Now we're rockin' on the dance floor

poster by Dolci Odille

Michael Antonia, aka the Human Jukebox, of The Flashdance is spinning (for FREE) at the Ace Hotel in Palm Springs on Sunday, May 31! I love Palm Springs and I love The Flashdance!

I am devastated to miss out on this crazy-fun event hosted by Mint Julep Social Events, but I will be lucky enough to witness his mad skills first hand at our wedding. How uber awesome is that? This guy is blowin' up all the wedding blogs, now an "essential" if you will, and I never get tired of reading about him! I have told bragged to everyone about Michael and how even mr. c's halmonee (grandma) will be actin' naughty at our wedding thanks to The Awesome-est DJ.

The way you [DIY] the things you do

DIY-ing it attempt #1.

Scrapbook Paper Pomander
Construction Time: ~1 hour

Materials:
2-inch styrofoam ball
2 different color or patterned scrapbook paper
large flower punch (I used Carl CarlaCraft Ume-L)
small flower punch (I used Carl CarlaCraft Ume-S)
quilter's pins
6-inch ribbon strip

Click on image for larger view.

Directions:
1. Punch ~30 large and small flowers.
2. Make a loop with the ribbon and attach to styrofoam ball using stacked large and small flower with a pin.
3. Using that as your center point, continue to attach stacked large and small flowers with pins, allowing the flowers to overlap so that the white styrofoam doesn't show.
4. Adjust flowers as necessary to cover entire styrofoam ball.

Not too shabby for the first DIY-ing it. Punching "x" amount of flowers would definitely make my hand hurt. But, mr. c fixed that by getting me the greatest birthday gift ever...

Pazzles Creative Cutter Inspiration

According to mr. c's research on the forums, this is even better than the Cricut (everyone has seen those infomercials). With less than a month left of the school year, I am tempted to play with it, but I am trying to wait until summer vacay. I did test out a few flowers and mr. c made this hot little number:

For my next DIY-ing it attempt, I want to use fabric instead of paper. But, the punch won't go through the fabric. I learned that if I stiffen the fabric, I can punch my flowers or better yet, use my Creative Cutter Inpiration. Thank you Martha Stewart for this tip from her Encyclopedia of Crafts that I picked up at Costco:
This is my new favorite book...well, at least it comes a close second to "Twilight." Sorry, Martha, ya don't got nothin' on Edward.

A no-budget production of the Best Night Ever: My Marriage Proposal

99 (RED) Balloons (2009)
Overview
User Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 10/10
Director: mr. c
Writer: mr. c
Release date: January 3, 2009
Genre: my marriage proposal
Plot: Panda thinks she is going to a benefit with Frog at the Royal-T art gallery. Little does she know that she is about to get the surprise of her life by Monkey, her friend of over 10 years/boyfriend of nearly 3 years.
Cast (in order of appearance):

miss t......................Panda



mr. c.......................Monkey



miss e......................Frog


Additional Details:
My fiance' is the most hilarious, most creative, and most thoughtful guy I know (he never reads this blog so he will never know I think this. ;) shhh). Most people never even see the last thing because he is also a sarcastic ass. :) Like all things he does, his proposal was an over-the-top, planned-to-the-very-last-detail production. But, unlike most of his "surprises" where I have always had some idea of what's going on (shh, don't tell him), this one literally put me in complete and utter shock.

As with all huge productions, unexpected situations arise that create panic, and he forgot to push "record" on the camcorder so the actual proposal was not caught on tape. As nice of an idea this was, for me, this is a relief, because in my state of shock, I looked incredibly dumbfounded. Thus, instead of telling our proposal story over and over again, my creative fiance' took this as an opportunity to write and direct the Best Night Ever: My Marriage Proposal puppet show.

Without futher ado, 99 (RED) Balloons:

And it was all yellow (and black and ivory)

from top left: adrianna papell yellow satin dress from nordstrom, cake from
the knot, calla lilies bouquet from the knot, oc by oleg cassini black silk/chiffon
dress from nordstrom, black jewelry from betsey johnson, yellow tablescape from
the knot, yellow candy bar from the knot, peterene black and white damask garter
from etsy, christian lacroix yellow leather pumps from zappos couture, stuart
weitzman black satin dorothy pump from nordstrom, wedding gown from
priscilla of boston, the yellow balloon engagement from erin hearts court photography

No boots with the fur here.

I love shoes. I love Nordstrom.com. Those two things are a dangerous combination for my credit card, but an oh-so-lovely combination for my size 4/4.5 feet. Once in a blue moon (good thing not more often), I come across an I-must-be-dreaming deal. Check out these black satin Stuart Weitzman lovelies I got by what I think must be some fluke accidental sale price of $109.95 with free-shipping-on-any-shoe-purchase at Nordstrom.com.

Stuart Weitzman black satin Gigi Ritz
photo borrowed from nordstrom.com

Soooo, how can a sale be accidental?! The next day I got nervous they might not fit, so I was going to buy another size just in case since it would be free shipping anyway (besides, Nordstrom has a great return policy). But, my shoes were now listed back to $298! Whaaaat? I don't know, but I'll take it.

A couple weeks later, I found these super cute Kate Spades at Nordstrom Rack for $60.

Kate Spade black satin Kit slingback
photo borrowed from nordstrom.com

Truth be told...the leather/elastic slingback kinda hurts the back of my feet. I probably won't even last through our super-short ceremony in these!

Buuuuut, I'm not done shoe shopping. Now, I want to wear yellow shoes instead. I picked up these Charles by Charles David shoes on endless.com for $72.90.

Charles by Charles David yellow leather Dovey
photo borrowed from nordstrom.com

They are arriving tomorrow. They are kinda plain and not quite dressy enough, but I am going to use some Etsy inspiration and add some fabric in the form of a bow and/or a flower to make these shoes super rockin'.

Still, the hunt for my wedding shoes will not end. And, most likely, I will not want to return any of the runner ups. :/

It's in the photograph of love

In search of a photographer, I looked through blogs, e-mailed several, and met with a few photographers. We met with Jason Q. Tran and Jordana Hazel (of Hazelnut Photography), both of whom we would have been happy to work with. If you want a friendly, take-charge kinda guy with a creative eye, Jason is your man. If you want a bubbly, fun gal to take gorgeous photos with a feminine touch, Jordana is your girl. Jordana's rates are also budget-friendly and along with weddings, her blog is filled with these gorgeous "Sexy Time" bourdoir sessions, if you are daring enough to strip down to your panties (Am I? Hmm...)

Jordana, along with 13 other photographers, participated in a Trash-the-Dress shoot at the March Air Reserve Base in Riverside. I want to go to there...

Trash-the-Dress with Jordana Hazel of Hazelnut Photography

I had to meet the guy organizing these amazing sessions, Chris Austin (of the new White Haute Photography, formerly Chris Austin Photography). After a few e-mails back and forth, Chris and his lovely wife, Erinn stopped by a Starbucks in Torrance to meet with us on their way up to a shoot in Malibu.

Here are a few of the many reasons I wanted to meet Chris and Erinn Austin...

An engagement session at Salton Sea:

photo by Chris Austin of White Haute Photography

A bridal shoot in Temecula:

photo by Chris Austin of White Haute Photography

A Day After Shoot in San Diego:

photo by Chris Austin of White Haute Photography

A true trashing of the dress TTD Session:

photo by Chris Austin of White Haute Photography

And one more by his lovely wife:
photo by Erinn Austin of ED Austin Photography

In addition to the amazing shots he captures, one of the many wonderful things we like about Chris Austin is that he is excited like we are about our amazing venue. We like that he researched the venue and the surrounding area BEFORE we met with him. He is constantly staking out sites for photography sessions in and around LA. Chris is creative, he has a great portfolio, and a "haute" new website and blog. We have three sessions lined up with Chris and Erinn and are excited to see what they have in store for us. First up, our engagement session.

The awesome-est DJ

I am so excited to meet our hopefully DJ tomorrow!! Thanks to my favorite wedding bloggers, The Broke-Ass Bride and The Mason Jar Bride, for sharing of their amazing finding. We are meeting Michael Antonia, aka the Human Jukebox, of The Flashdance. If you don't know, now ya know...he was DJ at Speidi's wedding, but we won't hold that against him.

super hilarious photo of Speidi by Featherlove Photography

Everything about Michael Antonia radiates awesomeness. Check out the awesome blog where you can listen to his awesome DJ mixes. This guy even looks awesome.

The Human Jukebox photo borrowed from The Flashdance

**I vow to not use the word awesome in this blog anymore except in references to the Human Jukebox, who will tell us (more of) how awesome he is tomorrow.**

I can't wait to meet him. Cross your fingers he likes us too...

My fabulous coordinator

I am not a fan of bridal forums and message boards because they are usually flooded with biiiiatches bringin' the drama fo' yo' mama. But, I must admit, Project Wedding helped me find my wonderful day-of-wedding coordinator, Paola Spagnoletti of Just Chic Events. Upon reading rave review after rave review about Paola and checking out her own wedding on her blog, I knew I wanted needed her services.
So, this ain't gonna be no platinum wedding (oh yes, my fellow teachers, multiple negation...AA Language Rule: more negatives = more negative statement), why the f* do I need a coordinator? Whoever says wedding planning is fun is lying. Kidding...sorta. It is super fun looking through blogs and magazines and thinking dreaming about dresses and SHOES. It is not so fun finding vendors, dealing with vendors (no offense, my lovely vendors), and trying to stay within budget. Thank you, Paola! Not only is she going to take the stress out of our wedding day, she is helping us stay within (or close to) budget, referring vendors that she adores that will give me the most bang for my buck, and showering me with advice and ideas.

You know, even though her contract says "Day-of-Wedding" coordinator, she is more of a "Year-of-Wedding" coordinator. She was giving me advice even before we met! I can't say enough good things about this lovely lady. She is everything you need in a coordinator -- detail-oriented, organized, creative, prompt with e-mails, affordable, and the list goes on. To top it off, she is simply fabulous!

lovely photography by Jordana Hazel of Hazelnut Photography

Our first wedding purchase

The first thing we bought for the wedding was for my bridesmaids. I spotted this cute silk belt for myself at J. Crew a couple of months ago but really had no need for it...and definitely was not willing to pay $39.50 for it! Shortly after getting engaged, I found them on sale at J. Crew for $14.99 with an additional 30%, coming to a whopping $10.49 each!

J. Crew Satin Rosette Belt in golden yellow

At the time, I did not know that J. Crew loves teachers (and students) and give a 15% discount for showing your school ID. But, I really can't complain over the awesome price I paid!

Our wedding colors

I always imagined my wedding colors would include pink. My bridesmaid, Maryn, has feared the day I get married because it would be the only day she would ever wear pink. I am sure she tried to come up with excuses to say no to being a bridesmaid for this reason alone. Even though I knew from the start of wedding planning that I wasn't going to use pink, I let her believe she would be dressed head to toe in Pepto Bismol pink. :)

photo borrowed from the Nausea-Heartburn-Indigestion-Upset Stomach-Diarrhea website

The inspiration for our wedding colors came from an overnight summer stay at the Viceroy Hotel in Palm Springs. This was the most relaxing trip we've been on. We were out by the pool all day enjoying the sun, pool, and cocktails. The room and decor were all so cute, everything in black, white, and yellow.

Viceroy Hotel room, Palm Springs, CA

Viceroy Hotel room, Palm Springs, CA

Our colors are actually black, ivory, and yellow. I am also thinking about throwing in gray as a second accent color. We shall see.

Viceroy Hotel room key, Palm Springs, CA