Another DIY

These days, I have a little too much time on my hands. I spent most of yesterday and this morning making these kusudama paper balls.

I'm not quite sure where I should hang these, but I think they will find a place in our wedding somewhere.

Now if I only had some more red construction paper...

Our Registry

Brandon and I had a difficult time figuring out how to go about creating our registry since we will not be living together right after we get married, and we will end up in Fort Hood, Texas.

We decided to give guests the option of giving us gift cards through our Target and Crate & Barrel registries. Target allowed us to add a note saying, "Although we appreciate all types of gifts, we prefer to receive gift cards as it will be close to a year before we make a house for ourselves. Thanks! Much love, Brandon, Min and Bella."

But I didn't want to deprive ourselves from opening actual presents so I registered for items, too. I spent more than ten hours comparing prices, looking at reviews, and adding items to our two registries. I wanted to make sure that we had a wide selection of price ranges for our guests and I wanted good products that would last many moves around the country.

The most expensive items on the registry will definitely come in handy in our new home: The Dyson DC25 Animal Vacuum to pick up all that pesky Bella fur and the beautiful KitchenAid Stand Mixer, which I am guilty of hugging and stroking when I see it in stores.

We were a little concerned about registering at Crate & Barrel because it is known to be one of the more high end stores. Imagine my surprise when during my comparison of prices, Crate & Barrel beat Target time and time again. Not only that, but everything screamed elegant and quality.

I registered for a couple of pretty Paloma flutes at only $9.95 each for the reception toasts. I also added many vases such as this Lucy vase because I am a strong believer in filling our home with fresh flowers whenever possible.

I wanted to incorporate Brandon's tastes as much as I could so I included items such as a stacking wine rack and a cast iron grill and press so that I can make him awesome panini sandwiches.

Even Bella got some say: A pink polka dot doggie life vest

Hopefully, I selected a good mix of practical and fun items for our guests to choose from.

And for my loyal readers, click here for a preview of our wedding website.

A Breakthrough

This is what I look like soon after I walk into Barnes & Noble. I grab a stack of wedding magazines, sit in a chair, and flip away through hundreds of ads, ideas, and inspiration.

It was a disease. A disease that made my heart ache and flutter at the same time because I loved what I saw, but also knew that I could not afford it.

Before getting engaged, I was already looking through wedding magazines and spending hours on blogs. It was inspiration overload, but I loved it. I had a Word document 10 pages long full of links and pictures of ideas I wanted to incorporate into the wedding.

My breakthrough came a little over a week ago, just after I dropped Brandon off at the airport. I made another trip to Barnes & Noble in hopes of a pick-me-up, with every intention of purchasing my fifth magazine, and came home empty handed. I spent about five minutes going through the new Martha Stewart magazine and I realized, "I don't need this." Of course every bride doesn't need a wedding magazine, but I really really didn't need it this time.

I no longer need any inspiration because I already have every little detail of December 27th planned down. It was a truly liberating moment. I will no longer feel compelled to pick up every bridal magazine next to the register at Target or Vons. I am free from you, oh beautiful bundle of wedding joy. Thank you. You have done your job well.

Just a sidenote, I purchased my wedding dress yesterday with the help of my sister, mom, and grandma. We ventured back to David's Bridal, avoided Josephina at all cost, and tried on my beautiful gown again. And it was "the one". What a relief to be done with that part of this long wedding process. However, I did walk out of the store completely itchy until long after I took a shower.

My grandma has decided to pick up the bill for the dress, while my mother is going to pay for my alterations. Debbie and I were given matching necklaces to wear for our weddings by my grandmother too. Boom! One less thing to worry about.

Music Night

During the beginning of Brandon's Plebe (Freshman) year at West Point, he had no access to music so I would play music on my computer and put the phone up to the speakers.

Music played a large part during the early flirting stage of our relationship. Brandon had a huge CD collection, and I would borrow them in an attempt to get to know him better. Inside the CD cases, we wrote little love notes to each other. Needless to say, choosing the right music for our ceremony and reception is very important to us.

Here are some of the songs we plan to play on our wedding day:

Jack Johnson- Better Together
Jack Johnson- Banana Pancakes
Jason Mraz- Lucky
Jason Mraz- I'm Yours
Cinderella- So This is Love
The Beatles- All You Need is Love
Louis Armstrong- A Kiss to Build a Dream On
Cat Power- Sea of Love
Bright Eyes- First Day of My Life
Michael Buble- Home
Teitur- To Meet You
She & Him- I Was Made for You
Landon Pigg- Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop
Joshua Radin- Only You
Toploader- Dancin' in the Moonlight

Psst! We will be dancing for the first time as man and wife to one of these songs, but you'll have to wait to find out which one.

Also, with Brandon gone to Georgia, I have been extremely productive and am nearly done with the invitations. The pretty invitations suite just needs to be put in their envelopes and labeled. They turned out amazing, and I can't wait to show them to you. However, they will not be sent out until the end of October so I can't post on them just yet.

Like a Proud Mama

Bella usually hates the water, and we make fun of her for not being a real Lab.

But look at her now!

The only thing I was thinking of the entire time was "I wish Brandon could see this."

Happy Fourth of July!

Cupcakes Galore

Brandon and I tasted cupcakes from four different locations in order to find the tastiest treats to serve to our guests. It was a tough job, but someone had to do it.

Tasting #1: Dots Cupcakes

Pros: cute decorations, variety of flavors, customizable fondant flowers, adorable shop

Cons: no free tasting, stale cupcakes, a huge disappointment,
Cost: $2.75 per cupcake, $1.50 per mini cupcake

We tasted: Red Velvet, Vanilla Chocolate, Chocolate Lovers', Apple Pie

Tasting #2: Polkatots

Pros: friendly staff, incredibly delicious, free tasting, completely customizable, cuteness factor

Cons: high delivery/set up fee, could not give pricing info right away, pricey

Cost: $3.00 per cupcake, $1.75 per mini cupcake

We tasted: Dulce de Leche, Red Diva (red velvet), Cookies N' Creme, Little Penguin(chocolate w/vanilla frosting)

Tasting #3: Violet's Cakes

Pros: super yummy, immediately in love, free tasting, freshly baked, large, very affordable

Cons: none (except for the fact that they are on vacation during the holiday season)

Cost: $2.50 per cupcake

We tasted: Twix, Strawberry Shortcake, Red Velvet, Carrot Cake, Hi-Hat (marshmallow creme dipped in chocolate)

Tasting #4: Cakes Created With Love (206 S. Glendora Ave., West Covina, CA 91890)

Pros: free tasting, completely customizable, cheap!

Cons: cupcakes were not fresh
Cost: $1.75 per cupcake
We tasted: Red Velvet, Chocolate, Cookies N' Creme

We are most likely going to go with Cakes Created With Love because Donna's pricing is so terrific.

Brandon and I are so thankful that his mother and step-father are picking up the bill for our cake.

There's more!

Here are some more pictures taken by Daniel Yu:

Follow me!

We were scared that water would spray out from the spouts above. It was a risky move, but we were able to get this wonderful picture.

This is my future mother-in-law's favorite picture.

Here is one of the last pictures of the picture shoot.