Bye Bye Birdie

Like the weird shiny lights in the photo above, Victor is being whisked away from me for a semester. [GASP] This is both a :( and a :) sort of event. Maybe I should elaborate:

Two years ago, Victor and I decided to apply to schools on both sides of the coast because we wanted to see what else was outside of San Diego/CA. We got lucky and both ended up about an hour from each other in the state of NY. This part, you all probably know. If you don't, I'm not quite sure why you're following this blog...

Six months ago, the two of us began to debate whether we wanted to stay in the state or if we wanted to return to California after completion of both our programs. After going back and forth and the life-changing event of my sister's pregnancy, we decided on the latter, with the only remaining question of when. The most realistic option seemed to be for me to graduate from my program in May and then stay here with my new hubby for a year while he finishes his last year, after which we'll be heading back home.

Shortly before summer vacation ended, Victor found out about Santa Clara Law's transfer program. Now, Santa Clara Law is far from the only JD-granting program that offers the option of transfers. The difference is that SCL is one of the few who offers this option to a second-year student MIDYEAR. The option of transferring seemed to be closed to us when we started talking about it in the summer because most applications had been long overdue, and it's not exactly the kind of move that law schools take lightly. Furthermore, the school Victor currently attends is far from making the top 100 list, while SCL occupies the 85th ranking. Sure, it's no Stanford, but that's still a pretty big jump, so the transfer was far from a guarantee. Victor would also have to forfeit a number of opportunities that he's gained for himself at his current campus, but it all seemed worth it for a network in California and 3000 miles closer to mom and dad (for both of us). So September and October came and went, and Victor's application was turned in.

TODAY. Victor sends me an email titled "HEY!" Yes, with the caps and the exclamation mark at the end. Checking the message sends me over to SCL's "application status check" with the revealing information that HE WAS ACCEPTED.

[Cheers and whoops go off in my head]

Then I realized that he'd be far far away where Shrek's in-laws live.

[Sad faces and pouting erupts]

So as you can see, this event is both a cause for celebration and a reason why I might be snappy and irritable for the months of February through May. Just a warning. But be sure to congratulate Victor about this great accomplishment :)

A-line or a Bee-line?

With all these and more options that are available in stores and on the web (albeit with a hefty price tag), how is a girl to choose? Should I go for fun and flirty? Elegant and smooth? Grand and royal? SO MANY OPTIONS.

Luckily, my partner-in-crime (aka my maid of honor) Agnes and I decided to tackle this central, but largely ignored by the attendees, detail of my wedding day by diving head first into a little dress browsing last weekend. After stepping in and out of what seemed like a million yards of expensive satin, lace, and chiffon, the both of us decided on one basic style that I'm going to alter and tweak a little for the showdown coming next August.

After arriving home, I emailed Milly Bridal - located in China - at the recommendation of the ever-so-helpful Priscilla Wong (who recently celebrated her own nuptials), for a custom-designed, one-of-a-kind wedding dress and then sent over a few of the photos that one of the local boutiques allowed the two of us to snag during the dress trials.

Unfortunately I won't be able to post any more details here, considering that the one man that must be surprised by the shaping and decor of this lovely costume happens to be the one individual with whom I share this blog. Plus, where's the fun if everyone already knows what my wedding dress looks like? I suppose you will all have to be content with waiting to see me on my very special day.

6 hours of walking with nothing to show for it... yet.

Once upon a time, there was a little girl who dreamed of getting married. Though she spent most of her free hours reading, when she was not paying attention in class she indulged herself in daydreaming about her marriage. She thought about the heirloom fine china, the kitchen full of appliances and cookware, the luscious bathroom towels, and the season-matching bedsheet patterns adorning her four-poster bed.

And that was it.

JUST KIDDING. Of course I thought about my future hubby as well. But the good news for the little girl described above is that WE'VE REGISTERED.

On Friday, the off-day both Victor and I have, we spent 6 hours walking around and browsing Bed Bath and Beyond for the perfect kitchen and dining assistants we hope to have once we tie the knot. It was immensely fun and if anybody DISLIKES this part of their wedding planning, please tell me and I'll do it for you. I am so not kidding, I will really do it for you.

Anyway, it's nice to finally update this with something exciting like this. Wedding planning was temporarily halted due to the amount of schoolwork and adjusting I had to do once I returned to school, but all is well because the bridezilla is back! Just kidding, I hope I'm not a bridezilla. The crazy wedding planner is definitely here to stay for awhile though, considering the fact that there are only 286 days until the wedding! (No, I am not counting down, I am merely adding numbers.)

Look forward to more updates!

A Thousand Words

With our venue booked and a date set firmly in place, Victor and I without hesitation booked our photographer! Though we have yet to sign a contract or put down any moolah, I have contacted and made plans to do so with my sister's ever-so-dear friend, Jon Chan.

Now let me tell you how Jon Chan got into this wedding photography business. An old friend of my sister's, they were hanging out one day way back in 2006 (2005?) before my sister became Mrs. Victor Chiu, and Jon mentioned his secret longing to become a wedding photographer. Well, longing might be too strong of a word. Let's say interest. My sister encouraged him to try it out for once, and volunteered her own beautiful wedding as his first prototype. He agreed and, along with two of their other friends, happily captured many snapshots of Victor and Daphne's nuptials.

It turns out that he LOVED it. And I mean LOVED. He now does a few weddings a year and is an avid student of the photographic arts, attending classes and shooting everywhere and everything (with his camera, of course). So three short years later, there I am, sitting in my parents' dining room, looking up a variety of photographers, when my sister mentions that maybe I should check out Jon Chan's photos.

Not being nearly as silly as my family seems to think I am, I had already thought about it but then felt weird hiring someone who was more like an older brother than a wedding vendor. But after some prompting, I decided to AT LEAST check his photos out. I wander over to http://www.jonchanphotography.com (shameless plugin), and



WOW. I am blown away. His use of vertical space and color amazes me, and even in that lame, quality-less blog insert, I still see a photojournalistic quality that I would love to have in the photos that I will one day show my grandchildren. So of course, I email him, and tell him he is going to photograph my wedding. He, of course, complies.

The Watering Hole

After much exploration on the internet and a couple of drives here and there (though not nearly as many as some other couples I know of...) Victor and I have finally found our almost-dream venue for our reception. That's right, folks, it's the SUNNYVALE COMMUNITY CENTER.

[boos, hisses, and tomatoes get thrown at me]

NOW. Before you completely sweep us aside and call us cheap or unclassy, I think it might help you understand why we decided to go with someplace like this if I explained a bit. First of all, it's not UGLY. I mean, I've seen some pretty butt ugly places, and I think this one has just enough class to be, well, not bad. Second, the reason I say almost-dream venue is because Victor and I love, love, LOVE the idea of being able to customize this place to our hearts' desires with the exclusion of tacks and nails on the walls, all in an effort to realize the vision that's in our heads. My parents tried to convince us to go another route where weddings come boxed up in a package, and I have to say neither of us were too ecstatic about that venue (harhar, get it? venue?). We liked the idea of being able to have a choice in what our guests will eat and drink, the feel they could receive upon entering the room, the colors and decorations that they gaze upon as they listen to the music that we choose, and other things like that. We like projects, and dare I say, a little bit of hard work, to achieve that just-right sort of touch that I've always wanted for our wedding, and I'd have to say he's probably the best person to partner with me on this kind of thing.

So if anyone is interested in helping me brainstorm and decorate this place, be my guest and tell me. Harhar.

photo boof

So Maureen and I want to have a photobooth at our wedding. After browsing some wedding websites, we decided that this photobooth would be best DIY. I mean, we had most of the necessary equipment, i.e. camera and tripod, and photobooth rentals would put a significant strain on our budget. I had found photobooth software that pairs itself with Mo's DSLR, and it offered a free 15day trial! That means I can download it 14 days before the wedding and test it out and then use it day of! Fantastic! I also found out a nifty trick by which you could turn a cell phone headset into a remote shutter button. We were all set....or so we thought.

When I tried to put the software together with the remote shutter, plugging camera into the computer for some reason disables the shutter button and pictures can only be taken from the computer....bummer. So that leaves us with two options:

1. Use the remote shutter and pair the camera with a TV display (if possible) and just take a simple picture.

OR

2. Use the software and have some poor soul run to the computer to click the shutter and run back into position. Which will result a more customizable photograph in the end (e.g. multiple pictures, strips, backgrounds and titles).

decisions...decisions...

Tipsy Turvy

Although I had entertained the idea of having a dry wedding, Victor and I realized that we have too many alcoholic friends. Well, not alcoholic (for the most part), but the majority of them do love a little something to help get their groove on.

However, neither of us looked favorably upon the $20/L price attached to Dionysius' favorite drink. And that's for the nearly incredibly cheap editions too! Don't even begin to talk about how hotels and other venues will overcharge you by an arm and leg, forcing you to pay a $15 corking fee per bottle on top of the wine itself, or charge you $80 for everyone of THEIR bottles (?!?!?!?!!!) We even toyed around with the idea of Trader Joe's two-buck chuck, but those bottles are really a hit or miss sort of thing.

In the end, we've decided to buy boxed wine (yes, BOXED wine), and fill up pre-used wine bottles (washed and scraped of their previous identity) and slapping on our own custom label, as well as literally shoving a cork in it. With this particular project, any wine aficionados around the Bay Area reading this could definitely help us out by saving your own finished wine bottles until I next come home (when my mother will kill me for collecting these things). Also, if anyone, for some very odd reason happens to have a Gilda Hand Corker or a Bench Model Corker, PLEASE let me know as either of these would definitely come in handy, say a couple of weeks before the wedding. And if anyone is already an avid boxed-wine drinker, any recommendations would be well appreciated :)