Team in Training

Hi guys!
I know I haven't blogged in a while. I did the wedding thing! It was great! then the honeymoon. what was GREAT! and then getting back to real life, which was both great and hard.
And sometimes it's hard to just start blogging again. Like, I feel the need to catch up, and write about everything that happened. But I don't have the energy, or time, and so then.....i just don't blog.
But, now I have something very specific that I'd like to share. I have seen a few of my other friends doing this, and when the opportunity popped up, I had to jump on board. I have joined Team In Training and am raising money to fight leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma and myeloma! My loved ones have been fighting cancer for the last few years. My husband's father passed away in December after a long battle with Thyroid cancer. And my favorite aunt Lisa has been undergoing treatment for best cancer since Jan. of this year. Cancer is a very scary thing, and most people these days know someone who has been through treatment or lost a loved one. I am proud to be raising money for such a great organization. They fund grants for researching new medications and treatements. They also have survivors on the team with us, running race! It's so inspirational!
I have set the bar high - I am going to raise $3,000 by the end of October. I know I can do it! If you can, please make a donation to support me on this cause. You can make one to my fundraising page at http://pages.teamintraining.org/los/sbhalf09/mbush3
Our first team run is August 1st. And I'm going to blog on here about how the training is going :)

Also, if any of you are interested in joining Team In Training - they have branches all over the country and they train people who have NEVER run a race before.

So long for now! And thanks for your support, even just reading this blog or checking out my fundraising page. Thanks!!!

Reeeeeeeeeealy quick

I have so much to update - and lots of pictures, but as usual, I am lagging. So for now, a quick update, and pictures and more juicy info to come.

1. Shower #1 was great! Steve's mom threw a tea party shower in Pasadena. It's was classy and dainty and yummy! We played shower games and opened presents. Julianne was a tornado of perfection! I got a little more attention than I thought I'd be comfortable with, and it was so fun to have my mom and sister there.  They stayed for a few days after, and we got to do mother/daughter and sister activities! 

2. The purple shoes totally work, but I'm going to wear them at the reception. I found some cute wedge (so they don't sink into the grass) Ivory colored shoes. I decided that I didn't want colored shoes peeping out and being a distraction during the ceremony. My jewelry and other accessories all work almost perfectly - fixing one of them. And I guess this P90X working is bulking me up (or maybe I'm just eating my stress in the form of sugar)  -  so my mid section of the dress was fitting a little to tightly for my comfort, and for aesthetic purposes as well. So I'm trying to run every day. It's hard. 

3. I had a makeup and hair trial and was really pleased with both! It was exactly what I wanted, and at dinner with Jenn after, she said it looked good! So I'm done looking for that, and that makes me relax a little bit. funny thing - the hair stylist is the sister of a friend of mine at Playhouse West! SMALL world! 

4. Met with Holly (florist) yesterday. Was 30  minutes late! YIKES! that is so not like me. But she was so nice about it, and had everything set up. It's going to be just perfect! I'm so happy we chose to have a florist, and she is brilliant. Everything she touches turns to gold! And she's going to work in our tables numbers beautifully too! 

5. Steve got his ring back from being engraved and sized. It's perfect and sometimes he'll slip it on and then start posing for me. It's adorable. Mine still is not done! I'm not worried about it getting done on time, I'm just anxious to see it and have it.

6. Speaking of not having things. I ordered Steve's wedding gift on line a couple weeks ago. And FedEx says they delivered it on the 8th. We never got it. They said they would come by yesterday to check it out. They didn't. I'm really starting to loose faith in the mail system, and our neighborhood! Could it really be that someone is taking things off our doorstep? We are tucked away in the very back corner - So it's not like someone walking down the street will see a nice juice package sitting there and take it. I don't understand!

Steve and I are doing a Catholic Engagement Encounter this weekend. Though neither of us are Catholic, we do want to find more spirituality in our lives. And we've heard good things about this program in terms of being a great forum for really digging in and talk about the pillars of marriage and how to keep them strong. I'm really excited to see what happens! I think it's going to be deep! 

"I'm with the band"

I am limited on words today. i'm tired. 

Kali's show was awesome! and it was better than I imagined to see her. She's is a really talented, cool and beautiful person and I'm sad that she's not in my life more. I'm gonna hang out with her on Wednesday, before she goes back home/east. 

I started scanning and editing photos to go in the Ball jars at the wedding - possibly to be placed on the book shelves in that barn or other, as-yet-not-determined cool place. 

Also featured in this blog are some pictures of my simple, yet elegant wedding band that we found at Wanna Buy A Watch? on Melrose and La Cienega, only a mile or so from the first apartment I lived in in LA. :)

I don't think I've changed much:

Steve and his Lolo (grandpa in Tagolog)

Searching for Shoes

Ok, Hi! I'm alive!

I think I forgot for a week that I had a blog. Cause I was doing so many things in real life (good thing).

So, last weekend ( the 14th) Steve and I drove up to SC to throw a surprise party for my dad's 60th. He was SHOCKED! He jumped 3 ft in the air! When I have some time I'm going to bounce the video down to YouTube for the whole world to see :D

I seem to post when I need advise or opinions on things, especially wedding related. Or when I want to share a new project, or thing that I found. And this is the case tonight.  . . . . I had my first dress fitting on Saturday (Jenn was there.... she cried :) and the shoes I had found, were as I feared not going to work (rhinestones are not elegant) So I went for a mini search the next day at the mall, and just wasn't really coming up with any great purple options. I started to doubt my choice to go with the splash of color. Maybe my dress is just too classic, to antique to work with a purple shoe. Maybe I should find something a little off white/champagne. But all i was finding in that department made me want to throw in the towel and go with Reefs. I did manage to find one cute pair of purple suede ballet flats (photos below), and decided that I should give the bridal salons a shot the next time I want to look for shoes. 

Now, this is where you come in. Have a look at my dress again and then tell me if you think these shoes will work. 

Wedding Crafty Weekend

I worked on a few projects this weekend - wedding projects. They are by no means close to being finished, well, maybe the hair flower. But here's a little glimpse - 

1. The hair flower - So I made this one last week - the big one :

(the center is a clip on earring i bought at a flea market last weekend)

And then I was at Michael's again and I saw some other flowers that I really liked. They're made out of pine cone chips! And they were a little more the right size. So today I made this one:

and I like it quite a lot! 

2. Table Numbers -  Steve and I have talked a lot about what we want to do here. Something cute? Like areas in LA that mean something to us? names of roleercosters? But nothing felt right, like we weren't doing it to show off or be unique. Then, when I was at Michael's, I saw a wood-burner (small pen like tool used to "draw" pictures into wood) and though that could look simple, classic, rustic and be something fun to make! 

Since taking these pictures, I went back to Michael's and bought some stain for the wood, so they will be a little darker wood color. Looks very nice! And I think it will match the wood of the barn better.

3. Place Cards - I've had this idea for a while (and seen it on some blogs recently, of course) but finally tried it out this weekend. The idea is writing everyone's name and table # on a rock (originally i was going to try to collect them in Santa Cruz or some place meaningful - but I think it's just easier to buy them) And I started with people that I know for sure will be coming:

They look really beautiful all lined up on the table how they will at the wedding! I love them!

Preview

Steve is dominating the iMac, editing Mike and Shevy's wedding video. So, sadly this is the only photo of the flower that I can give you for now. But, you can see from this picture how BIG the flower is, right? i think it might be too big.

No Boys Allowed

So, I informed Steve last night, after finishing a photo shoot of myself wearing my handmade hair flower, and knowing that I was going to blog about it in the next few days, that he is no longer allowed to read my blog till after the wedding. I'm not a huge stickler for keeping it a total secret (he was with me when I bought the supplies for the flower. . . . and knows about the purple shoes) But I do want at least a little element of surprise. I had a fun hike with Suthi on Saturday, and we were discussing which photos we would do, and talked a little bit about the "first look". Since we will be shooting pictures before the ceremony, we're going to set up a cute little moment where Steve sees me for the first time, and I see him too! I'm really excited about that part of it too. He's going to look so handsome! and I'm going to get him a little "something blue" too. . . . . but that will be a secret till the wedding!

(i will finish this post later today, when I'm home and have the pictures of the flower)

I'm debading weather or not to hire Make-up and/or hair stylist. I've never really heard anyone who had them say "Well, that was a waste of money!" But I also feel like it is one area that I could do myself and not have to spend the money. But then again, it's the most photographed day of my life, and I'll probably want to feel the most beautiful and confident that I can. and if I'm worried that my hair is getting frizzy or falling out or my make up is sweating off (it will be HOT in May in SoCal). . . . I don't know. Thoughts?