Jim & Celia

Jim has his pictures from Thailand and Hong Kong up and I managed to get a few of my pictures up. I should have my set finished in a day or three.

But we just can't seem to stop dressing and acting like we're still on our honeymoon. Honest, it's like the honeymoon didn't end.

Back in a few weeks with more pictures and stories.

Thanks to our cousin, Earl Jr., for the early pictures from the weekend.

It has come to our attention that some of our invited guests who diligently RSVP'd have subsequently lost track of their invitations, and don't know when or where things are happening. The ceremony is at 4:30pm in the south courtyard of Union Station. The reception will follow at the adjacent Fred Harvey Room, with cocktails at its bar in between. Here is a map and the directions.

The current forecast is sunny, but cool and possibly windy. The ceremony is outside, so dress accordingly.

We're in the home stretch now. We have all our vendors booked and most of them fully paid, The planning is down to final logistics and scheduling. We've got a first draft of our ceremony and we're closing in on final music selections. We have a lot of placecards, menus, signs, programs, and other bits to print, but the materials are all in hand. And then there's a few more details, but I'm not allowed to tell you about those.

In a week and some hours, we'll be married. And shortly after that, on our way to Thailand and Hong Kong for a well-deserved decompression from this craziness. I can't wait.

This is Camille's dog, Gadget, our ringbearer for the wedding. He's modeling his new polo shirt in this picture, but I just special-ordered his puppy tuxedo for the wedding. Isn't he adorable?

Thanks to one of my bridesmaids Camille, we have discounted room rates of $70 and $76 per night at the Miyako Hotel and the New Otani Hotel for our wedding guests.

So if you're coming to Los Angeles from out-of-town for our wedding, or you're from Los Angeles but you don't want to drive home after our reception, make your reservations at either hotel, but make sure to email us your name, hotel, and the dates you've booked. We'll provide the hotel with our guest list and they'll make the rate adjustments.

Miyako Hotel ($70/night)
328 East 1st Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012
direct: (213)617-2000
reservations: (800) 228-6596

New Otani Hotel & Garden ($76/night)
120 South Los Angeles Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012
direct: (213)629-1200
reservations: (800) 639-6826

Thanks again Camille!

We sent another big batch of invitations out yesterday, so they are all out there except for those we forgot and a few that needed to be re-addressed. We have started to get a trickle of reply cards back, but today we received an empty reply card envelope! So if you mailed your reply card yesterday from the Los Angeles area, you might want to drop us an email or give us a call, since we may not have actually received your reply.

And if you got your invitation and have not dropped your reply card in the mail yet (or done it online), please do so!

Celia, her brother, her dad, and I went to the tux shop to pick out my penguin suit for the big day. Here's the jacket. I'll have a white vest and tie, the groomsmen will have black vests and ties, and the fathers will have silver vests and black ties.

We're grinding through the to-do list. The invitations are almost ready to go out, and we're close to locking in our florist.

I had a blast at my bridal shower, near as I can remember. Thank you to Cecilia, Liz and Camille for planning and hosting such a fun party, and thanks to all who came!

First thing I noticed when I arrived were the cute baby pictures of me and Jim, and hilarious pictures of us as adults displayed on the tables. I don't know why I'm wearing a thong on my head in the picture below. I suspect it may have been a posed shot. But doesn't Jim look adorable in his high school graduation picture?

After I made the rounds and greeted everyone, Cecilia handed me glass of champagne and made sure that it was never empty throughout the party. That explains why I don't remember a lot of what happened, but I do remember that the food was amazing, Cecilia's house is beautiful, it was a gorgeous day and a lot of my favorite people were there.

There were amazing palletas and croquetas from Porto's Cuban Bakery and I think some shrimp. No, really, there was a ton of yummy food (I just have lousy recall) and everyone filled up on appetizers thinking that was lunch. Then we all went inside and I opened presents and then there was yet even more food and dessert. That's what I remember, at least. My mom made her famous chinese chicken salad, which everyone raved about, and there was duck and a story that went with it, but I forget the story and what else was served. For dessert, there was this rich, decadent, gooey chocolate cake, a tres leches cake, and those guava and cheese pastry things. I think I ate half of the tres leches cake. I just don't remember doing it, but Kathy swears she sat there and watched me. I think a lot of you guys are having a good laugh at my expense.

Of course I had to open up the Hello Kitty bag first!

Camille and Sandra from Shopper Shuttle were nice enough to provide a shuttle from downtown to Cecilia's and back. I don't remember the ride back home, but Jim's mom, Janice, and Aunt Suzanne said I just sat in the back of the shuttle, smiling drunkenly.

Jim said that when I got back home, I was schnockered. I muttered something like, "I'm done with this," tore off my blouse (it was fussier than my usual black t-shirt), and promptly passed out. The next day, Jim's mom and Aunt Suzanne joined me, Jim and Camille & Sandra's crew for dimsum and everyone filled me in on what I didn't remember from the night before. Jim just wanted to know why no one bothered to pack some food for me to take home to him.

OMG, look over to the right - we're getting married in one month and 29 days!

A dear friend of my family, Cecilia Bloomquist, and my bridesmaids, Elizabeth James and Camille Alcasid, are throwing together a bridal shower for me this Saturday, November 4th. Invitations have already gone out, let me know if you didn't receive yours yet. Details, directions, rsvp, etc. can be found here.