29 September 2009

Invitations. Cake.

Invitations
Yubo and I had been to a Hallmark to browse through their wedding stuff and didn't come up with anything we loved. Yubo's indecisiveness didn't help much either.

Last Saturday we popped into a store called The Paper Source in Bellevue. Their name is very fitting. They have tons and tons and tons of decorative paper and envelopes and paper craft stuff. We were directed to their wedding books and began browsing. We actually found a design that we really liked, and we plan to go back this weekend to see if we can finalize anything.

Also trying to find a good way to get people's addresses. My dad's taking care of the Chinese invitations, so it's on us to do the American ones. Not entirely sure how to go about collecting addresses though.

Cake
Turns out my dad's friend declined making our cake. So now we have to find a bakery ourselves. I don't know what to do. I don't know any bakeries other than the Chinese ones that load up cakes with fruit. And we'd have to figure out how to do a tasting. Hmm............ maybe we should call on all our friends that went to culinary school and have a baking party. =P

Trying on dresses.

Last Friday Eric, Alex, Yubo and I went to David's Bridal to try on dresses. Considering how much I already hate shopping for clothes, this place didn't make it a whole lot better. People say this is the Walmart of bridal stores. I compare it more to Ross. It was very disorganized. It was my own fault that we were late to the appointment, but things took that much longer because it was so difficult going through the racks trying to find the dresses we found online.

They ended up not having a single bridesmaid dress that we were originally looking for, so Alex ended up going through everything to just pull anything to try on. Here's what she ended up with:
We found my favorite dress and picked out two others that we came across. Because I was trying on regular sized dresses and not petite, it was difficult to get a good idea of how I would really look in one. We pulled this one and I was pleasantly surprised that it actually looked pretty good:


Unfortunately, I didn't like the other two as much. I tried a third one that the consultant loved so much she ran to get a tiara and veil. Eric and I weren't too fond of it.
I was supposed to go to my massage therapist's friend's boutique this morning, but I wasn't feeling well. I didn't want to get any germs on the dresses so decided to reschedule. My boss, Karen, also gave me a tip to check out a consignment store in Kirkland so I might try that as well.
I still haven't found a style that works well with my body. I keep going towards halters and A-line dresses, but I wonder if I should just try everything and see. I wish Archie and Akemi could be with me. I trust their super honest opinions. Hopefully I'll have them with me if I end up renting a dress.

17 September 2009

Playing House.

Yubo and I had one of our many long talks that never seem to resolve anything. I've been sleeping at home again for a bit until school starts next week, so our same problems came up again. I've asked him for more quality time instead of immediately getting so absorbed into a game or tv shows that he ignores me. He asked me to help out more around the house so that he doesn't feel overwhelmed by chores.

Since that talk, I started doing little bits like making sure the sink was clear and throwing away the trash that we would both leave in the living room.

Yesterday morning I was very frustrated with him. The problem of him staying up too late when he has to be up really early arose again. For nearly 3 or 4 days in a row, he woke up very late for work. That's what led up to this level of frustration. He set his alarm very early for something but didn't actually get out of bed. I asked him why he set it so early if he didn't really have to be up that early, and he said he was being ambitious. As he fell back asleep, I said that his being ambitious without following through was distrupting sleep for both of us. Reason I pointed that out was because in our talk, I told him that he was probably so tired because he deprives himself of so much sleep.

So then I told him that I was going to stay awake until he actually got out of bed. He said I didn't have to, but I told him that I really didn't trust him to wake up again. I sat up and spent some quality time with Tifa (I think she was really happy about that ^_^). Nearly an hour later he partially woke up, saw that I was still sitting up, and got out of bed in a huff. Left the house without a word.

I was irritated by his exit, even though I understood that he can be ill-tempered in the morning. That really stressed me out, so I called in to work. Because I was so irritated, I spent the whole day cleaning and reorganizing what I could. We had my new desk still in its box in the entryway (we have to figure out what to do with my old desk), so I shoved that into the bedroom and put it against the wall where it wouldn't be in the way. I continued to clear out the entryway by putting away the shoes we don't wear very often and vacuuming.

Since I had the vacuum, I did the portion of the carpet around the area that I could reach. That included finally cleaning up some of Tifa's hairballs.

After that, I went into the kitchen because that's usually the easiest place for me to clean. By the time Yubo got home I had emptied out the dish washer, swept and mopped the floor (with our new Swiffer thingie), threw away tons of things that needed to be gone finally, took out two bags of trash and started on a third, cleared off the kitchen floor of all the bags of groceries that we get but don't really put away, cleared off a lot of counterspace and reorganized where things go so that we can continue to have some counterspace to work with.

It was a very fulfilling project. I felt better by the time I had to face Yubo again. I don't think he knew at all that I was so mad that day. He had worship rehearsal last night so I also prepared his binder -- he's been subbing often enough that we're trying to cut back on the paper we use to print out the lead sheets, so I came up with printing one copy and putting it in a sheet protector and then making notes with a dry erase marker.

Since I spent so much time just cleaning in the house, I thought I should get out. Went with Yubo to worship rehearsal. Got Burger King on the way cuz we were both very hungry. And ended with a better night. When we got home, he helped me with a monologue that I'm doing for church this Sunday. Then he lounged on the couch while I finished up a little more cleaning. That third bag of trash that I started is already full up, but we have to wait until Tuesday because I already filled all the outside trashcans -- so angry that we don't have a freakin' dumpster for trash. Those cans outside only hold two bags. Thankfully, one of our neighbors moved out so there's an extra can for the rest of us to use. I still really want to just rent a dumpster and finally be rid of all the random junk we have in this place. Sometimes I think if Yubo really wanted a clean house, all he'd have to do is keep me angry because I clean when I'm upset. LoL.

Anyway... yesterday felt like we were actually fulfilling our roles -- felt like what I expect it to be like after we get married. Him at work and me at home cleaning. I'm sure that won't last long, but he agreed that we should come up with a chores list. I think that will help both of us know if one or the other might be doing more around the house, and we can easily fix it. I also want to sit down and figure out the household budget, and establish some house rules. We're adults now, so I think we can't just wing it like he's used to. Hopefully more of this stuff can get ironed out before we get married.

15 September 2009

Dress. Cake.

Dress
I was talking with Yubo's parents about how my dad doesn't want me to buy a gown. Got to explain to them my convertible dress idea and showed them the pictures. I think they're considering doing it for me. There's a lady that Mrs.Crumly works with that does the costumes for the dance productions that the studio they work for puts on. I asked if they could just get a quote from her to see if I want to have them do it or not. If it's too expensive, I obviously won't.

Cake
Also while talking to his parents, I asked them if they have a favorite cake flavor. Mr.Crumly's response led me to the joke of having a Neapolitan cake. When I shared this joke with Yubo, he loved the idea. So I think we're going to try to have the bottom tier like that. I was thinking a layer of chocolate chiffon cake, a layer of vanilla chiffon cake, and strawberry mousse inbetween. I sent a message to my two known cake buddies to see what they thought of that -- just want to know if that would actually turn out well. I wonder if there will be a chance for a cake tasting. Depending on when Yubo can get down to Cali, I think there might be time since cakes aren't made too far in advance, right?

08 September 2009

Photo/Video, Dresses, Performances, Budget.

Photo/Video
The Wedding Expo did help us see what pricing is like. LA Color fit well into what Seattle photographers were offering. However, when I talked to my mom about it, she said she wanted to take me to look at photographers and videographers that work out of Long Beach. The time that I'll get to see them is the first week-ish in January. I'm worried that if I don't like any of them, it'll be too late to book LA Color. I feel bad, but I really don't trust the people that work out of Long Beach, especially since I've never seen the videos from the weddings I've been to. The biggest problem really is the cost of getting good photo/video.... Yubo says he doesn't want to skimp on it either, but I don't know if we can really afford what we want.

Dresses
Asked my dad if he was going to help me buy my dresses, and of course he strongly suggested that I talk to my mom about going to a rental place. I think I've given up on getting my dream dress. I have an appointment at David's Bridal in about two weeks, but I have a strong feeling that I'm just going to end up renting what I can as far as a white gown. That really scares me, but I don't know what else I can do.

As for the evening gown, my mom said I can buy my own if I find one that I really like that's cheap enough. I really want to find something that is comfortable to wear and easy to dance in. I've been looking at ballroom dresses to get ideas.

Performances
We decided to stick to a simpler reception and cut the idea of having live performances from our friends/family. We also wanted to make sure that there was no way anyone would think it was open karaoke cuz we thought that would cheapen the whole event. This also helps us cut the cost of having a live band at the reception for not even an hour. Less to worry about, so I think this will work out better for the day.

Budget
Speaking of saving money, there's really no way for me to figure out a budget. Because so much is being delegated and it's not our own money, there doesn't seem like there's anything I can do. The thing that scares me the most about this is I don't know if plans are being made without me knowing. My sister says she's going to help make sure things turn out mostly the way we want them, but I feel like I still don't have any control over anything. Being the control freak that I am, I'm sure you all can see how unsettling a situation this is for me.

My mom just told me that my dad will ask Yubo's parents for a certain amount of money to pay for things, and that my parents will cover the rest of the cost. So it should play out to both sets of parents splitting all the costs; just that my parents have control over all the money. It seems I will never know the whole cost of our wedding, and somehow that seems wrong to me. And I'm very scared of my dad simply taking everything into his own hands. I mean, I know he's sorta listening to me.... and I have my mom and sister to back me up (btw, it sounds like he's given into the cupcake idea).... but I'm not there to actually approve of the decisions being made.

I'm a little distressed. Although I've never really thought of what my dream wedding would be like since I was little, like most girls do, I'm thinking about it now. However, I don't think I'll really get anything close to my dream wedding because of how the planning has to be done. Because of that, I'd almost rather discard all attempts at getting what I'd like and just go to a courthouse. It sure would be cheaper that way.

I know I shouldn't care about these things as much as I do. I know that the important part of this is being united with the man God made for me. Really no need for gowns or flowers or all that other fluff. I really wish I didn't care. It makes me feel very material and too far from the person God asks me to be. ::sigh:: Lots of prayer... and we'll see how this works out.