class notes.. bringz back memories

so, i received a nice package from one of my galfrds in hkg recently and i haven't had time to look through them and re-read what we used to write.. untill just now.. OMG!?!  what we used to write was hilarious.. despite the fact that i had very bubbly nice handwriting back then, we had fun times!  we had sooooo many nicknames for the boiz we used to have crushes on..  or the things we used to do to or talk about annoying teachers..or the things we used to do after school, etc..  i can't believe i used to write like that.. it's like deciphering code!!  i just hope my notes that i kept from her and my other galfrds from highschool is still in hkg.. grateful to have wonderful memories with great friends that i still keep in touch with.. thanks t.!  ;p

BDAY Madness

I have to say, our creative team here def. is the most creative when it comes to celebrating bdays..  they go all out and take bdays to different levels!..  last time they had boxed and ballooned up another team member's desk for her bday as seen above.. this time, the tin foiled the whole entire desk; from the pens, to the phone to the chair and his monitor, etc.. perfect way of using tin foil! hahahaha ;p

NOW: gratidute challenge d9

 

So for day 9 of the gratitude challenge i have to take a moment to appreciate and enjoy the people around me.. i guess i jumped ahead of the challenge w/o even knowing it from my blog posts from the start.. oops..

after having to deal with a rude person over the past few days, it makes me appreciate even more the positive ppl around me that have been very supportive..  and those i haven't forgotten, that have left great memories or been a huge part of my life..

-my dad, again for just being the calm, level headed reasonable dad.. someone who actually listens and doesn't make assumptions.. i'm glad i finally got through and was able to tell u first hand how much i appreciate you (which was one of the actions for day 7 in the gratitude challenge)
-my fiance who has been nothing but a huge support and putting up with the ups and the downs..

-my bridesmaid, s. for just listening and always reaching out to show that she really cares..
-my good friend, y. for putting up with kraziness and just being there.. thanks for coming to check out linens w/ me the other day..  thanks for organizin my bachelorette.. i can't wait!!
-my friend t. in hkg, for sending me those notes we used to pass around in 8th grade and high school, it has brought back great memories!!! i have to still dig up mine in hkg and send those to u!  ;p
-my coworkers who have given me great advice when dealing w/ unwanted stresses from their wedding plannings and experiences..
-curlz for reaching out and sharing her experiences w/ her wedding experience, was just what i needed to hear..
-my friend n, for those great memories on the dance floor..and ur funny stories that i will never forget..
-my aunt d. and uncle m. in LA who took me in thru college and really made me feel like part of their family..  i appreciate all the great advice u gave during my college years.. and i truly miss u all..
-my ahmama, she may not read this, but i will always remember my childhood days when she shared stories with me, sang to me and was just a true loving grandmother to me..
-my cousin jas and y for really being there for me when my fiance and i had our disagreement..if it weren't for u guys, not sure if we would've talked and got over that disagreement..
-my fiance's mom, for always cooking and having my fiance bring me food even when she's busy.. always asking how everyone in my family is doing.. showing that she genuinely cares..
-one of my aunts who passed away last year; i know she is watching over us, she really has an amazing heart and to know that her last words were of kind words left on my voicemail.. i truly appreciate having someone like her in my life..

just all the ppl around me, which there are many more; without all of you, this world would be a very lonely place.. building friendships and relationships, going through ups and downs, are all part of life and what makes me who i am today and i can say that i have been extremely grateful.. ok, i know it all sounds cheezy, but it's true.. again, i'm happily grateful for the ppl around me..  ;p

hand cancel?!

Since my fiance and i spent many countless hours on our invitations, we wanted to make sure it gets to everyone perfectly or at least not falling apart.. i heard from several ppl at work to hand cancel invitations, meaning i guess that they shouldn't go through the mail machinese and have roller marks on them, so we spent lots of time researching whether to hand cancel or what hand cancel is at the usps... when we first got there, the lady had told us it's an extra 20 cents an envelope, which is 2 - 10 cent stamps extra, they don't even provide a 20 cent stamp and we were to use these ugly stamps..  fine.. so i narrowed down the ones i wanted to hand cancel and she realized there weren't too many, so she just let it go.. since most of the ones within my city don't need the extra stamps..

then the next batch of invites, my fiance went to a different post office in the same city, to do hand cancel.. again they requested 2 - 10 cent stamps extra, they don't even provide a 20 cent stamp.. and this time the ones in the same city, they still charged the extra stamps.. so inconsistent!  so, he put the extra ugly stamps and gave it to the lady.. hoping that she would somehow hand cancel them..let's just say, she may have hand cancelled the invitations with the red round stamps, but they certainly went through the machinese still..  since one of my friend's invitation went from san mateo to san francisco and back to san mateo.. and you can tell that they went through the machinese since the envelope was compressed down and they were crinkled a bit..  so, brides out there trying to figure out whether to hand cancel or not.. it's basically pointless.. they just charge you extra without the service..  they should not offer this service if it still goes through the machines.. it def. wastes time and energy..

impressive...

so, i was searching around for invitation boxes for an event that i'm working on.. and i came across this page when i google searched for "invitation boxes".. http://www.weddingbee.com/2009/03/08/invitation-invasion-part-i-boxes-boxes-everywhere/

WOW, impressive and they're beautiful!  it seems, she had enveloped each individual invitation and to top it off, not only did she find a stamp from the UK to stamp each box, she had individually tied a ribbon to each one and wrapped each individual invitation box..  and she had a photo of her fiance at that time help her wrap each one!  whoever says the man doesn't help when it comes to coordinating the wedding.. 

i can't complain, since my fiance did help with spraying each of my envelopes with clear coat to make sure the ink on each envelope did not smudge.. and he took all of them to the post office and hand cancelled each one.. so, i have to say his contribution to the invitation was definitely a perfect touch!

blogging?!?

so, lately this "squabble" w/ a family member as my brother puts it, was posted below on my blog.. some of my family members are very distraught by it.. thinking i shouldn't be posting things at all about my family, etc.. but quite honestly, i have not voiced my opinion in a looooooong time.. u can say that i may be still mad at myself about certain things from my childhood.. not that i came from a horrible family or what not, my family is great and all, but i can just say that i never really expressed myself when i was younger.. i used to just keep it all in and not say anything at all.. however, as i was growing into my young adult years, i found some anger  and sadness built up inside of me.. and some sees it as i have a "bad temper" which i admit i do.. or some sees it as i'm emotional, which i am..  but i think it's all coming from never really saying the things i really wanted to say.. so, it comes out in a bad way or as "uncontrolled" as some would see..

lately, i discovered this outlet.. my blog.. i mean i've started one before, but never really found time for it.. but i guess this wedding planning and stresses really gave me the perfect opportunity to make time to blog.. i really think every person out there should start one.. it's a perfect way to vent all ur frustrations, share information that u really want to share and just communicate how u feel.. or what's happening.. or what ur experiencing.. now i understand why there are sooooo many millions of bloggers out there.. and i guess now i'm one of them.. and why youtube, facebook and twitter is outrageously popular.. they're all in their own way different outlets of "bloggin".. u post ur comment or u post instantly how u feel or u post videos of what ur doing.. from statuses of "i'm pooping on my toilet" to videos of flight attendants rapping they're all forms of what started as "blogging"

who knows how long i'll be blogging, but for now, it's a time i make for myself.. to blog about squabbles and cakes and rings and gratitude challenges and just things in life..

so, in the spirit of the gratitude challenge, i am happily grateful to blog.. ;p

NOW: gratidute challenge d8

http://www.gratitudechallenge.com/

So, for the gratitude challenge day 8, i have to send thank you notes to five people who deserve a little recognition.. i can send way more.. but i guess i'll list out who i send the thank you notes to later..  ;p

NOW: gratidute challenge d7

Since i've vented all my negative energy in the last post.. i'd like to end my day with a more positive one.. and that is for the gratitude challenge, day 7...

omg, i'm now completely mortified of the task for this day, since i do not in any way want to post a video of myself let alone hear my voice.. so, i'm going to have to figure out a creative way of doing this..  and maybe skip to day 8 for now and come back..  ;p

unneeded stress and rude guests!?!

Well, recently i had this person in my life that i actually did care a lot about, despite the fact that she has been nothing but a B* to me all my life.. from her bossing me and my friends around when we were kids, to her smirky comments all the freggin time she sees me... or her annoying supposed "joke" email about why i should actually have my bachelorette in bali, not vegas just cz it's "boring" to her and there's no imagination behind it.. i'm sorry to say but the world doesn't evolve around u..

think, just think for a second..

i would've been happi if she could make it to my wedding after all she is part of my family.. but u know what, no worries..  i totally understand since work is def. more important.. honestly, if i had something important for work when it was her wedding i wouldn't fly back to hkg for it either.. but to make a smart a*hss comment about "why are u having ur wedding on a sunday, who the heck makes their wedding on a sunday,  i can't make it cz ur wedding falls on a sunday" instead of  "sorry i just can't make it"..  it's just plain out rude!

i'm sorry that i had to change my wedding day to a sunday since my fiance's mother thinks it's a better day and the chinese restaurant is only available on sunday..
i'm sorry that i don't have the luxury to take off from work and hop on the plane to bali to have my bachelorette.. just to drink with you..
i'm sorry that i'm not an alcoholic and would even think of flying halfway around the globe to get drunk w/ u.. and neglect all the important things here in life
i'm sorry i had planned my camping trip way before u came last and had to organize it and prep for it the night before the trip and couldn't come out and see u get drunk and waaaasted
i'm sorry that i don't have money coming out of my bleep to fly my friends halfway around the world to just have my bachelorette in bali..
i'm sorry that my friends and i are not "imaginative" enough to not have it in vegas..
i'm sorry i can't hire a full time live in nanny for my good friend who is organizing it so she can be away from her newborn baby to go to bali..
i'm sorry that i actually care about my friends and wouldn't make them go somewhere just cz my cousin wants me to have my bachelorette there..

u know what, NO I AM NOT and NEVER will be sorry for any of these things and that i see ur comments as rude and am quite honestly obnoxious and NOW glad ur not coming period! it is one less stress in my life..

i guess ur helpful and supportive mother balances out all that negative annoying energy from u!

vegas?! boring?!

my cousin just recently emailed me saying that "who wants to go to vegas? everyone goes to vegas.... so boring. no imagination. come to bali!!!"  

well, if vegas is so boring, then why do most bachelorette parties or parties in general happen in vegas? i've been to vegas many times i admit, but every single time, i've had a blast.. it's just a hop on the plane and an hour away.. bali is like a gazillion miles away.. and what, am i going to just sit at a resort all day and drink!?  i don't have the luxury of flying all the way to bali as much as it would be nice there.. to just drink and not remember anything..  if i wanted to sit by the pool, i can go to my aunt's house.. if i wanted to go to a beach, i can drive to santa cruz.. but if i want to have a blast with my galfrds for one weekend and dance the nights away, i can go to vegas..  ;p


to me, honestly, it's not about the place.. it's about the ppl.. i can have fun wherever i go as long as i have the right ppl around me.. so, if this one person wants to say there's no imagination in going to vegas, they can honestly not go..

NOW: gratidute challenge d6 cont'd

well, a person that i haven't talked to in ages and would luv to call, but honestly it's too late and i feel that it's kinda weird to just call someone after many months of not havin talked to that person.. guess it's cz we're both busy.. she's busy with her newly married life in SLO and i m busy plannin mine up here..

so, it's kinda awkward to just call her and tell her that i'm grateful to have her in my life..she may think i'm going krazy or somethin!  so, i'm going to post it and just let her know..  it's my galfrd m!  i truly miss her and i just found out she's able to go to vegas.. woohoo!  she's def. someone that i've learned a lot from.. she has one of the hugest heart.. she just brings on a ray of sunshine with her big smile..she genuinely is the sweetest person in the world and i am grateful to have a wonderful friend like her..  i miss those days when she used to take me to the beach and just bond and talk about boiz and rel... or when we went up to tahoe on our snowboardin trip or went on our trip to brazil.. or even just our old party days.. migosh those days felt like ages ago..  can't wait to bring it back when we're in vegas! hopefully one day u'll move back up here.. miss u much.. and eventho i don't talk to u often..  i'm just not a phone person i guess..  but i truly am grateful to have met a wonderful friend like u!.. ;p

NOW: gratidute challenge d6

So, for day 6 I need to call someone i haven't talked to in ages..  tell them how much i appreciate them.. uuuh, this is definitely challenging... whoever i call may think like something's happened or i'm krazy..  i'm at work right now so i def. will have to wait to call whoever it is later..  maybe my gramma in hkg on my dad's side or a while could mean a month, so maybe just my dad!  hehehe..  ;p

NOW: gratidute challenge d5

So, it's day 5 of the gratitude project and i have to take note of all the great things that i already have in my life.. hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm... that's a lot of things..

-my job that lets me buy lots of THINGS..
-my TV
-my TV shows (as u've seen in the abc's list)
-my ipod nan
-my cell phone
-my cameras
-my clean condo
-my nice chandelier that my fiance installed
-my clothes
-my closet & dressers that fits all my clothes
-my luvly shoe cabinet that my fiance built, which is awesome btw as you can see below!

-my shoes
-my printer
-my embosser
-my pictures
-my car
-my bed!!!!!!! there's a ton more, but i would be listing forever.. and i of course am too sleepi to keep typing.. so, what tops the list right now is my bed since i'm laying in it..

however, obviously these are just things.. things that can come and go.. so, no matter what, i'm always and forever going to be grateful for having the luv from my fiance & family, the friendships i cherish, the people that are in my life.. and most importantly all the things that god put in my life.. think that covers it all.. time for me to dream away in my cozy bed.. ;p

Cakes anyone?

Thanks to my friend, M., i recalled she mentioned wholefoods for her wedding cake - reasonably priced and i guess decent tastes.. few others mentioned that place too! so, i looked them up on yelpers and there was a mention of looking for a baker named hiedi there.. so, i booked an apptmt with this lady named heidi from the SM wholefoods bakery.. she was super duper nice and migosh she busted out this plate of four humungous slices of cakes.. and i'm not the dessert queen.. my fiance is the total dessert queen and he was lucky that she boxed up what i couldn't eat for him.. i took a lil nibble at each flavor, and i actually liked the chocolate one.. she showed me her portfolio, which was like most other portfolios i've seen.. i told her i like simple and a hint of purple.. after all that, she totally shocked me with the price!! i thought she missed a zero! she quoted me like $135 for a 3 tier cake w/ flowers - 10inch, 8inch & 6inch.. migosh.. that's just insane.. + $50 delivery + $65 for a half sheet, which should feed about 100 people per her suggestion.. so, i'll def take that into account..

however, i'm still curious what the venue that i'm having my ceremony at will quote me.. esp. since he said that they can bake lil tiny cheesecakes w/ fruit on top for me to serve bite size for every person.. cost shouldn't exceed $1k!?! *gulp* hopefully it's not insane.. ;p

Rings?!?

Ok, so as much as i luv my mother for getting my solitaire ring made in hong kong.. i thought and told her that we were going to pick our wedding bands here in the states.. so we went to several places and someone at work suggested to check out shane co.. well, i never thought of going there eventhough i hear their commercial ALL the time on the radio.. so, we decided to check it out.. they have great customer service and to my surprise quite a bit of wedding bands.. they even had what my fiance wanted, titanium (which lots of places do not carry).. so, after about an hour and half of picking, i found a tini tiny band with tini tiny diamonds that fits my tini tiny fingers.. after about a week, they had all our special orders ready.. migosh their customer service is def. phenomenal.. they even guarantee if u lose a diamond for life and would clean ur rings for free every 6 mo... that's a great service every jeweler should have.. so, when i picked up the rings, i was so excited, i decided to share the "excitement" with my aunt e...

first thing she said when she opened up the box was "OMG? that's ur ring?! it's sooooooooooo tiny.. i can't even see it" or something to that extend..

well, my fingers are tiny, so i like tiny rings.. next thing u know, she decides to call my mother in hkg.. and told her my ring looks tini tiny.. my mom, was totally fine with it.. BUT she failed to mention untill this moment, that she already bought 2 other bands to go around the solitaire too.. and to top it off, she also told me yesterday that she had another band to go in between for days when i don't wear the solitaire and put it in the bank.. thinking she'll surprise me.. eventhough i told her we would go out and buy our wedding bands like 3 times and told her when i bought the band and how much they cost..

so, now thanks again to my family, (not that i'm not happi or grateful for it) but how is a girl going to wear 5 wedding rings on one tini tiny itty bitty finger (as seen above)?!?! since my mother can't return hers in hkg, and it's more value and cheaper then what i paid here, i just sadly went and returned my ring that i liked.. hey, i'm a simple girl, i'm happi with anything.. to my surprise they let me return it w/ no questions asked (even after i resized it).. now that is amazing customer serice!!!!

we still kept my fiance's ring since it's titanium.. which i'm surprised my mother didn't try to go out and just buy his too! which i may get a surprise the day before my wedding! just watch! with my family, you definitely get things done.. but u wonder, who's wedding is it now?!

funny thing is, my manager said to me, just watch after u get married, ur mom is going to come to u with a basket.. in it would be a baby.. "look i got u a baby"!!!! classic! just classic! ;p

NOW: gratidute challenge d4

So, today's gratitude challenge is to write in my journal a short message of thanks for some of the "negative" things in my life .. something that i learned or grew from..

hmmmmmm...

hmmmm... still thinking of what to write.. i luv my new journal.. i guess i'll write about... geez, somethin negative?!

ok, so, last week when my fiance and i got into a fight over "beer" for the camptrip.. he does not drink a drop and i drink socially.. so, since i'm wanted to organize a camping trip for my friends/coworkers and him, i decided to make everyone happy.. several requested for beer, and of course u have to have some beer with ur burger and dogs at a camping trip right? so, i decided to include it on our list when i go shop with him at costco.. well, let's just say that our costco trip turned into this huge fight and he almost cancelled the trip.. boy was he mad at me for "forcing" him to buy beer.. it's not as if i'm not going to pay him back.. but his point is it's just he principle if he's against people drink, why would he even for a second contribute to it by going through the actions of buying it.. so, after many hours of arguing and discussing the night before the trip.. we finally just came to our senses.. finally went from arguing to just putting aside my pride and just try to understand and listen.. i still didn't completely understand how it became such a huge fight, but at least i do understand his views.. and hopefully he understood mine.. he also felt that i chose "beer" to make my coworkers/friends happi over him.. so, that def. made me feel bad, which in a way does make some sense.. so, we apologized and i now know not to force him to buy any alcohol for me or my friends even though i'm paying him back.. but i can still buy my own beer.. which i did.. the great thing out of all this is, we got over it and still had a great time during our camping trip, with just the right amount of alcohol (maybe a tini bit less then some wanted) .. so, u can say many things good came out of something that started off as completely negative.. ;p

viral videos & social media ;p

Today, we did a fun share and learn, where we all submitted interesting viral videos to share.. They were mostly funny, some inspirational, some just flat out shocking.. all were to just spark our imagination and think outside the box of what social media is like in this day and age..

This one is just wrong!??!:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DMRb_Ztz2k

Jill & Kevin wedding entrance:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-94JhLEiN0\

United breaks guitars:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YGc4zOqozo

Evian babies:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PHnRIn74Ag

Southwest Airlines

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivjybzdXVmI

Cowbells:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Mie9hhQTUM

Parallel parking kid:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UMWhJsd0JE

Laughing quadruplets:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yE6PNps5N9I

Evolution dance:

http://websearch.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ&sdn=websearch&cdn=compute&tm=17&f=00&su=p284.9.336.ip_p504.1.336.ip_&tt=3&bt=0&bts=0&zu=http%3A//youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DdMH0bHeiRNg

DOVE:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hibyAJOSW8U&feature=fvw

Oranges:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqQQrLPdyws

Otters Holding hands:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epUk3T2Kfno

Spoofed proposal

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DMRb_Ztz2k&eurl=http%3A%2F