I want my healthy look back

I know you will hate me for this, but I am one of those "lucky" people who loses weight easily. My challenge is actually gaining weight. 

When I got engaged, I said I would really like to weigh around 120 lbs. on my wedding day, and while in San Francisco, I did achieve that. I was always stuffing my face, but still religiously did my exercises. Unfortunately, coming back to the Philippines made that all go away. I dropped down to about 110 lbs. again and I don't like it. I look "sickly" when I'm this thin. I really did prefer my 120lbs. healthy look and I'm trying my best to get to that point again. So far, it's not going well.

I admit I have been inconsistent with my eating and exercising habits. When I don't exercise, my appetite goes down. I'm not exactly a gym rat (I actually don't like gyms, no offense to those who do go to the gym), but I do cardio and total body work-outs at home - I believe it's more effective for me when I'm pressuring myself about exercise. I've even gone for Appeton - a weight-gaining supplement- to the point where it was coming out of my nose from drinking it three times a day for the past 2 months. It didn't seem to work either.

Anyway, I think I need to hit buffets more often these next couple of weeks. Maybe that'll help..

RinontheRox

It cannot be helped!

I am now a big fan of RinontheRox!

These two girls have such awesome voices and they harmonize even when they're just talking.. And it's a thing to be proud of that they are Filipinas (well, Rin is Filipino while Rox is Filipino-American). They were recently guests on the Ellen Degeneres Show. Their personal youtube account (hiphoprox) was suspended (don't really know why) but one of their fans posted their videos - you can check it out here.

smelling clean

This may seem like a minor detail, but if you think about it, it really isn't. No one wants to smell bad on their wedding day - especially not on their wedding day! 

I have never liked girly scents - floral or whatever - I have always gone for that fresh-from-the-shower/soapy or sporty smell. I even used guys' perfumes back in high school (Acqua Di Gio or Clinique Happy for men were my favorites). Since college though, I have been searching for a scent that I would make into a signature scent. I couldn't seem to find one that I could wear anytime or anywhere. 

Image from shopaccakappa.com

I have to give props to Tommee for telling me about this perfume/cologne. It's Acca Kappa White Musk/Muschio Bianco. I fell in love with it when he let me smell it on him. Although I did have to test it out on me to make sure it smelled good on me, and luckily, it did. It smells so clean and fresh and it doesn't come on too strong no matter how much you spray on.

I wear this everyday, and since it's tried and tested, I am definitely wearing this on our wedding day.

How about you? What perfume/cologne will you be wearing on your day?

our Superhero Table cards

YEY! I have finally finished our table cards! As I've shared a couple of times, I want our wedding to be a reflection of us, not just me. Because Tommee is such an awesome fiancé, I also wanted to incorporate what he likes. The point is, this Do-It-Yourself project of Superhero Logo table cards is one of my ways to do just that.

If you didn't already know, Tommee is a big fan of Superman and the Justice League. So I decided, instead of table numbers, we would assign our guest tables with Superhero names with their logos. If I'm not mistaken, I made them 5x7 in size.. I printed them out and had them laminated.

Here are the finished products:

top row: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash & Aquaman

bottom row: Martian Manhunter, Robin, Green Lantern, Black Canary & Green Arrow

Here's Superman up close.

(that's me in the reflection - failing to hide myself haha)

I'm happy I have another thing to check off Suyen's wedding checklist. =)

polaroid-like pictures

While browsing through some other wedding blogs, I stumbled upon a great find. An application that lets you convert digital images into polaroid pictures. I love polaroid pictures. I love the instant vintage look it gives pictures. The colors, contrasts & saturation are great! I still remember when my parents or my brothers would let me stick that film in my armpits to make the images come out faster. Of course, you can't do that on this one, unless you want to stick your entire PC or laptop under your armpit - do let me know how you did that - but you can shake the picture around your screen, instead.

Anyway, my example is actually my profile picture..

From this

to this

Go here to download it.. & do make a donation if you can. =)

Cute Blogger Award

I was tagged a couple of times by w@wies, so I guess I have to do this now. =p

1. Each blogger must post these rules

2. Each blogger starts with ten random facts/habits about themselves

3. Bloggers that are tagged need to write ten facts about themselves. You need to choose ten people to tag and list their names.

and now, Suyen's 10 random facts/habits:

1. I am super OC. I make lists/checklists out of everything. I always have spare toiletries (I have a drawer full of extra stuff). I have organizers for all of my stuff. (see: What Would an OC bride do without her checklist?)

2. I am an ultimate bookworm. I will read just about any book I can get my hands on. I can read a book over and over and over again that it starts to look really old, but its not - Memoirs of a Geisha- 21 times, Final Target - 17, Different Seasons - 14, my Stephen King collection - more than 10 times each, Pillars of the Earth - 5 

- you get my point. ( I have a discount card at Fully Booked and it's overworked)

3. Bubbles have always fascinated me. Until now, when I get the chance to play with bubbles, I will do it.

4. I love love love dessert! I sometimes eat them as my main course.. haha

5. For someone who doesn't really cook, I love watching food/cooking shows. I watch Anthony, Nigella, Jamie.. i love it! and then, after I watch their show, I want to cook something, but I end up feeling too lazy and cook up mashed potatoes with cheese.. =p

6. I try to have boxes of different-sized Ziploc bags because I use them for just about everything.

7. When I was little, my 6 brothers set up this hammock in the backyard. One day, they made me sit on it and swung me as hard as they could and I ended up flying across the backyard and literally landed on a small tree with my arms and legs splayed over the branches. They all still laugh when they remember it - "Mukha daw akong cartoon na humampas sa dingding"

8. I told myself I wasn't going to get any more tattoos, but I am very tempted to get one more on my birthday (Last na.. Ok, hindi ko ma-p-promise haha)

9. Tommee says I drive like a race car driver. (I tend to drive fast.)

10. I LOVE POST-IT! I use it for just about everything. Notes, ideas, mini-lists, reminders, and even doodle pads. So yeah, I guess I love Post-It. I guess it's not a coincidence that Tommee works for 3M and gives me all the Post-It I want. He knows how much I love the stuff and he finds it funny that when he hands it to me, I give those awesome Post-It a hug. =D

I'm tagging all my w@w blogger sisters =)

bunny bunny

Bunny - that's what Tommee and I call each other sometimes, but that's a different story altogether. =)

Ever since I took care of my brother & sister-in-law's rabbit, Bowie, I wanted to have a bunny of my own. You might be wondering why they named her Bowie. Well, the scoop is, she was named after David Bowie because her hair is the same color as his. (haha, i thought that was cool)

Meet Bowie

(This is her infamous "butt" shot)

Here are some bunny pics I've gathered from one of my favorite "cute stuff" websites - http://www.cuteoverload.com

( This site features all kinds of cute animals and when I want to get my "aaaah, so cute!"-fix, that's where I go.)

If you love bunnies, ENJOY! =)

i heart bunnies!

yey centerpiece!

With all the major suppliers and details out of the way, I have been busy taking care of the little details of the wedding. Just a little refresher - this is my inspiration for our centerpieces:

Image credit: JapaneseWeddingFavors.com

If I haven't mentioned it, I happen to be a fan of Japanese art/culture. You should see my bedroom, it is definitely japanese-themed. I have a low queen size bed, a collection of geisha dolls, Japanese lanterns as my lamps, and a few antique paintings from Japan. I even have an authentic antique Japanese scroll. I will blog about that some other time.

Anyway, back to the centerpieces. So I've been going around looking for black trays and I tell you, they're not easy to find. I had a budget in mind because I needed 20 pieces and I wasn't willing to spend so much on them. I actually found some in SM but it was double my intended budget. Tommee was actually willing to buy it already, but I told him to give me more time and I will find inexpensive trays. (What is wrong with me? Did I actually turn down a way to make my wedding preps easier? haha)

I went to Divisoria hoping to find them there, but when I got there, I couldn't find any. One of the sales ladies told me to go to Quiapo and I'll surely find the wooden trays I was looking for. She was right! (Thank you ate, whoever you are!)

Although they are not exactly like the trays in the picture, I was happy enough with this: 

But it's not black! I know, I know. But I have a plan! I was telling the girl who sold me this what I intended to do with them and she was nice enough to tell me that all I needed to do was paint it and/or varnish it and it will turn out nice and dark. She actually offered to do it for me for extra charge (of course!), but Tommee and I know someone who can do that for us, so I declined. So, that's actually Tommee's next To Do project. I was especially happy because, not only did I finally find well-made wooden trays, I got them really cheap. Way less than my intended budget. YEY! Besides, I plan to use them for our house after the wedding (unless my relatives decide to take them home with them.. haha)

serenity

Photo courtesy of my dad's Canon Ixus

This shot was taken at a cabin in Lake Tahoe when my family decided to have a weekend get-away. I am a morning person. I am usually up before everyone else and I love these moments of peace & solitude while enjoying my morning coffee. And it doesn't hurt that the view is awesome!

At this very moment, I wish I was back there...

THE DRESS

Sorry to burst your bubble so early, but like I said, I won't be able to (ok, I don't wanna haha) to post my actual dress design because I want it to be surprise until the actual wedding day. But I will give you the inspirations behind it. I spent hours and hours browsing through hundreds of dresses since June 2008 and I only finalized my dress around November/December 2008.

Christos

Melissa Sweet

Vera Wang

Junko Yoshioka

Peter Langner

Badgley Mischka

As you can see, I prefer the grecian-inspired, long & flowy dresses. The main basis for my dress is the one by Junko Yoshioka, but with the flow of the dress from Melissa Sweet and Peter Langner. I initially wanted a strapless dress since it will be a beach wedding, but the diva in me wanted something different & unique (besides, my sister-in-law wore a strapless dress for her wedding just last year), I opted for an asymmetrical strap. At first, I wanted a simple colored belt to match my color motif, but when I found these dresses, I said, "forget it! let my maids of honor wear the belts!" (haha).

I had my measurements taken last January 15, and I am now waiting for the seamstress to call me up for my first fitting. My dress will have a satin lining and a silk chiffon overlay. I can't wait to see what it looks like! Let's hope she can pull off what I asked for.

Images from theknot.com, google images, brides.com

for love of pretty shoes

I don't know if it was a mistake or not, but I ended up throwing out/giving away some of my old shoes because I had to do major "spring" cleaning when I got back to Manila. My dad was bugging me to get rid of the stuff I don't use anymore since I was moving out in a few months. It was easy to part with the clothes I've outgrown (literally), but parting with my shoes.. it hurt. 

You see, on normal days, I am your typical sneakers or flip-flops wearing person, but I am a complete shoe whore. I have all kinds of shoes and just because I can be boyish and very laid-back with my style, I do love pretty shoes. My personal mantra is, "if I'm gonna wear heels, I'm wearing stilettos!" And so, I have a collection of stilettos in my shoe closet - surprising, shocking even, to some of my friends. I don't know when I started wearing heels, but I do know that whenever I get new stilettos, I break them in by running or jogging in them. Don't worry, I only do it around our village (haha).

Anyway, the point of this blog is to show off my latest babies:

Nine West Reedy in Black Satin

I heart Nine West. I always go to their stores in High Street and Glorietta just to see if there's anything new I should be saving up for. Actually, there is, but that deserves its own post. =)

Going back to my new babies, I actually got them back in California. My mom, a shoe-holic herself, went to an outlet mall and as soon as we got there, we headed straight into the Nine West outlet. My dad started to follow us but when he realized where we were going, he did a 180 and went to some other store. (I had no idea where he went for the next 30 minutes because I was too busy drooling over all the shoes) My mom went to the other side of the store to scout for some boots while I was just drooling over everything. Then I saw those babies and I went nuts! I checked the price and wouldn't you know it, it was 50% off! woohoo!! My mom ended up buying herself awesome boots that were 75% off (sorry, I'll try to ask for a picture from her) and buying the strappy stilettos for me. Thanks Ma!

If I needed shoes for my wedding, I would definitely wear these! =)

Photos courtesy of my point & shoot Canon Ixus 60

our SUPERHERO-themed prenuptial/engagement shoot

Photography by: Jomel Gregorio

As I mentioned before, we already had our prenups/engagement photo shoot (on the same day I had my first trial make-up). 

When it comes to sharing stuff, Tommee is the complete opposite of me. So, I was pleasantly surprised when he wrote the story of our pictorial. For a change, I will let him tell you our prenup story. Read on and let me know what you think. =)

You can view his awesome tribute to our SUPERHERO pictures here.

hair & make-up

First of all, I'm not much of a make-up person. Don't get me wrong, I do wear make-up, just not much. I have a very basic make-up ritual that includes concealer, powder, blush, clear mascara, and strawberry chapstick. I prefer to spend on skin care. I have stocks of moisturizers and eye creams, I could be a toiletry store (like I said, I'm OC/girl scout). But, I know that I'll be needing a hair & make-up artist for the big day because it's gonna be a long day and I don't want to look like crap with my normal make-up melting on my face. Besides, I'm gonna have my picture taken a bajillion times on that day, I have to look awesome! (haha)

As for my hair, well, I hate to admit this, but I hardly brush my hair. I tend to either just let it be or tie it up - I guess this is partly due to the fact that I grew up with 6 brothers and was quite a tomboy when I was younger.

Anyway, I wanted a soft, angelic/goddess - like make-up (if possible, haha) for my wedding. I wanted it to complement my dress which is grecian-inspired. As much as I would love to show the picture, I have to keep it a secret for now because I don't want Tommee to see the dress. All I can show you is the hairstyle I'm going for because in my excitement in finding this, I blabbed and shared it with him. (me and my big mouth). I wanted something like this:

Photos from Google Images

This is actually Charlize Theron (i love her) from the movie Hancock. I've always liked this hairstyle, and I knew I wanted this from the very start, and it's so great that it fits my dress, too!

I actually had 2 THMUs (trial hair and make-up). I had a different artist for my prenuptial/engagement photoshoot but since I wasn't that happy with it, I decided to look for a different artist. It was a challenge for me to find my make-up artist because I specifically wanted to get airbrush make-up (rather than the traditional make-up). Since I will be married at the beach on a summer afternoon/evening, I knew I needed my make-up to stay intact the whole time. I don't remember why or how I discovered it, but someone told me that airbrush make-up is recommended for beach weddings. 

Anyway, I found Princess Misa through the W@W group of Brides & Grooms-to-be. I called her up to inquire about her rates and she immediately e-mailed me her rates. When I did the computation for everything (package, out-of-town fee, airfare, accommodations, & meals), I found that it was really reasonable. Plus, she was nice enough to give me a discount, even before booking her. I discussed it with Tommee and he immediately agreed (He knew how unhappy I was with my first trial make-up). I set-up my trial make-up with her but as it happened, Tommee couldn't go with me because he was so busy with work. But that was a blessing in disguise because my session went so well that I wanted to keep it a surprise for him. So that when he sees me on our wedding day, he'll be (hopefully) pleasantly surprised. My friends loved the outcome and hired her to do their make-up, as well. I guess that means I made a good choice. =)

I miss SF

I was in San Francisco for 4 months right after Tommee and I decided to get married. I admit it was really hard because our relationship was still so new (We've only been together for 7 months when I had to leave for the US.) Other than wedding preparations through internet and e-mails, I kept myself busy by being a tourist - I've been to San Francisco before, but I never really had the chance to go sightseeing much.

Here are some pics:

This one I took with my phone, so the resolution is a bit low. This is the marina, where Annie (my cousin) and I would walk to sometimes from their place (which takes us about 20 minutes to walk to, considering it's a mix of up and downhill blocks).

This is me with my nephew, Spanky, at Fisherman's wharf, where all the old ships/submarines are. We decided to explore the submarine used back in WWII. Some parts were actually freaky and scary. They were dark and if you're claustrophobic, you would not want to be there.

Penguins!! I admit this was the highlight of my visit to the San Francisco Zoo. They were so cute and so lively. The only downside was that the whole area smelled like fish. haha. I tried to take a video of one penguin swimming, but he was too fast for me!

Notice the sweater and scarf -  it was freezing but nothing could have stopped me from going to Golden Gate park and watching Radiohead live (Later on, I had on a jacket over my sweater, then a coat over my jacket - yes, it was that freaking cold!).  Again, I'm with my Spanky. I was his babysitter then, too. He's only 13 but he's already way taller than me. I need to get that weight back, I look healthy haha - I lost all that weight when I got back here in the Philippines.

I love this picture with another one of my nephews, Nolan. Because his mom and dad were working all the time, and Auntie Suyen had a lot of free time on her hands, she ended up as Nolan's babysitter. I loved taking care of Nolan! He's such a sweet and happy kid. He's not picky about food and doesn't cry much. I hope my own kid will be just as sweet and happy like him. (awww.. i miss nolan)

I think that's it for sharing time. Until my next installment..

another DIY: our save-the-date cards

This was actually my first DIY (not the invitations, but oh well

  

I made 3 Save-The-Date cards, all the same format but with different pictures. Since we couldn't agree on just one, we decided to use both of these. 

lamps and lanterns

When I first started talking to Amanda (our coordinator) about the decorations for the reception, I initially told her that I would love to have a tent just because I wanted to hang a lot of japanese lanterns from the roof, 

but Tommee didn't want a tent because he wanted our wedding to be open to a starry-night, which was what I wanted, too. She immediately made me feel better by saying she could still make the japanese lanterns work by hanging them on bamboo poles stuck in the sand. Plus, she even offered to let me use her star lanterns for free! yey!

flora

I'm not really a flower person. Don't get me wrong, it's not that I don't like them, I'm just not as appreciative of them as most women are. But there is one flower that never fails to make me go "ooooh, pretty" and that's the stargazer lily. I guess it's perfect for me because I love star shapes, and obviously, these are star-shaped flowers. Hence, the name. 

When our coordinator asked me what flowers we were going to use for the wedding, I didn't hesitate (even if I knew that it would be risky to use them during the summer) and asked for stargazers. Even if we had a bluish-theme, I really had no plans of using blue flowers whatsoever.

But I couldn't use just stargazers - they're more expensive than the usual- I needed something to fill it out when used for the guest tables. So I finally landed on the idea of using simple white carnations for all the decorations, and for my bridal bouquet. My maids of honor will have a miniature version of my bouquet. 

Tommee's bouttonierre will just be a small white carnation (obviously, a stargazer would be to gigantic. haha)

what would an OC bride be without her checklists?

I make lists of everything. Let me correct that, I make CHECKLISTS out of everything. (because I love when I can actually, literally, check things off.)

So, it's not really a surprise that I would hunt for a checklist for all the wedding preparations. I looked at countless checklists online and in magazines for one that I really liked. I ended up using a Real Simple wedding checklist (If you want a copy, you can get it here). They have more checklists about wedding gown & accessories checklist, honeymoon planning checklist, honeymoon packing checklist, wedding essentials checklist and lots more - click here)

But, the OC monster in me wasn't satisfied and I ended up making my very own wedding checklist - Suyen's wedding checklist. Although I'm not sure how helpful this is for others because it is very specific to the details of my wedding. Haha, i'm selfish.

Other than wedding planning, the Real Simple website is choc-ful of useful ideas for everyday stuff. I know I'll be going back to that website after the wedding for some tips on home improvement and all that good stuff. =)

my 1st DIY: the invitation

I started making the invitations early in the preparations. I had so much time to kill while staying in Woodland, CA with my parents and decided to design the basic lay-out for the invites. I made 5 examples at first and emailed them to Tommee to get his feedback. When he made his choice, I tweaked it around a bit and ended up with 5 more. I wanted something simple and casual, Tommee wanted something simple and elegant and I came up with this:

When I finally showed this to him, I could tell he loved it. As you can see, this is where I first used the monogram.

Fast-forward to last month, after meeting with our printers (Tommee's tito), they suggested that we use a turquoise border instead of black because it's too elegant for a beach wedding. We loved the idea (a little embarrassing for me because I'm a graphic artist and I didn't even consider that point.. tsk tsk) and we also decided to have the monogram embossed to make it stand out more, and this is the final product:

Last week, the invitations arrived. I have to admit that the color they used as turquoise turned out more cyan, but it's ok.. no biggie.. it still looked good anyway. 

plus, we got free stickers for the envelope seal. A mini version of our monogram.

Photos courtesy of my Canon Ixus 60

*** I am so bad. I completely forgot to give credit to our printers. Thanks to Tito Bert of Txt & EMeydz.

UPDATE:

I've finally addressed all the invitations and have started to distribute them. Here's the final outcome:

the LOPEZ monogram

I honestly never thought I'd ever use a monogram, but when I was going through wedding websites and magazines, I realized that this is one easy and simple way to personalize our wedding.

I just played around with the lay-out of the letters, but I definitely wanted the L to be the center of it. I tried maybe 20 different fonts but I found this the most appealing.

*Thank you, Adobe Illustrator! - I made a vector image so that I wouldn't have any problems when I have to keep resizing it for all the things I was going to use it for.

I also made a turquoise version, just in case. =)