not go with any at all but we'll see.

I got my something blue dress tag. It looks good and can't wait to have it sewn in my dress.

Speaking of my dress, its on its way! It should be here in about a week. I won't be posting a picture directly on this site (since Shaun does read it) but will link it for your viewing pleasure.

I'm running this Sunday in the Scotiabank Waterfront Half Marathon. I hope it's good weather and not too chilly.

I may be posting sporadically but I'll have pictures up soon.

Busy Week

My compensation course is over! Woohoo! Finished writing the exam last Wednesday, went to Karmen's birthday dinner on Thursday, joined the gym and had a session Friday and went to the National Bridal Show Saturday morning.

National Bridal Show

Thanks to Weddingbells, Shaun and I got to go to the show for free. We headed out pretty early for a Saturday morning and got there at about 10:30. The parking lot at the International Centre was already starting to fill up but the actual show was not too packed. We stopped off at the Weddingbells table to enter a contest to win a free honeymoon (I know we already booked ours but a second honeymoon would come in handy). The girl handed us two Weddingbells magazines but I gave the last issue back. No need to carry two gigantic magazines when I already have one. We stopped off at William Ashley's booth for their catalogue and a free chocolate dipped fortune cookie. Their bags were funky in fuschia and green but the handle was uncomfortable!

We stopped off at a couple of tuxedo places and signed up for the Moore's deal. For a $10 refundable deposit, you get the show special of $75 for each tuxedo you rent and that includes everything including the shoes (which to me is kinda gross to rent but whatever). With four tuxedos rented, the fifth one is free. What's great too is that since Moore's is across the country and one of our groomsmen is in Calgary, Chris can get measured there and pick up the suit here. Talk about convenience!

The second great deal that we found was pre-registering at The Bay and Homeoutfitters. By doing so at the show and going to the stores before October 31 to add a couple items, we would get $25 giftcards for each store. We were planning on registering for a couple things anyway so what an incentive. :)

Apart from Weddingbells, we entered into the Canadian Bride honeymoon contest (another free magazine there), Canadian Tire $1000 giveaway and only a couple others. Too many sketchy vendors that wanted our information in exchange for a chance to win a questionable prize.

One way I was able to coax Shaun to go to the show was bribe him with the cake samples. We ended up with only two cake samples but also got some chocolate fountain. Not bad, more treats would have been great.

We were in and out of there in less than an hour and a half. Any longer and I think both of us would have gone bonkers. I'm glad we had most things planned as it can be an overwhelming environment.

I'm studying (still) so will be not posting this long weekend. Here is our final Save the Date.





Have a wonderful Labour Day weekend!

A Flower in my Hair


I've always wanted to wear a flower in my hair on my wedding day vs. a tiara. Maybe because I thought I was going away for a destination wedding... :P

Even though I'm staying in town, I still think its romantic to have a flower in your hair. The perfect flower would be white but given the connotation with white flowers in hair and funerals in the Chinese culture, I've decided to wear one in my wedding colours: pink.

I bought a brooch to put in my hair and while its beautiful, I think its too heavy. So, I've just bought a blush silk rose hair pin from Lindsay Designs. She is having a 30% off sale right now on her flower pins and her shipping rates are quite reasonable (under $5 to ship to Canada). Can't wait to receive it!

Shopping in the US

For those that know me, you know that I have a passion for shopping. Given the monetary situation or the lack thereof, I've become very resourceful and frugal. No more Coach purses for me (even at the outlet store). :(

On Sunday, on the way back from the wedding in Ellicottville, we did some shopping. We stopped off at Target (my favourite bargain store). I picked up this skirt in red for $12.99.

In Niagara Falls, USA, we went to Steve & Barry's University Sportswear. My coworker told me about this store a couple weeks ago and how it was such a deal. All items were $6.97 and under. Now, all stores are apparently priced differently (e.g. could be $9.97 and under or something) but we lucked out and also got the $6.97 deal. Very Old Navy like but cheaper! Now, I found this store to be more successful for guys (Shaun picked up jeans, cargo pants and a Guayabera shirt) but I still was able to find jeans that fit perfectly. I can't find expensive jeans to fit well but $6.97 ones worked great! Decent wash selection too. We also picked out some t-shirts with slogans for the groomsmen. Steve & Barry's charges so little for their clothing as they do not advertise but obviously have a following with their prices. Some items were hit or miss (e.g. wool blazers that barely fit my arms as they are poorly proportioned) but it's worth a look if you're going outlet shopping already.

I took Friday off last week and we went to Ellicottville, NY for the weekend. We went for KC and Josh's wedding at Holiday Valley. We golfed on Friday (we won highest score and I got shortest drive - of course, my first time playing 18 holes) and the wedding was on Saturday. Unfortunately, it was pouring on Saturday so no outdoor ceremony as planned. Instead, the ceremony took place inside in front of the fireplace in the lodge. Not outside but still wonderful. I didn't take pictures of the details (I'm a bad bride-to-be. :P) but KC did have a candy buffet set up, names of places they've been to for table numbers, poems for getting the bride and groom to kiss... The one bad thing about the candy buffet was that it was supposed to be for late-night (e.g. after dinner) but it was set up inside before the ceremony. Everyone snacked on it all through the night and I didn't even get a chance to get any. Anyway, here is one of the shots that Shaun took. KC was radiant. She had her dress custom-made.



Congrats Katherine and Josh!

Save the Date!

I've been procrastinating. :( With just two weeks still my final exam and still having to do 3 assignments, what do I do? Make my Save the dates! I have priorities. Yeah, right! Shaun wants to finalize them in Photoshop but this is what I did in Powerpoint and converted them to .JPG. I'll be putting my order in tomorrow as I just found out we're having a reunion in September on Shaun's side in Chatham and this is the perfect time to give them the Save the Dates. We get to save on postage. I was going to wait until our engagement pictures in October but I just want to get these done and out of the way. I'll be ordering the STD postcards via Vistaprint (US - save on shipping). There is a special right now where you get 100 standard postcards for free and just pay for shipping.

The Front:


The Back:

Thank you cards

I know this is early for thank you cards for my bridal showers but I couldn't resist at Target. They called out to me. :) $2.99 for 12. I bought 5 packs. I do have 2 showers to go to and I've got to cover my basis.




I may be AWOL for the next couple weeks or at minimum posting less than usual. I signed up for a Compensation Management course at the beginning of the summer and with it being summer, wedding planning and just pure procrastination, I've just started the course readings and assignments and the course ends in a couple weeks! Yikes! I was good and finished all the discussion activity questions today but have three assignments to do (will finish one today) but two are 2500 words each. Ouch. This will cut into my wedding Internet surfing. I just hope I can concentrate on studying...

Okay since I've been promising to post pictures, this will be the pictures post day to catch up!

The Necklace

This is what I made to wear for Tracy & Anthony's wedding last weekend. I'm going to Katherine & Josh's next weekend and I'll be wearing it again. Fresh water pearls handwrapped and linked together with sterling silver wire and toggle.



The Brooch

It's very pretty and very heavy in person... I'll have to check with my make up/ hair person to see if it may be too heavy.



West-end Weddingbellers Get together

Last night, I had the opportunity to meet up with some fellow brides at Failte. We shared some great stories and had a lovely evening together. From left to right, Kristy, Kathy, Jennifer, me and Sultana. Thanks again for a grat time!

I just got back from DC this evening and just took some pictures. Will upload them tomorrow.

Honeymoon Registry


Having lived with Shaun for the past 2 and a half years and us each having apartments before that, we've both accumulated a lot of furniture, appliances, etc. While we'll still register for the traditional wedding registries, like The Bay and Canadian Tire for formal china, nice towels, a tent, patio furniture and other upgrade items, what we would really like (or I should say really NEED) is cash. How do we politely tell people that?

It seems a popular registry is one for honeymoons. There are a number of options available. Some through travel agents and some stand-alone companies online. We decided to go with the latter. One that is endorsed by the Couples Resorts chain is Honeymoon Wishes. It is US-based and easy to set up. Because of the Couples association, our resort was listed in their pre-made list of resorts and we picked and chose activities that we would like to do specifically at Couples Swept Away. In addition to the ones listed there, we could add our own activities or items (e.g. night snorkeling which sounds amazing!). There is a service charge to use this registry service but not bad at 7.5% - its less than tax and no wrapping required for your guests! While a dollar amount is given for each activity, what the bride and groom actually gets is a cheque in the mail.

While not all of our guests will be gung-ho on a honeymoon registry, I hope my friends will consider it (I've already passed on the word to my bridesmaids).

Take a look at our registry.

So I finished the necklace for Tracy and Anthony's wedding. I'm in DC for work for the next couple days and promise to post pictures of the necklace and brooch when I'm back.

Tracy's wedding was amazing. I'm so happy for her and Anthony!


We booked our honeymoon today! As Honeymoons Inc is having a special going on, we got a double upgrade - basically paying for a lower class of rooms and getting an Ocean Verandah Suite. I don't know how much water we'll actually see but we can't wait! We had to pay over $300 in taxes for our business class tickets. :( Oh well, it'll be well worth it for the extra room and extra baggage allowance. Still cheaper than forking over full price.

So we've been back since Wednesday and I've been in cottage mode! Busy catching up with work and have quite a bit to blog about.

Shaun and I are heading to Tracy & Anthony's wedding tomorrow and I'm trying to finish a necklace (and maybe earrings) to wear. I will post if I get it finished. :)

I'm currently looking into honeymoon pricing. We've decided to to Couples Swept Away in Negril, Jamaica for 9 nights. I've found a decent price with Honeymoons Inc. for US$3777 (including trip cancellation insurance) for the Ocean Verandah Suite. This is for the resort only as I've travelled for work so much that we're flying business class on points to Jamaica (Yippee!). I'm trying to see if I can find better pricing with Canadian travel agents but I'm not sure I will - the deal we'd get with Honeymoon Inc. is for a double room upgrade. The same rooom if booked directly with Couples is US$4365!

Here is an aerial shot from the website:


I finally got my brooch from my coworker in the States (cheaper to ship within US). I will post a picture tomorrow. It's pink and perfect!

We're looking forward to the Long Weekend although I'm travelling for work Monday afternoon so it'll be cut short a bit.

I'm at the cottage til Wednesday. Will write when I'm back. :)

I know its early but I started thinking about invitations... Should I make my own DIY from scratch? A kit from Michaels? I did not want to spend that much money...

I went to my local scrapbooking store (Cherished Scrapbooks) and found some inspirational cardstock, patterned paper and a paper trimmer for 40% off (score!).


This is my inspiration invitation:


I think I'm going with the green for invitations, RSVP cards, and place cards and the pink for the program fan. Once I do a mock up, I will post. The cost? Approximately $96 for paper (invitations, placecards and programs) and envelopes (invitation and RSVP) for $20US. Not bad! I will have to make 120 invites and over 160 program fans (enough for 200 guests?).

Update: Okay, so instead of $0.85/sheet, I just bought 2 packs of 100 of the parakeet (green) for US$45.38! Okay, I know its super early but what a deal! With exchange of 1.14, its $51.73 so $0.52/sheet! I decided to forgo the pink (quartz) for the program fans (they didn't have it in stock). I bought it from www.scrapbook.com. I'm having it shipped to my head office in the US to avoid duty. My invitation budget just got slashed! :)

I'll write about some of my attire for my wedding today but first I'll start with my new purchase this afternoon:


I got the Crocs in fushia! :) I'm all ready for the cottage next week. They'll also be perfect for our honeymoon next year when we go walking in the waterfalls.

My dress:
I know Shaun looks at this site but he has promised not to look at this link to my dress.

I never actually tried any dresses on in Canada. I was visiting my friend Jen in New York and tried on some at Kleinfeld's (super expensive) and at RK Bridal (reasonably priced). RK Bridal is where I found my dress. Someone else was trying on this dress and I patiently waited until she was done with it. Now, I'm the type to be in and out of dresses in less than 5 minutes (its hot and heavy!) and this girl was in hers for like 20 minutes plus. She was even holding fake ugly flowers to see if she felt like a bride. :P I ended up trying on about 10 dresses and ordered my dress from Netbride. I ordered it in early June and the outside date is in October. I can't wait to get my dress.

My Shoes:
I hate my feet! I have very, very flat feet that are not conducive to shoe shopping. I love shoes! See the conflict? I'm actually a bit glad for my horribly shaped feet - they save me a lot of money from buying all the shoes I love in the stores. Finding wedding shoes was a nightmare. I went everywhere (and I do mean everywhere). I wanted silver sandals. That sounds like an easy order but given my flat feet and my dislike for stilettos (and they are the in shoe this season), these shoes were almost impossible to find. I ended up at an outlet mall and found my shoes at The Shoe Warehouse for $39.99. I can deal with the price and my feet are happy in them. :) I will, however, be changing into comfy platform flip-flops for dancing later in the evening.

I'm going to start working on a business plan but that will take a while so the next couple of posts will be dedicated to wedding planning!

I religiously check the messageboard of Weddingbells, Frugal Bride and Couples. As Shaun lovingly refers it to my "wedding porn". I really can't seem to get enough of it!

Since being engaged on April 2nd and setting the date for May 26, 2007, lots of planning has happened. I'm a little tired of people asking what has been done but that's probably because so much has been done and then I start reciting my long list. While the wedding is still 10 months away, the vendors that we wanted to go with are pretty popular and it really is "you snooze, you lose". Some of the ones that I approached in early May were already booked! I think its better to be prepared and ready than searching when the good vendors are booked. I'll post a couple of items each day (most are already detailed our wedsite.

Our venue: Kleinburg Golf Club
We had visited so many places before seeing KGC. Most of the venues that we checked out were fine, that is, there was something positive about the place but there was something (generally pretty major) that we didn't like about it. With KGC, we loved it. The only negative is that its about 15 minutes away from the closest hotel which is not too bad I guess. We really loved the fact that we could get married outside in front of their gazebo.


Our Bridal Party:
We chose them right away! They're listed on our wedsite (with pictures).

Our Officiant: Rev. Frank Russell
The wedding coordinator at Kleinburg Golf Club, Wendy, provided us with a list of referral for services (even before we signed the contract). I heard some good feedback off of Frugal Bride and we decided to meet with Frank. He's very talkative and seems like a kind man.

Day two, on a roll!

It's not a great day, weather-wise. Our barbecue that we were supposed to go to got cancelled. I did get in a 12K run this morning and am now starving. We need to go get some groceries!

I've been looking into jewelry making further. I've found some decent websites for bead prices (Canadian and US) and am looking into the process of registering my "business" and getting a vendor license (to get wholesale discount pricing). There is an exhaustive list of websites with information about starting a business in Ontario. So far, I've found this website useful: Your Guide to Small Business

I've also found this site helpful and am still reading through it:
The Home Jewelry Business Resource

There is a ton of information on the BeadStyle Magazine Forum. I am such a messageboard junkie!

Looks like an Internet surfing day...

I tried to start blogging before but here it goes again... I read blogs everyday so why shouldn't I have my own?? Embarassingly, its been about 2 and 1/2 years since my last attempt. I hope this time it will stick!

There's so much going on with my life right now... I'm getting married next year (yay!), have to finance wedding and reduce debt (boo!), could potentially lose my job in the reorg of my company (f*^#!), and excitingly, thinking of starting my own business - jewelry-making. This would be something part-time but is not only enjoyable but hey, I could make some money out of it!

I started making jewelry last year and started with Christmas gifts. They were a hit and I'm in the midst of making my own bridal jewelry and bridesmaids jewelry. The line between wedding and jewelry is blurred...

I'll be blogging on my life (hopefully regulary), probably focusing on the wedding (as it consumes my life) and my potential jewelry making venture.