A Weekend with Friends

AT the Apple Store playing with the camera.







Vince and I were in Chicago last weekend to meet with his bestfriend from residency KB and his wife, R. They flew from South Carolina, where they are now based, to tie up some loose ends with the
house they were selling at Oak Park. Vince and I stayed at their empty old house. Most of their belongings are already in SC, the only things left were a futon and some foods left in the fridge. Vince and I brought an air mattress to sleep on. While KB and R used the futon.

Our first night together led us to Emperor's in Chinatown, our favorite chinese restaurant. We ordered our usual tofu/seafood soup, peapod leaves, tomato beef, spicy eggplant, chicken/salted fried rice and a tofu dish. We were all excited to be able to eat our favorite chinese foods again. We talked about wedding plans, having babies, our jobs, our next vacations, etc. KB and R seem to be living a nice life in SC. KB practices in a small group and is very busy. R is not working and doesn't seem to be bored at this time.

Saturday found us having brunch at Sweet Maple(I am not sure of the name) near Rush with Barb and John. I was happy to see Barb again. She's like a mother to Vince and the other PM&R residents at Rush. After brunch, we headed back to Oak Park to see the furniture that Virgil, one of our friends, was selling. Then KB, R, Vince and I drove downtown for some shopping. R and I have the same tastes in clothing that even if we split up, we always end up bringing the same clothes to the fitting room. After shopping, we stopped by Big Bowl to have some appetizers and drinks so we could get our parking validated. We then drove back to Oak Park for dinner with V and B. The dinner was enjoyable especially spiced with converation.

Sunday, our last day, we had brunch at George's in Oak Park (once again.) If you ever go to Chicago, visit Oak Park and try this breakfast place. They have good food and huge servings. The peach crepe was yummy. Their omelletes are delicious, too. After brunch, R had to meet with some of her friends for coffee, so we dropped her off to Caribou Coffee. KB, Vince and I then decided to go to Oakbrook Mall to pass the time. We went to the Apple Store where the two guys acted like little kids in a candy store. We had fun playing with the new G5 with the built in iSight camera and the photo effects. Vince was so bummed because the G5 his brother gave him didn't have one. Oh well, that was a gift so he shouldn't be choosy, right?

When we got back to pick R up, it was already 3. KB and R were still supposed to clean up the house and pack some stuff. Vince and I ended up inheriting some of their foods in the fridge, and some odds and ends that they didn't want to take back to SC with them. I wanted to help them finish packing, because they helped V pack his stuff and move them to my place last June. But they were shooing us away.Vince and I arrived home at around 830pm.

A nice weekend spent with friends sure makes life more enjoyable.

I am a Domestic Diva

To my surprise, my day today has gone quite productively. As soon as I finished my breakfast, I loaded four buckets of laundry. While the clothes were being washed, I vacuumed all throughout the apartment and cleaned the two bathrooms. After the laundry dried, I did the ironing. Then this afternoon, I made stuffed mushrooms and baked salmon for dinner. Wow, move over, June Cleaver!!!

On the wedding front, I got a hold of an old friend of my dad's. I was so happy to talk to her. I have a picture of her taken on my first birthday. She was beautiful, fair, skinny with long straight hair. She was wearing a miniskirt and platform shoes. Yes, it was in the 70's. :) I also remember her visiting us when I was about 3. She came over to our house with her American husband. She had a polaroid camera with her and took pictures of me and my childhood playmate, Darwin. I remember watching in awe, as our pictures formed on the polaroid film. My little three-year-old mind thought it was magic. I digressed. Anyway, she works at a flowershop in California. She said she would help me with the flowers and decorations. And she told me that I still have enough time to decide on this. So, at least I am not as stressed as I was earlier.

However, I am a little nervous about my dress. I called Belle Vie earlier to ask if I could get a swatch of my dress. My dad's friend said she needed to know what color my dress would be to make sure the flowers will match. She said, some white dresses don't look good with some flowers. Anyway, my consultant wasn't working this afternoon, but the lady I spoke with said that she could send me the swatch. I made sure she was going to send the pearl white swatch that I ordered my dress in. But she had this confused voice saying that my wedding receipt said I ordered it in white white. I looked at my copy and it said, pearl white, while she said that the pearl was crossed out and white was written above it. She said she will contact my consultant, S about it and will get in touch with me. I just hope everything is how it's supposed to be. I am not stressing about it. I am not stressing about it. I am not stressing about it.

Here Comes The Bridezilla!!!!

Help!!! I am in a panic mode right now. It's 9 months before my wedding and I have so much planning to do. I have a ceremony and reception site. We are also going to have our rehearsal dinner and post-wedding brunch at the same hotel to simplify things for us and for out of town guests. I ordered my dress. And we booked a photographer already. Just when I thought I was ahead of the game, I found out that by this time, I should have booked videographer, florists, musicians, transportation, and hair and make-up artists, too. Aaaaaaaaaaaah!!!!

It doesn't help that I am so undecisive about everything. I can't even decide on my wedding color/theme/look. I initially wanted to do red, but since Vince's brother's wedding last year was red, I want to do something different. I am drawn to orange/coral red like this boquet, but I can't find any nice bridesmaid dresses in this color or something to complement it. My bridesmaids would kill me if I'd make them wear orange. I also like pink and brown, especially after seeing a cake cherry blossoms in pink and brown. Then this tiffany blue invitation caught my eye, so I thought of tiffany blue/brown motiff. I thought it would go well if I had a beach theme, but I have a marina view not a beach view at my reception. Nyaahh, I'm going nuts thinking of wedding colors. To all creative/artistic people out there, I'd appreciate any suggestions.

What's In My Closet?

What a great timing! Paz tagged me with this meme after I just finished cleaning and organizing my closet.

3 Random Facts About My Closet

1. It's never big enough. Not enough shelves.
2. Some shoes are stored in clear boxes, some are stored in their original boxes with pictures of the shoes on the outside
3. I use white hangers
   

3 Items I've Never Worn But Still Haven't Tossed

1. A black tube assymetrical-hemmed cocktail dress
   
2. Burgundy/Wine chiffon dress I was supposed to wear to a graduation party
3. Hawaiian-inspired halter dress I was going to wear to a luau but changed my mind

3 Items I'll Never Get Rid of No Matter How Ugly They Get

1. Jeans
2. My brother's old sweatshirt
3. The dress I wore when Vince proposed to me.
   

3 Things That Made Me Go "oh, Lord, what was I thinking when I bought this?"

1. Beige knee-high stilleto boots (can't walk in them)
2. Pink striped blazer
   
3. Cream-colored velvet pants (LOL)
   

3 Things I have a surprising number of

1. Little black dresses
   
2. khaki pants
3. jeans

3 Dominant colors in my Wardrobe

1. black
2. brown
3. blue

3 Things That Never Fail to Put Me In a Good Mood Whenever I wear Them

1. my new favorite jeans(Rock&Republic) -make my legs look longer
2. Flannel Winnie the Pooh Nightshirt that V's sister gave me
   
3. My brother's old sweatshirt

I was bored

Myrna Loy

You are class itself, the calm, confident "perfect woman." Men turn and look at you admiringly as you walk down the street, and even your rivals have a grudging respect for you. You always know the right thing to say, do and, of course, wear. You can take charge of a situation when things get out of hand, and you're a great help to your partner even if they don't immediately see or know it. You are one classy dame. Your screen partners include William Powell and Cary Grant, you little simmerpot, you. Find out what kind of classic leading man you'd make by taking the Classic Leading Man Test.

My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 55% on grit You scored higher than 52% on wit You scored higher than 25% on flair You scored higher than 72% on class

Link: The Classic Dames Test written by gidgetgoes on Ok Cupid, home of the 32-Type Dating Test