The last straw

Take a good look at the picture above. If you are a bride-to-be, there's something in the photo that will be vitally important to you on your wedding day.

Hint: It's not the tropical cocktail. (Okay, maybe it could be the tropical cocktail, but we'll save that for another post!)

It's the STRAW.

For reasons to be revealed at a later date, I spent a lot of time reminiscing about my wedding this past weekend. From proposal, to frenzied planning, to beautiful storybook ending, I virtually relived the entire experience while jotting down the most memorable, most touching, and most impossible to predict moments throughout our journey. Anyway, tucked away among the many fabulous wedding memories that I have, I was surprised to find that there was also a little, tiny speck of a memory involving a drinking straw...or lack thereof.

Here's my pearl of wisdom for the day:

Make sure you have some drinking straws for you and your bridesmaids as you're prepping for your photos and your big walk down the aisle. Once your makeup is done and your lip stain and lip gloss have been applied to give you the perfectly pouty look, the last thing you'll want to do is take a drink from a cup or water bottle. Sure, you can reapply your lipstick later, but a straw will make things a whole lot easier.

(I happened to have ONE straw in the room leftover from my Starbucks iced coffee that morning, but I had THREE bridesmaids in the room. You do the math.)

Expo time

Weddings, weddings, weddings. You talk the talk, now it's time to walk the walk...over to the Hawaii Convention Center. This Friday and Saturday, you can meet vendors, check out the latest wedding fashion trends, and enter to win some COOL prizes. To preview the list of participating vendors, look for the special tabloid that arrived with Sunday's Honolulu Advertiser.

Oh, and please stop by the Emi Ink booth to say "hi." I've added a few new designs to my invitation line and I'm so excited to share them with all of you!

Here's the 411:

Hawaii World Class Wedding Expo XIX

Friday, October 26 (6:00pm - 10:00pm)

Saturday, October 27 (11:00am - 5:00pm)

Admission - $6.00

See you there!

Birthday soufflé

About 24 years ago, there was a girl who used to sit behind me in health class. She had this habit of kicking my school bag that was hanging off the back of my chair. I'd go home, take my books out of my bag, and see the brown scuff marks that her shoes had left behind. It happened every single day for a whole year. It wasn't like she was stealing my lunch money or bullying me in the halls, but her dirty little habit (aka her wayward feet) definitely left a lasting impression on me...so much so that we've been best friends ever since.

Fast forward two and a half decades, and Crazy Legs and I (with our husbands in tow) headed to Roy's Restaurant in Hawaii Kai for a fabulous birthday celebration. The appetizers were to-die-for, the entrees were delicioso, but the dessert...oh, the dessert! There are good soufflés and then there are GOOD soufflés. What we indulged in were GOOD soufflés, the kind that bring tears to your eyes when you scrape up the last bit of chocolate from your plate. We definitely fell off the healthy diet wagon that night, but I would have done a swan dive for a dessert that good.

To my best friend, Crazy Legs, we had a blast celebrating your birthday and I wish you much happiness and chocolatey soufflés in the year ahead!

Picker upper

I had the most amazing revelation this week. Everytime I think about it, I get a little giddy. Admittedly, you may think I'm a dork when I reveal my latest, greatest "find" (pictured on the left for those of you who can't stand the suspense).

It's a rhinestone pick up.

It picks up rhinestones.

That's all it does.

On the surface, it just looks like a 3-inch long acrylic stick with a rubber tip. However, upon closer examination, it is a 3-inch long acrylic stick with a rubber tip that has CHANGED MY LIFE.

Gone are the days that I use my fingertip, pencil eraser, or pointed tweezers to apply Swarovski crystals to my invitations. My new tool is in a league of its own and deserves a place of honor next to my husband's Dremel. It's THAT good (and dirt cheap, too!).

Ahh, I love the little things in life...and using my new tool to pick them all up will be a breeze.

Extreme dining

My husband and I are heading back to Chicago this Christmas for another Windy-City-Winter and along the way, we'll be stopping in L.A. for a few days. One of our FAVORITE things to do while travelling is finding cool places to eat, whether by accident or after lots of intense research. After chatting with Tanna ("Wedding Goddess") and Tessa ("Top Chef in the Making") of The Wedding Cafe, we have a strong contender for "unique dining experience."

T&T told us about a dark dining experience that they had in L.A. -- not somber or spooky, just dark. The Opaque restaurant, located in West Hollywood, hosts a you-can-eat-it-but-you-can't-see-it feast on the weekends where patrons dine in complete darkness. Now, if the restaurant is so dark, how does the food find it's way to your table? The waitstaff are visually impaired. Fascinating concept, isn't it? For $99, you get a three-course meal and a memorable experience that will last a lifetime. It's also the one time in your life when you can dine in a fancy restaurant and throw table manners out the window...that's worth the price of admission.