Reception Pics

While we were taking pics, our guests were enjoying wine and appetizers.

The servers had a huddle before our guests were seated.

My sis and bro and me in my evening gown right before the bridal party was announced.

Our first dance.

I'm wearing my pink chi-pao that is a replica of the one my mother wore during her wedding reception.

But I also wanted to stick to Chinese tradition and wear a red and gold one too.

Cake time!

Cheers! Jimmy and I had special champagne glasses engraved from Things Remembered.

My cousins from my dad's side. We're a crazy bunch as you can tell.

Day time Wedding pics :)

As promised, here are some pics that were taken by friends and family :) Thanks guys!

Sandy and Karen helping me with my dress. Not the most graceful way of putting on your wedding dress the day of. 

But it worked!

I had a half up/ half down do.

Me and 4 of 7 Bridesmaids. Karen, Heather (MH), Sandy, and Gena in our hotel room.

My photographer taking glamor shots of me.

Arriving at the Church. Our limo driver "Slick" Willie helping me.

The back of my dress.

Waiting in the Bridal room with my 4 flower girls :) Emily, Melissa, Isabel, and Abigail. (All are Jimmy's nieces)

The start of the processional march! Janet leads the way. Followed by Vickie, Karen, Virginia, Gena, Sandy, and Heather (in back of Sandy).

I do

Taking group pics.

The sibs! My brother Scottie, my sister Heather. Jimmy's sister Janet, Jimmy's brother Jason.

My sis and I got our nails done at Lavander in Santana Row. Thanks, June for the gift certificate!

In the hotel foyer with all our bridesmaids and groomsmen. Let the party begin!

Stay tuned for more pics

Beautiful Olympic Medals

While watcing the various Olympic Medal Ceremonies, I couldn't help but notice that one side of the medal has either a ring of white or a ring of light green. Since these were the Beijing Olympics, I assumed there must be some jade inlaid. And it was! Wait, this gets better. It turns out that all the Gold Medals have white jade inlaid on the obverse side, all Silver Medals - light green jade, and all Bronze Medals - dark green jade.

According to an article I read, this particular medal design was inspired by "bi", China's ancient jade piece that is a flat jade disc with a circular hole in the center. The medals made of gold and jade symbolizes nobility, virtue, and maintains traditional values of ethics and honor. This is the first time jade is used for Olympic Medals. 

The front side of the medal is the standard design prescribed by the Olympic Committee. It is a picture of the winged goddess of victory Nike and Panathinaikos Arena.

Medals are 70 mm in diameter and 6 mm in thickness. The red ribbon has a cloud pattern woven in to symbolize the joyful and festive atmosphere of the Olympic Games. Aren't they something? I think these are the most beautiful Olympics Medals I've ever seen. To have one around your neck - I can only dream  My personal favorite is the Silver Medal - something about the silver and light green combination really tickles my fancy. Of course, I wouldn't mind the Gold either

What do I do now?!!?

Oh my gosh,

I am going through some MAJOR wedding withdrawal. Yes, I finally got married to the man of my dreams back in July 26. Now it's August and though I am super happy to be with my hubby, I miss all the excitement of prepping and decorating and organizing and being a bride-to-be. I think of Monica's quote from FRIENDS, "I used to be a bride! Now I'm just someone's wife."

Well, I will post pictures soon. The wedding day was just so perfect. I couldn't have imagined or planned for anything better

I love reading Organizedwedding's blog. She is so creative and very inspiring. Now, I don't think I can ever make my own wedding blog as great as her's, but I will try to update all the juicy details of my own. She just had a baby too! Congrats to her and her little ladybug What a perfect ending to her perfect wedding chapter.

Sigh. Who knew I would go though this post wedding slump  Well, on the bright side, I have 4 more weddings to attend until the end of this year! I had five. My cousin Timothy just got married on 08/08/08. Congrats to him and his beautiful new wife Sophia AND my cousin Claire just had her first baby! The first great grandchild! And I get to see her today!

Ok, so things aren't that low. Whenever I express how much I miss our wedding and planning to my hubby, he just smiles and says, "You got me! " I just stand there for a minute and look at his bright smiling face and twinkling eyes and think, " I really am a lucky gal. But I could still go for Wedding Part II"

Well, I'm looking forward to getting my wedding dresses back. I just sent them out to get cleaned and preserved. It's like buying a coffin for my once glowing gowns so filled with life, vibrance, hopes, and dreams. Now it will come back to me in a sealed box with a window for me to look at. I called the company today and asked if I could still take the dress out and wear it again. They said yes, but I would disrupt the preservation and would need to send it back to get preserved again. Well, at least I know that I can bring the dress back to life if I wanted to That is if I stay a slim size 6 that really felt like a super small size 4 on the day I put them on. Just ask my loyal devoted Bridesmaids. It was no picnic for them as they squeezed my rib cage in and buckled, zipped, and buttoned me in. Whew!

Picutres to come soon!

Usain Bolt. I love the corny poses he makes. After he won the gold in the 100 m he did this funny pose with his arms in front of the cameras. And when his mom was screaming and reaching over the wall to hug her son, instead of running over to his mom, Usain just stood there and posed more for a good minute or two and then went over to embrace his mom, only to be embraced by these random Chinese guys who got in front of the mom and were smothering all over Usain's sweaty head. Who were those guys anyway? The way they hugged Usain made it seem like they were long lost very distant cousins many times removed.

That's the pose he kept making with his arms above. Then there's this other pose he does. He took off his golden shoes posed next to his WR sign.

The reason why I think this is so amusing is that I've never seen another Olympic athlete do these poses - even when they win Gold or break WRs. These are all things that I would have done myself. And while I was thinking this exact thought in my head as I was watching all this, it was my sister who called out, "Oh my gosh, Lauren. That is totally what you would do."

Maybe Usain Bolt is my long lost very distant cousin many times removed.