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...........

Superfood to the rescue

Occasionally I'll meet up with clients at the Mocha Java Cafe at Ward Center. Although it can be a bit busy (and c-o-l-d!) at times, there always seems to be an open table where I can set up shop for an hour. This past weekend, I met with several clients on Saturday and Sunday, which meant I had two opportunities to order one of my favorite breakfast meals - the açaí bowl.

While my fiance loves his buckwheat pancakes and egg-white omelets, I normally prefer chocolate chip pancakes and Portugese sausage, eggs, and rice. But there's something about a refreshing bowl of açaí topped with sliced bananas and granola that's so satisfying in the morning! The açaí (pronounced ah-sigh-ee) berry also happens to be one of nature's SUPERFOODS. The pulp from this berry, harvested from palm trees in the Brazilian rainforests, is packed with amino acids, essential fatty acids (the good ones), and antioxidants...think "fountain of youth" wrapped in a cute little purple berry. Red wine's got nothing on the açaí berry when it comes to antioxidants, although I'm not sure how your guests would feel if you served them a glass of açaí instead of their favorite Pinot Noir!

Happy Happy Joy Joy

This week I'm working on table cards for an upcoming destination wedding on the island of Lana'i. I first met my clients last summer when I designed a custom invitation for their intimate wedding. Because their big day falls on Chinese New Year, they wanted to incorporate vibrant colors of red and gold into all their pieces...we even found a way to include a bronze double happiness charm that worked perfectly with their theme!

I like to move it move it

Who knew there were so many types of men's wedding bands out there? Long gone are the days of just gold and white gold bands. Even platinum bands are taking a back seat to the new kids on the the block - titanium and tungsten.

Titanium is perfect for the guy who doesn't really like to wear rings. It's a super lightweight metal, like aluminum, and comes in the very manly color of gun-metal gray...think stainless steel. It gets high marks for strength and durability, and despite the urban myth about hospitals not being able to cut through the ring in case of a dire finger-emergency, it seems to be a popular choice.

But if scratch resistance is important to your main squeeze, then tungsten carbide it is. At the recent Bridal Expo, there was a jeweler about 20 feet away from the Emi Ink booth. Each time a couple stopped to browse for rings, the savvy salesperson would hand the groom-to-be a tungsten wedding band...and a metal file. Groom after groom would file away at the band and smile at the idea of owning a ring tough enough to pass this test.

Now if you're just looking for something totally off-the-wall and unique, just hop on the internet...there are tons of different styles out there. I stumbled onto the rings above and saw that they had moving balls. Why you would want moving balls on your ring, I'm not really sure. I also saw rings that had a spinning band in the middle that reminded me of spinner rims on cars. Maybe all these "motion" rings give the guys something to play with when they're stuck in meetings at work...or when they're waiting for us to try on clothes in the dressing room.

Need a hug?

Late last night, I was looking online for a cool pepper mill for my cousin. I wanted to send him a nice "thank you" gift for letting us crash at his place during our vacation...and he likes pepper...no, he REALLY likes pepper. Anyway, my Google search eventually led me to lots of salt and pepper shakers and that's when I spotted this adorable "Hug" set. I'm normally not big on kitschy stuff, but I totally fell in love with these cuties.

But do I really need an extra set? I could buy it and tell everyone that they symbolize the universal harmony that we are all trying so desperately to achieve. Or I could explain that they bring the necessary elements of yin and yang to my chaotic dining table.

Oh, who am I kidding? They're just cute! They're salt and pepper shakers...and they're H U G G I N G! No further explanation necessary... :)