How To: Do Dress Measurements

I found this video to be extremely helpful when taking my dress measurements for Westside Wedding. Check it out:

Would YOU Say Yes?

It’s no longer cool enough to propose on Twitter. That’s been done before. Several times. So Alex Marsh of Raleigh-Durham decided to take it up a notch.

Full article on Mashable.com

Dress Shopping Part 9: Bridal Elgance 2

Ever since NaBloPoMo ended I have not been able to find the time to blog or read blogs, luckily during my week hiatus my MOH/Cousin JT has been blogging & also taking videos & posting them on Westside Wedding. December has proven to be a very busy month, as I am sure it is for everyone but I will try my best to keep blogging this month! Ok, so I still have so much catching up to do in regards of how I finally decided on a dress... luckily it will only be 3 more posts!

We continue our story with Dress Shopping part 9. After realizing that I almost made a mistake and decided on a dress that was not everything I wanted, I spent a whole Sunday making a plan for deciding on a dress in one week. I wrote down style numbers, called bridal stores to make appts and had a deadline of the following Sunday. I decided that my first stop was going to be Bridal Elegance, the first place that I had gone to for dress shopping. Although it was not that big of a place it had a lot of affordable options under 1K. My bridesmans was a trooper and came with me...thank goodness he did because if it wasn't for him I would not have realized the solution to my problem with finding a dramatic mermaid dress. I tried on a few dresses but again my problem was that so many dresses mix fabrics or patterns, I tried on two Casablanca dresses and although I loved the shape they didn't scream out at me. The one thing I kept telling every bridal store I went to, which by now was over 12 who knows I have lost count... was that I wanted a dramatic mermaid shape and not one single person at these bridal store was able to provide me the answer I had been looking for, lucky for me I have my bff/bridesman looking out for me & when he saw the mermaid dress & heard my issue he asked the sales lady, isn't there something like a slip that she can put to give her more of a shape? um YES! cue in Etta James song At Last...

I put the mermaid crinoline on two of the dresses and BAM! there was the shape I wanted...too bad the dresses still were not the one, but hey I was another step closer!

Westside Wedding Does Downtown LA

Our first Westside Wedding video blog post! Thanks to WW + beau for the flip for my birthday! I was trying out the flipshare video editing software (hence the musical backdrop). In case you were wondering about the soundtrack it's super mashup super star "Milkman - Tribute to Ms. Lonely"

NaBloPoMo is over

what what I did it! I can't believe I actually posted every day, it wasn't easy especially during the holidays, because some days I would almost forget to post. I wanted to congratulate everyone that participated in NaBloMo, I think they all made a great achievement whether or not they blogged for 10 days straight or 30 days because at least they tried & that is an accomplishment in itself.
Congrats to Chic n Cheap Living, Soon To Be Mrs. Beever, The Less Than Domestic Goddess, Cheap Wife, and Shooting for a $3,000 Wedding!  Also, I'm excited to read my MOH/cousin/co-blogger's post on her blog , she is participating in the December NaBloPoMo!  yay for MOH!

Feather Report for Westside Wedding yay!

Last month I was so excited to have been one of the winners for the Feather Report app & an outfit post customized to my body type, occasion, and weather condition...well today Melisa from Feather Report put my outfit together to go from a corporate meeting to happy hour! Check it out *here*.        I love love love the feather report app, I am known to spend a lot of time on it, to see all the amazing & stylish outfits that Melisa came up with. It is a life saver for the fashion challenged but also for you fashionistas! Get it *here*

Wishing wall frame for wedding guest book

How sweet is this idea for a guest book?! Have your guests write on a small piece a paper, a wish or perhaps some advice and then place it in the frame. Get it *here*

Fellow Wedding Bloggers that want 3 columns instead of 2

One of the first things I wanted to change on my blog when I first started blogging was going from 2 columns to 3. When I searched online it took a lot of reading and pieceing together & guessing to figure out how to do it but I finally did. I thought maybe there are others out there like me that want to know how to do the 3 columns, so if you do check out today's post on The Blogger Guide. I recently started subscribing to The Blogger Guide & it's an amazing resource for bloggers.

Free The Bride Relay Race

Has anyone ever played this game before? I am trying to figure out what the rules are from the video but it's hard to tell. The only thing I know for sure is that you are supposed to "drop it like it's hot" at the end.

Congrats to cousin/MOH for running 5K turkey trot!

My cousin/MOH/Co blogger ran the 5 K turkey race this year! I was not able to do it this year due to cooking a thanksgiving meal all by 1 pm but you can bet I will be there next year! A 5K I can do but not a marathon or 1/2 marathon like my cousin. She is a hard core runner & I'm very proud of her. If you're a runner you should check out her site *here* it has everything you need to know to be a runner in L.A.

Super Cute Maid of Honor V Neck

Since it's Black Friday, I am shopping online and found a ton of cute stuff I wanted on weddingchicks.com - I want this Maid of Honor Tee (hint hint - just kidding WW) it says "My Anchor: Maid of Honor." All of their vintage tees are really really really... dare I say it? Cute!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

I'm so thankful to have all my blogger friends, I really enjoy reading your blogs and being able to share this experience with everyone. I hope you all have a happy thanksgiving!

These are the recipes I will be making for dinner @ momma's house:

Pumpkin Crunch Cake
Boston Market Creamed Spinach
Riesling Gravy
Cranberry Sauce
Gourmet Sweet Potato Classic

Hater comment from Battle of the Wedding Planners post

Peeps I got my first hater comment!!! & guess who it's by??? yup you guessed it, the infamous Anonymous!!! I'm sure you've read their stuff before, Anonymous is pretty prolific around the web, their specialty is making snide comments on people's blog and hiding behind anonymity.

I want to respond to Anonymous comments because I feel they must have only read my post title "The Battle of the Wedding Planners are big fat liars" and not the entire post. I stand behind what I said!

So here is what Anonymous said...

During the show the wedding planner actually said he was calling in a ton of favors from vendors and that he was promising them jobs for weddings coming up. this was not budget deception especially since they actually showed scenes of the planner promising vendors future jobs if they would help him on this one. Don't be bitter because a couple got a good deal for their wedding, and if you are sign up for a tv show and im sure you wouldn't be complaining then.

Well Anonymous, apparently you did not read when I clearly stated that the planner was calling in favors -"The London is Gordon Ramsay's restaurant. The meals per person are around $100 so that alone (with tax & gratuity) is almost 15k not including decorations, favors, drinks, photography, space rental etc. They tried making it seem like the planner called in a lot of favors but it still wouldn't be a 15k wedding."

This IS budget deception because it doesn't matter how many favors were called in, unless Ramsay was footing the bill for the food, the food alone (no alcohol) would cost $19,755.
Let me give you the breakdown: 150 guests, $100 {range $80-$96 I rounded up} per plate (15,000) + 3,000 (20% service fee) + 1,755 (9.75% CA state tax) = $19,755. That's right honey bunches, Cali allows venues to add the state tax to the total that includes the 20% service charge. Ya this was a shocker to us too. This total doesn't even include the rental fees that range $500-$15,000, nor does it include all the other items that go into having a wedding. Also, I did give one of the planners credit stating that "The only one that could have been 15k is the Griffith Park option." and I even provided a link to a wedding that supported that statement, cause that's how I roll! I roll with evidence!

It's too bad you missed my point, but luckily my wedding blogger friends who commented did not. To make it clear my point was " I really hope that people who are actually planning a wedding in L.A don't watch this show for ideas because it is bull caca! They are show big fat liars for saying that the three options shown are $15k. The only one that could have been 15k is the Griffith Park option."

You say if I had been on the show I would not be complaining, well I was not complaining nor was I jealous or bitter, I was merely looking out for people planning their own wedding & looking for ideas from this show. Like many other brides out there planning their own wedding, I look to the internet, tv, books, magazine & friends for wedding ideas, so it's really nice that there are places you can find REAL info on items but we also have to be careful with that same information & make sure we are not deceived. I got a reality check when I started researching what things actually cost. I don't doubt that the couple only paid 15K, I am sure someone else paid the rest of the bill (hello TLC!) so hi high five to them for scoring a wedding that really cost more than they had to pay. My problem with the show is only with the part that talks about the budget & places you can get married at for these budgets. The show would be better if it did not mention budgets at all, which would be best even for the planners so the competition could be fair & you would not have planners that actually listen to the 15K budgets (Griffith Park option) vs those that don't (Marimon & The London). I actually like the planners, they had great ideas & their competitive behavior was quite entertaining. My fav was the spunky one :-)

Anonymous, you are the one that sounds bitter apparently you took the post very personal, perhaps you are some how connected to the show itself? hmmm?!?!? You mention I should sign up for the show so I wouldn't complain, but I don't know how that has to do anything with my point of budget deception, but to answer you, I do not want to be on tv, heck I have a hard enough time posing for family photos let alone television cameras. I think weddings are all beautiful in their own way whether they are 100K or 1K because it's an event of 2 people committing themselves to each other in front of all their close family & friends & they are paying what ever price they are comfortable paying for & should not be judged for it. Love rocks.

Now two quotes dedicated to Anonymous:
Bitterness imprisons life; love releases it. Harry Emerson Fosdick
The jealous are troublesome to others, but a torment to themselves. William Penn

My church is in the wedding featured on Wedding Chicks!

I was so excited when I recognized the church that mi amor & I are getting married at in the wedding pictures featured on WeddingChicks. On Saturdays I sometimes want to pass by the church to see if I would catch a wedding party outside, so I can see a wedding there but thanks to WeddingChicks, I don't have to wonder anymore.

love this calender like a fat kid loves cake

Home skillets, I just bought my calender for 2010! Seriously, it's as if Little Brown Pen read my mind when writing the following:

• Make resolution and break it (mostly only anything having to do with candy or soda)
• Wear sandals and pretend it's warm - At the age of 8 I tried convincing my mom it was all good for me to wear my dress to go ice skating, she was not down & I ended up not going.
• Jump puddles & curse frizzy hair - I jump the puddles but as far the frizzy hair I put it in a pony tail & cap & call it a day.
• Wear boots & pretend it's cold outside - last year I *had* to wear my tall red Hunter rain boots, so I wore them when mi amor & I went to see the Christmas light show at the L.A Zoo. Peeps, I live in L.A who was I kidding, it did not rain, but they did come in handy in the mud.
• Eat candy & regret it. Story of my life
• Scarf stuffing & loosen pants - this is why you wear dresses for the holidays!

Bowie Bride's awesome Bee[high]ve blog

I just read The Bowie Bride's announcement of her brilliant new "The Bee[high]ve" site, it is going to be off the hizzy! If you have not read her Miss Crack Pipe posts you must do so now!... seriously now, stop reading this click the link to open a new tab read it & come back to finish reading my posts. I freaking love it & so excited for her future posts!
Seeing her new banner with two bowie pictures reminded me of when mi amor took me ice skating at Pershing Square in Downtown, it was awesome for 2 reasons 1) Cool to see an ice rink surrounded by Christmas lights & tall downtown buildings 2-) A David Bowie Tribute Band was playing! They are called Space Oddity
I found a great video of The David Bowie Tribute Band Space Oddity playing on the night I was there, how cool is that?! Btw I am not in this video I just found them on youtube...but honestly they did remind me of my MOH/cousin/co blogger & me at concerts, one of us has dark hair the other light, we both dance are socks off, sing along with the band & yell like 15 year old girls - truth be told she's better at the yelling then me, she's the one that gets the stares & dirty looks he he :-)

Oh and if you go ice skating at Pershing Square on a Friday/Saturday night, don't expect the "scene" to look like the pictures they post up on the Pershing Square Ice Skating Photo Gallery, seriously who were they trying to fool with those pics the tourists?

Hours for the Pershing Square rink: Monday through Thursday 12pm - 10pm, Friday-Sunday 10am - 10pm. Special holiday hours from December 18 - January 10: 10am - 10pm every day.

Josh Ross: Los Angeles Based Designer for Girls on a Budget

If there's anything I like about being a part of Westside Wedding it's how much we totally dig the indie stuff. Although WW already has a designer for her wedding invites I wanted to share some info about a local designer here in Los Angeles that I am friends with on twitter: Josh Ross.

Josh is an LA based designer with a very clean look and feel who has a ton of experience working with local printers where he still has contacts (which helps big time when it comes to budgeting). He has worked with clients like the Getty Center, J. Paul Getty Trust and local photographers to create striking and elegant print work using his keen sense of typography and color. Josh has experience designing all kinds of logos and wedding invitations (including his own!)

In addition to his design skills, he's also a photographer. Check out his work here.

Gawker Weddings

Here's something for a good laugh. I recently subscribed to Gawker since (unbeknownest to me) I was a featured artist on the site - um, go figure!

They have a section called "Scoring Sunday's Nuptials" spotting some pretty erm, hot, trends for weddings (think gangsta, mexican wrestling and midgets). Check it out for yourself.

Dress Shopping Part 8: The Dresser

My mom & I go to the Dresser in Fullerton to check out wedding dresses, this was only the second time that I had taken her with me for fear I would leave the store crying or upset. You see my mom like many moms thinks that she knows whats best for me especially as far as clothes are concerned. She says she will tell me the truth of how I look even if I look bad because she is looking out for me...true but we also have different tastes, but luckily as I mentioned before as far as the wedding dress goes we have the same vision for me & my dress. My mom & I picked some dresses out, but all the ones that we picked were a no. Then my mom saw this girl try on two dresses & asked me if I would try them out. I did and I was surprised that I liked both, the layers of the Pronovias were flattering and classic, but I liked the Casablanca a lot more. I *loved* the detail beading on the sweetheart neckline, loved the low back, loved the beading on the dress and how it fit me. My mom loved both of them, she even out a veil on me. But no she did not cry but I can't blame her, I did not cry either. I am my mothers daughter after all :-)
The Casablanca fit my body very nice, it flowed well and did not cut me off in places, I thought ya I could wear this dress, my mom loves it, I dig it, I can see myself wearing it on my wedding day & snap it's under $900!!!! The people at the Dresser were very sweet & I must say that I really appreciated the sales girl, I was so close to getting the dress but she told me that they are having the Winnie Courture 2010 dresses in Nov 22 & that they are more the style that I was looking for, I think she knew my heart was not 100% into it. I thought I had finally found the dress, I even sent a text to mi amor, MOH/cousin & bridesman. I was happy to finally be done! BUT then the next day I wake up & make a mad dash to my mac & score the Internet for the dress. It took a couple of hours but I finally found it by doing a search on brides.com & it was just as I suspected...the dress was an A line! Argh!! No no no this just won't work, I can deal with not having satin, I can deal with not having the bling belt but I can not handle not having a mermaid fit. I do some research & find out that the dress can not be made into a mermaid because of the lace & beading. Many store told me that any dress can be made to a mermaid but that is just not the case, especially for a lace dress. Coincidentally, I saw the dress this week on WeddingBee Mrs. Champagne wore it & she looked beautiful, I read her posts about her search & she had also wanted a mermaid dress. So, it was back to the drawing board for me. I spent that Sunday looking for dresses online, making a list of dresses to find at stores to try on, making a list of stores to go to, emailing & calling for appts. Here are some pictures of dresses I tried on:

Mon Cheri 28227 Pronovias Galatea


















Romona Keveza

The Dresser 112 W. Commonwealth Ave. Suite A Fullerton, California 92832

love this christmas sweater

{Source}

How freaking cute but oh so scandalous is this sweater from Urban Outfitters!

Dress Shopping Part 7:

I have to start of by saying that I am done dress shopping, I am having my dress made, more on that as soon as I finish posting all my dress shopping! So now onto part 7 of dress shopping!

After leaving Pebbles Bridal on Friday I left with the thought perhaps the Dakota Enzoani was the dress, it was the first one that finally had the fit I imagined but I was still not 100% down with it. I decided to make an impromptu trip to try on the dress again, this time at a bridal store I had never been to- Mariposa Boutique in Anaheim. I figured kill two birds with one stone, they had the dress so I could try it on & I could check out the other dresses. Mariposa had many beautiful dresses, I would say it had the best selection so far with pretty good prices, not as inexpensive as Pebbles, but not as expensive as Mon Amie. The owner was so helpful in finding me dresses to try on, when I told her that I am very picky and am having a hard time finding a dress that is trumpet, satin & sweetheart, and if it has ruching, I only want it on top, she replied "you're not picky, you just know what you want", that made me good & at ease. I tried the Dakota Enzoani, this time with a beautiful crystal sash that around my waist, I freaking loved the sash, it defined my waist and gave me the bling I was looking for but again..lace & the sweetheart was not as defined as I wanted it to be. I know I could have it altered but peeps it was already more than I had wanted to spend. I also tried on this beautiful Jasmine dress that had ruffles in the back, I *loved* the way it fit, the satin was beautiful, it had ruching on the top, the train was gorgeous, it was trumpet, it had some glittery bow by the train but it could easily be taken off, but I had one big issue with it, it was GREY! The dress had a natural waist line that was defined by a thin sash the same color & material as the dress. The owner later told me that it was discontinued :-( but that she would sell me the dress for 50% but color is a big thing & I just can't have it be grey. I don't know what the name of the dress is, but when I had found a picture online, it did not do the dress justice what so ever. These dresses confirmed with me that I wanted a dress with a natural waist line, trumpet & a bling sash. I also tried on this dress which is by Enzoani Blue, I liked it but was not down with the ruching top going up and then the bling pointing to the bottom but it was a pretty dress. I could tell I was closer because I finally was finding dresses that were more my style. Oh and the Jasmine dress had this inner bra corset thing that made me feel I had a tiny waist, highly recommend!!


Mariposa Boutique

316 N Anaheim Blvd Anaheim, CA 92805

Dress Shopping Part 6: Sample Sale

So now to our regularly scheduled program of dress shopping.... BF/bridesman was watching Say Yes To The Dress (Countless people kept telling me to watch it) & in the episode they talk about sample dresses, so he asks if I have googled L.A sample sale - nope but I did as soon as he said it. I find out about a sample sale the had started in the beginning of October at Lily's Bridal. Keep in mind, I am writing this now (Nov.) but all this shopping was in October, so I went to the sample sale about 10 days after it started. I called made an appt for Friday & was hoping that they would still have stuff left. The hope did not come through because I did not like any of the dresses and there were only about 20 left. Since I had made the trek to the Valley, I thought I might as well look around. I tried on a few dresses but did not like any of them. I went out of my comfort zone and tried on an organza A line, I actually liked it, not my style but I liked that it felt like I was floating on a cloud. The other dress I kind of liked was a JCH dress (above), I liked the ruching on the top but I wanted the trumpet to flow more instead of just looking like two separate pieces. The sales lady had me start at one side of the store and walk to the mirror so I could see how I would look walking down the aisle, it was pretty cool & it made me more comfortable with the dress. I finally understood I was shopping for a bridal dress and not a dress for a special occasion that just happened to be ivory & that I just happened to be wearing at my own wedding. Coincidentally the organza dress ended up being featured on Say Yes to the Dress a week later (I only watch re runs of it, so I don't know when it was shown originally). After leaving the store I did a search on my iphone map for "bridal", & found Pebbles Bridal, I call them & as luck would have it they don't do appts and they open at 12 score!


Pebbles had ALOT of affordable dresses & many different styles, there were dresses there for $300!!! They had a huge section of sample dresses & bridesmaid dresses. I tried on the Jasmine F157 I can't remember how much it was but for sure under 1K. It had the fit I was looking for, and some bling, but I didn't like the bling it had & it didn't wow me. I then tried on the beautiful Enzoani Dakota & I loved it, it fit perfectly and had more of a dramatic trumpet then I had seen in any other dress...only a few issues - it was lace & I did not think I wanted lace, most lace dresses did some weird thing on my hips, also I wanted more of a sweetheart neckline & some bling. The sales person added a belt to the bust part & it looked very nice. Finally a dress that fit exactly how I wanted it too! But I still was not sure it was "the one" wasn't I suppose to just feel it? perhaps cry? also the ivory was a little darker in color than I had wanted and the white was way too white, oh and over my budget but not that bad. After all my dress shopping, I thought this was the closest I was going to get to what I wanted in a dress & I was so happy to finally find a dress that had the fit I wanted & no ruching. I found out later after I shopped around that Pebbles has the best price for the Dakota by FAR! I still think it is a beautiful dress, if someone bought it for me I would be more than happy to wear it or if it had been 1/2 the price I would have bought it but for the price, it has to be everything I want in a dress. I must say though that it is a great price for the quality of dress. The picture doesn't do it justice since the model is doing some weird thing, seriously what is up with some of these models not showing the beauty of the dress, which in this one would be showing a woman's hour glass figure and the dramatic trumpet.

Stores I went to:

Lily's Bridal 18663 Ventura Blvd Tarzana, CA 91356

Pebbles Bridal 20855 Ventura Blvd #B Woodland Hills, CA

The battle of the wedding planners are big fat liars

Did anyone see The Battle of the Wedding Planners on TLC Friday? MOH/cousin & I happened to be watching TLC Friday night, after getting sucked into what seemed like a marathon of Say Yes to the Dress. The show starts & it shows 3 planners that with have their own theme, MOH/Cousin points at the TV and yells "that girls theme is bitch!" - it's fun watching TV with my cousin, because she doesn't watch TV that often and when she does she likes to talk to the people on the screen as if they can hear her. So here is the breakdown of what happened:
The cute couple is shown on the TV & says their budget is 15K, they live in L.A but are originally from New Jersey so they want a wedding with a "no-frills attitude that pays homage to their roots" & 3 wedding planners will present them with ideas for a wedding & in the end the couple picks what planner wins & get to plan their wedding. Now hold up, everyone that is planning a wedding knows that you can't just give a figure like that, you need to say how many guest are going to come, this makes a HUGE difference - 15K for 50 people or 15K for 350 people?!

This show had me yelling at the TV with my cousin, because they misrepresented what 15k can get you in L.A & I really hope that people who are actually planning a wedding in L.A don't watch this show for ideas because it is bull caca! They are show big fat liars for saying that the three options shown are $15k. The only one that could have been 15k is the Griffith Park option.

Planner #1: I recognized the Marvimon as soon as I saw it & f to the no would a wedding there cost 15K, unless you plan on serving Mc D's & wearing your mama's wedding dress. I did extensive research when looking for my L.A venue, so I know The Marimon cost 7k just to rent, but they require valet & other things so it's really 12k for the space, & that planner mentioned snake charmers & other things that would cost a lot- thanks to Miss Sprinkle on weddingbee who shared her budget recently for her wedding & gave us all an honest breakdown of her wedding and it was 40k. I would think a wedding there would cost a min of 20K for everything (again depends on guest list)

Planner # 2: Griffith Park. Now this one is a possible 15K wedding. It cost $300 to rent the space. I don't know the details of this place because it is all outside and that was not an option for us. I know it's possible to have a budget wedding here because I saw it on a wedding photographer's site *here*. The couple seemed to like it because "you didn't think you were in L.A" - A statement like that my friends is one of my pet peeves, I *hate* when people say it's so L.A, or that L.A is suppose to be a certain way, or that everyone is superficial because it is just not so. L.A is so diverse that there is no way you can say L.A is suppose to be like "this or that". To say that being at Griffith Park makes you feel you are not in L.A is pretty ignorant. But I digress..

Planner #3: The most ridiculous of the 3 for a 15K wedding was The London. The London is Gordon Ramsay's restaurant. The meals per person are around $100 so that alone (with tax & gratuity) is almost 15k not including decorations, favors, drinks, photography, space rental etc. They tried making it seem like the planner called in a lot of favors but it still wouldn't be a 15k wedding.

Although the couple said they wanted a "no-frills attitude and pays homage to their roots" they ended up choosing something they would consider to be "very L.A".

Free Holiday Class from Jessica Sprague

I signed up last week for a free class from http://www.jessicasprague.com/ called Holidays in Hand. In the class they will be teaching us how to tell our holiday stories both past and present, go *here* for instructions. I thought it would be the perfect way to get me in the DIY/crafty mood!

I need a new piggy bank

I need a new piggy bank the one I got at target a while ago is full, I'm thinking I may get this one from Velocity Art and Design and put it in the living room.

Book Report: The Quintessential Wedding Guide ... Maid of Honor

Wanna get your MOH in line? Make her read this book! Granted, it's pretty thin, but I FINALLY got around to reading The Quintessential Wedding Guide ... Maid of Honor

Great read. Lots of good tips on etiquette, planning, roles and how to best approach any bride 911 in a cool, calm, collected spunky side kick manner. I am not a big fan of the cover (seriously, I almost didn't buy it) but content is well worth it!

Your blog is Super Cute!

Thank you so much to A Chocolate Lover's Confession for awarding me the "Your blog is Super Cute!" award!
The rules for this award: Pass the award to 10 other bloggers and leave them a message to let them know.
I think these blogs are super cute!
Bride Side of Life
Very Married
BP Wedding

Girl with a ring

After Yes, Before I do and Everything in Between
Lost in White Chiffon
Bridechka and the Wedding
PDX Bride
Don't Eat The Paste

The Fabulous Sugar Doll Blog Award!

Thank you to Stanley Makes 3 and The Alternative Bride for awarding me the The Fabulous Sugar Doll Blog Award !! Since I told you 7 things for my last kreative/sugar award and 10 things yesterday for my 2nd kreativ award, for my 2nd Sugar award I thought it would be awesome MOH/cousin/co-blogger Concepcion shares 10 interesting facts about her! Luckily she happily obliged!
The instructions for the suagr award are to write 10 interesting things about yourself, and then pass it on to 10 other bloggers.

Without further adieu here are ten Fun/interesting facts about MOH/cousin/co-blogger Concepcion:

1) I like to get metaphysical. Actually, I was a Philosophy major at Yale. I like to tell people that I majored in Philo with a Metaphysics concentration. Those were most of my classes but Yale doesn't have concentrations for majors. So in actuality, I'm just a compulsive liar. Kidding! (Sort of.)

2) 100% Californian with Texan accents. One of the most interesting times in my life so far was living in Downtown Dallas for about a year. I ran with a pretty crazy club promoter group and used to host/promote after hours trance/dance parties at my loft.

3) I run. A lot. I'm a no-where-near-pro endurance athlete currently training for half marathons 5,6,7,8... and marathon number 2 in March (LA Marathon)... first 100 mile relay in April and I'm on two ultra marathoners teams as a pacer! I've contributed to a lot of running/training/racing social networking sites and own more Nike clothing than I'm willing to admit.

4) These boots were made for walking. Signature outfit - cute/trendy/sexy dress with cowboy boots. Didn't I say Texan accents (see bullet #2).

5) I came in 2nd place at a karaoke contest. I sang Weezer - Say It Ain't So. Next contest I plan to Shanghai (2011/2012) I plan to sign Fleetwood Mac - Go Your Own Way... WITH a blond wig and hippie dress.

6) I came in 2nd place at a go-go dancing competition at a gay club in West Hollywood. (2007)

7) I have a black belt in tae kwon do and fought on the varsity team in college.

8) My favorite sign is the sign of the beast (see also: rock horns).

9) I'm HUGE on twitter (@anotorias + @jennsteria for ww). (Not really but I saw a shirt that says that once.) I tweeted about needing help and one of my followers tweeted this to me:

rlauwers: @anotorias An example of social scene convergence- social, business, leisure all viewable in the same person like thru facets on a diamond.

I have no flipping clue what that means but I'll take it!

10) I'm part mountain goat. My favorite place to spend alone time in the whole wide world is up the high trails in the Santa Monica Mountains.

***Thank you MOH/cousin/co-blogger Concepcion for sharing 10 things about you!***

I'm passing the Fabulous Sugar Doll Blog Award to these 10 awesome bloggers

The Less Than Domestic Goddess
Things I love
You can’t take it with you
The I got to thinking

Chaotic Bliss

The Opposite of Zen
Diaries of a Restless Bride

7 Year Wedding

12K Wedding Blog
Bride on a budget

Kreative Blogger Award & My birthday!

Thank you to Chic 'n Cheap, A Cape Code Bride & Miss Mojito from for awarding me my second Kreativ Award! I'm honored to receive this award from these Kreativ bloggers, they rock! It truly means a lot to me to receive these awards, as I mentioned before I am a little behind blogging about the awards but as it turns out it's better this way because I get to re award them on my bday week! So the rules as we remeber are to name 7 things about yourself that people may not know be it fun, interesting, or even embarrassing and then nominate 7 Kreativ Bloggers.

1. I research the heck out of everything. I think you guys already know this considering how much research I did to find the right venue, church, photographer & dress (although still looking for dress).
2. I never believed in Santa Claus but I would pretend I did for my parents sake.
3. About a year ago, my cousin/MOH went to a pole dancing class at the Treasure Chest in West Hollywood. We loved it, there were ladies of differant ages (20-50), different races & backgrounds, it was so great to be amongst a group of women that were so sweet & supportive. Too many times woman are the first ones to put down another woman. The class was not only about pole dancing but about self empowerment, it was how to be comfortable in your own skin, to be proud to be a woman & be aware of your sexuality. We all had a great time in class.
4. I was playing trivia pursuit with mi amor & his dad, and one answer was yogi bear (or so I thought) I told them I know who that is! & they looked at me shocked and replied you do?!?! I said "of course! hello Hanna-Barbera!!" they laughed hysterically & said NOT yogi bear, it's Yogi Berra the baseball player. whoops!
5. If I see a drawer, cupboard or closet door open, I must close it, & I wonder how that person could just leave it open, it makes me wonder about their ability to finish things, but in the end I know it has nothing to do with them & 100% to do with my inability to be ok leaving such items open :-)
6. My 3 initials spell out a short version of my name.
7. Ever since I graduated from college I like taking my birthday off & being by myself during the day, not doing anything special per se, just being alone & reflecting. So today that is what I'm doing. Also on the list for today is a dress apt (still need to catch up on dress posts) & tonight mi amor is taking me out to a romantic dinner whoo hoo!

I'm passing the Kreativ Blog award to these amazing kreative bloggers:

Anna and the Ring

A Cupcake Wedding

A Very Chocolate Wedding

Born to be Mrs. Beever

Cheap Wife

New Mexico Bride

The Thirty Something Bride

Your Blog is Fabulous Award

Thank you to Born to be Mrs. Beever for awarding me the Your Blog is Fabulous Award, I think her blog is super fab too! For this one, you list 5 things you are obsessed with and then pass the award onto five of the most fabulous blogs you read.

1. Finding my wedding dress
2. Making to do lists
   
3. Losing the last 3 freaking pounds to meet my goal weight
4. Finding the right moisturizer (I have combination skin)
5. For the next few days I will be obsessed with cleaning my apt. It looks clean, but I am giving it some hard core cleaning, I'm talking about blinds & grout peeps!
   

I'm passing the award to these fabulous bloggers!

A Chocolate Lover's Confession

Handcrafted Hitching Post

Stanley Makes 3

Pink Argyle

Truly Engaging

Your Blog is Over the Top!

As I mentioned before I am *way* behind in my google reader & my posts - all the free time has been going to the never ending search of "the dress" but I feel it's within my grasp, so I hope to be all caught up muy pronto! As I was looking at my google reader, I saw I received some awards whoopee!!! and since it's my bday week (bday is on Thursday) I've decided to give each award it's own post and spread the love, I was first planning on doing one post and giving each blogger a different award but it was taking too long for me to decide which one goes with which, then I also wanted to make sure to give them an award they hadn't already received, and so a bday week awards was born!
Thank you oh so much to New Mexican Bride for awarding me the Over the Top Award!

For the Over the Top Award you are supposed to answer the following questions with one word answers and then pass the award onto six fellow bloggers. ---whoops I just re read this right before posting & did not follow directions with the one word- oh well story of my life...

1. Where is your cell phone? Next to me as always.

2. Your hair? Long & unmanageable- sometimes it's wavy, sometimes it's not. I have long hair & although my bf/brides man would like me to try out a bob, I keep reminding him that I had such bob my freshman year in high school & it would like to do a flip on one side, not both, just one - not pretty.

3. Your mother? The tie that binds my family

4. Your father? My hero

5. Your favorite food? Nicaraguan tamale & steak nachos
6. Your dream last night? X rated (mi amor)
7. Your favorite drink? water or coke zero
8. Your dream/goal? find love of my life (check)/be able to make enough money to travel most of the year
9. What room are you in? home - office
10. Your hobby? photography, excel, organizing, making lists, finding recipes & never cooking them.
11. Your fear? drowning
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Having a higher position in my job, happily married and living in a house.
13. Where were you last night? home
14. Something you aren’t? A snooper
15. Muffins? pass, but give me a chocolate donut with custard feeling & I am good to go.
16. Wish list item? never ending. As Nick said in Flash Dance to Alex " When you give up your dream, you die"
17. Where did you grow up? City of Angels
18. Last thing you did? made up a new song and dance
19. What are you wearing? a moo moo. I freaking love my moo moo, slap on a pair of high cork wedges & some aviators and your ready to go out n about town, then come home & kick off your heels & relax in your moo moo. My moo moo is what some people call a Mexican tent dress as shown in this wedding.
20. Your TV? 42' LCD High def, my tv is actually bigger than mi amor's. I'm the only girl I know that has more electronics then her (bf/fiancée), I get it from my dad. You don't even want to know how many flash drives, hard drives, or ipods I have.
21. Your pets? none. I had a cat Hobbes, he thought he was a dog, he would fetch his cat toy ball, & he also use to hide his food by putting a newspaper over it, or shirt or whatever he could find. He also slept with me side by side like he was a person.
22. Your friends? around
23. Your life? muy bien
24. Your mood? energetic
25. Missing someone? my mom's chihuahua Paquito who passed away last year, he taught my mom how to love a pet and how to have patience.
26. Vehicle? silver ford mustang (I love it)
27. Something you’re not wearing? shoes
28. Your favorite store? Target
29. Your favorite color? rainbow ;-)
30. When was the last time you laughed? a few moments ago when my loves was dancing for me
31. Last time you cried? I use to never cry, even as a kid I wouldn't cry in front of people, I didn't want them to know that part of me. But my goodness ever since I got engaged I am as mi amor called me during the movie "Australia" a big ol mush. I freaking cry at all the touching parts, don't even get me started on the times travelers wife.
32. Your best friend? brides man
33. One place that I go over and over? my head
34. One person who emails me regularly? cousin/MOH
35. Favorite place to eat? Momma's house

And the lovely 6 Over the Top bloggers I'd like to pass on this award to:

Chic N Cheap

Miss Mojito @ With This Ring

The Alternative Bride

Blog Googles

A Bowie Bride

A Cape Code Bride