Slowly but surely...

I'm crossing things off the To-Do-List. Yippie!! Getting up early definitely has it's benefits. While I don't think I'll make a habit of getting up early on weekends. Love, love, love sleeping in!! However, I was able to accomplish a lot today. These are the items I purchased:

Waterford Toasting Flutes

Vera Wang "With Love" Cake Knife & Server Set

In addition to those items, I bought my unity candle set. Sorry no pictures. I still have to pictures of them, and can't find them online. Oh, almost forgot I also bought one of the gifts for one of my Bridal party. Woohoo! Slowly but surely... =)

Commit to be Fit

"In running it doesn't matter if you come first, in the middle of the pack, or last.

You can say 'I have finished.' There is a lot of satisfaction in that."

~ Fred Lewbow, NYC-Marathon, co-founder

One of my goals in life is to complete/run a full marathon. And wanting to get in shape and look fabulous on my Wedding Day - this was the perfect time to join a running group, instead of procrastinating, coming up with excuses why I have pursued this goal. Well, I'm not a runner. Growing up I always despised running. Yes, it is weird that I've always wanted to run a marathon, yet do not like to run. What can I say I'm full of paradoxes. Anyway, but now I actually ran out of excuses to procrastinate. Therefore, in October 2008 I joined a running group with these goals in my: Look fabulous on my Big Day and slowly morphing myself into a runner.
Naturally, I had to start in the beginners group, where we trained for a 5K. I can proudly say I completed two 5k runs within two weeks from each other. Not to mention, that I was able to improve my time tremendously from my first run. I improved my running time by 12min, which is a fantastic, considering I had just joined a running group and my first run was only two week prior.
Well, I'm still running. Yet, I don't despise it as much as use. Currently, I'm training for a 10k. However to prep myself for the 10k, I decided to run the Brea 8k in February. With that in mind our running group has been running 13 miles a week. Tuesdays and Thursdays, we (the running group) run 4 miles, and on Saturdays we run 5 miles. That's a huge increase from what I was previously running. Unfortunately though, both of my ankles have noticed the increase and they've been hurting a lot more. Hopefully with some orthopedic soles and taping up the ankles , will lessen the pain. Since we will be increasing our runs to 5 and 6 miles, in a few weeks.

Also, it's been awhile, since I posted updayed stats of my body. To see the improvements, I've made, I posted my measurements pre-running days.

August 2008:

• Bust: 33.''
• Waist: 27.5''
• Hips: 36''
• Weight: 117.5 Ibs (ugh, my heaviest I've ever been)

January 2009:

• Bust: 32.5''
  
• Waist: 27.3''
• Hips: 33''
• Weight: 116 Ibs
  

All in all, I'm quite happy with my stats, except for losing inches around my bust. Seriously?!?! My bust wasn't one of my problem areas. Ugh! As I've stated before, it's not as if my bust is well endowed. Oh well, thankfully nothing a good bra can't fix. I've lost a few inches around the waist area, not as much as I hoped for. Thinking positive though, hopefully in a few months my waist size will drop to 26.5" - just means I have to step up my side crunches.However my hips showed the greatest improvement. I went from 36" to 33". Woohoo!!! On to my weight, it appears I haven't lost too much weight, but I doubt the scale I have is correct. The scale one day tells me I'm 16Ibs and the next day it say 119Ibs. All that running I've been doing coupled with weekly gym visit and eating smaller portions, the scale tells me I've gain weight. It can't be right!

Twigs & Honey

For my wedding day, I wanted to wear a Floral hair accessory. However I couldn't find anything I truly liked. But thanks to the lovely ladies on theknot L.A. board, I found Esty seller Twigs & Honey. Myra, the owner, creates these amazing custom hair pieces. I contacted her back in September and got lucky. Shortly after I contacted her, she wasn't accepting any new order until January 2009. I asked her to create a Bridal hair accessory from silk flowers and to add some swarovski crystals, so that it will match the beadings of my dress. ***drum roll*** please! Here's what she created for me.

I absolutely love it, and can't wait to wear it on the Big Day!

Invitation Wording

I wish I wasn't so indecisive when it came to choosing my invitation wording. Here are the options,I'm considering:

Option A:

Mr. & Mrs. Simply Sapphira parents
request the honour of your presence
at the marriage of their daughter
Sapphira
to
Sapphira's Fiance
son of Mr. & Mrs. Fiance parents
on May 9, 2009
at 5:30 pm
Dove Canyon Country Club
Dove Canyon, California

Option B:

Mr. & Mrs. Simply Sapphira parents
request the honour of your presence
at the marriage of their daughter
Sapphira
to
Sapphira's Fiance
on May 9, 2009
at 5:30 pm
Dove Canyon Country Club
Dove Canyon, California

Option C:

What great thing is there
for two human souls
than to feel that they are joined
to strengthen each other
to be one with each other
in silent unspeakable memories.
Mr. & Mrs. Simply Sapphira parents
request the honour of your presence
at the marriage of their daughter
Sapphira
to
Sapphira's Fiance
on May 9, 2009
at 5:30 pm
Dove Canyon Country Club
Dove Canyon, California

As of right now, my favorite is Options C. Option A & B are very similar. And honestly, I'm not too fond of the. I just included them in my choices, because fiance parents are a bit more traditional. What to do?? Any thoughts, just let me know.

Appointments and To Do List

Here's my updated list of all the upcoming appointments I have. I'm sure I'll be updating the list more frequently in the next few weeks.

• Jan. 24 - Scout out Location for Boudoir Photo shoot
• Feb. 13 - 10 am Cake Tasting appt. @ Rockwell's Bakery
  
• Feb. 14 - 10 am Cake Tasting appt. @ All About the Cake
• Feb. 19 - 4:30pm Food Tasting @ Dove Canyon
  
• Feb. 22 - Running the Brea 8K
  
• Feb. 24 - 11 am Cake Tasting appt. @ Beverly's Best
  
• Feb. 28 - Boudoir Photo Shoot
• Mar. 25 - meeting with my Photographer
  
• Mar. 31 - 2pm Pre-Wedding meeting with my DOC
• Apr. 28 - 2pm Final Venue walk through with DOC
• May 8th - 3pm Rehearsal
• May 8th - Rehearsal Dinner, Location still unknown
• May 9th - The Big Day
  

My To Do List:

• Set up meeting with my officiant to go over the ceremony
• Scout and check out restaurants to hold rehearsal dinner, preferably a place near the venue
• Send in courtesy agreement back to the hotel
• Choose Invitation wording.
  

As with the above list, I'm sure the To Do List will grow as well.

We're 4 months away!

Wow! I have about 4 months until the big day. I'm slowly feeling the pressure of making sure I have everything completed and checked off. So last night, I sent out emails to most of my vendors to schedule follow appointments if necessary. Not to mention choosing readings, figuring out time schedules, looking into different restaurants for the Rehearsal Dinner, checking out and blocking off rooms at a hotel (still searching), squeezing in my gym time and running time, so that I will look FABULOUS on the Big Day. Basically I've been running around like a mad woman. ha ha!

• Jan. 14 - Follow-Up appt. with Florist before setting up Flower Trial
• Jan. 24 - Scout out Location for Boudoir Photo shoot
• Feb. 13 - 10 am Cake Tasting appt. @ Rockwell's Bakery
  
• Feb. 14 - 10 am Cake Tasting appt. @ All About the Cake
• Feb. 22 - Running the Brea 8K
  
• Feb. 24 - 11 am Cake Tasting appt. @ Beverly's Best
  
• Feb. 28 - Boudoir Photo Shoot
• Mar. 25 - meeting with my Photographer
  
• Mar. 31 - 2pm Pre-Wedding meeting with my DOC
• Apr. 28 - 2pm Final Venue walk through with DOC
  

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! Wow, I can't believe it's 2009 already! 2009 will be a good year! In 4 months I will be getting married. Woohoo!! With that said I also decided to get in the habit of blogging more and keep everyone in the loop with wedding related items, personal & professional life, photography and my goals for 2009. I decided not to do any New Years Resolution, but instead to set myself goals, I want to accomplish within this year. Here's a glimpse of the goals I have set so far for myself:

• Get married (05.09.09)
  
• Run a 10 K (inprogress)
  
• Find a better paying job (jobmarket sucks)
  
• Take a Photography class (still searching for an evening or wkd class)
  

I'm sure once the year progress I'll add to the list of goals. But for now I think this will keep me busy.