Busy fingers

As a young girl, I remember watching my mom and her sisters folding cranes (or tsuru) for my cousin's wedding. I stared at their fingers with fascination as they turned simple gold paper squares into tiny works of art. Once the 1001 cranes were completed, they were strung together and hung from a beautiful tree to be displayed at my cousin's reception. That was over twenty-five years ago and although the tradition is still very much alive in Hawai'i, the rules of the game have changed.

Now, there are companies that will take your precious folded cranes and mount them in a beautiful frame so they can live forever on the wall of your choosing. One local company that I personally love is It's About Time. They have lots of designs to choose from, ranging from cherry blossoms to koi to bamboo, and can also insert your names and wedding date to give it the ultimate personal touch.

I thought about folding cranes in the months leading up to our wedding, but after spending a little too long creating a lopsided crane with a bad limp (I'm assuming he'd have a bad limp given the oversized wings I had given him), I quickly decided to nix the idea...until I came across these inspiring photos.


Yes, they're deep-fried cranes made from wonton paper! Have you ever seen anything so fun? Maybe you have and just kept it to yourself...shame on you. I doubt that I'd make more than a handful of these cranes, let alone allow anyone to actually EAT them, but you know I have to at least try!

Sawing the log

Imagine a beautiful bride in a Cinderella-esque wedding gown. The crinoline beneath her dress is so full that she appears to be gliding, no, floating down the aisle. The groom is decked out in a crisp, tailored suit and fills the role of Prince Charming to a "T". The ceremony begins and is filled with personal touches to reflect their love for each other (they choose to sing their vows to each other) and honor the bride's German heritage (they perform a double-ring exchange so that they will have a set of rings to wear on both their left and right hands). After the ceremony is sealed with a sweet kiss, the groom takes the bride's hand and leads her down the aisle and out of the church. It is at this special place, just steps away from the chapel doors, that the groom hands his beautiful bride the giant 4-foot saw that will be needed to cut through the wooden log that lays before them. Wait...what?

I got a firsthand lesson in German wedding traditions on Saturday and was able to witness the symbolic "sawing of the log." This is traditionally the first task that the bride and groom must accomplish together as a married couple and is supposed to be an indicator of how well they will face challenges in their future. As a first-time log-sawing viewer, I thoroughly enjoyed watching our friends dressed to the nines and sawing away at the log. I don't think they broke any speed records, but they managed to get the job done in style.

Mission possible

The mission: Locate and purchase bridesmaids' shoes

The players: Me (the bride), Lady L (the matron of honor), Agent T (bridesmaid #1), Agent F (bridesmaid #2 -- MIA but with us in spirit!)

The obstacles: Shoes must be black, shoe style should complement the dress, and above all else, shoes are required to be comfortable!

Time allowed: 3 hours (and 2 of those hours have been designated for lunch)

I took a "real" break from work on Saturday afternoon and invited two of my girlfriends out for an afternoon of shopping. None of us had the stamina for a long power-shopping trip as we would have in our younger days, so I drove them straight to Nordstrom. One store...hundreds of shoes...minimal walking.

We looked at everything on display from the 4" Jessica Simpson pumps (I think these shoes would be perfect...for Barbie) to the $400+ crystal-encrusted Stuart Weitzman sandals. One of my friends even had fuzzy bedroom slippers on her feet at one point - I think we were suffering from shoe overload at that point! They ended up settling on a pair of black suede strappy slip-on sandals that had a nice heel (not too high, not too low, not too skinny, not too fat) and came in well under $50.

It was surprisingly easy to find the shoes and we celebrated with a well-deserved, two-hour victory lunch.

Mission accomplished. Thanks, girls!

This tops the cake

You are about to embark on a journey to the wondrous world of cake toppers. Please remain seated at all times and keep your arms and legs out of the frosting.

Let me just say upfront that our wedding cake won't be topped off with anything fancy. No bride and groom figurines of any kind. No rhinestone-encrusted monograms. No elaborate gum paste flowers. At most, we'll probably have our florist strategically place a handful of fresh flowers on the cake, but that's it. But even though we're going topless at our reception, I couldn't help taking a peek at all the cake toppers that are available.

There are the traditional bride and groom figurines, of course, but in this day and age of social conscience most web sites offer an "ethnic" option that apparently is intended for all ethnicities besides caucasian. There are also brides and grooms in non traditional poses: the bride dragging the groom by the neck, the groom with one arm wrapped around his lovely bride's waist while the other is holding a ball and chain, or the bride and groom standing back to back with their arms crossed because they couldn't put aside their petty differences long enough to look happy and in love during the one day that they have to stand atop a 3-tiered fondant-covered cake.

I came across a LOT of animal-themed cake toppers including the wiener dogs pictured above. These puppies retail for about $25 each but they're much cuter than some of the other furry friends I saw. But who am I to criticize a western-inspired cake topper featuring a pair of cows on a John Deere tractor? Somewhere out there, that's some lucky couple's PERFECT find...and really, that's all that matters.

Moving in

This past weekend, my CD collection doubled, my DVD collection tripled, and my closet space was cut in half. Oh, and my fiance moved in. It took three days, two trips to the dump, one trip to the Salvation Army, and about 25 trips up and down the very steep and uneven stairs to his apartment...but we got it done. Anyway, here are some quick thoughts about the whole thing.

What I find interesting...
No matter how well you think you know your mate, there are always a few surprises when it comes time to combine your material possessions. For instance, he didn't know that I secretly horde those big paper shopping bags because I just never know when I'll need them, and I never knew that when he said he liked Monty Python, this meant that he owned The Complete Monty Python's Flying Circus Megaset containing 14 discs.

This is how much I love him...
For me, giving up closet space is almost as painful as ripping my arm off. It's so valuable to me that my Valentine's gift to my fiance was just that - empty closet space. Unfortunately, I didn't know how to wrap "space" so I simply led him to the closet and said, "Happy Valentine's Day. *sniff* *sniff*." I didn't think there could be anything more difficult than allowing my better half to hang his aloha shirts where I once hung the special occasion dresses that never seem to be dressy enough or casual enough for any occasion. Late last night I realized that I'd have to give up a couple of drawers in my dresser. Eeek! Now that's true love.

The perfect match...
I've always wanted a food dehydrator, now I have one. He always wanted a nice wine rack, now he has one. We'll take turns picking out DVDs to watch when we settle in for a movie night at home...Psycho one night, You've Got Mail the next.

It's all good.

The Name Game

Last night I played the name game in my head. No, not the one you're thinking of...it was the "Should-I-change-my-name-after-I-get-married" game. It's funny...I was the only one playing the game, and yet I think I still lost.

So my options are as follows:

1) Retain my maiden name (aka don't fix what ain't broke)
I like this option because I not only like my last name, I'm proud of it. It would also make things a lot easier not having to change my name on all my important documents like my driver's license, passport, FREQUENT FLYER MILES CARD!

2) Take my fiance's last name (aka sometimes change is good)
I like my fiance's last name. It's easy to spell and it's easy to pronounce...no matter which part of the country (or world) I may travel to. If we have children, this option would make the most sense and cause the least amount of confusion.

3) Take my husband's last name and keep my maiden name as my new middle name (aka can't let go)
I would go with this option in a heartbeat if it didn't mean dropping my current middle name, Emi. It's the namesake of my business and dropping it doesn't seem right...or smart.

4) Keep my maiden name and hyphenate (aka hyphenators anonymous)
I don't care for the hyphenated last name for myself. It just doesn't look right and the thought of having to spell out my long hyphenated name every time I sign something isn't very appealing. I'll pass on this one.

5) Keep my middle name and maiden name and just add my husband's last name (aka the joy of filling out legal forms)
I'm seriously contemplating this option, even though it's the longest of them all. But how many times in our lives do we really need to sign our full legal name?

6) Take my husband's last name for legal purposes and keep my maiden name for professional purposes (aka double agent)
This is another option that could work for me, although I'm still on the fence about having to keep track of the two different names.

7) Change my name completely (aka who am i?)
There was an episode of Friends where Phoebe is in the midst of planning for her wedding and learns that she can legally change her name to whatever she wants. She chooses, "Princess Consuela Bananahammock." This leads her fiance, Mike, to change his name to "Crap Bag." Hmmm...

7 options to choose from. Grooms are lucky.

Game on.

No spicy tuna here...

I love watching the Food Network challenges. My recent faves: The Gingerbread Challenge, The Flying Knives Teppanyaki Challenge, and The Birthday Cake Challenge. I recently saw The Chocolate Runway Challenge in which five talented pastry chefs had to create a chocolate evening dress that would be worn by a live model and sent down the catwalk. Even as a self-confessed chocoholic, I thought the concept was a bit over-the-top...although I did have a fleeting thought of walking down the aisle in a white chocolate wedding gown and a delicate meringue train.

Anyway, that chocolate-filled episode got me thinking about our wedding favors. One thing that my fiance and I agreed on instantly was that we wanted to send our guests home with a sweet treat at the end of the evening. If we had no monetary (or logistical) constraints, we'd order some of the delectable desserts offered by the Toronto-based company, Chocolate Sushi. The bite-sized morsels are the perfect blend of my favorite food (chocolate) and my fiance's favorite food (sushi)...and most importantly, they would fit like a glove in the small origami boxes that I've been making since the beginning of the year! When I read through the descriptions of these chocolates, it's hard not to drool. For example, here's the description for the second item from the left:

"Roasted hazelnut centers are hidden inside chocolate truffle mousse. Ideal for the chocolate-nut lover, as the chocolate wrapper is rolled in crushed pistachio jewels. Fresh orange segments provide a refreshing burst of flavor."

Mmmmmmm...........