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happy holidays!

Two days until Christmas...and then it's the start of 2009! Francis and I wish you all the very best and stay safe this holiday season.

Oh, and if anyone out there is in real estate...we're looking to buy. ;-)

We're actively looking in the 91709 area code. Close to home. Can mooch food off of parents. Within a 35-mile distance from Francis' work in Rancho Cucamonga (he's not allowed to live farther than 35 miles). Got my vanpool to El Segundo...so nothing with my commute will change.

yowza

Anyone else think that this year went by super fast? It's almost 2009 folks! It's been an interesting year...we had the Spitzer scandal, an earthquake in China, legalized gay marriage in California (which is then taken away!), astronomical oil prices, the Russion-Georgian conflict, Michael Phelps rockin' the Olympics, the crash of the financial markets, Obama wins the presidency, terrorism in Mumbai, OJ Simpson is going to jail, and the Illinois governor corruption charges. And that's only some of the top stories (I got those from CNN). Can't wait to see what 2009 brings. Hope it's a year we can look forward to...

Oh wait. Of course it is! Not to diminish our economic downturn and the crises of the world, I do have some things to look forward to...and I'm pretty sure all of you have things that are actually going well for you too. Keep your chin up, look for the silver lining, and, hey, give yourself a pat on the back for getting through the year. You got plenty more to get through before you're done :-)

bridesmaids

met with the girls yesterday at alfred angelo, and i had them model some of the dresses that we had picked out of the catalogue. and we decided on one! woohoo! thank you thank you thank you ladies for trying to make this whole experience a happy one for me.

so the dresses are on order, and that's another thing to tick off the list!

down to 10 months!

so i have 9 months, 28 days left until the big day. we took care of the biggest things, including the florist...so why do i feel like we've done nothing? there are moments when i start freaking out because we're not working on the wedding planning. arg! but it's all in my head. francis is essentially kicking back his feet and waiting for 2009 to arrive. boo on him!

so final colors: wine & champagne

we still need to tell all the ninongs & ninangs that we are asking them to be our godparents...and then work on invitations. i already have a good idea of what i want, but i need to get the approval from the person who'll write the check for it! ;-)

just kidding!

so i thought i had found THE dress...PSYCH!

since it was my friday off, i scheduled appointments at two different bridal salons, mariposa (anaheim) and mary me bridal (orange).

mariposa: this boutique was so cute! they got their racks of dresses, but what i like the best was "the stage". i don't even remember how many dresses i tried on, but it was definitely more than 10. two dresses really caught my eye: an enzoani and a maggie sottero. i tried those two dresses at least 3 times each...taking pictures along the way. but i had another bridal appointment scheduled so i had to hold off any purchases...

mary me bridal: so many dresses. it was overwhelming! i got paired up with a consultant, marie, and we started pulling out dresses to try on. i was wowed by another enzoani as well as an angelina faccenda. after trying on a dozen dresses, i was so confused! choices are not necessarily a good thing! then my mom showed marie the pictures of the gowns i tried on at mariposa...and surprise surprise, mary me bridal had the maggie sottero. so i tried on the maggie again...and my decision was made! i felt like a princess...it's unbelievable!

so i placed my order and should be getting my gown in about 4 months. eeeks!

wedding gown...

i put on a wedding dress today. i didn't intend to spend my afternoon doing that, but my mom had nagged me so much to drive her to a bridal store to look at color schemes so she could start looking for HER dress. surrounded my wedding gowns, i wasn't looking around (my nose was stuck in the catalogues), but my mother kept asking me to try some on..."for fun", she said. so i acquiesced and looked around. she pointed a few and i said "sure, whatever". then i figured i might as well participate, and i picked a couple as well. the lady helping us out dressed me in the fitting room.

first one. eh.

second. better.

third. wow.

last. this is MINE.

standing on the pedestal, looking at myself in the mirror...i knew i found the dress. it's going to be hard to beat this one, but i will be going to a couple bridal salons this friday to try some more out. i'll give the other dresses a chance. ;-)

it was so weird wearing those gowns. i'm getting married!