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.